Affiliate marketing is one of the best ways for bloggers to make money and let me rephrase that again. With the right strategy, you can make MORE money on affiliate marketing compared to any other blog monetization methods out there.
For starters, it is not impossible to make over $5,000 (in a very short time) solely on affiliate marketing. Most bloggers don’t make the cut because they aren’t using the right strategy.
Starting a blog is always the easy part. I even shared why I recommend using this web hosting for that matter (you can check out the post by clicking on this link).
The biggest question is what type of plugins you should be using to pump up your ranking?
Here are the top 5 plugins for affiliate marketers 2017.
1. Yoast SEO
Ladies and gentlemen, I’m not joking when I say Yoast SEO. Yoast SEO helps you to rank your blog post on Google and probably a dozen of other search engines. You need Yoast SEO no matter what!
It is free to use and you can download it here.
Configuring Yoast SEO can be a slightly nasty task and [thrive_2step id=’6502′]click here to download the best settings for Yoast SEO.[/thrive_2step]
Pretty Link Lite/Pro is one of the most popular options for cloaking the affiliate links and it works just like Thirsty Affiliates. Some of the features that are worth mentioning include clean and simple URLs, track the number of hits and unique hits per link, intuitive JAVA/AJAX admin user interface and much more.
While Pretty Link is very similar to its competitor, Thirsty Affiliates, I would say that it boils down to your personal preferences. Both are good and all you need to do is to select either one of them.
Are you thinking of monetizing using Amazon? If that’s the case, you’re in luck!
With EasyAzon, you can easily increase your affiliate sales with this plugin.
But wait!
What are the features of this plugin?
Add links to Amazon Affiliate program right from your WordPress dashboard
Link localization: If a user is coming from U.K, he will be automatically redirected to Amazon U.K. store. This way you won’t miss out on your commission
EasyAzon let you add ‘˜Add to cart’ feature, which will let your reader directly add the product into their cart. This feature also increases the chances of getting paid for sale by 30 more days.
Make no mistake as this plugin is very powerful. I have seen several bloggers generating over 200% more affiliate sales on eBay using this plugin!
I hope you find this useful and what is your favorite affiliate marketing plugins? Leave a comment below and share your thoughts!
DID YOU KNOW?
For a limited time only, you can sign up for my 7-days affiliate marketing course (worth $99) for FREE! Seats are limited, so secure yours today. Click here to join now.
The introduction to email marketing automation (before we compare MailChimp vs ConvertKit vs Drip)
Email marketing automation is the thing right now. It doesn’t matter if you are selling a course or simply trying to create a more engaged subscriber.
According to Hubspot, success in email marketing automation comes down to two parts:
Recognizing that marketing automation does not do marketing and lead generation for you but it can help you scale your business
Centering your marketing messages around the real and live person at the receiving end of your campaigns
It makes all the sense if you think about it.
The first step is to start creating content that attracts the right type of audience and when they show up at your doorsteps, you need to bribe them with a powerful call to action (I use Thrive Leads for that matter).
The second part is to understand your audience before you are able to send emails that resonate closely with them. Hubspot said about “treating them like a real person” and that’s what you should be doing!
Using advanced tagging tools, you will be able to send timely and powerful email contents to them and in return, you will get better click-through rates and engagement. Plus, you may even see a drop in people unsubscribing as well!
BONUS: For a limited time only, I’m opening up an exclusive 7-days course to help you with affiliate marketing. Want in? Click here for more info!
MailChimp, ConvertKit, and Drip are three of the most powerful email marketing automation software in the market today. I was searching for MailChimp vs ConvertKit vs Drip the past few days and sadly, I can’t find one. Therefore, I did mine and I hope you like it!
What made it worse is that most of the comparisons out there don’t compare or even include MailChimp. So, I hope this comparison between MailChimp, ConvertKit, and Drip will give you a great idea on which email marketing automation you should be using for your business.
This post would be pretty long since I’m giving a detailed explanation on all the three email marketing automation. Therefore, here’s a quick drive down on the overall summary for them.
I recommend you to read the full article to get the complete information which will certainly be useful for your decision making between MailChimp vs ConvertKit vs Drip.
