Affiliate Marketing Blog by AMWSO

Free EncryptStick Webinar

2010-03-17T18:30:00.000+07:00

All successful sales professionals know that you can't effectively sell a product if you don't understand it. We'd like to give you the opportunity to learn how EncryptStick works, and how to best sell the product to your customers through a free webinar. We strongly urge you to participate, as we'll give you all the tools/strategies that you'll need to successfully market EncryptStick and most importantly make money through our affiliate program.

WEBINAR DETAILS:

Round 1
Sun, Mar 21, 2010 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM EDT
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/260771162

Round 2
Tue, Mar 23, 2010 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM EDT
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/447483778

RSVP required. Use the contact forms through the links above, or email me and I'll send you login information.

AGENDA:

Introduction of panelists [2 min]
Tyrone Phipps. CEO Onix International

Review the agenda for the webinar [1 min]
Tyrone Phipps. CEO Onix International

Explain the format of the webinar [2 min]
Tyrone Phipps. CEO Onix International

Demonstration of EncryptStick application [20 min]
Tyrone Phipps. CEO Onix International

Benefits of EncryptStick from a Security Perspective [5 min]
Mark Smail, CTO Onix International

Question and Answers [10 min]
Everyone in attendance

Final comments [2 min]
Tyrone Phipps. CEO Onix International

ABOUT THE FORMAT:

This presentation will be run via an interactive website using a webinar format [i.e. web plus seminar]. You can participate from the comfort of your own home, plus there’ll be lots of chances for you to ask questions throughout the event.

WHAT YOU NEED TO JOIN IN:

1. Computer connected to the internet.
2. Headphones or speakers to listen to the presentation.
3. Microphone to ask questions [optional - you can also ask questions using text based chat].

BONUS:

As a bonus, attendees will receive a free license to EncryptStick [a $39.99 value].

Please get in touch with any questions/comments/feedback; I'm looking forward to speaking with you at one of the webinars!

Have a great day!

TrendToGo Affiliate Program - Change of Affiliate Manager at AMWSO

2010-02-09T11:21:00.001+07:00

As from 1st February 2010, Michel Gerard takes over the affiliate management of Trend To Go run on Shareasale, from Allen Miller at AMWSO. Michel has been an affiliate manager with AMWSO for 4 years and is committed to the affiliates' success.

TrendToGo.com is one of the fastest growing merchants on the Shareasale affiliate network, featuring a vast selection of sterling silver jewelry, stainless steel jewelry, authentic designer watches, authentic fragrances, Designer handbags and apparel at 30-50% discount on retail prices.

The Trend To Go Affiliate Program pays a 10% - 25% tiered commission on products sold when placing text links, banners or widgets on your website. Cookie Tracking is 120 days, which is better than most other affiliate programs in the same vertical.

Not yet an Affiliate?
Check out more information about the TrendToGo.com affiliate program right here.

Sign up for the program here.

Contact Affiliate Partner Manager: Michel Gerard

Win a sweet sweet prize!

2010-01-21T09:16:00.002+07:00

Easy to enter and also develop some great content for yourself at the same time!

Simply write an honest review of EncryptStick™. [We're not looking for sycophantic praise, simply an honest review of the software, and how it can help users encrypt and secure their private files]. Once you've written the review, place it on your website/blog [and link to the EncryptStick.com website through a CJ affiliate link]. The competition runs to midnight [Pacific Time] on Sunday 28th March 2010.

The best review will win the Grand Gathering Gift Basket, or a cash prize of $198 if this is what you prefer, provided that your review and affiliate link is still active on the 1st of April 2010. We're not just giving away a gift basket! The first 10 entrants will be given a full EncryptStick™ license worth $39.99.

Simply create your review and email the link to James Nardell (James.Nardell [@] AMWSO.com) [using the subject line '2010 EncryptStick Review'] before midnight on Sunday 28th March 2010. Make sure you include your; name, address and most importantly the URL where we can find your link! The winner will be announced in the April affiliate newsletter.

Check out the latest EncryptStick affiliate newsletter here.

Learn more about the EncryptStick affiliate program here.

Kicking off 2010

2010-01-15T01:24:00.003+07:00

Happy New Year! After a pretty slow 2009, we're glad to be moving forwards into a new year. And it's been starting off quickly with a range of new clients getting their affiliate program launches under way. First on the launch pad we have Pixily.com who offer an award winning document management and scanning service. This should be live by Feb 1. They'll be followed in the weeks after that by SStands.com, selling a range of MS office tools and applications, the SexywearAvenue with their wide range of costumes and clothing. A couple more under wraps but aiming for February launches are an Diamond and Jewelry store and a store selling cookies! More on all these programs as they launch!

