Readers of My Bonus Blog know that I’m a raving fan of NAMS (Niche Affiliate Marketing System) and its founder David Perdew. I showed up at the very first NAMS workshop in Atlanta in January 2009 having recently retired from my 30-year career in the financial services industry. About a month ago I attended the 6th NAMS workshop and this time I went as an instructor. It’s been quite an exciting ride over the last three years!

I’ve Got Some Exciting News For You…

Drum roll, please…

The best affiliate marketing and online niche training anywhere has gone to the next level. David Perdew has introduced MyNAMS, a year-round virtual program anchored by 2 live conferences. His experiment with a virtual NAMS5 was very successful because marketers everywhere could participate. Those of us who have been to the live conferences were a bit disappointed that we were not meeting in person. Now we have the best of both worlds–answers at our fingertips and the twice yearly get-togethers.

Inside My NAMS

I could write a very long post explaining all the benefits of My NAMS (forum, accountability groups, weekly webinars and tons of video tutorials). Instead I made a video showing you what it looks like on the inside.

If you have 5 minutes, click the play button:

Now the best part…

I bet you are thinking to yourself, “Wonder how much this is going to set me back?” I did too. In fact as he was explaining the whole program, I thought it would surely be 100 bucks a month and maybe he’ll offer a 50% discount in the beginning.

While I was close on the first number, to my complete amazement, he said the discounts would start at 90%!

That means for less than $10 a month you get all that plus the live conferences will be only $97 if you want to go (they are $497 to everyone else).

How do you get the discount?

Since I’m not sure what the date is as you are reading this, you will need to look for the discount code. I know until September 30, 2011 that the code is MYNAMS90. If you are reading this after that date, go to www.ExploreMyNAMS.com and scroll down to the Sign Me Up box and you will see the current discount code.

I’m excited to be one of the 30+ instructors at My NAMS and I look forward to seeing you there. No matter whether you are just starting out like I was a few years ago or where you are on your online journey, there is a track for you.

I just got back from Bob “The Teacher” Jenkins’ SIMPLE3 Video Velocity workshop in Anaheim, California. Easy video creation is something that every affiliate marketer and Internet marketer needs to learn how to do. I have done a few videos but prior to this workshop, I didn’t enjoy the process because it was drudgery and took a lot of time. Now I know how to take the pain and the time out of the process.

This workshop was so well received and there were so many videos created during the weekend from the attendees that Bob and the rest of the instructors decided to hold it again, but this time doing it virtually so more people could attend.

You should be adding videos to your marketing efforts from lead generation to affiliate marketing product reviews and now you have a chance to learn the techniques that make it easy and quick.

Watch this video that I made in about 30 minutes last weekend to learn more. This is coming up soon so don’t delay.

Click Here Today to Learn Easy Video Creation.

The first hurdle that new bloggers and affiliate marketers face is finding a profitable niche. Most new bloggers start with a topic that they are passionate about which is good because you will need to create lots of content. If you intend to actually make money with your blog, this topic needs to be one where your target audience is willing to spend money. That’s what we mean when we say “profitable niche”.

How do you identify a profitable niche?

1. First you want to look at your “target audience”. That’s a fancy name for all the people out there who would be interested in your topic. Are they cash poor college students or do they have discretionary income to spend on a hobby, like golfers?
2. Are there enough products that this target audience would love to have that you can earn money when they buy them? Some topics are more geared to information gatherers rather than buyers and you would need to create your own products. Others naturally have tons of affiliate products that you can provide to your visitors and earn a commission when they buy.
3. A profitable niche is also one that you can write about til the cows come home . There should be lots of angles and key phrases to write about over time. New content is key to bringing in visitors — or traffic.

How do you make the most of a profitable niche?

1. If you can, obtain a keyword rich domain name. This isn’t absolutely necessary, but if you can obtain a domain name with your main keyword(s) in the name, so much the better.
2. Keyword research is where it all starts. You will need to find all the major keywords in your market. These will be used for optimizing your web pages and blog posts as well as providing ideas for domain names and products.

