# The Smart Affiliate

> Learn Affiliate Marketing the Smart Way


## Posts

- [Top Affiliate Marketing Niches](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/top-affiliate-marketing-niches/): Top Niche Markets for Affiliates In today’s Marketing Monday, I list top affiliate marketing niches with a brief description for each one I mention below. The top niche markets are the same for product creators as well as affiliate marketers. They’re approach will be the same. However, niche marketing allows affiliates to make more money ... Read more
- [Affiliates Who Miss Diamonds in Their Own Backyard](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/affiliates-who-miss-diamonds/): Affiliates Who Miss Diamonds This started out to be a What’s Up Wednesday article and quickly turned into today’s Feature Friday post. We all know about chasing after the dream of online riches. In turn, often causes us to go after the “shiny object” syndrome. Many people who start online often don’t finish well because ... Read more
- [Affiliate Marketing on Twitter for Traffic](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/affiliate-marketing-on-twitter-for-traffic/): How to use Affiliate Marketing on Twitter for Traffic Even though I’m celebrating Thanksgiving here in the US, I have already prepared today’s Traffic Tactic Thursday article post ahead of time. Today I cover Affiliate Marketing on Twitter for Traffic. Why Twitter? Twitter is a popular and really great place for affiliates to do some ... Read more
- [Best Way to Review Info Products Online](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/best-way-to-review-info-products-online/): Best Way to Review Info Products Even though reviewing digital products isn’t all that different from tangible product reviews, there are some differences. In today’s What’s Up Wednesday, I’ll be covering the best way to review info products online. Get hold of the Product Before starting any digital products review, the First thing you should ... Read more
- [4 Tools to Help Affiliate Marketers Build a Business](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/4-tools-to-help-affiliate-marketers/): 4 Tools to Help Affiliate Marketers In today’s Tools of the Trade Tuesday, I cover 4 tools to help affiliate marketers build a business successful. When you are learning how affiliate marketing works, you can’t rely just on the typical online “affiliate marketing courses” to get you to the next level you hope to achieve ... Read more
- [Top Affiliate Marketing Platforms You Should Know](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/top-affiliate-marketing-platforms-know/): Top Affiliate Marketing Platforms For today’s Marketing Monday topic, I cover top affiliate marketing platforms you should know or at least become familiar with. Available to you as an affiliate marketer are a number of companies that offer commission based payments for promoting vendor products. However, there are really only a limited number of top ... Read more
- [What is HOT vs COLD Traffic?](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/hot-vs-cold-traffic/): Hot vs cold traffic? A topic hardly discussed about web traffic on blogs or online marketing network sites is what is hot vs cold traffic. And uncovering the difference between the two. In today’s Web Traffic Tactics, I define these differences and what they mean to you as an affiliate marketer. Understanding hot vs cold ... Read more
- [Best Way to Choose a Niche](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/best-way-to-choose-a-niche/): Choosing a Niche For today’s Marketing Monday, I answer the question for affiliate marketers starting out, what is the best way to choose a niche. When it comes to affiliate marketing, there are a number of ways an affiliate marketer can choose a niche. But before you dedicate your time and effort into a niche, ... Read more
- [Why People Fail to Make Money Online](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/why-people-fail-to-make-money-online/): It’s another Feature Friday! Today’s latest article post is by yours’ truly. I’ll be examining reasons why people fail to make money online. Assumption: most people who fail to make money online are lazy! The most popular opinion why people fail to make money online is because they are lazy. Supposedly, these “failures” are given, ... Read more
- [Create Banner Ads That Work](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/create-banner-ads-that-work/): Banner ads that work? Today’s Traffic Tactic Thursday, I take a look at a tactic that has been around for a long, long time – banner ads. Because of that reason, experts claim that people have become blind to them and therefore banner ads are a waste of time. Really? Banner Ads? What a waste ... Read more
- [PLR, Website Automation, new WordPress theme](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/plr-website-automation-new-wordpress-theme/): In today’s what’s up Wednesday, I talk about three separate topics. This was brought on by my recent purchases I made to improve business opportunities and operations. Whenever I find things that are useful or a complete waste of money, I like to share them with you. PLR, website automation, new WordPress theme, oh my! ... Read more
- [Introducing Affiliate Marketing the Smart Way](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/affiliate-marketing-the-smart-way/): Many enter, but few succeed! Many people enter, but very few succeed when it comes to affiliate marketing. Why is that? It’s because affiliate marketing is presented by “Gurus” as a quick and easy miracle solution to your money woes or employment problems. And like the slick snake oil salesman of yesteryear, many people jump ... Read more
- [Can I use social media for affiliate marketing?](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/use-social-media-for-affiliate-marketing/): Can I use social media for affiliate marketing? Yes you can use social media for affiliate marketing, but it should be mapped out as part of your affiliate marketing plan. I love social media, for me it’s the fun part of marketing, it’s the part where you get to talk to prospects, build your brand ... Read more
- [Ways to Drive Traffic to Your Website](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/ways-drive-traffic-to-your-website/): 3 Principles of Traffic Generation There’s always talk about ways to drive traffic to your website. Usually the vast number of them are “free” and “easy” ways to do it. But is that really the case? In today’s Traffic Tactics Thursday, I examine what is really free and easy once you understand the fundamental principles ... Read more
- [Power of a Hybrid Affiliate](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/power-hybrid-affiliate/): Power of a Hybrid Affiliate It’s another What’s Up Wednesday! Today, I’m introducing a new term that combines traditional marketing methods. It has gone mainly unnamed until today… a hybrid affiliate marketer. What is a hybrid affiliate marketer and how does it differ from affiliate marketing? As you are aware, affiliate marketing involves someone who ... Read more
- [Ways to Setup an Effective Affiliate Sales Funnel](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/setup-an-effective-affiliate-sales-funnel/):   Effective affiliate sales funnel Today’s Tools of the Trade Tuesday. As a follow-up to sales funnel as an affiliate, I look at ways to setup an effective affiliate sales funnel while maintaining some control. Recently a question was raised from a new affiliate marketer. He wants to setup his own sales funnel using affiliate ... Read more
- [Why have a Sales Funnel as an Affiliate?](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/why-have-a-sales-funnel-as-an-affiliate/): Why You should have a Sales Funnel as an Affiliate Sorry, even though I started this article yesterday, I didn’t get it finished until this morning. I was detoured to do yard work. I waned to post it on Marketing Monday. Yes, it is a day late, but here it is! I take a look ... Read more
- [What It Takes to Succeed Online or Anywhere](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/what-it-takes-to-succeed-online-anywhere/): What it takes to succeed online I had originally schedule a guest author to share with us in today’s Feature Friday, but due to unforeseen health issues the author was unable to make it. So I am the feature expert author for today. Today, I talk about what it takes to succeed online. I remember ... Read more
- [Traffic Exchanges – Why You Should Avoid Them](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/traffic-exchanges-avoid/): It’s all about Traffic Exchanges It’s another Traffic Tactics Thursday! Today, I’ll be covering yet another slightly controversial topic that some marketers still use. It’s especially targeted to those who are inexperienced or new. And it has no real value. Traffic Exchanges – Why you should avoid them! There are a number of effective traffic ... Read more
- [Amazon Affiliate – Have I Gone Insane?](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/amazon-affiliate-have-i-gone-insane/): Amazon a waste of time? If you are unaware, in my last What’s Up Wednesday article, “Building an Amazon Affiliate Website to Strike it Rich”. I reasoned why being an Amazon associate (affiliate) was a waste of time. Because they pay out a very low commission percentage for all the effort needed. And how difficult ... Read more
- [Online Tracking Applications – Which One?](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/online-tracking-applications-which-one/): Online tracking applications Today is Tools of the Trade Tuesday. To be honest, I actually started my journey with the topic of this particular article back in June. I have even written about a half a dozen article versions on this topic and I was unhappy with the results. Why? The main reason for this ... Read more
- [Profit from Viral Marketing the Easy Way](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/profit-from-viral-marketing-easy-way/): How to profit from viral marketing In today’s Marketing Monday, I take a look at viral marketing. It’s a marketing method that is often distorted as to what it is, what it can do, and why it is important. Some things to consider as an affiliate marketer or any marketer for that matter. And cover ... Read more
- [Get Rid Of Procrastination – Build Your Online Business Better And Faster!](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/get-rid-of-procrastination-build-online-business-better-faster/): How to Get Rid of Procrastination Build Your Online Business Better And Faster! Want to work only 4 hours a day? No problem! There’s no doubt about it. With a well-built online business, you can fill your bank account with cold hard cash faster than a 9-to-5 would. But (and it’s a big ‘but’), buying ... Read more
- [Is Your PLR Collecting Digital Dust?](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/plr-collecting-digital-dust/): Is Your PLR Collecting Digital Dust? Do you have PLR that has been sitting on your hard drive just waiting to be used? If so, you are not alone. Many marketers purchase PLR with fantastic intentions, but then get stuck with how to actually use it. In this article I will show you several ways ... Read more
