Well, my blog has lain silent this week save for the odd tumbleweed spinning through.  I’ve come up with a lot of post ideas… but I can’t quite get them to make sense.  Same deal with work.  I’m getting some stuff done, but mostly I’m sitting with my head abuzz jumping from one task to the next without really doing much work.

Why?  Because my head is full.   Nothing’s happening.  The cogs have ceased up.

So. Seeing as I’ve posted so much info that people have found useful, Y’all are going to help me out.  You’re all going to sit there and “listen” whilst I terrify you with the inner workings of my fevered mind.

Kirstys List of AARRRGGGHHHH

• Calls to action – could they be better on my sites?  How, what’ll I do?  How shall I test it?  Can I be assed to do split testing?
• Figleaves. Whatever next?  Why aren’t they converting like they used to? Are they taking the piss?  Where would the £XX,XXX  to replace my annual commission from them come from if they shut.  What process to identify and test new merchants?
• What should I do this year to diversify, how can I make sure that time is being spent in the most profitable way possible?  Where should my business be going?
• Why oh why do people keep contacting me and saying “we’re really keen for you to promote merchant X,Y & Z” and then when I respond and ask for a teeny bit of easy to provide info do they NOT EFFING REPLY?????????
• Credit crunch – oh brother!  All the rules have changed, the laws of conversion and seasonality no longer apply.  Or do they?  What will happen?  Why are some of the big brands not converting for highly targeted traffic?!
• The growth of my Lingerie Site. I’m adding 10 new categories a week. How long can it stay as a WordPress blog, what’ll I do about that massive category list, why won’t any of the many pagination plugins out there bloody well work so I can improve my cross linkage?!
• For that matter, when I’m growing the site… who should I give my time to.  What merchants will work, whom should I trial now, who will perform well later in the year?  Who’s gonna turn out to be the arsehole that causes me aggro?
• The Australia Dollar / GBP exchange rate is up and down like a YoYo on acid.  My income value is going up and down like I don’t know what.  I agonise over exchange rate data daily.  How can I plan what to do this year when I’ve no idea of the “real” cost when the bill comes????
• God its hot.  It’s so bloody hot I can’t think.   I sit sweating at my desk all day waiting for the fan to blow some hot air in my direction.  Whose idea was it to put the office in this room?  Oh feck, it was mine.  Should I buy an airconditioner.  Is that environmentally wrong?
• Google Analytics has gone all “Winky Wanky Woo” on one of my sites.  Its recording PPC traffic as organic traffic, its driving me mad and ruining my nice stats.  How will I fix that?
• My new Australian site is going great guns.  What’ll I do next in the Aussie search space?  How can I improve what I already have further?  What next for the SEO.
• What’ll I do about this link campaign I’ve signed up for and can’t bring myself to sort out?
• AAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

*Ahem.  I’m off to hide in the airconditioned livingroom.  Normal service will be resumed when I straighten myself out. Whisky will be taken and a notepad will be filled.

Wish me luck

Like many people who shoot their mouth off on the internet, I’m too dumb / busy to always practise what I preach!  I’ve been thinking about this blog and how it has done in the 18 months since I started it.  Most sites will enjoy a gradual build of traffic as more and more top quality content is added.

So how do Affiliate Stuff’s Organic Traffic Stats Look?

I think we will refer to this sort of look as an “SEO Flatline”!  This is in contrast to another blog I’ve been running for around 6 months, and working on steadily for the past 12 weeks or so: -

As you can see, there’s a most pleasing gentle upward curve in my Google organic traffic. A stark contrast to my blog which is clearly “in the SEO doldrums”.

So What Did You Do Wrong Kirsts?

Well, I didn’t take all my own fabulous advice!  I haven’t done anything to deal with the duplicate content or weak linkage structure issues that the WordPress platform seems to cause.

But Now I’m Drawing My Line in The Sand

I thought it would be a neat wee experiment to see what the effects of following my own advice turn out to be.  Just how much traffic have I been missing out on?  Could I have been top of the blogging pops?!  This weekend I am going to add a bit of SEO bling via a variety of excellent plugins such as Joost De Valk’s Meta Robots and RSS Footer plugins which no self respecting blog should be without *ahem*

In 3 months time, I’ll report back and let y’all see the results… if it’s a success it’ll be proof positive that all these WordPress plugins we all keep banging on about really do super charge that SEO!

You Didn’t think I was just going to leave you hanging with a post about why you’ll fail?  Nah, now that I’ve knocked you down I’m gonna build you up!

