Associate Programs Newsletter #52

I don't have time to try to be an expert on everything. This week I've called on Joshua Reimer and Lesley Anne Lowe to write reviews.

CONTENTS:

1. Did you overlook this factor?
2. "Win the Web Site Wars"
3. Most say OK to links in e-mail
4. How special e-mail links work
5. Be Free now pays $2
6. Doing better than playing for pin-money
7. An award you could win

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================================
1. Did you overlook this factor?
================================

If you've been reading this newsletter about seven dog years while it slowly grew to have more than 8,900 subscribers, you will have watched me make quite a few mistakes, and perhaps seen me grow a little. Occasionally I've learned something important.

Now I'm going to ask a little favor. When you read the next few sentences, I'd like you concentrate as though you will soon have to teach someone what you are reading. (Yes, I found that idea in "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People".)

A lot has been said about what we should look for in a revenue sharing program: things such as a good, reliable product sold at a fair price, a fair commission, perhaps customers for life, and definitely a site designed to sell.

However, if you're in this for the long haul, there's one factor far more important: the type of person who's running the company.

You'll feel comfortable dealing with the company if you know the boss has proved he has an analytical brain and has proved he really can make money on the Internet. If you're like me, you'll feel even better if he's also the sort of the guy who takes great delight in helping others.

Someone like Ken Evoy, for example. Someone with the brilliance to teach medicine as a sort of hobby, design toys and games which sell millions, invent software, teach sports, write a book . . . and he's just getting started . . . Right now, he's putting the finishing touches to the free affiliate help manual you'll get when you join his program.

I'm hitching my wagon to this star. Are you?

http://www.AssociatePrograms.com/affiliates

In case you missed the details in last week's newsletter, I've put them on an autoresponder:

[UPDATE: This autoresponder is no longer available.

=====================================
2. Win The Web Site Wars,
    by Harold Gregg Jr. & Banning K Larry
=====================================

Review by Joshua Reimer

This marketing book is available in two forms - e-book ($47) and printed ($97). I reviewed the e-book version, which probably didn't help. My initial impression was, "This is going to be a long read." I really don't like reading long documents on the computer as it can be quite a strain after a while. I usually end up skimming.

However, I became much more interested in reading on after going through the introduction. The thing I appreciated most was the absence of the usual hype such as promises that go something like, "We will show you how to create a money machine that pays you over $1,000 a day!", or some of the other incredible claims many of the other marketing courses make. The writers admit that "very few sites are producing a profit" on the Internet, and say this book was produced to help steer online marketers in the right direction.

Another thing that made me happy was reading the note in the introduction from the authors saying that "there are many other, and more effective, methods available to you" in regards to search engines. It made me happy, that is, till I reached the main contents page. Seems these people don't believe what they say themselves - about 70% of the tutorial is taken up with information on the search engines. If the other methods are so important, why don't they spend more time talking about them?

However, noting from the e-mail that I get myself, search engines are a common source of confusion for those new to the online world, so they were probably wise to include so much information. The tips on the subject were helpful and extremely in-depth. I just would have liked to see more on other subjects, as there were many important aspects of website promotion that they didn't even mention.

Some of the other subjects covered by this book were building your website's community, linking strategies, and the tracking of your website's visitors. There were also a few case studies of other websites.

In conclusion, if you are looking for an excellent and very in-depth tutorial on the search engines, this is the course for you. However, if you are looking for a well rounded course that covers the wider spectrum of website promotion, you will be very disappointed. Search engines are only the tip of the iceberg, and should be just one small part of your larger marketing strategy.

Joshua Reimer
---
Visit Promotion World at http://www.promotionworld.com

(Win the Web Site Wars has a two-tier revenue sharing program paying 20% and 10%, and real-time stats.)

[UPDATE: This product is no longer available.]


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=================================
3. Most say OK to links in email
=================================

Using ad-serving software to create special links in e-mail is acceptable to affiliate program networks LinkShare, ClickTrade, and CJ.com - but perhaps not to Be Free. In most cases, though, you'll probably have to ask each individual merchant for permission.

I'm testing Bannermaster software, which can create this link to Marlon Sanders' The Amazing Formula
AssociatePrograms.com/search/click.cgi?account=am which allows me to track how many people click on the link.

[UPDATE: This old link no longer works.]

"You can certainly use the banner ad-serving software to create links for use in email, as long as you use the code generated in LinkShare," Cheryl Ho of LinkShare told me. "As long as the LinkShare-generated linking URL is used to access the merchant site, we will be able to track appropriately. And you can certainly use such a link to promote programs within LinkShare. I do not foresee any problems with any of our member merchants unless some specifically state that you can only use the links provided directly from within the software."

CJ.com's lead developer Erik Forkalsrud said: "I am not aware of any policies on our side that makes it unacceptable to hide cj.com from the link, so feel free to use the above link
( AssociatePrograms.com/search/click.cgi?account=Wil2 )
unless you hear otherwise."

