Sure, one marketer might find a way of reaching their target audience that no one else is using, but do you truly expect that marketer to give up his “secret” for $97 unless: 1) the “secret” is already out and the market has been flooded; or 2) the secret is losing its effectiveness?

Rather than searching for the next big secret behind every bush, take this deceptively simple three-step formula and apply it to your own business, then reap the benefits.

Plan and Create Your Site

Research your target market and find out who your prospective audience is. Then plan out your content accordingly and build your website to meet their needs.

Promote Your Site

Once you’ve finished building your website and have added content, it’s time that you get the word out. Use all the marketing tactics you have in your toolbox: article marketing, social networking, search engine optimization, and traditional advertising. Test and tweak as you go along.

Grow Your Site

Once you’ve found the perfect balance for your site, it’s time to grow it. Optimize your revenue streams. Learn what, when, and how to outsource work. Reinvest in your business.

The last point is in bold because it might be tempting to start spending all that money as is comes in, but before you know it, your business has leveled out and there’s no more money left to push it to the next level. Don’t make that mistake. Reinvest at least 25% of your income (though I recommend 50%).

Once you have a handle on the three steps above, you can apply it to a number of other websites in order to fill out your online portfolio.

Something I’ve been testing with success for the past year or so has been to offer a serial soap opera on some of my affiliate websites. And it’s something you may be able to do as well.

What’s a Serial Soap Opera?

Actually, maybe the term “soap opera” isn’t the right one. Instead, create a fictional story that directly relates to your niche and release it weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly.

For instance, if your niche is medical, you might consider creating a story along the lines of ‘Grey’s Anatomy’. Mind you, don’t copy Grey’s Anatomy, but create a story with a unique plot and characters set in a hospital or other medical care facility.

Even if you’re not a writer, you can hire a ghost writer. It’s also a great way to help brand your website (i.e. ‘A My Website Name’ story).

How to Implement it On Your Affiliate Site

Write your short stories, which shouldn’t be more than 15,000 words apiece, and offer the first one for free. You can even use it as incentive to sign up to your affiliate marketing website’s newsletter.

Whether or not subsequent editions are free is up to you—once you hook the subscriber with the first edition, you can then charge 99c for future editions—or you can use it as a way to keep a reader subscribed to your newsletter. Of course, you’ll have opportunities to market more products to your subscribers while they’re waiting for more installments of your story.

Another option is to compile the serial into a full-length book and offer that up for sale directly from the website or through Amazon, Smashwords, B&N, and other avenues.

While this technique may not work in every niche out there, it can work in a great many of them. (Selling tents and camping supplies? How about ‘Campfire Stories’? Patio supplies? ‘Backyard Shenanigans’.) You could always create the first story and put it up as a test on your site. If it works, write more.

Just because you use a smaller version of an image or publish a disclaimer or even credit the copyright owner doesn’t mean you can legally use the photo—not even under Fair Use guidelines. (In order to fall under Fair Use, the image must be a thumbnail and also be the focus of your discussion.) In fact, even if you receive a DMCA and immediately take down the photo, you can still be on the hook for monetary damages.

Rather than take a chance that can cost your thousands of dollars or more, select your pictures wisely. There are plenty of other resources available to you.

• Take your own photos: I love taking my own photos, whether with my digital camera or my phone. It’s a chance to be creative and creating unique images. Plus, by using your own photos you’ll know you have permission to use it however you choose. Just be careful that your photos are taken in public places (photos taken on private property or of the interior of private property require special permissions).
• Find Creative Commons photos: Some photographers are happy to get their works out there as long as they receive credit and will release their photos under a Creative Commons license. To find them, try Flickr or Stock.xchng or try the Creative Commons search engine.
• Select photos from the Public Domain: These are photos that have fallen out of copyright or were deliberately released into the public domain. These photos have no restrictions and you are freely able to do with them as you will. Wikipedia has a large list of places to find such images.

However, some marketers take this a step further by digging into every facet of your online business and seeking out every other niche in which you might be dabbling so they can hone in. But there are things you can do to keep prying eyes away from your various online businesses.

And I have a bad habit of assuming certain things are common knowledge, but I was made aware that not everyone who ventures into the affiliate or online marketing business knows how to maintain a level of privacy when it comes to their internet portfolios.

Because of that, I decided to write a short guide offering tips on how to do so. It’s completely free. Download it, read it, share it–you’re welcome to upload to your site and allow your readers to download it if you feel it will help them, only thing is it must remain unaltered. Or if you don’t feel like sparing the bandwidth, feel free to send them here.

Without further ado…download Private Business (PDF): Tips for protecting your online business from the prying eyes of your competitors. I hope you enjoy it and find it useful.

