10 Things WalMart Teaches About Affiliate Marketing

We already know about wal mart because of their ads in local papers, on billboards, on the radio and TV. So finding a local Wal Mart is easy, and so should it also be easy to find your web site. Although you may not need to use radio and TV advertisements, you should still use offline promotion such as business cards or direct mail. Naturally, you want other web sites to put your billboard ad onto theirs. So that's our first lesson on how Wal Mart can teach us effective affiliate marketing. Now let's visit a Wal Mart store.

Once we arrive at Wal Mart, we enter a huge parking lot. Your web site must also enable a lot of visitors. If your site is on a slow server, you may be losing customers. That's lesson #2.

As soon as we enter Wal Mart, we are welcomed by a Wal Mart greeter. This greeter not only welcomes us to the store, but also offers help in pointing out where to find what you're looking for. That's lesson 3a and 3b. Your site should welcome visitors and provide navigation to all the products and services you offer. You can do this by simply including a graphic on your page that says "Welcome, Click Here to find what you're looking for" and have that link go to your site map.

Beyond the greeter is a wide path that branches out to different areas of the store with banners overhead that tell you what you can find in those areas. Your site map should consist of main links, as well as sub-links to corresponding pages. Now we get to lesson 4, that each page of your site needs to have a topic, a main header, that defines what each page is about, as well as provide links, pathways to corresponding pages, because you'll notice that Wal-Mart arranges their store to group products that are similar. The hardware section is near the automotive center, housewares are near food items, lawn and garden items are near the hardware and pet supply areas, etc. But you can still get from one area to another.

As you browse the shelves, you see more than one type of item. If you're in the grocery section; for example, you'll see many different types of beans. Canned beans, dry beans, even beans from different companies. That's lesson #5. You should offer your site visitors more than one choice. If your site offers auto loans, for example, offer your visitors new auto loans, used auto loans, even auto refinancing loans. And, you may want to offer them more than one choice for each type of auto loan. Afterall, visitors came to your site because they are shopping around... so let them shop and choose from multiple options. Just remember not to stick cheese products in your automotive section!

Another thing you'll notice as you browse the shelves, which leads us to lesson #6... although the shelves are stocked full, it's still easy to pick out your favorite can of beans. This is because the shelves are stocked neatly and orderly. The ads you put onto your site should also be neat and orderly. Mixing in tall banners with short banners and having banners for totally different products and services can make shopping your site more difficult. For example, if you have a page about auto loans, you wouldn't want to put a tall auto loan banner right next to a short casino banner. Instead, put a tall auto insurance banner next to the tall auto loan banner.

As you roam the store, you frequently encounter employess who can help you find items. This goes back to lessons 3a and 3b. Each page of your site should have a help link to your site map, or you should have a site search.

Since Wal Mart makes it easy to find an employee to ask for assistance, that leads us to another lesson: Does you site offer customer service? Can visitors click on a button to ask you questions before they make a decision? Or do they simply exit your site?

Lesson #7: How many times have you heard announcements in Wal Mart? They frequently announce specials over their public address system. We are not suggesting that you force visitors to endure slow loading sound files. But you can make sound an option. To see how you can use this marketing option, go to www.geocities.com/pulsarmarketing

We have an example there on how you can offer your visitors the option to hear your audible promotion without forcing them to listen and making your pages load slow. All you have to do is create a wav sound file, and launch it by using a graphic or text link such as: "Click Here to listen to our promotion".

The personal touch of a person's voice on your site can help increase your conversions. But don't force the loading of sound files. Instead, use the method we recommend at the URL below:
www.geocities.com/pulsarmarketing

Another thing you can do to tell your site visitors about specials or new products and services your site offers, is to offer them a free subscription to your newsletter. Now that we've toured Wal Mart and we're ready to make our purchase, we know our way to the checkout counter because Wal Mart makes it easy for us. That's lesson #8. Your site needs to make it easy for visitors to purchase. If you do not provide any of your own products or services and strictly use affiliate programs, you need to make sure your relevant banners and text links are at the top of the page, clearly and readily visible, to the people visiting that page.