Art of Tea Video Presentation

2009-10-17T07:45:00.002+07:00

Dave has put together a great presentation of the Art of Tea affiliate program in a video, check it out here :

Business, Pleasure and Passion

2009-02-02T23:50:00.003+07:00

I pretty much avoid doing any kind of business for friends, I'd rather refer them elsewhere than have them as clients, friends as a general rule, make for poor clients and it can put a horrible amount of stress on the friendship. But, every now and again, along comes a project that bends the rules. Such was the case when my friend Tod Deware came to me and asked for help developing his business for him. Tod is a "fix anything" sort of guy, electrics, car, pumps, painting, floor, roof, you name it Tod can fix it, build it and make it. Tod discovered a passion a few months ago, painting war game miniatures. And playing miniature war games is a passion of mine. So putting together our passions seemed like a good idea. So we have worked with Tod to develop his site, get his blog running, build up a photo album, kick off his PPC campaign and I'm sure not far away will be an affiliate program. So far so good, Tod enjoys his new project, I enjoy his new project and so with our dual passions in play, we have high hopes for his business. The aff program is pending, but till then please do enjoy Tod's miniature painting service site and the painted models themselves. And if you're a lazy gamer like me, do feel free to drop him a mail for pricing, and ask for the "chris says I can have a discount" special :)

Lions Tigers and BHOs. Oh My!

2009-01-29T19:09:00.002+07:00

Logging on to ABW this afternoon I was greated by a thread that burst into life and racked up a mass of interest in the blink of an eye. The attention grabbing thread had the title "ShareASale and Toolbars / Call for Participation on Guidelines" . Yes Oh My indeed, the bastion of BHO free marketing is considering its' stance.

I highly recommend reading the thread and joining the discussion.

My thoughts :

A major concern I have with this idea, is that, all "BHO affiliate" tool bars, at the end of the day, do far more than just influence/decide which "BHO affiliate" gets the sale. They also canabilize merchants other sales channels, especially the ones based on loyalty, organic (direct to site/seo) and PPC. The bigger the brand the greater the the impact.

When I talk to merchants about tool bars I usually discuss the effect on the affiliate channel along side the impact to the above channels, large brand merchants (the ones that toolbars target) tend to get the majority of their traffic through the above (Toolbar targeted) channels, which ads no value and simply steals sales from the merchant.

How does SAS plan / propose to prevent toolbars that they allow on to Shareasale from cannabilizing a merchants other sales channels? If their plan is not all encompassing then they will simply be enabling tool bars to go to town on Shareasale merchants just like they do on LS, CJ and so forth, adding no value, but certainly adding to the BHO Affiliates revenue.

ESTA is here.

2009-01-12T20:57:00.004+07:00

If you're planning to travel to the USA from now on for any affiliate conferences then make sure you're registered with ESTA, else you could face being turned back at the airport, this new system applies to all nations that previously didn't need a Visa and filled in an entry card on the plane. Canadians do not need to apply, there is a full list of applicable nations on the ESTA site.

Until now, registration has operated on a voluntary basis but it will become compulsory for all travellers from 12 January 2009. An ESTA, once obtained, will be valid for a period of two years, or for the validity of the traveller’s passport (whichever is shorter).

ESTA can be found here

From a personal stand point, this is great news, means I don't have to waste 4 months and a 4-5 hour trip to the US Embassy here to find out whether I need to go get a ticket! Wonder if I'm the only person who thinks the new system is great.

New Year and New Clients

2009-01-01T11:31:00.009+07:00

Well 2008 is done and dusted. An interesting year over all, could have been better but overall it wasn't a bad year. We took on a range of new exiting clients and it'll be great to see them growing in 2009.

January we have a couple of new clients launching with AMWSO. Starting with Organic Bouquet, which kind of started in December but will be really powering up as we head towards Valentines and more "flower giving" focused events. Then we have Beer Machine, which is a very cool, "Beer Brewing" kit and machine. I bought one for my Dad for his birthday and he loved it, so we're really hyped to be working with Ian and Colin at BeerMachine, incredibly we've been talking together with tjhem for 2 years! The progam will be running in the UK, USA and Canada initially.

Our other launch for January, is Elance, a firm I imagine just about every affiliate is familiar with, eLance will be launching a brand new program in January on an inhouse platform.

Crossing the Line

2008-11-29T22:00:00.008+07:00

I'm often asked by people "Why don't you make a network?" and "Why don't you be an affiliate and promote your own clients more?" and certainly we have considered it, but it always comes down to a key issue : conflict of interest. And I'm sure we could boost our revenue rather nicely if we started playing all side of the business, but at the same time we very well may destroy our trust amongst our affiliate partners.

Firms such as Pepper Jam have progressed through the business from merchant, to affiliate, to affiliate managers to Network. The mixed reviews and acceptance they get, shows that it is not an easy path to travel, and a very difficult one to do while keeping everyone happy.

One of the most debated roles in the industry is that of "Affiliate Network", the"Trusted Third Party" that is meant to remain neutral and ensure that everyone is working in a fair field of play. It's not an easy task as everyone has a different opinion on what is a fair field of play.