- [Forum Marketing as a Traffic Tactic](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/forum-marketing-as-a-traffic-tactic/): Using Forum Marketing as a Traffic Tactic It’s another Traffic Tactic Thursday! Today I’ll be discussing an old school technique if done right still works today. That method is using forum marketing as a Traffic Tactic. This tactic is free to do financially, but will require that you invest in a little bit of your ... Read more
- [Building an Amazon Affiliate Website to Strike it Rich?](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/building-an-amazon-affiliate-website-strike-it-rich/): Building an Amazon Affiliate Website Build it and they will come It’s another What’s Up Wednesday! Today, I’ll be looking at the popular idea of building an Amazon Affiliate website to strike it rich. And this supposedly will happen simply by promoting Amazon products. However using my experience as an Amazon associate, I’ll cover why ... Read more
- [Video Tools That Help Affiliate Marketers Succeed](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/video-tools-help-affiliate-marketers-succeed/): Using Video Tools to help with success Today’s another Tools of the Trade Tuesday. At first, I was hesitant to write about video tools that help affiliate marketers succeed. That’s because of all the technicalities I would run into with it. However, Video tools are important if you plan on using video as part of ... Read more
- [What to Include in Your Affiliate Marketing Plan](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/include-your-affiliate-marketing-plan/): Your Affiliate Marketing Plan In today’s Marketing Monday, I am going to cover what to include in your affiliate marketing plan. With affiliate marketing as in any endeavor, you won’t get very far without having a good, solid business and marketing plan. The first step you should take before signing up for any affiliate program ... Read more
- [Future Feature Fridays, Dean Holland and the BCB](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/future-feature-fridays-dean-holland-bcb/): Future Feature Fridays Announcements Today’s another Feature Friday! I have several exciting things to announce. I’ve been busy working behind the scenes with The Smart Affiliate. And I’ve been setting up things in the background. This includes future releases of great news article posts containing fantastic information for you. Guest Authors First, I have contacted ... Read more
- [Cloaking Affiliate Links, is it Necessary?](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/cloaking-affiliate-links-necessary/): Cloaking Affiliate Links It’s another Tools of the Trade Tuesday. Today we will take a look at an issue that keeps surfacing with affiliate marketers, especially beginners. And that is about cloaking affiliate links, is it necessary? And of course we’ll also take a look at ways of doing it with some cautions to take ... Read more
- [10-Minute Pages Review – Steal, Deal, or Robbery](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/10-minute-pages-review-steal-deal-or-robbery/): My 10-Minute Pages Review In last week’s What’s Up Wednesday, I covered a neat powerful plugin called HybridConnect. It’s a powerful plugin to help anyone make great opt-in pages, pop-ups, even squeeze pages. It even comes with options to do split testing and tracking, all for under $50 unlimited! After that article was published, I ... Read more
- [HybridConnect Opt-in Plugin for Affiliate Marketers](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/hybridconnect-opt-in-plugin-affiliate-marketers/): With HybridConnect Opt-in Plugin, Create Opt-in Forms with Ease Update: the plugin – HybridConnect is NO LONGER AVAILABLE and has been replaced.  It’s another Whats Up Wednesday! Today I take a look at a powerful plugin for your WordPress platform called HybridConnect. This opt-in plugin does amazing things for the price. How I got involved ... Read more
- [List Building Tools Part Two, Opt-ins](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/list-building-tools-part-two-opt-ins/): List Building Tools In last weeks Tools of the Trade, we covered list building tools with the emphasis on autoresponder email services that help affiliate marketers. Today we continue to consider list building tools, part two, looking at opt-in page and form creation so visitors can sign-up to your list. You may have noticed that ... Read more
- [Is PPC as a Traffic Strategy Good for Affiliate Marketing](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/ppc-as-a-traffic-strategy-for-affiliate-marketing/): Using PPC as a Traffic Strategy Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising In today’s Traffic Tactic, I’ll be discussing a method that’s become a dirty term for me, Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising. It is also an old, maybe even antiquated method of generating targeted traffic. There continues to be merits to PPC because it still exists. Which begs the ... Read more
- [Is Affiliate Marketing Still Profitable Today?](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/affiliate-marketing-still-profitable-today/): The question: is Affiliate Marketing still profitable today? Current state of Affiliate Marketing In today’s What’s Up Wednesday, we will take a closer look at the current state of affiliate marketing because of all the changes that have taken place in recent times and the old rehashed garbage that still remains. If you really examine ... Read more
- [Top List Building Tools for Affiliate Marketers](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/top-list-building-tools-affiliate-marketers/): List Building Tools for Affiliates Today we will cover top list building tools for affiliate marketers including autoresponders. Email marketing is very effective, and whether you’re trying to build relationships with your audience, sell products or services, or build your business, you need to develop your own email list of subscribers. With a system in ... Read more
- [Top 5 Traits of Highly Successful Affiliate Marketers](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/top-5-traits-of-highly-successful-affiliate-marketers/): Quality traits of highly successful affiliate marketers Affiliate marketing can be a relatively easy method to make a living online when compared to other methods, but just like any business model there are certain qualities that you need to be successful. There are some who make a killing with affiliate marketing while others fall by ... Read more
- [The Affiliate Marketer’s Solution to More Traffic](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/solution-to-more-traffic/): Solution to more traffic In today’s traffic tactic, I will talk about an affiliate marketer’s solution to more traffic by revealing a method that is currently very popular and the results can be great if done right. It is also a paid method that isn’t free (although there really are no real free traffic methods; ... Read more
- [How Many Niche Sites Should an Affiliate Marketer Own?](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/how-many-niche-sites-affiliate-marketer/): How Many Niche Sites is Realistic? It’s another What’s Up Wednesday! Today, I’ll be discussing how many niche sites are practical to have as an affiliate marketer without stretching yourself out too thin. The idea behind this is the more sites you have, the more money you make. Let take a look to see if ... Read more
- [Do I Need a Website as an Affiliate Marketer?](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/do-i-need-website-affiliate-marketer/): To have an affiliate website or not, that is the question? Last week’s post covered the importance of using a good keyword tool to help you with your affiliate marketing endeavors. Today’s topic is even more controversial, do I need a website as an affiliate marketer or not? As I visit other marketer’s sites and ... Read more
- [Can I Really Make Money with Affiliate Marketing?](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/can-really-make-money-with-affiliate-marketing/): Make Money with Affiliate Marketing Many people enter, but very few succeed when it comes to affiliate marketing. Why is that? Like a magic potion or wonder pill, affiliate marketing has been introduced to many as the quick and easy miracle solution to your money woes or employment problems. And like the snake oil salesman ... Read more
- [Giving 110 Percent](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/giving-110-percent/): Ever heard the expression giving 110 percent effort? I have so many times to the point where I have wanted to heave, but then I started to really put some thought into it. First off, scientifically there isn’t such a thing as 110 percent! That’s because 100 percent is perfect, it is the best you, ... Read more
- [Traffic Generating Tactic That Works!](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/traffic-generating-tactic-that-works/): Increase Web Traffic Ask any blog or website owner if they’re getting “enough” traffic to their site, and you’ll get a resounding “NO!” Have you been trying to get more visitors to your blog, but find the old-school ways of traffic generation aren’t working for you? Then you need a traffic generating tactic that works! ... Read more
- [Facebook Boost and WordPress Issues Revealed](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/facebook-boost-and-wordpress-issues-revealed/): Facebook Boost and WordPress In today’s What’s Up Wednesday article, I’m going to cover three separate issues fellow marketers need to pay attention to that can really effect your online results. The first issue involves Facebook and the lack of social exposure you now get with your pages and posts. Facebook’s solution will cost you ... Read more
- [Importance of Using Good Keyword Research Tools](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/importance-using-good-keyword-research-tools/): Why use good keyword research tools? Last Tools of the Trade Tuesday, I covered most of the essential affiliate marketing tools in general. This week I’ll focus on the importance of using good keyword research tools and how they can help you with your affiliate marketing business. As you may know, keywords are actual search ... Read more
- [Is SEO Dead?](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/is-seo-dead/): Well, is SEO dead? In today’s Traffic Tactics Thursday, we will take a look at the importance of SEO in the present online world. For those of you who are new and don’t know what SEO means, it is the acronym for ‘search engine optimization.’ Immediately the first three questions that come to mind is:
- [My Rapid Mailer Plugin Review](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/rapid-mailer-plugin-review/): Rapid Mailer Plugin Review Yes, I know that the Rapid Mailer plugin is not hot off the press. But it is still available and hotly debated as possibly being a viable autoresponder option. I hope to dispel that myth in this unorthodox review by relating my own experience with it and let you decide. Like ... Read more
- [Basic Affiliate Marketing Tools to Help You Get Started](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/basic-affiliate-marketing-tools-help-get-started/): Basic Affiliate Marketing Tools Affiliate marketing has become one of the most popular ways to make money online. One big reason for this is the number of tools available that take the tedious work out of it for you. The more you can automate and make use of these tools, the easier it will be ... Read more