First off, we need to get you feeling inspired.  Before you do anything else, listen to the following songs.  When you’ve done that, go to itunes, download them and play every time you go near a computer – to remind you of what you’re supposed to be doing there!  These are all songs I personally listen to when I’m getting motivation deficient.  So I thought I’d share.

So Here It Is – Kirsty’s Inspirational Music List

*I’ve provided YouTube links after each title I could find videos for so you may revel in their wonderfulness whilst reading this post!

• What A Beautiful Day – The Levellers – listen
• The Middle – Jimmy Eat World – listen
• Minority – Green Day – listen
• Don’t Stop Me Now – Queen – listen
• Creep – Radiohead (but get the rude version if you can!) – listen
• Crazy – Gnarls Barkley – listen
• Money, Money, Money – Abba – listen
• Born Slippy – Underworld – listen
• Choose Life – PF Project – listen
• Slave to the Wage – Placebo – listen
• Think About The Way – Ice MC – listen
• Barbers Adgio for Strings – William Orbit – listen
• Hands Up – Black Eyed Peas – listen
• All The Small Things – Blink 182 – listen
• Dragostea Din Tea – O-Zone – listen (also watch the Gary Brolsma vid. hilarious!)
• Maroon – Ken Nordine – listen (and if this doesn’t show you the connection between AM and a love of manipulating words, nothing will!)

OK, now that we’ve got you all nice and fired up for some affiliate action we have to make sure you can sustain your “work vibe”.

Kirsty’s Motivation Downloads

Yep, that’s right.  I’ve prepared some motivational materials. Use them wisely!

First off, open and print This Image. Put it in the wall in a place near your computer, where you can glance at it easily.  It’ll remind you what you’re aiming for and keep you philosophical when things go slightly awry.

Secondly, print off this simple Task Planner. This should also go on the wall, front and centre.  If you simply can’t get started or keep up the pressure, use this to designate what you should be doing every week.  Don’t start off with a massive workload, it won’t be sustainable.  Just designate yourself one quick task every day for the first while and get used to regularly meeting your self-imposed targets.  Some examples of quick tasks you could do in a few minutes are:  -

• Write a 200 word article or blog post
• Modify 20 page titles to improve SEO
• Find 5 potential link exchanges
• Put links for merchant Y up on home page
• Configure new SEO WordPress Plugin

When you complete your daily tasks, reward yourself with a tick.  Or a coloured sticker.  Whatever you fancy.  You’d be surprised how good this can feel!

Make sure you do one thing each and every day to move towards your affiliate goal.  If you can’t even do a ten minute task and get it live online – you’re wasting your time.  You’ll never succeed.

Use What You Learn From This To Plan A Longer Term Strategy and Set Some Realistic Goals

Using a mini-task approach you will soon work out how long certain tasks take you.  Use this information to work out how you can progress with your affiliate business on a quarterly basis.  The best way to do this is to set yourself a sustainable amount of time per day / week you will spend on affiliate marketing and work out what comprises a successful “Day’s Work”.  Make sure this is well within your boredom limits or you won’t be able to keep going!

Here’s an example from my own current work schedule.  I’ve designated what constitutes a reasonable day of work for me this quarter and how long it will take: -

• Stats, existing PPC management, and ideas / research – 1.5 hours.
• New PPC campaigns – 2 hours.
• Creation of 6 x 250 word articles and 6 x 150 word articles for site X – 4 hours.

Using this method I have worked out I can re-vamp my main site, adding lots of new merchants, and fresh content by the first week in March, have another site I have half completed all finished by mid-march, and a completely new Mens fashion site completed at the same time.  By mid March I’ll have no less than 600 new pages on the internet making me money via PPC and SEO.  Not bad eh?  And to think a lot of you will spend that ten weeks kidding yourself on you’re working.  Oh, the other thing this method does is tell me that it is OK to stop working!

Affiliate success is as simple as getting yourself organised, setting a schedule, and sticking to it.  Of course, you’ll need to be doing the right thing to make money.  But above all, do SOMETHING… for the love of god!!

Anyone else like to share their organisational tips?

Unlucky for some!!  Was finally getting your affiliate business off the ground / in order one of your new years resolutions?  I bet there’s loads of people out there who stood up on new years day and said,

“RIGHT!  2009 is my year, this is it.  I’m gonna get out there and rule the affiliate world!!”

But I know that 90% of people who made that promise will fail.  I’m in contact with a lot of different people at various stages of the revenue generation process, and I thought y’all might benefit my insight into why a lot of them don’t progress.

So here it is… the definitive guide to stuffing up your chances of a flexible lifestyle.  Follow it at your own peril!!