My personal opinion is that a fair field of play consists of these qualities

affiliates add value to the consumers purchase cycle
affiliates drive new customers to a merchants site
affiliates don't intercept consumers already in the act of going to a merchant's site
affiliates don't cannibalize other marketing channels
affiliates don't cannibalize each others traffic
requires a direct consumer interaction with the affiliate marketing being run
no adware, bhos or malware
that all parties work within their defined roll be that Network / Affiliate / AM or Merchant

So when a "Trusted Third Party" Network such as LinkShare not only allows an affiliate to actually ignore most of these qualities but actually owns it too, then you have to wonder where the "Trusted Third Party" bit has gone. Affiliates can argue back and forward on whether BHOs (Browser Help Objects) should be part of the affiliate channel and how they should interact with the consumer, but the real argument has to be, why is LinkShare now operating as an Affiliate? It is, without a doubt, wrong at all levels.

Certainly they aren't the first, but as they like to state, they are a market leader, so why is a market leader going out of its' way to cannibalize it's affiliate base? Already multiple tests have shown that not only is the LinkShare owned BHO failing to follow LinkShare's own Terms and Conditions but it is also going beyond BHOs the likes of Ebates and overwriting tracking that is meant to be protected by the afsrc=1 code.

A couple of example videos below on how this LinkShare owned affiliate BHO is cannibalizing Walmart traffic, please allow the videos time to load.

If this is the way Networks are going then I think we can throw the "Trusted Third Party" label our of the window, perhaps go with "Affiliate and Merchant Cannibalization Network" instead?

As a merchant ask yourself? Do you want this kind of "marketing" to be cannibalizing your sales channels, and as an affiliate, do you want to be promoting merchants that allow your traffic to be cannibalized for someone else's profit?

Innovation in Affiliate Marketing

2008-11-18T09:32:00.001+07:00

AMWSO is very proud to have been short listed in the category for Innovation in Affiliate Marketing in the E-consultancy's Innovation Awards 2008. The other firms short listed certainly make it a short list worth being on withthe full short list being :

TradeDoubler
sunshine.co.uk
AMWSO Co Ltd
Essence Media
Digital Window

The winners of the award will be announced on December 2nd, by a panel of judges that come from a top tier selection of firms that include the BBC, Apple, Orange, Target Marketing, Whatif!, Internet Retailing, Dyson and Google.

Congratulations to all the firms shortlisted.

Big Game Hunting : Trade Mark Bidders

2008-10-15T11:49:00.005+07:00

Sports hunting has evolved online and no longer do we need to go around shooting lions and the like. Nope online there's bigger things to hunt, and over the past year "Trade Mark Bidders" have become the primary target.

The issue is quite simple, it's easier to make a fast buck bidding on someones trade mark than it is to try and actually add some value to the shopping process, add to which trade marks convert really well and we have a recipe to attract every layabout and lazy dog on the Internet. Granted their are exceptions but the majority of TM bidding is all "value take" not "value add".

Online merchants expect their affiliate managers / management firm to audit their affiliates, make sure they are adding value and, more and more, that affiliates are not cannibalizing their Trade Marks. The issue then becomes one of time and resources, how does the affiliate manage monitor a multitude of search engines, especially when ppc can now be set to target consumers within specific time periods and within specific geographic locations. An affiliate manager working from 9 AM to 5 PM in LA, is not going to see the ads targeting consumers "only" in Seattle, nor the ads in LA that kick off at 6 PM PST. The affiliate manager could effectively spend 8 hours a day simply trolling the search engines in hope of finding violators. The chances are still slim that they will find the violators even if they are there as TM bidders have become sophisticated in how they hide their links and disguise how their traffic gets to a merchants site. Yes they have a nice looking "niche" site in their profile...too bad it actually drives no traffic at all!

Anyway, so what we have is a situation where the affiliate manager is spending more time auditing than doing their core job, or where they simply throw their hands in the air and declare the situation to be beyond their control, pass the buck and hope someone else will take care of it, or not notice that have stopped monitoring the TM bidding.

Last year we thought about developing something that would automate this process, but with other tasks to do that fell by the way side, and we've seen other firms try to launch products that will do the job, but ultimately have failed to deliver. This morning however I had a great call with David Naffziger of Brandverity, who appear to have a working solution and clear understanding of the challenges that affiliate managers face. While not yet perfect the system they have developed certainly does far more than most other systems we've had a look at to date.

As well as the core task of tracking down direct to site affiliate TM links it also records all forms of TM bidding to allow the affiliate manager to swiftly trace a bid to a landing page and tie it to an affiliate account or a competitor. It allows inhouse ads to be ignored and even has the ability to white list specific trusted PPC partners so that the reports will come through clear of approved / inhouse marketing.

A key mistake I made with their system was to only read the daily email report and not log into the site. The emails are fine, but are a little overwhelming, log in and the data is far more manageable and also deeper! Brandverity cover a number of key markets and search engines and are expanding constantly to cover new markets, and as David said, they are very keen to get feedback and ideas on how to make the tool better. Overall looks like this will be the solution that allows affiliate managers to get their focus back on helping value ad partners, and away from wasting time chasing down those out to take away that value.

