Get More Clients Online

Diversification is Key

At one time, my fantasy was that all of my business income would be produced by one product or service. Now that I've been in business for 11 years, I see the problems with this fantasy. First, it's seldom realistic. Secondly, I'd soon become bored with doing the same thing day after day. Third, when income dips from one area of your business, you have other streams of income to help you pick up the slack.

So, I continue to add new streams of income to my business, including some services that I, at one time, didn't really want to offer any longer. I've discovered that my failure to diversify regularly means that my business no longer keeps me interested and entertained. That's my biggest obstacle in staying in the same business -- maintaining my interest and enthusiasm for what I'm doing. I am often tempted to try out new things and ditch what I'm doing, but it's hard to build a successful business without any follow through..:) So, discovering new ways to keep me excited about what I'm doing is vital to my own success. Funny how you have to play mind games with yourself as a motivational tool..LOL

Check out my newest opportunity in a Dose of Donna 1:1 Strategy Session .

10 Questions to Ask Before Licensing Your Program

Once you have several products or services that are selling quite well, your customer will begin to ask if you will permit others to use your product as the basis for training that they are doing.  Or, if you are doing training or consulting, you may be asked if you'll train others to be a trainer using your system.

This is the perfect opportunity for you to consider licensing your content or program.  You've only got so many hours in the day, and if you have others delivering your content and/or requiring the purchase of your materials, your business will grow exponentially as a result.

Here are some issues to think about as you consider licensing your content to others:

1. What will you charge for a licensing fee?  Will it be a one-time fee or something that has to be renewed periodically, like on an annual basis? Or, do you base it on a percentage of sales?
2. Will you charge a royalty for each product sold or per participant in a training session?  What systems do you need to put into place to ensure that you are being compensated appropriately for each sale?  Does the fee increase when the sales volume hits a certain level?
3. Is the licensing exclusive, i.e. pertinent to a particular project only, or can it be used at the licensee's discretion?
4. How will you ensure that your content is being delivered appropriately?  Do you require each licensee to go through training?  Is that an additional fee that you charge, or is that a part of the initial licensing package?
5. What are the requirements for your licensees to purchase any materials for a licensed training (CD programs, ebooks, etc.) through you, or if the materials are available through other sales outlets, can the materials be purchased elsewhere? Do you offer the materials to them at a discounted rate?
6. Can your licensees modify or alter your program or content in any way to fit the needs of various target markets?  If so, what are the parameters for doing so?  Does the modification need your approval?
7. Can your licensees adopt any part of the name of your licensed product into their business name in any way, or into a domain name for a website?
8. In what ways do your licensees have to display your logo, trademark info, or contact information for any products or training they license from you?  What are the standards for usage of such information?
9. What are the grounds for terminating a licensing agreement?
10. What actions must be taken by both you and the licensee in the event a license is terminated?

In the process of drafting your licensing agreement, I would strongly encourage you to hire an intellectual property attorney who has experience in licensing products or programs. S/he will tell you where the holes are in your agreement, and make suggestions for other issues you need to consider.

Licensing your programs or products is a great way to get the word out about what you do, and have others (your licensees) pay you for the privilege of distributing your info around the globe.  Take a look at your products and services with a discerning eye. Which of them could you license to others today?

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this blurb with it:  Internet Marketing Automation Coach Donna Gunter helps independent service professionals create prosperous online businesses that make more profit in less time by teaching them how to automate their businesses, leverage their expertise, and get found online.  Would you like to learn the specific Internet marketing strategies that get results? Discover how to increase your visibility and get found online by claiming your FREE gift, TurboCharge Your Online Marketing Toolkit, at ==>
http://www.TurbochargeYourOnlineMarketing.com

Multiple Streams of Income

Within the next few weeks, I'll be slowly adding some additional service offerings to my business. I've been working on a couple of lower-cost coaching opportunities for those of you who may want to work 1:1 with me less frequently than my individual coaching option. And, I'll also be slowly unveiling my "Internet Marketing Done For You" services where you can have some of those pesky Internet marketing tasks taken care of on a regular basis. Lastly, I'll also be adding two opportunities to work with me strategically in a virtual retreat capacity and in a virtual strategy session.