- [The 3 Most Common Affiliate Mistakes](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/3-most-common-affiliate-mistakes/): Most Common Affiliate Mistakes Affiliate marketing is one of the most effective and low cost ways to start earning money online. An affiliate program gives everyone involved a chance to make a profit using the Internet. Since most affiliate marketing programs are so easy to join, get going and then offer a generous commission per ... Read more
- [Challenges Driving Web Traffic to Your Offer](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/challenges-driving-web-traffic-to-your-offer/): Overcoming the Challenges of Driving Web Traffic to Your Offer (And How to Convert It) Every digital marketer, blogger, and affiliate entrepreneur faces the same basic hurdle at some point: driving web traffic to your offer. You can spend weeks building a sleek website, crafting the perfect marketing copy, and selecting high-converting affiliate products. But if nobody sees your offer, your site remains a ghost town – and your earnings stay at zero. In today’s digital landscape, driving web traffic is more competitive than ever. Algorithm updates, rising ad costs, and decreasing attention spans make it tough to get noticed. However, ... Read more
- [How to Find a Profitable Affiliate Marketing Niche](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/find-a-profitable-affiliate-marketing-niche/): Finding a Profitable Affiliate Marketing Niche That Actually Pays in 2026 Choosing your affiliate marketing niche is the absolute foundation of your affiliate marketing business. A niche is simply your specialized corner of the market – whether that’s budget backpacking, vegan meal prep, or smart home automation. It dictates the products you promote, the content you create, and the audience that will eventually trust your recommendations. But in today’s digital landscape, the old advice of “just pick what you love” isn’t enough. With search engines prioritizing real-world experience and social media shifting toward short-form video, finding a profitable niche requires a ... Read more
- [Today's Affiliate Marketing Challenges](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/todays-affiliate-marketing-challenges/): Real Talk: Modern Affiliate Marketing Challenges (And How to Survive Them) Let’s be honest for a second. If you’ve spent more than five minutes on TikTok or YouTube lately, you’ve probably seen someone claiming that affiliate marketing is a magical, effortless way to make $10k a month while sipping coconuts on a beach. Spoiler alert: It’s not. Don’t get me wrong – affiliate marketing is a brilliant, completely legitimate business model. But treating it like a get-rich-quick scheme is the fastest way to burn out. In reality, it’s a long-term game that requires serious patience, strategy, and resilience. Whether you’re just ... Read more
- [10 Best Places to Find Affiliate Products](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/10-best-places-to-find-affiliate-products/): Where can I find affiliate products? One of the most common questions new affiliate marketers ask is, where is the best place to find affiliate products? And the short answer to that question is… everywhere. Thanks for visiting! No, really—it all depends on what market niche you are promoting or have expertise in. Over the years, I’ve had success with Amazon and ClickBank, along with a few privately run affiliate programs. I currently belong to several programs, but my list is tailored to the specific niches I’m involved with. Your list will likely look different depending on what you want to ... Read more
- [Ultimate Step-by-Step Guide in Becoming an Online Affiliate Marketer](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/ultimate-guide-becoming-an-affiliate-marketer/): Master Becoming an Affiliate Marketer Before you can dive into building an affiliate business, it’s important to understand how the model actually works. At its core, affiliate marketing is a performance‑based system: you earn a commission by promoting another company’s products or services. Three key players make this system work: Affiliates – Individuals or businesses (like you) who promote products through blogs, websites, social media, or email. Affiliates create content that drives traffic and encourages purchases. Merchants – The companies that create or sell the products. They provide affiliates with unique tracking links to measure performance and ensure commissions are paid ... Read more
- [Creating a Solid Business Plan for Affiliates](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/creating-solid-business-plan-for-affiliates/): Understanding the Affiliate Business Model The affiliate marketing business model is essentially based on partnerships between affiliates and companies. Affiliates, acting as agents, promote products or services offered by merchants and earn a commission for every sale or action generated through their marketing efforts. This model is a cost-effective strategy for merchants, as they only pay when results are achieved, aligning the interests of both parties for mutual benefit. There are various types of affiliate programs available, each tailored to different marketing strategies and levels of commitment. Pay-per-sale (PPS) programs reward affiliates with a commission when a customer makes a purchase. ... Read more
- [The Importance of Consistency in Affiliate Marketing](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/importance-of-consistency-in-affiliate-marketing/): The Role of Consistency in Building Trust In the world of affiliate marketing, trust is an essential component that underpins successful relationships between marketers and their audience. Building this trust requires an ongoing commitment to consistency in messaging, branding, and content creation. When a potential customer encounters uniformity in a brand’s communication and visual identity, it cultivates an environment of familiarity and reliability. This foundation is crucial as it encourages individuals to view the affiliate as a credible source of information and a trustworthy intermediary in their purchasing decisions. Consistency in messaging aids in establishing a clear understanding of what the ... Read more
- [Can You Make Stunning Income Producing Videos for Your Niche?](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/make-income-producing-videos-for-your-niche/): Is it a must to have Stunning Videos to Make Income Producing Videos in a Niche? I run into this question a lot. When I first started using video marketing, a lot of people said that you must have the very best videos to make income producing videos in your niche. I took them at their word, so I spent thousands of dollars on outros and intros, for voice-overs and video spokespersons. What do you think happened after I spent all that money? That’s right. I ended up with a whole lot of nothing. The Best-Looking Video in Your Niche to ... Read more
- [Understanding Influencers and Their Role in Affiliate Marketing](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/understanding-influencers-and-their-role-in-affiliate-marketing/): Defining Influencers In the contemporary digital landscape, an influencer can be defined as an individual who has successfully cultivated a following on social media platforms and possesses the power to affect the purchasing decisions of followers due to their affinity, authority, or credibility in a particular niche. Influencers play a vital role in the marketing ecosystem, particularly in affiliate marketing, where they promote products or services in a manner that resonates with their audience. Influencers can be categorized into several distinct types based on their follower count and engagement levels. Mega influencers, often comprising traditional celebrities and public figures, typically boast ... Read more
- [Amazon Associates Program, the Good, Bad and Ugly](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/amazon-associates-program-good-bad-ugly/): Are you thinking of joining the Amazon Associates Program to supplement your income or monetize your website or blog? If so, you might be wondering if it’s worth your time and effort. After all, there are many affiliate programs available online, and some of them might offer better commissions, products, or support than Amazon. In this article, I’ll review the good (pros), bad (cons), and ugly (competition) with the Amazon Associates Program, based on my experience and research. I’ll also give you some tips on how to make the most of it and avoid some common pitfalls. What is the Amazon ... Read more
- [Problems with Affiliate Marketing](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/problems-with-affiliate-marketing/): Real Problems with Affiliate Marketing that could hurt you You might find it confusing to see a site claiming there are problems with affiliate marketing who promotes it. But let me explain, although affiliate marketing does offer many benefits it is not an effective strategy when used alone. Or when used incorrectly. Also, there are four problems with affiliate marketing that you should both be aware of and address when developing your own business or online marketing strategy. Problem One – Affiliate Training programs To begin, many products or courses claim to have a proven formula for making YOU money. Many ... Read more
- [3-Step Plan to Ramp Up Affiliate Earnings](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/3-step-plan-to-ramp-up-affiliate-earnings/): Ramp Up Affiliate Earnings For most beginners, the strategy of promoting products as an affiliate is made up of nothing more than placing a few banner ads on a web page or using hyperlink text on their blog. And somehow this will generate revenue by adding the right kind of content to along with it. But there’s far more that you can do to ramp up affiliate earnings! Just a few tips that can raise converts from 3-10% all the up to 30% or more. It’s all about going the extra mile for your readers. Doing things that most affiliates won’t ... Read more
- [2 Crucial Tips to Get Visitor Sign Ups to Your Mailing List](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/2-crucial-tips-get-visitor-sign-ups/): Most people who run a website don’t seem to realize just how valuable their traffic is. Don’t believe me? Then just look at all the websites using Google Ads and similar PPC adverts on their pages. These ads will fill up their pages and literally direct traffic away from their site. But all they’ll get in return is usually a measly few cents. It doesn’t take a genius to realize that if those advertisers are willing to pay that much for your visitors, they must be worth more than that. While PPC might be a good way to make some easy ... Read more
- [Improve Your Video Response Rate](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/improve-your-video-response-rate-2/): Ways to Improve Your Video Response Rate Videos are used to compel viewers into taking action. You want to create a positive video response rate from your viewers. But you also want them to take action immediately after watching your message. And not by just a few, you want to improve video response rate overall.
