Reginald Chan

Category: Blog

  • Thrive Leads vs OptinMonster – Which Plugin Is The Best Plugin For Building An Email List?

    Thrive Leads vs OptinMonster – Which Plugin Is The Best Plugin For Building An Email List?

    Thrive Leads vs OptinMonster.

    There are many plugins for email list building but nothing comes close to what Thrive Leads and OptinMonster can provide.

    Let me share with you a simple fact:

    Email has 2.6 billion unique users worldwide. Moreover, that number is expected to exceed 2.9 billion by the end of 2019. 

    ExactTarget had quoted, “Email is not only alive – it’s the number one direct channel in terms of daily use and consumer preference for both personal and marketing communications.”

    Building an email list is no longer an option. It is a necessity for business survival. Regardless it is for affiliate marketing, blogging or business, email marketing is a very powerful tool if you use it right.

    The first step in building an email list is to select an email marketing service provider, which I’m sure you already had.

    The second and most crucial step is to find a WordPress plugin that will drive your subscription rate off the roof. After all, having the best email marketing service provider isn’t going to give you much assistance if you aren’t converting visitors into subscribers.

    To help you on this step, I’ve compared two of the best list building plugins on the market so that you can build your list in the most efficient way possible.

     

    Thrive Leads

    Introduction: Thrive Leads is the complete list building plugin for WordPress. It has every type of opt-in form including Sticky Ribbon, Popup Lightbox, Slide-In, Opt-in Widget, and Screen Filler.

    Summary: Thrive Leads is a good choice if you want to have complete control on how the plugin works. It allows you to tweak everything under the roof, without any coding skills.

    Thrive Leads is one of the most popular list building plugins for bloggers nowadays because there is just so much hype around this plugin. What I love about Thrive Leads are:

    • Multiple opt-in forms which can be set to trigger and appear in multiple places
    • Perform numerous A/B testing (split test)
    • Availability of shortcodes
    • One click sign up links
    • Sign up subscribers directly to webinar
    • Ready made templates and boxes to choose from

    What makes Thrive Leads an awesome plugin for list building is the ability to do anything with just one plugin. As for the record, ThriveBoxes is one feature that no other list building plugin had ever integrated and it works like LeadPages’s Leadboxes feature (sorry LeadPages).

    For the record, Thrive Leads is included in the Thrive Membership and no separate purchase is required.

    1. Configuring Thrive Leads

    Love the basic setup? No worries. Here’s the common setup you can choose with Thrive Leads:

    opt in types thrive leads vs optinmonster

    There are many ready-made templates you can choose from when you use Thrive Leads. Here are some examples:

    Thrive Leads ready made templates

    Now, that’s really a lot of templates, right?

    The guys over at Thrive Leads understand the challenges faced by bloggers and marketers. Not many of us are design-driven and therefore, having different types of ready-made templates and drag and drop builder helps us to create better forms to build an email list.

    Disclaimer: My favorite is still ‘Scroll Mat’. Just saying 🙂

     

    2. A/B testing with Thrive Leads

    Apart from that, Thrive Leads comes with the awesome A/B testing which is godly. With this feature, you can literally any testing such as:

    • Different Form Types: A lightbox popup vs. a slide-in form or a widget vs. a ribbon.
    • Different Triggers: Show a popup after 3 seconds, once the visitor scrolls 50% down the page or when the visitor is about to exit your site.
    • Different Design & Content: Change the headline, add a new image or switch colors.
    • Different Offers: Download a checklist vs. Participate in a webinar

    You can start and stop the A/B testing at any time, as well as the ability to select the winner (either manually or automatically).

    split testing feature with thrive leads

     

    3. Precise targeting using Thrive Leads

    Advancement of technology allows us to do a lot of things and one of them is to show relevant popups to the right type of audience. With Thrive Leads, you can display specific forms with just a few clicks:

    customizing thrive leads

    4. Powerful features that made Thrive Leads super powerful

    Want to know why Thrive Leads is powerful? Here are four things you should know (if you are dead serious in list building using Thrive Leads):

    • Exit Trigger: Show your opt-in the moment a visitor is thinking about leaving your website.
    • Time Trigger: Choose between showing your opt-in form instantly or after a certain amount of time (in seconds) has passed.
    • Scroll Trigger: Choose between showing your opt-in form when a user scrolls to a specific part of the content, after passing a defined percentage of the content, or after reaching the end of your content.
    • Click Trigger: Show your opt-in when a user clicks an element (like a button or link) in your content.