Many of these ideas I have been carrying around in my head for months, but it's just never seemed the right time to launch them until now. Sometimes it just doesn't work to push yourself into something before you're truly ready..:)

Now I just need to plan my launch schedule for these new offerings..LOL

Recurring Income Tips: 10 Examples of Continuity Income in a Service-Based Business

Tired of the day-to-day struggle of chasing one client to the next? Want a better way to run your business that enables you to better predict your monthly income? One of the best ways to stabilize your income when you're a self-employed service professional is to create a monthly recurring source of income for yourself, commonly referred to as a continuity program.

Many continuity programs focus on providing products each month (think of any number of beauty product clubs you see on infomercials) or providing coaching or information (think of an Inner Circle Club where the members get one call per month from an expert, along with a CD and transcript of the call).  While there's nothing wrong with these continuity models, I think that an independent service professional builds the strongest business when the business contains multiple streams of income, or in this case, multiple streams of recurring income.  I'm in the process of updating my business model to include service-based recurring revenue, all related to Internet marketing tasks.

Here are 13 examples of how I've seen recurring income for services offered:

1.  Landscaping and yard care:  I pay a monthly retainer to a local landscaper for complete care of my yard, from mowing the grass to picking up limbs after a storm to replenishing the mulch in the plant beds to staking the crepe myrtle trees to the ground during hurricane season.  I don't worry at all about anything to do with yard maintenance, and I occasionally hire them at an extra fee to add additional plants to the landscape.

2.  Housecleaning: I pay a twice-monthly retainer to a small company to come and completely clean my house two times a month. I HATE housecleaning, so this is one of my favorite checks to write, as I do enjoy nice, clean-smelling surroundings.

3.  Air conditioning/heating:  I pay a yearly fee for our AC service to come out twice a year and check and clean the AC/Heating system, once before the AC season and once before the heating season.  They check connections, knock out the dust, and inspect both the inside and outside units.  Upon completion, they give me a checklist of what they did, and let me know if there were any problems of which I should be aware.

4.  Accountant/bookkeeper:  A monthly retainer to enter a business owner's income and expenses has long been a recurring income strategy of accountants and bookkeepers.  Most of these businesses then turn to that same person to do their business and personal income taxes, as well as buying additional consulting time regarding major financial moves or investments.

5.  Blog designer:  For service businesses with Wordpress blogs, finding someone to help you if your blog crashes or if a feature stops working can be a nightmare, as there's no tech support provided with this open source software.  I've begun to see many blog designers offering monthly blog maintenance packages where they upgrade the software and plug-ins each month, as well as back up the blog, and provide other services as necessary to keep your blogsite up and running smoothly.

6.  Web site designer:  The primary way that I've seen web designers create recurring income is through the sale of web site hosting packages.  Once they have designed a site for you, you continue to be their customer by paying them a monthly, quarterly, or annual hosting fee for your site.  Many web designers include basic tech support/trouble-shooting in this fee, so if you have a problem receiving your email, for example, you can call or email them for assistance.

7.  Publicist:  I think there's a need for publicity experts to offer packages featuring 1-2 custom press releases per month optimized for online submission and SEO.  Many business owners won't take the time to write their own releases (or simply don't know how).  Finding someone who can create a release from a previously written article would be great for online business owners who would like to use these releases as part of their traffic generation strategy.

8.  Writer:  A writer who is familiar with creating articles for traffic generation could offer a couple of 600-800 word keyword-optimized articles for a monthly fee.  An online business owner could use these articles in her ezine, blog, or in an information product.

8.  Videographer: I just signed up with a service that will give me a 1-minute flash video every month. All I have to do is provide the info for the voiceover, and images (like logos or head shots) or video (of me talking to a web cam, for example) to add in, if I have them.  They do everything else, and have a stock of rights-free images and video that can use in my videos if needed.

9.  Audio voiceover:  Ever wanted to create a podcast or audio version of your ezine?  I think this is a great opportunity for audio voiceover experts to offer a retainer to provide a professional "reading" of written material that you create that you can repurpose in any fashion that you like.