- [Powerful Online Video Creation in 4 Steps](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/powerful-online-video-creation-in-4-steps/): 4 Steps for Online Video Creation When it comes to quality online video creation, the entire process can be summed up with these 4 steps: intended purpose, message to your audience, format delivery, distribution and promotion. Each step is covered in detail. First step – Goals Every video you make should have an intended purpose. So keep in mind what you want to accomplish when creating your video. Some of the more obvious goals include: 1. Boosting exposure 2. Redirecting traffic to your site 3. Building credibility and trust 4. Developing the brand 5. Gaining a foothold in the market Video ... Read more
- [What is Video Marketing?](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/what-is-video-marketing-2/): What is Video Marketing? You most likely have heard the term “video marketing” used by others online frequently. But do you really know what is the actual meaning behind this term? In this article you will discover what is video marketing and ways to use it. In general there are actually two main ways you can apply video marketing. Doing Video Marketing In this case we are talking about marketing a product or service by the use of videos. This is done by creating specific videos that describe your product(s) or service(s) and how it would benefit potential customers. For example, ... Read more
- [5 Things To Focus On When Sending Email Newsletters](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/5-things-to-focus-on-when-sending-email-newsletters-2/): 5 Things To Focus On When Sending Email Newsletters To Your Subscribers The best way to keep your subscribers interested in your mailing list is to send regular newsletters. You can send weekly or monthly email newsletters to your list, which you use to inform them about useful information related to your niche. In this way, you will not only promote your products to your subscribers, but you are providing good value to your list. This is what keeps your subscribers interested in reading your emails again and again, especially if your newsletters can really help them to learn a lot ... Read more
- [Create Exciting Emails Your Subscribers Will Enjoy](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/create-exciting-emails-your-subscribers-will-enjoy-2/): Create Exciting Emails Your Subscribers Want To Read The ideal way for you to encourage your subscribers to take action immediately is to make them beg for more. Of course, you are not doing it by forcing your subscribers to take action. But when you create exciting emails, you should do it by helping them realize the continuous value that you are offering to them. Which in turn leads to their willingness to remain on your mailing list just to see what you will write next. Once you’ve accomplished this, they will start begging for you to give them more value, ... Read more
- [1 Key Trick to Boost Your Video SEO](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/1-key-trick-to-boost-your-video-seo/): Boost Your Video SEO Make no mistake search engine optimization (SEO) is a very important matter when using video marketing. Don’t ever think that since you’re creating videos and are uploading them on YouTube or other social share places that SEO is not a consideration. You’re only kidding yourself by thinking that way. Sooner or later, your disregard to the importance of SEO will catch up with you and, believe me, it’s not going to be pretty. Competition Your competitors will leave you in the dust and it would probably take forever for you to catch up. That’s how much is ... Read more
- [Why You Should Be Using Videos](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/why-you-should-be-using-videos/): Why You Should Be Using Videos Not sure about using video for your business? A number of business owners have expressed concerns about this question. One main reason most likely results from not feeling comfortable with video creation. Another reason may be because they are wondering if making videos are really worth the time and effort. Whatever the reason, this article should help dispel those fears and answer why as a business you should be using videos. Important online video statistics According to ongoing research done by Cisco, videos will account for 82% of all web traffic on the Internet by ... Read more
- [Effective 5-Step Video Marketing Plan](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/effective-5-step-video-marketing-plan/): 5-Step Video Marketing Plan Introduction Have you considered developing a video marketing plan but just haven’t gotten around to it yet? With this helpful article, now is the time you can make one. Video is included on any list as part of digital marketing. You need only to look at your own behavior to see how important video use has become. The top three video platforms together make up over 22 billion daily views. Snapchat (10 billion), Facebook (8 billion), and YouTube (+4 billion). Video ad spending is expected to reach $11.4 billion in 2017. And the average person will easily ... Read more
- [Why Basic Video Optimization Leads to Profitability](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/why-basic-video-optimization-leads-to-profitability/): Basic Video Optimization Leads to Profitability You probably heard that if you want to make money online, you have to optimize your ads, optimize your content, to do basic video optimization, and you have to test, test and test. This all sounds great, but the issue is most people do a really poor job optimizing their marketing campaigns. Let’s be honest here. Let’s call a horse a horse. False Impressions Basic video optimization is one secret that a lot of people do not like to share. They’d rather give you the impression that somehow some way they just made all this ... Read more
- [Benefits of Video Marketing](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/benefits-of-video-marketing/): The Benefits of Video Marketing My last article post, video marketing 101, gave you a better idea as to what video marketing is all about. Now let’s take a look at the main benefits of video marketing. We’ll look at how exactly video can benefit your business, and tips on how to get in on the action. But first though, here are some interesting statistics on video: YouTube is the second most popular search engine, right after Google, which of course owns YouTube. YouTube gets more than 4 billion views per day. currently, over 80% of marketing executives include video content ... Read more
- [Video Marketing 101](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/video-marketing-101/): Video Marketing 101 Online video is effectively used as a marketing and promotion tool by both large and small businesses in all industries. The resources required to create and air these videos – YouTube and the like – are readily available. So that makes it easier for small businesses and online marketers to reach their potential customers quickly and affordably. No matter your market, video gives you more flexibility to expand your brand. Video helps you gain visibility and establish credibility within your niche. With video marketing 101 developing a good video marketing strategy should be one of your goals if ... Read more
- [How to Make Low Cost Marketing Video Profitable](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/how-to-make-low-cost-marketing-video-profitable/): Let’s get one thing clear. There are a multitude of ways to make videos. You probably are well aware of that. One of the most popular video types also happens to be the most expensive one to do. But it is possible to make a low cost marketing video that is profitable for your offer or business. Most Expensive Video Types Celebrity Status Spokespeople I am, of course, talking about the use of a professional video spokesperson. This type of video typically uses people of notoriety who either memorize the video sales speech or they have a teleprompter that they read ... Read more
- [How to Use the KLT Sales Method With Video](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/how-to-use-the-klt-sales-method-with-video/): Using KLT Sales Method With Video KLT sales method is one of the oldest and most tried-and-proven sales methods in existence. In fact, if you are to talk to anybody who makes a living persuading other people, you will discover they use KLT. They may not even  be aware that they’re using this method. But they would have to be using it if they want to be successful. Why? Because the KLT sales method or system is geared towards persuading people based on how the human mind thinks. Why KLT Sales Method Works Even though we are different, we’re not all ... Read more
- [Full Video Robot Review](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/full-video-robot-review/): Introduction to Video Robot Review Anyone who’s been online for awhile knows the incredible power that a well made video makes. It’s been proven time and time again that video boost conversions 3x over text and images. Plus it outright makes more sales. That’s where Video Robot Review comes in. I take a look at this newly released cloud based application and reveal the advantages along with the disadvantages it offers over similar solutions. If you have any business and are not using video as part of your marketing efforts, then you are missing out BIG TIME! Yes, creating a video ... Read more
- [1 Common Video Marketing Mistake Will Cost You](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/1-common-video-marketing-mistake-will-cost-you/): A Costly Video Marketing Mistake for Marketers who fail to do this… Can you imagine getting a horse to water and putting in a lot of work to do it? And then the horse doesn’t drink it. This is how most online marketers do things with their videos. They put in a lot of time, effort and energy trying to attract traffic to a video. If they are successful, that’s good. They’re doing a great job so far. They come up with this amazing video. People pay attention to it. It peaks people’s interest, and they’re talking about it, sharing it, ... Read more
- [4 Essential Basics of YouTube](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/4-essential-basics-of-youtube/): Basics of YouTube In this article I will explain some of the basics of YouTube that you need to understand when using it. The benefits of using YouTube include having your videos load faster for your viewers and getting Google to love you. If you host your own videos, you will lose visitors due to slow loading times. Let’s look at some basics of YouTube: What is a Playlist? A playlist is a list of all of your videos in certain categories. They can also be a list of all the videos that you like. For example you can create a ... Read more
- [Create High Quality Videos](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/create-high-quality-videos/): How to Create High Quality Videos What goes along with treating YouTube like a business, is to create high quality videos. It’s not enough to film something on your phone in poor lighting and with no script. And then to think ‘that will do’. By doing this, your videos will be low quality and look crappy. And even if you lucky enough for them to get seen, they might actually have the precise opposite impact on your business then what you were intending. To create high quality videos isn’t that simple, but it is easier than you might think. You don’t ... Read more
- [3 Powerful Marketing Videos to Know](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/3-powerful-marketing-videos-to-know/): Overwhelming Number of Marketing Videos Available There are many ways you can connect with your target customers through using marketing videos. In fact, when you look at your competitor’s videos, it seems that there are a ton of variations out there. Because it appears that there are just too many and, at some point or other, it feels like there’s really no one way to connect on an consistent level. Well, I beg to disagree. The truth is, depending on your niche, one particular video type may be more effective than others. How do you know this? How do you identify ... Read more
- [5 Affiliate Program Hacks You Should Know](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/5-affiliate-program-hacks-you-should-know/): 5 Affiliate Program Hacks You Should Be Using There is no shortage of affiliate programs online. Plus, these programs have a wide range of offers. It seems like each offer is as good as the one that came before it and then becomes the one that succeeds it. You can keep looking at these offers, their sales pages, and other sales elements until you’re blue in the face. Until you know what to look for, chances are all these affiliate programs would look equally valid and seem equally good to promote. That’s a serious problem because you’ll find out often in ... Read more