     

    5. What didn’t I like about Thrive Leads?

    Apart of all the goodies that Thrive Leads can offer, there are still things I wished they could be improved.

    Thrive Leads doesn’t play well with CloudFlare: I use CloudFlare to speed up my website and I have specific Page Rules to make my website blazing fast. The problem is Thrive Leads visual builder (WYSIWYG) doesn’t work well when those options are turned on. Of course, there isn’t much Thrive Leads could do but if you want to use Thrive Leads with CloudFlare, make sure you turn off the ‘Rocket Loader‘ on CloudFlare (temporary) while setting up forms using Thrive Leads.

    What is Rocket Loader?

    Rocket Loader improves page load times by:

    • Decreasing the number of network requests by bundling JavaScript files, even third party resources, to avoid slowing down page rendering
    • Asynchronously loading scripts, including third party scripts, so that they do not block the content of your page from loading immediately
    • Caching scripts locally (using LocalStorage, available on most browsers and smart phones) so they aren’t refetched unless necessary

    Just too many customizations and made it confusing: Thrive Leads comes with so many customizations which it is really tricky for beginners. Sure, they have videos but let’s be honest. Who views the videos unless you are desperate, right? The options aren’t really direct and idiot-proof if you know what I mean.

     

    6. How much is Thrive Leads?

    There are three different pricing structures you can choose from (each comes with one year support):

    • 1 Site: $67
    • 5 Sites: $97
    • 15 Sites: $147

    Alternatively, you can choose Thrive Membership which costs $19 per month (with all plugins included for unlimited sites) when you pay annually.

    When it comes to pricing, I would say that it is definitely worth the money because of the features that Thrive Leads provide.

     

    7. Is Thrive Leads worth it?

    Here’s the biggest question. I’ve been using Thrive Leads since the beta stage and I would say that it is pretty well done. If I would comment, I would say that their finishing isn’t as smooth as OptinMonster but apart from that, they are pretty much awesome to say the very least.

     

    8. My verdict for Thrive Leads

    Thrive Leads is best for advanced users who want to double their email list in just a short period of time. Plus, it is also a great tool because you get everything you need under one roof.

    With the amount of features that comes packing with Thrive Leads, this is definitely one of the best list building plugins I had used for a long time. Highly recommend anyone to use this!

    Click here to try Thrive Leads today!

     

    OptinMonster

    Introduction: OptinMonster is not just a WordPress plugin. It’s a complete web-based app that’s available for different platforms including WordPress.

    Summary: OptinMonster is very smooth and easy to use. An absolutely beast that helps you build an email list fast, minus all the challenging configuration and hassle.

    Just like Thrive Leads, OptinMonster had evolved a lot … from a humble beginning to a massive email list building for WordPress users.

    OptinMonster comes packing with a huge list of features which include:

    • Lightbox
    • Sidebar
    • Floating Bar
    • After post / In-Line
    • Slide-in
    • Mobile
    • Full Screen

    The best part? Each of these forms can be customized according to your liking through drag and drop.

     

    1. Display rules on OptinMonster

    OptinMonster display rules

    Anyone who is serious about email list building knows that display rules feature is critical. For the record, OptinMonster is the first WordPress email list building plugin that offers Exit-Intent feature.

    Let me give you a quick example.

    If you configure your campaign to load after a 7-second delay and set a 50% scroll value, then your visitors will have to be on your site for 7 seconds AND scroll the page 50% or more to trigger the campaign.

    The next step is to choose your intended audience who will see the form.