10.  Newsletter expert: I've been working with a company who formats and publishes my ezine each week for a monthly retainer.  I simply give them the articles and images for the ezine, and they put it together in an HTML file that is uploaded to my email marketing service as well as placed on my web site.

Bonuses:

11.  Social networking expert:  I've seen many virtual assistants offer a "social networking done for you" type retainer in which they  go in to your social networking platforms and update your status, look for and add friends/followers, and send your followers/friends birthday wishes.

12.  Tech support specialist:  I pay a monthly retainer to a group who'll install scripts and blogs for me, update web sites, create forms on pages, among other things.  They offer a point system in that I purchase so many points each month, and what I don't use rolls over to the next month.  I've also seen companies offer tech support subscriptions for troubleshooting computer issues. So, rather than paying $200 to have Outlook reinstalled if it crashes, you could pay a tech support company a monthly retainer to help you  with tech emergencies without a wait.

13. Software developer:  There are any number of products for which I pay monthly fees to access a software service, from audio/video hosting to a shopping cart system to an email marketing system to an online collaboration system to a receipt scanning system.  This type of recurring income is the most powerful, as you have a large chunk of your business assets tied up in this service when you subscribe to the service, which makes it unlikely that you'll ever leave the service, as it's time-consuming and painful to change services.

Did any of these ideas spark an idea for your business?  I'm fairly certain that there's an opportunity for every service business to offer a continuity service program.  What can you offer?

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this blurb with it:  Internet Marketing Automation Coach Donna Gunter helps independent service professionals create prosperous online businesses that make more profit in less time by teaching them how to automate their businesses, leverage their expertise, and get found online.  Would you like to learn the specific Internet marketing strategies that get results? Discover how to increase your visibility and get found online by claiming your FREE gift, TurboCharge Your Online Marketing Toolkit, at ==> http://www.TurbochargeYourOnlineMarketing.com

5 Most Effective Online Continuity Program Models

Continuity programs are the "new" online business model that has recently escalated in popularity. No longer is it good enough to simply sell information products for a one-time sale or sell your services online. Instead, online business owners need to seriously think about changing their business model to include the concept of recurring revenue. This passive revenue model brings in regular recurring income on a weekly or monthly basis from the same customers. While there is still some work required to continue to market these programs, overall you will find it much more profitable to sell to one customer over and over again rather than having to go and find new customers repeatedly for a one-time information product sale.

Many companies have been offering continuity programs for years. Proactive does it with face cleanser. Leeza Gibbons does it with Sheer Cover makeup. Doubleday does it with books. Columbia House does it with DVDs. Each of these companies offers an option in which subscribers pay a set fee each month and receive something new in return (books, DVDs, etc.). I've belonged to all of these continuity programs at some point in my life, and chances are, you have, as well. How can you incorporate this recurring revenue model into your business?

Here are the 5 most effective online continuity program models to consider for your online business:

1. Retainer. Attorneys and accountants have done this for years -- their clients go on a regular retainer and the client can contact the attorney/accountant whenever needed as defined by the parameters of the retainer. Consultants, coaches, and virtual assistants offer this option, as well, as a way of providing services over an extended period of time. While having this in place makes for less client turnover, this model is the most time-intensive model of all of these models, as the model requires trading time for dollars. Most retainers offer x number of hours of work or x projects to be completed in return for a set monetary amount.

2. Subscription Membership. In this model, you are providing new content regularly to your members via a membership website. Members log in and access new articles, audio, checklists, ebooks, discussion forum posts, etc. This is a content-driven model, as you need to continue to provide new content for your returning members as well as to attract new members. The upside of this model is that many members retain their membership for a year or longer, especially if offered the option of a reduced annual membership fee.

3. Fixed-term membership. In this model, you are providing new content on a weekly basis to your members for a fixed period of time. While initially time-intensive to set up, this model runs fairly seamlessly once all of your program modules are written. As long as your topic isn't one that needs continual updating, you can create this once and resell this again and again. However, unlike the other models, you keep your members only for a limited time (3 months, 6 months, 12 months) and then need to boost your marketing to continually replace members for this program.

4. Club or Inner Circle or VIP Program. This is a model that coaches, consultants, and speakers often use and may be marketed as a group coaching program. Typically the participant gets access to the program leader or an expert via a teleclass, and a printed teleclass transcript and CD are mailed to the participant each month. The program leader may also include open Q&A/coaching sessions, sporadic 1:1 coaching mini-sessions, and access to various resources and contacts to further help the participants. As long as members feel they are receiving value, they'll generally remain a participant in this type of program.

5. Association. Becoming the founder or president of a national or international association offers the kind of leverage not found in any other model. Because associations connote expertise, being the leader of an association automatically makes you the expert in a particular area. Reporters and writers often look to leaders of associations to comment on trends in an industry, which will result in much media attention for your business. Membership benefits and membership packages are the key offerings here, whether that's a monthly teleclass, access to specific downloadable content, networking opportunities, direct mail membership welcome packets, etc. This model is generally the least time-intensive, as 80% of your members will receive their membership package and not be heard from again until it's dues renewal time.

Why continue to trade time for dollars? Take a look at these continuity program models and see which one(s) make sense for your online business. If you pick the right target market at the right time, one of these models may become your full-time business.

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this blurb with it:  Online Business Coach Donna Gunter helps baby boomers create profitable online retirement businesses by demystifying the steps needed to successfully market a  baby boomer business online. Would you like to learn the specific Internet marketing strategies that get results? Discover how to increase your visibility and get found online by claiming your FREE gift, TurboCharge Your Online Marketing Toolkit, at == > http://www.OnlineBizU.com

Teleclass Marketing: 5 Secrets to Selling More Teleclasses with Transcripts

by Donna Gunter, The Online Biz Resource Queen (TM)

While iPods and other mp3 players have taken the world by storm, I'm still a visual girl.  For me, that means I'd much rather read something than listen to it.  If it's a video of a software or service demo, I might be persuaded to view that, if I have the time and if I have no other choice.  For the most part, I'd rather read about it.  I have tons of audio files stored on my hard drive, to most of which I've never listened.  They'll probably languish away on my computer, only to be deleted one day when I've forgotten why I downloaded them in the first place.

However, the ones I have "listened to" are the ones which also offered a written PDF transcript.  Okay, so it's cheating a bit to say that I've "listened" to them, but those files that came with transcripts got my attention much more quickly than those without.

I realize that I'm in the minority here.  The audio and video methods of conveying information online are here to stay, and the majority of Internet users like and prefer those methods to reading.  Studies also indicate that when an online business owner adds audio or video to a site, traffic and conversion rates increase dramatically.

The written word, however, is far from dead.  I'm discovering that there are more and more people who prefer to learn by reading (or maybe we just attract one another).  If you offer teleclasses or webinars as a part of your business model, here are 5 reasons you should offer transcripts with your teleclass recordings:

1.  Multiple Learning Styles.  As previously established, offering both an auditory version and a written version of teleclass content appeals to both kind of learners.  Granted, transcribing can be tedious if you're doing it yourself.  However, most one-hour teleclasses can be transcribed for about $100 USD. If this investment resulted in a 30% increase in your conversion rate or download rate, it would be a worthwhile investment, don't you think?

2.  Printable Format.  Unlike audio files, which require some type of device to play them, PDF transcripts can be printed and carried with you.  So, if your portable device battery dies or if you're in a situation where electronic devices aren't permitted, you can get the information that you need from the printed transcript instead.  Call me hopelessly out-of-date, but I even print out and bind larger (greater than 100 pages) PDF ebooks if I believe they are something to which I'll continually refer.  I still prefer to go to my office bookcase and pick up a resource rather than search for my copy of the same resources in my computer files.  I've had my readers tell me that they regularly print the PDF files they buy from me and refer to them constantly.  Perhaps your readers will do the same?

3.  Upsell New Products.  Transcripts, unlike audio files, offer the opportunity to upsell your reader to new products or services.  In the transcript, you can add several pages that serve as a sales letter for a new product, or include an order form that is similar to one that appears on your site.  You can easily update the offer in the future by inserting new pages.

4.  Immediate Gratification. If your reader is viewing the electronic version of your transcript, she can immediately click on the hyperlinks you include and see the sites to which you refer in the teleclass.  The mp3 listener, on the other hand, may not have Internet access at the time she's listening to the audio file, and consequently has to write down the URLs mentioned and then view them when she's back online.  I've lost more slips of paper in this situation than I care to remember, which is yet another reason that having a transcript appeals to my learning style so much.

