A Comprehensive 22 page Guide that shows you, in detail, exactly how to sell sex toys online with NO blog or website, NO advertising or marketing, and most important, No product inventory, shipping or handling – It is a simple system that anyone can do and start right away – FREE
COPYRIGHT
This document (eBook) created and provided by Sextoyreviews4men.com, “How To Make Money Selling Sex Toys Online” is Copyright ©2010, Sextoyreviews4men.com, All Rights Reserved. This eBook may not be altered in any way. You may not reproduce in whole or part, any portion of this document except as outlined below. You may not distribute this document as your own work. Credit & Copyright to Sextoyreviews4men.com must remain in all distribution, in any format. Trademarks and various product images in this eBook are Copyright(c) of their respective owners.
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INTRODUCTION
Your first reaction may be that of extreme doubt when I suggest that you can sell sex toys, or anything for that matter, without a blog or website, no advertising, and most important no product inventory, shipping or handling – but you can, and it can be very profitable!
The system is very simple and effective, it requires very little time to get started, and you do not have to buy anything from me – ever, and you do not need to buy any software. You will however, have to spend about $85 a year for a domain name and hosting package required to make this system work and help protect your affiliate ID’s. I will get into this a little further in this eBook.
You do not need to be a great writer to make this system work for you, but you will need enough talent to write clearly with reasonably good grammar, and be able to structure a document properly. If you can do this, you can write and publish successful eBooks on sex toys and make good money doing so.
The beauty of this system is the “Set and Forget” aspect of writing eBooks and publishing to a directory. Unlike websites or blogs that require constant updates to stay at the top of search engine results, eBooks are written, published and uploaded – once! eBooks published on the right directories can receive great first page exposure in search engine results. The more reads your eBook gets, the more weight it carries on Google and the higher up the search engine results you climb – Yahoo and Bing don’t seem to notice or track eBook directories so don’t hold your breath with them. This is okay, Google does and they dominate the search engine market with about an 85% market share.
Your eBooks will bring in sales for years to come, and if you are successful, will become increasingly popular resulting in more sales. Even adult eBooks get excellent exposure on the right directories. There is no limit to the number of eBooks you can write or their size. You can write a few pages about individual sex toys, or just one feature of a single sex toy if it is that good – of course, every eBook will have your affiliate links! I personally have found eBooks over 20 pages seem to get more reads. Try both and see what works best for you.
Publishing “FREE” Sex Toy eBooks is what this eBook is all about. That part is easy enough to do, but there are lots of little tricks you will need to learn to make your eBooks successful and encourage people to buy through links contained in your publications. I will take you through each step and explain the importance of each step as we go along.
PLEASE NOTE: Information and instruction in this eBook assumes you are familiar with Microsoft Word, Windows Explorer (File Manager), know how to create folders and sub-folders on your computer, and know what affiliate programs and Internet marketing are about – even if you don’t fully understand the process yet.
The Toyman
So, let’s get started...
WHAT SOFTWARE TO USE FOR EBOOKS?
You do not need any special software to create eBooks as most eBooks are just PDF files. DO NOT waste any money on software for making eBooks. All you need is Microsoft Word, or Pages on the Mac. Don’t have MS Word, get OpenOffice, it is free and works almost identical to MS Office (and is compatible with MS Office documents).
All your editing can be done in word, including insertion of links, which is a simple (right click / insert Hyperlink ). Word has all the features you need for creating eBooks.
Once it looks good in Word (or other editor) and you feel your masterpiece is complete, just save and then export as a PDF file, and your eBook is ready to upload in Word and PDF.
If your version of MS Word does not show a PDF save or export option, go to Microsoft and get the PDF Add-in here (Office 2007 version). OpenOffice has this feature built in.
You can also get the software CutePDF Writer, it is free. It is only for converting to PDF and is not an editor.
If you want software that is designed to create eBooks, and fast, you could purchase the eWriter Pro PDF Creator (windows only) which makes Creating eBooks in PDF format very easy! The price is reasonable at $9.97.
WHAT FILE FORMAT IS BEST?
Many directories like Scribd.com allow you upload in a variety of formats but MS Word is preferred. The PDF File format is universal and accepted on Scribd.com. Create the eBook in Word, then convert to PDF, this way you have both.
The advantage of uploading in PDF is the document will look the same as the original but Scribd.com is the only directory that I am aware of that will accept PDF, the disadvantage is that it limits the number of devices that can display your eBook (this may not be a problem if there is no way your eBook will look good on a small screen used on these devices).
Other directories like Smashwords.com require the original in MS Word, and ideally in the older format “.doc” (Word 97-2003). If you want to submit to Smashwords, you should also consult the style guide from Smashwords before starting your eBook. By following this guide your eBook can be read on more devices and that means a larger audience and more reads.
IMPORTANT TIP: Keep your original Word document as simple as possible and do not use Word’s formatting tags for headers etc – just use simple formatting like “bold, italic, underline, font size and line spacing” to adjust titles, headers etc. Keep images left aligned and wrap text around if possible.
It may seem odd, but if you “do not” need a TOC (Table of Contents) don’t - they do not convert well, and may cause readers more confusion than help. If you need a TOC, keep it simple and do not use the built in features from WORD. Avoid tables and indents as much as possible. This seems to produce the best looking documents after they are “converted” by the directory you upload to.
THE SYSTEM
The basic system is really quite simple – You write eBooks, add affiliate marketing links, publish and distribute (for free) and make sales! While this process is simple and reasonably easy, it will take some work and commitment on your part.
