Your membership site should be easy to navigate. As you design your site, keep it simple for members to use. Don’t add a lot of unnecessary bells and whistles. People don’t like them. They just want to get the information they need when they want it.

WordPress Wishlist Member is an easy place to start. This is great for beginners because it uses WordPress to manage your content. It also easily integrates with PayPal and 1ShoppingCart.

Create a professional-looking site. People join membership sites because they are looking to an “expert” to answer their most pressing questions or solve a problem. No one will listen to you if your website is sloppy and in disarray. Always present a professional appearance.

Most of us don’t have to spend money to hire a Web design expert. WordPress has made it easy for inexperienced Web masters to get a site up and rolling in no time. You can also use GoDaddy or Yahoo! or another hosting service that features web templates or “wizards.” The website wizards walk you through the process and allow you to type and publish a site in just a few minutes.

Make it easy for members to view videos and read online text. Again, keeping it easy to navigate and simple to use is key here. You want to reach everyone who is interested in your membership, so don’t make anything more difficult than it needs to be for your members or yourself.

Set a price that keeps them coming back each month. The jury is still out on the best price for a membership site. Some people price their sites at $9 a month and get a healthy number of members. Others swear by $27 a month and have similar success.

Don’t get greedy in the pricing process, especially when you’re new to membership sites. Once you’ve created an arsenal of great information, you may want to increase the membership cost to new members. Test different pricing plateaus to see what drives more traffic to your site and keeps more members month after month.

Stay the course. As you are building your lists, keep in mind that you probably won’t get wealthy overnight. After all, there is a degree of trial and error with your first membership site. Ask for feedback from your current members. When people cancel their membership, ask them why so you can improve the quality of your site.

Listbuilding with membership sites is a fun and effective way to build your business. You may want to join one or two successful membership sites before you begin to see what makes them so popular. That way, you’ll have a solid foundation from which to build your own site.

1.    Increase traffic by offering more backlinks. A backlink is basically an incoming link from another Web page. It acts as a connector between two different sites. The more backlinks you have, the more traffic you will attract.

Be sure that your website looks professional and is free of errors. Many Internet marketers like to exchange links with each other to create a win-win situation for all. In order to increase the number of backlinks, you’ll want to maintain a professional appearance.

2.    Increase traffic by providing free, original content. Google doesn’t like it when you copy and paste material from another site onto your page. In fact, that’s one way to find your site listing at the bottom of the search engines. Providing free, original content on a frequent basis will help your site rise in the search engines.

3.    Check out free resources to drive traffic to your website. Participate in forums, get a Twitter account, and use YouTube to drive more traffic to your website. You may even want to check out Google Groups. Be scrappy. Find as many free opportunities to showcase your site as you possibly can.

4.    Write articles to increase traffic to your site. In order to get attention, you’ll need to brand yourself as an expert in your field. Submit articles to ezines, Digg, and team up with other marketers or bloggers and publish articles on each others’ site. Always include a link at the bottom of the article to direct people to your website.

5.    Advertise to get more traffic. You may want to invest in Pay-per-Click or other methods to get noticed. Buying ads on niche-related forums is a good way to get targeted traffic to your website. Another good way to advertise your business is to buy magnets. You can have an oversized magnet printed from your local office supply store and put it on the side panel of your vehicle. Be creative in your advertising efforts.

6.    Speak at seminars to attract website visitors. One very effective way to drive more traffic to your website is to become a presenter at a conference or niche-targeted seminar. When you develop your presentation, offer valuable, free content to the audience and be generous in your responses to questions. Be sure to have plenty of materials, books, or products in the back of the room that people can buy or get free.

7.    Take it one step at a time. Be patient when it comes to your advertising efforts. You’ve got to give each strategy time to be successful. Sometimes, a minor change is all you need to make a huge difference in your advertising campaign.

Getting traffic to your website is a matter of getting in the trenches to see what works and what doesn’t. Don’t get tunnel vision and stay stuck in one place. Use multiple channels to advertise your business. Take chances. Stay the course. With a little ingenuity, you’ll discover the best strategy for attracting Web traffic to your site.

Squidoo is a community of users and a great platform for the affiliate marketer. Basically, what you do is create “lenses” or pages online, sharing your interests with others who share the same interests. It’s a great way to generate a buzz around your product, blog, or website.