If you are a complete beginner or running with very limited funds for email marketing
Then your best choice is MailChimp.
Sure, MailChimp has several weaknesses (highlighted here) but it is still the best value for money. I have seen MailChimp grow a lot since two years back and now, I’m proud to say that it has evolved into an excellent email marketing automation system.
Here are the reasons why you need to be using MailChimp for email marketing:
Absolutely free to use (up to 12,000 emails a month and 2,000 subscribers)
Comes with email marketing automation for all accounts
Easy to setup and start for beginners
Comes with an array of beautiful templates (for newsletters)
Excellent delivery rates
Easy integration with third party apps and e-Commerce stores
Advanced tagging for paid accounts
How much does MailChimp cost?
New Business plan (forever free) > Free for life up to 12,000 email per month and 2,000 subscribers
Growing Business plan > Starts from $10 per month for 500 email subscribers and unlimited email delivery
If you are a blogger or marketer trying to better manage your subscribers for better click-through rates and engagement
Then your best choice is ConvertKit.
ConvertKit is built for bloggers and marketers who want more than just email marketing. As a matter of fact, ConvertKit is was built directly against what MailChimp is doing and ConvertKit is a great alternative to MailChimp.
Here are the reasons why ConvertKit is best for you:
Easy to use, plain templates that are proven to increase clicks and engagement rate
ConvertKit is subscriber centric (ability to manage your subscribers with just a few clicks)
Send targeted emails based on your subscriber’s interest
Easily track subscriber’s actions based on clicks tracking
Easy to use email automation system
Comes with unlimited landing pages
How much does ConvertKit cost?
1 to 1,000 subscribers > $29 per month
1,001 to 3,000 subscribers > $49 per month
3,001 to 5,000 subscribers > $79 per month
There are also custom plans for those who have a huge list of email subscribers.
If you are trying to sell eBooks, courses, and other paid media
Then Drip is your best choice.
Drip is just like ConvertKit, but with many other functions in it. What makes Drip different from the rest of the email marketing automation systems is the ability to tag each subscriber with extreme details.
Here are the reasons why you need to use Drip for email marketing automation:
Custom made email marketing automation that makes sense
Details workflow and email automation creation
Advanced tracking of email subscribers
Get more insights and more revenue with contact management tools
Drip integrates with just about everything
Comes with inbuilt widget without needing any plugin
How much does Drip cost?
1 to 100 subscribers > Starter plan (Free)
101 to 2,500 subscribers > $49 per month
2,501 to 5,000 subscribers > $99 per month
There are also custom plans for those who have a huge list of email subscribers.
MailChimp vs ConvertKit vs Drip – Complete Comparison
Now that you get a quick hang on what email marketing automation software and the importance of having the right tool, let’s dive into the main topic for today, MailChimp vs ConvertKit vs Drip.
MailChimp Review
MailChimp is one of the best email marketing automation for beginners and small businesses. As for the record, MailChimp doesn’t offer automation back then. But since May 2017, MailChimp had rolled out new email automation for every MailChimp user.
And yes, you guessed it right! Even for the free accounts!
Email marketing automation can be a challenging business. Lucky for you, MailChimp is one of those email marketing providers that made marketing automation really that easy (even for beginners) to master!
https://youtu.be/qNvC75dt0jQ
It totally makes sense since there is so much competition in the market where MailChimp can no longer keep their hands clean and not doing anything about it.
For email marketing beginners, the MailChimp move is heavenly and timely.
I still use MailChimp for some of my projects and they are good. I have absolutely no complaints about them and I believe you won’t have either, especially when you do not need advanced tagging on email subscribers.
Advantages using MailChimp
Availability of free and premium plans
Email automation on all plans (including free ones)
Beautiful templates
Best in the market for drag and drop
Excellent delivery rates
Disadvantages using MailChimp
The process of tagging a subscriber is not an easy task (coding required)
Ugly subscription forms
Many advanced features for email marketing are not available in the free plan
Very strict rules in email content (including affiliates and promotions)
Support is slow and available only for paid plans
My personal recommendations for using MailChimp
MailChimp is best when you do not require any advanced email marketing features. You can consider using MailChimp if you are just starting out in the blogging world or if you have a developer in-house to code your email for tagging reasons.