Don’t expect to see dollars rolling in 2 weeks after you publish your first eBook, it can take up to 6 months, maybe a year to see good results and steady sales. How much money you can make will depend on how good you can write, what you write about, how many eBooks you publish, and what affiliate programs you use (I’ll recommend some I use, and why later in this eBook).
These eBooks can be on all sex toys, different categories of sex toys, luxury sex toys, S&M sex toys and so on, anything that you find interesting, and can easily write about will be the best. You can write these eBooks in a review format, erotic writing format or even a technical perspective – or all. Your creative genius (and how many readers you get) will dictate which style is best for you – maybe your own flare and style will work perfectly for you.
In each eBook you write you will include affiliate links to sex toy websites where that sex toy can be purchased, or where the reader can obtain more information on the sex toy, and if they like what they see, decide to buy – you will then receive a commission… and this is our main goal.
This is the basic premise of the system, but there are a number of things you will need to know, as well as writing techniques that you will need to be aware of to get readers to click on your links. You will also need to know the best format to publish your eBooks and where to get them listed for maximum exposure and readership.
I highly recommend you read this entire eBook to make sure you do not miss any critical points that can save you time and money, and most important, maximize your commissions on affiliate sales.
WHAT IS AFFILIATE MARKETING?
If you are familiar with Affiliate Marketing you can skip this section.
Affiliate marketing is a very simple process. Affiliate marketing is a marketing practice in which a business rewards one or more affiliates for each visitor or customer brought to their website (and buys product) by the affiliate's marketing efforts. Examples include rewards sites, where users are rewarded with cash or gifts, for the completion of an offer, and the referral of others to the site. The industry has four core players: the merchant (also known as 'retailer' or 'brand'), the network (if applicable), the publisher (also known as 'the affiliate'), and the customer. Each companies affiliate marketing offer is called their “Affiliate Program”. Some Retailers/Websites have their own Affiliate Programs and others prefer to join networks like Commission Junction, Google Affiliate Network, ShareaSale and so on. I personally prefer Retailers that offer their own program and I explain why later in this eBook.
In simple terms, you send customers to a retailers website you have an affiliate agreement with, if the customer buys a product, you get a commission. However, finding those customers and getting them there is a whole different ball game. It can take years to learn the tricks and tactics used by professional affiliate marketers, and a large sum of money to fund this learning process (this eBook system you are reading is one of these tactics, and in my opinion, one of the best – you can write as many eBooks as you like and it costs nothing besides the domain name and hosting you’ll need).
Later in this document, I will list the best Affiliate Programs to use for sex toy sales (not all are created equal or offer the same commission rates) as well as general affiliate programs and affiliate networks that represent thousands of retailers and allow you to apply to multiple companies from one website. I will also show you how to use redirects via external PHP files to protect your affiliate link ID’s and make your affiliate links look like normal links which will increase click through rates.
WEB HOSTING & A DOMAIN NAME
Two things you must have before you venture forward is a domain name and web hosting. The domain name will be used to provide a base URL to make your affiliate links appear as normal links (also called redirects, masking or cloaking) and increase the number of clicks you will receive (the click through rate - this is the percentage of visitors/readers that click on your links and proceed “through” to the linked website).
When we talk about cloaking links we are not talking about anything Black Hat or illegal, we are simply providing a link that looks normal and hides your affiliate link & ID. This is the URL that appears in the status bar when you place your mouse over a link (sometimes as a tooltip in some browsers).
The web hosting is required to create and store the pages you need to create the cloaked links (redirects). There is a second very important reason for these pages, lets say you decide to send your traffic from the eBooks to a new Sex Toy Store you like better than the one you started out with, you can change affiliate links on these pages instead of in the eBook, if anyone has downloaded your eBook you won’t ever have to worry about the links being outdated and incorrect since the link in the eBook is actually redirected via the pages on the server you are using for hosting. In addition, if you have several eBooks that contain the same product and link to a single redirect (cloaking) page on your server, they will all go to the correct link when you change the affiliate link on that single page!
With hosting in place, you can add future websites if you desire, and install marketing and affiliate software down the road if you decide to expand and try other forms of affiliate marketing. In most cases, web hosts will include one or more free domains with a hosting package and these are the companies we will focus on.
Web Hosting:
To get you going, you will need web hosting for your redirect pages used when you cloak your affiliate links. You may decide to use software to automate this process in the future, and web hosting will be required for this as well – so either way, you need web hosting. For now, creating and hosting pages for redirects is simple and easy to do, and can be done using a simple program like Notepad in Windows.
Later on, your web hosting package can be used to host your blogs, websites and other software if you wish. In any case, you do not need an expensive hosting package – going for a cheap package with a reputable company is fine and will serve you well for many years.
Your web hosting company should use CPanel – this is the web hosting management software of choice. Many automated software tools for Affiliate Marketing are written to work with CPanel. As you gain experience in Affiliate Marketing, you “WILL” want to try these – having a web host that offers CPanel is a must and will not limit your choices later on.
There are only two Hosting Companies I would recommend. Hostgator and Bluehost, both offer tons of features, very low prices and excellent support. If you do not feel you will experiment too much in the future, 1&1 Hosting should be your choice – they have a very user friendly Control Panel.
IMPORTANT: Always choose Linux based hosting. Linux supports all the programming and scripting languages, databases and related software that is free (open source) and high quality. Most software you will want to use in the future will be programmed to run on Linux systems – and it will save you a ton of money.
