How to Make Money in 2009 | Turning 2009 Into $2009

9 Jan 2009

How to Turn 2009 Into $2009 – Making Easy Money Off the New Year Trend!

Author: Jim | Filed under: Affiliate Marketing, Blogging Tricks, Keyword Research

Do you write articles that tailor to what you feel are the best “keyword phrases” for your niche? Maybe you are into the school of thought that says smaller niche blogs make more money than broad-based websites. Maybe you are right, and maybe you are wrong. However, there is one time of the year that we can all capitalize off of a train of thought that exists in a majority of users on the internet and around the world. What am I talking about? People that look for things on the internet want the best, the top, the most used and well-regarded products and services available… and the new year is the perfect time to make serious money off of this trend.

One of the best ways to cash in on affiliate marketing trends is to nail those search terms that people are searching for right before making a purchase. Knowing that people nowadays never settle for second best, the start of a new year always presents a great time to cash in on new list… particularly ones that rank “top tens” or “best five” of 2009.

Is It Really That Easy?

In reality… this is actually very easy to accomplish. In fact, a post the I wrote when my blog was a virtual infant, early in 2008, is still getting me referrals to this date. While I was relatively inexperienced at the time I wrote it, and did absolutely no marketing for the keyword phrase, I am still on the top pages for terms like “top online brokers” and “top brokers 2008.” Yes, this post that I wrote on the” best” stock market brokers has gotten me great traffic, and awesome conversions to the service that I recommended as the “number one” online stock market broker, Scottrade.

Unfortunately for me, the service that I recommend (Scottrade) gives no cash for new referrals… instead lending “free trades” to my account. This is fine for me, because I like to trade stocks and they are normally $7 a trade. However, I am going to attempt this list again now that a new year has hit, and hope to target a better paying affiliate program. This is just one example that I have chosen to show you of many… and by devoting some posts in 2009 to making “top tens” or whatever you’d like to write about (with the intention of targetting affiliate offers, of course), you will find yourself in the money before you know it!

How Do I Know What To Write About?

Many internet marketers go into campaigns not exactly knowing what they will be looking for. Instead, you can simply open up an account you have somewhere, for example Commission Junction (one of my favorites, and one of the largest), and search through their offers until you find a particular niche that has some great offers. The thing is, you really only need one or two good offers. Why? Who in there right mind goes and reads an article about the “top ten widgets” and buys something that isn’t #1? That’s right… not too many people!

Step One:
First, we need to search out a niche that we think will be good all year round. For example, let’s try to do a list on online dating. Especially around Valentine’s Day, this seems to be a hot trend that has been picking up steam as we get more and more into the future. Perhaps this is a strong long-term trend that we could be targeting? Instead of thinking “online dating,” let’s give ourselves a better shot and try “online dating for women” in the title of our article. Who knows, you could still hit on Google for “online dating” with this strategy!

Step Two:
Now that we have searched around a bit and found some offers that we like… all we really need to do is to compare what the affiliate programs are offering. Additionally, I usually check out what I am looking at… just to make sure that the company isn’t a “rip off” to anyone reading. You always should aim to stay ethical in everything that you do! I like offers that give a fixed payment rather than a percentage (just a preference)… so let’s use the top offer “MatchMaker.com”.

I’ve checked things out, and this company is reputable as a dating website. So, I would form my list… perhaps name the article in WordPress “The Top Five Online Dating Websites for Women in 2009″ and put MatchMaker.com (with my affiliate link cleverly inserted) as the number one result! This should ring in some top placements from Google with a little luck, and bring in the cash for the new year!

Bottom Line: Don’t let 2009 go to waste… turn it into $2009! You really can capitalize on “best of 2009″ lists by using the method above as I have done successfully in the past. But remember, don’t turn into an article spammer and never recommend a bad product for the referral money. In the long run, stick true to your guns and recommend what you truly feel is the best product… and you will be a wealthier individual!