Getting help finding a profitable niche

Obviously you can do all the research yourself. It isn’t particularly hard, just time consuming. If you are not getting your blog or online business up and running because you are stuck on this step, I can recommend that you turn to Susanne Myers. She is an online marketing expert in profitable niches and getting traffic to your blog.

Susanne realized that many new bloggers were having trouble finding a topic to blog about and started putting together packets called Affiliate Niche Packs where she has done all the work. How cool is that? She keeps finding and researching new packs. As of this writing she has affiliate niche packs for:

• Migraine Headaches
• Yoga & Pilates
• Social Media
• Divorce
• Link Building
• Article Marketing
• SEO
• Pregnancy
• Stress, Panic & Anxiety
• Home Decor & Interior Design
• Dog Training & Care
• Fitness & Exercise
• Weight Loss & Diet
• Crockpot Cooking
• Blogging

I picked up the SEO Affiliate Niche Pack and here’s what I got in my pack:

1. Two 30-day marketing strategies (one for beginners and one for advanced). You get a detailed step-by-step tutorial showing you what you should do every day for 30 days to get your profitable niche up and making money. Then you get a checklist to refer to each day.
2. A detailed description of the niche and who the target market is. She even gave some sub-niche ideas since this area is highly competitive.
3. A list of 8 affiliate products that you can promote with descriptions and links to the signup form.
4. 100 domain name ideas along with some other words that can effectively be used in case the main domain name you want is already taken.
5. 2024 keywords and key phrases along with # of searches and competitors. She guarantees that all packs will have at least 1000 keywords.
6. 100 blog post or article ideas. A great thing to do with this list is to put the title and a few bullet points in draft form in WordPress. Then when you need some inspiration, just look through your drafts and fill out the bullet points with content.
7. 15 resource boxes. When you submit your articles to article directories or write guest blog posts, you will need to add a compelling author resource box at the end with a link back to your site.

If you are struggling to research and select a profitable niche, I suggest you look through Susanne’s Affiliate Niche Packs to give you a head start. Click Here to browse through her topics.

New bloggers and affiliate marketers often get stumped right out of the gate trying to find a niche or a topic.

One thing you should always keep in mind: selling a product that has no purpose is much, much harder than selling something that solves a problem that many people have.

If you are new to Internet marketing and haven’t settled on your topic, I suggest starting out with a “Get Rid Of” topic rather than just an “interesting” topic.

Ask yourself, “What are people trying to get rid of?” because chances are if you have the answer, they will love you for it and will pay you to solve that problem.

How do you find those things that people are trying to get rid of?

Start with 2 of the largest search engines, Google and You Tube.

Look at this screen shot from Google. I just started typing “get rid of” in the search box and Google hands me several ideas on a silver platter. From fruit flies to bed bugs to acne to stretch marks–when people want to get rid of something, they are usually very motivated to buy an answer to their problem.

Another way to dig deeper is the with Wonder Wheel.  Choose a “get rid of” topic, look in the left sidebar for “More Search Tools”, click that link and then click Wonder Wheel. You’ll be amazed at the way you can really expand the key phrase.

Same with You Tube. You see some similar phrases, but a few different ones as well.

A “Get Rid Of” niche will give you great advantages:

1. Instant problems that you can solve
2. Affiliate products that people are willing to pay for
3. Lots of ideas for blog posts or ebooks

Solving problems is always a good place to start for Internet marketers, so keep that in mind as you do your research for your perfect niche.

I invite you to fill in the form on the Welcome Page for more tips, information and products for new bloggers and affiliate marketers.

Readers of “My Bonus Blog” know that I am a BIG fan of NAMS (Niche Affiliate Marketing System) workshops. I’ve written several NAMS blog posts about my experiences and the tremendous value I’ve personally received.

I wish everyone could attend a NAMS workshop, but I also know that it isn’t easy to travel to live workshops in Atlanta although we have had attendees from Australia, Venezuela, Canada and Japan.

Now You Don’t Have to Travel!

NAMS has just announced that the January event will be a Virtual Event. Do you know what that means? That means that YOU can attend no matter where you live!

