This might be pretty much old hat to long time Affiliate Marketing Pros, but worth saying for new people that the News is a great way to cash in on what people are currently thinking about. I know as I have taken advantage of the news when doing my promotions for some time now, here is an example that repeats it’s self every year.

Utility Bills on the Rise

Utility Bills are normally going up each year and every time a story breaks about them on the rise, it’s time to email your mailing list or post to the front of your site the ways that consumers can easily switch providers online and save big money. However as a twist to this news story that never goes away, is the number of companies announcing for the first time in ages, price cuts! But fear not as an Affiliate with a large user base I was at hand to take advantage of this twist of fate by, you guessed it, letting my user base know where they can get cheaper bills should they wish to swap to one of the providers that had reduced prices, the joke here is that many customers who swapped a year or two before all of a sudden found themselves switching back to save from the people they originally left in the first place. A triumph for the consumer, a victory for Affiliate Marketers in getting the message out to as many customers as possible with a little (make that big help) from the news.

It is important that you act within days (ideally hours) of the news story breaking so it’s fresh in users minds.

However there is a very important thing to remember, you can not cash in on all news stories, well at least not ethically. For example you won’t find me selling life insurance off the back of a major terrorist attack.

However there is tactful ways to promote items or service people may be interested in after reading or seeing a current news event without actually linking your promotion directly to the event in question. I am sure many a parent has considered tracking devices for there children in light of the coverage the Madeleine McCann* case in Portugal, and as an Affiliate you would have every right to promote such devices and highlight the issues that would make you consider buying such a device however you would be a complete scumbag if you sent out an email or posted a website and associated the product directly with this case as it would be considered tasteless and most merchants would remove you from there program as they wouldn’t want to be associated with that type of coverage.

Basically what I am saying is the news offers many ways to help you promote goods or services but you have to be thoughtful of the story and your promotion and how it will be seen.

* Note: if you been living in a cave, or from a far flung place around the world, Madeleine McCann is a little British girl would was kidnapped whilst on holiday with her family in the Algarve in Portugal, please click here and visit the UK Missing Kids website, take a good look at her face as you can not mistake her right eye and please remember that face, it could be you that helps find her, you never know.