New publisher mining tool from Syntryx

2008-09-03T16:41:00.004+07:00

A new tool is on the horizon for the Syntryx Solution Suite. While it's always been easy to track down competitor publishers within the suite, review their data and the potential power that can be generated from working with any given partner, it has, till I saw this new tool, been quite a task to get a full picture of the overlapping nature of different relationships between merchants and their publishing partners.

With the amount of data such a report can generate, Syntryx opted for a visual representation, which will look like this :

Each color representing a keyword and each white dot a site, so what you're looking for is where the most colors come together.

How does this work in practical terms? Well pretty much as follows...

With this tool I could for example compare 3 (or more) different merchants and then visually be able to see

* The overlap in publishing partners of all three merchants
* The overlap between pairs merchants
* Areas where there are no overlaps

I'm then able to drill down and see the data for any publisher working with any of the three merchants.

So if I was a new merchant (a competitor to all three for example) I could use this to data to perform a form of triangulation to discover what may be the "best publishers" or "most used publishers" by other firms. Or looking at it from another angle, I could see which publishers are heavily used (perhaps overused even) and find those little gems that only one merchant is partnered with and are completely under utililized used. Naturally finding out whether a publisher is over or under used requires that little extra digging and Syntryx has never lacked for digging tools or data to find!

Shareasale launches "Affiliate Create a video"

2008-08-28T16:26:00.003+07:00

It was a rumour and now it's fact. And rather than repeat what's already posted in the ShareaSale forum, click here and read about the great new tool that allows affiliates to create and generate their own video creatives, and link them to multiple merchants throughout the video through the use of cue points. Meaning an affiliate can create a niche focused video covering five related products and promote five different merchants all in one video, darned cool!

Shareasale ads Video Support

2008-08-14T12:34:00.004+07:00

While affiliates continue to look for ways to ad value to a merchants marketing campaign, they are often hampered by a networks limitations on what linking and tracking options are available. Most affiliates find they can only innovate as fast as their network partners allow. While video has been hot for a while and some merchants have had click trackable video available for a couple of years, it's still not easy to support directly within most networks. Most solutions to date have used a work around system to avoid the complications or added expense of using an affiliate networks options.

So it's great to see Shareasale once again step into the breach and release a video tool set to help merchants create and deploy videos for their affiliates to use.

The present system provides a way for merchants to set up videos in Shareasale, but it looks like there will be a system to support affiliate created videos too!

Check out a demo of the system on the SAS Blog.

Affiliate Call to Arms: Add Value Now or Die!

2008-08-08T10:41:00.002+07:00

Jeff Molander recently let loose on what’s getting in the way of innovation in the performance marketing (affiliate) industry. Jeff’s an outspoken guy with a keen eye on challenges our industry faces. I’m glad to report his agreeing to occasionally offer AMWSO readers insights on how affiliates can survive the storm – thrive in an increasingly hostile environment. I asked him to comment on what affiliates should be doing to add value to their site visitors in a way that drives financial results for both themselves and the advertisers they represent. The following was his response…

Affiliate Call to Arms: Add Value Now or Die!

There’s never been a time where advertisers have demanded more of cost-per-action (CPA) affiliates – period. Today’s affiliates are asked to walk on water among other things. So what’s a responsible business owner to do? “Adding value” to merchant relationships sounds good but what the heck does that really mean beyond the buzzword? I’ll give you a handful of value-add strategies to consider and implement in short time. Ready?

Say Buh-Bye to Pimpin’ Traffic

First, let me empathize a bit with you veterans out there and for newbies listen up! In 2006 I was falsely accused of saying in front of an ad:tech crowd, (it was actually Declan Dunn’s catch phrase!), “it’s tough out here for a traffic pimp.” What prompted Declan to make such a funny yet truthful statement that ad:tech itself chose to play dumb on? A pre-session discussion among panelists who’s heads were all spinning from major changed handed down to the affiliate marketing industry. At the time, both eBay and Google were dishing out all kinds of new rules – issues that affiliates of all sizes and flavors were forced to confront. Decisions were being made by Powers Almighty and their fate seemed out of their control.

Yet things ARE in your control if you choose to place yourself in the driver’s seat. The choice is yours as a CPA affiliate or any small business owner on the Web: You must “live life” rather than “let life live you.” The choice is yours. Which will you choose? If you’ve read this far you’re at least interested in the latter choice – viva la affiliate!

My driving point here is this: advertisers don’t need your “traffic.” From lead buyers to retail marketers they’ve evolved beyond “traffic.” They’re busy managing the intersection of search and affiliate programs. They’re interested in:

Diversifying their mix of distribution points across the Web (NOTE: they’re already doing their own search marketing and rely less on yours!)
More incremental sales, higher quality leads and/or new customers

Innovate or Die

There are tremendous obstacles impeding your march toward increased revenue and innovation. The affiliate marketing industry is going through serious growing pains and don’t let anyone tell you that it’s not. And no… “Web 2.0” is not exploding opportunities for affiliates. Yes there are rare exceptions (i.e. best practice using video and affiliates) and if you keep on reading this blog you’ll notice that AMWSO is leading the way J

“Affiliate marketing has evolved and it’s difficult for newcomers to jump in without any capital and start making money,” says Chris Finken, of OrangeSoda.com. “Blogs remain a popular tool for affiliate marketing ‘on the cheap,’ but successful affiliates are still making great money without experimenting with video and mobile.”