You can’t go wrong using MailChimp and once you are comfortable enough with email marketing, there are better options such as ConvertKit and Drip to consider.
If you like the interface on MailChimp, you are going to love ConvertKit too. Being a ConvertKit user, the best way to describe ConvertKit is MailChimp on steroids.
ConvertKit is powerful because it serves three main purposes that most email marketing automation software isn’t able to do:
Ability to tag each subscriber based on actions with ease
Inbuilt landing pages makes lead generation even more powerful
Easy email automation system with visual
Another selling point using ConvertKit is the forms, tags, and segments which will help you to segment your subscribers (a little setup required). Hit play on the video below to get more information.
Advantages using ConvertKit
The power of Infusionsoft, but easier to use than MailChimp
Integration with more than a dozen apps
Email automation made easy
Very supportive and active support team
ConvertKit is created mainly for bloggers and advanced marketers
Affordable pricing and plans to fit your needs
Disadvantages using ConvertKit
Not able to manage multiple domains using one account
Landing pages are very simple and limited in choices
Plain text in most email templates
Pricing increases dramatically (more than others) at higher tiers
When I moved to Drip, I had my hat blown off. BIG TIME!
I heard about Drip sometime back and when LeadPages acquired Drip, I knew Drip was something. It must be, right?
Drip is like putting ConvertKit on steroids. Why?
I am totally blown away when I created my first account with Drip. What I love (not like) the most is the introductory part where you would need to answer a few questions. The answers collected from the Q&A will be used to customize your email marketing solution when you first start on Drip.
In other words, you will start with many features turned on (which helped a lot with the whole process).
I do a lot of things with my website; from consulting business to selling courses. So, it is a no-brainer to use Drip because of several advanced options under the hood.
Advantages using Drip
There are a lot of advantages using Drip (just like ConvertKit and MailChimp) and here is a list of them:
A best-in-class visual workflow builder
You can automate everything (18 triggers and 16 actions in the automation rule builder)
Tag your subscribers based on their actions
Identify your best leads (useful if you are selling a product or services)
Send targeted emails (drip campaigns, broadcasts and one-off emails)
Ability to track your email marketing performance
Effortlessly capture email addresses (instead of using plugins)
Drip natively integrates with dozens of applications and platforms
Availability of free plan (for 100 email subscribers)
As you can see above, Drip does offer more advantages when compared to ConvertKit and MailChimp.
But hey, Drip has its disadvantages too!
Disadvantages using Drip
Overall pricing is more expensive when your list is small (price improves once your list grows)
Not suitable for beginners and newly started bloggers
Too many features which may lead to confusion for beginners
The free plan is only for 100 email subscribers
My personal recommendations for using Drip
Drip is not for everyone. As a matter of fact, the same goes for MailChimp and ConvertKit. Drip is the best email marketing automation software if you know exactly what you are selling.
I use Drip for this website because I wanted to create powerful marketing automation funnels to deliver the right content to the right audience.
The Goal: Create powerful marketing automation funnels
If you are looking for a good alternative to MailChimp, or have the question “is MailChimp good,” you’re going to love this post. This post will all about SendPulse, the latest email marketing service provider that I have come across recently.
It is important to understand that Sendpulse is exclusively email marketing platform would diminish its value since it also offers free unlimited web push notifications and SMS messaging. But for the sake of this review, we will focus on its emailing service.
Searching on Google, you may find a few thousand write ups about SendPulse and what it can do for you. I hope this write-up will give you even deeper insights, as well as some honest review for SendPulse.
What is SendPulse?
The tagline for SendPulse is ‘marketing made simple’. For me, what makes SendPulse unique is simply because it offers artificial intelligence (AI), hyper-personalization and predictive analysis to make your email go BOOM!
SendPulse features
Do you know why I said SendPulse is an alternative to MailChimp?
SendPulse is freemium email marketing service provider just like MailChimp.
For a free account, SendPulse allows you to have up to 2,500 email subscribers with 15,000 emails send out on a monthly basis.
And yes, the stats will automatically refresh once every month.
Email templates
With SendPulse, you’ll access to all their email templates and trust me; they are pretty well done!