- [Best Way to Ruin an Affiliate Product Review](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/best-way-to-ruin-an-affiliate-product-review/): How to Avoid Ruining an Affiliate Product Review As an affiliate marketer, it’s important to make sure that you don’t get in your own way and ruin an affiliate product review. The following are ways in which you can avoid doing just that. Once you are aware of them, you can write better reviews. Write an Affiliate product review that people can trust The most important thing is you can do is to deliver a review that people can trust. That means you have to be honest about what you’re promoting. So the first rule of thumb is to make sure ... Read more
- [6 Steps to Affiliate Sales Conversion](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/6-steps-to-affiliate-sales-conversion/): 6 Steps to Affiliate Sales Conversion Would you like to make more money as an affiliate? If you are struggling to close a sale, maybe it’s because you are not following the 6 steps to affiliate sales conversion. Please realize that if you want to close more sales as an affiliate, you have to follow certain steps. Otherwise you’re just taking shots in the dark and hoping to get lucky. Last time I checked, that’s not much of a strategy. However you can increase your chances of succeeding in the affiliate marketing game by following the six steps below for eventual ... Read more
- [What is Affiliate Marketing?](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/what-is-affiliate-marketing/): What is Affiliate Marketing The answer to that question has two parts, because it depends to which end you are referring. On one end is the person who is promoting the offer or program for some form of compensation. This person is often referred to as an affiliate. On the other end is the person who has the product (or service) and is using an army of affiliates to sell it. Often they are referred to by the program as the vendor, seller, publisher and have someone who manages it. The following 2 sections goes into more detail about each one. ... Read more
- [Affiliate Madness](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/affiliate-madness/): Just because affiliate marketing can be one of the easiest ways to make money online, doesn’t automatically make it so. There are no quick push button solutions that instantly make you money without some type of effort, either by you or someone you hire. And with so many affiliate programs available to you online, make it all the more difficult, if not impossible to decide. Because of this and other factors, it has created what I refer to as affiliate madness. Affiliate madness defined In a nutshell, affiliate madness is when one jumps from one affiliate program to another. Or goes ... Read more
- [Affiliate Programs - Which One Should I Choose?](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/affiliate-programs-which-one-should-i-choose/): With so many affiliate programs available online, which one do I choose? I am sure this question has popped into your mind on a few occasions and there is no straight forward universal answer because of the diversity and sheer number of programs there are online. However there are some guideline you can use to help you decide if a particular affiliate program is right for you. So the next time you are looking to become a part of a program, consider the following: Ask Questions – Do Research Always ask questions first before joining any affiliate program. Doing a little ... Read more
- [How To Grab Your Email Subscribers Attention](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/how-to-grab-your-email-subscribers-attention/): How to easily grab your Email Subscribers Attention with your Subject line When you send an email to your subscribers, they most likely will not read your email if you don’t write an interesting subject line. Your subject line is very important, because it can influence the decision for your audience whether to open or ignore your email. Because your subject line can make your email to get read or ignored by your subscribers, it can also affect the success rate of your email marketing campaign. The less people open your email, the less likely they will read your promotional copy. ... Read more
- [Affiliate Marketing Separating Fact from Fiction](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/affiliate-marketing-separating-fact-from-fiction/): Separating Fact from Fiction When it comes to making money online, there’s plenty of hype about it being promoted. You may have heard about online marketers who are making millions of dollars online a year. And that they’re doing it while they sleep. Thanks to their auto-pilot websites which are bringing in tons of money no matter what they’re doing. Or maybe you’ve heard that all the profitable online markets are too saturated, and successes are few and far between. Don’t believe all this hype! In this article, I will cover the most common affiliate marketing myths. And I will help ... Read more
- [Why Use Search Engine Optimization](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/why-use-search-engine-optimization/): Why Use Search Engine Optimization Search Engine Optimization – or simply SEO is a sub section of search engine marketing. Unfortunately, with SEO, there are no immediate shortcuts. And if you’re goal is for a way to get quick and easy web traffic results, then SEO isn’t it. However, if you are willing to carry out some hard work, especially in relation to the actual content of your site – then the long-term results are worth it! Also keep in mind you will need to have plenty of patience, as results do not happen overnight. So if you want to improve ... Read more
- [3 Main Online Marketing Methods that Work](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/3-main-online-marketing-methods-that-work/): Online Marketing Basics For online marketing to work, you need to have some type of online presence. The most common way to accomplish this is by having a website or blog. Arguably, you can also setup a presence with just social media or even have a mailing list without a site. However, those options don’t offer as much flexibility has having your own site. With that in mind, online marketing methods mentioned here assumes you run a site of your own. Online marketing focuses on utilizing web-based advertisements and building natural search engine rankings to promote your website. Why? Because online ... Read more
- [What is SEM? Search Engine Marketing Explained](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/what-is-sem-search-engine-marketing-explained/): How to promote your website with the major search engines. Simply put, search engine marketing (SEM) involves operations that help search engines (like Google, Yahoo!, and Bing) find and rank a website. It is things you can do to make sure your website ranks high in search engine results when someone searches for information related to your business. 2 Major SEM Strategies There are essentially two ways you can approach search engine marketing: SEO or search engine optimization. SEO is a “free method” of SEM that is used for organic search. This method uses a mixture of techniques to help search ... Read more
- [How to Find Hot Affiliate Niches](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/find-hot-affiliate-niches/): Find Hot Affiliate Niches We’ll take a closer look at how to find hot affiliate niches. Success with Affiliate marketing begins and ends with finding the right niche that is profitable and something you can become comfortably involved with. Actually, the basics are pretty simple, really! Just find a hotbed of buying activity and then plant yourself firmly within it to market as many hot products to a very active market of potential customers as possible. Choose your niche The very first step is to choose the niche market you want to target. How? Some people start by selecting products that ... Read more
- [What is Viral Marketing?](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/what-is-viral-marketing/): What is Viral Marketing? Simply put, Viral marketing is typically an online marketing strategy. It’s a strategy that focuses on spreading information and positive opinions about a product or service from person to person. This strategy is especially effective by means of social networks on the Internet or by email sharing. Viral marketing is a technique that induces Web sites or users to pass on a marketing message to other sites or users. Hopefully to create a potentially exponential growth in the message’s visibility and planned effect. Viral marketing is one of the biggest keys to attracting new customers. Most businesses ... Read more
- [5 Affiliate Marketing Success Traits](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/5-affiliate-marketing-success-traits/): 5 Affiliate Marketing Success Traits to Have A number of people still continue to turn to one of the most popular methods of making money online – and that method is affiliate marketing. With this business model, there are no direct bosses to answer to, deadlines to meet, or piles of work that must be finished by the end of the day. In order to succeed with affiliate marketing however, you’ll need to have the necessary traits. There are basically 5 Affiliate Marketing success traits you can’t do without. That is if you hope to make it in the business of ... Read more
- [Why I Quit Aweber](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/why-i-quit-aweber/): Why I quit Aweber and no longer recommend it Most recently, I made the decision to leave Aweber for another service. I’ve been with Aweber for a few years now, but just didn’t break even. In fact, I made no sales with my list and Aweber was charging me as though I made a fortune – justifying their price based on what they thought I should be making, but wasn’t. And that isn’t the only reason, in fact there are a number of good reason why I quit Aweber as mentioned below. Subscriber policy Whenever someone confirms a subscription to your ... Read more
- [WordPress Upgrades Verses Updates](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/wordpress-upgrades-verses-updates/): Importance of WordPress Upgrades Verses Updates After working on putting together, writing and publishing my 4-part affiliate success series that basically gave away the store, when working on anything afterwards seemed pointless to me until now. Even though not every affiliate marketer has their own website or blog, enough do! And even those who do have websites, not all are self hosted WordPress based sites. So for those of you who don’t have WordPress or have no interest in it at all, then this article is not for you. You are more than welcome to check out my other helpful articles, ... Read more
- [Develop the Power of Authority in Your Niche](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/develop-the-power-of-authority-in-your-niche/): Establishing the Power of Authority in Your Niche Market Have you ever dreamed about becoming an authority in your niche? Well, you’re not alone! This is something many online marketers would like to happen, but few ever get a chance to realize that dream. As you are probably aware already, becoming an authority is no easy feat, especially if you’re starting from scratch. However after reading and putting into action the tips offered in this article, you’ll most likely be ahead of the majority of your competitors. You’ll discover what being an authority really means, and have a pretty good idea ... Read more
- [Simple Affiliate Marketing Conduct for Success](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/simple-affiliate-marketing-conduct/): Simple Affiliate Marketing Conduct – Do’s and Don’ts As a follow-up to the Affiliate Marketing Success series, I cover some effective but simple affiliate marketing conduct for success. Even though practical tips for any affiliate, this is targeted for novices or anyone thinking about becoming an affiliate marketer. When beginning the journey as an affiliate, it can be hard to know just where to start. Also what you need to do to be successful. Just as important, there are a number of things you shouldn’t do as well! This article covers both, so you can avoid many of the mistakes that ... Read more
- [How to Leverage Internet Marketing with Affiliate Marketing](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/how-to-leverage-internet-marketing-with-affiliate-marketing/): Leverage Internet Marketing with Affiliate Marketing Using Affiliate Marketing is a great way to validate your website content, products and services. By taking advantage of this Internet marketing tactic to boost your online business, you can add an extra dash of affiliate marketing ingredients that will help you increase sales and leverage your marketing success. As a vendor, you can use Affiliate marketing as an outstanding and inexpensive way to expand your brand awareness and add to your online income. You can do this either by running your own affiliate program or use a monitoring and delivery service like Clickbank or ... Read more
