Affiliate marketing is a type of performance-based marketing in which a business rewards one or more affiliates for each visitor or customer brought by the affiliate’s own marketing efforts. The industry has four core players 👉The merchant (also known as ‘retailer’ or ‘brand’), 👉The network (that contains offers for the affiliate to choose from and also takes care of the payments), 👉The publisher (also known as ‘the affiliate’), and 👉The customer. Affiliate marketing overlaps with other Internet marketing methods to some degree, because affiliates often use regular advertising methods. Those methods include organic search engine optimization (SEO), paid search engine marketing (PPC – Pay Per Click), e-mail marketing, content marketing and in some sense display advertising. On the other hand, affiliates sometimes use less orthodox techniques, such as publishing reviews of products or services offered by a partner. Affiliate marketing is commonly confused with referral marketing, as both forms of marketing use third parties to drive sales to the retailer. Affiliate Marketing Vs Referral Marketing However, both are distinct forms of marketing and the main difference between them is that affiliate marketing relies purely on financial motivations to drive sales while referral marketing relies on trust and personal relationships to drive sales. Affiliate marketing is frequently overlooked by advertisers. While search engines, e-mail, and website syndication capture much of the attention of online retailers, affiliate marketing carries a much lower profile. Still, affiliates continue to play a significant role in e-retailers’ marketing strategies. Read on the ten tips that will boost your affiliate marketing skills. Tip Number One: Choose an affiliate program that best suits your website or blog content. Tip Number Two: Don’t spam social media networking sites with your affiliate links. Tip Number Three: Choose wisely before joining an affiliate program because you would end up wasting your time and energy working for nothing. Tip Number Four: You need to pull enormous crowd to your blog for which your site has to be “Content-Rich“. Tip Number Five: Use shortened links to make your affiliate links not-so-obvious, ELSE you might end up losing followers and fans. Tip Number Six: Promote products with maximum revenue generation in the form of commissions. Tip Number Seven: Facebook though a best platform to promote, as it imbibes html codes and iframe syntax, in my opinion, twitter brings you more web traffic and in turn affiliate clicks. Tip Number Eight: You have to understand that it is not wise to fill the web page with too much of affiliate clutter, as it might work the otherway round. Yes, it will be a traffic driver out of your website or a blog. Tip Number Nine: The best way is to experiment with affiliate ‘mix and match‘ combination and Google Ad sense is by far the best as it sends suitable ads that matches your content. Tip Number Ten: Patience is the key to success. If somebody wants more idea on affiliate marketing, kindly contact me at managementguru.net@gmail.com This month the discussion is all about PASSIVE INCOME through Affiliate Marketing, Info Products, Online Training, Ebooks, CD’s and DVD’s. 5 Ways to Get Paid Multiple Times for the Same Work Here are five ways you can move from producing active income to producing passive income: Could you turn your expertise into a product? Yes, you are an expert. There are things you know or know how to do that you take for granted. You assume every one knows what you know. They don’t. Other people would happily pay you for your knowledge. Could you turn a series of blog posts or podcasts into an e-book or book? People will pay for the convenience of having your content all in one place. Plus, you can incorporate insights you get from reader feedback and take the content to the next level. Could you turn your coaching or consulting into products? When you find...