[#1 Choice] HOSTGATOR @ $4.95 Month (1 Free Domain Name Included)
Unlimited Disk Space / Unlimited Bandwidth
Free SiteBuilder
Easy Control Panel
1-Click Script Installs
4,500 Free Website Templates
99.9% Uptime Guarantee
45 Day Money Back Guarantee
24/7/365 Technical Support
$100 Google AdWords Credit
[#2 Choice] BLUE HOST @ $6.95 Month (1 Free Domain Name Included)
Unlimited Domain Hosting
Unlimited GB Hosting Space / Unlimited GB File Transfer
Unlimited E-mail Accounts
Free Domain Forever
Free Site Builder w/ templates
Secure Shell, SSL, FTP, Stats
CGI, Ruby (RoR), Perl, PHP, MySQL
$50 Free Google AdWords Credit
99.9% Network Uptime Guarantee
[#3 Choice] 1&1 HOSTING @ $3.95 Month (1 Free Domain Name Included)
1&1 offers excellent hosting packages with some of the best deals available, and offers all the same features as Hostgator and Bluehost. In fact I run a Dedicated Server with 1&1 and I am very happy with the service. 1&1’s Control Panel is the easiest to use of all hosting companies and ideal for beginners. However, they use their own proprietary software for their control panel and this can pose problems down the road. You see, once you become an experienced affiliate marketer, you will probably want to start using software to automate many tasks and many of the programs available “DO NOT WORK WITH 1&1’s CONTROL PANEL”. I personally have a hosting package on Hostgator to run a number of programs I use for marketing. For this reason, 1&1 is my third choice.
That said, if you do not think you will use any third party marketing and tracking software for a long time to come, 1&1 is the cheapest and easiest to use of all hosting companies, and they have the lowest prices on hosting and domain names (with free privacy options). Their support is good, not exceptional, but good enough.
For affiliate marketing and related software, I prefer Hostgator myself and they have a 45 day Money Back Guarantee, but check out all three (including 1&1) and decide which one feels best for you.
The free Google Adwords credit in most packages won’t do you much good unless you plan to spend money on advertising and this is not our objective. If you do want to try advertising, wait until you are a seasoned affiliate marketer as most people lose money when they first start using Google Adwords – it has a learning curve!
Unlimited email accounts won’t do you much good either, most people use 2 or 3 max. Most hosting companies offer unlimited bandwidth and hosting space, but again, you will never use much of either when you are first starting out, so this is also not important – however, get a package that includes these unlimited features and you won’t need to worry.
VERY IMPORTANT: Numerous hosting companies offer free domains with their hosting packages, this may sound great but you should know that this is only as long as you keep using that company for hosting the domain – if you cancel your hosting, you lose the domain name. I believe Bluehost lets you keep the domain name, but you should confirm this with them before you buy a package. I am sure Hostgator keeps the domain if you cancel (I haven’t cancelled a package so I am not sure, check with them too if you are concerned). If this is not important to you, and hosting prices are important, go with Hostgator.
Choosing a Domain Name:
Choosing your domain name is important, it should accurately describe what your eBooks or potential future blog/website will be about. Take a look at the samples below:
sextoyguides.org
mysextoyguides.com
mysextoyreviews.org
These names were available at the time this eBook was published (and may still be available if you like them). There is two ways to look at these, the two with “my” in front, add a personal touch, sextoyguides.org is more organization oriented and better if you want to write from a less personal perspective. All will work well when used for affiliate linking. For example, you could create cloaked links as follows:
sextoyguides.org/dildos.php
sextoyguides.org/vibrators.php
mysextoyguides.com/rabbit-vibes.php
mysextoyreviews.org/vibratex-rabbit-vibrator.php
As you can see, the base domains make the links very descriptive and easy to understand. Any type of sex toy fits and the links will not look like an affiliate link. Choose your domain carefully and think about other things you might do with the domain. For example, you might want to market non-adult products and a domain name like “myhowtoguides.org” might be a better option and allow more flexibility using just one domain name, see samples below...
myhowtoguides.org /sextoys/dildos.php
myhowtoguides.org /gardening/rototilling.php
myhowtoguides.org /dance/ballroom/tango.php
As you can see, the last 3 links above work well too, they are not as targeted as the first set, but they work. Personally, I prefer to keep my domains highly targeted and buy extra domains as needed. After all, at about $10 a year, it is a small price to pay and the benefits are worth it.
* Note: The more accurate and targeted the link, the better the click-through rate!
A good tool for checking available domains is NetworkSolutions.com, you can enter multiple domain names and you will get a list showing what is available in the top 15 domain extensions - for each name entered – this is a real time saver! However, Don’t buy your domains on Network Solutions, they are very expensive. If you need extra domains go to 1&1 Domains, they are faster and cheaper than most other sources, $7.99 a year for the most common domain extensions including .com.
Don’t worry about buying domain names from other companies like 1&1, they can point your domains to the Hostgator or Bluehost servers if you use them, and this is easy to do.
VERY IMPORTANT: When you buy a domain name for use in the adult industry, make sure you can have it set to “Private” Registration. In this way, when anyone does a WHOIS lookup, your personal information will not show up for public viewing. I know 1&1 offers this free and is easily done in your Control Panel, but the other domain registrars like GoDaddy charge extra for this.
Now let’s have a look at the steps in developing your eBooks, after that we will look at affiliate links, then selecting and working with affiliate programs.
EBOOK TITLE, DESCRIPTION & COVER IMAGE
Both of these elements are critical in attracting readers to your eBook. Take some time and browse through Scribd.com and you’ll see that eBooks with a good title and description get lots of readers. Having an eye-catching image for a cover helps to draw their attention initially, but the title and description is what will grab their interest and get them to read your eBook – and click on links.