Don’t underestimate the power of Squidoo. It’s one of the top 500 visited sites in the country and one of the top 300 in the United States alone. One year ago this month, there were 900,000 hand built lenses on Squidoo.

10 Ideas for a Squidoo Lens

You can create multiple lenses to promote your affiliate marketing business, but here are a few ideas you may want to consider:

1.    Products You Sell. Squidoo is a great place to create a lens about your products. If you want to be even more effective, write a review about each product. Don’t sell them. Talk about them.

2.    Books of Interest to Your Target Market. Every time you read a book that may be of interest to your target market, create a lens about it. What was good about it? Was there something you didn’t like? Do you recommend it?

3.    Post a Rant. It’s not just about selling. It’s about building connections. If there’s something you’d like to get off your chest, create a lens that rants. Have fun with it. People love controversy, and this is a good way to get more views on your lens.

4.    Post a Roast. Let people post stories about you. This is a fun way to poke fun at yourself and entertain your followers. Encourage participation from others.

5.    Entrepreneur’s Lens. Post ideas and new products or services and let others do the same. Create an inventors’ brainstorming lens and let the creative juices flow.

6.    Showcase your eBay Store. If you have an eBay store, create a lens to show people what you’re selling. Be open to questions that others may have about your products.

7.    Showcase Your Website. Don’t use Squidoo to do heavy-handed selling. Instead, write about your website and feature some interesting facts about your business. Let your sales page do the selling. Use Squidoo to direct traffic to your website.

8.    Reveal Your Passions. Use Squidoo to give people insight about the non-business side of your life. Because Internet marketing does not happen face-to-face, people tend to respond to interesting personalities that catch their interest.

9.    Spread the Word about a Special Cause. Give back to your community by creating a lens around a charity or other special interest you support. Don’t just showcase it; invite others to talk about it.

10.    Write a Blog Post. This is the perfect platform to create a blog about your product or service. Because Squidoo is an online community, people will find your blog based on their interests.

Using Squidoo to promote your affiliate marketing business is a fun way to showcase your products, share your talents, and generate conversation in the community. Use Squidoo to build a connection with your target market, generate a buzz, and grow your business to new heights.

If you’re looking for ways to build your list and want to try a few new ideas, here are 10 ideas you can use to build your list for your affiliate marketing business.

1.    Hold a Contest. People love contests, and there’s no better way to build a list than to create a fun event that people can enter just by joining your list. You can ask them to name a new product, design a logo, or just enter a drawing to win a cash prize or free product. Contests are a great way to build a targeted list of subscribers.

2.    Offer a Discount. Everyone loves a bargain, so offer a deep discount on your product or service for opting in to your list. Make the offer substantial enough to get attention. It’s got to be a win-win exchange.

3.    Barter Friends for Free Products. In exchange for free products, ask the people on your list to refer a friend. Create high-quality products for those who refer other people to your list.

4.    Create a Conspicuous Display. Who says that advertising has to stay online? Make a deal with a local business to display some of your business cards or post cards to the public. Be sure that the business is compatible with what you are selling. Include your website address and a free gift for those who sign up. You may even want to ask them to type in a special code so you can track your success.

5.    Start Tweeting! If you haven’t jumped on the Twitter bandwagon, it’s time to get on board. Twitter is a great way to build your list because you can include links to your landing pages, blog posts, or any other special offer in your tweets.

6.    Create a Facebook Fan Page. Facebook is flooded with businesses that are using social marketing to build their lists…and for good reason. Business marketing and social marketing go hand in hand in today’s competitive marketplace. Create a buzz by telling people you’re trying to get a specific number of fans by a specific date. Promise a free gift to all fans who participate.

7.    Promote Other Blogs. Team up with other bloggers in your market and promote each others’ blogs on your blog sites.

8.    Never Waste a Signature Line. Add a link to your landing page in your signature line in e-mail and marketing forum posts.

9.    Blog Your Way to Profits. Blog often, and be sure to join Technorati to keep readers updated on your blog posts. Technorati is a search engine for blogs and will lead individuals directly to your blog site.

10.     Be inventive. Try new things. Don’t be afraid to take risks when building a list. Sometimes the simplest ideas yield the greatest results.

There is no magic formula for listbuilding that works 100 percent of the time. The best advice I can give is to brainstorm for ideas and see if they work. You never know what idea will take the Internet by storm and attract tons of traffic.

