There are plenty of places where we can learn about an affiliate marketing business, but there aren’t many places where you can find someone to do some of the hardest work for you.  Well, I haven’t quite solved that problem for you, but I know that I have unearthed what is probably nearly as good.

I do affiliate marketing, although I also sell my own information products and physical products.  My online business is made up of a number of traditional sites and blogs.  I rely quite heavily on search engine optimization (SEO) to secure traffic, but that is a long term strategy.  In some cases, I have used PPC for affiliate products with success, but more often I am lucky to break even. 

Consequently, like many in affiliate marketing, increasing traffic at a reasonable cost is one of my most vexing challenges.  It is particularly difficult for those times when I discover a new affiliate product but for which none of my sites are well optimized.  How do I send my traffic to the vendor’s site?

I use the same, standard approach that most of you reading this use; I take them first to my own site, where I ply my skills of subtle persuasion.  Then I just hope that I have been sufficiently convincing to get them to click the link that directs them to the vendor’s site so that I have some small chance of earning my commission.  I have always wished that I could cut out part of the middle of that process.

I use content syndication for all of my sites.  While I get some traffic directly from the articles, my primary reason for article marketing is its SEO value, which is considerable.  However, especially for an affiliate marketer, there are two major problems with traditional article marketing.  First, the major article directories don’t allow contextual links within the body of the articles.  Typically, the links are isolated below the article itself in a sort of no man’s land called the author’s box or the resource box.  Second, the major article directories do not allow affiliate links or even links to redirected pages or domains.

Finally, there is an article distribution service that solves those two problems and allows direct linking using our affiliate links which can be placed contextually within the article.  Yes, you will be able to join the affiliate program of the amazing My Article Network once you become a member of the service.

My Article Network is like a consortium for article marketers and content publishers.  (That link will let you know what I have to say about it on one of my sites.) 

It would be wise for me to let the sales page of My Article Network persuade you on its own.  I have been a member of the system for less than seven weeks, and I am definitely ready to proselytize!  In fact, I even set up four new niche blogs to make use of the free content that my colleagues provide.  {(Go ahead.  Click the link, you know you want to.)(Do it!  You know you want to click the link.  Come on…don’t you think I deserve it?}