Seems these days every Internet mass marketer, and their brother, has the secret ingredient or method of replacing your current day job grind with an instant, or near instant, million dollar a year from Internet sales and marketing gimmick. Well I’m here to tell you Day Job Killer is another one of those gimmicks or fads if you will. The only difference between Day Job Killer and other such Internet marketing methods is that Day Job Killer will work – for now. I’m going to divulge the truth behind it and from there let you make your own decision if you should proceed with using the methods it provides for affiliate marketing.But first for the new people to affiliate marketing and to those of you who want to read some credibility about myself the next 5 paragraphs will be on my background and a general lesson on affiliate marketing. I will get back to Day Job Killer I promise.Ok, so let me give you a little history on myself. I’m sure it will sound like countless others you’ve heard and maybe even close to your own story. I got my first Internet access account way back in 1991 and since then I have always thought that the Internet was going to be the advertising/sales medium to replace the traditional direct mail,newspaper,magazine methods of advertising. I still believe that, although its going to take several more years for it to happen than I thought it would initially.Those were the days of free domain name registrations through Internic, or Network Solutions as they are called now, and anyone could register a domain name for free and have a website on that domain within minutes or hours and it was all free. I won’t go into the story of how all of that changed but lets just say that Network Solutions figured out that there was money to be made from domain name registrations and thus now you have to pay for them.Anyway, I dabbled in setting up some websites and shopping carts, bebopped around on eBay with a few items I had to sell and actually made a little money here and there. Not much mind you but a little extra change every now and again. Along came a new concept in sales on the Internet back about 1994 or so called affiliate marketing. If you don’t know what that is its basically advertising a product for sale that you don’t own, or stock, for someone else that does for a cut, or percentage, of the sale.This method of sales on the Internet for the average Joe grew tremendously fast. It was so successful for companies that participated that Internet websites like Commission Junction began springing up to bring Internet average Joe’s and companies together. Today there in excess of over 10,000 affiliate programs one can join and begin marketing products on the Internet.Of course it had to happen, there came individuals out of the woodwork claiming they made millions off of affiliate marketing and was ready to divulge their secrets to all – for a price. This information came to you by varied means usually secret insider websites that you logged into or, as is most common today, an eBook about their secrets. Again another avenue for affiliate marketing sprang up for selling access to these secrets for the publishers. And you guessed it websites were created to bring these publishers and average Joes together to form alliances, or affiliate associations between themselves. The most popular for this type of affiliate referral websites today is ClickBank.Alrighty so there you have a brief history on myself and a primer on affiliate marketing. Now lets move on to Day Job Killer and why it should be renamed Day Job Replacer.Day Job Killer is the latest release of eBooks on using PPC (pay per click) advertising to capitalize on affiliate marketing. The book is written by Chris McNeeney who also wrote “Affiliate Project X” back in Oct of 2006 and “Adwords Miracle” the year before. When his eBook APX came out it was a smash success among affiliate marketers because it revived a new way of using AdWords to promote affiliate product sales.For the bulk of this report I will focus on the one technique in Day Job Killer known as “Direct Linking X”. I will do this primarily because: A) It is the ONE method in Day Job Killer that the average Joe can implement right away B) It is the easiest of the methods to start with and see results C) I have actual personal proof of the results of using it.Altogether there are 6 different techniques revealed in Day Job Killer. All of them require cash and time to implement. The techniques are described as being nasty,ruthless and to be quite honest some of them do require a degree of “take no prisoners” attitude towards PPC advertsing.Direct Linking X is or should be part two of Chris’s Affiliate Project X eBook. Actually it is a revamped method of performing the GoogleCash method of PPC that Google banned some time ago. This method puts a spin on it in that you link directly to affiliate partners such as Wal-Mart, Amazon, and Target product pages.As I mentioned of the methods revealed in Day Job Killer