So a few days ago I promised you all a special treat and so today….here it is. I just wanted to hold back from telling you all until I was able to give this service the AP thumbs up. It’s actually so good that if I were an A-Lister I would probably be keeping it a secret!

Tell Me How To Get Free Unique Content!

Well, following on from my post about article marketing I was doing some research on a number of related issues, when I came across the firm Digivate, who specialise in all things Ecommerce related; they are a great firm based right here in London. One of the services offered by Digivate goes by the name of Unique Opinions and this my friends is my treat for you today.

As their website states, Unique Opinions offer free unique content for you blogs. They will provide you with articles for you to use that are written by humans, create debate and contain just one link to a high profile brand. They will even social bookmark their articles for you when you post them!

I have tested this service and found them to be totally fantastic. The articles are supplied in bundles of 5 and you can even request regular bundles, or as much content as you need. The links are totally natural and the content is first rate; in testing I actually received a flurry of comments on their articles. All in all I cannot recommend them highly enough.

Any Drawbacks?

Not really! You have to leave the links in as dofollow but that is a small price to pay for the quality of the free content you receive. The service provided is currently focused on Fashion & Finance but, with a growing team of writers they are looking to expand and I have already been in talks with Unique Opinions about some special project work. They have also been very accomodating to new ideas.

Who Benefits?

Well this is a great take on article marketing and everyone can get benefit from this service. I know a few of you have niche sites, flip blogs or are looking to build your content and Unique opinions will help you with all of this. Their clients get keyworded links, they get paid and you get free unique content for your sites! You can change the content they give you and even add your own links as well….as long as you keep their link intact.

Go Get Free Unique Content!

What are you waiting for? Go and get your free unique content here, but just be sure to let the team know that it was The Affiliate Post that pointed you in the right direction.

Please show your appreciation and stumble this post.

Thank you!

Now affiliate marketing is by no means a new trend but it is, in my opinion, a consistent one. If you are new to affiliate marketing or like some people I know - clueless - then I want to take some time to clear a few things up for you. I’d like to show you in a short series of posts how affiliate marketing can create you an additional source of income.

There are dozens of firms out there that will assist you in your quest to make money in affiliate marketing and one of the reasons many people get involved initially is purely down to the low start up costs (by low I mean zero). It is easy, it is quick and it is free! (I am assuming that if you are reading this then you already have a site/blog and are looking for ways to monetize it!)

The first key I always tell people, is to ensure that your blog/site is something that you are passionate about! Of course you can do a great deal of SEO and other traffic building techniques to get you traffic but I always think it’s great to see a site that people really have an interest in - it is also easier for you to provide good content for your site too. With this in mind, there is the chance that in signing up for an affiliate program you will also know which products to promote, you might even have tried them yourself. There is nothing worse than someone promoting a product they know nothing about. If thats your game then maybe ‘Made For Adsense’ sites is the route you should take, but thats a whole different story.

Actually, on that point alone I must say it really irks me sometimes when I see people promoting totally unrelated products to their content. Possibly it can be down to the fact that you are new to the game, or maybe you just saw the dollar signs and chose the highest paying product? Whatever the reason, don’t do it! To give you an example, if I were reading a blog about Reggae Music, there is a good chance I am reading the site because I like Reggae Music….so why on earth would you put up a banner ad that promotes country and western? There is a slim chance that Iike all kinds of music but chance are if I liked country I would be on a country site!

With all the affiliate marketing programs out there, if you take the time to get to know them and dont just jump in headfirst then you will always be able to find the right ads for your site. Now, in choosing your ads you will be subject to a huge array of options and if you have not already, then sign up for Pepperjam Network or Commission Junction and see for yourself. You will find that the most popular are text ads and banners ads of all shapes and sizes. I will in due course cover all the info you need to know but to make things easy for you, the aim of the game is simply to refer customers to clients. Simple!

You will get paid in a number of ways such as per lead, whereby you will be paid a fixed price typically ranging from 50c to $40 depending on the sector. Companies do this in order to expand their own databases for future promotions…’the money is in the list’ as you will come to know! You can also earn money by taking a percentage of any sales that you refer to the company and again this ranges widely from 5% to 75% depending on the product and the volume of sales you generate in any given month.

Granted this is not a get rich quick method of making money but it is something that you can grow; as your site grows…so will your earnings. It is quite common for people to build up small networks of sites in their spare time and is a good source of additional income to many, myself included.

