Featured – Page 47 – Business Plus Baby

January 12, 2011September 25, 2013

How to Make More Money From Your Website: Be an Affiliate

(This is the second post in my series on making money from your website. The first one is The Easiest Way To Earn Money From Your Blog and the third is Advertising and sponsorship)

If you already have a website or blog for your business, you could be making commission by recommending other products and services to your clients.

Here’s an example. Let’s say you’re a virtual assistant and do administration work for small businesses. Your clients will need to buy computers, business cards, printer ink, paper, business insurance and many other products and services. If you recommend one (or more) of these products/services on your website and include an affiliate link, you’ll get commission if a visitor to your site clicks through and buys the product/service you recommend.

An affiliate link it works like a normal link but it also tracks the clicks coming through from your website so you can be paid commission. Affiliate links can either be text links or adverts (ie a graphic image such as a .jpg file).

Who to recommend

Only recommend products that you have already tried for yourself and really like. Ideally, pick a product that’s so good you’d recommend it even if you weren’t being paid to do so.

It’s best to be an affiliate for only one or two of each type of product. That’s because if you’re recommending (say) ten different printing companies, it looks like you’re blatantly trying to make money out of your clients rather than recommending a product that you genuinely use and like.

Where to find companies to recommend

Most larger companies (and many small ones) have affiliate programmes. Small on-line businesses that sell e-books and e-courses often have an ‘affiliates’ menu at the top of their home page, but other businesses tend to be more subtle. Think about a company that you might want to recommend on your website and look at the bottom of their website for a link to their affiliates page. It may be called ‘affiliates’ or something similar like ‘trade’, ‘partners’, ‘resellers’. You may be surprised at just how many companies will pay you to refer clients to them.

Make sure you look at the percentage commission that the company pays to its affiliates. Some of the percentages can be quite low, so you’ll want to weigh up if it’s worth the effort before you sign up. Information products such as ebooks have the highest percentage rates – sometimes as much as 50% – because there isn’t a physical product to manufacture, store or ship. Tangible products can have commission rates around 10%.

Take a look at Clickbank for information products, or keep an eye on Business Plus Baby as I’m currently creating digital products with affiliate programmes. The first one is Earn What You Deserve as a Mumpreneur and you can find out more about its affiliate programme here.

Or just Google the words ‘affiliate’ and the type of product you’re looking to promote e.g. ‘affiliate toys’

How to sign up to an affiliate programme

The company you’re recommending will usually use another company like Affiliate Window, Affiliate Future or Paid On Results (or Clickbank or EJunkie for information products) to manage its affiliate programme. You’ll need to set up an account with the affiliate company to get paid. Once you’ve signed up and been approved (which can take just minutes) you’ll be given access to a range of different adverts and text links that you can copy and paste into your website.

Once you’ve signed up with the affiliate company, you can browse through their clients to see if there are any others that you’d like to recommend.

How to get people to click on the affiliate links/adverts

Sadly it’s not usually as simple as sticking an advert on your website and watching the cash roll in!

To increase your chances of making commission you could:

Promote the product in much the same way as you would your own – put a link in your email signature, mention it on Twitter or your Facebook page and newsletter. Check the terms and conditions of internet forums though, as some don’t allow affiliate links.
If you have a blog, write a helpful post explaining why you use this product, why it’s better than the others you could buy and what specific problems it solved for you. Try to write it as if you were recommending the product to a friend in an email rather than as a sales pitch. This will get more attention than an advert in your sidebar.
Create a resources page listing all the products that you recommend and why.
Always be open about your affiliate links. If you’re recommended a product and later find out that the person recommending it was being paid to do so, it feels a little underhand and could be a turn-off.
Make your affiliate links/adverts very relevant to your target audience. Ideally, aim to solve a problem that they have rather than recommending a product they can easily find for themselves.
Experiment with the wording and position of your affiliate links/adverts to see what works best.

(This post contains an affiliate link)

photo credit: See-ming Lee 李思明 SML

January 10, 2011January 6, 2011

Five Reasons To Buy a Franchise

Many family friendly businesses can be started either by buying a franchise or from scratch. It can be tough deciding which way to go, which is why it’s great that today’s guest blogger, Pippa Highfield, is going to give us her own reasons for buying a franchise 4 years ago. Pippa is the Bedford editor of Raring2Go! , a local magazine full of ideas of what to do and where to go with children.

