1. Frequent content - you can skip the six ways below if you frequently update your site and by frequent I mean 3 plus times a day. This is hard and not for the faint of heart. Mostly the routine for gadget and tech sites, have a look at Gadgeteer, Mashable and Zedomax and you will see their aggressive content schedule. Many days they update 7 or more times. They’re constantly updating so Google is at their door day and night which is great for traffic, if you can update this many times a day, go for it and watch your traffic soar.

2. Press Releases - another good way to drive traffic to your site or blog is to create newsworthy events and then showcase them via a press release. My favorite is PR Log which is totally free and relatively easy to submit to, best part about this press release site is that they have analytics to accompany each release and over time you get to see how it’s doing in the search engines. As for how much traffic this method will bring depends on the news itself, if you deliver something viral – witness it take off like wildfire!

3. Email marketing – this method works if you build a list and in turn keep members regularly updated on what they signed up for. This could be anything from a weekly Q&A column, special offers, event notices, previous weeks blog articles and anything else members would be interested in receiving. As for how you build the list? That is another topic in and of itself, but one quick and easy way is to offer something of value for free in exchange for an email address. Or hold a giveaway which requires a newsletter subscription as part of entry to win the prize.

4. Article Marketing – preferred by many long term site owners, article marketing involves creating strategic articles that get placed on good article directories like Ezine Articles and link back to your site or blog. This creates two good things for your site, one is you get approval from another site which Google loves and two you get traffic from those who seek the information you have provided in the article. This is why it’s important to create articles that have information or entertainment people seek. How-to articles are fantastic for article marketing purposes, write many of these and over time you will be rewarded with targeted website traffic. The best kind!

5. SEO - search engine optimization is the practice of delivering traffic to your blog via Google, Yahoo or Bing. If you set up content that others are looking for via keyword and phrase rich terms, the search engine will display your page and in turn traffic. One of the best resources on SEO for site and blog owners comes from well known and established blow owner Darren Rowse. He goes into great detail on how to optimize articles for the search engines along with further resources on the topic. Give it a good read.

6. Twitter – the tweet is a force to be reckoned with. Imagine writing an article and @GuyKawasaki picks up on it. You better hold on for the avalanche of traffic this tweet will send to your site or blog. It happens all the time to unsuspecting site owners. The best thing about Twitter is the immediacy of it, it’s instant nature. You write an article, tweet it out and it’s instantly there for the whole world to see and retweet. Great source of traffic for site and blog owners if used properly.

7. Facebook - you can’t discount this social media gauntlet no matter what you think of it. Everyone and their mother is on Facebook, and not only are they on it, they spend a lot of time there. Talk about a captive audience. Best advice is to create a fan page or group for your site or blog and update regularly to keep fans coming back for more. It’s not easy, but if you succeed you will have found a great big pot of gold in the form of traffic to your site.

Keep in mind that if you’re a new site or blog owner, best practice is to pick one or two of the methods above and work it, till it yields result. You can then move on to a more advanced way such as email marketing. If you try all of them, you will burn out. I speak from experience. Article marketing via Ezine Articles is my recommended first choice for you if you just created a new site or blog, but this method takes time, anywhere from 3 to 6 months. The more articles you write, the less time it will take. So its up to you and your team.

QUESTIONS?

What questions do you have for me. I’ll do my best to answer or direct you to a good source.

If you’re a blogger and want to know how to best use affiliate marketing on your blog, read what i’ve written below, then go practice it. If you disagree with me, feel free to comment after the article.

1. Find a good affiliate network – First you need to find a good affiliate network and not good as in popular or big, but one that suits you, your niche, and your site. You will need to spend some time doing research on this, i would point you in the direction of Shawn Collins and his affiliate tips blog for a good primer on general affiliate marketing. Then i would like you to visit the directory of affiliate programs, and find one (or two) that are in your niche. Don’t pick too many, as this will overwhelm you, like it did me. Stick with just a core few.