Why Inbound Marketing is Crucial to B2B Success Business consumers continue to reject traditional marketing strategies, while they are more interested in collecting info and learning about products before they buy without all the pressure of a regular sales pitch.     Pic Courtesy : Hubspot Kindling the interest is the best bet to reach a customer and begin building a relationship that will be rewarding down the line. The important thing is that inbound marketing makes it apparent that you care about their needs and want to guide them through the decision-making process.   Click this link to view and save popular Infographics on Inbound Marketing. Things You Didn’t Know About Inbound Marketing As we have moved into another fresh year, it is the right time to consider  your inbound marketing efforts.     What is Inbound Marketing? It is a marketing technique that focuses on helping your customers find you rather than going out to get your audiences’ attention. It is not about shouting out loud and propagating your product/ service’s unique selling propositions. It is about providing value to your customers – something that gives them information or is beneficial to them. It is about looking at various avenues for content marketing and driving traffic to your site. It is about channelizing blogs, podcasts, eBooks, videos, ezines, SEO, Social Media Marketing and all other types of content to invite  your customer.  Content marketing is the trend and doing it right is essential and not a choice.     Read this blog post on B2B Marketing Strategies that will help small business owners to capture the millenial market through content-driven lead generation. http://triple20.com/b2b-marketing-strategies/ Creating Content that brings Huge Traffic + ROI Break down your content marketing strategy Pretty much any good content marketing strategy has some combo of these goals: Raise brand awareness Generate more search traffic (target specific keywords) Improve search rankings (get backlinks) Drive email subscriptions / generate leads That’s how you should approach content marketing. Focus on three or four main types of content: Social-viral content (drives traffic, builds awareness) Evergreen content (keyword-focused, performs well in search) Link-earning content (generates links from other sites and publishers) Lead-gen content (upgrades or downloadable pieces in exchange for email address) Each piece you publish should help you PULL OFF at least one of your goals, but it doesn’t have to accomplish all of them. Pic Courtesy: Inbound Marketing Landscape Capturing search traffic Evergreen content is purpose-built for search. It’s there to GIVE answers to search queries or give guidance on particular topics that are often searched by a target market. Today’s Investment, Tomorrow’s Profit The investments you make today in THE FORM of helpful resources for your customers through blogs, email content  more actually turn into long term profits. The information you have compiled will continue to be searchable for all clients in the future and will continue to earn returns on a consistent basis. When done right, your web presence can be your single best salesman. What’s the Difference between Content Marketing and Inbound Marketing?   Both types of marketing occur online. Both CONCENTRATE on building  lasting relationships with leads, prospects, and customers. And they’re both focused on the creation of valuable content that educates and entertains audiences. Content marketing can improve brand awareness and visibility, generate leads, nurture leads, and ultimately convert them into customers who are ready to buy, and want to buy from your brand. Though inbound does rely heavily on content and it wouldn’t exist without it: it also includes other activities like, Marketing automation, Technical SEO, Product or service trials, Website design, and interactive tools all of which may fall outside of the scope...

Keep Making Awesome Viral Content “The first lesson in constructing viral content is having the strength, courage, and self-confidence to get in touch with your own feelings, thinking about what profoundly affects you. Ultimately virility is all about helping others express their reluctantly shared feelings while doing so from a safe distance.” Ken Poirot, Go Viral! Sometimes I feel that Twitter is better than Facebook for marketing as Twitter is an open platform where you can merrily promote your products all year round without spending a cent. On the contrary, Facebook though allows us to build a nice fan page, only 5% on an average see the products we promote through paid advertising. Provide a Solution to a Pressing Issue: Before writing anything, put yourselves in the shoes of your audience to see how your content may be able to solve their problems. Find burning questions using online forums, discussion groups and your customer support team. Also ask customers on social media what they need. Be An Expert in Your Field: Posting content that you are an expert in provides an ideal opportunity to implement a myth-busting topic. Depending on the content, use videos, infographics, checklists, listicles or how-to guides. Evergreen Content Stays for Longer: Trending topics have tremendous search and engagement benefits, so why not get the best of both worlds. You can create evergreen content and combine it with some of the hottest topics everyone is talking about. Find and Connect to the Right Niche: Many users love engaging and sharing content within their niche which presents an unique opportunity. Creat appealing and shareable content that appelas to them and they will post and re-post your content time and again. Effective content marketing is about mastering the art of story telling. Facts tell, but stories sell. Good content isn’t about good story telling. It’s about telling a true story...