The point: none of this is easy anymore. It’s time to get honestly innovative but even that is tough. The future of affiliate marketing is being retarded by incumbents. Yet Mr. Finken and I both remain hopeful… but only when focused on making the best choices.

Your Choices

Ok, Molander, so what are the choices?! In short form, they are derived from what advertisers want most. Let’s tackle a few.

Better Distribution (Increased Subscribers for You!)

Ok, ok so a few affiliate networks are actually innovating here including Linkshare with its FlexLinks. AvantLink is taking an open source approach to innovation, opening up its system to affiliates for further development, rather than simply offering them a boxed solution. AvantLink makes a bevy of RSS-enabled tools available to affiliates and advertisers. What does that mean?

“We're offering merchants the ability to maintain ‘on sale’ and ‘deal of the day’ RSS campaigns for affiliates to publish on their sites,” says AvantLink’s Gary Marcoccia. “And to take it one step further the affiliates can promote ‘subscriptions’ to the same RSS feeds.”

“The key in generating feed subscribers from their site (in addition to, of course, sales), is affiliate IDs being embedded in links from the deal feeds… for as long as they are in use,” adds Marcoccia.

Impressive! Affiliate link syndication by way of customer subscription. Bada-bing (merchant value), bada-boom (value to your business). Now I’ll be straight with you this is a strategy with plenty of tactics. Paging RSS for marketers Guru, Rok Hrastnik… please pick up a blue courtesy phone (or better yet, fair reader, check out Rok’s ‘Unleash the Power of RSS’ book and encourage him to finish up his new book). RSS is frighteningly open-ended and innovation intense. The challenge is how to make it rapidly used by consumers! Then again, my mom, dad and I’ll bet your grandparents are using RSS today without knowing it. We all are!

Revtrax, formerly Oncard Marketing, is all about taking affiliate marketing to stores. That’s right, dirt world stores. They’re literally providing a means for advertisers to partner up with affiliates who have distribution outside of the Web – like stores or direct mail (think ad-stuffers that ride along with utility, credit card and other bills). Might you be able to tap into such distribution based on people you know at the local Rotary Club or business card exchange? I’ll bet you might! Talk about the Holy Grail of advertiser value!

Think also about successful CPA affiliate sites like Buzzilions.com – one of the first in our business to convince advertisers that wrapping customer-generated content (product reviews) around their products (distributed to them via affiliate networks and direct merchant relationships) was valuable. Was it new distribution for advertisers? You betcha it was.

Flexible, Performance-based Cost Models

Revtrax and other successful affiliate businesses – including those that remain family-run/owned like FatWallet.com or SheFinds.com – have one thing in common. That is, they’re diversifying themselves and, in fact, transforming from affiliate to publisher and finally to media company. This involves offering advertisers more than just commission-based placements. Look also to small business successes like Jellyfish.com who blend various performance payment models and customer-facing value. Don’t forget, the major comparison shopping engines all started as CPA only and migrated to CPC with some blending CPA+CPC today. Use your historical data with advertisers to your advantage. Negotiate other types of pricing based on effective CPA.

Of course, earning those CPM/fixed fee placement and/or cost-per-click (CPC) dollars isn’t easy. Doing so requires a high degree of professionalism and unique insight as to the demographic composition of your site visitors. It also requires a sales staff that can speak the language of other departments within marketers’ office… or interact with their external advertising agency. It often requires thinking and acting outside your comfort zone. Doing so is difficult but once you’ve overcome the fear, packaged yourself up and closed a few deals the fear goes away.

Denial is Not Just a River in Africa

Ever notice how things can smell like a skunk in affiliate marketing… but many pretend that everything is fine and rosy? Next think ya know, whammo. Affiliates get dished a raw deal… but ultimately they’re forced to swallow a bitter pill. Maybe an affiliate network stabs an affiliate in the back. Or maybe an affiliate turns around and bites the hand that’s fed it since childbirth. Other times affiliates themselves win the battle…but make no mistake, there IS a battle being waged. Let’s quit denying it and address the real issues. I’m not confident that affiliate networks are able to or actively addressing it on your behalf. Aaah, for the glory days of Commission Junction when it catered to affiliates first, advertisers second!

It’s sad but true: there are people who prefer to avoid talking about the fact that advertisers are asking for more. Are you one of them? I recommend getting off that train and now!

Although these battles create difficulty for affiliates they serve a purpose – to force change and create new opportunities. Will you be there “left holding an empty bag” or will you keep an “ear to the track” and listen to that train coming down the track before it pulls into the station? The choice is yours and in the end you need to take action that creates true value for your visitors first, advertisers second and, as a result, your business.