One way that affiliate marketers use to attract visitors is to use Google AdWords. It’s an easy way to get impressions in Google, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re going to get a load of traffic from AdWords.

What you DON’T want to do is quickly set up your AdWords account and hope for the best, nor do you want to attract tire kickers. You need to attract targeted visitors who will become buyers.

Here are three mistakes that people make when setting up their Google AdWords account:

Mistake #1: Unfamiliarity with Setting up a Campaign

Don’t rely on the default settings to set up your ad campaign. Your goal is to attract targeted traffic to your website, and you cannot do so if you’ve got the wrong types of traffic checking out what you have to sell. Be sure to adjust the settings so the right people will see what you have to offer.

Also, don’t run your AdWords campaign on a tight budget. You may not get the number of impressions you need to make a good impression in Google.

Mistake #2: Failing to Use Targeted Keywords

Do a little research to see what keywords are most effective in your target market. Use keywords that generate a lot of traffic but may not be readily used by the masses. In order to compete strategically, you’ve got to discover the gold in low competition, high-traffic keywords.

Don’t make the mistake of using the wrong keywords. Strive to get the desired result by avoiding keywords that may attract a lot of traffic but will not result in a single sale.  Doing so is like tossing money to the wind; it’s cold, hard cash that you’ll never see again.

Mistake #3: Being a Big Spender with Nothing to Show for It

One of the biggest mistakes new marketers make is to spend more on advertising than they earn from profits. Your goal is to generate a high CTR and earn more than you spend. This may take a little trial and error to perfect but be sure to spend a daily amount that you can live with.

Keep in mind that this is a learning process. Too many new Internet marketers get overly zealous and start spending tons of cash before they understand how their advertising dollars are working—or not working—in their favor.

Once you get the hang of it, using Google AdWords for getting traffic to your website is an easy and automated method for creating your online presence. While most people learn through trial and error, you may want to do some networking with other affiliate marketers to see how they use Google AdWords to increase their CTR.

Making a Fortune with MySpace: Ashley Qualls

Some teenagers are taking a single idea and making a mint from it. Take, for instance, Ashley Qualls. When she was 14, she borrowed $8 from her mother to buy a domain name. She started a company that designed MySpace layouts, targeted primarily to girls.

Today, Ashley’s website gets 60 million page views each month. She paid cash for a $250,000 home and has turned down a 1.5 million dollar offer to buy her business. While her business is not classified as an affiliate marketing business, it just goes to show you how one teen with a simple idea can make more money than most adults. She is now 18 and well on her way to continued success.

Meet Nate Brown—a 14-year-old Affiliate Marketer

Nate Brown is a 14-year-old affiliate marketer who has already learned how to automate his affiliate marketing business. He’s been an affiliate marketer for a year now. He even blogs about how he does it and offers tips and tricks to others who want to do the same. I’m sure we’ll hear more about Nate as his affiliate marketing business grows.

Why are Teens Prime Candidates for Affiliate Marketing?

Teens are prime candidates for affiliate marketing because they haven’t yet become jaded about the Internet. In fact, they’re paving the way for the future of the Web. They have the “I can do anything” attitude that gives them the incentive to learn through trial and error.

Teens are experts at viral marketing because they’ve literally grown up in front of a computer. They know exactly how to get the word out about their favorite music, products, and ideas. They’ve already mastered MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, and a multitude of other social networking sites.

Teens Need to Make More Money In Today’s Economy

With the federal minimum wage set at $7.25, teens realize that they can’t get much bang for their buck if they work only part time. The high price of gasoline, insurance, and the cost of going to a movie, is prompting teenagers to look for ways to make more money, more efficiently.

Once mastered, an affiliate marketing program can be automated, enabling a teen to have an active social life without being tied down to a set schedule. Just one successful affiliate marketing site, once set into motion, can give a teenage boy or girl enough money to pay for fun activities without interfering in school work.

Many teens see affiliate marketing as an avenue to generate just enough cash to get by, while others are learning everything they can to create wealth. Regardless of the motivation, more and more teens are turning to affiliate marketing as a way to create a positive cash flow and leave bussing tables and waiting on customers to someone else.

Here are 5 keys qualities that you’ll need to become a successful affiliate marketer:

1.    Take risks. How many multimillionaires do you know? How many of them acquired their wealth by playing it safe? Anyone who has struck it rich—either with business or investments—has done so by taking a few calculated risks. Affiliate marketing is no different.

