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I wanted to use the word “honesty” in the title for this blog post, but I expect the word “Lying” will pull more attention. However don’t let that mislead you, this article is about using honesty in your marketing, not lying.

At the start of September you may recall StomperNet offered their Stomping The Search Engines 2 course for the cost of shipping if you were willing to try their new print newsletter. They made money off this offer because of the multiple upsells involved during the ordering process and the potential for rebills if customers decided to stay subscribed to the print newsletter.

I had no problem with this offer, in fact I thought it was a good deal and promptly blogged about it and sent a notice to my newsletter too.

Besides a brief hiccup that killed the opening day, StomperNet did well, and many of you, my readers, grabbed the offer.

A few days later Brad and Andy at StomperNet decided to up the ante a little and with the help of many of their top Internet marketing friends, put together a bonus package that was, well, a little over the top.

Guys like Ed Dale, Jeff Johnson, Jeff Walker, Rich Schefren, Mike Filsaime, Paul Colligan and Shawn Casey (and others) gave everything from teleseminar downloads, audio files, free months in coaching programs, reports and more on top of what was already offered by StomperNet, just for the cost of shipping. That offer has since passed, though you can still buy the course and trial the first month of the newsletter if you pay for sending it to you.

Why Do They Do This?

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Gobala Krishnan, one of my favorite Asian Internet marketers and one of my top selling affiliates for Blog Mastermind (I’ve sent him several hundred dollars worth of commissions every month for a year now) just released a brand new course Super Affiliate Blogger.

I have to admit I’m a bit ticked off that he’s done this because I have it on the cards to release my own training course for people wanting to use blogs for affiliate marketing, however since my program is probably at least six months away I’m okay with Gobala getting the jump on me. He uses a different system to what I do anyway, so it’s worth checking out his methods.

Here’s what Gobala’s new program is about -

Super Affiliate Blogger is more than just an e-book; it’s a complete system for affiliate marketing with blogs. It comes with a special link tracking system, special list building system and most importantly the customized Super Affiliate Pro WordPress themes. The theme is the most important factor here, as without this theme you will not be able to follow the instructions in the guide.

Click here for more details…

Gobala uses Pay Per Click (PPC) to drive traffic to his strategically crafted WordPress blog themes that focus on pre-selling an affiliate product. This is something I do not do - I’m not using PPC at all - I rely only on organic traffic and direct repeat visitors when I sell affiliate products from my blog.

Gobala’s system works with other forms of traffic too, however the great thing about PPC is that the traffic is instant - you switch it on and it flows and you can be making money in a matter of hours. Of course you have to pay money with PPC, so this is not something you want to get wrong for too long or you will lose money, you need to tweak things until you get a positive return on investment, which is what Gobala teaches.

The idea with Gobala’s system is to use a WordPress blog as a “landing page” that is themed and has content designed to pre-sell the visitor on an affiliate product. Obviously the plan is for as many visitors as possible to click the affiliate link on that blog post and then purchase the product, which is how the revenue is generated.

Gobala also makes use of targeted email lists he builds using his affiliate blogs, which is something I can wholeheartedly agree with (I’m all about email list building). His package actually comes with a plug-in called “opt-in forms manager system” that makes the technical part of adding an email list opt-in form to your blog easy. This is something I have to check out myself because I’ve wanted to get a service like this to my students too. If you purchase Super Affiliate Blogger from Gobala you get the plug-in.

Gobala provides a workbook that teaches the system, camtasia videos, a quickstart guide and a bunch of other stuff you can check out on the sales page. One of the best inclusions I think is custom designed WordPress themes you can put to use immediately to implement his system. They are crafted to sell certain types of affiliate products and are set up to use the tracking methods that Gobala teaches.

Testing and tracking is not something most bloggers do when it comes to affiliate marketing and it’s great to see a product that includes this topic and even provides blog themes to make the process easier. Props to Gobala for coming out with such a great feature.

Does This System Work?

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This is part three of the ongoing product launch case study taking you behind the scenes of the Blog Mastermind relaunch using video.

Once again if you want instant updates of new videos and other related content, please follow me on Twitter (twitter.com/yarostarak).

This video continues from where we left off last video reviewing affiliate technology, but this time we look at how to recruit affiliates to promote your product.

Websites Mentioned

Blog Mastermind Affiliate Program

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If you are ready to join my affiliate program, you can do so here -

http://www.blogmastermind.com/affiliates/signup/

Back in December 07 I closed the doors to Blog Mastermind. The reason I did so was to upgrade the back-end system that delivered the course and the affiliate program. I’m pleased to say the upgrade is done.

I’m in Toronto now. I haven’t quite found where I am going to live (I’m with family at the moment), but I have settled back into a working routine and my focus is opening the doors to Blog Mastermind to take a new group of eager blogging students on board.

The course will open to new students again in a few weeks. I’ll let you know the exact date very soon.

What I can invite you to join today is the new affiliate system if you are interested in making money by promoting my program to your readers.

Make Money Promoting The Blog Mastermind Training Program

Blog Mastermind has been closed since December 10th 2007, so it’s nearly 6 months since anyone was allowed in.

There is serious pent-up demand for the program, so much so that I’ve already had a bunch of people ask how they can join Blog Mastermind and I’ve told them they have to wait.

This represents a great opportunity for affiliates who have an audience who are interested in blogging, making money online and Internet business. If this is you, then put aside some time in the next few weeks leading up to early June to participate in my relaunch by writing a few blog posts and mailing to your email list if you have one.

The program pays out 50% recurring commission on monthly membership fees. Our retention rate is very good because I’ve had a year to refine the training and add new materials. It’s a solid six month course and there really isn’t any blog specific training system out there like it today, taught by someone who went from no-one online to become a professional blogger.

I’ve got some great resources you can promote with, including the highly acclaimed Blog Profits Blueprint, as well as some new content just for this relaunch.

All the promo banners, links, blog articles and other resources are in the affiliate area you gain access to after you join and there are copy-and-paste options to make things easy for you.

I’ve also got something extra planned for this launch - prizes! I’m running a competition including prizes for the top 10 affiliates. Do I hear MacBook Air anyone?

All of the details regarding everything I’ve mentioned are available after you join my affiliate program. To apply, just fill out the form on this page and follow the instructions -

http://www.blogmastermind.com/affiliates/signup/

Message For My Existing Affiliates

The new affiliate system completely replaces the old one, so even if you are already an affiliate of mine you must sign up and create a new account with the new system. You also have to replace your old link with the new one you receive after you sign-up so we can track your new sales.

I look forward to working with you!

Yaro Starak
Blog Mastermind Mentor

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I’ve been affiliate marketer for almost as long as I have been a blogger and it’s amazing how much you learn as you go along.

I was very frustrated by nearly all of the affiliate promotions run on my blog during the first two years or so. Each time I published a blog post that focused on an affiliate offer I had such a poor response, on several occasions I thought about giving up blogging altogether. Yet, over time, things would prove worthwhile, as sales began to trickle in.

I expected a rush of sales after posting a blog post affiliate promotion, like all the Internet marketers talk about, and was disappointed when it didn’t happen to me. Instead my sales “dripped” in, one every now and then over the days and weeks that followed, which was certainly not as exciting as $1,000+ in 24 hours just from writing one email, as others claim happened to them.

Those early days taught me that patience is a virtue when it comes to building an affiliate marketing business based on a blog. I’ve learned a lot about what goes into effective affiliate marketing since then, yet in many ways, I still walk into most promotions completely blind and with little expectation. You never know how well something will sell and I’m constantly surprised by my results.

What Pricing Point Should You Promote As An Affiliate?

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