Take a look at the image below for some samples:
Kind of cool, right?
SendPulse subscription forms
Another “wow” factor for SendPulse is the subscription forms. If you are a MailChimp user, you know that it has very standard, generic look for their subscription forms. While you can perform modifications on the forms, they require some coding knowledge which can be a pain in the a*s for beginners.
Now, take a look at what SendPulse can offer:
Now, it doesn’t take me long to be mesmerized with these! So many options and a form builder as well?
Keep the best for the last — this is what I always believe.
Let’s be honest here. I was surprised that SendPulse offers autoresponders on their free account.
As you can see from the image above, SendPulse provides three forms of automated series which are:
Autoresponder
Email triggered based on specific dates
Email triggered based on action takes or predefined conditions
As email marketers, you probably heard how the big guns in nearly every industry use email automation to skyrocket their sales and visibility. You know, the soft sell, hard sell, etc.
In most cases, email marketing is always considered well used only when you have a good email automation that integrates with a sales funnel.
But the biggest challenge most people faced is that they are not leveraging email automation simply because of the price. And this is absolutely where SendPulse comes into play.
Email automation system that comes either super affordable or free in most cases.
A/B testing with SendPulse (the second ‘wow’ factor)
You might be thinking, “Okay, this is crazy. What is SendPulse doing? Are they killing the market?”
I would easily define the answer as they are revolutionary. With a freemium email marketing service that provides split testing features (also known as A/B testing) can be considered a home run.
Yes, this is just too good to be true.
Split testing can be very mind-boggling and complicated, but SendPulse makes it really, really simple.
All you need to do is to fill up the details such as:
Naming the test
Select an address book
Choosing the right criteria for judging (opens or click through rates)
Sending the finalized, winning email either through automation or manual
Allow me to I point out two important points on the final email sending.
When you select automatic sending, you can set the system to pick the best winner after a particular time. In this case, you can choose either days, hours or both.
Of course, the second point is the manual resend where you can decide to send the winning email at your pace. This option is excellent if you want to have more control over your email marketing strategy.
SendPulse Pricing
SendPulse comes with several different pricing structures. See below for better understanding.
When it comes to email marketing with SendPulse, the lowest plan is the free which comes with 2,500 email subscribers and is an excellent choice for beginners and small businesses.
If you require more features and services, you can purchase paid services instead which starts at $9.85 per month.
Don’t forget that you’ll get 3 months free when you sign up when you pay upfront for a whole year!
There is also Pay As You Go plans that start at $32 for 10,000 emails.
More SendPulse exciting features – Push campaigns
Wait! Do you know that SendPulse comes with push campaigns?
Push campaign can easily be said as an instant notification from your website on your subscriber’s desktops.
Looks familiar, right? You’ll see many websites doing that now (even those famous sites are using this technology as well).
Here’s how it works (credit to SendPulse) for the video.
SMS plans by SendPulse
SendPulse is one of those email marketing providers that provide affordable SMS (short messaging system) plans.
So, if your marketing goes beyond the standard usage of email and would want to engage using SMS, you should consider SendPulse for the matter!
Don’t forget that SMS messages are great when you want to send instant messages, discounts, and other offers directly to them instead of the emails.
Summary
I was lucky to be able to use SendPulse for a few weeks, and I got to say that it is really good. For the free account that comes with automation and split testing, there’s absolutely nothing to complain!
Plus, don’t forget that they have a lot of interesting email templates even in the free account.
If you are interested in using SendPulse, there’s another great offer for you!
The world is changing at the speed of technological innovations and the public is more digital, more demanding. The Millennials, as well known as Generation Y, grew hand in hand with technology and is today the main responsible for purchasing decisions, as the largest group of consumers.
The world is changing and businesses, for the coming years, will have to take care of this generation.
The 10 trends that will drive your business in 2017 will be focused on technological tools, on the growth of eCommerce platforms, on work remotely and more.
Here you go.
1. Web Design Trends
It is no wonder web design has become more important to business than ever before.
Long scrolling, flat design, micro interactions, rich animations and HD visuals are just some of the new trends. From logos to websites, to enriched graphics on social media accounts, consumers are becoming more obsessed with visually appealing content and companies need to take advantage of it.