Jeff Molander is CEO of performance marketing consulting company, Molander & Associates Inc. where he provides executive-level guidance on digital marketing and media to multi-channel retailers, entrepreneurs and investment firms. He’s also a principal with The Partner Maker LLC, a new affiliate management system designed to drive increased revenue between affiliates and marketers. His background includes helping found digital marketing services company, Performics Inc.; today a division of Google. He can be reached at jeff*at*jeffmolander.com

eComXpo : Smaller but better.

2008-07-10T07:08:00.004+07:00

This feels like it is the smallest eComXpo event I have attended so far , both in that there appear to be less exhibitors (thought I count about 120) and it is running for fewer days. That said the first day has been very good and I've picked up better contacts in the first day this year than I did in total at the past shows.

The event this year is kind of split into two sections eComXpo and eTailXpo though the two 'shows' could easily have been combined into one, and were as far as the main navigation was concerned, making it easy to visit exhibitors from both sides of the show.

I've not been to any of the presentations yet, I'll save that for tomorrow.

My Content Creation Issues

2008-06-18T13:58:00.003+07:00

Rarely, a day goes by when I'm not creating a new page of content on one of my sites or blogs, and that's usually swiftly followed by emails from the team correcting all my spelling and grammar errors. It's become part of the culture "Chris Publishes content" followed by "Chris corrects content" and then "Chris corrects content again". Mostly, it's not due to me being awful at spelling, but that typing quickly leads to lots of errors, and sometimes my thoughts get ahead of my fingers.

Copying and pasting to word to spell check, or using web based spell checkers isn't always ideal , especially copying from word as so much hidden junk code is also copied which can cause havoc in a blog. The average spell checker also does only that "spell check" and doesn't add much value beyond doing the job. In today's "value add" Internet I believe we all demand that a product do what it's designed to do and add more value beyond.

On top of my own content issue, the fact is that well written copy is an important factor of any affiliate or bloggers content. Spelling and grammar errors can ruin a well put together pre sales pitch. So investing time, or money into preventing these issues is a good investment.

Anyway, I have for a couple of years come across the name WhiteSmoke here and there and constantly ignored it. Last month I was nudged into grabbing a copy to try out by one the team who decided he better things to do than spell check for me.

So, 3 weeks later, of testing the WhiteSmoke software I've been pretty happy with what I get for my money, a spell checker that can be used on any kind of document, software, web site or blog, pretty much anywhere. Select the copy I want to check (or allow WhiteSmoke to select it all) click F2, check copy and job done! In addition to that there's the value add bits. The system offers recommendations on how to improve the copy, checks the grammar and helps me to put together better content with no errors. It also offers various levels of copy improvement, from general and business through to medical. While primarily built to plug in to IE, the software does work with FireFox.

The only issue I've had with the software is that it when you run the spell check on copy, any formating or links that I've embedded into the content are removed when the copy is reloaded after being corrected. A minor pain, but it just means adding the links and formating after the copy has been corrected and improved.

Wonder what the team will do with all that extra time they've got now they don't need to check my spelling for me :)

Maybe I'm the odd one out?

2008-06-02T21:28:00.006+07:00

Twitter... I have to say, that I'm still in "what's the fuss", and "who cares if I woke up at 9:15 this morning and had 3 rashers of bacon, beans and two eggs (sunny side up) for breakfast", then at 9:27 AM "had a shower a cup of coffee and cleaned my teeth", though maybe I should break that down into multiple twitts, twerps, posts or what ever they are called to ensure no one thinks I did all three at the same time, maybe I did, I can't remember, perhaps I need Twitter to help me remember what I did each day!

However it seems the rest of the world can't get enough, and yes I admit, I do have an account, which gets update once every month when Google Chat says "Hey you haven't posted on Twitter for ages bud!", though it's not nudged me for some time (perhaps it gave up on me) , worse I do have people who are fans, followers, tweetie birds, etc and follow my every move, I bet most of them believe I'm in traction!

I know Dave here at AMWSO (big Twitter Fan) did post some time back about the joys of communicating with affiliates via Twitter and the like, and I'm not one to bash any method of getting a message out, but heck, is anyone really sitting, watching and waiting for the next tweet message. Do they want business messages mixed in with "Woke up and have a headache after last nights pubcon!" Me no, I'm not a believer. Though perhaps if I was following the development of say, a piece of software, it would be useful to get updates via twitter. Or better yet if I can't get to the football match, then someone can sms to their tweet account all the action for me to follow at home. Could always check the developer blog / web site, or watch the football on TV though, for far better results.

Anyway what brought me around to chatting about Twitter is some new tools around that make it easier to manage and track both your own and other people's messages. As I'm a novice user and totally clueless as to which are any good I'll not blather on any further, but suggest popping over to Sukosak's blog and see what he has to say and recommend for those of you who are keen Twitter Users.

