One of the foremost methods to stay in the know on your niche and profit potential is to know your affiliate partners. Monitoring your merchants is something every affiliate should do on a regular basis.

My preferred method is Google Alerts

Google enables you to subscribe to receive updates on companies and keywords with Google Alerts – also known as email updates based on the latest search results as they pertain to your choice of topics.

When setting up your alerts, you are given the option to receive updates for keyword terms you select when they are mentioned in blogs, news, regular Google results and even Google Groups.

Each morning, over my first cup of coffee, I review my alerts for the latest mentions on my 10+ choice terms based on the niches I am actively involved in. I’ve also set my alerts to notify me as the mentions happen. I prefer getting my updates immediately verses being the ‘Lucy Come Lately’ on a hot topic or trend.

Additionally, I’ve set up alerts for individual affiliates and products. I set these alerts to be received once per day.

As an example: My morning coffee alert reads may include the niche topic “dating” or “relationships” while the individual merchant alerts may include mentions of Match.com, eHarmony, PerfectMatch, etc.

This is a great, free tool to keep an eye on important announcements for niches, companies, brands or products you promote, as well staying abreast of all the positive and negative opinions as they are making their way to the world wide web.

As an added bonus, these handy alerts cut through those days when you may struggle most with writer’s block!

Cool huh?

Visit http://www.google.com/alerts

Have an opinion? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Image: Google

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My Comment Commitment: If you leave an approved comment on any of my posts, I will visit your blog and “share it” in some way whether on StumbleUpon, Twitter or Facebook depending on if I can find a nice fit.

As most people are aware, I have or write for several blogs spanning a wide range of topics. One of the most common questions I hear is “Where do you find topics and ideas?”

It’s not any great secret because most everything is available for free and actually, it’s right under your nose.

The following are my own personal tools for staying abreast of hot topics and content ideas:

1. Google Alerts – I love Google Alerts! Google tracks the web for topics and sends new Google results by daily email right to my account.

2. Yahoo Answers – This is a great place where people ask each other questions on any topic, and get answers by sharing facts, opinions, and personal experiences. You’re able to see what people are most interested in on a variety of niche topics.

3. Netscape – Netscape keeps a running list of the hottest stories of the day as voted by the people who read them. With channels in the sidebar broken down into just about every topic I cover, it makes finding content super easy and most times, I’m finding new bloggers within my niche that I can buddy up with.

4. Yahoo Buzz – Yahoo Buzz is a day-to-day eye on what the world is searching for. You’ll find a breakdown of actors, sports, video games and much more. Try to incorporate at least one of the top movers into your post. It’s great for the traffic flow!

5. Technorati – I like to keep my eye on Technorati’s Popular list. The entire page is filled with popular videos, news, movies, searches and more. You’re bound to find an idea or two (and some linking options) with the popular list.

Now you know my early morning routine! A couple’a cups of coffee and my top five idea generators and I’m good to go!

Your Turn: Where do your post ideas come from?

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My Comment Commitment: If you leave an approved comment on any of my posts, I will visit your blog and “share it” in some way whether on StumbleUpon, Twitter or Facebook depending on if I can find a nice fit.