Don’t forget to subscribe to my feed as I will be publishing a little series that will set you on your way to making money online through affiliate marketing.

You may also feel free to comment or email me with further questions or queries.

We all want traffic right? We all need traffic! If you don’t have enough traffic you’re going to get quite down on yourself and more importantly you are not going to make any sales, which by my understanding, means that you are not going to be in the business of blogging very long.

While there are many ways to generate traffic, one of the easiest ways to do so is often overlooked by so very many people. It is article marketing people!

Article marketing has been talked about much of late, but it’s not just the internet and the blogging boom that has spawned this technique. No sir, this technique has been around in marketing circles for time. If you have a background in marketing you will know that this is nothing new!

What Is Article Marketing?

For those of you that don’t know, article marketing is when you write an article that includes a link (or two) back to your web site. You then submit that article to directories and offer it out to people who are looking for new content for their web sites.

By agreeing to let them publish you work on the proviso that they leave the link intact, you stand to gain a flurry of new visitors from the sites of all those that choose to publish your work. Simple! This process can be repeated over and over, leaving you with residual traffic from posts gone by. The traffic will not come immediately and I have found that there is a delay between submitting the article and gaining any decent traffic - depending on the quality of directory and of course the existing traffic to the publishers site. The traffic will however come!

In looking to increase my traffic for a number of niche sites I run, I have found myself using this technique more and more. I typically aim to submit one or two articles a week which, over time, will build my both my traffic and link levels. Granted you need to stay proactive on this sort of technique and it really is a long term traffic builder. It goes without saying though, that the more articles you submit the more traffic you will generate. Like most things in life I do not recommend you sacrificing the quality of your articles as it is the great articles that will get published more often. I am still testing out a few ideas on this front and there is an abundance of tools that can help you.

Article marketing is a great way to bring you targeted traffic, and you should bear this in mind when writing your articles. Remember to write on subjects you know about, sound authoritative and remember that people WILL click through to your site because they like your style and your content.

What Tools Can I Use?

Tools… there are many, but I myself use Article Architect which has proven to be very useful. Not only does it have more features, but it is also cheaper than its popular conterpart instant article wizard! Tools like this tend to be one and the same though and it is really down to personal preference but you will get a 365 day money back offer to try this out and I promise you, once you have a little practice on this, you will be knocking out unique articles for submission to directories for fun.

Essentially it allows you to build your article in stages, putting all the pieces of your research together into one article and ensuring that your content is unique. You can check both your keywords and density, check against google and overture and do your research from other sites all on one screen. Though it is not meant to be an article submitter…it can also be used as one too, saving you more time still.

I never said article marketing was easy but it does have its benefits…..and with tools like this you will master it in no time.

What Are You Trying To Say?

Well as per normal this is not a paid review or a post to get you to buy more products. I wanted just to take a minute to remind you that if you are not article marketing then you should be! No really…..you should!

If you are already, then how about some comments and feedback? What have your experiences been like? Do you currently use either Article Architect or Instant Article Wizard?

The floor is open!

For a full report on this blog please click the link at the top right of the page!

When it comes to selling up your blog, as I have chosen to do recently, it can certainly become complicated. There are many factors involed in the valuing of both domains and blogs, there is also a huge array of programs that will give you a guesstimate figure based on said factors.

I will not beat around the bush here because I recently read a fantastic article over at sitepoint, The Ultimate Website Valuation Guide, which discusses the whole process in great detail. It was in this article that found a link to Ebiz Valuations which is one of the best tools I have come across thus far.

So You Are Selling Then?

Yes, I am going to stick to my guns and let the site go to someone else who wants to push on and take it to the next level. I’m just tying up a few loose ends on the sale of Reggae Artists and then I will have the sitepoint auction up and running. I will be using this recent valuation tool as a guideline for my BIN price and while I know these things are not set in stone, it is always good to have a ballpark figure in mind to save you from underselling yourself.

So on that note, I have a question for you all…actually I have a few. Firstly, do you like the valuation tool I used? Do you think it is accurate? Secondly, what valuation guides do you use when selling your sites? What are the key factors that you look for when buying new sites?

