Easy way to get user-generated content

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How to encourage your visitors to interact with your site
Associate Programs Newsletter #302
Do you want your website to encourage user-generated content? Do you want a great new way to help you connect with your site's visitors?

Remember, you need to connect with your visitors before you can sell.
      
This is what they call a no-brainer.
CONTENTS:
1. User-generated ray of sunshine
2. Do you want to comment?
3. Video affiliate system should boost sales
4. Thought for today: How high?

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1. User-generated ray of sunshine
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Here's a little ray of sunshine - a really easy way to encourage your website visitors to add unique, topical content to your site.
More good content equals more traffic. More traffic equals more dollars.
It's not a forum. It's not a blog.
It's a simple way of allowing people to comment on the articles or newsletters you publish on your site.
I love it.
Robert Blackstone's new script makes it easy for you to publish a form inviting comments at the bottom of every article.
It's a bit like the comments form you've probably seen on Matt Cutts' blog and other blogs.
I'm sure you can see how useful this is.
Robert uses this equation to explain the value of article comments:
More Content = More Repeat & SE Traffic = More $$
However, there's a whole lot more to it...

* Article comments enable you to receive quick feedback from your readers, so you can easily see which of your articles strike a chord and which ones are flops. If one particular article is a raving success, you can publish more articles on that topic.

* Your readers will interact with you more. They'll realise you appreciate their views. This is SO important. To sell or PREsell, you MUST make a connection with your readers. Encouraging them to have their say helps build a strong connection.

* Publishing feedback makes your site more interesting. It's not just YOUR opinion any more. You're creating a dynamic, "live" site. Because your site is more interesting, readers are likely to stay on the site longer. Search engines like sites on which readers stay more than a few seconds.
* Search engines also love sites which are updated frequently. Your readers can help you "update" pages all over your site.

* Are you using PLR articles? Perhaps you haven't done quite enough rewriting to make them truly unique. If a few friends add comments to your PLR articles, this will help make your pages unique - another good thing from an SEO point of view.

* Many people enjoy helping other people - and some love showing off their knowledge. Allowing article comments satisfies both groups while improving your site.


Most blogs allow visitors to comment on posts. If you're using a content management system (CMS) you may already have a system which enables article comments.
But what about all the other ordinary sites?
Do you want to go through the hassle of switching all your sites over to a blog or a CMS system? Probably not.
With Robert's script, you get the benefits of user-generated content without the hassle of a complex site conversion.
Several years ago, my friend Jim Reardon suggested I ought to introduce some way for readers to comment on my newsletters. At the time, I put his idea in the too-hard basket.
Now, six or seven years later, we've finally done it. We recently introduced a comments facility on AssociatePrograms.com and I love it.
It's fun writing a newsletter and then an hour or so later checking to see what readers think of what I've written.
On AssociatePrograms.com, I've chosen to moderate the comments. I've found that on average about one in every 20 or 30 comments is spammy junk not worth publishing.
Robert's script works in a similar way. It also has a few features which make it better than our comments tool, giving the site owner more choices. (Robert's tool wasn't on the market when we created our new system.)
My experience with article comments is new and fairly limited, but already I'm a convert.
Here are two recent examples on our site.
We published an article on affiliate datefeeds:
An insider's tips on affiliate datafeed sites
http://www.associateprograms.com/articles/434/1/Affiliate-datafeed-sites
Readers commented on the article, providing links to a couple of useful resources - DataFeedFile.com and FeedShare.com -  thus making the article more useful. (With Robert's script, you can choose whether to allow HTML, which would make links active. I've chosen not to because I don't want to encourage spammers hoping for a free link.)
Another example is a newsletter I wrote the other day about how to be your own BS detector. My wife, Joanna, worried that readers would be offended, urged me to remove the term "BS". I went ahead - http://www.associateprograms.com/articles/493/1/Seven-ways-to-be-your-own-BS-detector
That newsletter has received 50 thoughtful comments, making the page much more interesting for readers. I'm very grateful to everyone who took the time to add a comment. I really appreciate the feedback.
If my next newsletter receives zero comments, I'll know I need to brush up on my writing skills.
The thing I like most about Robert's new tool is that it encourages the creation of genuinely UNIQUE, relevant content, written specially about your website.
As the Internet becomes more and more flooded with duplicate junk, it's nice to see someone who's doing something positive.
If you're planning a serious business future in which the search engines treat you well, you HAVE to think about genuinely unique content.
Robert's script helps you create unique content.
It's easy to install.
The script should work on any web host that supports SSI (server side includes) and/or PHP. "Most do these days, but it wouldn't hurt to double check," Robert says.
He provides full instructions and support on how to get it up and running.
Robert's a good guy and a friend. You can trust him to look after you.
The script is very modestly priced - excellent value - and you're allowed to use it on as many sites as you like.
I recommend you grab it now before Robert raises the price.
http://www.AssociatePrograms.com/instant-comments

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2. Do you want to comment?
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We have article comments software on AssociatePrograms.com, so you can have your say on any article.
You can comment on this newsletter right now, at the bottom of this newsletter.
I love receiving feedback on articles. Good or bad, it's all helpful.

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3. Video affiliate system should boost sales
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Affiliate merchants, I reckon you'll see the huge potential in this...
You can now invite your affiliates to place your videos on their websites - with their affiliate links embedded in them.
Joe Chapuis, who's been marketing full-time online since 1996, has created a video affiliate system.
It enables affiliate merchants to combine web video with any affiliate program.
Here's how Joe explains it - a quick overview:
1. You sell widgets.
2. You have an affiliate program.
3. You create one or more web videos to promote your widgets.
4. Using the Video Affiliate System, you can invite your affiliates to add your videos to their sites.
5. You provide your affiliates with simple instructions for adding to their sites a video player which is embedded with their affiliate links.
6. Clicking on one of the hotspot links built into the player sends traffic to you, the merchant, via an affiliate link.
7. All transactions are tracked by your affiliate program as usual.
"When your affiliates add your videos to their sites, your web video players are transformed into eye-catching, attention-grabbing affiliate links that will drive tons of targetted to traffic to your site," Joe says.
You and your affiliates need do only three simple things to make it happen.
The video affiliate system is one of the video tools available in a new membership site Joe has launched. The membership site is for anyone who wants to put video on their site. You can try it risk-free for 14 days.
This has exciting possibilities.
Find out more here...
http://www.AssociatePrograms.com/video-system

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4. Thought for today: How high?
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"Nurture your mind with great thoughts, for you will never go any higher than you think." - Benjamin Disraeli