When we arrive at the checkout counter, besides asking us if we want paper or plastic and if we will be purchasing with cash or credit, the cashier asks if we found everything we needed. That's lesson #9. Make sure you offer your site visitors more options when they checkout. And, once again, if you do not directly sell your own products or services and you strictly use affiliate programs, you can offer your site visitors two links to click on: One link that opens the offer into a new window so the person may continue browsing your site after they are done applying or buying from your sponsor, and another link that simply goes directly to the sponsor in the same window.

Think we're done learning from Wal Mart? No. After we make our purchase, and even after we go home, there's lesson #10... the return policy. If you sell your own products or services, you need to assure your visitors that you stand behind what you sell, and make your return policy very clear. If you do not sell your own products and services, does your site have a way for customers to resolve problems, or to ask pre-sale questions? If not, you may lose customers to sites that do provide online customer service.

10 things Wal Mart can teach about affiliate marketing was presented by Pulsar Marketing. For more marketing tips, you can listen to the podcasts at http://www.pulsarmarketing.com/newsletter

---

Google News Updated : Sat, 06 Sep 2008 14:06:59 GMT Electronic Arts spawns Spore -- which may be a benevolent god - Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times Electronic Arts spawns Spore -- which may be a benevolent god Los Angeles Times - 7 hours ago Spore is one of the most-talked-about video games in years, and it was masterminded by Will Wright, the same game developer who was behind the blockbuster Sims franchise. Spore reviewed Total Gaming EA's 'Spore' Set For Earthwide Launch InformationWeek CRN - Macworld - Washington Post - BusinessWeek all 209 news articles Publ.Date : Sat, 06 Sep 2008 07:01:47 GMT 'True Blood': Undead On Arrival - Washington Post Boston Globe 'True Blood': Undead On Arrival Washington Post - 10 hours ago By Tom Shales You need a very good excuse to dig up the subject of vampires yet again, and filmmaker Alan Ball seems to have one. His "True Blood" is an audacious, outrageous, playfully grisly comic drama (or dramatic comedy) in which vampirism is ... Vampire tale deserves chance to suck us in Columbus Dispatch 'Blood' lacks that dramatic HBO bite San Diego Union Tribune E! Online - The Plain Dealer - cleveland.com - eFluxMedia - Hartford Courant all 185 news articles Publ.Date : Sat, 06 Sep 2008 03:49:55 GMT Machinists Go on Strike Against Boeing - New York Times BBC News Machinists Go on Strike Against Boeing New York Times - 38 minutes ago By MICHELINE MAYNARD The union that represents machinists struck the Boeing Company early Saturday, crippling its aircraft production in the United States and potentially delaying the development of an important new plane, the Dreamliner. Contract talks fail; machinists strike Boeing Co. The Associated Press Boeing machinists walk off the job as talks fail Reuters Bloomberg - Washington Post - Monsters and Critics.com - guardian.co.uk all 2,421 news articles Publ.Date : Sat, 06 Sep 2008 13:28:42 GMT Federal Highway Fund About to Run Out of Money - New York Times ABC News Federal Highway Fund About to Run Out of Money New York Times - 18 hours ago By DAVID STOUT WASHINGTON - An important account in the federal Highway Trust Fund will run out of money this month, which could hamper completion of road and bridge construction projects across the country, Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters said ... Highway Trust Fund Is Nearly Out of Gas Washington Post Bush reverses course, backs road fund bailout Houston Chronicle Seattle Times - Detroit Free Press - Arizona Republic - The Oregonian - OregonLive.com all 479 news articles Publ.Date : Fri, 05 Sep 2008 20:04:00 GMT SanDisk Shares Soar on Samsung Interest - BusinessWeek Siliconrepublic.com SanDisk Shares Soar on Samsung Interest BusinessWeek - 11 hours ago by Arik Hesseldahl Battered by a year of flagging prices for flash-memory chips and by an inability to get traction in sales of digital media devices, SanDisk (SNDK) may soon get scooped up by South Korean electronics giant Samsung Group. Samsung Weighs Buying SanDisk New York Times SanDisk Shares Surge as Samsung Considers Acquisition (Update3) Bloomberg Forbes - Financial Times - San Jose Mercury News - InternetNews.com all 385 news articles Publ.Date : Sat, 06 Sep 2008 02:28:25 GMT Seinfeld ads only part of Microsoft push - United Press International Scientific American Seinfeld ads only part of Microsoft push United Press International - 1 hour ago REDMOND, Wash., Sept. 6 (UPI) -- Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) says it's banking on a new US marketing campaign to fix the image problems of its Vista Windows operating system and connect with customers. Windows Vista: The OS About Nothing InformationWeek Microsoft Works to Perfect Windows Vista New York Times eFluxMedia - Macworld - CNET News - CRN all 476 news articles Publ.Date : Sat, 06 Sep 2008 13:01:13 GMT Ready, set, go! Real race gets underway - Minneapolis Star Tribune Times Online Ready, set, go! Real race gets underway Minneapolis Star Tribune - 49 minutes ago By NEWS SERVICES, Washington Post McCain has turned this election into a soap opera about Sarah Palin and her family. Is this what we need to be talking about during these … read more critical times when people are losing their jobs, their homes, ... Palin intrigues Chinese public Financial Times Annette John-Hall: Pit bull of a hockey mom leading war on diversity Philadelphia Inquirer Seattle Post Intelligencer - Telegraph.co.uk - Bloomington Pantagraph - Wall Street Journal all 785 news articles Publ.Date : Sat, 06 Sep 2008 13:17:06 GMT Make Data Feed Websites Amazon Content