1. You spend all your time reading about too-good-to-be true affiliate success stories and fantasising about what you’ll do with your millions, and don’t start any of your own projects.
2. You stuff around on Facebook, WOW, A4uForum, Bebo, and pretend you’re working.  You’re not!
3. You don’t really want to put any work in, and keep on looking for get rich quick schemes.  They don’t exist. They don’t work, and you keep on getting sucked in by promises of riches beyond the wildest dreams of avarice.
4. You come up with good ideas and can’t seem to do anything about them.
5. You keep on registering domains and researching niches but when it comes to the hard yards you can’t be assed.
6. The first thing you try doesn’t work, so you give up.  You idiot!
7. You have a small success. You rest on your laurels rather than keeping pushing on.  Much to your surprise your business doesn’t quadruple whilst you sit doing nothing.
8. You can’t quite work out which of your ideas to pursue… so you do nothing.
9. Google / Search engine of your choice changes something to do with quality score rules and you form the opinion that its Google in the wrong and not your site, so you do nothing about it.  Much to your surprise, your revenue dries up completely. You take the huff and give up.  (nb, nothing isn’t always the wrong thing to do where Google is concerned…. but youse know what I mean!!)
10. Similar to 9, you have been making some money but your merchant or network changes the rules and you don’t know how to create other revenue streams because you’ve not been staying ahead of the game and diversifying into different areas. You take the huff and give up.  Those rotten buggers were mean to you.
11. Checking stats is NOT working!
12. You want someone to tell you exactly how to make money.  And nobody will despite repeated forum posts and e-mails to prominent affiliates requesting all their money making secrets.  How Rude!!
13. As a total newbie you decide to domainate the world of  bingo / gambling.  Despite the huge commissions on offer you discover that 25% recurring commisson on nothing is, in fact, nothing.

Well, I could go on and on… but I think y’all get the idea.  I plan to try and write some more positive posts soon about how you can avoid these various common malaises.  If you have any ideas for these posts do please Drop Me a Line.

Ahhh…. well, we flew back in from our holiday in New Zealand the day before yesterday.  After 3 glorious weeks over Christmas and New Year its time to put the affiliate nose back to the revenue grindstone.

Duncan and I had a great time spending Christmas and New Year with his extended family and generally seeing a bit more of the gorgeous New Zealand scenery.  It might be a small country, but boy do they ever pack some beautiful stuff in there.

Because I know many of you are cold and freezing, I’m going to be really horrid and show you some of the piccies from our wee trip!

Boxing Day – My First Ever Cricket Match!

My new in-laws tried to convert me to the intriguing world of Cricket by taking me to the boxing day 20 20 match.  NZ V’s West Indes. As you can see, I was more interested in the behaviour of the cricket hooligans.  I’d no idea people got arrested at Cricket matches and had a jolly old evening watching people being forceably removed from the terraces.

Oh, and NZ lost in a nailbiting playoff at the end.  That was quite good too (but a bit of crowd trouble would have spiced it up no end!).

Visiting Family Friends For a BBQ Lunch

This place puts our humble home to shame.  What an amazing view to have from your house!

New Years Day – Off To The Beach

Yep, we spent New Years day at Gorgeous Piha Beach on the West Coast and climbed Lions Rock.  We then stayed on and had a bit of a BBQ on the beach, and watched the sun go down….

Ahhh… it was terrible.  Good food, fine wine, and natures splendour in all its glory to begin 2009!

But It’s All Over Red Rover… And Back To Work

My first day back at work has actually been pretty good.  I was up with the birds (well, you can’t help that actually they’re rather loud!) and got into starting to revamp and restructure my Lingerie Site for 2009.  I’ll be adding shedloads of new content from new merchants and am determined to create a huge shopping resource.

I hope to be coming up with all sorts of interesting posts for the blog in 2009 and already have heaps of ideas for all new and exciting affiliate-related content, fun, and the usual old nonsense from me.  Do please drop me a line if you have any good “Ask Kirsty” questions.

Take care everyone, and here’s to a productive 2009!

Hello Affiliate pop pickers, and a very happy new year to the lot of you!  I hope you had a great time hanging out with your nearest and dearest.  I’m still holidaying in New Zealand, hence my lack of posts over the festive season.

It’s at this time of year that we see a lot of posts either talking about how an affiliate business has gone during the previous year, or about  industry predictions for the year to come.  I’ve decided I’m not too interested in exploring any of that on this blog.  I feel that in these uncertain economic times what I am going to do myself in the coming year is more important that what others will be up to, and that what I plan to do in 2009 will define my success FAR more than what I did in 2008!