this is the only method the average Joe can participate in right away. But be fore warned even this method is not for the truly dedicated to succeeding and absolutely requires research and cash investment into PPC.Basically you find high ticket items on your affiliate partner’s products list and create PPC ads to promote them while collecting a commission for each sale. The explanation of how to implement Direct Linking X give clear examples of what grabs attention in these ads and will garner higher click through ratios.The problem is while one could setup a couple of test ads fairly quickly to really employ this method of PPC and affiliate marketing you will need to devote a significant amount of time into research for the ads. Thus Day Job Killer becomes Day Job Replacer as you find more and more of your time being invested into implementing the methods in the eBook. And this is the easiest one to do. The other methods described in the eBook such as “The Leveler” could require a week or more of research just to get started and then the constant staying at the process to stay in the game.OK so I promised results of how well Direct Linking X performed for me so here it is in all of its glory or lack of. I followed the advice to a “T” in the method and chose two ads to run. Both of them were Amazon products, both of them according Amazon’s Hot Sellers page were hot products in their categories. One was a Weber Smoker/Grill and the other was a hiking boot made by Rocket Dog.I setup the two ads exactly as described in Day Job Killer and turned the AdWords campaign loose on Google. Both ads I started out at 80 cents each to garner high position for the first day and then lowered the bid price the second day to 20 cents. The Weber ad received 4582 views or impressions and 109 clicks about a 2.39% CTR. Out of this I made one sale for a grand total of $8.20 in affiliate commission. These 109 clicks cost me $26 in AdWords advertsing expenses so as you can see I lost on that campaign. The Rocket Dog ad performed about the same and had zero sales so I totally lost all of my ad dollars on that campaign.Now some will argue that I picked the wrong items to market or that my ads were not effective enough, but I beg to differ. A 2.39% CTR is excellent for such a targeted specific ad usually you are doing good if you can get around a 1% CTR. So in essence what I’m saying here is that you really need to pick and choose which products to market and they had better be high end products that pay a healthy commission. Dealing with Amazon you can get anywhere from a 4% to 10% commission so you really have to be on your toes to find a really hot product that will sell easily. Also you need to do what they call “split testing” ads which in essence means creating various ads for the same product and seeing which ones perform best. I haven’t gotten to that point yet. I just started with Day Job Killer a few days agao so I am really still on a learning curve with it as well.This all of course adds to credit to my statement that Day Job Killer should be renamed Day Job Replacer. It is not a method of setting up ads and letting them run on auto-pilot and sit back and collect great financial rewards. It is in essence another job for you to work at and invest time into.The biggest problem I have with Day Job Killer is that now that over 10,000 people have bought the eBook the methods will get exploited over and over again and the GoogleCash slap (banning of ad types) will in no doubt be around the corner. So Day Job Killer and its methods are what I like to call FAD marketing, here today and gone tomorrow. Another problem is that you are not building up a long term income strategy plan. Once the methods get banned the cash flow ends abruptly and you will have to scramble to replace the income.So to sum it up do I recommend Day Job Killer? Yes and No. Yes, if you want some excellent PPC marketing strategies to experiment and work with that will eventually make you some extra cash and maybe a lot of it if you happen to hit upon a highly profitable product thats not over marketed already. No if you are looking for any kind of long term return on your investment of time and money. Day Job Killer brings several new strategies to light on PPC advertsing but is not for the faint of heart when it comes to time and money investment.If you have bought Day Job Killer and want to make things a little easier on your self I have a video and an Excel spreadsheet that will help creating your Amazon affiliate links and PPC ads easier. It is called The Day Job Killer Success Kit [http://www.daelectronics.com/djk/day_job_killer_success_kit.html]. It comes with 2 videos that further explain Direct Linking X method and shows how it should be done, an example of the type of ads to run in PPC advertsing campaigns, and the Excel spreadsheet for creating the ad contents. Its an excellent addition to the eBook since it does show you exactly how to use Direct Linking X by example.
