Niche Blogging -- Notebookism

I came across a link to this blog and checked it out to see if it was what I thought it was. And it was! Notebookism is a blog devoted to notebooks, diaries, sketchbooks, etc. And it's not only a blog, but there's a Flickr pool and a Google Group as well.

What's it got to do with making money online? Well, I don't know if Armand, the founder of Notebookism is making much money from it, but I think it's an excellent example of creating a niche blog based on a passion or a hobby. And anybody can do it. Start the blog, build the community, and monetize it with ads, affiliate links, etc. Of course there's no guarantee you'll make much money with it, but even if you don't, it can still be very rewarding to blog about something you care about, and to "meet" others who care about it, too.

Technorati Tags: blogging, notebookism, notebooks, diaries, moleskins, sketchbooks, niche blogging, niche marketing

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Amazon Associates Get Context Links

Amazon Associates can now have Context Links on their websites or blogs. Context Links are automatically created, as long as you've added the javascript code that activates them. So when the Context Links Megabrain sees a word or phrase in your content that matches something Amazon wants to sell, it automatically creates a link to that product. And if a visitor hovers over the link, a little mini-window opens up to show them the product. Like this:It's hard to see in that screenshot, but the link is double-underlined. Associates can also use regular underlined links or dashed underline links, and they can customize the colors of the mini-window to fit in with their color scheme. They can also limit the parts of the page where the links can appear. For example, I've only allowed links in the body of each post, not in the sidebar. And no, it won't change your regular links into Amazon links.

I've installed the code, and will wait and see what links the Amazon Contextual Megabrain decides to add to the blog. I haven't decided if I really like the idea or not, but I figure I'll give it a chance.

Tags: Amazon, affiliate marketing, advertising, contextual ads, Context Links, Amazon Associates

Affiliate Marketing Isn't the Same as Selling

Sapphire has a great post at her Affiliate Marketing Journal. Not only does she do an awesome job of explaining just why so many would-be affiliate marketers (like me!) have making enough sales to justify the effort. And even better, she explains some of the changes she's making to try to improve her sales.

I have to remind myself you don’t really need to sell your visitors something from your pages. You can’t, really, because even if you do, that click is going to take them to the merchant, who can totally un-sell them if they don’t like what they read there. My job, as an affiliate merchant, is to get people to the store, so the store can sell them.

That means I need to pick stores I can imagine buying stuff from. They need to give details, not hide the shipping and taxes info, have clear and reasonable return policies. They need to have good photos of items. They need to have a site that loads before tomorrow. They need to look like someone I’d give my credit card info to.

These are, in my opinion, two of them most important things to remember in affiliate marketing. Market companies with sites that you yourself would buy from. Then let them do the selling, while you focus on your job of engaging and connecting with your readers.