PARLOT::Ebooks, Scripts, Websites, and more...

Adsense websites

Affiliate Marketing Using Commission Junction

Affiliate Marketing is currently one of the most popular and... Read More

Affiliate Assets -- Discover the 3 Secrets That Will Turn Your Affiliate Link Into a Business

Your affiliate marketing business is just that ? a business.... Read More

Why Two-Tier Affiliate Programs are Best

When you join an affiliate program or start an affiliate... Read More

How to Succeed With Any Affiliate Program

In the early days before the internet was born, starting... Read More

Keeping Your Sub-Affiliates From Quitting

One of the biggest if not the leading problem for... Read More

One Little-Known Secret to Wealth the Gurus Never Told You About!

When I started my internet marketing career, I knew that... Read More

Things To Test On Your Website To Increase Sales

The Internet is powerful selling tool. Never before has been... Read More

WEBMASTERS - Earn Money With Affiliate Links

If you have a website with some traffic, you can... Read More

Affiliate Marketing Assets - Things You Need In This Business

There are millions of ways to make money, particularly in... Read More

What Was I Thinking

I often wonder what I was thinking by joining an... Read More

Who Says Affiliates Cant Use Joint Ventures To Make Money?

This is a technique I teach almost every day. Yet... Read More

The Affiliate Interview - Do You Have What It Takes?

So you have decided to start up your own home... Read More

How To Evaluate An Affiliate Program

Ok so you think you have found a good affiliate... Read More

JV and Grow Rich

To illustrate the concept of arranging simple joint ventures that... Read More

How to Easily Increase Your Affiliate Commissions in Two Days or Less?

Clearly, the people benefiting the most from affiliate programs are... Read More

How To Really Make Money With Datafeed Merchants

I am not going to describe what a product feed... Read More

11 Awesome Ways To increase Your Affiliate Commissions!

Let me ask you a simple question. "Now that you... Read More

Are You Wasting Your Time In Pursuit Of Money?

There was a time when I had no idea how... Read More

Googles Changed The Rules Again So Now What?

Some tips for Affiliate MarketersSo Google has changed its policies... Read More

Popup Killers - Not just killing that Popup but also your Revenue!

With the increased use of popups on sites - when... Read More

Top 5 Tips For Frustrated Affiliate Program Marketers

Do you go through affiliate programs like most people go... Read More

How to Make Real Money from Affiliate Programs

It is an often quoted statistic that about 90% of... Read More

Affiliate Income Optimization

In my time researching the search engines, I've noticed something... Read More

3 Ways to Squeeze Even More Revenue Out of Your Traffic Equaliser Pages

Ever wondered if, apart from Google Adsense, there were other... Read More

Googles Secret Guidelines On Thin Affiliates

Journalist Henk van Ess has caused a flurry of excitement... Read More