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The Truth About Becoming an Amazon Super-Affiliate
In the world of affiliate marketing, one must give kudos where kudos is due-Amazon. Amazon practically pioneered affiliate marketing as we know it today with their associates program. The program has evolved substantially since the early days, but one thing has remained constant; it continues to pay millions of dollars a year to ordinary people like you and me, many of who have quit their regular day jobs as a result. This is the dream of anyone who works a grueling day-job; to either win the lottery or make enough money quit their job. Many relish the idea of becoming financially-free doing what they love. One avenue to financial freedom is becoming an Amazon super-affiliate. But the position of Amazon super-affiliate is highly coveted, not so much for the freedom it affords but for the insane income that affiliates realize. But how can one make more money a week than they make a whole year, as an Amazon affiliate?Most people begin the process the wrong wayThere is a substantial buzz surrounding the Amazon affiliate marketing and payout system right now. This has also been heightened by the recent economic uncertainties that have seen many lose trust in their jobs. Unfortunately, when considering becoming an affiliate for the Amazon store, many people have no clue how to begin, much less how to make the phenomenal profits they seek. This article was written with the assumption that you have a website and want to sell Amazon goods, both physical and electronic, from your website. In another article, I will cover the correct process of setting up an Amazon store.Use specialized software to conduct your research and cut your work loadAbraham Lincoln said if he had six hours to cut a tree, he would spend the first four sharpening the axe. Preparation is essential if you are to succeed as a super-affiliate. Many website owners simply buy a domain name, set up a site, sign up for the Amazon associates program, slap some Amazon widgets on their site, then sit back and wait for the profits to roll in. After some time, they realize that no money is coming in and they quickly dismiss the entire program as a hoax.The best way to start marketing Amazon products is to take the guesswork out of the entire equation and use specialized software made for Amazon research. Using special software can unearth the best products in their categories not to mention the best keywords for targeting those products. This cuts your work by almost 80% and gets you concentrating on marketing your site and getting content.When it comes to keywords, there are thousands on Amazon that are virtually untouched and which have near-zero competition. These are the keywords you need to concentrate on. But as I have mentioned, you cannot uncover this goldmine unless you use special software.
Vision Management Concept
Management is termed as the process which starts from planning and moves to organizing, leading and controlling (Robbins (2008).). The management is a vast concept and can be viewed from many prospectives; the management is generally referred with Marketing Management, Financial Management, Human Resource Management and Operations Management etc.One of the traits of leaders is vision that is having a dream for future scenario; the vision statement is present at the profile of every company. It is so important for individuals, groups and corporations that the success and growth is not possible without a vision.It is important to have a vision but it is more critical to manage it. Vision management means managing the vision to achieve the desired outcome. Vision management includes all the activities of planning, organizing, leading and controlling.It is said, “Leaders do the right things and managers do the things right.” Leaders have a vision for future scenario to bring a change to improve a situation. But how a change will come? How a situation will be improved? The answers to these questions come from the concept of vision management. With vision management activities, actions are taken to move the things into favorable situations in order to achieve the vision.Let’s look at the each step in detail.VisionIt is generally said that management starts with planning (Robbins, 2008), but in real situation management starts with a vision, if there is no vision, for which the management activities will take place? It is first thing after which all other actions take place. Like in the organizations, whenever the change occurs, it comes from the top management. Through the vision of the top management and determination to manage the vision, market position of the organizations can be changed. There are lot of examples in Pakistan, like “niralla sweets”, it was started as a very small business now through the vision; it is now a million dollars business. Vision is given by leaders who want to bring change or improve the situation or change the attitude of the people. When people rather mangers have vision, they start other activities to achieve it.The vision