    OptinMonster comparison versus Thrive Leads

    Note: You can easily setup more display rules to further customize your forms on OptinMonster. This gives you more control on what your forms can and cannot do, thus giving you more precise audience targeting.

     

    2. MonsterLinks

    What is MonsterLinks?

    MonsterLinks is the name of the 2-Step Opt-in technology from OptinMonster. MonsterLinks can turn any link or image into a 2-step opt-in process. When a user clicks on the link or an image, a popup opens up asking them to subscribe.

    Brian Dean from Backlink uses MonsterLinks on the site to boost email subscriptions. Here’s how it looks like in action.

    Monsterlinks

    The concept of Content Upgrades is based on a psychology principle known as the Zeigarnik Effect, which states that those who initiate are more likely to finish the process.

     

    3. OptinMonster’s Success Themes

    In short, OptinMonster comes with a list of ready-made templates for you to choose from. Wonder why they use the name “success themes?”

    OptinMonsters success themes

    Well, these are templates which had been tested out and prove to be extremely effective for your success.

    I love OptinMonster’s success themes because I have zero knowledge in design. Yup, no joke.

     

    4. What didn’t I like about OptinMonster?

    I often compare both OptinMonster and Thrive Leads (Thrive Leads vs OptinMonster in my mind) and one thing I wished I had more are the ready-made templates.

    OptinMonster doesn’t come with that many ready-made templates compared to Thrive Leads.

    Another thing I didn’t like about OptinMonster is the campaign setup. Coming from Thrive Leads, OptinMonster seems to be very specific when it comes to campaign creation. While there is nothing wrong with it (generally speaking), it certainly felt like each campaign is dictated by opt-in type. And yes, in some ways that felt very annoying 🙁

     

    5. How much does OptinMonster cost?

    The pricing for OptinMoster is slightly different. For starters, each pricing plan comes with very different features.

    Basic: $19/month or $108/year (save 25%)

    • Unlimited Optin Forms
    • A/B Split Testing
    • Page Level Targeting
    • User-friendly Reporting 1 site

    Plus: $29/month or $228/year (save 25%)

    • Everything in Basic, and:
    • Floating Bar
    • Sidebar Forms
    • After Post / Inline Forms
    • Content Locking
    • 3 sites

    Pro: $39/month or $348/year (save 25%)

    • Everything in Plus, and:
    • Exit-Intent Technology
    • Referral Detection
    • Mobile Specific Forms
    • Yes / No Forms
    • Slide-in Scroll Trigger Boxes
    • Smart Canvas Forms
    • Full Screen Takeovers
    • Campaign Scheduling
    • Unlimited Sites
    • Priority Support

     

    6. Is OptinMonster worth it?

    I know, you are not pretty much undecided if OptinMonster is worth it. Here’s what I think.

    OptinMonster is good and very intuitive. It is prior in the market and what makes it really good is that it is co-founded by Syed Balkhi, founder of WP Beginner. Now, this means that plugins created by him and his team are always very good and able to integrate to any WordPress themes without issue.

     

    7. My personal verdict on OptinMonster

    I love beautiful things (and plugins). Personally, I would say that OptinMonster is well created and deserve all the credits in the email list building industry. Being an active OptinMonster user, I would say that there is no doubt in my mind that OptinMonster is good and worth the money.

    See OptinMonster demo here!

     

    OptinMonster vs Thrive Leads

    The real comparison for OptinMonster vs Thrive Leads is probably the pricing factor.

    • $348 – OptinMonster (Pro’s package with all features included)
    • $228 – Thrive Themes (10 themes and 6 plugins including Thrive leads)

    Both OptinMonster and Thrive Leads are available as subscription-based service, which means that you’ll always have to pay either a monthly or annual fee to use them.

    Comparing OptinMonster vs Thrive Leads on the smallest plan, here’s how it looks like:

    • $108 – OptinMonster (single site with selected features)
    • $67 – Thrive Leads (single site with all features)

    Now, as you can see, it is actually more worth it (and you get more savings too) when you opt for Thrive Leads. Even when using Thrive Leads with the smallest plan of $67, you save $41 per year and on top of that, you are not limited to the features as of what OptinMonster offers for its smallest plan.

