Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Method Madness Marathon!! Affiliates!

So, today, it only seemed appropriate that I touch on Affiliates after the large checks that came in over the weekend. It has, by far, surpassed all of my other money makers or savers! And, when I started my blog a year ago, I never dreamed it was possible to provide this extra for my family.

As you know, I also have an affiliate button in my left menu bar where I discuss the basics of my affiliate programs and provide links to the companies I have worked with and gotten paid. As I find new programs I like, I will add their sites to my webpage.

Click here to read more about affiliates or sign up with the companies.

So, what am I going to discuss on this topic today?

How I manage my programs as a blogger.

Of course, this post is going to be most helpful to those who are bloggers already. But, don't forget, it is very easy to start your own blog. The key is to write about something you absolutely love or enjoy.

And, towards the bottom, I will also have a program for non-bloggers to earn money, as well.

Once you have a blog, how do you earn money thru these programs?

First, you need to sign up for them. Click here.

Once you are a member, you have access to many, many different companies. You can then apply for specific companies you would like to see on your site or write about. After they approve you, you will gain access to links for banner or text ads to use.

So, what if you go thru all these steps and an advertiser denies you? This happens all the time. Especially to me, as I am still a small blogger. I always write them a very nice email then, thanking them for their consideration. I then ask if they could possibly review my site and provide me with any feedback of what I could change to bring my site up to compliance with their program.

After I write this email, they almost always approve me. They know I am serious. I want to promote their company! So, ALWAYS send an email if you get denied.

Next, how do I find which companies I want to promote?

Easy, I let them find me.

I do this by finding the topics I want to write about on a day to day basis. If I find a great deal/sale I am going to share, I immediately do a Swagbucks search on the name of the company and the word affiliate or referral.

It will then bring back results letting me know if they pay bloggers to advertise their product or company.

If they have a program, I sign up. That way, I then, potentially, get paid if people use the deal. If they don't, oh, well....I tried! But, you would be surprised how many companies have affiliate or referral programs. And, if they have a program, why write the post without joining the program.

I hope that gives a bit more insight into how I manage my affiliates. I know there are many different ways, but this method has seemed to work well for me. My goal is to only advertise for companies I am currently using myself to earn and save money. Of course, every blogger can establish the guidelines of how they want to run their own blog.

Now, if you are not a blogger and don't plan to start one anytime soon, how can you still make money from advertisers?

Thanks to Marianne at Writer-Mommy for sharing about a program called You Data. She mentioned that she only clicked thru a few ads last week, mere minutes, and earned over $6! Wow! Good return on the bit of time spent!

But, here is the gist of the program. Instead of bloggers like me getting paid to have the ads on my site, YOU are getting paid to view the ads. Why not? You are the end customer, potentially.

What are the benefits?

Based on the profile you set up, you can view ads that are targeted to your interests. Yeah! You then get to view those ads and read them, etc, and get paid. The amount you will get paid is there for you to see before you view the ads. Very nice!

Finally, if you are a blogger, they have a referral program. Love that!

And, you get paid WEEKLY to your paypal account. Now, that is exceptional. As we know, most companies pay monthly or sometimes even quarterly. So, weekly is really great!

Want to sign up and begin earning a bit? Sign up via the ad below. Also, this will be posted on my Affiliate webpage for others to utilize and in my side bar on this main page.





So, what is your homework?

If you are a blogger, click here to go to my affiliate page and begin signing up for these programs and applying for advertisers you are interested in.

Not a blogger, but want to start? Get busy tonight. What are 3 easy steps to get going? Come up with your topic and title, go to blogger.com and begin the free, easy process of setting a blog up and then write your first post! You will want to write at LEAST 3 times a week to grow, but preferably at least once a day or every other day.

Once you are over this initial hurdle, you can begin promoting your blog and creating backgrounds, designs, etc to suit your style.

Not a Blogger and don't plan to be? Just want to make a bit extra off of advertisers? Sign up above for You Data. Now, start earning a bit each week for viewing ads. Very easy money!



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11 comments:

Cent with Love said...

Great info! Thanks so much. I really appreciate it since I'm just getting more into the affiliate thing.

Anonymous said...

Wow...just made $3+ in under 10 minutes with YouData. Nice! (an average of $18 an hour)...

MT said...

Carrie, thanks for the shoutout!

I love the whole premise behind YouData -- pay the consumer who views the ads. Brilliant.

Take care (and pray for NO MORE SNOW!!!)

;)

Anonymous said...

Considering the blogging - I am assuming that blogging expenses (computer, internet, etc) could be deducted from blogging income. Am I correct?

Janet

Carrie @ Moneysavingmethods.com said...

It all depends. check with your tax advisor.

My understanding ( someone correct me if I am wrong ) is that the computer has to be used for the your business only, and I am not sure how they figure out internet.

Again, I could be totally wrong on this. Until I do my taxes next month, I won't have a definite answer.

Lorrie said...

I have been using YouData for a while now. I made around $6 the first week and then a $2-3 the next. It has gone down to less then $1 now. I am not sure if this is just me, but it seems to become less and less each week. I still use it though. I hope it works well for others.

Anonymous said...

I signed up for You data last night. Made almost $5.

I don't expect to make a large amount of money on it. But for the time spent - it is nice.

And as Carrie so eloquently teaches us - it all adds up.

I also viewed the ads of a couple of things I am interested in.

Another thing about the programs is that I don't always join them when I read about them. But sometimes I join them later.

I try to remember that SOMEONE can get credit for me joining.

When I see something I want to join, I run to Money Savings Methods and do a search. If Carrie has a link on her site, I click and join through her. That way, she can get credit for me joining.

Janet

Anjie Kay said...

yea I have had it on my blog for a long time, (can't believe you didn't see it?????????) anyway, I get paid via paypal from them NO MINIMUM EACH WEEK, today I made 40cents!

Carrie @ Moneysavingmethods.com said...

I did always see it way at the bottom and on Bekah's site at Motherhood Moment...but I never took the time to look into what it was. Bad me...I could have been making money reading ads all this time.

Until Marianne actually wrote about it ( I must have always just skimmed over the posts about it ).

Bummer...missed months of revenue.

Anonymous said...

how to you get all of the buttons (with links on the left side of your page) on your blog?

Carrie @ Moneysavingmethods.com said...

I created those on my own since Blogger didn't have a way to link to other page.

I have a separate blog set up for each of those pages and just made each blog to look exactly like the main page.

Then, I created the buttons for the side bar and have them link back to the "other" blog ( like the surveys blog ). But, I also have a menu bar across the top, so they can easily click home and go back to the main blog/page, Money Saving Methods.

Hope that makes sense.

 
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