is not always realistic; it is made realistic through vision management. ( Maaz Syed)PlanningAfter the vision, planning is done about how to achieve it, what is required to make the situation in favor, what resources are required to achieve the vision and what should be eliminated.Planning for resources is very important but it is also critical to eliminate or minimize unfavorable circumstances, because if these are not minimized, even the abundant resource will not help in achieving the favorable results. Planning includes planning of physical resources, financial resources and human resources (Robbins,2008). Planning is very important after having a vision, because if planning is dumb than all is not well; even best vision and affluent resources will not be useful if there is poor or dumb planning.Planning is very important activity and we all are involved in planning in our daily life, the planning can be short-term or long-term. In Pakistan the planning is generally not given the importance it deserves; especially in public sector because there is no vision so there is no planning.Planning is always made by keeping vision in mind, during planning there should be minimum deviation from the vision; vision should be always in mind to make the planning.OrganizingOrganizing comes next to planning. Organizing refers to organizing the physical, financial and human resources. It is very critical to make the right use of resources.Organizing is linked with vision, in vision management, organizing not just mean organizing resources it also means organizing the series of events that will direct the situation in the favor of vision.Organizing is also very important for vision management; unless resources and scenarios are not organized the vision cannot be achieved, it is the task of managers to organize and make the aisle clear without any obstruction.The vision is well-managed when every thing is organized and there is no hurdle or obstruction in the way, it does not mean that there should be no problem; it means that when there comes any problem, the managers solve the problem immediately and turn the situation in favor to carry out the vision. The independence of Pakistan in 1947 is a bright example of vision management. Quaid-i-Azam had vision and the party members (managers) helped in achieving it, the struggle for independence is a bright example of vision management. We can take this example and implement the lessons in businesses, to achieve a certain position in market, hard work, efforts, competencies, determined people and above all a vision is required.LeadingLeading comes next to organizing in vision management. Leading means leading the people i.e. make people behave and work according to the plan in order to achieve it. The concept of behavior modification is important in leading the vision.Leading the people includes changing behavior of people and make use of their knowledge, skills and abilities in order to achieve the desired outcome. The people use their knowledge and skills and work for the vision which is provided by leaders thus are very critical to vision management. It should be kept in mind that the leaders have vision, they communicate it to the people, but it is achieved by people. The people work according to plan and thus help in achieving the vision. Vision management is not possible without people and thus vision cannot be achieved without people.Leader gives directions and vision and people follow the vision to achieve the leader’s vision and goal. Even competent and most intelligent people cannot work at full capacity unless they have clear direction and a vision to follow. The example of ©Microsoft is an example, the company is losing its market position because of low innovation, the people are same, there working has affected the reason is that the company’s vision in obsolete now and the workforce do not have any vision to follow which has caused company to lose its market position. This shows that vision is very important for the success of the companies.ControllingControlling is considered as final activity in management (Robbins (2008.).) and thus it is final activity in vision management.In vision management just like a project, the controlling is a continuous activity and it remains throughout the process of vision management.In vision management, controlling refers to the controlling of every single step that nothing should deviate from the vision. Controlling also refers to controlling the physical resources, finance and behaviors of people so that not a single thing should deviate from the vision.Controlling is the job of leaders and the managers to whom the authority is dedicated by the leader.ConclusionVision management is thus the combination of various management activities which leads to the achievement of vision provided by leaders. Vision management is very important and present every where but it has not been given due consideration. Awareness to vision management will helps the organizations to improve their operations and working environment to better achieve the company’s vision.