    Overall, it is important to understand that while both offers very similar features, Thrive Leads is seen to be the best option since it doesn’t limit you for any of its features.

    When it comes to email list building, you certainly wouldn’t want to be bolted down with restrictions, right?

    I hope you like this OptinMonster vs Thrive Leads comparison. Which is your favorite email list building plugin?

  • 4 Things I’ll Do If I’m Starting Affiliate Marketing All Over Again

    4 Things I’ll Do If I’m Starting Affiliate Marketing All Over Again

    Most affiliate marketers are often using the bootstrapping method. You know, spending minimum money and getting the biggest results.

    I did the same years back, and I realized one thing. All my affiliate marketing projects were disastrous! I realized that I was only successful once I put in both money and effort into the projects.

    And it didn’t take long for me to see the results. The first month was a couple of dollars followed by hundreds before touching thousands after six months or so, per project.

    I thought it was just luck, economy and the way I targeted my keywords. I went into bootstrapping method again, and I ended up the rabbit hole. Sales dropped and my revenue sunk to the bottom of the ocean.

    What the hell just went wrong?

    This was the exact words I asked myself. I did research (oh hell I did), and I wanted to know what went wrong.

    Seriously, this is not a coincidence. Every time I went into bootstrapping, I see massive failures even though I did everything similar to others.

    Note to self: These are the 4 things I will do if I’m going to start affiliate marketing all over.

    Heres a list what I found out.

     

    1. Going for shared hosting instead of premium web hosting

    Web Hosting For Affiliate Marketers

    This debate had gone on for ages. People talked about how good is A and how bad is B. You know the drill.

    Here’s the problem. Most people don’t see the main issue, and I experienced that first hand.

    The main reason why shared hosting isn’t working well for me in affiliate marketing was because of the freaking loading speed.

    I mean, c’mon, would you wait for 5 seconds before the website loads?’

    Probably not and that’s the whole issue. I see a lot of bloggers writing great stuff, but their bounce rate is off the roof! One of them was as high as 95% for crying out loud. Jesus!

    Shared hosting is good because it saves you money. $4 a month is like a cup of Starbucks alright? Shared hosting is cheap, and each server could host thousands of domains at one time. You are not getting premium speed no matter what, as long as you are in the shared hosting environment.

    So, what’s the solution? Premium web hosting like WP Engine and FlyWheel are top of the game. Often, you are expected to pay around $29 per month. I highly recommend these services ONLY if you are making enough from your blog to cover the expenses.

    The solution to this challenge is simple. Get a better web host. Here are some great alternatives.

    • CloudWays (Virtual Private Server) – $7 per month
    • BlueHost (WordPress hosting) – $19.99 per month
    • BlueHost (Virtual Private Server) – $19.99 per month
    • HostWithLove (Semi-Dedicated hosting) – $19.90 per month

     

    Take a moment to think about this. It doesn’t seem too expensive after all to have a good web host right?

    Note: All of the above alternative web hosting provides 24/7 support as well as at least 30 days money back guarantee.

     

    2. Cheap vs Premium WordPress themes

    Bloggers are money conscious, and because of that, they often use cheap or free WordPress themes for their affiliate sites.

    The results are devastating to say the very least. Their websites look bad, ugly and more importantly, exposing themselves to unnecessary risks of hacking and security breach.

    Ugly WordPress Theme

    Now, what do you think of the image above? Does it appeal to you in anyway that the writer is an influencer in the industry? Would you trust what you had read on the blog?

    Seriously, I even doubt if the theme is mobile friendly!

    Here’s a life fact: No matter how your attitude is in real life, you’ll still give a great first impression through your dressing. Make sense?

    I often hear bloggers telling me this.

    Reg, I know that Thrive Themes is the best in the market but I don’t have that much money to buy it. Furthermore, the monthly payment is going to kill me.