The Title:
Take your time when it comes to choosing a title. Just as in real world hard cover publishing, a title can make or break a books success. Browse different eBook directories for ideas and styles, and pay close attention to eBook titles that have lots of reads and downloads. You don’t need a title until you are ready to publish so it can be done after you finish writing the eBook – your choice.
In advertisements and marketing copy, people are always attracted to titles that suggest solutions or provide a perceived sense of potential fulfilment. Catchy phrases like “How To...”,” The Secret to...”, “Learn The Secrets of...” are all very common elements of book titles and marketing copy and you should pay close attention to these when considering a title – if they can be applied to your eBook.
A cool feature of writing eBooks and publishing to directories like Scribd.com, is that you can change the title after the book is uploaded (check each directory you plan to use prior to upload to make sure they allow changes afterwards)– if your first choice is not attracting readers, try changing the title and upload the revised version. If that does not do the trick, follow with changes to your description and see what happens.
The Description:
When you go to publish your eBook, you are usually allowed to add a short description that appears with the title and a thumbnail of your eBook. This description is one of the most important parts of attracting readers and you should spend some time getting this right! The description should intrigue the reader and create a desire to read your eBook. As with titles and cover images, you can change this at any time after your eBook is uploaded to a directory. Experiment with this until you are getting a good response and readership for your eBook.
The Cover Image:
While this is the least important aspect of successful eBook publishing, it is still very important. When your readers are presented with a page full of eBook thumbnail images, the most vibrant and eye-catching images are going to attract them first. You want to be sure that your eBook is noticed and a good cover is crucial, you must get their attention and then draw them in with an excellent title and description.
In most cases, thumbnails are created by the directory from the cover image of your eBook. If you are stuck for ideas, browse various directories and make note of what attracts you and why. Appeal is only good if it makes you want to dig deeper and read the eBook, so look for designs that intrigue versus appeal alone.
If you suck at graphic design, see if a friend can whip up a good design. Failing that, you can always outsource the work overseas in India, the Philippines and Western Europe – check oDesk.com for more info. The prices can be low if you search the listings carefully.
WRITING FOR SALES
Writing eBooks with the intent to sell via links in your content will take practice, creativity and focus. I won’t kid you on this one, it takes time and research to master writing for sales. There are 1000’s of books written on how to write excellent marketing copy that converts into sales, and this fact alone should tell you it is not easy, so don’t get discouraged if it takes you a bit to get the hang of things – with a little practice and research, you will be writing eBooks that convert into sales in no time at all.
Don’t try and write a novel for your first eBook, start with a 2 or 3 page eBook on one group of sex toys or maybe on sex toy materials or ?? and expand as you feel more confident.
What Will You Write About - Planning Ahead:
When we write eBooks for the purpose of selling, we are marketing, in this case, affiliate marketing. Effective marketing is all about planning and targeting, and it is vital that you layout your marketing plans before you start writing your first eBook.
For example, you may wish to write reviews on luxury sex toys. You should have a plan and know how you will publish this content. See below for a very basic sample publishing schedule:
eBook 1: (3 to 6 pages)
An overview of sex toys, cheap ones, average and top quality, the sex toy materials used, what to avoid and what to look for.
This first book would allow for a natural lead into valid reasons to purchase high quality and luxury sex toys and sets the stage for your next eBook. Links in this book can go to products or a retailer website that meets the “Safe & High Quality Criteria”
eBook 2:
This second book might focus on high quality vibrators made from medical grade silicone.
Or
You may wish to make this eBook all about High Quality Luxury Vibrators
eBook 3:
This third book might focus on high quality vibrators made from Stainless Steel or other high quality metals including gold.
Or
You may wish to make this eBook all about High Quality Luxury Dildos
I won’t go further than this as it should be apparent that you can see the sequence of eBooks that you can create. In a market with 1000’s of high quality sex toys, you should easily be able to write 20 to 30 eBooks on luxury sex toys alone.
The above is just an example of how to start planning the eBooks you’ll write and the focus. If you were writing erotica, you might start with simple ways to tantalize a partner and slowly lead the reader into more explicit content with future eBooks – each one of course involves products that enhance sexual intimacy and pleasure such as body butters, oils, candles etc., followed later with eBooks that lead into sex toys.
It is important to keep “Products” in mind at all times when you write content. Doing so will allow you to develop a natural ability to see opportunity for insertion of a product link or modifying a sentence to make a link fit without it looking obvious – that is one of the secrets to effective sales writing online (sales copy).
Learning this new way of writing will also help you develop your marketing plans and eBooks with more skill and better conversions. And I will say again, don’t be too hard on yourself in the beginning, one or two sales in the first month would be fantastic – more sales will come as you gain experience and publish more eBooks.
The Content:
I won’t get into how to write your content or what style to use, that is a personal thing and there are lots of resources online to help you organize and develop your “own” writing skills. I will just recommend that you start reading other eBooks and pay close attention to the ones that appeal to you and are easy to follow and read.
In my opinion a good eBook has:
Good Cover Page
Table of Contents
Introduction
The Content
Summary
Further Resources (affiliate links of course)
Beyond the above suggestions, the way you layout and write your eBooks is completely up to you – Experiment and find what converts well, and keeps readers coming back for more.
In the next section, I will get into how to structure parts of your content for affiliate links and how they should be inserted.
