Well, once again I’m delighted to have been put on the shortlist for the Affiliate Blog award at the 2008 Affiliate Marketing Awards.

It’s really fantastic to have had people pay me the huge compliment of giving this blog the nod because they’ve enjoyed reading my random outpourings on here. I am made up, so thanks all!

Affiliate Cinderella Has to Stay At Home…
The only injustice here is that I’m not going to be able to attend the Awards Ceremony on June 5th at the Park Lane Hotel, London. Anyone who knows me well will know that it has long been an ambition of mine to don a designer frock and attend just such a glittering occasion. *sigh* This wannabe glammed up affiliate dolly bird will just have to wait for another time

The other esteemed blog nominees are: -

• Jason Dale (www.onelittleduck.co.uk)
• Kieron Donoghue (www.here.org.uk)
• Lee McCoy (www.leemccoy.co.uk)
• Paul Wheatley (www.mooseontheloose.co.uk)

I read all of these blogs regularly and am delighted to see them up for the big prize. Particularly Jason, who’s often hilarious take on the world of the affiliate (and a fair bit of affiliate politics), is an extremely refreshing read. You got my vote Jason!

You Can Vote For Your Best Affiliate Blog Choice Here (and all the other awards also!). I’m not sure it’s entirely fair that Kieron only gets to hold last years title for 8 months - but hey, there’s every chance that won’t matter if he wins again!

Good Luck To All Nominees!

P.S. - Might I point out that once again Duncan hasn’t bothered his bahookie voting for me, despite being an A4U member. Still, not to worry. He can think about that when he’s sleeping on the couch this evening

Just as a follow up to my last post, after I’d went on and on about how you should write copy for SEO a few people came back to me and said “But I can’t write at all? What’ll I Do? Should I Give Up on Affiliate Marketing If SEO Copy Is So Important?”

There Is Another Way…
For the last week I’ve been getting Duncan to help me out with copy. He has never been able to express himself in the written format as he has some quite serious issues with managing to get it all to “make sense” on paper. However, Duncan is a very articulate person in terms of being able to discuss things verbally. Given that I’m currently completely stacked out with mountains of copy waiting to be written, and don’t need much in terms of the technical work and graphics Dunc usually does for me, we decided something had to be done!

We’d heard mixed reports about speaking software (the stuff that writes down what you say), but decided… “what the hell, we’ll give it a go!”

So We Took The Plunge And…

We tried Dragon Naturally Speaking - And although it’s far from perfect (I was going to do a tally of how many times Duncan has said the word “F*ck” as a result of trying to train it to understand him but totally lost count!). It has given him the ability to come up with articles that are nicely structured and only need a small amount of editing to remove a small number of “funnies” that the software seems to put in there.

It has gotten better all the time mind you, so we’re expecting that he will get quicker and quicker using it as the software “gets used” to the way he speaks.

Phew…
It’s a huge relief to have him contributing in this way as the need for content surrounding every new brand and merchant was becoming a bit of a bottleneck in our operation, despite us having the help of one or two people with some copy. It’s one of the reasons I’m not able to blog as much at the moment, and I’m really, really missing writing in this blog as it helps me wind down in the evenings. Hopefully Dunc’s new role as a copywriter will help me get back to posting more often.

The Verdict - It’s Worth A Go If You’re Having Bother…
All in all, I have to say if you can talk about something but you have bother writing about it, you can probably use this software as a way to create your own copy. At £110, it’s not cheap but then you’d use that amount for 2 or 3 articles from a copywriter.

We bought our copy from Amazon.co.uk for £110 which was £40 off the RRP (nb, that’s not an affiliate link!)

Duncan Says….
That he feels the system resources the product description says you require are actually underestimated. This software is quite resource heavy and we had to upgrade the RAM in his computer to make it work properly. Therefore he thinks you’d need at least a 2 GHZ processor and at least 1000MB RAM to actually make the software function as it was intended.

If you use this software, let us know how you get on. Like I say, it’s not perfect but its really helped us out!

