3 Reasons Why You Should Become A Creative Live Affiliate Right Now!

 

While it is a lot of fun to create a blog, monetizing it can give you the incentive and drive to keep on putting in the hard
work that it takes to create a beautiful and informational site. Affiliate marketing is one of those ways, where you can turn
your creative work into extra cash. And it is even more fun, when you are working with high quality merchants like Creative Live!

But first, a quick intro to Creative Live for those of you who  are not already familiar with their services.

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Creative Live offers free streaming online lessons via their website, about a variety of topics throughout any given day, for example, blogging, creating your crafting business, photography and more! Fresh content is constantly brought on their channels, but if you miss any of their programs, you can purchase them rather inexpensively to watch at your leisure, often including bonus content, worksheets and teaching materials that are not available when you watch it live stream. This is where you – as their affiliate come in. Any purchases your readers make, after a click through will provide you with a percentage of their sales.

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And here are three reasons why you should become a Creative Live Affiliate:
1. They offer high-quality content you can be proud to represent.
I am very picky about the products and companies I work with. Just like they want to see high-quality work from me,
I am expecting the highest quality of services and information offered to my readers. Creative Live’s classes, both free as well as for purchase  and are something I can offer my readers with confidence, that they will receive valuable information for their time and money.
And so can you.

2. It’s free and easy to sign up
If you are a part of the ShareASale affiliate network already, it is as simple as following the instructions provided with this link. Should you not be a part of the ShareASale network (something I also highly recommend if you want to monetize your blog), don’t worry. Their sign on process is also simple and straightforward. Just add your information, and you are good to go in no time to work with Creative Live, and other great companies, such as Aloha, Lulu, and more.

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3. Their responsive banners and affiliate tools are easy to use.
Not a tech wizard? Neither am I, and I still manage to work with all of the easy to use tools that make being a Creative Live
affiliate. Creating custom links or placing responsive widgets on site bars, is more about copying and pasting, then knowing any special set up, and with the help of ShareASale, you can easily keep track of the traffic and payouts you generated.

Bonus:

Creative Live keeps you as their affiliate updated on all of their sales, specials and promotions via email, usually including links to those offers, with your affiliate tracking code already placed in for you. Simply add these promo codes and offers to
your site, and you are ready to go.

What are you waiting for?

Good luck and blessings!

Claudia

 

Disclaimer: The above post contained affiliate links, see Disclose Page for details

A Day Of Dog Pampering – A Dog Care Supply Haul I Am Excited About

Disclaimer: I have received the products mentioned free of charge in exchange for an honest review. This post also contains affiliate links. See disclosure page for details

Due to the many allergies my little-adopted furry dog  friends have, do I refrain from sending them to a groomer, and rather take care of their needs myself. Even if that means some extra work – and the occasional times when I end up wetter than the dogs taking a bath – I love pampering my pooches, while the cat watches on from the distance.

But before washing them with our favorite Burts Bee Hypoallergenic Shampoo (for Dogs), however we had to try out our new Furbabies Retractable Dog Leash, and the dogs had a blast with that thing.

I have been staying away from retractable dog leashes, as I had a bad experience with them, having been cut, after it wrapping itself around my leg. So I was pleasantly surprised when the Furbabies 15 ft retractable leash offered a flat soft leash, that will prevent these accidents from happening. While it states, that it is for small dogs – and I originally accepted the offer, because I wanted to use it on a small toy chihuahua, it is better suited for my medium dogs of 30 pounds (Welsh Corgi/Beagle mix), and a Rhodesian Ridgeback mix (45 pounds).The handle of the dog leash alone would have been heavier than our little friend, so we are sticking with a generic, non-retractable leash for our cute sweetheart.  But, for my two larger high energy dogs, this leash is now my favorite.

Adding the finishing touches to their day by using our Safari dog nail clippers, my dogs are again presentable, even if they might not have enjoyed the last part as much as the did the new leash. I contemplated the use of doggie nail polish, but I am pretty sure, my husband would have thought I was completely crazy, so I led that one go.

After such adventure, we are usually all exhausted, as you can see by how one of my puppies passed out, watching us play Sorry!. 

 

Question: What are your favorite ways to pamper your pets? Do you have a special groomer you take them to, or do you also DIY their beauty routine at home?

 

This post is a part of the following blog hops:
March Week #4 Blog hop

What Are You Doing In March Blog Hop

Winter Is Leaving Blog Hop

No Rules Weekend Blog Party

 

 

 

Plan Ahead – Editorial Calendar And Marketing Planner For Creatives, Artists, Bloggers and More (Free PDF)

Creating relevant content for the upcoming months, means to be up to date on major and minor holidays. But it gets more complicated, when you add to these often celebrated holidays those minor and less often remembered celebrations, such as National Pancake Day or the Summer Solstice.

This information can be not only useful for bloggers, who can plan their content around those holidays, but also adds a volume of potential marketing possibilities for Product on Demand Artists, Photographers, Writers, Affiliate Marketers and other creative people who have an online presence.