How & Where To Insert Links:
As mentioned earlier, it is important to always think about how your content can lead to, or provide opportunity to insert links for products from your affiliate programs. I will show you two identical articles below, one good, and one bad (revised from good version) so you can get a good idea of how to do so with your own writing (links in these examples are not active).
The Right Way: (Article pulled from the Internet)
< START OF ARTICLE >
Y
ou
vibe, me vibe, WE VIBE! The We
Vibe
is a funny looking adult toy that has developed a huge following
since it was released. After trying it, I now understand what all of
the buzz is about (no pun intended!) You can use the We Vibe by
yourself with a dildo, but it is obvious that this toy was made for
couples! After all, it is the first internal vibrator designed to be
worn during intercourse! I have to admit, I was a little perplexed by
the first images of the We
Vibe
and had absolutely no idea how big it was or how it worked. Now that
I have seen it and had the pleasure of playing with it, I have some
details to share that I hope will help you better understand this fun
toy!
It is small and quiet! In pictures it is almost impossible to get a feel for the size of this toy, but its total length is 3.25” with the widest point being 1” wide and the bendable U part of it only being .25 wide. Having said that, don’t assume that this is some wimpy little vibrator. It has two virtually silent separate vibrators, one for clitoral vibration and one for g-spot vibration.
Experiment on your own! Although it is easy and intuitive to use, I do suggest you try this out on your own first to get a feel for how it works, what it feels like, and how it might best work for you and your partner. So here comes the fun part….after you charge your We Vibe, get your favorite personal lubricant, and experiment. It is designed so one end of the We Vibe slips inside your vagina for g-spot stimulation and the other end rests on your clitoris. (We do suggest you turn on the We Vibe before inserting.) Tension holds this toy in place, but if you are interested in some hands free fun, simply pull on a tight pair of underwear and enjoy!
The couple that plays together…has lots of fun!! What is so great about the We Vibe is that it is meant to be used with a partner and it works! Simply slip the WeVibe in, and enjoy clitoral and g-spot stimulation during intercourse. What’s better than the feel of your partner with the added bonus of vibration in all the right places? Don’t worry guys, aside from pleasing her even more, you get the added bonus of vibration too! Experiment with different positions. Woman on top positions allow for manual movement of the vibrating pad on the clitoris for those of you who like a little bit more movement in your clitoral stimulation.
We Vibe Tips and Tricks!
Use lubricant! Adult toys always feel better for both of you with lubricant.
It can be used with a condom.
Girls, press your body against him so he not only feels the g-spot vibration inside, but the external vibrator also.
We’re not saying you won’t notice it is there, but it isn’t uncomfortable, just different feeling. We can tell you that after the first time around the block with this toy you get used to the feel and look forward to your next We Vibe encounter!
Where to purchase the We Vibe? Visit Babeland.com for the best prices and additional information.
< END OF ARTICLE >
What makes this article good is the natural insertion of links where a user is likely to have enough interest to click on the links. It is good practice to have a link early in the article and then only where it makes sense after that. Do not over do links, to many and you distract from the article and it becomes irritating, the right amount should provide links “As a Service to the Reader” – in other words, enough links to make it easy for the reader to find out more about the product, or buy it, but not so many that the article screams “CLICK ME, PLEASE CLICK ME SO I CAN MAKE SOME MONEY”.
Experiment with the links at the end of a product review or article. Depending on your writing style, this may work for you or against – test one eBook with this type of link, and another without to find out what converts the best! Don’t make this text bold, it can be considered too pushy.
Don’t forget to link images with your affiliate links, many blogs and eBooks overlook this obvious opportunity and miss out on potential sales - and many people do try clicking on images – make these work to your advantage and give readers that little hand that tells them clicking on the image will provide more info.
THE WRONG WAY: (Same Article Revised)
< START OF ARTICLE >
You
vibe, me vibe, WE VIBE! The We
Vibe is a funny looking adult toy, available at Babeland.com,
it has developed a huge following since it was released. After trying
it, I now understand what all of the buzz is about (no pun intended!)
You can use the WeVibe by yourself with a dildo, but it is obvious
that this toy was made for couples! After all, it is the first
internal vibrator designed to be worn during intercourse! I have to
admit, I was a little perplexed by the first images of the We Vibe
and had absolutely no idea how big it was or how it worked. Now that
I have seen it and had the pleasure of playing with it, I have some
details to share that I hope will help you better understand this fun
toy!
It is small and quiet! In pictures it is almost impossible to get a feel for the size of this toy, but its total length is 3.25” with the widest point being 1” wide and the bendable U part of it only being .25 wide. Having said that, don’t assume that this is some wimpy little vibrator. It has two virtually silent separate vibrators, one for clitoral vibration and one for g-spot vibration.
Experiment on your own! Although it is easy and intuitive to use, I do suggest you try this out on your own first to get a feel for how it works, what it feels like, and how it might best work for you and your partner. So here comes the fun part….after you charge your We Vibe, get your favourite personal lubricant at Babeland.com, and experiment. It is designed so one end of the We Vibe slips inside your vagina for g-spot stimulation and the other end rests on your clitoris. (We do suggest you turn on the We Vibe before inserting.) Tension holds this toy in place, but if you are interested in some hands free fun, simply pull on a tight pair of underwear and enjoy!
The couple that plays together…has lots of fun!! What is so great about the We Vibe is that it is meant to be used with a partner and it works! Simply slip the WeVibe in, and enjoy clitoral and g-spot stimulation during intercourse. What’s better than the feel of your partner with the added bonus of vibration in all the right places? Don’t worry guys, aside from pleasing her even more, you get the added bonus of vibration too! Experiment with different positions. Woman on top positions allow for manual movement of the vibrating pad on the clitoris for those of you who like a little bit more movement in your clitoral stimulation.