- [Affiliate Success Part 4: Promoting Products & Maximizing Earnings](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/affiliate-success-part-4/): Affiliate Success Part 4: Promoting Products Welcome back to Affiliate Success Part 4, the final section of this training series. While this is the last installment, it’s by no means the final step for your business. Affiliate marketing is an ongoing journey, and once you implement these strategies, you’ll want to keep learning, testing, and refining. To recap: Part 1 – Choosing your niche Part 2 – Building your platform Part 3 – Growing your audience Now, in Part 4, we’ll tie it all together by focusing on how to promote products effectively to your audience. If you’ve followed along and ... Read more
- [Affiliate Success Part 3: Growing and Engaging Your Audience](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/affiliate-success-part-3/): Article Series Updated October 18, 2025 Affiliate Success Part 3: Grow Your Audience Did you miss the first two articles in this series? In Part 1, I revealed how to choose a niche, and in Part 2, how to build your platform for success. Today, in Affiliate Success Part 3, we’ll focus on the next step: growing your audience. If you’re not sure how to attract visitors to your site, this guide is for you. Just be sure you’ve covered Part 1 and Part 2 first. Step 3: Grow Your Audience This is where things start to get exciting. Growing your ... Read more
- [Affiliate Success Part 2: Build Your Platform](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/affiliate-success-part-2/): Article Series Updated October 17, 2025 Affiliate Disclosure: Some of the links in this article are affiliate links. If you choose to make a purchase through one of these links, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Our mission is to provide our readers with quality free content and any commission we make is used to maintain this site​. Affiliate Success Part 2: Build a Platform Welcome to Affiliate Success Part 2, the next step in the Affiliate Marketing Success series! In Part 1, we covered how to choose your niche. Now it’s time to talk about ... Read more
- [Affiliate Success Part 1: Choosing a Niche](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/affiliate-success-part-1/): ​Article Series Updated October 17, 2025 Affiliate Success Part 1: Choosing a Niche Welcome to the Smart Affiliate’s 4‑Part Training Series. The goal is simple: to help you attain affiliate success by building a sustainable online business. There are many ways to make money online as an affiliate, but this series lays out what I believe is the most reliable and sustainable process for building a long‑term business without breaking the bank. Too many new affiliates skip the foundational steps. They chase a popular product, promote it immediately, and expect quick cash. In reality, that approach sets them up for failure. ... Read more
- [Most Important Testing Your Website must Pass](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/most-important-testing-your-website-must-pass/): There are a number of ways you can advertise your brand with Internet marketing. You can choose to use different types of methods that will optimize your online efforts, get more leads, and generate more income. It should be obvious that you need to know what it is your customers are looking for, and if they are satisfied with what you are providing them. But, to get great results and improve your customer’s online experiences with your site, you need to test every campaign. Below are the most important testing your website must pass to achieve your Internet marketing strategies: Calls-To-Action ... Read more
- [Picking a Niche Market – Personal Interest or Marketability](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/picking-a-niche-market/): Picking a niche market – Personal Interest vs. Profitability It’s been awhile since writing my last post here, and I apologize for it. I didn’t plan on an unexpected life event that was significant enough to change the course of my online operations for awhile. However, I am now back and have some new perspectives to add to my already lengthy resume of life events. This leads me into today’s feature topic: picking a niche market – personal interest or marketability? There’s been a long running dispute between personal interest vs. marketability when it comes to selecting a niche market. Some ... Read more
- [Lead Generation with Internet Marketing](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/lead-generation-with-internet-marketing/): Lead Generation using Internet Marketing Lead Generation is one of the most important concepts in the field of online marketing. But, a very significant point is that it is possible to generate qualified leads using Internet Marketing. Lead generation is a way to attract and convert qualified prospects from your online platform like within a sales funnel. The most effective way to optimize your marketing campaigns to generate more leads is by use of landing pages, forms, strong offers and clear calls to action. Lead generation is a powerful tool in today’s world of online Marketing. So, here are some beneficial ... Read more
- [Building Self Confidence – Key to Success!](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/building-self-confidence-key-to-success/): Building self confidence – key to success If you are extremely discontent by what the general public would term as “a miserable personal life”, then you should be aware that you need to make changes in your personal life. Certainly, “a miserable personal life” can mean many things. But usually, it is an indicator that the person suffers from an lack of self confidence, which in turn affects one’s self esteem until it hits rock bottom. However, if you want to make changes in your personal life and reverse the course of your present condition, to become a prosperous and happy ... Read more
- [Top 10 Traffic Tactics for your Blog](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/top-10-traffic-tactics-for-your-blog/): Top 10 Traffic Tactics Having a blog is popular way to create an online presence for both personal and business reasons. You can virtually build a blog for free and then begin posting content right away. But, what good is having great content if no one is visiting to read it? For every successful blog you find on the Internet, hundreds more have failed. Running a blog is much like running a business. Unless you are willing to put in the time and treat it seriously, you won’t be blogging long! I’m not saying that all failed bloggers weren’t serious about ... Read more
- [Is Your Site Mobile Friendly?](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/is-your-site-mobile-friendly/): Is Your Site Mobile Friendly? Included with today’s What’s Up Wednesday, not only do I share the importance of having a mobile friendly site, but also recent events with my online and personal life. Checking for a Mobile Friendly Site If you are not aware by now, Google made a major shift yesterday in the way it ranks website listings based on whether a site is mobile friendly or not. If your site does not show well on a mobile device, then your site will take a hit (loss) with it’s Search Engine Rankings. To find out if your website or ... Read more
- [Simple Conversion Boosters](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/simple-conversion-boosters/): Simple Conversion Boosters There are a number of simple ways you can improve your conversions, along with a few more advanced methods that I’ll cover at another time. For now, we’re just going to take a look at the following simple conversion boosters you can put to use for quick results. Headline or Topic Your headline is an important element to any marketing segment. If you have a sales page or landing page, you’ll use a standard headline. If you are involved with email marketing, your headline is your email subject. In video marketing, it’s your video title or the opening ... Read more
- [Become A Super Affiliate](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/become-a-super-affiliate/): Becoming a Super Affiliate is the only way to go if you want to build a successful affiliate marketing business. It's important to find products and services you can trust and believe in.
- [3 Powerful Forms of Viral Marketing to Build Your List](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/3-powerful-forms-of-viral-marketing/): Build a list with Viral Marketing In today’s Traffic Tactics Thursday, I cover 3 powerful forms of viral marketing that will help you build your list. I’m sure that you have heard by now that “The Money is in the… LIST!” Okay that fine, but the question is… “How can I effectively build a list that won’t cost me an arm and a leg in the process?” Well, today is your lucky day – because I’m going to reveal to you 3 of the most powerful ways you can build your targeted opt-in list by using the power of ‘Viral Marketing’. ... Read more
- [A Heart Attack and Fat Paycheck](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/a-heart-attack-and-fat-paycheck/): Heart Attack and Fat Paycheck Missing In Action Online It’s another What’s Up Wednesday, and I’m going to share with you the reason I’ve been missing in action lately. If you are not aware, I suffered a heart attack on Monday March 16th. To say the least, it took me out of action for awhile. That is a problem when you are like me, a one-person show so to speak. Even though I returned home about 48 hours later, obviously I wasn’t in the same mode I had been in beforehand. So I have not been able to do daily article ... Read more
- [What Triggers People to Buy Online?](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/what-triggers-people-to-buy-online/): Online Buying Triggers In today’s Marketing Monday, I provide insights as to what triggers people to buy online. Online shopping is no longer the exception but the norm. It has become a major source for sales, even for major discount stores that have a strong “brick and mortar” retail presence. With improvements in secure online transactions for credit card information and trusted third party services (like PayPal), more buyers of all ages feel confident about shopping online. Why would people want to buy from you? If you are a do-it-yourself marketer and do not have a brand name business, why would ... Read more
- [Maximizing Your Web Traffic](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/maximizing-your-web-traffic/): Getting the Maximum Amount of Web Traffic Today’s Traffic Tactics Thursday, I talk about an important part that should be the focus with any traffic tactic you use – and that’s maximizing your web traffic. I could have easily titled this article, “Powerful New Web Traffic Tactic That’s Never Been Seen Before!”, just to draw traffic to this post. But once you arrive and start reading the “What it is” and you see that it ends up being just another slant to an already known method, you would abruptly leave – I know I would! So you got traffic to your ... Read more
- [ZeroBounce WP Plugin Review](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/zerobounce-wp-plugin-review/): Stop Traffic Leaks with ZeroBounce Plugin PLEASE NOTE: THIS PLUGIN IS NO LONGER SUPPORTED AND IS NOT RECOMMENDED TO BUY In today’s What’s Up Wednesday, I’ll be examining a newly released (2015) “One-Click” plugin that supposedly fixes your site’s traffic leaks in my ZeroBounce WP Plugin Review. The launch affordable ZeroBounce plugin was designed for small time website owners, bloggers and affiliate marketers. The vendor claims it will stop your site from leaking 50% or more of your site’s traffic in just “One-Click” to bring in more sales, leads, and commissions. If this is true, then it would solve a BIG ... Read more
- [Basic Affiliate Marketing Tools](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/basic-affiliate-marketing-tools/): Basic Affiliate Marketing Tools In today’s Tools of the Trade Tuesday, I cover some of the basic affiliate marketing tools you can use that will help you achieve online success. Knowing the dynamics of how affiliate marketing works is essential. So is creating content that attracts the right audience to your offer. Once you understand the basics of operating as an affiliate online, you’ll want to put to use a few tools that can help you do your job with speed and efficiently. WordPress themes If you haven’t heard about WordPress by now, then you have been living under a rock. ... Read more
- [Hodge Podge Marketing](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/hodge-podge-marketing/): Hit and Miss Marketing For today’s Marketing Monday, I talk about a method of marketing many of us end up doing instead of a focused marketing strategy, and that is hodge podge marketing. I recently wrote about my experience testing out the possibilities of a Facebook boosted ad post. Like most of you, I am always looking for cost effective ways to increase quality traffic to my site. But after trying out this last method, I sat back to access my overall marketing strategy for this website. My findings weren’t pretty. I discovered that I had deviated off course with what ... Read more