Many affiliate marketers fail to make a sizeable dent in their bank accounts because they’re too afraid to think beyond their comfort zones.

2.    Listen and learn. You’ve got to be a student of affiliate marketing, even when you’ve had some success at it. If you can swing it, hire an affiliate marketing coach to help you avoid some of the mistakes and pitfalls that new marketers are sure to make.

If you cannot afford a coach—and even if you can—consider joining Internet marketing forums. The greatest thing about forums is that you’ll get a wealth of advice for nothing or next to nothing! There are a lot of free forums out there.  If you can get in on the private, members-only paid sites, you’ll probably be privy to more than what you’ll get free…and for a fraction of the cost of hiring a coach.

3.    Think big. If you’re serious about making real money, go with what sells, and go with products that will make you a higher number of dollars per sale. The top-selling affiliate products are not e-books; they are software and membership sites.

Sure, you can make a few bucks selling e-books and learn the basics of affiliate marketing, but only a few out of the thousands of these books will generate a sizeable income. Go for the big-ticket items.

Don’t sell yourself short. Even though that first sale gives you an emotional high like no other, it won’t last long if you cannot earn enough money to make it worth your while. Take some time to investigate the top 10 sellers in the affiliate marketing field while the window is open, and jump on those opportunities.

4.    Get a competitive mindset. It’s common for new affiliate marketers to worship gurus; however, those guys are “you.” Many of them began with little or no experience, and some of them wiped out the competition by being tenacious.

Don’t make the mistake of thinking that you cannot make it to the top of your niche because others have been at the top for years. There’s no reason why you can’t take one of those top positions.

That means you’ll need to study your competitors’ sites. Find the top three sellers in your niche and model them. Network with successful affiliate marketers. Your success depends on the company you keep, and that means keeping your competition close.

5.    Lather. Rinse. Repeat. Once you’ve found something that works, keep doing it. New marketers can sometimes be all over the place with their ideas. Give your ideas a good trial run and test the results. The old adage, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” is a good one to follow.

Having the proper mindset will make the difference between becoming a successful affiliate marketer or not. You don’t have to be the smartest person in the room to make a lot of money in affiliate marketing. You’ve just got to be willing to do what it takes and stay the course for the long haul.

Find a Vendor That Has an Affiliate Program

First, find a vendor who has a product you’d like to promote. The best way to begin is to find a company that you’ve already done business with, go to their website, and see if they have an affiliate program. Check their website to see if they have an “Affiliate Program” link. You may be surprised to know that your favorite companies offer affiliate commissions.

Many of the high-profile companies that get a lot of exposure offer affiliate programs. One example is Amazon.com. Let’s talk about how their affiliate program works. They call their program Amazon Associates. You can find this program by going to the Amazon.com website and clicking on the “Associates Program” link on the left side of the page. (You’ll have to scroll down to see it.)

Joining this program is easy. In fact, they’ll walk you through the process onsite. When you join Amazon Associates, you’ll earn money selling their products. They’ll set you up with links and banners, widgets, and a self-contained store that you can display on your website. When someone orders a product on your site from Amazon.com, you’ll get a percentage of the profits. It’s that simple.

Create Your Affiliate Marketing Website

Next, create the name of your website. It’s best to put the name of your product in the domain name to make it easier to locate. For example, if you’re selling computers, you’ll want a domain name with the word “computers” in the title.

Once you’ve covered these steps, register your domain name. You can do this fairly cheaply, for less than $2. GoDaddy.com can walk you through the steps. You can also get Deluxe Hosting for $6.99 a month.

Set Up a Twitter Account

Another cheaper option you can use is to link your affiliate account with your Twitter account. This way, you can set up your Twitter account and promote products free. You won’t even need a website if you choose this route. You can market products through your tweets.

Once you set up your account, you’ll have to complete some basic information to get started. Using Amazon.com’s program as an example, you can actually choose your payment method: gift card, direct deposit, or check. However, if you choose to get paid by check, there is a fee associated with that option.

Start Selling!

Once you get everything set up and have an inventory of products, you can start selling through Twitter. There’s no need to spend a pile of cash to make money. Just become an associate and the products will sell themselves.

To succeed in affiliate marketing, you have to think outside the box. There is no one-size-fits all method for success. If the recession has emptied your pockets and you need a quick and easy way to set up an affiliate marketing business, go with a high-profile company that generates a lot of sales. That way, you can market products for a company with a proven track record and earn the cash you need.