How to Find Profitable Long Tail Keywords Did you know 70% of search traffic comes from LONG TAIL KEYWORDS where the focus is on intent and search user needs. New SEO techniques embark their focus on long tail searches to increase conversion rates and enhance performance metrics. Keyword Research The first step in any professional campaign is to do some keyword research and analysis. Keywords are phrases that people coin to find what they are looking for online. So, the wise thing to do is to write blog posts around a particular keyword phrase rather than a single keyword. You have to think like a common man when you want to promote your product. For example, if you are offering info on weight loss, you might want to specify the keyword phrase in such a manner to target the right audience looking for that particular information. See the following screenshot: How beautifully Google search gives you a clear idea on the popular search terms keyed in by people while looking for weight loss info is simply amazing… You can start from here to narrow down your keyword phrase and expand your ideas around it. Your focus should be on creating content to provide real value to the audience. And also focus on the audience it will attract. Why Long Tail Keywords are Important for SEO? Long–tail keywords are more specific keyword phrases that visitors are more likely to use when they’re closer to a point-of-purchase. Is a good product alone is sufficient for the selling to happen? A BIG NO. You might be having a good product, a great service, but does the world knows about it? Did you know, most of the users don’t  like to visit the second page of Google search? Such is the ferocity  of competition now-a-days and SEO optimizes your content to make search engines love your web pages. How to find Profitable Long Tail Keywords? It is much easier to rank for long tail keywords than for more common keywords. Another benefit is  that, although these keywords are used less in search, the visitor that finds your website using them is more likely to buy your service or product. If for example, a user intends to purchase a running shoes online, see the keyword variants offered by leading online giants to get listed in the first page of Google. “Running shoes for men” is the most common keyword phrase supplemented by “sports shoes” + “best prices” to attract target customers. Following are some of the best tools for finding long-tail keywords in any niche.  1. Google Search: 2. Answerthepublic: 3. Google Auto Suggest: 4. Uber Suggest: How to use Übersuggest for your keyword research and quickly find new keywords not available in the Google Keyword Planner. 5. Long Tail Pro: 6. Quora: Some of the questions asked in this platform are high volume keyword themselves, while others might help you in brain storming new ideas for your niche-related topics. Other useful but little known tools: Exploding Topics Google Webmaster Tools Google Trends Scrapebox Keywordtool.io Soovle HitTail WordTracker Keyword Tool Bing Keyword Research Tool Leave your comments...

Income Tax and PAN Card Info What is meant by Income Tax? A percentage of income earned by an individual or a company (complying to Indian laws) is paid in the form of tax to the government. This is called Income Tax. This comes under Income Tax Act constituted by Parliament of India. Department of income tax operates under Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance, Government of India. This is responsible for checking and collecting tax. Where should I pay Income Tax? Income tax should be paid to the I.T deparment. This is called income tax filing which is done at the end of July every year. What is the period for which a person’s income is taken into account for purpose of Income Tax? The income earned from April 1st to March 31st is considered for calculating income tax. This period is called a financial year. For example April 1, 2015 to March 31, 2016 is a financial year. This is also called previous year. What is an assessment year? The 12 month period that comes after the previous year is called an assessment year. This is the period to file income tax return for the previous year. For example, for the financial year 2015-16, the assessment year is 2016-17. During this period, a person files his return for the income earned in the previous year. How to file income-tax returns online What is PAN Number or Permanent Acount Number? PAN is a ten digit number issued by the Income Tax deparment. It also serves as a valid identity proof for an Indian citizen. PAN number is demanded at many places now-a-days. When you file income tax returns When you open a bank account or Demat account It is useful in applying telephone connection and credit card When you want to register for service tax and sales tax When you buy or sell a vehicle When you deposit or withdraw money to the tune of Rs.50,000 in the bank or post office, PAN is a must If you want to invest in mutual funds If you are buying a property worth more than 5 Lakhs When you exchange large volume of foreign currency (over and above Rs.25,000), you need to submit your PAN CARD. Even when you buy GOLD , giving your PAN number has become mandatory after the DEMONETIZATION EFFORTS taken by the government recently on November 8, 2016. PAN card Dont’s… Same person having more than one PAN card is an offence. You have to submit any one card to the income tax department and update your info. You can be charged a fine of upto Rs.10,000 if you are found to have more than one PAN card. If somebody puts the PAN card to mis-use he might be fined and subject to imprisonment too. You can view your PAN card details in their website. If you apply for PAN card through private agents, kindly check whether your details are updated in the government website. Issue of PAN card PAN card issuing has been made very simple. You will be asked to fill up  FORM 49-A and attach your address proof (Aadhar card or Ration card). The form can be downloaded from the following addresses online: www.tin-nsdl.com http://www.incometaxindia.gov.in/Pages/form-pan.aspx Also you get these forms issued by the IT PAN and TIN service centres. Having a PAN card doesn’t mean that you have to pay Income Tax. It is to facilitate people to pay Income Tax when their income levels warrants for paying tax. A Complete Tutorial on Financial Markets and...