5. Second Profit Center.  If you're selling the audio of a teleclass or webinar,  you can offer the transcript as an add-on to the price of the teleclass for an additional fee. I constantly see online entrepreneurs offering a teleclass for $29 and then permitting the buyer to add a PDF transcript for just $10 more.  This method offers visitors a choice and appeals to a wider variety of buyers than offering only one option might.

Teleclasses and webinars are a profitable way to boost your online business.  Add transcripts to your offerings, and see your profits increase even more!

Want to see the template I use to format my transcripts?  You can, if you're a member at OnlineBizU.com. Get your template here.

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this blurb with it: Online Business Resource Queen (TM) and Online Business Coach Donna Gunter helps independent service professionals learn how to automate their businesses, leverage their expertise on the Internet, and get more clients online. To claim your FR*EE gift, TurboCharge Your Online Marketing Toolkit, visit her site at OnlineBizU.com. Ask Donna an Internet Marketing question at AskDonnaGunter.com.

Create a Coaching Program for Your Multiple Streams of Income Funnel

by Donna Gunter, The Online Biz Resource Queen (TM)

Whether you're a chiropractor, an exterminator, a carpet cleaner, or a professional organizer, you're amassed a great deal of information in your field or industry.  You have two primary targets to whom you can market this information:

• to your client base in the form of in-depth or additional training or information about your topic area (a 3-hour health-oriented program for chiropractic clients, a 2-hour "ABC's of Organization" seminar for professional organizing clients, etc.), or

• to others in your industry who want to have the in-depth knowledge that you have (carpet cleaners want to learn how to clean tile and grout as an additional service offered by their business) or who want to learn your business secrets (7 Steps to Attracting Clients into Your Chiropractic Practice).

A coaching program is perfect for either offering. In a coaching program, your primary goal is to take your clients from where they are to where they want to be.  So, if you're a professional organizer, your coaching program, which teaches professional organizers how to fill their practices, could easily target new professional organizers who are currently struggling to find clients.  Get the idea here?

I've watched my clients develop coaching programs over the years, and I've discovered that there are 7 elements to creating a successful coaching program.  They are:

1.  Target Market:  Who is your target market for this program?  The ability to target a defined group of prospects will make it so much simpler to market your coaching program.  Understanding key characteristics of this market,  such as knowing in what professional associations they hold memberships, the magazines and newsletters they read, and the discussion groups to which they belong will help you "reach out and touch" this group on a regular basis.  (Note:  You can download a Target Market Interview worksheet as a member of OnlineBizU.com.  Here's how you can get access.)

2.  Your Niche.  I define niche a little differently than others. I use the term niche to refer to the specialization you will  use to reach your target market.  For example, if you're a residential cleaning company who's had a great deal of success in building your business through referral marketing, then you'll want to create a coaching program that teaches other residential cleaning companies how to build their businesses fast by mastering referral marketing techniques.

3.  Core Message.  What is it that you do better than anyone else in the world?   Where have you been successful?  How can you best convey this information to others?   The answers to these questions are your core message.  Your core message combines your target market (residential cleaning companies) with your niche (referral marketing) along with the results you'll provide (have a waiting list of customers).  So, in this example, the core message for this fictional cleaning company coaching program might be, "Discover how residential cleaning companies create a waiting list of customers through successful referral marketing."  Sounds compelling, doesn't it?

4.  Your System.  Now you need to document your system that helped you get from point A to point B to point C.   In a coaching program, people want to buy a series of steps or a system and they want to have some idea of what those steps are or what's in the system.  That doesn't mean that you have to give away all of your program secrets in your marketing materials, but you do have to disclose enough information so that they can clearly visualize themselves going through that system to reach the level of attainment they desire.  If you can give them a realistic number of steps over a period of time, (your 9-step, 90 day process, for example), you'll have a much greater chance of enrolling enthusiastic participants in the program.