- [Ways to Keep Yourself Motivated](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/ways-to-keep-yourself-motivated/): Get Motivated It’s another Feature Friday without a guest author, so I decided to write about ways to keep yourself motivated. At first glance, it would seem that positive thinking and motivation have little to do with each other. But those of us who have to deal with negative thinking patterns become frustrated by our daily challenges and frequent feelings of being overwhelmed. This negative outlook becomes infectious and makes it even harder to manage those challenges and move forward. However when you practice positive thinking, it allows you to focus on your strengths and accomplishments, which increases happiness and motivation. ... Read more
- [Using Facebook Boost Ad for the First Time](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/using-facebook-boost-ad-for-the-first-time/): Facebook Boost Ad Results For today’s Traffic Tactics Thursday, I want to share my most recently experience with using Facebook boost ad for the first time. Originally I was told that this was a bad idea and a waste of money. So I decided not to use it because of my initial exposure to it and why it doesn’t work. But then I was introduced to a marketer who found a way to get a lot of mileage from a boosted post on Facebook if done right. He quickly went through his method in which I could copy (without buying his ... Read more
- [Is Youzign Just Another Graphics Program?](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/is-youzign-just-another-graphics-program/): YouZign Under the Microscope Yes, it’s another What’s Up Wednesday and I will be covering today a new software graphics program that I am excited about and recently got. However, with all the features available it begs the question, is Youzign just another graphics program? What if I told you there is this revolutionary new graphics software that creates amazing Facebook and Twitter covers, video graphics, posters, flyers, infographics, business cards, YouTube channel art, website headers, buttons, banners and more, with no Photoshop and nothing to download or install. Everything is done online thanks to Youzign’s powerful innovative technologies and all-in-one ... Read more
- [Analyzing Website Traffic Data– Part 2](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/analyzing-website-traffic-data-part-2/): Web Traffic Analytics – Part 2 In today’s Tools of the Trade Tuesday, I’m finishing the 2-part series on analyzing website traffic data. What’s more, it’s normally available to you on your hosting service if you host your own WordPress site or blog. Analyzing website traffic data is an important SEO task for any online marketer. By using various web analytical tools mentioned in PART 1 – you will discover how many returning and unique visitors visited your website daily, and what they do when arriving there. Analyzing a sales page If your website has a sales page where you are ... Read more
- [Should Affiliate Marketers Build a List?](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/should-affiliate-marketers-build-a-list/): Building a List of Subscribers Today’s Marketing Monday, I address a question that keeps popping up – Should Affiliate Marketers Build a List of subscribers? When first starting out as an affiliate marketer (or anytime afterwards and still unsure), you’ll need to decide if you want to build a list of subscribers, customers, and buyers. Think about this – as an affiliate marketer, once someone visits your site and clicks on an affiliate link, if you didn’t at least capture their name and email address, most likely you will never see them again, even if they buy the offer and you ... Read more
- [Is a Can Do Attitude Enough?](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/is-a-can-do-attitude-enough/): The Power of a Can Do Attitude In today’s Feature Friday I address the question, is a can do attitude enough? I will impart my perspective on this topic by sharing the following true story. Back in the days when I was an electronics instructor, I had a wide assortment of students that I was involved with. Their age range was 18 to 62, mainly males and of different ethnicities. Classes were from a low of 16 students to a high of 34. Each class was different. By the time students entered my class, they had been exposed to 24 weeks ... Read more
- [How can I get Traffic to my Site?](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/how-can-i-get-traffic-to-my-site/): Ways to Get Web Traffic Welcome! In today’s Traffic Tactics Thursday, I address a question often asked about which is how can I get traffic to my site? I’m sure you’ve heard about dozens of different ways you can use to direct traffic to your site, both free and paid, hot or cold – but don’t know where or how to get started. Each method has their own advantages and disadvantages. Once you understand them, choosing which method or methods will become easier for you to do. Paid traffic Paid traffic includes such methods as PPC (pay-per-click), solo and banner advertising, ... Read more
- [Thrive Leads Plugin Review](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/thrive-leads-plugin-review/): What is Thrive Leads? In today’s Whats Up Wednesday, I take a look at a newly released plugin that is replacing the Hybrid Connect plugin that I currently use and did a review. So welcome to the new Thrive Leads plugin review. If you ever wanted to build a list, the biggest hassle that any site owner experiences is setting up opt-in forms. Anything from widget based forms, top or bottom, pop-ups, or any other form you can imagine – takes time and effort to do. That’s why most of us who use WordPress look for easier ways to add forms ... Read more
- [Analyzing Website Traffic Data– Part 1](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/analyzing-website-traffic-data-part-1/): Web Traffic Analytics – Part 1 In today’s Tools of the Trade Tuesday, I’m starting a 2-part series on analyzing website traffic data. What’s more, it’s not about Google analytics! And it’s available to you if you host your own WordPress site or blog. Analyzing website traffic data is crucial for the success of your online business. Looking over your results can be done for a number of reasons. But before doing any analysis, you should know what the available data means. And then how make effective changes based upon that data to boost your website’s performance. Most website owners are ... Read more
- [3 Survival Tactics for Affiliate Marketers](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/3-survival-tactics-for-affiliate-marketers/): Surviving Online For today’s Marketing Monday, I take a look at 3 survival tactics for affiliate marketers. They are no big secret, but do make a difference when put to use. Most affiliate marketers are always looking for a successful market that will produce the biggest paycheck. Sadly though, they also think there is some magic formula that’s readily available to help them achieve it. In reality, it’s more complicated than that. What it actually boils down to is just using good marketing practices that have been proven over years of hard work and dedication. What? I know that for some ... Read more
- [Working Through Online Burnout](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/working-through-online-burnout/): Working Through Online Burnout – When in a Rut You may or may not have noticed my absence online for the past week or so. I didn’t write any more articles, bother to finish the ones I have drafted, or continue working on this site as a whole. Why? I’m suffering from online burn-out! I have made a concerted effort to work consistently with my online business since April 2013 after joining what is now called iPro Partners. 2013 was also a tough year with the loss of my mom and two other family members. I became the executor of the ... Read more
- [Basic SEO for Affiliate Blogs](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/basic-seo-for-affiliate-blogs/): SEO Basics for Affiliate Sites Today’s Traffic Tactics Thursday, I visit the topic of basic SEO for affiliate blogs. Even though search engines are not as powerful as they once were – they still can pack a powerful traffic punch to your site! Too often, affiliates will set up a blog and then create tons of content – without ever learning the ins and outs of search engine optimization or SEO. As a site owner, regardless if you have your own products or promote affiliate products, it’s important that you at least know basic SEO. Initial settings If you use WordPress ... Read more
- [Branding Yourself as the Go to Expert](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/branding-yourself-as-go-to-expert/): Why brand Yourself? Today’s What’s Up Wednesday, I talk about the importance of branding yourself as the go to expert even as an affiliate. Just because you’re an affiliate marketer doesn’t mean you’re off the hook for branding. You could adopt this not necessary attitude – but it certainly won’t help you build a flourishing online business. Yeah, you may make some sales and commissions – but you won’t see your profits explode without it. To achieve the top tier levels of affiliate income in any market, you still have to brand yourself as a leader in your niche – and ... Read more
- [Article Marketing for Affiliates Still Work?](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/article-marketing-for-affiliates-still-work/): Does Article Marketing still work? In today’s traffic tactics Thursday, I examine an old school method for generating free traffic. Does it actually work to create traffic and is it worth the time? Does article marketing for affiliates still work? A few years back when Google clamped down on article directories, everyone panicked because their own posted affiliate marketing articles were suddenly falling in the search engine rankings. However, some of those repository sites have continued to recoup. There are still a few effective ways to employ article marketing in your affiliate strategy, but the obsolete method of believing you can ... Read more
- [Setup WordPress Site in 10 Seconds!](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/setup-wordpress-in-10-seconds/): Setup WordPress Fast It’s another What’s Up Wednesday and this time I’m combining today’s article with yesterday’s Tools of the Trade Tuesday. There are several things I want to cover including how to setup WordPress in 10 seconds so lets get going. Yesterday’s debacle Yesterday as I was starting my online business day, one of the start-up tasks I do is check all my websites to make sure they are working without issues. Well, I had issues with 3 of my sites, they were being marked by Norton’s Safe Search as malicious sites! So I made the mistake of contacting Norton ... Read more
- [Affiliate Marketing Success – Basics](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/affiliate-marketing-success-basics/): Success with Affiliate Marketing Beginning with today’s Marketing Monday, I will be revealing the elements needed for affiliate marketing success – basics. Too many times I see other marketers presenting an oversimplification of what is needed for online success, or rather fail to mention (even leave out) all aspects of what is needed (sometimes on purpose) – perhaps one of the reasons why others fail at it. Making connections and sales Most all online marketing endeavors along with affiliate marketing is about making connections and making sales. To be effective, you need to have or learn sales techniques. This includes things ... Read more
- [Is Affiliate Marketing Automation a Good Idea?](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/affiliate-marketing-automation-good-idea/): Online Affiliate Marketing Automation It’s another Tools of the Trade Tuesday, and today I answer the question is using affiliate marketing automation a good idea? Who doesn’t want to find ways to free up time during their busy workday! Of course, one of those sought after methods is automation. This is especially true when it comes to those repetitive mundane tasks. There are a number of automation tools you can find offered online that supposedly help you free up some time and effort in running your business as an affiliate marketer. However, there are definite pros and cons that you should ... Read more
- [Top Lies About Affiliate Marketing](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/top-lies-about-affiliate-marketing/): Affiliate Marketing Lies Today’s Marketing Monday, I talk about something that is a pet peeve of mine because it hurts those who offer legitimate programs and also those who are sincere about finding a way to make money online with affiliate marketing. So I expose top lies about affiliate marketing. It’s an issue that I take personally and you should also is the out right lies some marketers use to “sell” their products, offers, or services. And once a lie starts to circulate as a fact, then misconceptions begin to quickly form as well, making it all the more difficult to ... Read more
- [Missing Stats from Dark Social Media](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/missing-stats-dark-social-media/): Exposing Dark Social Media Reached another What’s Up Wednesday where I cover a topic that has interesting online marketing consequences. What is it that you should have a concern about? Web analytics that’s unable to collect complete information leaves a hole about what your potential customers are doing. It is becoming a bigger issue all the time, and that issue is missing stats from dark social media. What is dark social media? RadiumOne defines dark social media as any inbound web traffic coming to your site from sources unknown and that traditional web analytics (Google Analytics) are unable to track. How ... Read more