You Absolutely Deserve to Give Yourself the Gift of NAMS

Whether you are just beginning to think about blogging, affiliate marketing or Internet marketing or whether you are already into it and want to take that next step on the ladder of success, you absolutely should give yourself this opportunity.

Think about all the questions you have about how to be more successful and how to make more money as a blogger or affiliate marketer. Now you can get all your questions answered by the best in the business.

Still unsure about the benefit of NAMS? Just look at me. Two years ago, I was a newbie (probably like you) and sitting in the back of the room at NAMS (see picture). After lunch the first day, I moved to the front of the room and soaked in as much as I could for the next 3 days. I have been to every NAMS (the last two as an aide) and now by NAMS5 I will be a presenter. How cool is that?!

So, Is This a Lite Version of NAMS?

Absolutely Not! At the risk of overwhelming you with the entire package, here it is:

Live Virtual Event – Jan 14-16, 2011

• 5 Instructors Per Day
• 10:00am – noon; 2-5pm EST
• Hands on workshops
• Instructor Follow-Ups
• Notebook with audios, presentations & transcripts to catch any sessions you couldn’t attend and have a handy reference to go back to

Weekly NAMS instructor follow-ups

• Between NAMS 5 & 6, David Perdew will interview an instructor each week to dig deeper into their topic and give you a chance to ask more questions.
• That’s 18 in-depth sessions

Audios of NAMS 1, 2, 3 & 4

NAMS Marketing Software

6-Month Gold Membership in the Niche Mall

• Dozens of Niche products that you can sell for 100% commission
• Value = $120

NAMS6 Ticket – August 2011

• NAMS6 will be a live event in Atlanta August 18-21, 2011
• You will get a seat for free
• If you can’t attend, you will get all the recordings

Who Are the Instructors?

Lynn Terry, Kevin Riley, Mark Hendricks, Karon Thackston, Denise Wakeman, Kathleen Gage, Bob “The Teacher” Jenkins, Dan Morris, Felicia Slattery, Scott Tousignant, Jeff Herring, Maritza Parra, Susanne Myers, Terry Dean, Paul Evans, Willie Crawford, Cindi Dawson, Nicole Dean, Sid Hale, Ellen Britt, Tawnya Sutherland, Joe Marsh, Doug Hudiburg, Alan Bechtold, Chris Cobb (that’s me!) and more.

This group will cover a wide range of topics including affiliate marketing, blogging, social marketing, joint ventures, product creation, article marketing, and the nuts and bolts of doing it all.

Also, there will be tracks for all levels from beginner to advanced so that you get the right kind of training for your particular situation.

The Gift of Success

With Christmas coming up, what a better time to give yourself or someone you care about the gift of success! I know times are tough right now but you couldn’t find a gift that will pay you back many times over.

Until December 31, 2010 the investment is only $297 for everything – no hidden costs – no upsells – no one time offers. It will be higher after that. Still worth it, but why pay more?

David Perdew has a great video that explains it all.

My Bonus To You

If you sign up for NAMS through this affiliate link before the event begins, (CLICK HERE), and then send me a copy of your receipt, I will arrange a 15 minute personal coaching call between you and me for free. That is a $100 value and we can discuss your business, your blog, your niche website, NAMS strategy or anything else you want.

I’ll see you in class!

Regards,

P.S. Update: Save $100 with code UnderTheWire (good til Friday Feb 4)

[2011 UPDATE] NAMS6 is in Atlanta August 19-21. Price is now $397 using coupon code 100special.

As a new affiliate marketer, you will want to register with free affiliate programs. Those are programs that you don’t have to buy the product in order to become an affiliate.

Here’s a list of the most popular free affiliate programs. You can also find information about how to join the programs and tips about how to be accepted. These are affiliate program managers meaning that the company runs affiliate programs for many merchants. You will join the management program and then either be eligible to promote any product or be required to apply to the individual merchants.