5.  Coaching Model.  How do you want to deliver this program?  Will you conduct group coaching sessions of 10 participants per group over a teleconference bridge line?  How about an email coaching program in which you send out weekly lessons and offer to meet twice a month with your participants on a teleconference line to answer questions?  Will you take only 1:1 coaching clients at a premium price?  Or, will you do all three?  There are a myriad of ways to deliver a coaching program.  You need to discover the one that's the best fit for your style and will be most appealing to your target market.

6.  Signature Coaching Program. Your signature coaching program is the one that emerges from combining your system with a particular coaching model.  In the fictitious cleaning company coaching program I've been using, the signature coaching program might be, "Get More Clients Through Referral Marketing Coaching Program: 90 Days to Creating a Waiting List for Your Residential Cleaning Company."  In the marketing materials for your program, you would further explain your 9-step process that is delivered in 3 group coaching calls per month via a bridgeline over the next 90 days.

7. Your Marketing Funnel.  Once you've created your program, now you need to determine how it fits into the market funnel for this segment of your business, what your longer-term plans are for attracting participants into the program, and then selling them an advanced version when they complete your initial program.  For example, for the cleaning company coaching program, you might get participants into the marketing funnel with a low-cost ebook or ecourse, with the upsell being the 90-day coaching program.  Once they've completed that coaching program, then you offer to work with a limited number in a 1:1 setting at a premium price, or offer an advanced version of the program, which would take them to the next level.  Or, perhaps you turn the 90-day program into a home study audio course and you offer a live version of the program only occasionally. You don't have to have all of these pieces mapped out to get started, but it's helpful to have a plan in place to help you market this program.

Adding a coaching program to your mix is yet another way to create multiple streams of income for your business.  If you have found success in implementing a particular system, more than likely there's an audience willing and eager to pay you for your learning and experience.

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this blurb with it: Online Business Resource Queen (TM) and Online Business Coach Donna Gunter helps independent service professionals learn how to automate their businesses, leverage their expertise on the Internet, and get more clients online. To claim your FR*EE gift, TurboCharge Your Online Marketing Toolkit, visit her site at OnlineBizU.com. Ask Donna an Internet Marketing question at AskDonnaGunter.com.

Use Affiliate Programs to Earn Money Fast

Q:  I need to make $5000 in the next 3 months. Urgently needed for my wife to visit Russia and sick parents.
Ken Drake

A:  Hi Ken.  If you don't have a website or a product to sell, it's going to be challenging to raise that amount of money in that time period.  My best advice to you would be to create mini-sites and sell other people's products.  Here are some good sources to find products produced by others that you can sell and collect affiliate commissions:

Associate Programs  
Commission Junction 
Clickbank  

The ones listed above have been around awhile and are pretty reputable.  However, I found these others in a quick online search:

http://www.lifetimecommissions.com /
http://www.affiliateguide.com/residual.html 
http://www.residualincomefinder.com/
http://www.clickquick.com/topRated.asp
http://www.affiliateseeking.com/residual-income.html

You may also want to add Google Adsense ads to your webpages.

Noted Internet Marketer Tom Antion just did a teleclass called,  "How to Earn Super Large Passive Incomes Using Residual Affiliate Programs."  You can get a copy of that program on CD here.

And here are 2 articles I've written about this subject:
How to Create Your First One-Page Sales Web Site 
Boost Your Online Profits with Affiliate Commissions

Good luck!

Donna  

Adding Coaching to My Service Business

Q:  I want to create a coaching component to my commercial mortgage lending and seminar/DVD program. 
Michael Haltman

A:  Mike, that's a great addition to your current roster of services, as is additional consulting and training.

Here are some topics to keep in mind as you design this coaching program:

1.  Who's your target market?  What are their most pressing problems?

2.  Do you have a ready-made, step-by step solution for their problems?

3.  Do you want to coach people 1:1 or in groups?

4.  What will be the frequency of your coaching and what extras (email coaching, 5 minute between session calls, access to resources or discussion lists) will you provide?

One product that I highly recommend for people who want to integrate coaching into their current offerings is a book by Milana Leshinsky called Coaching Millions.

Boost Your Online Profits with Affiliate Commissions

One of the income streams in my business comes from affiliate commissions, or money I make from the referral of another's products or services. Affiliate commissions are a very viable way to add another income stream to your business where you can make a couple of hundred dollars a month to several thousand dollars a month, depending on how much time and effort you want to put into the process.