We Vibe Tips and Tricks!
Use lubricant! Adult toys always feel better for both of you with lubricant.
It can be used with a condom.
Girls, press your body against him so he not only feels the g-spot vibration inside, but the external vibrator also.
We’re not saying you won’t notice it is there, but it isn’t uncomfortable, just different feeling. We can tell you that after the first time around the block with this toy you get used to the feel and look forward to your next We Vibe encounter!
I Recommend Buying the We Vibe on Babeland.com
< END OF ARTICLE >
Although it is difficult to make a good article bad, I have used some blatantly obvious links to demonstrate what makes for “BAD” linking. In this article I use the retailer’s website URL for the sex toy company versus the sex toy name and product types. In most cases, readers avoid links that indicate they will go directly to an online store, whereas links using product names are more likely to be perceived as a link to more information and will get higher click through rates.
End of article links should avoid telling the reader what to do, such as “buy” or “buying”. It is like saying, if you click here, you should buy here and few people like being pushed into a sale – no different than a pushy sales person at your local mall or car dealer. It is always best to inform the reader, encourage and entice, and then let their own curiosity and interest lead them to a sale with a subtle link to the product.
IMPORTANT: When writing and inserting links, think about the pushy car dealer versus the very helpful sales person at the local paint store, the one that took time to provide some great tips to make your paint job easier, showed interest in your project and recommend various options – even though you never bought paint. Chances are, when you do buy some paint, you will go back to that store to buy your paint – even if the price is a little higher than the big chain outlets. Selling online is very similar, come across like you wish to inform and share, trust will build and the sales should follow.
AFFILIATE LINKS
Every affiliate program you sign up with will use different link structures. This is not a big deal, a link is a link. Some retailers make it easy to get links for their products, for others it may take some time to figure out, and some retailers use software for their affiliate programs that make it downright difficult. Don’t worry, further on in this eBook I will list the best retailers for product selection, conversion ratios, high commissions, reliable payment and how easy it is to get affiliate links for their products.
After you sign up with a number of affiliate programs, the first thing you will notice is how strange their links can look compared to normal links. Some are 100+ characters long and can include letters, numbers, symbols and so on. To the average person, this may be cause for concern, especially when you consider the fear these days of picking up viruses, spyware or adware when visiting websites. A strange looking URL in their status bar might be enough to deter them from clicking on the link – and many people do look at their status bar before clicking.
You can buy software to cloak your links but they usually are made to work with blogs or websites hosted on “your” server, and not an eBook uploaded to a directory such as Scribd.com, where you have no control over their server and the software they use. So for eBooks, we will use PHP Redirects which work great.
What is PHP? It is a scripting Programming language, but there is no need to worry about it, you won’t have to do anything for these Redirects other than create a small file for each link and it is very easy to do. After you create these files, you will upload them to your domain on the hosting package you purchase or already have.
Regular Affiliate Links vs. Cloaked Links (redirects):
First let us take a look at a regular affiliate link. The one below is from one of my affiliate programs. As you can see, it is not user friendly, and might have some people question whether they should click on it since it does not show clearly what it is, or where it goes. This one is short compared to some I use.
http://www.tkqlhce.com/1n104wktqks7C9ACE9G7988FC9DF
Now, there is a way to make this look good and appear to be part of your eBook (matching the footer on pages) or website if you had one. Let’s assume you have a domain name called “mysextoyreviews.com” and you already have a hosting package, or just purchased one. You could make the following link for the We Vibe vibrator. REMEMBER, this is what appears in the users status bar (or tooltip in PDF files), not the actual appearance of the link highlighted in the content of your eBook.
http://mysextoyreviews.com/wevibe.php
or
http://mysextoyreviews.com/vibrators/ wevibe.php
In the first sample we are putting the PHP file in the main folder for your domain name, but this can get messy if you plan to write about hundreds or thousands of products. You may also wish to use this domain for a blog or website in the future and having all these files in your main folder will cause problems (for organization that is).
In the later example above we have created a folder on your host server called “vibrators” and placed the PHP file in this folder. You could expand on this and start with a folder called “links” and then the category for that sex toy and it would look like this:
http://mysextoyreviews.com/links/vibrators/wevibe.php
In my opinion, this final structure is best and will keep files on your host server tidy and easier to work with. Of course, you do not need to use the names I use, “links” could be “sextoys” or “pages”, whatever works best for you.
These new links (URL’s) are your cloaked links, better known as “Redirects”. It is these links that you will use when turning words in your eBook into links (in MS Word or OpenOffice they are called Hyperlinks). The actual link will be determined by how you setup folders on your hosting server and what name you give the PHP files for each product.
How To Create The PHP Redirect Files:
Creating the PHP files for these redirects is much easier than you may think. Just remember that you must use a text editor like Notepad or a similar “text” editor only. If you have it, you can also use Adobe Dreamweaver or similar editor, but... DO NOT USE WORD, WORD PAD or similar program as they add hidden characters that will stop the files from working correctly, if at all.
Copy the red text below and paste it into your text editor:
<?php header( 'Location: http://youraffiliatelinkhere' ) ;?>
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd">
<html><head><title></title></head><body></body>
</html>
Replace [http://youraffiliatelinkhere] with your affiliate link for the product or page you are linking to.