In order to make it easier for you to plan your marketing strategies for this year, I have combined a list of strategies and lesser known holidays and celebrations, as a gift for you. Simply click on this link: Editorial Calendar And Marketing Planner Year  and download it, to print out to build your own strategies for the upcoming months.

Please do not alter this pdf  in any way. You may share the PDF with your friends, in a non-commercial setting, but only un-altered.

Download it now!
Editorial Calendar And Marketing Planner Year

 

Because it is Friday, which on this blog means, it is time to talk about gratitude – I wanted to share with you what I am grateful for this week:

1. I am grateful that despite the fact that my husband was stuck in snow this morning, while traveling in Dallas, he was safe due to the fact that he had snowchains with him. Apparently everyone has been driving safely, because he has not seen an accident. That is a very good thing.
2. I am grateful that instead of being in snow, I am in Las Vegas to 85 degree weather. I will cherrish every moment of warmth today.
3. I am grateful that my daughter is feeling better after having had a cold. She was invited to a picnic last weekend, and got promptly sick, due to the fact that it was still a little bit more windy then everyone expected. But she is on the mend now.
4. I am grateful that it is Friday, which means it is bill paying day. It might seem a little weird to be happy about paying bills, but I am grateful that I can, when I know how many have to make decisions between eating and paying the electric. I am blessed in every way, and I am grateful for that fact.
5. I am grateful for the abundance of items I have on my list this week. I am exited to share with you those wonderful new products, and some special deals, which I have carefully weeded through. More on that over the next few days. (Some of these are for you pet owners out there)

What are you grateful for this week? Share with us here, or write a blog post, and join the many blogs that are participating in the following blog hops:

Thankful Thursdays

No Rules Weekend Blog Party

Winter Is Leaving

Share With Me Blog Hop

Be Inspired 

Celebrate The Small Things

8 Tips To Spring Clean Your Pinterest Account

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. See Disclosure page for details

Spring will hopefully be upon us soon, and during this time of the year, spring cleaning is on the mind of many. Why not extend this sentiment to your social media presence? Today, I will be talking about getting your Pinterest account ready for ultimate performance by doing some simple spring cleaning.

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Before we talk about cleaning and organizing your boards make sure your profile has been optimized:

1. Make sure your website/blog have been verified
2. Make sure your description contains your relevant keywords
3. Update your profile picture, preferably using one that features your face.

 

 

 

Now to the eight tips to spring clean your Pinterest boards:

1. Move your seasonal boards into the correct order according to your season, for example, your spring and summer collections should be pulled forward while your winter collection should be on the very end of your boards at the moment.
2. Combine any boards that have only a few pins
3. Delete boards that either have too little amount of pins and can not be consolidated with another board, no longer fit into your website/brand/blog niche or do not have a large following.
4. Move your most popular boards to the front – use Pinterest analytics tools to see which boards are the most popular/ active at the moment, and display them as the first two rows. Remember that when looks at your profile, those are the only ones they initially see.
5. Edit board descriptions – make sure all of your boards contain relevant keywords and updated information to make them easy to be found in the search results.
6. Split large boards into two boards – narrowing down some boards to a separate subject matter makes it easier for the followers to find your individual pins.
7. Update your boards featured image – move your most popular pins to the featured position, in order to draw in more followers. But most importantly make sure that the featured pin describes your boards content well.
8. Check your pin’s URL’s. Make sure your pins go the actual post or merchandise with the correct link like they are supposed to. If not, change that immediately.

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A few more tips to keep you sane during the Pinterest Spring Cleaning

1. Choose only one or maybe two specific tasks to complete every day
2 Be clear about what you want to accomplish with your Pinterest presence – what do you want your boards and profile to say about you – do this before you start any spring cleaning, so you have a clear mission in mind.
3. Keep the amount of the group boards you are a part of to no more than 15 but no less than 5. Make sure they are all relevant to your brand and mission.

Have a great day!

Claudia

How To Get Started In Zazzle Affiliate Marketing

 

You probably already know how  – at least in theory – to make money as an affiliate on Zazzle. But for those of you who are new to the website, allow me to share a quick recap of Zazzle’s affiliate program 

Becoming a Zazzle affiliate is really simple. It takes only about 10 minutes to do and to learn exactly how to make money as an affiliate. Once creating an account with Zazzle – if you are a designer with this program already, you will not have to sign up again, you already get an affiliate account and number, automatically. But if you just want to sign us as an affiliate, you never have to design anything. Simply follow the prompts that Zazzle gives you, and visit their associate page, where you are   is given a unique user code. Each time you share a product on the various social media outlets or via your own web page, using the share button that is a part of every product listing, your affiliate number will be automatically embedded, if you are signed in. That way you earn a 15 percent commission off any sale that is made through that link.

That is the theory behind It.

But like with everything else that sounds too easy, to be true, it is not that easy as it sounds.

First you have to convince people to actually click your links. That is the easiest part, as long as you are not spamming people. The second part is harder – to convince them to actually purchase the items or any item on Zazzle.

How do you do that?

