[Editor's Note: The enormously successful affiliate site described in this article, WinDrivers.com, is now owned by internet.com. Although this article was written years ago, you can still learn from this affiliate's innovative techniques.]

When Scott Hermanson launched WinDrivers.com back in July 1997, he was a PC technician looking for a way to make his life easier. These days, he's making things easier for the lives of millions of computer users worldwide.

"I always had a tough time finding the Windows drivers I needed online," says Scott. "I built WinDrivers.com as a portal to provide links to the drivers on the manufacturers' Web sites."

Scott's site, supported by CNET affiliate links, soon became so successful that he sold his computer store partnership and went to work full-time on the Web.

Windows drivers are software modules that allow the operating system to function with printers, modems, video cards and other hardware. When a computer is working properly most folks don't give their drivers a second thought. When problems arise, however, it's often a frantic scramble to find the latest drivers.

WinDrivers.com comes to the rescue with a fast, well-organized collection of links to a variety of hardware drivers.

The site generates revenue from a conservative combination of banner advertising sales and affiliate program links. [These days WinDrivers also charges users an annual fee.]

Context-sensitive links

Scott's had great success with the Be Free enabled CNET affiliate program. His comprehensive context-sensitive linking and innovative promotional techniques drive a steady stream of click-throughs to CNET Shopper, CNET's price comparison service.

Consider the WinDrivers.com traffic statistics: 11 million page views, 3.5 million visits, and 1.8 million unique visitors each month. That's serious traffic. It's even more impressive when you consider that this is a one-man show. Scott runs the entire operation by himself, out of a spare bedroom in his suburban Illinois home.

WinDrivers.com hums along on two in-house Windows NT servers, one handling HTML requests, the other handling the SQL database. The growth in traffic has been phenomenal. There are currently four, count 'em four, T-1 lines running into Scott's house.

The site is highly database-driven. As the Microsoft SQL 7 database serves pages by manufacturer, it automatically generates the CNET Shopper affiliate link boxes-complete with the manufacturer name in the text field-on each page. This is at the core of the program's success. All the visitor has to do is click the Shopper SEARCH button to be whisked to the corresponding CNET Shopper page.

CNET helps Windrivers.com's users to find the cheapest drivers available online. Once on CNET, visitors can compare prices from more than 100 online merchants. Each click-through earns Scott a fee from CNET, and with 11 million page views a month, the clicks quickly add up.

Scott uses CNET affiliate program links in other ways, as well. The front page of WinDrivers.com also includes a CNET Shopper search box. This is especially convenient for folks that use the site's front page as their browser home page.

And WinDrivers.com's sister site, WinReviews.com-which consists primarily of links to product reviews, includes an unobtrusive CNET Shopper text link with each product review link. This strategy creates thousands of revenue generating, database driven click-throughs.

Business card marketing

Scott learned early on that when a driver fails, customers have a tough time finding the solution. So aside from the handful of keywords he bids on GoTo.com [now Yahoo! Search Marketing], Scott created his own referral network offline.

He distributes stacks of WinDrivers.com URL-emblazoned business cards to computer stores across the country. The store employees give the business cards to customers desperately looking for the latest drivers for their hardware. This puts the site's URL in the hands of the folks who need it most - when they need it most.

For the dismayed customer saddled with a cantankerous computer, the WinDrivers.com business card is better than a Get Out of Jail Free card. The business card marketing campaign has really taken off, providing great economies of scale. Once the techs and their customers discover the ease of finding a solution through Scott's CNET-powered site, they too are eager to share the site with other troubled users.

Community features keep visitors returning

In addition to the driver downloads, there are plenty of elements that keep visitors coming back again and again. The site includes a host of community features, including forums, newsletters and chat sessions.

It also provides topical and customer support polls, as well as bi-weekly RealAudio news reports that deliver site update information and commentaries. The general site newsletter is published weekly, while the anti-virus newsletter is published when developments warrant.

While it takes a great amount of time to maintain the site, flexibility is important to Scott. With two young children, he's glad to be able to spend more time at home rather than at the shop. "Working with computers is what I've always wanted to do," says Scott. "Being able to work at home is a huge plus."

Cheers,
Dan

PS: To sign up for Be Free tracked affiliate programs, click here.

Daniel Gray is the owner of geekbooks.com and the author of "The Complete Guide to Associate and Affiliate Programs on the Net - Turning Clicks Into Cash" (McGraw-Hill), "Looking Good on the Web" and "Adobe ImageStyler In Depth" (The Coriolis Group), and a host of other books on graphics- and Internet-related topics. He's been honored as an Amazon.com Featured Computer Book Associate, PlanetRx Affiliate of the Month, and Refer-It Affiliate of the Month.

[Editor's Note: The CNET affiliate program has closed.]