Do you let your Affiliates Deep Link?

2008-05-25T10:01:00.009+07:00

It's nothing new and has been around since the dawn of the Internet but deep linking is ever more critical, and if you don't let your marketing and affiliates partners deep link then you' re likely missing the mark, and losing customers, according to a new Nielsen report.

In 2004, about 40 percent of people visited a homepage and then drilled down to where they wanted to go and 60 percent used a deep link that took them directly to a page or destination inside a site. In 2008, said Dr Nielsen, only 25 percent of people travel via a homepage. The rest search and get straight there.

The report goes on to discuss how web users are becoming less patient and less distracted by sticky functions and want to get right to what they have come to do and then go elsewhere.

On the upside a greater percentage of users now actually complete what they set out to do, so if a merchant has a good site design and easy check out then the ability to drive a good conversion rate is now higher than ever, good news for merchants and affiliates!

Deep linking is very easy for the makority merchants to set up on their sites and for their affiliate programs, and is critical for sites that offer a wide range of products. That said there are still a number of affiliate programs than insist on forcing users to travel via the home page, either due to a poor eCommerce platform or a very misguided belief in what their site visitos should be forced into doing.

The Domain Game

2008-05-20T11:47:00.004+07:00

A new book by David Kesmodel of the "Wall Street Journal" will delve into the business of domain investment (no I've not read it yet but it's going to be on on my "must read list" once it's published) . I must admit that I'd not given the whole domain investment business much thought until I sat down and chatted with the guys from Moniker at the 2007 CAC event in Macau . It was eye opening (to say the least..jaw dropping more like) to see how buying and selling the right domains can be way more profitable than buying real estate or stocks, and while not risk free, it's certainly far less risky than buying the later. It's also a relatively cheaper to get into domain investment, though a reasonable .com domain is likely to cost you $5000 and up at present time (no more basement bargains to be had) . That is unless you're lucky enough to keep up with how new words constantly spring into existance and can grab them up before anyone else...or better yet predict, or even influence what new words will come into existance.

One thing I learnt from talking to Moniker is that after spending your $5000 on a domain, you'll very likely need to sit on it for a year or more until it becomes something that someone else needs or wants, and is willing to pay for. It's not a rapid turn over business.

Also, while .com English language domain names are in the highest demand, don't miss out on potential opportunities in none English .com as well as other domain areas such as .de , .co.uk and the opportunity to invest into the rapidly expanding Asian domains.

That said, my recent endeavour to buy .asia domains left me with a very sour taste in my mouth as the way these domains were set up for sale and then auction was nothing more than a way for the .asia registrar to fleece people of money and give them no domains, nor return their money. The option of "bid on the domain you wanted" was where most domain purchases went. And that was after paying for the domain... Supply and demand I understand, but if a firm can't supply what a person buys, then the money should be returned, not held.

Anyway, aside from that slight bump , the business is certainly there to be explored. Moniker hold frequent domain auctions at Internet events and online, and there's a .TV domain auction coming up very shortly (May 20th) too. Even if you don't bid, it's worth attending these events just to see what is being paid for domains now a days.

Deposit Checks over the Net

2008-05-12T22:13:00.005+07:00

Maybe I'm just slow to catch on to this, (Apparently this process has been legal since 2004) but I came across a rather interesting, time saving system today that allows you to deposit checks over the Internet. So if you're one of those lucky affiliates that gets lots of checks from lots of different networks and inhouse programs then this could be a nice time (and paper saver) from having to fill out multiple deposit slips and spending time standing in bank queues. The software is designer to handle 50 checks a day on "online mode" and can handle more in an offline system which uses a batch process to scan and send the checks.

And if you're really wracking up the checks, Then the Panini MyVisionX is available in models
that scan 30, 60 or 90 checks per minute!!

The DepositNow system works with any U.S. bank account, (sadly no International support, else I'd be totally raving about it) so no need to set up new accounts. The scanners (you need a special scanner for electronic deposits) also doubles as a normal scanner for docs and photos so it' doesn't need to just sit on the shelf doing nothing between checks. The scanners run for around $225+ each. There's a guide to scanners you can use.

One thing that's not shown is the price of using the DepositNow system, "we cannot tell the price for certain until you begin to input your business data" , the FAQ says. Anyway check out the online demo to see if it's for you.

Affiliate (....Blog) Revenue

2008-05-02T11:07:00.004+07:00

One of the longest ongoing debates in the affiliate industry is "how much can a person make", and there are lots of sites made by people claiming to have made millions, presenting fake checks while they attempt to suck money and life blood from unfortunate web marketeers who are looking for ways to kick start their revenue. Ask any serious affiliate how much money they make and you'll likely get one of two answers "Not Enough" and "Could be more", no dollar figures. Yes we're all capitalists and looking for ways to get beyond earning "enough". There are also many many ways for people to earn money on line now a days, the advent of blogs making it even easier for more people to try to make money too.