So to help me keep my affiliate gravy train on track during the economic doom and gloom, I’ve come up with some New Years resolutions to shape my approach to work during the next 12 months.  In January 2010 I’ll see if I’ve stuck to them!

My Resolutions

• I will focus my marketing activities with networks who have taken the time to know who I am. This isn’t about ego stroking, its about security.  I also know these self same networks are far more likely to make sure I get paid if things go tits up, and to help me if I need some direction with promotions during difficult market conditions.  In case anyone is interested, Webgains, Paid on Results, Affiliate Future, and Linkshare are top of my “To Do” list.  Agencies who I currently think highly of are RO EYE and Existem.
• I will use my time more effectively by defining quarterly progress targets based on a conservative estimate of what I can get done in a day, and planning my activities several weeks in advance.  This might also stop me from overworking and neglecting my husband.  With that in mind…
• I will get better at not working on my days off.  This will probably make me more productive on my scheduled work days as I do have a distressing tendency to bore myself with the internet if I’m involved with it too many days running.
• I will focus my activities in areas I know I can make money – I will do this by testing, testing, testing, and then testing some more before I put in shed loads of work.  Sometimes I’ve been caught out by the assumption that something I’ve tested in one way will work in another. i.e. Direct to merchant success does not immediately mean an affiliate landing page arrangement will work so well.
• I will get better at asking for enhanced commission rates – A Scottish work ethic can sometimes do you a disservice.  I have had a tendency to not ask about enhanced commissions for volume in the past, thinking I need to work hard first thus shooting myself in the financial foot.  Merchants tend not to want to pay extra for volume they’re already getting.
• I will outsource some activities rather than trying to do everything myself – Sometimes you just gotta let go.  With that in mind, I’ve just signed up to the ContentNow link building service.  I’ll be letting you all know exactly how it pans out in due course (no pressure Kieron and Simon!!).
• I will take my own advice and start some mini sites about new areas that interest me so I can get a feel for new markets and opportunities.  With that in mind, I’ve already started a new blog site all about solar panel products.  Apart from researching this new market, I find the subject matter very interesting so it’ll help me stay fresh and enthusiastic about affiliate marketing.
• I will venture into new countries to make me less vunerable to changes in the exchange rate. This is causing me some issues right now as Sterling is up and down like a mad thing. At the moment my income is worth 20% less than it has been because of the weakness of the Pound agains the Aussie dollar. With that in mind, I’ve already managed to create the beginnings of a very healthy revenue stream in Australian dollars (with a merchant I remembered to negotiate an enhanced commission structure with!).
• I’ll try and encourage Duncan to feel the same passion I do for affiliate marketing by getting him involved in some sites that interest him personally.  At the moment he has a good understanding of the process, but I think the love of the job is eluding him because he’s a step removed from the sharp end of the gig.  Apart from anything else, its ridiculous that he’s not using his knowledge and passion for diving (or any of the many diving related domains I’ve bought him!).

I think that’s probably enough in the way of new years resolutions to keep me going for a little while.  I feel very positive about this coming year and think I can ride out the recession with a bit of hard work and organisation (not pissing off on holiday for 3 months at a time will also help!).

Whilst We’re On The Subject, Here is a Small List Of Personal Resolutions.  I Will…

• Finally learn to cook something beyond my one-pot specials from my student days.
• Introduce myself to all of my new neighbours.  Then invite them over for a drink!
• Employ a gardener so Duncan doesn’t spend every weekend mowing and weeding.
• Get better at sending birthday cards to my friends children.
• Offset the carbon from all the flying I do
• Compost things rather than sending them to the landfill.
• Plant a vegetable garden.
• Not shoot the local Bush Turkeys when they dig the above up.
• Be less afraid of spiders.
• Get better at saying “NO” to people.  Even if it upsets them a bit. (If you see me in 2009 and you think I’m smiling too much, ask me the reason for this one. I can guarantee you’ll soon be telling me to “turn that frown upside down” or, in extreme cases, passing me a box of tissues.)
• Buy myself a new car.  It won’t be a BMW or a Porsche so don’t expect a “look at my new bling” post.  I don’t drive enough to justify a “super affiliate car”!
• Take some time out every week to do a bit of art and craft.
• Count to ten more often
• Eventually get around to changing my name to “Mrs McKenzie” on bank accounts and similar.
• Pay off 20% of my mortgage.

Here’s to a happy and healthy 2009 for all of my friends, family, and of course all you fabulous blog readers (some of whom are also in the first two categories!).