There are quite a few ways you can convince potential customers to actually purchase an item on Zazzle. They are not limited to the list below, and with a lot of creativity, you are surely to come up with more ideas than I have listed, but consider this a start

1.You have targeted the correct audience. If you are trying to get people to buy pretty designer ties, and most of your audience and followers are women, you might get an occasional sale, but not too many. Know who your target audience is, know who your followers are, match the products you offer accordingly. The more niche your audience, the easier the sale.
2.You have established their trust. All of what you have to offer on your website or on your social media accounts are of high quality, and your followers know that they can trust your lead. Only then will they purchase from Zazzle via you, rather than some of the other print on demand sites, or simply Amazon.
3.You have a large enough following. Establish a base following first, before you are trying to sell stuff online. If no one reads, watches, or clicks on your stuff, simply because they do not know you exist, make yourself known first. There are a variety of ways to build up social media followings, and there are plenty of books and workshops on how to build your brand and yourself, some of which are available via CreativeLive.
4.You are very picky about what you share. Don’t just share any old product from Zazzle. Not all of the designs are high quality, and even if most of them are, sharing outdated, hastily designed, or poorly executed products will not get you a sale. Be picky what designers you work with.
5.You have established relationships with designers. Some designers offer an availability of custom orders. Know which designers go above and beyond regular customer service, and tell them that you want to promote their work. If you mention your particular niche – like for example, Yoga and Reiki Business Cards, and they already make business cards for other professions, they might take their time to create designs that fit your niche even better than before. That way you have always fresh content and both of you can increase your sales and profit. A win-win situation.

I hope this short overview was helpful. And as always, remember to diversify your passive income strategies in order to be able to make a living with your online adventures.

Blessings

Claudia

Selling Art Online – My Thoughts On Handmade At Amazon

By now you might wonder what is Handmade At Amazon. Well it is in its core, the Amazon version of Etsy – the online market place that is supposed to be for handmade items, services and vintage things – just with a little twist.

First of all, stuff listed on Handmade At Amazon is actually handmade. Before becoming a seller, an artist has to fill out an application, and prove that their production process is that what can be considered artisan – small businesses with only one or a very few people working on projects,and items that are truly crafted, not mass produced. I had a beef with that on Etsy, one of the reasons why I never became an affiliate for them, and promoted the crafters items, was because there were so many mass produced things in there, posing as handmade.

Sarah Hood Jewelry
Sterling Silver Tree Pendant Necklace with 24k Gold Leaves

But Amazon sells a lot of mass produced stuff too, what’s the difference?
Well, they don’t lie about the items they list as mass produced, and claim that they are handmade or artisan. You can buy both, but they are in different sections, and do not compete with each other. A win for the crafts people, I think.

There are quite a few really nice products already listed, on Handmade but I have a feeling too many people are still waiting to see if it is really worth diving into. I highly suggest not to wait. As with Etsy, those who set up shop early make the most profit and have the best chance of continued success. If you are an Etsy seller, I would suggest that you get into the action now. Especially before the shopping frenzy starts.

Touch Formed Studio
Minimalist Rectangle Vase with Austere Blue-White Glaze

Visually, I find the set up appealing but unremarkable. It is not too different from the rest of Amazon, actually blends in so much, that if it was not for the not so very big logo “Handmade” on the right side of the screen, I would have thought I am just serving the old-fashioned Amazon. What I do like is, that if I share a pin directly from the listing’s page, it automatically adds the light blue Handmade At Amazon logo, so it is easy to distinguish the pins from others. A great way to promote individual artists, I think.

But with the launch just having been a few days ago, it is still early to see if Amazon continues to support Handmade as much as it promised. After all it is only a small section within this huge company, and unlike the niche appeal Etsy had, I have a feeling the products could get lost in there.

The opportunity here lies for the individual artists to work together with marketers and affiliates (like me), to get more exposure to gain traction. That is, if these sellers are not too busy to keep running their Etsy stores, with their already established clients.

 

Have you checked out Handmade At Amazon yet? What are your first thoughts? Let me know what you think about this opportunity, or if you are already have a store set up. If you do, I would love to interview you, and here what you think, and what you think this new venture can add to your sales and success.

Have a wonderful day!

Claudia

3 Tips For An Effective Product Description

A great product description can be as important as the image of your product in the purchase decision making process of your potential client. Take the time to be diligent in taking advantage of this sales tool by keeping the following three tips in mind.

1. Keep it short
Attention spans are getting shorter, and people hate feeling like they wasted time. Keep your product description between 100 and 130 words. Any length above that should be reserved for your blog posts.

2. Tell Them Why They Need It
Give the person reading your description why they need to have your creative product. Does it save them time, money or does it evoke a special feeling, a connection they are trying to make, either for themselves or for a loved one.

3. Use Clear Keywords 
Describing something as beautiful is not a very effective way of utilizing the small space you have available to you. Instead use words that describe your product category, your style, your niche and color scheme, all words that allow your customer to search for your product, and gives them a clear idea if your art is a perfect fit for them. Even if a customer might not buy the first product of yours they have seen, they are more likely to return when their needs change. Make them remember you.

 Also, check out the course “What Are Tags And How To Use Them”, for more info on learning how to tag your content, and products – today!