- [Avoid Affiliate Marketing Black Hat Tactics](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/avoid-affiliate-marketing-black-hat-tactics/): Using Black Hat Tactics for Affiliate Marketing For today’s Marketing Monday, I cover an important topic that you’ll want to seriously consider making part of your affiliate business. Simply put, that’s to avoid affiliate marketing black hat tactics. As you make your way through the affiliate marketing business model, you’ll hear a lot of advice. Unfortunately even though it will be from a number of different sources, not all of it is above board. They refer to these as grey hat or black hat strategies, and you should avoid them like the plague. They become quite temping to implement as well. ... Read more
- [Setting Goals and Taking Action](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/setting-goals-and-taking-action/): A New Year for Setting Goals and Taking Action It’s another What’s Up Wednesday. Today, I reveal what I have been doing since the start of the new year – setting goals and taking action. By the way, have a happy and prosperous new year! I’ve been involved with too much mind exercise by over-thinking things out, while allowing other things to pile up. I have determined that this year will be the best one for my online business to date. I have even thought out written goals, and made action plans. Now I know what I must do to make ... Read more
- [Seven Effective Life Habits](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/seven-effective-life-habits/): Seven Habits of Highly Effective People In today’s Feature Friday, I am talking about a system that I had discovered over 10 years ago. It has helped me and still applies today. I refer to it as seven effective life habits and it is based on Stephen Covey’s, “7 Habits of Highly Effective People.” (affiliate link) Stephen studied what sets apart effective leaders and managers from the common ineffectual everyday ones. He gained 7 great insights about how to lead and manage your professional, along with your personal life, to be highly effective in both arenas. He points out these 7 ... Read more
- [Getting the Right Domain Name](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/getting-the-right-domain-name/): Choosing the Right Domain Name In today’s Tools of the Trade Tuesday, I talk about an often missed topic of discussion that directly relates to websites and blogs – getting the right domain name. In the past the main focus was always on two things; picking out the domain name based on your top or main keyword, making sure to get the dot com extension. Even though each has some importance, it is no longer the driving factor. In fact, it has become more of a branding and public relations issue than just using a main keyword. Additional issues that you ... Read more
- [My Dying Email List – Shifting Gears](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/email-list-shifting-gears/): My Email List It’s another Marketing Monday and I’ve been going crazy. Because it is near the end of the year, I am scrambling to get things done in all areas! Everything from health care insurance issues, swapping out clothes driers, to getting tax information together and submitted to the accountant. And that’s just for my family stuff. As I’ve been buzzing around my house and office the last few days, I’ve come to realize an important matter that I’ve been neglecting, it’s big, and down right embarrassing! What is this big deal that I’ve been ignoring? My email list! Since ... Read more
- [Know Your Traffic Using Web Analytics](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/know-traffic-using-web-analytics/): Know Your Visitors For today’s belated Traffic Tactics Thursday, I discuss the importance of why you should know your traffic using web analytics. Who are your visitors? Who is coming to your site, where are they coming from and how are they getting there? What articles are they reading, or what links are they clicking? How many of them are purchasing services or products? How do you know? If you don’t bother to use web analytics to track the traffic activity of your site, including activity within your site, then you will have no way of answering any of these questions! ... Read more
- [Why Buy a Premium WordPress Theme](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/why-buy-a-premium-wordpress-theme/): Premium Theme vs. Free Theme Today’s Tools of the Trade Tuesday, I cover reasons why buy a premium WordPress theme has advantages over free themes. Since starting with my first website online in the summer of 2009, I’ve used a number of themes for my various websites and blogs. I’ve seen the good, the bad, and the ugly! If you’ve been using WordPress for any length of time, you most likely had to do a bit of theme tweaking yourself. Maybe you’re experienced enough to poke around with the CSS in the style sheet and change a few colors or fonts. ... Read more
- [Evergreen Niche Markets for Affiliates](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/evergreen-niche-markets-for-affiliates/): Why Evergreen Niche Markets? In today’s Marketing Monday, I cover evergreen niche markets for affiliates and why they’re important to consider as an affiliate. Too many times I’ve seen advice that basically tells new affiliate marketers to do whatever they like to do best. Even though there’s some merit to that advice, it definitely shouldn’t be the only deciding factor! Why? Because if it’s something that a rare number of people are interested in, you won’t make any money at it. Unless it’s a high ticket item like a yacht. Instead, choose something that’s large enough with others that have a ... Read more
- [Keeping Yourself Motivated](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/keeping-yourself-motivated/): Staying Motivated Well surprise! Again for this Feature Friday, I’m the guest author. Today I look at keeping yourself motivated. It’s not always easy to do. Just like what’s happening with Feature Friday. Not that I haven’t tried to get more guest authors. When I first decided to do this, I invited a few other experts to write an article for The Smart Affiliate. I was met with both enthusiasm and positive feedback. Since then, it hasn’t been the case. Not that the interest isn’t there, but it’s with the one’s whom I asked. If anything they are still growing their ... Read more
- [Online and Affiliate Marketing Scams](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/online-affiliate-marketing-scams/): Online Scams In today’s What’s Up Wednesday, I talk about an issue that can cause you a lot of heartache along with a loss of money and time; online and affiliate marketing scams. Yes, they’re out there and exist in every online market. Some do it to make a quick buck, others are even more malicious with their intentions. It’s also a well-known fact that all successful sales pitches appeal to the emotions; such as the need to be liked, the need for security, and so on. The trouble with scams is that they are promoted based on one of the ... Read more
- [6 Phases of Blog Growth](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/six-phases-of-blog-growth/): Phases of Blog Growth For this Tool’s of the Trade Tuesday, I talk about a powerful tool that every affiliate marketer should have… a blog (or website). A website or blog helps you to establish authority and serves as a home base others can find. But it is more than that, phases of blog growth also helps your online business grow when done right. Yeah, yeah, I know everyone says you need one and that’s all fine and dandy. But I already have one that’s not doing much of anything, now what? It is more that just having a online presence, ... Read more
- [WordPress Plugins for Affiliate Marketing](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/wordpress-plugins-for-affiliate-marketing/): WordPress Plugins for Affiliate Marketing In today’s Tools of the Trade Tuesday, I cover WordPress plugins for affiliate marketing sites. Plugins that will help to give you an edge over the competition (unless they read this, too). Not only that, but most of these plugins listed are free as well! WordPress is the most popular and probably the easiest blogging CMS (content management system) available. And best of all, the software platform is free. WP also has tons of great free themes and plugins. You can find them listed on the Codex. They will help you with such things as blogging, ... Read more

## Pages

- [About the Smart Affiliate](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/about-the-smart-affiliate/): Welcome to the Smart Affiliate, your go-to resource for navigating the ever-evolving world of online business and affiliate marketing. We understand that this space can feel like a maze, full of exciting opportunities and potential pitfalls. That’s why we’re dedicated to cutting through the noise and providing you with honest, no-nonsense insights based on real-world experience. At The Smart Affiliate, we believe in transparency and practical advice. We’re here to share what truly works—and just as importantly, what doesn’t. Our content is crafted to help you make informed decisions, avoid common mistakes, and ultimately build a sustainable online business. Whether you’re ... Read more
- [Earnings Disclaimer](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/earnings-disclaimer/): EARNINGS DISCLAIMER This website is owned and operated by Glowball Web Network (“Company,” “we,” or “us”). This Earnings Disclaimer, along with the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, governs your access to and use of TheSmartAffiliate.com, including any content, functionality and services offered on or through TheSmartAffiliate.com (the “Website”), whether as a guest or a registered user. Please read the Disclaimer carefully before you start to use the Website. By using the Website or by clicking to accept or agree to the Terms of Service when this option is made available to you, you accept and agree to be bound and ... Read more
- [User Request Form](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/user-request-form/)
- [Home](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/home/): ​Please excuse the mess… this website is currently being remodeled to serve you better than before! All article posts are still available with more on the way. Thank you for your patience and understanding. Recent Article Posts
- [About the Founder](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/about-founder/): Hello, and welcome! I’m Michel (Mike) Snook, the founder and primary voice behind The Smart Affiliate. I’ve been deep in the trenches of online business and affiliate marketing since 2009. Over the years, I’ve just about seen it all – from incredible systems and programs that delivered, to plenty that fell flat. Through all those ups and downs, I’ve learned what truly works and what’s just noise in this ever-evolving digital landscape. I lean into the more technical side of things, thanks to my background in electronic technology and computers (I also hold degrees in management and small business ownership). And ... Read more
- [Terms of Service](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/terms-of-service/): Terms Of Service & Conditions Of Use The following describes the Terms of Service Conditions of Use for THESMARTAFFILIATE.COM website. PLEASE READ THIS DOCUMENT CAREFULLY BEFORE ACCESSING OR USING OUR WEBSITE. BY ACCESSING OR USING OUR WEBSITE, YOU AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS SET FORTH BELOW. IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO BE BOUND BY THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS, YOU MAY NOT ACCESS OR USE OUR WEBSITE. IF YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS, DO NOT USE OUR WEBSITE. WE MAY MODIFY THIS AGREEMENT AT ANY TIME WITHOUT INDIVIDUAL, SPECIFIC NOTICE TO YOU, AND SUCH ... Read more
- [Privacy Policy](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/privacy-policy/): Privacy Policy The following describes the Privacy Policy for THESMARTAFFILIATE.COM website. Your Privacy Your privacy is important to us at Glowball Web Network. To better protect your privacy we provide this notice explaining our online information practices and the choices you can make about the way your information is collected and used. You agree to agree to these policies by virtue of using our website in a way that leads to you providing us with personal information. State Law & Accompanying Rights Please understand that you may have additional rights originating from State laws based on where you live. These State-based ... Read more
- [Articles](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/articles/)
- [Contact](https://thesmartaffiliate.com/contact/): You are welcome to contact us by using the form below: Please be patient since replies can take up to several days.

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