Being as we see a lot of the checks we issue to affiliates we have a good idea of what affiliates of all sizes can and do earn, but no I'm not going to be publishing those numbers. What I did come across and found interesting and something I'm going to follow, was the revenue post by the folks who own General Marketing Blog where they are posting their on going monthly revenue for everyone to see and follow, along with related traffic and ranking reports. Here's a slice of the revenue info :

Blog Income

Pepperjam: $123.00 (Up $26.00)
Adsense: $26.51 (Down $10.81)
Bannermall: $0.00 (Down $20.00)
Banner ads: $172.00 (Up $40.00)
Paid Posts: $245.00 (Up $115.00)

The blog has been live 6 months and the owners made just over $550 in April. I don't believe that's a bad number for just 6 months live. They also list their site data, rankings and traffic reports. What I found interesting though is that the revenue has not come from any traditional affiliate networks, other than PJN, or even PPC, but more from the growing business of paid posts.

For people looking to launch a new site and earn some money, this certainly shows, that with effort and focus you can start to get a reasonable income within a few months, and that Pay Per Post Marketing is becoming a large factor in making that possible.

Merchants can take Advantage of Falling Dollar though Affiliate Marketing

2008-03-25T16:59:00.001+07:00

Every week the dollar seems to be falling further down against all of the other world currencies, including the Yen, Euro and Pound. The bad news this reflects: the rest of the world doesn't quite have the same faith in the U.S. Economy anymore, and also things will be getting a bit more expensive within the USA, and the power of the dollar decreases. However, for merchants, the good news is that American products are now less expensive and are more attractive to consumers in other countries. Promoting visits to the U.S.A. is getting to be quite popular to Europeans with the thoughts of coming over for cheap holidays and shopping.

Our world is shrinking everyday from a business perspective. I love this ad from the Financial Times that illustrates various landmark skyscrapers all existing on a "global island".

Business in America have a great opportunity now to start marketing their products overseas. If a merchant has never attempted to market products overseas, using an affiliate program is a good way to "dip the foot in the water." In the U.K. affiliate marketing is growing by leaps and bounds and more publishers are getting turned onto the advantages as opposed to Adsense. There are now 2 major annual affiliate events in the UK with the A4U Expo and the new Affiliate Summit UK.

Affiliate marketing (while lagging the UK) is also gaining more mainstream popularity with webmasters in Australia and New Zealand. There are certainly plenty of webmasters promoting sites in the US that are already familiar with affiliate marketing principles. These are the easiest to enter markets for Americans due to the language similarities. Other European and Asian markets however do offer potentially attractive affiliate markets. Affiliate marketing (through mobile commerce) is a HUGE industry in Japan. There is also potential in countries like Ireland, Germany, France, Singapore and Korea.

They key: get assistance from a knowledgeable agent and/or network with experience in the region. AMWSO has enormous advantages since we are based in Asia with many staff members originally from Europe. Getting connected through a network can alleviate any international affiliate payment and tracking issues, leaving the merchant to contend with payment processing and shipping. Major credit card processing and Paypal eliminate 90% of international payment issues, and now with the various logistic and fulfillment services from companies such as UPS or even Amazon, storage and shipment of products can be localized as well.

The barriers for selling internationally are being lowered everyday. Consider dipping your foot into the water through performance marketing before your competitions locks down the market.

Affiliate Marketing and Appealing to Different World Views

2008-03-20T08:00:00.001+07:00

Everything a person looks at, experiences or examines gets filtered through a specific world view. Seth Godin, in his book All Marketers are Liars emphasizes this issue (among other things) as a key point in crafting stories or messages that will appeal to potential customers. One of the key themes in the book, is that merchants should not try and appeal to a multitude of world views, or else they risk their message becoming too diluted, unfocused and generic.

Affiliate marketing can be a valuable tool in expanding a merchants reach to different types of customers with different world views. Just on the surface, consider that couponers know their visitors are hunting for discounts and deals, forums know their customers have in-depth interest in particular niches', and content/blog sites will of course appeal to various niche interests. Recruiting different types of quality affiliates to an affiliate program allows a merchant to touch these potential customers, through the affiliate partners that they might not never have been able to reach when focusing on their core customer's world view.

For example, consider a trendy woman's fashion merchant. Logic would dictate they this merchant would craft their message to their core customer segment, woman interested in trendy fashions. Now, suppose we have a webmaster who runs a blog with a community of married men who are computer enthusiasts (aka nerds) (note: I would definitely be a member of this community). Right before Christmas time, these men are desperate and searching for advice and tips on gifts to buy their wives/significant others. The blog owner signs up for the woman's trendy fashion affiliate program, and offers this merchant up to his community. Just like that, the trendy woman's fashion site gets exposed to a group of men who wouldn't ordinarily be visiting this site, and who are looking for things to purchase.

Among the advantages of CPA marketing; measurable and clear ROI, it's important not to neglect the huge advantage of expanding the merchant reach to customers not ordinarily exposed to a merchant. Good affiliate managers will be on the look out for these types of affiliates and will be actively recruiting them into a program.