ClickBank — is one of the easiest programs to join because you only have to get an account which will provide a unique “username” that you will use when promoting every ClickBank product. There are thousands of products sold through the ClickBank system. Every ClickBank product is a downloadable digital product and typically pays 50% commissions or more. The downside to ClickBank are the rules for getting paid. Read my post “ClickBank For Newbies” to learn how to get paid. Click Here to join.

PayDotCom (run by Mike Filsaime) is similar to ClickBank in that you only have to register once and then have access to the thousands of information products. Payment is through PayPal so you must have a PayPal account to use this service. There is one signup for both affiliates and vendors so if you are interested in promoting your own product, you will see some incentives during signup. Click Here to join.

Share A Sale has about 2,500 merchants selling various products and various commission structures, however there are no software merchants here. The process is to get an account with Share A Sale and then apply to each merchant you want to promote. You may have to fill out a form for the merchant explaining how you intend to promote the product (website, PPC, email marketing, etc). The minimum balance to get paid is $50. Your commissions roll over until you reach the minimum and then can get a check or direct deposit. Click Here to join.

Commission Junction (or CJ) is a huge affiliate program manager servicing a wide variety of merchants. Affiliates are called Publishers on CJ, so when you register, make sure you click on Publisher. With CJ, you register with them and then you apply to the individual Advertisers. Some Advertisers automatically approve new affiliates and some manually review and approve affiliates.

When you register with CJ, be sure to thoughtfully fill out the registration form as this information will be used by the manual approvers. It is harder to get approved especially for new affiliates with low traffic numbers, but don’t be discouraged. You can always reapply later or send the Advertiser an email explaining why they should approve you. The downside to CJ is that they can charge a $10 fee or deactivate accounts which don’t generate any revenue for six months. Click Here to join.

RAP Bank is a relatively new program sponsored by the creator of Rapid Action Profits. RAP is unique in that affiliates receive commissions directly in their PayPal account immediately. For example, if a product pays 50% commissions, the affiliate will get 100% of every other sale.

RAP Bank was developed to give affiliates a central location to find RAP products and to give merchants a place to sell their products without buying the Rapid Action Profits software. It works similar to ClickBank but without the weird payout rules. The downside is that you will be obligated to make a refund if the merchant offers refunds. Click Here to join RAP Bank. Click Here to get a PayPal account.

There are other programs like Google Affiliates, eBay Partners and LinkShare. Once you have applied to a couple of programs, you will find most are very similar in their registration process.

Tips:

• Get a PayPal account. Many independent merchants use affiliate programs like 1ShoppingCart, aMember, iDev and others to manage their programs and most of them require you to have a PayPal account.
• Find the products you want to promote first — then join the program that manages that merchant’s affiliate program. Many times there will be a link at the bottom of the merchant’s home or sales page. You can also Google “the merchant + affiliate” to find their affiliate program.
• Try the product first — Try to get a sample or a review copy, but if you can’t, buy it and try it. You will be able to offer a personal review which is very effective.
• Don’t be afraid to email the merchant — If you get turned down or you have a question or promotional idea, send a quick email to the merchant’s affiliate manager.

If you have other tips for joining or using free affiliate programs, please leave me a comment.

I created a video showing you how I used Market Samurai to build a niche website about glass teapots for affiliate marketing sales. You would be hard pressed to find someone who has used Market Samurai that doesn’t think it is one of the best marketing tools available today.

It started out as a keyword tool but it has become so much more.

You will see the steps I took to research the niche, find affiliate products and then build some product blog posts. The one section I didn’t demonstrate in the video was the Rank Checker feature where you can see the progress your site is making in terms of ranking for particular keywords. I’ll save that for another video after my new niche website has had a chance to build some cred with Google.

Push the play button and see how easy it is to do Internet marketing the right way.

Click This Link to Test Drive Market Samurai for Yourself

I’d be interested in some cool things you discover using Market Samurai. Leave me a comment.

You might also find this article from Michelle MacPhearson interesting as well:

• Market Research in 5 Simple Steps – Ready to conquer a new niche, but want to make sure you’re on the right track? You can’t just build a site on underwater basket weaving – you’ve got to make sure that: People are looking for information on the topic …