Codrut Turcanu shares $10,000+ in Free Affiliate Marketing Tips

Did you ever have the feeling the so called “gurus” teaching you how to make money online are actually regurgitating stuff they’ve heard from others?

Did you know that most “experts” are nothing but theoreticians? The majority never made the money they promise to teach you [e.g. thousands overnight, or six figures a year]

Today’s interview features Erica Douglass …

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I got impressed with reading her success story. At the age of just 26 she sold her business for a whopping $1.100.000.00. And now she’s ready to teach you how to jump-start your business.

You can now safely take affiliate blogging lessons from someone who’s been there, done that.

Please introduce yourself to our readers…

I’m Erica Douglass. After selling my online business at age 26 for $1,100,000.00, I “retired” and chose to teach you how to jump-start your business.

I blog great free online business tips every week at erica.biz, and I am also blogging about myself, my new startup, and starting a business on a budget.

When, how and why did you get started with blogging @ Erica.biz ?

I became financially successful at a young age, having sold my web hosting company for $1,100,000.00 at age 26. (But it wasn’t an easy road — as I talk about in The End of An Era.)

After I sold my business, many people started asking me how I became so successful. I felt I needed an answer, and I honestly wasn’t sure, so I started erica.biz as an exploration into how anyone could become successful.

How long did it take you to get you to where you are now, and what would you say to our readers who are already tired and frustrated of not seeing any results from their blogging?

I bought the domain name erica.biz in December 2007 and migrated my blog to that domain. At the time, I had about 70 subscribers. Now, just two years later, I have over 8,000 subscribers and am well along the way to reaching my next goal of 20,000 subscribers in 2010.

You have to get your name out there and write well if you want to see big success in blogging. Those are the two keys. Take a new slant on a topic; write something controversial that you believe strongly in; do something crazy in your life and document it…these all work really well to drive traffic to your blog.

The best advice I can offer is: Be interesting. Then write about it.

What are the TOP areas I should concentrate on in affiliate blogging?

Work on creating relationships with your readers to find out what products they want and then either create or join forces with the people who create the best products in that area. The key is to only promote products you truly believe will be beneficial to your audience.

Do you have a formula for attracting traffic to Erica.biz?

I use guest posting to drive massive waves of traffic to my blog.

What would you say is the one most important thing you’ve learned about blogging?

It takes time and persistence to make a successful blog. No one is an overnight success in this industry.

What’s the biggest mistake you made getting started in affiliate blogging?

Promoting small ticket items that make me a few pennies or dollars per purchase. In my opinion, the real money is in thoroughly promoting bigger-ticket items with how-to videos and detailed posts on why those products are worthwhile. It’s the difference between making $0-$100 with one blog post and making $1300+. Let me tell you, those $1300+ checks are so great to get!

A second mistake was picking affiliate partners that weren’t reputable. Be careful—some people won’t pay you for sales you make. When getting started, make sure to ask around and ensure that their other affiliates are getting paid—or use ClickBank, LinkShare, or Commission Junction (or another third-party affiliate network) so that you’re guaranteed to get paid.

Never assume—even some well-known marketers or people you know personally will not pay you!

So how do you make money online with your blog?

I sell my own products (such as Guest Post Secrets) in addition to a few selected affiliate products that I personally endorse. Hint – use coupon code CODRUT to bring the price down to $47 ($20 off!)

What tools and resources would you say are essential to affiliate blogging?

I use GoCodes to generate /go/ links on my blog for free…so if someone in person asks me about a product I recommend, I can scribble a quick affiliate link for them on a piece of paper. It also makes affiliate links look clean on my blog. It’s a free plugin for WordPress.

Tell us more about your free ebook – My Blog Success Manifesto – why should one sign-up for it – and what it delivers – plus, what list building plans do you have for the near future?

I may be a bit biased, but I believe this is the best free guide I have ever seen to growing your blog quickly. I spent over a year studying Internet marketing and psychology and applying it to my blog. While there are no backhanded or otherwise “evil” tips here, many of these tips may be surprising to even top bloggers.

Just four of the over thirty tips in Blog Success Manifesto…

• Tip #27 (page 54) — Just imagine doubling your daily new blog subscribers by implementing one simple tweak…that takes only 10 minutes! That’s exactly what happened to me. I explain in detail; read the book and implement this tip right away for immediate effect.
• Tip #13 (page 25) — How do you advertise products you like on your blog without becoming a “marketer”, and without getting snide comments about how you’re “selling out”? I show you exactly how I make hundreds of dollars with a single blog post without alienating readers.
• Tip #16 (page 30) — How would you like a huge wave of hundreds of new subscribers in a few days — as often as you want? You can be instantly successful with this tactic; the first time I did it, I received a quick 5,000-visitor boost and over 150 new subscribers in just three days!
• Tip #26 (page 51) — The “secret” asset that even many top bloggers don’t take advantage of, that will light the way to recurring, passive income every month.

The book is a quick read, professionally designed, and well worth your short time investment. If you implement just a few of these tips, you should see your blog become more popular quite quickly.

Download your free copy of my Blog Success Manifesto now!

Thank you for sharing your blogging advice with us.

P.S. If you have any questions or suggestions on today’s interview, comment below [I want to hear from you]…

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