Following web design trends for 2017 will be required for every business in order to compete at the highest levels. This holds true especially for those companies who refuse to embark on the Internet for fear of getting lost and not being able to emerge.
Every company, every startup, every small workshop will need a strategic online presence. CMS platforms like WordPress allow you to easily manage a website, with just a minimum of technical know-how to build your online activities.
2. Personal Branding
If you are a young entrepreneur then you should know that personal branding is a key element for the growth of your business.
The Internet has opened the field to a grueling competition among experts in this sector, generating a kind of uniformity among rivals. What matters is being able to find new personal branding tools to help bring out our companies, likeMention, which helps to monitor in real-time your business name or brand. Just enter a keyword in the search box and you can track what people are saying about you across different platforms.
3. Remotely Recruitment
Tech companies and startups are using different forms of remote working.
Since the meeting can be made on Skype or other video conferencing platforms, there’s a much better chance of taking true talents via the digital channel, without the tedious and costly grain of the work on site, in order to have an important role within the company and bring success to your business.
4. Millennials
People may think that Millennials are lazy kids who prefer to stay at home and work in pajamas and slippers.
On the contrary, they are just the opposite of the baby boomers. They seek creative ways to do their job, constantly improving the work process.
This means that companies have the opportunity to meet the needs of the talented Millennials to get in return success and turnover, following the trend of the business carefully.
5. eCommerce
2017 will be the year of the growth of online shopping: the spending is on the rise in both the US and Europe.
Just consider that one of the points in favor of the online business development is about shipping and for 2017 the business trends will be all oriented on electronic commerce.
The shipping cost has a very important role in decision making of customers. 58% of consumers are willing to add items to their carts to meet the threshold for free shipping.
Also, the web development and loading time of the ecommerce pages will influence the purchase decision. Be sure tochoose the right web hostingto avoid losing customers.
Other important areas will be the social commerce, because many consumers can now make secure purchases using their smartphones.
6. Business Intelligence Software
In 2017 the Business Intelligence will give a big hand to SMEs. BI is a set of business procedures used for the collection and analysis of data and strategic information. Through software likeCyfeyou can collect the data fragmented by translating them into valuable information for the development of our business.
BI has historically been used by large enterprises to treat, preserve and display what is known as Big Data. However, the growth of technological solutions and the large amounts of data gives the possibility to small companies to take advantage of BI solutions.
7. Green Business
The Millennials are quite aware of what types of products to buy. For this reason, they search for companies that pay attention to the planet’s health through the products they consume.
Green businessis a very familiar term, but only recently has been taken seriously by the companies, which have developed specific products to contribute to the success of this mission. Nothing strange, then, of seeing a grow for green businesses in 2017.
8. Videos
2016 was the year of online videos, so much that Facebook has invested and continues to invest much on this powerful medium.
2017 could be the year when videos will be used to create useful content to solve the customer problems.
The video is becoming an essential source of information and many experts have understood in advance. Through powerful targeting tools offered by social networks, you can create a real-time video to address specific issues and help our users to solve them.
In essence, focus on videos to promote your product.
9. Fewer Emails
2017 could be the year ofSlackovertaking emails. Just think this famous tool has exceeded 4 million users a day.
This does not mean companies will abandon emails so sudden, but it is certain these tools of real-time communication will become more used among users.
In an organization where internal and external communication takes place via email, you can save much time using real-time tools, other than spending most of the day with the mailbox open waiting for a response.
It can be difficult to find a good writer at times. The problems can be a) you don’t get a writer who is worth hiring for the job or b) He/ she might charge a high amount. So, how to get out of such a sticky situation? Are their quality content writers at affordable prices? Well Yes, Contentmart.com addresses this problem and helps connect you to a skilled, qualified writer.
Contentmart works in a way such that not only the clients but the writers can also find projects of great value. Addressing the above-stated problem clients can post their requirements with details of what they are looking for and writers can then bid for the project. The client then makes a choice depending on the bidding writers’ area of expertise, education, experience and knowledge of grammar.