The Footprints of Fabric Wholesale: Azam Cloth Market
The shopkeepers of Azam Cloth market pride themselves on, and they like to stress this vehemently, being a part of ‘the biggest cloth market in Asia.” While snaking your way through the many winding alleys lined with shops of various sizes you do tend to lose track of both time and space. The market is a collage of many small interlinked bazaars where the daylight doesn’t always seep in and the damp musty odor of history prevails.Situated in the walled city of Lahore, the Azam cloth market is the hub that has been handling wholesale distribution of cloth and ready-to-wear for the last six decades. From khaddar to silk, ready- to-wear to clothing fabrics, casual wear to bridal wear, the market has something for every apparel retailer.According to Mohd Amjad Sheikh, who has been in the wholesale apparel business since 1974, the Azam cloth market caters to a wide customer based both in Pakistan and abroad. “Retailers from all over Pakistan, Dubai, and UK visit us for their stock purchases. However, the recent security issues have had their impact on the business. Our customer base from India and Afghanistan has dwindled to almost zero. We hope once the situation improves retailers from all neighboring countries will find it comfortable to visit us.”The merchants of the market are well versed in the history of the place, and every shopkeeper can recount how when the market was created and named. There was a small market near Wazir Khan Mosque; in 1953 when a road had to be widened the market was shifted to its current location by General Azam who gave his own name to the market. Over the decades, the small market extended and now has numerous interlinked blocks or bazaars all dealing in wholesaling of various types of clothing fabrics and lines.How many interlinked bazaars are there in the market? There is no consensus as such but gathering from the comments of various shop owners the number must be somewhere between 15 and 20′It’s an Institution.’All the bazaars of Azam market are linked and managed by a board of directors. “You won’t find a more well managed institution in Lahore. We have our own constitution with a specific set of rules. Every bazaar has its own president who in turn is answerable to the president of the board. Elections of the board are held every three years to elect resident of the board. Security and administrative decisions made by the board are binding upon the market community,” the business community of the market proudly spells out details of the ‘institution.’ Fire extinguishers, security guards and clean lanes show an active involvement of the board that runs on self-help basis. Every shop owner pays monthly charges of about 200-300 rupees to form a combined pool that helps meet the maintenance expenses.Nawab Bazaar: The oldest block of Azam Cloth MarketWhile it is difficult to explore every bazaar in a single visit, every first time visitor should stroll in the Nawab bazaar to get a feel of the place. Nawab bazaar is the first and the oldest block of Azam cloth market. Its open cool spaces invite the customers to linger and shop at their own pace. The shop owners are friendly and there is an overall ambiance of good cheer.’What’s in the name?’Two different versions prevail in the market about the history of block’s name. One interesting story traces origins of the name to the first generation of business men who started their businesses in this market.According to this version, this first generation of wholesalers liked to arrive late in the markets and opened their shops around noon. So people started calling them nawabs (nawab connotes a laid-back almost royal attitude) and the market came to be known as Nawab bazaar.Javed sahib, the president of Nawab bazaar, however, strongly disagrees: “My, father, Haji Nawab Deen, was the first generation of wholesalers who established businesses in this block, and the bazaar is name after my father,” he states.Whatever the real history of the name, the different versions add to the aura of antiquity surrounding the market.It’s a Man’s WorldThe wholesale business is dominated by men. Not only there are no female shop owners but you encounter female customers. Occasionally you can run into a lone female retailer traversing the narrow alleys of the market. Razia is one such brave woman I met while combing through the glittering, colorful shops of women’s apparel.”I have nine children and my husband is a ‘home-tailor’ who works at his clients’ places. To make ends meet, I have started this business. I purchase ready-to-wear female kurtis from this market and my husband takes them to his clients’ houses and sells them. We get to save 100 to 200 rupees on every kurta. It isn’t much but it helps,” Razia explains her ‘business model.’First Time visitorsWhether you are a retailer, a casual visitor, or a customer who wants to get good bargains, try to heading for the market between 9:30 am to 10:30 am. This is the time when the traffic is not too heavy and it is still quiet in the throbbing, congested lanes of the market. Visiting the market early will save you half of the hassle of long traffic jams. The other half, while going back, you will have to bear. Another advantage of visiting the market early is that once you are there you can shop at leisure and will even have time to haggle with the shopkeepers. As the day advances the business activity picks up pace, the market gets too crowded.Parking your vehicle is now easy as there is a huge parking plaza near the market. However, the plaza doesn’t have a lift and once you park the car you will have to walk all the way down and then walk all the way up to get the car. It is bit of an exertion and would help if you are in the mood for some exercise.Azam Cloth Market is surrounded by many other wholesale and retail markets, and while you are there you can have quick round of the other markets and schedule your next visit to one you like.