• WordPress is flexible: With WordPress you can choose whether to use a post or a page to promote a product. You can also choose to enable comments on your product pages in order to solicit user-generated content on your website in the form of reader reviews. It also allows further customization by choosing whether to have a static front page (rather than a long page of posts) so you can highlight particular products or your mailing list.
• WordPress supports themes: There’s a saying that you only have once chance to make a good first impression. Designing and testing a new look every other week for a traditional site is time-consuming, but with WordPress, it’s as simple as picking out a theme you like, uploading it, and clicking a button. WordPress’ theme capabilities make modifying the look of a site based on whether someone is looking at the homepage, a category page, or a single entry page a reality. That means you can better optimize each area of your website for higher conversion rates. Plus, there are a wide variety of wordpress themes available.
• WordPress can be extended with plugins: Being a lightweight software application, WordPress doesn’t come with every capability under the sun right out of the box, but that doesn’t mean you can’t add that capability. With plugins, you can have WordPress do a number of things such as maintain a mailing list, create shortened affiliate links and track their clicks, or even import affiliate product feeds directly into your website.
• WordPress has built-in author management: One part of growing an affiliate marketing business is learning when and how to delegate. Since WordPress allows for multiple authors, you can easily have other people create and add content to your website without giving out your personal admin information or giving them too much power over your website, only enough to get the job done.
• The WordPress community is huge: Since WordPress is so widespread, there are many volunteers who develop themes, plugins, and understand the intricate workings of the software and can offer help should you encounter a problem. There are also a number of guides and books to help you get started installing and using WordPress. Basically, if you ever get stuck on something, there is most likely someone right around the bend that has an answer.

It should be more than clear that WordPress isn’t just for blogging anymore. Use the software to help manage your entire affiliate website and watch your productivity go through the roof.

The Comment Relish plugin is simple…it sends an email the first time someone leaves a comment on the website. This email can be customized and personalized to help you establish a rapport with that reader. However, if you run a heavily trafficked site or are on a shared host with certain restrictions, you’ll want to install the plugin with caution.

Back Up Your Website with cPanel

If your host uses cPanel, there’s a good chance you already have a built-in backup capability. (I use and recommend HostGator, which does have cPanel.) Depending on the size of your site, you could have a complete backup ready to download within minutes. This backup will take care of your email accounts, databases, files on the server…everything.

1. Log in to your website’s cPanel account
2. Scroll down to the Files section and click on the Backups icon
3. In the Full Backup section, click on Download or Generate a Full Website Backup
4. The next page will ask if you wish to be notified via email when the backup is complete—this option is good if you have a large site which will take time to process, otherwise you could probably leave it blank and check back a few minutes later; if you leave Home Directory in the dropdown, the backup file will be stored in the directory above /public_html/
5. When the backup is finished, you can either download the file directly from the backup page, or you can log into your website via FTP and navigate to the directly above /public_html/ and download the file that way

If your host doesn’t offer cPanel, you may still have access to an automated backup facility, but you’ll need to read your hosts knowledgebase or contact them for assistance in using it.

Back Up Your Website Manually

This method is rather tedious, however, it gives you a level of control over what is backed up. With the above method, you’d back up all your website’s files. If you decide to move hosts and that host doesn’t have cPanel (or uses a different configuration entirely), it could be a bear to reinstate the backed up files.

1. Before you back up your website manually, it’s a good idea to have a plan. Take note of the email addresses/passwords currently in use on the site, along with database usernames/passwords, and any other relevant website information. (I prefer jotting these things down in Notepad.)
2. Log into your hosting account and back-up your MySQL databases by exporting the data via phpMyAdmin
3. Download your website files via FTP
4. Zip up your notes, databases, and files and save in a safe place

Back Up Your Website with an Online Service

When you use an online service such as Mozy, you meld flexibility with ease of use. The upshot is that such services aren’t free (they, however, can be quite cost effective). With online services, you will also be able to schedule your backups to suit your needs.

But, what’s a blook? Basically, a contraction of the term blog and book, which was coined way back in the day by Jeff Jarvis. Of course, the term has fallen out of use in recent years, but I’m hoping for a comeback.

And one way to see that happen is to tell people how to create a blook of their own. If you’re on WordPress, it’s actually pretty easy with a quick and simple plugin. There’s a small caveat, however, because the plugin is still in alpha. Using the Anthologize plugin, you would be able to comb through your blog’s archives and choose which blog entries you’d like to include in your book.

Another way to create a book from your blog’s archives includes using Kalin’s PDF Creation plugin which allows you to comb through your blog’s pages and posts in order to output your blook in PDF format.

Of course, there’s always the manual way of creating a book using good old-fashioned copy/paste. Go through each of your blog’s pages individually, selecting and choosing, editing and tweaking as necessary, and paste the content into a document file which can later be converted in a plethora of formats, including PDF, ePub, Mobi, etc. As you may have guessed, this last option probably gives you the most flexibility, however, depending on the size of your blog, may require the most amount of work.

To close up, always make sure you use your own blog’s content and not someone else’s, at least not without her permission first.