Several years ago I felt guilty for sending others to a product or service through my affiliate link because I believed I was manipulating them in some way.  However, now I have a clearly defined set of rules for myself before I recommend a product to someone else:

1.  I usually personally own or have used the product
2.  If I don't own it or use it, I rely on many trusted reviews before deciding to recommend. In most cases, I don't choose to send someone through an affiliate link if I don't personally own or use the product.
3.  I have either a verbal or written review/testimonial about the product.
4.  I am honest about the product's pros and cons.
5.  I can usually tell a story about how the use of this product/service has impacted the business of one of my clients or my own business.
6.  When responding to an email inquiry or forum/discussion list post, I disclose my link is an affiliate link.

Because it's very easy to get caught up in the lure of affiliate commissions, perpetuated by the constant bombardment of "opportunities" to promote someone else's products and services, you must be very discriminating in the products and services you recommend to your contacts.  All is takes is one or two poor recommendations, and you begin to lose credibility with your audience. Your email list will also lose faith in you if you bombard them with affiliate email promotions. In some cases, I receive more affiliate promotions than email newsletters or announcements from some of the lists to which I belong.  Consequently, because of the trust my email list has in me, I rarely send solo email affiliate promotions to them, preferring to make affiliate recommendations in my ezine and on my website.

One problem that affiliate marketers often encounter is their visitor's aversion to clicking on an affiliate link. The visitor will remove the affiliate portion of the link URL instead of crediting you for helping them to find out about the product or service.  I find this a bit silly now, as they are paying the same either way, but since I used to do the same thing (I have to chalk it up to ignorance, I suppose), I know that it happens frequently. Or, the visitor will attempt to substitute his affiliate ID in the URL.  Most reputable businesses now have a clause in their affiliate agreements prohibiting using your own affiliate ID to make purchases for yourself.  However, in many cases, it is still possible.

Here are 4 strategies you can use to "cloak" your affiliate links.

1.  Use a redirect service. Many affiliate links are long and cumbersome.  If you use a service like TinyURL.com or SnipURL.com, you can both shorten the length of the URL as well as prevent any URL tampering, as the final URL provided by the redirect service gives the visitor no idea about the final destination.

2.  Simple website redirect.  You may be able to redirect a long URL through a page of your site with the commands in your web hosting control panel or FTP client or through a 3rd party software loaded onto your hosting account.

3.  Dedicated domain name.  This is my favorite strategy.  I buy a domain name that's clearly seen as my brand, and add a defining word to indicate to me and to my visitors about the nature of the product, and then use the services of my domain registrar to forward it to my affiliate link.  So, for example, if you're a professional organizer and are known under the name "Best Organizer", you might buy something like BestOrganizerAudio.com, for example, so that you have an easy-to-remember domain name to which you can refer when mentioning this audio recording product in client consultations, teleclasses, and articles.

You can check out a few of my favorites at GetMoreClientsCart.com and GetMoreClientsAutoresponder.com.

4. Online Rolodex site.  Create a site or a page containing all of your valuable recommendations, and purchase a corresponding domain name to use with it, i.e. JaneDoeRecommends.com. You can tell your clients that this site contains your Rolodex of trusted resources or is your library of trusted resources, and they can refer to the list any time they are seeking a trusted resource or referral to help them solve a problem.  You can see mine at DonnaGunterRecommends.com.

Take time to set your parameters for affiliate recommendations and inform your clients and email list of those rules. Then, use one of the affiliate cloaking strategies to make your affiliate marketing as easy and painless as possible, both for you and your contacts. As you begin to see your affiliate commissions grow, you'll wonder why you didn't start this process sooner!

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE OR WEB SITE?  You can, as long as you include this blurb with it:  Online Business Resource Queen (TM) and Online  Business Coach Donna Gunter helps independent  service professionals learn how to automate  their businesses, leverage their expertise on  the Internet, and get more clients online. To  claim your FR*EE gift, TurboCharge Your Online  Marketing Toolkit, visit her site at OnlineBizU.com. Ask Donna an Internet  Marketing question at AskDonnaGunter.com.