Paul Coebergh said it would be fine to promote a ClickTrade link in my newsletter. "We do ask that you seek permission of the individual advertiser/merchant before placing their ClickTrade specific link in the newsletter."

================================
4. How special e-mail links work
================================

Here's an example of how special email links can work.
I join a CJ.com program such as Ralph Wilson's Web Commerce Today newsletter.

I create an account (called Wil2) in Bannermaster ad-serving software so that the ad displays on my ezines page.
I create a link to the Wil2 account
AssociatePrograms.com/search/click.cgi?account=Wil2

(That's for Dr Ralph Wilson's Web Commerce Today, one of the rare successful subscription-based publications on the Net. "The subscriber response has been very good and profitable, but I'd like to boost the number dramatically, that's why I've started the affiliate program," Ralph says.)

The link redirects to
commission-junction.com/track/track.dll?AID=10338&PID
=2051&URL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Ecj%2Ecom%2FAffiliate%2Findex%2Easp
and shows in my stats as a click-through.

CJ.com's lead developer Erik Forkalsrud said: "I am not aware of any policies on our side that makes it unacceptable to hide www.cj.com from the link, so feel free to use the above link unless you hear otherwise."

Lex Sisney helpfully said that I could use a short link cj.com/go.asp?2051 to promote CJ.com itself. CJ.com is working hard on creating more short links for merchants. However, the main advantage of using ad-serving software to create special links isn't just creating links, it's tracking click-throughs so that you know what works and what doesn't.

[UPDATE: These old links no longer work. Using .htaccess redirects is much simpler.]

I'm still testing Bannermaster. Sometimes I have trouble getting the settings correct in Admin. I'm not sure if that's my fault or a problem in the script.
http://www.interactive-web.net

Links to other ad-serving software:
adbility.com/wpag/baf_ad_sw.htm

[UPDATE: I no longer use Bannermaster.]


======================
5. Be Free now pays $2
======================

I didn't receive an answer from Be Free on e-mail links, but their merchants' rules make it clear that you would have to ask permission from each merchant.

Be Free has been busy making big improvements to its site. If you haven't visited Be Free lately, take a look. You can now earn $2 for each sign-up into this high-quality network.

=======================================
6. Doing better than playing for pin-money
=======================================

Review by Lesley Anne Lowe

Affiliate marketing is an effective way by which either goods or services may be moved or distributed without the costs normally associated with a complex advertising, promotional or marketing operation.

To the manufacturer it represents both cost-containment and a continuously increasing volume of sales. It's the ideal marketing system and one which virtually dispenses with advertising costs and the need for a salaried sales force.

To the participating affiliate this can provide a means to generate a little extra cash from their web site, while others reap substantial rewards and ultimately work towards complete financial independence from their chosen profession.

People will talk of the glittering prizes, but that isn't sufficient as an enticement to an intelligent person. What is essential in any situation where potential rewards are high, is to know precisely what one must do to achieve your desired goal.

Now I'm no expert and I'm not going to turn this into a "how-to" manual for running your own affiliate business - but there is one major difference between the affiliate who plays for pin-money and the one who builds an "affiliate business" and that's the way in which they *organize* their business.

It sounds simple - and it is!

All you have to do is keep track of your traffic, your contacts, clickthroughs, commissions, affiliate IDs, e-mail campaigns, press releases, ad deadlines . . .

Hmm, maybe it isn't so easy after all :)

In order to run a successful affiliate business you must approach it with sound knowledge and an understanding of tried, tested and proven principles. If you aren't organized about it then you can expect to be playing for pin-money!

This is where it gets easier. For the last 10 days or so I've been testing a new piece of software that automates a lot of the tireless and time-consuming tasks normally associated with running your own affiliate business. And before I go on I'll tell you that it's absolutely free! :)

"My Affiliate Program" will track all of your affiliate information and store it for you in a handy point-and-click database. You can see instantly how many sales you've made for each affiliate, monitor which is generating commissions for you and then you can graph the results. It contains a feature for tracking your ezine, newsgroup and classified ad promotions, a mini contact manager and a system for monitoring your exposure from press releases.

If you're running your own affiliate program with software from TheAffiliateProgram you can download your online database directly into My Affiliate Program and manage everything right from your desktop. This feature particularly impressed me and with minimal PC skills I'd think that almost everyone could use it to manage their own affiliate program with ease. A sign of the times perhaps? :)

My Affiliate Program is available as a free download for a limited time and I'd recommend that everyone at least try it. With such a wide range of features I'm sure that everyone will find it useful and it may just make the difference between playing for pin-money and turning affiliate marketing into a successful business enterprise.

Lesley Anne Lowe.

[UPDATE: Lesley's site has been discontinued but the software she wrote about has improved greatly since she wrote this article. For up-to-date details see http://www.AssociatePrograms.com/my-program.]

=========================
7. An award you could win
=========================

Want publicity for your ezine? Submit it to Brian Alt's EzineSeek for a possible "Choice Ezine" award. Hey, if this newsletter can win, perhaps yours can, too. Submission instructions:
http://www.ezineseek.com/award/

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All the best

Allan Gardyne