I am always on the look out for what might be the next big thing in affiliate marketing or article marketing. There is one technology I’ve been monitoring for a while and I really do think that this could be big..actually really big.

There is a company in Santa Barbara called Ring Revenue who have recently received $3.5million of financing. Ring Revenue provide an affiliate Platform like no other. The platform they have developed and patented allows affiliate networks like CJ to track phone calls just like they track clicks. In fact the call tracking is much more accurate than the clicks.

The potential here is amazing. First off I means that I as an affiliate can advertise on radio, TV, Newspapers and magazines all i need to give is a toll free number and the network will track my calls and pay me commissions on sales.

As a Product owner I can employ an online sales team which generally convert at much higher levels than sales letters , sales letters generally convert at 1-3% sales teams at 30-50%. I can target specific demographics and collect real time data via the calls.

Just imagine how cool it would be for Clickbank to take on this technology and add a call center , each affiliate has a phone number that goes to a specialised team… I’d be happy to pay extra for this service as not only could I sell digital versions of my own products but hard copy versions as well.

I’ll be watching this very closely and I suggest that you do too. You can read More at www.ringrevenue.com

Meanwhile here is a graphic of how it works.

RingRevenue How it Works

Yesterday I watched a little kid trying to walk..he stood up wobbled for a bit then fell down. He then stood up again wobbled for a bit longer then fell down again. This happened 4 or 5 times each time he got up and tried again. About an hour later he could manage a couple of faltering steps before he fell down.

Looking at that kid I realised that we are naturally programmed not to give up and to keep on trying until we master the problem facing us. Why then do so many people give up Internet marketing after a few weeks?? I actually asked someone who once asked for a refund why they were giving up after only 4 days. They said “Internet marketing is too difficult, I want an easy way to make money”.

What can be easier than looking at whats working for other people, pressing a few buttons to create a site and then spending a few hours in front of the computer driving traffic to the site you’ve built. Once you master it, it is possible to spend 4 or 5 hours working on a site and have that site earn you hundreds of dollars every month.

Internet marketing might be a lot of things but it’s not hard.

I lost count at the number of times I built sites that failed when I fist started. I would built a site then sit back and watch as it made about 5cents a day.. So i’d look at what I did wrong, once I’d found the problem I’d make sure that I didn’t make the same mistake again. Soon I was like that little kid,  instead of being able to walk two steps I could create sites that would make 50 cents a day.  After that it was just a matter of time until I worked out how to make sites that made me $10 a day.

If I’d listened to the part of me saying  ”give up it’s too hard”, I would still be struggling to make an income I could live on and I would probably be working for someone else doing a job I hated. Instead I have a great lifestyle I work on my terms and I am doing something I love.

Start to look at Internet marketing in a realistic way and be prepared to fail, and you will succeed it may take time but you will be a success.  Failure is a powerful tool, embrace it and learn from it.

Of course if you want to learn from my previous failures and reduce the time it takes to be successful then be sure to check out Wordpress Goldmine. Next month I am going to be reviewing peoples sites and suggesting improvements.

One of the most common threads in the Wordpress Goldmine Forum relates to how to get accepted by EPN.

The first thing to say is that don’t take it personally, I’ve been turned down by loads of companies when i applied to be an affiliate usually a quick email get your application reviewed and accepted. The ones that don’t accept you usually come begging once you start to make $$$$. Strangely as soon as I had a $10,000 month On CJ.com some of the the very same companies that turned me down 3 months previously emailed me and asked me if i would be an affiliate…It gave me so much pleasure telling them where to stick their affiliate program.

Right back to EPN

Even if you follow the steps below you will probably initially get rejected by EPN however a few emails asking why your application got rejected and asking them politely to review your site and tell you why it’s not acceptable usually gets you accepted.

Step 1. Find a good niche and create a nice looking blog.

Step 2. Add several pages of good quality UNIQUE and relevant content

step 3. Add your contact details, a privacy policy and a TOS

Step 4. Do NOT Monetize your blog in any way shape or form!!!!!!

Now ask yourself..If I was one of the biggest online companies would I like a site like this to represent me??

Now submit your application and expect to get rejected. If you do get rejected send a polite reply asking why. You will probably now get a cut and paste answer…cool we are almost there!!

Now email back and politely point out that you site does not fall into any of the categories mentioned. They will have now run out of cut and paste replies so someone will need to physically look at your site and if you’ve followed the guide above you will get accepted.

Just consider EPNs automated responses as a bit of gentle hazing, which would you rather have affiliates who take initiative and try to get accepted or ones that give up at the first hurdle.

Believe me that it is Worth trying that extra bit harder to be accepted by EPN it is probably one of the best affiliate programs available to you. Especially with tools like Phpbay, Bayrss and excellent and highly recommended Reviewazon (yes you can add ebay items to the posts & also overstock items)

This is the question that I probably get asked more than any other. Usually within 15 minutes of meeting someone and them finding out what I do they ask “Can I really make Money Online?”

My Answer is always very simple…”Do you believe that you can make money online” If they answer yes then I am happy to give them more information , If they say No then I change the subject.

So Let me ask you now… Do You Believe You can make money online???

If you answered no, then you really should consider if internet marketing is for you you probably won’t be prepared to put in the effort required to make money online.

If you answered yes then read on and i’ll give you some Ideas about how to make some money within 48 hours.

The quickest way to make money online quickly is to perform a service for someone else. You can find jobs on sites like elance or get a freelancer. You can also go to Amazons Mechanical Turk this is particularly good as you can withdraw cash when you’ve made $10. When I first started I supplemented my income from my sites by building sites and writing articles for people.

If you want to take this to the next level then you can subcontract the work out and just ensure that the quality is good and that the work is delivered on time. This way you can take on a lot more work than normal.

Another way to make money online is to purchase rights to a product and then sell it. Lets suppose that you buy rights to a product called “Make Quick Money Online” conventional wisdom would suggest that you set up a website and then promote it…forget it we want money now..so how can we do it.

Why not create adverts and place them in your local supermarket or print out leaflets and place them on cars. If you were desperate you could even print out a copy of the book place it in a nice folder and sell it door to door like people used to do with the Enclyclopedia Britannica. (ok it’s not strictly online but we want money now!) Also place free ads wherever you can usfreeads, craigslist etc.

Far from being difficult, making money online can be the easiest thing in the world you just need to believe you can do it and more importantly you need to take action.

The is nothing more compelling than a good quality Video on a site.  It draws you in and  forces you to focus on the message. Additionally it keeps people on your site longer than they would normally.

To see just how powerful it can be and make your visitors  focus on anything you want  just watch the short Video below

Impressive wasn’t it!

If you want to keep your viewers interested you don’t need to go to such lengths, just keep the videos short and snappy.  Have a look at how TV adverts are condensed and streamlined to show just how a product can benefit a viewer. Another great source of inspiration is the short video ads that many sites show before you go tot he main page.

You don’t need lots of camera and equipment to make good Video adverts

Record your screen using the free http://camstudio.org/ software.  Use related images and add text and you have a Video. Alternativly create a powerpoint presentation and then record that.

With a bit of practice you can be producing videos and reviews that make many more sales that standard reviews.