Using my affiliate link in the previous section, this text (code) should now look like the following:
<?php header( 'Location: http://www.tkqlhce.com/1n104wktqks7C9ACE9G7988FC9DF’) ;?>
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd">
<html><head><title></title></head><body></body>
</html>
Make sure the single quotation [‘] remains after the link, if you remove this, the code will not work.
After you have done this, save the file using the name you have selected for that product. In this case it is the We Vibe, so we will save the file on your computer as: “wevibe.php” (make sure you save the file with the .php extension and not “.txt” which Notepad will do by default).
Repeat this process for as many products as you want. Once you have these files done (or create them as you go), you will upload them to your server using a FTP program (file transfer protocol), which is a software program use to transfer files to your hosting server.
If you use a program like Dreamweaver to create or edit these files, you can upload directly from with Dreamweaver (or similar program).
FPT Software:
I use SmartFTP, it is free, reliable and works much like Windows Explorer (file manager) on Windows. Go to this page on smartftp.com, download and install the software.
It is not within the scope (and space) of this eBook to get into the setup and use of the software, but it is not too complicated. Check the SmartFTP Tutorials Here for information on how to use the software.
For setting up the connection to your hosting server from the FTP Program, ask your hosting server, they will have this information (URL, password and username etc.).
Once you get the hang of it, SmartFTP is as easy to use as Explorer on Windows.
THE BEST AFFILIATE PROGRAMS FOR SEX TOYS
Choosing the best affiliate programs from Sex Toy Retailers is critical to your success and ability to make as much money as possible. Not all are created equally, commission rates vary and the quality of their affiliate programs can vary just as much.
For example, a high commission rate means nothing if the design and layout of the retailer website does not convert the visitors you send into sales. You might do much better at a lower commission rate if the affiliate program provides excellent tools and better conversion ratios.
I have tried every affiliate program from all the well known Sex Toy Retailers. I have used Pay Per Click (Google Adwords etc.) and numerous other methods to attract and send traffic to these sites, including organic traffic through search engines. This has allowed me to determine which ones convert the best, and judge how well the tools from these affiliate programs work. By Tools, I mean banner and link generators, hosted websites and so on.
Below is a breakdown of the best known Companies, their affiliate programs and the conversions ratios I experienced in their use (Your conversion ratios may vary subject to the quality of your eBook, writing style etc.). These are listed from the best to the worst.
All affiliate programs are all free to signup!
Babeland.com: #1 Choice
Rating: 5 STARS
Commission: 20%
Average Conversion Ratio: 1:110 (1 sale for every 110 visitors - which is very good in sex toy sales)
Sex Toy Inventory: Good (they carry all the top brands as well as regular low priced sex toys)
Quality of Website: Good, simple and easy to navigate. Professional design and an extensive amount of product related information with lots of helpful advice for visitors.
Affiliate Tools: Good, but not within the Admin Panel (limited banner ads, excellent link building tool – build links in seconds for any page on their website).
Affiliate Support: Very Good. Fast response to affiliate requests
Affiliate Admin Panel: Poor. Lacks features and tools. There website offers better tools – use their main website for information, link building and banners.
Payout Reliability: Very Good
Babeland is my favourite. They have built an excellent reputation in the sex toy business for quality, expertise and reliability. They offer a top quality line of products, have a good website and the best conversion ratios of all the sex toy affiliate programs I have tested.
If your target audience is primarily female, Babeland.com should be your first choice for your sex toy affiliate program. Their site design and company philosophy leans toward female customers. Products for men are available and selection is reasonable. If you need a larger selection of sex toys, check Edenfantasys below.
For additional information, affiliate signup form for the Babeland.com website, Click Here to View The babeland.com Affiliate Program and Signup if you like what they offer.
Edenfantasys.com: #2 Choice
Rating: 4.5 STARS
Commission: 20%
Average Conversion Ratio: 1:150 (1 sale for every 150 visitors – above average)
Sex Toy Inventory: Excellent (they carry all the top brands as well as regular low priced sex toys)
Quality of Website: Excellent! Very nicely designed professional website. Simple and easy to navigate with an extensive amount of product related information. Not as effective for conversions as Babeland and I believe this is a result of “too much choice” syndrome (product overload can sometimes result in no sale due to indecision on the customers part).
Affiliate Tools: Excellent! They offer an amazing amount of tools and widgets to work with (similar to Amazon’s tools). No build your store feature.
Affiliate Support: Reasonable. Average response time to affiliate requests 24 to 48 hours
Affiliate Admin Panel: Very good. Lots of features and tools.
Payout Reliability: Very Good
Like Babeland, Edenfantasys.com has built a strong brand, with a reputation for exceptional product selection, amazing website and great customer service. You will not find a better selection anywhere!
Where they fall short, is in conversions. In my experience it takes almost 50% more visitors (1:150) than with Babeland.com to make a sale. I personally feel this is due to product overload, where visitors with too much selection actually have a harder time deciding what to buy, and leave the site thinking they will finish or place an order at a later date – never to return. For this reason, I gave them 4.5 stars.
If you need an extensive selection of sex toys for both women and men, Edenfantasy.com is #1 and is the program I would use. Click Here to View The Edenfantasy.com Affiliate Program and Signup if you like what they offer.
SexToyFun.com: #3 Choice
Rating: 3.5 STARS
Commission: 25%
Average Conversion Ratio: 1:220 (1 sale for every 220 visitors – average)
Sex Toy Inventory: Excellent (they carry all the top brands as well as regular sex toys)
Quality of Website: Good! Well designed professional website. Simple and easy to navigate. Prices can be a little higher than other sex toy websites for some products.