So you want to get in on some of this exciting travel paid for by affiliate marketing? Then this is a great opportunity to get into it!

It’s not often that I’m impressed enough to spontaneously advertise a merchant’s new programme and incentives, but those genius lads at Sunshine.co.uk have come up with a total beauty. Their new incentive means even total beginners are in with a chance of a free week’s holiday. And it’s Sooooo simple it’s almost painful.

For the last wee while Sunshine have been running a really simple series of “missions” designed to entice people who have never worked in the travel sector before into promoting them. Two of my friends have already won holidays just for setting up a site and popping up a couple of pages of content! I like them odds

Interested? OK here’s what you have to do!
First of all you need a site related to an area of Sunshine.co.uk. It can be about one of their resorts, holiday region, or based on a country.

Second, add two pages of content about their hotels or resorts. Then e-mail Chris, the friendly Sunshine.co.uk affiliate manager and tell him you want to be in on his holiday promo. More details on this and some other things you’ll need to tell Chris here.

Don’t Know How To Set Up A Site?
Don’t forget to read my Wordpress 101 Guide. It has everything you need to get your first site up there and fighting.

You don’t have an excuse not to try this, and I can assure you that the feeling of travel through the powers of affiliate marketing is one of the most deeply satisfying experiences you’ll ever have!

Greetings! Just a short post to see if there might be any Sunshine Coast residents I don’t know about lurking around in my subscribers?

I’m trying to organise a small and friendly Sunshine Coast affiliate meet on a weekend afternoon quite soon. I’ve already drummed up a handful of people, and thought I’d do a wee blog post just in case there were any affiliates or wannabe affiliates reading on here.

It’ll be very friendly (because I will be there, lol) so if you’re interested, don’t be shy and do drop me a line via my Contact Form or even leave me a wee message in the comments field below. It would be great to see anyone from the local area!

All together now!

“Happy Birthday To Me….”

Hurahh!! I have just realised that it is exactly one year to the very day since I started writing this blog. It only seems like five minutes ago since I wrote my first ever blog post about Google Checkout Not Tracking. A couple of weeks later I realised people might actually be interested in what I had to say about matters affiliate related when I wrote about my passion for this business and how I thought AM was The Greatest Job In The Universe.

Since then I’ve gathered over 400 subscribers (thanks guys) and have really enjoyed exploring my own love of the business. I have enjoyed helping other people understand the mechanics of affiliate marketing and attempting to infect them with my enthusiasm even more, and hope to continue doing so for a very long time to come!

To celebrate the blog’s first birthday I’ve commissioned a brand new custom blog theme, as the current one is looking a bit past it and old.

I’d also like to throw the floor open and see if anyone has any areas they’d like to see their roving affiliate reporter talking about. I’ve got lots of ideas for some great posts, and now that we are settled into our new home in Australia… I should have lots more time to get into a bit of blogging. So if you want to know more about anything not already covered, or if you’ve ever sent me an Ask Kirsty I didn’t get around to replying to… now is your big chance! Contact Me Here, don’t be shy!

We are celebrating here tonight with wine and fine food… all in the name of Affiliate Marketing.

Cheers Everyone!!

Alright, so after my outburst regarding someone ripping off my site content and structure I spent a bit of time having a good old think (It all got sorted out super quick, and Paul sent me a nice apology, which I accepted).

Anyhoo… after my post someone commented that it was my own fault for letting on to people about my site. They may even have loosely suggested that only an idiot would post their original ideas online. Another point was that people copy product areas and structures all the time. Business is business etc.

Now, it’s unlike me to agree with those who have disagreed with my POV… but these comments are actually quite accurate! Well, I dunno about me being an idiot but those who’ve seen me after 15 whisky and cokes might disagree

BUT (and y’all knew that was coming didn’t you?)

I have always held the conviction, no the absolute knowledge that even if I show people my sites, my work, my entire process, they will most likely not be able to monetise my ideas the way that I can. Why? Because they come from my affiliate mindset… not theirs. Everyone thinks differently about affiliate marketing.