I have had a few emails with private offers so far but nothing that I cannot describe as being anything other than laughable. Feel free to email me if you wish to make a private offer or failing that I will see you at the auction. I am also going to be listing another blog, Une Boutique Tres Chic, fairly soon too; amongst others.

Thank you all for your support!

“The time has come,” the Walrus said,
“To talk of many things:
Of shoes and ships and sealing wax
Of cabbages and kings
And why the sea is boiling hot
And whether pigs have wings.”

What The …….?

I dont know why I felt the urge to post a snippet from The Walrus And The Carpenter, by Lewis Carroll! Ah thats right, I was going to let you in on a little secret.

A good friend of mine for years has been reciting that particular verse and normally it comes at around eleven o’clock when the pubs are closing and it is time to say goodbye. Of course his little version has an added twist which goes along the line of “and when the sun falls from the sky, the teletubbies say goodbye!”

And in that last word you have it folks! It has been decided that this is to be my final month at the affiliate post; it is time for someone else to take it further. It’s been a tough decision but I have hinted at my reasoning once, or maybe twice in previous posts. In due course I will reveal all the juicy details that you are all itching to see, but I thought I’d take a moment to let you know what lies ahead.

Why Oh Why I hear You Cry

Well a number of reasons actually. I have been thinking about this and to be perfectly truthful you are all correct. I am stupid to be selling something like this, which I have built up and nurtured to what is really just starting to develop into a great blog. In reply to that I must let you know that I am suffering from what you will all know as ‘PB syndrome’ (it’s not life threatening if you are new to this site) I just have too much on my plate and cannot devote the time to this site that I would like. Missy also recently drew my attention to the fact that I do not talk about affiliate stuff ‘as my name suggests’ anymore, which is also true! I just have a lot of other things going on now…my focus has changed and maybe a more personal site would be better for some of my rants. Maybe I might go and blog sports with Nick? Who knows.

The reason for the post is so that I do not change my mind and stick to my guns, no matter how attached to the AP I am! Sitepoint will be the auction of choice but, by all means contact me if you wish to make a direct offer for the site. I also thought about doing a prize draw to win this site too….$10 a ticket and one lucky winner takes all! If you think thats a good idea let me know.

This is not my final post and it is not the last blog I will do, but I need a break, I need a change and I need to come back bigger and better!

I have some breaking news for you all as promised and I think you are going to like it!

Ladies & Gentlemen I Give You…Virtual Graphic Artist™

You may have seen I have had the banners up for a few days now and no doubt some of you went over to see what it was all about? I bet you were not particularly impressed and maybe wondered why I was promoting something that was not up to my usual standards? I’ll tell you why and it is purely and simply because I knew what was coming!

That’s right folks….skyrocket your marketing profits with custom graphics for internet entrepreneurs! I have been privvy to seeing this site develop and if you could not tell already I am excited; let me tell you that my reason for being so excited about the launch of VGA™ is two-fold.

Firstly, because we internet marketers now have a one stop solution for everything from headers, banners, ebook covers, landing pages and all manner of profit boosting graphics (yes people…looks count for eveything)- available from people who know, and do, what we do. With BANS cutomization aswell, they will make your sites look like nothing you have ever seen before! From VGA™ you can rely on a creative bunch of folk to take your websites to the very highest level and you can also get it done quickly!

We speak English… We answer our phones… we return e-mails and most importantly, we want you to make more money! - The VGA™ Team!

Offering a 48hr turnaround on your work these guys have all the experience needed to get the job done…at the right price!

It Gets Better!

Secondly, while not available just yet as the team are going to be finding their feet for the first few days, the other bonus for you guys is that there is an affiliate scheme in place; not only can you get everything you need to make you more money online but you can make more money online too! You know I stand behind products that I see as beneficial too everyone, and I don’t push the same old boring affiliate junk…well this is a brand new opportunity to get behind a successful team and really make some good money online.

5 Reasons You Should Join?

1. You will be behind an awesome team of experts in this field. Think repeat business!
2. It goes without saying that the affiliate banners are going to second to none!
3. Monthly payouts and an average customer order of $100!
4. You get to promote a valuable service instead of a simple product!
5. 10% commissions on a 48hr turnaround means you can pile up some earnings quickly!

1 Reason You Should Not Join?

I don’t have one! If you do then you certainly did not read this post properly..go back to the top and start again. This time pay attention!

Remember This.

