Valentine’s Day Payday
When trying to get paid online, people forget about the holidays until it's too late. I write this at the end of January 2018, and admittedly, I am not following my own advice in writing a timely post about Valentine's Day. It may be too late!
I'm okay with that and I believe there may still be time. But, don't wait too much longer.
If you do miss it, don't fret. This will be available for next year. Perhaps I'll simply change all the dates to 2019 at that time, and pretend like I just published a new post! 🙂
Just Kidding!
Please don't ever that! People will know and you will lose credibility. I mean it! I don't that and you shouldn't either!
How to Use Valentine's Day to Make Money
First, you need to figure out what people are likely to search for on Valentine's Day. Once you have that information, you can use it to determine ways to sell.
This holiday is not particularly suited to information products. One exception would be writing or finding information about how to be a better lover or how to attract people, etc.
Largely, though, it's about gifts. Here are some examples to concentrate on:
This list isn't exhaustive. It's just meant to get the juices flowing. Use your imagination.
Target Specific Demographics
After you figure out what your would sell, the next step is to figure out who to sell to. One huge mistake people make is to target everyone. The thinking behind this is it's a number's game. Eventually, if you target all people, you will get sales.
After you figure out what your would sell, the next step is to figure out who to sell to. One huge mistake people make is to target everyone. The thinking behind this is it's a number's game. Eventually, if you target all people, you will get sales.
The trouble with this approach is you won't set up your campaign correctly. It will be too broad and no one will react to your efforts. If you choose a specific group, you can then focus your message which leads to better targeting, and hence, more sales.
Here are some ideas for demographic targeting:
Again, you can split up your groups how you see fit. Just, choose the one that makes the most sense to you.
Along those lines, you probably don't want to target a millennial when you are a baby boomer. Pick on people your own age! You understand them better.
This isn't to say you cannot target groups other than your own. It's just that starting out, you are always better off choosing people you understand. As you get more proficient with your marketing skills, you can branch out.
Idea Generation
You have your products and your people. How do you match the two and find topics to create content?
A great place to start is forums and niche-specific blogs. Don't get into these places with the idea of selling. Just look around and observe what types of questions people are asking. Take a look at the answers as well.
If you have something you can add to the group, feel free to chime in. This can help increase your notoriety with the particular subjects in question.
The best advise for forums is to connect with people. This seems so obvious, and yet, people fail at this all the time. They go into these forums and shout "buy my stuff!" No one listens. In fact, people who do this get banned.
Show Me the Money
Okay! So I borrowed that from Jerry McGuire (the movie!)
But, what is the actual mechanism for the Valentine's Day Payday?
The sky's the limit. However, you should consider using affiliate sales as this is the quickest method to set up for getting paid.
The way it works is you reach out to a vendor who is specializing in Valentine's Day (FTD, etc.) and ask if you can sell their products. You write something on some web pages that offers tips to people in your niche target group. Then, whenever the people in your group click on the links the vendor provides to you and they buy from them, you get a commission.
The beauty of this concept is you don't have to set up any shopping carts, payment processors, etc. Plus, you don't have to order inventory and store it.
What's the Catch?
It can't be this easy, can it? Well, not quite! The concept is easy, and the implementation is easy. But, getting people to your website to read your amazing content and click on those links and banners, is a bit more challenging.
Most beginning affiliates will try the "buy my vendor's product" approach. Or, "here is the best flower delivery company."
This doesn't work. It may get you a handful of sales. But, it won't pay the bills. It won't lead you to the promised land where you can quit your job.
Caveat: With Valentine's Day right around the corner, don't expect to quit you job in two weeks by using what I am describing here!
The Best Approach...
Instead of taking a buy me approach, why not take a here is how I can help you approach? Concentrate on what people are looking for during this (and any) holiday, and use that as the basis for helping them find what they need. If you can figure this out, your sales will explode!
What If You're Not a Writer?
Spoiler Alert: Most people aren't writers when they first start out!
There are two ways to get around this. Become a better writer or hire someone else (hey, I'm available!)