You Can Steal My Sites, But You’ll Never Get My Brain!!
The true way to succeed is total originality. OK, you can make a buck and even a decent living by closely copying what others are doing… but you’ll never have that BMW in the drive or the beach house in the exotic location of your choice.

My convictions on this matter were strengthened considerably when I saw a site “inspired” by mine. Although it was very similar, I could see immediately it would…

a ) Get a google slap at the next Adwords QS festival as the depth of content I’d put into my own version was not there

b ) That although the general structure had been replicated, they did not have the benefit of my extensive experience regarding how consumers behave in a buying pattern within the site’s sector. This meant their deep linking, product placement, and link placement was totally wrong. So although the page generally looked like mine…. it simply wouldn’t push visitors through to merchant as effectively.

So What Does It Come Down To?
It comes down to creating your own process guys. Work out what you are interested in, find your own niche, get REALLY familiar with all the merchants in that niche and create your very own affiliate work of art. There are no shortcuts in all of this. Put your effort into something original, something you can truly call your own and NOBODY will be able to take it away from you…. because an original affiliate will never really lose out. People may try… they may even make money. But your income will be safe, because you’ll have ownership of your techniques and be able to replicate and scale to your hearts desire.

Your counterfeit affiliates will only have the scraps you leave behind.

So if you’re on the outside… the inner workings of the mind of an affiliate seems like a strange and mystical thing indeed, doesn’t it? Affiliates are quite clearly King Midas personified. Everything they touch turns to pure internet gold. They are blessed with an uncanny ability to make money. If you fail at affiliate marketing once, thats it. You should give up cos you’re clearly crap. Right?

Ummm… wrong!

I have an earth shattering nugget of information… Affiliates in every shape, size and form are normal human beings, and they make bad judgements at times as well. OK, they usually offset them with their good judgements. But, to kick off this insight into the affiliate mindset I thought it would be good to show you a few examples of affiliates having bad ideas or getting something badly wrong.

One of the best examples I found was from one of the most famous affiliate success stories - ShoeMoney Himself. In a great post, Jeremy details his top ten worst ever business ideas, including my personal favourite… an idea to garner advertising revenue from “Topless Chix In A Ferrari Cross Country”.

The Domains I’ve Bought Whilst Drunk pale in comparison to some of Jeremy’s bloopers! Well, except my idea for a sex toy reward points site… that’s kinda similar in the lameness stakes,

Affiliates make mistakes too. Big mistakes. Let us not forget the massive lapse in judgement which occurred when a Tesco’s affiliate decided to register lots of naughty domain names, attempted to argue at the High Court they were totally entitled to the £26,688 in commissions which Tesco reversed, and umm…. Lost!

Rights and wrongs of any of the above aside… you can bet that the affiliates who fell foul of Tescos are still making money and we certainly know Jeremy is living the dream. The point I’m labouriously trying to make is that all affiliates make mistakes and come up with dud ideas. What makes them a success is that they don’t let the failure define them… Why? Because they learn from every mistake and pass that knowledge into their next attempt. Affiliates do not give up.

Wow Kirsty… thats like, totally profound. What other qualities must an affiliate possess?
For a start… they don’t need money. It’s not money that makes an affiliate a success. It’s their success that makes them money. Understand?

And see, a lot of people manage to find something that will make them a bit of cash. But what next? You need the Imagination to be able to Replicate and Scale UP your success.

To do that, you need to have the Focus to find your “thing”, stick to it and do it well over and over again. Or you may be an ambidextrous affiliate… and have many “things”! Finding your money making method will not happen overnight. Life doesn’t work like that, so why should affiliate marketing? You must have tenacity to have success at anything in life.

And once affiliates have found their success… do they sit down? Nah… they proactively seek out new deals with networks and merchants. They ask for higher commissions in exchange for greater volume, they approach people with ideas, they network, they work bloody hard on their business.

And once you have all that… you’re home free, right? Nobody can take that revenue stream away. Ummm… well except if that method you sweated blood over is suddenly deemed to be wrong by someone like Google. This happens to affiliates all the time. Who can forget such hilarious Google japes as the Florida Update and we all know and love the Google Adwords slap. So affiliates have to constantly innovate to stay one step ahead of (or deal with) the changing requirements of the industry.

And that in a nutshell is what it comes down to. Work hard and don’t ever give up. I have a motto I bought as a painted postcard from an artist in Chiang Mai, which I immediately loved.

And that is what I am now. I’m an alchemist. Every time something goes wrong I look at my beautiful little postcard from Thailand, and I “feel” the affiliate mindset. I take what’s happened and turn it into a positive, the same as many other guys in this industry. Affiliate marketing is not an easy ride, and I take my hat off to all my affiliate colleagues for their innovation and tenacity. It humbles me every day, and inspires me on to greater things.

It’s all the encouragement I need! I hope everyone else feels it too

Alright.. so it was a Saturday night and I was playing on the internet with a glass of wine in hand (yeah I know… how much excitement can there be in one girl’s life!!).

I’ve been thinking a bit recently about the way that I think about affiliate marketing and how I come up with my ideas. Much like my keyword research techniques, I’ve always had trouble describing exactly what my thought processes are.

Most of my ideas seem to come from nowhere, but I’ve always had this odd thing where I make rapid “associations” between different topics. What people who are talking to me seem to find is that I change the subject randomly.. A LOT. However, there is always some kind of connection… it just seems that I make somewhat “obtuse” connections between things.

I *think* this is one of the things that helps me come up with business ideas… and as I’m not sure where it all comes from at times, I thought it would be fun to note down where I went on some of my internet wanderings… and what made me do it. So

Welcome to the murky world of my mind late on a Saturday night…

“Hmmm…. I wonder which personal blog will be listed first in Google for the search term ‘blog’?”

Unsurprisingly, a blog by one Matt Cutts appears on the horizon, about halfway down the search results (which is odd, cos today when I looked it was Seth Godin… SERPS timeshare perhaps?).

“Lemme just have a look at this. I wonder if he’s got anything on here that will give me a bit of blogging inspiration” (see, I think about you guys all of the time).

So what catches my eye. Blinding secrets about all things Google revealed? Contents of Sergy and Larry’s underpant drawers? Nope. Its a totally random post about a business card he found in a book he bought once.

“That’s odd. I’m sure I remember a Billy Connolly concert that mentioned something similar to that. I wonder where this comes from?”

So off I go in search of the origins of this particular saying… on my way I land up on Pats Palace.com and discover that the site owner Anthony Glesner is a truly remarkable guy with an inspirational CV.

“Cool,” I thought. “This guy’s been in the Navy and the Coastguard then did a Masters degree after he retired, before re-entering the workplace, circumnavigated the globe in a boat, and finally got a job as a History instructor at Western Michigan”

But that didn’t find me the answer to the pressing philosophical question “where does the saying on Matt Cutts’ business card post come from?”

So off I trot back to Google (via the fridge for some more wine) and ended up…. on a law enforcement forum where I learned an interesting piece of Military Trivia.

“Ooohh… I’m on a winner here and no mistake about it. Look, there’s a bloke with that quote with a funny name below it. Hurahh!!”

So I Google Erin Co Braugh. Pah! It’s not a name, its Irish and it means “Ireland Forever”.

“Ohhh… That’s interesting” I think. “I wonder what that other bit in his forum signature means?”

Nár laga Dia do lámh is duly Googled. I discover it means “May God Not Weaken Your Hand”

“Oh, how beautiful.” Thinks our by now well-oiled intrepid internet wanderer. *Cue Misty Eyed Celtic Moment*

“That was dead set profound. Ahhh… I remember I used to read a tome by a mystic type chap to give me inspiring moments at uni… those were the heady days, eh?”

Which led me to go off in search of all things Kahlil Gibran related.