I recently completed a survey for the British Franchise Association and one of the questions they asked me was why I bought a franchise as opposed to setting up a business from scratch. It was an easy question to answer as starting up the Bedford edition of Raring2go! magazine, a local what’s on and where to go guide for families, really was the best option for me.

Having worked in the corporate world for most of my career, I was frankly terrified of going it alone.

Having worked in the corporate world for most of my career, I was frankly terrified of going it alone. Yet I knew that starting my own business was the only viable way for me to achieve the work/ life balance I needed with a young family. Running a franchise generated the income I wanted whilst giving me a much needed support structure whilst I learned how to run my own business.

Here are my top five reasons to consider buying a franchise:

Greater financial certainty: when purchasing a franchise you are buying into a tried and tested model for making money. Clearly nothing is 100% guaranteed, but the franchisor should be able to give you real-life examples of the profitability achieved by other franchisees or a set of accounts if you are looking at a franchise resale. If you need to earn a certain income to make the family finances balance this can be a great help.

Business support and training: your franchisor will be a great source of practical support and advice – it’s like having your own IT, HR & marketing team to call upon! Very few people have all the skills necessary to run their own business so knowing you have a team you can rely on takes the pressure off.

A recognised brand and business model: it takes most companies many years and a big budget to build a reputation. By buying into a franchise you are piggy-backing on a brand that has national backing giving your business kudos and credibility. As well as a brand, you are buying a business model or way of doing business. Most franchisors will provided a detailed operational manual showing you the best way of running your business. The manual will help you cut through a lot boring background ‘stuff’ and let you get on with making money.

Easier route to financing your business: yes, you need capital to buy a franchise, but then you need to invest money in most new businesses. The benefit of buying a franchise is that the banks are likely to put more store on the franchisors projections or an existing set of accounts if you are looking at a franchise resale.

Franchisee support network: often other local franchisees are the greatest source of motivation and support. In most franchise arrangements you are not in competition with fellow franchisees which means you have a group of ‘colleagues’ who really do know what you are going through. If, like me, you are used to working in an office environment the benefits of being part of a ready-made franchisee network can be really valuable.

After four successful years Pippa is now planning to move on to new projects. So if you think franchising could tick your boxes and would like an informal chat about taking on the Raring2go! Bedford franchise please contact Pippa on 01908 583232 or bedford@raring2go.co.uk

January 7, 2011January 3, 2011

Latest Events From Networking Mummies

Networking Mummies is run by Joanne Dewberry (www.charliemoos.co.uk) and Laura Morris (www.rentabuggy.co.uk) who noticed a gap in Dorset for business support for mums. Since the group began in February 2009 they have grown to in excess of 500 members, not only mothers but also fathers and small business owners in general over 3 branches in Dorset, Hampshire and Warwickshire.

Joanne and Laura have big plans for 2011, starting with a recruitment fair in January and the launch of their franchise across the UK in February. Here are all the details…

Recruitment Fair

24^th January 2011, 5:30pm – 9pm, Wessex Hotel, West Cliff Road, Bournemouth

If you’re in Dorset and looking for family-friendly work, check out the Networking Mummies Recruitment fair.

Joanne says “I’ve always wanted to be a full time mum and developing my own business does not impinge on that. I think as a mum of 2, with my 3^rd due in May I am a prime example that flexible working does exist. Whether this be via employment opportunities, party planning, direct sales a franchise or starting up your own business from scratch there are options out there for you. Being my own boss allows me the freedom as a mum I desire.”

100 goody bags available for the first 100 attendees from 5:30pm at the Wessex Hotel Bournemouth this event is free to attend. For more information see www.networkingmummies.com or contact Joanne on 0844 3579451

‘Be Part of The Bigger Picture’: UK-Wide Franchise Launch and 2nd Birthday Party

9th February, Arlington Arts Centre, Mary Hare, Newbury

Join in the party, find out more about becoming a Networking Mummy franchise owner, network with other business mums or have your own stand at the mini-exhibition.

For more info and to buy tickets, see Networking Mummies.com.

January 5, 2011November 22, 2011

I Started a Business With a Baby: Antonia Chitty

Today’s mumpreneur is my co-author of Start a Family Friendly Business, Antonia Chitty. Antonia is a real inspiration because she’s been a mumpreneur for over seven years now and has had several different businesses in that time. This month she launches her new venture, Become A Mumpreneur with her business partner Erica Douglas and I’ll be telling you more about that over the next couple of weeks.