Affiliate Tools: Good. Banners could be better. A very good “Build Your Own” store feature. Link building is easy.
Affiliate Support: Average. Response time to affiliate requests 24 to 72 hours
Affiliate Admin Panel: Average. Easy to use with good features.
Payout Reliability: Excellent
If you’ve heard about Sex Toy Dave, this is his company and his success is in the marketing and sheer number of sex toys offered on his company’s website. He knows what he is doing and is a master at getting his Company’s name in the news. SexToyFun.com provides good commissions, great affiliate tools for building your own store and an easy to use affiliate administration panel.
Sextoyfun.com carries all major brands of sex toys including, but not limited to, Lelo, Fun Factory, Tantus, Kama Sutra, Vibratex, Ophoria, Fleshlight, Rude-Boy and many more. If it is made, they probably carry it. Their prices are not the lowest on all sex toys and this may be why conversion ratios average 1:220 – highest of the three affiliate programs.
If you want to have your own store, this is the affiliate program to use. However, in my experience, this program has been the least productive and profitable of the three I have listed. That is not to say your results will be the same – But I would try Babeland.com or Edenfantasy.com first.
Sextoyfun.com is a good affiliate program and I highly recommend using them if you do not have success with Babeland or Edenfantasy (it is always possible Sextoyfun.com may produce better results in relation to your eBook content and writing style). Click Here to View The Sextoyfun.com Affiliate Program and Signup if you like what they offer.
Other Sex Toy Affiliate Programs:
You may be tempted to try other affiliate programs from companies like Adam & Eve (adameve.com) or even Amazon, but I would not bother. Amazon commission and conversion ratios on sex toys are terrible. I have used Adameve.com and conversion ratios were above 1:300 and they do not carry much in the way of high quality sex toys – this is not a recipe for success.
Stick with Babeland, Edenfantasys or Sextoyfun and you should do well. The others “may” work for you, but in all reality, you would just be reinventing the wheel and wasting valuable time finding out what I, and many other affiliates already know – they do not convert as well. These conversion ratios are the most important aspect of affiliate sales – it is what makes you money in affiliate marketing.
WHERE TO PUBLISH YOUR EBOOKS?
The #1 eBook directory to publish your eBooks is Scribd.com. Scribd is very easy to use, accepts adult content (within reason), and there is usually no delay in publishing your eBook. Keep in mind that Google pays close attention to eBooks published on Scribd.com and will place links to your eBook on their search engine results if keywords match those in your eBook. The more reads you get, the more likely your eBook will make it the first page of Google’s search results for related keywords – this is a big deal and can help increase reads and sales!
UPDATE: Don’t underestimate the power of Scribd.com – this ebook showed up on page 1 of Google’s search results for the search term “How To Make Money Selling Sex Toys Online” and “Make Money Selling Sex Toys Online” and top of page 2 for “Make Money Selling Sex Toys” – all within 6 hours of uploading to Scribd.com
To get started on Scribd.com, open an account under the username of your choice (you could consider this your eBook Pen Name). The instructions on Scribd.com are very easy to follow. Make sure you have a good description ready, after that, It should take no more than 30 minutes to get your first eBook uploaded and available for people to read or download.
In addition to Scribd.com, you can check out the following eBook directory
An established eBook directory that allows you to publish your eBooks for free. Your eBooks can be sold or given away for free. Original files for upload must be in MS Word format. Adult content is allowed. Smashwords offers a free style guide to help make sure your eBook follows their guidelines.
These two sites will provide a good start and will provide plenty of traffic. As you write more eBooks keep your eyes open for additional sites to publish your eBooks on – new directories are starting up all the time.
FINAL WORD
While this eBook only touches on how to publish eBooks, I hope this eBook has provided you with enough information to get started publishing you own eBooks on sex toys (or other subjects) and make you money in the near future.
If you are really serious about writing eBooks for profit, you may wish to do more research, maybe purchase some ebooks, software or courses. You may even begin to publish eBooks that you can sell. You never know where the future takes you.
Below are some additional resources that you may wish to check out...
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
The following resources are not free. These are eBooks, software and products to help you learn and create professional eBooks and related information products.
Essential tools, tips, checklists & tests to help you make a fulltime & lifetime income as a non-fiction author. Quickly & easily write the book, internet marketing, getting published, self-publishing, ebooks, distribution, Pod - 212 packed pages $25.00
Make money creating your own ebooks with eWriterPro software - Its Built-In Word Processor And PDF-Converter Make Creating eBooks A Breeze! $9.97
A 2 Hour Audio Course Reveals The Secrets To Creating A Successful Viral EBook. Learn how to get people to download your eBook, read it and respond to your offers inside so you can actually make more money! $47.00
If you are interested in serious eBook marketing you may want to invest in this 6 Week Product Creation Course on selling digital information products. $97.00
DISCLAIMER
Sextoyreviews4men.com, the Author/Publisher of this eBook is not associated in any way with the Companies, Retailers or Software noted in this eBook except for possible affiliate linking to software, programs, websites, information, products and promotions. Trademarks and various product images in this eBook are Copyright(c) of their respective owners. Reproduction of any material without written permission is strictly prohibited. All opinions, statements, images, information in this eBook are based on personal testing and data collected and the Internet. All information is provided as a guide only and your own personal experience, results and satisfaction may vary from the information contained within this eBook -This eBook, and its owner(s), provide no warranty, accept no liability, and make no representation as to the suitability of information and links provided for any use.