“Oh, shit. What was I meant to be doing? Ah.. affiliate blogging inspiration. Hmmm… there’s not much here is there? I know. I’ll go and look for some inspirational quotes I think might apply to affiliate marketing.”

So here’s what I came up with guys: -

“Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you as by the attitude you bring to life; not so much by what happens to you as by the way your mind looks at what happens.”
Truly good affiliates see all the same stuff as every other affiliate. Yet somehow again and again, they come up with blinding ideas and make seemingly-impossible niches highly profitable.

“To understand the heart and mind of a person, look not at what he has already achieved, but at what he aspires to.”
One for the newbies I reckon… this reminds us that there are more than a few future super affiliates out there. The way to spot them is to look at their determination. A lot of people say to me “I really want to make money as an affiliate”. Very few say “I will do whatever it takes to make this work”.. which is the hallmark of a super affiliate in potentia.

Look, I’m going to stop these internet wanderings right here. There was a whole load of other stuff afterwards including an exploration of life after death, investigation of lucid dreaming techniques (might help me with my keyword research), oh and my all time favourite… the Color Personality Test.

The above either shows you how an affiliate marketer thinks or reveals that I have Attention Deficeit Disorder. I will leave the diagnosis on that one up to you guys!

*NB… My next post will really be about how an affiliate does and should think… I really must stop trying to get blog ideas after 5 glasses of wine!

Greetings from sunny Maroochydore on Queensland’s gorgeous Sunshine Coast! We are currently staking out the caravan park in Cotton Tree….

I’ve got to admit, right now the furthest thing in the world from my mind is affiliate marketing. I know y’all probably want me to say what a great time we are having, but err…. I have to say I’ve been feeling very uninspired recently both in terms of trying to get work done and also in thinking of things to blog about. Why? Well, until the middle of last week we were up to our behinds looking for a place to rent.

Its A House We Want… Not MI5 Security Clearance…
Would you ever believe how stressful it is to get a bloody place to live over here? Tenants compete to prove how good they are, and landlords pick their best option. Suddenly, Duncan and I were both incredibly stressed by the atmosphere of competitiveness and urgency to rush down to the letting agency and ram a big fat application down the throat of an unsuspecting realtor. Fortunately for us, we found a really cool realtor (yes, they DO exist) called Michael and we charmed him with our tales of world travel (as luck would have it he is a reformed global wanderer)… and then we surprised the hell out of him when we submitted our proof of income, lol.

I don’t enjoy shouting about my income. But I’d be a big fat liar if I said that when I’ve got to tell folks such as banks and letting agents how much I earn… that I don’t get a kick out of the look on their face that says “YOU, earn THIS?”. Must be the way I dress or something.

So after our application was accepted (after 6 nailbiting days) I am pleased to announce my glorious new affiliate HQ, which we will be moving into on the 26th of March. And guys.. she’s a total beauty. 40m from the beach, private rooftop terrace with sea views, pool in complex, and my very, very favourite… an ENSUITE BATHROOM!! No more 3am hikes in the dark to the camping site loos!

Check this out…

Not a bad wee stopgap till we find somewhere to buy!

So once that was all sorted… back to work… right?

Umm… no, after all the effort involved in getting our pad sorted I’ve just not gotten into the swing again. At the same time, I feel too damned guilty about not working to get out and do anything fun.

I’m in Affiliate Limbo guys…. Help help!!

G’day, G’day folks (sorry, just practising). Just a wee note for those of you who may not have read it… after my “Real Affiliates” Series, the lovely Chris Frost asked me to answer my own questions and has published them on his blog.

You can read my interview here.

In his intro, Chris has kindly referred to me as a “Haggis Chaser”, this is very upsetting. As a devout Scot I don’t chase the buggers… I eat ‘em. I should therefore like to point out to Chris that my proper title is “Haggis Muncher”. I’m a well off affiliate - I pay other people to chase them!

I could make many, many jokes about Kappa tracksuits and black curly wigs… but in the spirit of affiliate relations I shall refrain (I love him really!)

Hope youse enjoy the interview, it was a great idea and it was good of him to suggest it.