    First of all, I’m a huge advocate to Thrive Themes, and it is one of the best WordPress themes for many affiliate marketers. Of course, unless you can afford $19 a month, there are many other options that you can choose from.

    What you are doing is blaming your potential affiliate marketing failure because of not being able to afford for a premium theme. What?!

    Let me tell you this. Thrive Themes is great and Thrive Themes is hot. But when it comes to WordPress themes, I still go for other alternatives because of the flexibility.

    Alternatives that I use:

     

    Here’s what you need to know. You might not have enough money to buy the best theme for now. So be it!

    Use a premium theme that you can afford because that is going to differentiate you from the rest! Once you start making money from your blog, consider the option of upgrading.

    BONUS: Discover how website design will impact your affiliate sales in my new 7-days affiliate marketing course. Sign up for free here.

     

    3. Lead generation is dope, but expensive

    Lead Generation For Affiliate Marketers

    We all know how important to build an email list. If you are not doing that yet, please do it right now. Start today.

    It can be used thoughtfully to build loyalty and trust in your brand. Email marketing is important for building relationships with prospects, leads, current customers, and even past customers because it gives you a chance to speak directly to them, in their inbox, at a time that is convenient for them. InboundRocket.

    Tim Ferriss, Pat Flynn, and Matthew Woodwards all make money through their email lists. If you want to become a successful affiliate marketer, then you need to start building an email list.

    But, here’s the challenge. You heard that email marketing is expensive.

    My answer: WTF?!

    Email marketing can be costly, but do you know that you can start for FREE?

    Option 1: You can use MailChimp for FREE if you have less than 2,000 email subscribers and send out less than 12,000 email a month. And it comes with email automation for all accounts!

    Option 2: If you are a serious blogger and trying to manage your subscribers, there’s ConvertKit that allows you to create cool automation with segmentation for $29 a month if you have under 1,000 email subscribers.

    Option 3: Thinking of selling courses, having advanced segmentation and dope email automation? Consider Drip (I’m personally using it), and it gives you everything you need to monetize your list including landing pages. The best part is you can use Drip for FREE if you have less than 100 email subscribers and $41 per month for 2,500 email subscribers.

    Confused? Read my latest blog post here:MailChimp vs ConvertKit vs Drip – Comparing The Best Email Marketing Automation Software 2017

    It is NOT important to have a paying email subscription service if you are just starting out. It is also important to note that you can quickly start email marketing for free and I find no reason NOT for you to start at all.

     

    4. Should I be using premium plugins?

    I am going to bust another myth. There are many premium plugins out there, but I’m just using one that I always hear people whining about.

    I heard that Thrive Leads is powerful and because I don’t have that, I am not going to collect my email list.

    Yup, you got it. That’s BS!

    I get it. Thrive Leads could cost a bomb. At $67 per year and for a single website, it hurts a lot. For affiliate marketers who are bootstrapping, you know what I mean!

    Back in those days, there weren’t any fancy WordPress plugins to grow my email list. As a matter of fact, most of us were stuck with Hybrid Connect and that was it. Soon after, Hybrid Connect ended its product and Thrive Leads was born.

    Now, not being able to afford the godly Thrive Leads is not a problem. The problem is you. You are not thinking out of the box!

    Here are several ways you can solve this.

    Option 1: If you are using OptimizePress or X Theme, you don’t need Thrive Leads (there are some features in it that you can use to replace Thrive Leads).

    Option 2: There are many alternatives such as Ninja Popups on CodeCanyon that costs on $25.

    Option 3: You don’t need Thrive Leads if you use email services such as Drip because they come inbuilt with email list building features.

    Important disclaimer: I am not saying that Thrive Leads is not useful (I use it on this blog). All I’m saying is that there are many other alternatives to Thrive Leads if the price is an issue for you. Do not limit your options because of something you cannot afford. That is just giving excuses to yourself to fail as an affiliate marketer.

     

    Takeaway – Things I’ll Do Differently When Starting Affiliate Marketing All Over

    Going cheap or bootstrapping is an excellent way to save money. As a plugin and theme junkie, I save thousands of dollars yearly just by going the more affordable options. However, when I start spending money on my blog for affiliate marketing, I tend to make more money online (thousands of dollars) on a monthly basis!