1.    Sell what’s in demand.
Do a little research to see what’s hot in affiliate marketing and follow that trend. The biggest mistake that new affiliate marketers make is to launch a new, untested product. Even if you think your product is great, the market could indicate otherwise. Don’t let your excitement blind you to the realistic needs of your target market.

2.    Sell what you know.
Always sell a product you’re familiar with so you can write reviews and give a credible assessment of the products you’re promoting. If you are familiar with what you sell, you can establish your expertise in the industry. People tend to buy from experts. That’s why it’s best to sell products that you know about and can get excited about.

3.    Fulfill orders quickly and efficiently.
When people place orders, make sure the turnaround time is quick. When people order a product from you, the anticipation of its arrival is part of the excitement. Get the product to them as quickly as possible to ensure a positive buying experience. Always make the buying experience a great one.

4.    Keep your customers happy.
Do whatever it takes to make your customers happy. Fulfill orders quickly, answer correspondence quickly, and give refunds quickly, regardless of the reason for the customer’s dissatisfaction. Build your reputation on excellent customer service, and your business will continue to grow.

One of the biggest mistakes that affiliate marketers make is to avoid unhappy customers. Keep in mind that you can learn valuable marketing lessons from all customers—even the unhappy ones.

5.    Use hover ads.
Hover ads are great to announce upcoming products, special promotions, or to showcase customer testimonials. Hover ads increase conversion rates and are shown to be much more effective than pop-ups or pop-under ads. Hover ads cannot be blocked like pop-up or pop-under ads because they are part of your website. Because of this, you’ll want to make sure that you use them responsibly.

6.    Work with multiple merchants in the same niche.
You can have affiliate agreements with multiple merchants to give your customers several options to choose from. Offer several buying options on your website. This will increase your chance of making sales.

7.    Create your own newsletter or e-zine.
Newsletter and e-zines are great ways to showcase your expertise and to keep prospects and customers up-to-date on current promotions, upcoming launches, and newsworthy information about your niche market.

If you integrate these affiliate marketing strategies into your business, you will be able to create a successful affiliate marketing business. Most importantly, don’t be afraid to try new things and learn from your experiences. With a little trial and error, you’ll learn how to create a top-selling affiliate marketing website.

If you’ve never considered using video because you don’t know how to get started, check out the ways you can build a targeted list of prospects using video.

Offer Tutorials.
One of the most effective ways to build your list is to offer free tutorials that are targeted to your niche market. Build in the Law of Reciprocity in your video campaign. The more you give away to your prospects, the more likely they’ll return the favor by buying your products. Your tutorials should be niche-specific. Show viewers how to use one of your products or services, and they’ll appreciate the fact that you’ve gone the extra mile to help them.

Solve a Problem.
Tap into the pain of your prospects by showing them how to solve a problem. For instance, if you’re selling personal finance products, you may want to give some tips for getting out of debt or saving money. Include some tips that viewers may not be able to get easily on their own. If you can relate to their pain, tell your own story. Offer insights based on personal experience.

Answer Customer Questions.
Invite website visitors to submit questions to your website. Often, prospects hesitate to buy products because they have unanswered questions. This will help you handle any objections that many prospective customers have and will help them make a buying decision.

Entertain.
Every now and then, record a video for the sole purpose of entertaining your target market. You might want to create humorous skits of what NOT to do with your product. Show your personality. Potential customers like it when they see another side of your character other than the business side.

Establish Your Authority.
At times, you’ll want to use videos to establish your expertise in an area. One good angle to take is to create a series of videos and release them at scheduled dates. People want to buy from experts, so show them why you’re the go-to person if they want to buy a product in your niche.

Once you’ve created your video, upload it to YouTube, Facebook, or your website. Be sure to include your e-mail address somewhere in the video. If you’re uploading it on a site other than your own, include your web address. At the end of the video, encourage videos to subscribe to your list. In exchange for their names and e-mail addresses, offer to provide a link to another video—something more valuable than what you’re offering free.

Listbuilding with video is one of the quickest and easiest ways to build your list. All you need is a video camera or web cam to get started. Don’t worry about being perfect. You’ll perfect your technique over time. Your goal is to build a connection with video that you cannot do in print. Many affiliate marketers explode their businesses overnight with the use of video listbuilding strategies.