2. Use a relevant merchant - Once you have found a suitable affiliate network, now search for a suitable merchant within the network. Look at things like banners and links available, when do they pay, how do they pay, are they somewhat established, and don’t forget to see what sort of support system they have in place. Do they have a blog, phone number, email, forum, etc? Are they easy to reach if you have questions or problems? Find an affiliate network that works for you, then work on generating revenue.

3. Write killer (affiliate product) articles on your blog – One of the best methods to generate revenue in affiliate marketing from a blog, is to write good articles on the blog. Incorporate some affiliate products into the article, just make sure the products are RELEVANT to your readers and your niche.

4. Promote that article – After you’ve written your killer article with a few affiliate products incorporated, make sure to promote the article. Tell your blogger friends about it, submit to social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook. Then submit the article to social bookmarking sites like Stumble Upon and Digg to garner some possible traffic and or backlinks. Also don’t underestimate the value of blog carnivals, these are fantastic for generating links back to your blog.

5. Rinse and repeat - Now do steps 1 through 4 about once a week or so. The frequency will be dictated by your posting schedule. If you post 3 times a day, then obviously you can do more. But if you post once a week, affiliate marketing articles should be less frequently. Keep a good balance, do not annoy your readers and visitors.

The most important thing to remember in affiliate marketing is that you need to have a foundation in place first. Since this article is directed at bloggers, the foundation in your case, would be your awesome blog. Establish yourself as knowledgeable in your niche. Not an expert, but knowledgeable and resourceful.

I’m not an expert by any means, but i relate my knowledge and my resources from experience. I’ve been blogging since April 2007 and have become quite savvy on the subject. i hope you have enjoyed this article and learned a thing or two.

Have Questions?

Do let me know any questions you have or general comments on the subject of affiliate marketing as it relates to bloggers.

I just update and go. Love it. It is a tool on the web like no other. I like to describe Twitter as IM on crack.

With that fine introduction to what Twitter is, below are my top picks for twitter tools you should be using if you’re a blogger.

1. Twitter Feed -This is where the RSS feed function of Twitter comes into play. I cant’ tell you how many times i’ve come across a feed tweet from a blogger that led to some interesting or useful information. Feed tweets get me all the time from a variety of bloggers. Don’t miss out on sharing a great post, use TF.

2. Twirl -This is a neat widget download that allows for the use of Twitter like an instant messenger, as opposed to having a web window open. You can send tweets, receive tweets, fave tweets, share pics, share links, (and my fave feature) you can re-tweet with Twirl. It’s free, easy, and fun. A must if you’re a blogger.

3. Tweet Later – You can do several things with this one. First you can schedule an upcoming Tweet and have it delivered at a predetermined date and time. Second you can auto follow people who follow you. And third you can send a thank you or welcome message to new followers in the form of a DM, automatically via Tweet Later. 3 very cool features. (hat tip to Sly from Slyvisions on this one) UPDATE: I no longer auto follow or send out automatic DM’s. I still think Tweet Later is good for its initial purpose though.

4. Twitter Search -The name says it all. This site allows you to search in real time for whatever topics you want more information on. You type in a search query and it searches all of Twitter for a result. Very addictive.

5. Monitter – I just found this one, but its worthy of mention. It’s like Twitter Search, in that it allows you to search. But it displays three columns worth of tweets, as opposed to one. Great for multi-taskers.

The Famous Follow

Of course one can’t write a post on Twitter, and not ask for the famous follow. So you know what comes next, right? If you’re a blogger and use Twitter, follow me here.

Want More?

Here is a link to a fantastic round up of Twitter tools. It’s a really long list, so go grab a cup of coffee before reading this one.

Not On Twitter, Yet?

If you’re not on Twitter yet and have questions on how to use it, how to add followers, what to tweet about, etc. Grab a copy of my Awesome Twitter Guide, a beginners guide to Twitter.

There are many tools and apps that expand the functionality of Twitter and or just make it more fun. Subscribe to my blog so you don’t miss out on cool Twitter tools, apps and resources.