If you plan on making money online (that's what this website is all about, no?) then you need to increase content to your blog or website. Even, if blogging is not your business, you will need to have a blog, which means you'll need more content. You will get better at writing if you decide to do it yourself!
If you don't have the time, don't let that stop you! Hire someone. I am half joking about hiring me. I truly am available. Just reach out to me!
This isn't really about hiring me to write for you, even though I am available. If you decide to go with someone else, that's okay too! Just get going on creating valuable content on your website so that you can start getting traffic, which gets people to click through to the vendor's website.
How Much Do Vendors Pay?
The amount of commission you receive depends on many factors. Vendors usually specify a percentage of the advertised price. So, if a vendor pays 10% on an item and the item costs $1,000, you would receive $100 on any sale.
Each vendor will have its own commission schedule. Often, they have different schedules based on the product. There are vendors who pay on a recurring basis (such as memberships, etc.) It's difficult to generalize about what vendors pay because of all of these factors.
You may be tempted to choose the highest selling prices and the highest percentage commissions. That is certainly a strategy you could try. More likely, other affiliates will be doing the same thing. This increased competition makes it difficult for affiliates to make sales. Of course, the vendor loves this because it gets paid no matter which affiliate ends up selling!
A better approach may be to select less competitive products that carry a less percentage of commission. You may not get as much with each sale, but you will make it up by having more sales.
As you can see, it's a delicate balance between high competition and the ability to sell. If you choose unpopular products because there is no competition, this may not be the best approach, either.
Keep It In the Family
By family, I mean you want to choose products that are related to your niche or website. It doesn't make sense to sell laptops on a website about dating. You may be able to tie the two together somehow, but it's not a natural fit. You would have some splainin' to do about why it fits.
You could find products that are somewhat related. Keeping with the Valentine's theme, perhaps you can find specialized hair dryers that can make hair come out perfect every time. This way, when people go out on dates, they know their hair will be perfect. I don't know if a product like this exists, but you could check!
Tying It All Together
It may seem as though I went off in a tangent with the whole affiliate selling concept. But, there is a reason why. It's a fast means of getting an online business set up without a bunch of components to bog you down. It's something that you can start right now.
It's also has the highest chance of earning money within a relatively short amount of time. However, there are never any guarantees of this and don't let anybody tell you there are!
Assuming you could make sales quickly, however, the affiliate model is the best model to create a page or even a website, by the time Valentine's Day rolls around.
Can't Fit Valentine's Day Into Your Niche?
Not every niche is well-suited to this holiday. My advice is not to force it. If it doesn't work, let it go at that. However, you can use the concept of affiliate sales on the niche that you are working with. The concepts are exactly the same. Figure out the products that make the most sense, figure out which demographics to target, and marry the two (sorry, it's Valentine's Day! I had to use that term at least once, ya know?)
How to Blast This Concept Into the Stratosphere
I learned about the affiliate concept from training that I took a while back. I was intrigued at the time. But, I let it go because I was too busy working on a trading desk. If you aren't familiar with working on a trading desk, it consumes most of your time and energy. I wouldn't trade the experience for anything, but I don't know if I would return to that environment.
But, I kept active with group that trained me in the affiliate business. I knew that one day I would return to finish the training and make it work for me. And now, I want to help make it work for you.
How Much Does it Cost?
There are two training programs available, one is free and one will cost you a monthly membership. I am going to suggest you sign up for the free training. Many would try to get you to upgrade to the premium, but I believe that is a mistake. I think that it overwhelms people when they first start out and they quit way too soon.
Of course, there is a downside to the free training. You may not be motivated to go through it. This happens a lot. Therefore, I suggest you work with me directly so I can help guide you and remind you to take the steps in the training program.
I have described the program in the following post. Read all about it and see if it's something you think you want to try. If you take my suggestion, you have nothing to lose by signing for the free membership. You can reach out to me and let me know that you started. My user name is @techhound and you can find my page here:
http://getpaidbootcamp.com/techhound
To sign up to start your free training, you can find that here:
