Yesterday I posted an article on affiliate marketing for real estate and mortgage pros. It was in response to a post on another RENet vendor website 4Realz.net
I had left a comment on Dustin Luther's post that was in opposition to posting affiliate ads all over one's brand.
Since the comment has been deleted I post it here:
I discuss this in my next installment of free videos at the RealEstateGuerilla.com
I had left a comment on Dustin Luther's post that was in opposition to posting affiliate ads all over one's brand.
Since the comment has been deleted I post it here:
I think this is a bad idea in so many ways I cannot count them all.
Let me begin by going back to the movement towards localism.
Why did that have to be?
Because many of the posts had nothing to do with the real estate in that agents town.
I remember seeing ( and still do at times) agents writing about SEO or Online Marketing. As a marketer and SEO vendor I find those posts interesting. However, it diminishes that authors brand. What are you an SEO or a Realtor?
In the case of affiliate marketing it is very tempting to slap a moving company up on ones blog. Moving.com, Foreclosure.com, Forsalebyowner.com are some places that would make easy fits.
For a few sheckles you just diminished your message.
You would be much better served to offer this stuff on the back end of sequencing or an email campaign.
And in fact even better off to partner with local vendors to offer tips and strategies and commissions(textual, video, etc) as content for your front end and backend lead marketing.(I let you deal with the legalities one way or another as I have no idea how that would work)
In the end, why would you dilute your brand and message with other brands, stronger than yours stealing screen real estate?
I am not sure why Dustin deleted my comment post. Perhaps it was by mistake. However, presenting other's opinions are the point of comments. And in fact allowing for commentary that fly's opposite of yours is an opportunity to bolster your standing amongst your "tribe".Let me begin by going back to the movement towards localism.
Why did that have to be?
Because many of the posts had nothing to do with the real estate in that agents town.
I remember seeing ( and still do at times) agents writing about SEO or Online Marketing. As a marketer and SEO vendor I find those posts interesting. However, it diminishes that authors brand. What are you an SEO or a Realtor?
In the case of affiliate marketing it is very tempting to slap a moving company up on ones blog. Moving.com, Foreclosure.com, Forsalebyowner.com are some places that would make easy fits.
For a few sheckles you just diminished your message.
You would be much better served to offer this stuff on the back end of sequencing or an email campaign.
And in fact even better off to partner with local vendors to offer tips and strategies and commissions(textual, video, etc) as content for your front end and backend lead marketing.(I let you deal with the legalities one way or another as I have no idea how that would work)
In the end, why would you dilute your brand and message with other brands, stronger than yours stealing screen real estate?
I discuss this in my next installment of free videos at the RealEstateGuerilla.com
Really? A blog post for this? Your comment got caught by the Akismet spam filter... and your comment was never posted, let alone deleted.
I've had my messages caught in many spam filters and I've had many folks get caught in spam filters. A simple email along the lines of "what's up" normally does the trick to get one out of the filter, but if you're looking for some buzz, I guess you've found one way to get it. I've never deleted a comment for having a contrary opinion in over 4 years of blogging.
Anyway, thanks for alerting me to the issue because Francis also had a comment stuck in the spam filter. I was a little disappointed she never returned to finish the conversation she started, but now I see it was an issue with an over aggressive Akismet spam filter.
Posted by: Dustin | April 14, 2009 at 02:13 PM
This is an interesting discussion because if begs the question, what is the purpose of a blog.
Some feel that a blog is exclusively an SEO tool, whose only purpose is to attract the golden spotlight of Google. Others recognize that while serving as an excellent SEO platform, to succeed as a business tool a blog must actually convert eyeballs into paying customers.
This is where the opinion in the deleted comment starts to make some sense. A blog as a SEO tool that is great at attracting eyeballs but if you sacrifice the consistency of its content than you have eyeballs and no customers.
Posted by: Terry Sanford | April 15, 2009 at 11:16 AM
Terry-
Yes in the old days 2003 blog and ping was a way to get the linked to site indexed fast. Then the myth spread to include blogs and superior SEO machines.
Blog/ping still helps but not like the old days.
The blog software is typically nicely validated.
The RSS syndication can help.
But a blog also carries with it some issues like duplicate content issues in archives and categories.
So Optimization in a static or blog still is necessary.
But as I have said again and again. A blog is only software. Do you type or do you Word? Do you outlook or EMail or Gmail?
But blog has become a verb somehow.
The issue comes down to are you or are you not going to be an online publisher?
Because to survive long term all Realtors, Mortgage Pros and small business will take on publishing rolls or they simply will not be relevant.
This in fact is the theme of my next video at
http://www.realestateguerilla.com
~Tim
Posted by: Coach Tim SEO | April 15, 2009 at 11:43 AM
Since I've started posting on blogs, I've had to be really careful. On the one hand, I do want to post my opinion, but on the other, I know the writer is possibly making their living on this. Because of that, if I disagree, I have to word it very nicely. Excessively nice...
Posted by: Alex | April 29, 2009 at 08:41 AM
I think the key distinction here is: are you a publisher OR a service provider.
If you want to be a publisher and talk about the mortgage, real estate, tech or other market--then affiliate revenue yourself up (i.e., RainCityGuide or TechCrunch). However, if your business is to do mortgages or sell homes I think Tim is right on!
Distorting your brand and confusing the Web visitor as to what you can do for them is crazy. Like Tim's example of active real estate agents talking about SEO--ridiculous confusion to your customer.
Great topic...good to see you and Dustin mend fences :)
Posted by: Bill Rice | May 15, 2009 at 12:21 PM
Great content. I'm looking forward to more of it. If you're in need of any tips to help with your affiliate marketing efforts it's all on my blog.
Thanks for the post :D
Posted by: Seb Brantigan | May 25, 2009 at 09:10 AM