The affiliate scheme is not currently live but will be going live in the next few days, you have a chance to get in early on this but you will just have to hold your horses for now. In the meantime go check out the site, see what I am talking about and why not take advantage and get yourself some sweet custom graphics from Virtual Graphic Artist™

More internet woes but we are still trucking on. I had a post ready to roll by need to hold back on that one till tomorrow. I bet you can’t wait?!

So What’s New?

Well thanks to my good buddy Normal Joe, I have an altogether different 30 day challenge to let you in on. Now I am not going to wax lyrical about this program as I have just joined myself but the early signs are intriguing; I also trust Joes judgement so I am gonna roll with this one!

What Is The 30 Day Challenge?

Well for those of you who chose not to take up my personal challenge, this is a marketing challenge to get you earning money online within 30 days…with the help and suppport of working as a team.

In a nutshell… The Thirty Day Challenge is about making your first $10 online. For a full 30 days we are going to be showing you exactly how to start your own Internet business and generate your first income online without spending a dime.

 If you are new to online marketing or feel you need some friendly help and advice then get over to the 30 day challenge website and sign up. I can see that the early lessons are good, it looks very nicely structured and I think this could be a great help to a lot of you!

It has just begun and once again for all my great readers………IT IS FREE!!!!!!!

As far as the 30 day challenge…I hope you all appreciate my efforts. It is 4.43am here in London and therefore technically I am late with my post, however for arguments sake, most of my readers are in North America so I think this still qualifies.

What Happened?

Why am I up so early/late? Well let me tell you, I am so comitted to this 30 day challenge that I spent the whole of Sunday in a terribly frustated state due to the fact that my internet connection went down. Thats right….joining iPower on my shitlist is my current ISP who have proved to be nothing short of useless. Not only are the speeds nowhere close to that which are advertised, but this is regular occurence for me to lose the net altogether. Never usually for an entire day though!

So instead of going about my usual sunday activities which involve:

• Chatting to Britt (and usually PB/Bryan Clarke) on Skype
• Posting and replying to all comments on AP
• Checking in on all my regular readers blogs and commenting
• Monitoring performance of my BANS sites
• Catching up on any client work (Currently working on Kultured Clothing website)
• Setting some goals for the coming week
• Catching up on emails / other tasks

I ended up watching some terrible movie and getting frustrated at every attempt I made to get back online. I seriously don’t think I can do another day without the internet ever again!!!

I’m Going Back To Sleep!

It’s stupid early here and I only have about an hour before I am up and off to work on whats looks like yet another rainy Monday morning.

I did just briefly check a few sites and will come by and comment on those later but before I go, I there are a few points for you all. It’s quicker to do it here and now!

PB - I am ready to make major announcements today so hit me with the details!

Joe - My name is Neal and I will gladly participate in and interview with you, anytime my friend! Thanks for the Link Love!

Jay - Totally awesome comments… now if you could just put that much effort into your own site

Britt - What happened to the 30 day challenge? Sorry I missed you yesterday x

Zania - I am sorry I did not have time to read what looks like a totally incredible post yet again! I am going to spend my work time doing that one!

Bryan - Your forum rocks, good job with that! I am totally in on your new project also as I am sure you knew I would be.

So as I sign off after addressing some of the major contributors to my community it did remind me of a great post from Justin @ SeoZombie the other day. I really like reading Justins blog and he has a good attitude to his work - I liked his point from this post, but this line in particular caught my attention

Why not find a couple of like minded marketers you trust and do site wide blogroll exchanges?

Thanks for reminding me that I need to do my blogroll. It’s a new month and I am still behind on getting that up to date. I have a good idea as to who will feature, but in order to help me overcome my reggae induced short term memory loss please comment on this post.

P.S - I lost connection twice while doing this post so I may aswell just get up and go to work now!

I apologize for what will be a fairly short post today but I have had a few things to take care of today and am absolutely shattered.  It’s late here but in keeping with my post per day challenge, I did not want to let you all down.

Sitepoint Marketplace

Today was the day that I put my very first site up for sale on sitepoint marketplace and I thought I share the experience. The details of the listing can be found at the bottom of this post.

Having never sold a site before I was somewhat daunted by the experience as I have no idea what a new site with very little revenue would or will sell for. I did see that it took no time at all for Jay to get his site sold and congratulations on that mate; thanks for all your very valuable assistance too!

Listing the site is made very easy by the folks at sitepoint and the only real issue was writing up the advert. It’s not that it was time consuming or anything but it was more me making sure that I got the right information displayed in the right way. I could do with sorting out my screen shots really but I think I got all the important info on there.  Paypal and escrow accounts I already had, it did not take long to verify my phone number and site ownership and I love how easy it is to do everything. It costs a minimum of $10 to list the site, but as I understand it the potential sale value is much better than over at Digitalpoint where it is free to list. Sitepoint also boasts almost 750,000 subscribers!!

I would appreciate any input from you about both my own listing and also your personal experiences listing sites on Sitepoint. What I am particularly keen to know about is the payment side of things. I have heard a few people talk of getting burnt by fraudsters and I really dont need that to happen!!

Anyway, I really gotta get some sleep so don’t forget to comment and goodnight from me!

Check out my site for sale here!

Breaking News

Oh….and one final thing. I will have a special announcement to make very soon about a new affiliate program launching, so get yourself subscribed in order not to miss out.

Start as you mean to go on right? It’s day one of my thirty day challenge and have I got a cracker for you!

Tell Me, Tell Me!

I want to give a special shout out to Yan, a fantastic blogger from Blogging Tips For Beginners; not only was he first in line to comment here at AP this month but Yan is also holding a terrific competition with some BIG prizes. I know my readers, much like me, enjoy a good competition but we are talking about over $2500 worth of BIG. You seriously have to get involved!

What Can I Win?

The Grand Prize

A ticket to the “Event Apart” which is held in the USA. The Ticket is worth about $1,000.00 and will be good for any 2008 event.

Kindly Provided by our much loved friend Piss Biscuit.

Winner #1

1. 12-month private membership at LifeFoc.us, courtesy of FullTiltBlogging.com, the brain child of Aaron Abber (Worth $324)
2. 30-min live blog consultation by Rockfuse.com (Worth $30)
3. 1 month 468×60 Ad Spot from Tech Suave (Worth $30)
4. 3,000 Entrecard Credits from Brian Hawkins @ Extreme Ezine

Winner #2

1. $500.00 dollar credit for Blog Re-design courtesy of Piss Biscuit.
2. 30-min live blog consultation by Rockfuse.com (Worth $30)
3. 1 month 125×125 Ad Spot from Piss Biscuit (Worth $40)
4. 2000 Entrecard Credits from Brian Hawkins @ Extreme Ezine

Winner #3

1. Blog Review courtesy of Piss Biscuit (Worth $100)
2. 60-min blog consultation by The Net Fool (Worth $60)
3. 1 month 125×125 Ad Spot from Etienne Teo (Worth $25)
4. 2,000 Entrecard Credits from Jay @ DatMoney.com

Winner #4

1. 1 Copy of Premium Theme from WooThemes by Piss Biscuit (Worth $100)
2. 1 Custom Banner Design (468×60 or 125×125) from DatMoney.com
3. 1 month 125×125 Ad Spot from Yours Truly, Blog for Beginners (Worth $20)
4. 2,000 Entrecard Credits from Jay @ iBlogtoBlog.com

Winner #5

1. 1 Copy of the Revolution WordPress Theme from Brian Gardner (Worth $80)
2. 1 month 125×125 Ad Spot from Etienne Teo (Worth $25)
3. 1 month sidewide PR3 link on both DatMoney.com & iBlogtoBlog.com
4. 1,000 Entrecard Credits from Michael Aulia’s Tech Blog

Bonus Prize

The contestant with the highest no. of points (both maximum and referral points) will win 3,000 Entrecard Credits from WP Beginners

How Do I Enter?

The instructions are crystal clear and it has been made very easy for you to enter so there are no excuses……..all you have to do check out this post - It’s Christmas In August. Be sure to mention that your good friend AP sent pointed you in that direction though!!

Is This Legit?

It carries The Affiliate Posts stamp of approval that’s for sure. Not only is it being dubbed ‘the ultimate prize pack for beginning bloggers’ but it is being backed by some very experienced ones too! Check out the list of names there and I’m sure you will know a few of them already… if you don’t, you should spend some time and get to know these guys. Thanks to everyone for putting up some great prizes and to Yan once again for an awesome competition.

P.S I will be holding my own little competition shortly so look out for that. Any donations of prizes etc will always be welcomed!