Tell us a little about your business

Since 2003 I have set up a PR business, written 14 books and created 7 websites for my different businesses. I run a daily blog for working parents at Family Friendly Working, and offer tips and advice for mums in business at The Mumpreneur Guide blog. I have also entered into partnerships: the first BusinessMums Conference which I organised with 2 other Sussex businessmums took place last year and I now offer online training with Erica Douglas via www.aceinspire.com and www.becomeamumpreneur.com.

What was your job before starting your business?

Before I had Daisy I was writing health features for Which? magazine. Prior to that I had worked in promotion for a national charity and before that I practised as an optometrist!

What were your reasons for starting a business?

I went back to work after the birth of my daughter and found it really difficult. She was getting more and more interesting but I was paying someone else to look after her. A session with life coach Suzy Greaves made me realise I could work for myself and I got off the phone and pitched some articles to a magazine editor I knew. Daisy was 15 months old, and finally I could see a way that I could carry on with my career AND spend time with her. But that was just the start.

How did you go from your old career to your new business? How did you get your business idea?

I started small, offering PR services for others mums with businesses. I did trades to get started: I swapped some PR for my website with Sadie of www.glassraven.com and my first press release was written in exchange for a set of cloth nappies. The cloth nappy maker is responsible for the idea for the PR business: after I helped her out it became clear that there was a need for affordable and approachable PR help for mums in business.

Did you use any childcare?

Yes, Daisy was in nursery and I cut down her days when I started but knew I needed at least one child-free day a week. Now I have a lovely woman who has looked after Kit since he was tiny and doesn’t mind having all three of the kids if I need to work during the holidays or attend after school parents evenings.

What training, information or advice did you need to get started?

I had already started my PR qualifications and am a member of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations.

What were your challenges and how did you overcome them?

In the beginning I simply traded my time for money, providing PR services and charging by the job or by the hour. Initially I made a classic mistake of charging too little, AND I had to keep working throughout the holidays to see my income continue. Now I have learnt how to create an income that comes in every month, whether it is term time and I’m working hard or school holiday time and I’m off having fun with the kids. I have built up a range of products. I get my income from 7 or 8 different streams, and a lot of what I earn no longer relies on me sitting at my desk sending press releases or making calls. That’s a good thing as I now have three children and need to be really flexible to meet their needs.

Plus, in the last few years we’ve moved out of London and live on the Sussex coast in my dream home. We’re right on the beach … just last month when it snowed the children were even sledging down the beach, and sometimes we’re a bit reluctant to book a summer holiday because it is just so lovely here. This has only been possible due to the flexible way I now earn my living.

Now, I love being able to see opportunities and make the most of them. I like the variety of work, and I love being able to control what I do. I relish the fact that I can be really creative in many of my business activities AND enjoy using technology to make the businesses more efficient. I get a real buzz from the lovely women I work with: what I do enables me to link up with some really inspiring women. Most importantly, though, I have the ability to combine work with raising a family with as much flexibility as I need.

If you could give one piece of advice to a mum of a baby or toddler starting a business, what would it be?

When I was dreaming about my business 8 years ago, I wish I’d learnt some of the lessons we shared with the Become a Mumpreneur free e-course. I’d realise sooner that simply offering PR services wasn’t going to work once I had three children. I’d learn about diversifying so my earnings come from several different sources a whole lot earlier, which would have meant that I evened out the financial ups and downs I experienced in the first few years. If you’re thinking about starting up, or in the early days and struggling like I did, join the Become a Mumpreneur free e-course. It could save you making costly mistakes AND free you up to spend more time doing the things you love.

(This post contains an affiliate link)

January 3, 2011

The Results of That Survey…

My New Year’s Resolution is to bring you the most useful content I possibly can. That’s why I launched my survey a couple of weeks ago and I’d like to say a huge thanks to you for taking part.

I started Business Plus Baby about 18 months ago because I had problems finding the information I needed when I wanted to start my own business while on maternity leave. I had a hunch that there were quite a few mums reading this blog with older kids and older businesses, but I was surprised just how many! Most readers have children aged 1 to 3, but there are lots of mums of school-aged children too. Very few of you are actually still starting up, with the vast majority being in your first or second year after launch. Continue reading “The Results of That Survey…”

Recruitment Fair

‘Be Part of The Bigger Picture’: UK-Wide Franchise Launch and 2nd Birthday Party