    I’m not saying that you should (at any time) increase your spending because it is going to help you close more affiliate sales. All I’m saying is that using premium tools could easily help you achieve your goals in affiliate marketing faster.

    What do you think? Leave a comment below and let’s discuss further!

  • Why Do Affiliate Marketers Need To Target Topics And Not Keywords?

    Why Do Affiliate Marketers Need To Target Topics And Not Keywords?

    I’m going to tell you right in the face, right now. You are probably doing your affiliate marketing wrong.

    Are you promoting too many products under one roof? I bet! As a matter of fact, I’m also guilty of this in the past.

    When I started my 7-days affiliate marketing course last week ([thrive_2step id=’6496′]you can participate now for free by clicking on this link[/thrive_2step]), one of the biggest and most common questions I get from the members is not making enough money or sales through affiliate marketing. Diving deeper into the question, I noticed that there is a serious trend in this.

    99% of them are using 5 blogs or less to promote more than 100 products.

    Now, here’s the problem. They are just becoming another Jack-of-all-trades in the market space. They are not making enough (or any) affiliate sales because they are lacking the much needed:

    • Authority
    • Speciality
    • Trust

    So, how do you solve this problem?

    Lucky for you, you can actually solve this in just under one day.

     

    Stop targeting keywords

    Yes, the first step is to stop targeting specific keywords. Targeting specific keywords is NOT going to help you because you will be targeting way too many keywords that are not related to one another.

    Let me give you an example. You are probably targeting more than one categories such as:

    • Health and supplements
    • Electronic items
    • Household items
    • Books
    • Fashion (clothing, shoes, etc.)

    The problem starts because you are giving mixed signals to the search engines and let me tell you that this is a bad thing. No one wants to/should confuse the search engines because it is going to affect your organic ranking!

    You probably hear the pros talking about targeting the right keywords and I am not disputing the fact. No, I’m not.

    What I’m trying to say is that you should target the right keywords and promote affiliate items within the same categories only!

    Want to know why? Continue reading below.

     

    Becoming an authority within the industry/niche

    When you talk and promote things within an industry, you are building creditability in you. I’m not going to buy

    I’m not going to buy a product that Simon is selling because he is selling over 100 different products from different industries. HOWEVER, I’m going to buy it from Josh because I had seen Josh talking about the same topic for a few weeks and he seems to know his stuff.

    Sounds familiar? I bet it does!

    You want to stand out from the crowd and the only way is to be an authority within your niche.

     

    How to become an authority within the industry or niche?

    Now, I have no plans to pull you down but heck, it is really easy if you think about it.

    • Find the right industry
    • Find the right topics
    • Find the right keywords
    • Find the right writing style
    • Find the right product

    Social media tools I recommend using: AgoraPulse, Hootsuite and Sprout Social.

     

    Summary

    Affiliate marketers need to target topics and not keywords because you need to build authority within your niche before you can start putting on your selling hat.

    Are you ready to make thousands of dollars a month as an affiliate marketer … or you are just happy to make a couple of bucks a month?

  • Top 5 Plugins For Affiliate Marketers 2017

    Top 5 Plugins For Affiliate Marketers 2017

    Thinking of starting a blog focusing on affiliate marketing? It’s about time, y’all!

    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.

    Click here to get the right strategy.

    how much can you earn from affiliate sales

    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

    yoast SEO plugin

    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]

    >>> Download Yoast SEO plugin here. <<<

     

    2. Thirsty Affiliates

    This is my number one plugin when it comes to affiliate marketing. Thirsty Affiliates is a freemium WordPress plugin.

    What makes it really unique is the add-ons that come on the side. Here’s what you will get when you use Thirsty Affiliates plugin.

    thirsty affiliates plugin

    Thirsty Affiliate is a plugin that cloaks affiliate links to nice and clean URL. Here are two examples:

    Without cloaking: http://www.shareasale.com/r.cfm?B=346200&U=640392&M=28169&urllink=

    With Thirsty Affiliates: https://www.reginaldchan.net/recommends/studiopress/

    >>> Try Thirsty Affiliates here. <<<

     

    3. Pretty Link Lite/Pro

    pretty link plugin

    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.