Also, this may catch some people off guard because these habits aren’t what one might expect. Here are some of the things I do each day, in no particular order, which I feel contribute to my successes:

I listen to music — especially classical — and I think about the skill of the artist and all that goes into the creation of each note. Imagine, for a moment, all that it takes to create such harmony, flow, and timing. Music, in and of itself, can be a huge inspiration for developing your own skills. Music also has the power to push you forward, even when you feel like lagging behind.

I keep a journal. Since I was a child, I’ve captured moments of my life in a journal. Happy moments, sad moments, my hopes and fears all laid out on paper. Even now, when I go back and read those captured moments, I realize just how far I’ve come in my life and it motivates me to keep pushing forward.

I appreciate what I have. It’s easy to take things for granted, especially if you’re not exactly where you want to be in life. But, even when you’re not where you want to be, there is still plenty for which to be grateful. I try to take time each day to reflect on what I’ve accomplished, what I have in my life, and just appreciate all of it.

I dance like no one’s watching. Dance, regardless of the style, is a release–energy surging through the body and spilling out into the world with each movement. Dancing teaches you to control and direct that energy — of course, I’m sure the same could be said of any physical activity.

I read books, lots of them. The written word has become a dear old friend whom I try to visit each day. Reading expands your imagination, knowledge, and wisdom by sharing in the experiences of another. In essence, reading gives us an opportunity to see the world through another’s eyes. Although I haven’t been able to get as much pleasure reading done as often as I’d like, I do read something each day.

There are far more things than what’s listed above to include planning, positive thinking, writing, drawing, enjoying nature, and maintaining an open mind. Each person, however, will need to discover her own combination of positive habits for success, because, like most everything, success is different for everyone.

Rosalind’s book is about getting your affiliate marketing foundation set, while the WordPress Affiliate Guide is a flexible blueprint specifically for leveraging WordPress for affiliate marketing based on years or testing and tweaking. In fact, the WP Affiliate Guide is built on the principles outlined in Rosalind’s guide.

But let me not stray to far from the topic of this post, reviewing the Super Affiliate Handbook so you can decide whether it’s a worthwhile guide to help you build an affiliate business.

When I purchased my copy of Rosalind Gardner’s Super Affiliate Handbook, I was wary of its promises, but over the years, I’ve come to realize just how invaluable a tool it is. The fact that it’s been around (and updated) since 2003 is a testament to its value.

When I first read the book, I was a bit put off by its focus on Pay Per Click advertising methods, which was confusing and because I didn’t have the kind of money necessary to make a go of it. As a beginner, I found myself floundering to understand it more than once, almost submerging me in information overload. That’s something to prepare yourself for if you’re brand new to affiliate marketing.

However, when you do get past all of that, the Super Affiliate Handbook is something worthy of being printed out and referenced often. There is a goldmine of information contained within its covers, and although it may not come complete with action-steps in a step-by-step sort of way, with a bit of trial and error you’ll get it sorted in no time flat.

The book is just over 200 pages long. That’s intimidating to put it mildly, but luckily there isn’t too much filler. Yep, that’s 200 page of straight dish to work with and it’s available instantly in PDF format.

It starts off by explaining what you’ll need to get your affiliate marketing business started (some things being obvious, such as access to a computer that can get on the internet), then it explains what affiliate marketing is, how it works, and the types of commission structures.

Since I was a newbie when I first purchased the guide, I remember going over it with a fine-toothed comb multiple times to make sense of it and then set out to build my first affiliate websites. At the time I knew HTML and CSS and had begun working with a new software called WordPress, but at the time, I never thought about using WordPress for the affiliate website process. WordPress was only powering my personal blog–it wasn’t even widely distributed or adopted then, so it was very inflexible.

That said, my first affiliate website was built using standard HTML and CSS. (It was huge by the time I actually switched it over to WordPress and it took a whole lot of overhauling to make it happen, but I’m much happier with it and its management now.) And I earned back my investment five times over in the first month by using her methods. I did a short happy dance because I realized, this affiliate marketing thing actually works.

Over the years, the Super Affiliate Handbook has undergone various updates and with the most recent, it now includes a marketing section which goes well beyond Pay Per Click advertising.

One thing I truly respect about Rosalind’s guide is that she teaches you how to build a business, not how to build a website that will be obsolete in a few days.

The writing style is smooth and entertaining, sometimes outright funny, which makes reading the book and following the prescribed methods seem less like a chore. She even shares with you one of her completed affiliate sites as an example and explains how she came to put it together and how she keeps it up, what type of affiliate promotions she uses, and even how much she earns from it.

The handbook explains:

• How to find a niche (pg. 25)
• How to evaluate market demand (pg. 32)
• 6 keys for choosing the right domain name (pg. 42)
• How to build content and increase your conversion rates (pg. 66)
• How to write product endorsements (pg. 77)
• How to make money from your website (pg. 93)
• How to market your new affiliate website (pg. 132)
• How to become a super affiliate (pg. 171)

This guide is certainly one of those rare finds in the internet marketing realm, and it’s certainly one everyone who wants to work from home should download and read immediately, taking plenty of notes.

Download the Super Affiliate Handbook and get cracking!