Contentmart Review – A platform for Clients and Writers
Contentmart serves as a platform for authors, copywriters, and clients. Contentmart has a categorical presentation of a list of writers as well as clients with an easy interface for both the clients and writers to find each other.
Contentmart is a platform solely dedicated to content which the clients can trust and helps them reach out to serious individual authors and editors.
With over 48 thousand writers and 56 thousand clients, Contentmart promises to take content writing to another level.
Clients @ Contentmart
Posting content requirement at Contentmart is simple. Register as a client on contentmart.com. Registration can be done using Facebook id or e-mail id without disclosing the credit card details. After successful registration the following page appears:
To place an order go to ‘New Order’ and follow the steps given below:
Click on New Order
Give a name to your order and describe the details in the ‘Order Details’ section. This helps the writers analyze the requirements and apply for the project
Fill in other important details like the category of writing, deadline, language, etc.
Moving ahead mention the details like number of words, price per word and writers to whom your post would be visible.
Click ‘Publish’ to post your order
The writers will start sending bids after the order has been published and approved by Contentmart team.
Go ahead and hire the best writer for your project.
Once the writer has been finalized it is his prerogative to deliver the work well within the mentioned deadline, failing which the client can cancel the order.
The client, in turn, has to accept or reject the content within five days of viewing.
Once accepted, the amount will be transferred to the writer’s account, and if rejected the amount is refunded to the client.
Writers @ Contentmart
Writers are equally well served by Contentmart. A one-time registration is needed where the writer has to fill in his/her credentials correctly. The registration can be done using a Facebook id or an e-mail id. After creating the account, a link for activation is sent to the registered email id. Once the link is clicked upon, and the account is activated other details such as education, work preferences, etc. can also be updated.
The writer can also upload work samples so that the client can have a look at the previous work of the writer.
Once all the details are provided the writers can start bidding for orders that meet their interests. Though the bidding is completely free, it is totally up to the client whether he/she chooses you for the project or not. Writers can withdraw payments from their accounts only if they reach above Rs. 3000/-. Contentmart charges 10 percent of the total earnings from the project.
Why use Contentmart?
Clients need not pay any commission for getting their work done at Contentmart which is unlike any other content providing the platform.
Maximum bids due to a large number of writers present on Contentmart (48000+ writers). The client has a wide range to choose from and hence can judicially choose the best writer for the project.
Writers are graded as per their English grammar knowledge and their work with previous clients.
Complete freedom to the client to reject the work if he/she does not like it. The client can even ask the writer for editing.
Provides a great opportunity to writers to find good projects as the client base is huge (56000+ clients)
Writers can withdraw payments directly to their bank accounts once they reach the threshold of Rs. 3000.
Safe Billing. Once the client has placed an order, the payments are locked so that if the client cancels the order mid-way or is not available for payment, the writer still gets paid.
Contentmart is a platform which is solely dedicated to content writing.
Affiliate Program by Contentmart
Joining Contentmart can also be beneficial through its affiliate program. The program is free of cost and someone joining Contentmart through a referral link makes the referrer eligible for 10 percent of the referral’s income for a year.
Though the affiliate program is optional, the link for the same can be found in the dashboard after signing in on Contentmart.
This is a great strategic move by the Contentmart team to expand their base and add more writers which would ultimately benefit their clients by giving them more options to choose from.
Summary
Contentmart is a great platform to connect Writers and Clients and provides a large number of choices to both the Client and the writers. A writer can use the platform to get creative and quality writing work. It is also a great opportunity for writers to find good projects with renowned clients.
For clients, it takes away their pain of hunting for writers as the client only has to put in his requirements and then can choose from all writers who bid for the project. Also being the only dedicated platform for content gives Contentmart an advantage over all other platforms.
If Contentmart can hold on to its uniqueness and engage the writers by encouraging them to share their writing styles and writing tips they could be a great marketplace to hire writers.
Do you know that branding is as important for bloggers as it is for big names? The process of building a brand is often overlooked by many bloggers, and as a result, they will lead to many ‘˜challenges’ such as infringement and trying to be different as they move along their blogging journey.
According to Entrepreneur, the definition of branding is ‘The marketing practice of creating a name, symbol or design that identifies and differentiates a product from other products.’ CONTINUE READING