    >> Try Pretty Link Lite here. <<<

     

    4. OIO Publisher

    OIO Publisher plugin

    Rotating banner for the win and there are no other plugins that come closer than what OIO Publisher can do. With OIO Publisher, you can:

    • Setup different zones for ads
    • Choose between hyperlink or banner ads
    • Additional options such as inline ads or even custom ones
    • Statistic reports

    You can even decide to sell your ad space by using OIO Publisher’s marketplace to further increase your revenue.

    >>> Try OIO Publisher here. <<<

     

    5. EasyAzon

    EasyAzon plugin

    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!

    >>> Try EasyAzon here. <<<

     

    The best plugins for affiliate marketers

    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.

  • Brainstorming For Affiliate Marketing Niche? Try Soaking Up Under The Sun!

    Brainstorming For Affiliate Marketing Niche? Try Soaking Up Under The Sun!

    Soak up that sunlight up, folks!

    Over and over again, affiliate marketers asked about getting out from the crazy writer’s block.

    My answer is simple: Sunlight.

    Whenever I’m trying to brainstorm for profitable affiliate niche ideas, I try to stay in open areas. I found out that this helps a lot as the open sky gives me a lot of crazy ideas.

    This is also the reason why I go for jogs daily!

    I am not saying that you’ll 100% get an awesome idea that generates 6-figures monthly when you are under the sun, but it certainly helps me to get the much needed:

    • Clarity
    • Focus
    • Confidence
    • Self-trust

     

    The most critical part of soaking up sunlight and staying in the open is to disconnect yourself from any forms of technology. No phones and tablets. The only leeway you will ever get would be your fitness smartwatch or tracker.

    BONUS: Sign up for 7-days affiliate marketing course to start making over $5,000 a month like the pros. And it’s absolutely free for a short time period. Learn more about it here

     

  • Convertkit vs Drip vs MailChimp: The Best Email Marketing Automation

    Convertkit vs Drip vs MailChimp: The Best Email Marketing Automation

    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
    • Pro Marketer plan > Starts from $199 per month

     

    Who uses MailChimp?

    • Yoast SEO
    • Leadfeeder
    • Viral Loops
    • Breezy HR
    • Captive Media

    >> Try MailChimp Today <<

     

    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.

     

    Who uses ConverKit?

    • CopyHackers
    • Bare Metrics
    • Smart Passive Income by Pat Flynn
    • Tara Gentile
    • Four Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss

    >> Try ConvertKit today! <<

     

    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.

     

    Who uses Drip?

    • Help Scout
    • Ambassador
    • When I Work
    • Segment
    • Teamwork
    • Samcart

    >> Create a free Drip account here <<

     

    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.

    Start here: You can start using MailChimp using this link.

     

    ConvertKit Review

    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
    • No free plan available

     

    My personal recommendations for using ConvertKit

    You should be using ConvertKit if you are serious about making money out of your email list. ConvertKit even published an article on the 5 reasons why you shouldn’t use ConvertKit and stick to MailChimp.

    In short, ConvertKit comes with a small price tag for some heavy duty email automation features.

    Is ConvertKit worth the money? Absolutely!

    Start here: Click here to check out ConvertKit now!

     

    Drip Review

    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?

    drip email automation

    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

    Start here: Click here to see Drip in action now!

     

    MailChimp vs ConvertKit vs Drip – Summary

    Phew!

    This is a long comparison between the top three email marketing automation systems in the market today. What do you think?

    Would you go for:

    • MailChimp which is the best free email automation system?
    • ConvertKit if you are a blogger or marketer who wants to better manage your subscribers?
    • Or like me, going for Drip because you want to have powerful email marketing automation features to maximize revenue and engagement?

    Leave a comment below and I’m happy to hear your thoughts.