Associate Programs Newsletter #64
CONTENTS:
1. My view of a sub-tropical bay
2. Ted Holmes’s site that SELLS
3. Cash back and two-tier cash for downloads
4. Only two ad spots left for 1999
5. ShagMail – trivia, humor and lots more
6. Be kind to the environment
7. Heidi Messer on Affiliate Radio
8. How to be irresistible
9. TeknoSurf AdWave’s astounding CPMs
10. My Top 10 programs change
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1. My view of a sub-tropical bay
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I’ve just been sitting out on the deck of our house, overlooking what we think of as “our” little beach. The bay is so sheltered by Fraser Island it’s like a lake, shimmering in the sun. It’s a glorious sub-tropical day here in Tuan, Queensland, Australia, about 22C (74 Fahrenheit). I’ve been thinking about how fortunate we are.
No, this isn’t one of those stories about how you can get rich on the Internet.
In fact, it doesn’t cost much to live here. The Royal Hotel in our nearest city, Maryborough, has all-you-can-eat buffet meals for $A4.98 – that’s $3.24 (US). No, that’s not a misprint.
Our seaside land was cheap, too. When we bought our swampy patch eight years ago, it was so low-lying that occasionally the sea came over the rough track they call the “Esplanade” on to a corner of our land. No one else wanted it so we got it for under $A16,000 – about $10,400 (US).
Now we’ve built up the land and added a three-storey, timber pole house (supported by 12 poles like telephone poles). You won’t see another house like ours – Joanna and I designed it ourselves. Our garden isn’t average either – it’s all bushes and trees and little winding tracks. The lawnmower was sold long ago. I can see rainbow lorikeets squabbling in the grevillea blossoms as I write this.
Are you thinking we’re lucky? Maybe. But Joanna and I didn’t win this little bit of not-quite-paradise in a lottery. And we weren’t born here. We were born in the South Island of New Zealand, a beautiful country with cold winters.
Life is full of choices. You don’t have to stay where you were born. You don’t have to stay in the job you’re in. You don’t have to carry on being the person you are.
Joanna and I sat down one day years ago and worked out a few goals, wrote them down in a notebook and discussed the steps we needed to take to achieve them. We’re not fanatical about it. We don’t chant them 10 times every night or anything like that. Occasionally Joanna rediscovers the notebook, and she’ll say in wonder: “Hey! Look at how many of these we’ve achieved.”
For me, the three main ones were making friends, being self-employed and living in a house by the beach. Those things didn’t just happen. I took a lot of wrong turnings and made a lot of mistakes. I eventually achieved those goals because no matter where I went and what I did, they were always in the back of my mind – and I was moving towards them.
OK. Preaching over. It’s your choice. It’s your life. Do what you want with it. You really can.
P.S. If you think this has nothing to do with marketing on the Net, you’ve overlooked one of the most important rules of all: Be memorable.
[UPDATE 2012: How things have changed! Joanna and I now spend about half each year at our apartment at Rainbow Bay, Queensland, Australia, and the warmer months near Lake Dunstan, Central Otago, New Zealand. ABOVE: The view from my desk in our Rainbow Bay apartment.]
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Recommend this newsletter to a friend…
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You could WIN A PALM PILOT.
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2. Ted Holmes’s site that SELLS
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If you’re still plonking down banners and not doing much else, take a look at how Ted Holmes of CEBN.com sells on the Net. He really SELLS.
Ted has just launched a reseller program called Merchant Accounts for the Little Guy.
“I have completed an extensive research project on the companies that will let you take credit card orders online without your actually having to have a merchant account,” Ted says. “There are no hoops, hurdles, and no set-up fee regardless of your credit or what country you live in.
“Note: I am charging for the report. An enormous amount of research went into it.”
Ted sells by piling on benefit after benefit, by overcoming any objection you might have – and then piling on more benefits. He builds trust, offers value for money, and gives a lot away free. Perhaps you don’t want to buy right now? He’s got that covered, too. Still wavering? He tosses in useful free reports, one with the product, and one you get simply by checking out his site. You’ve got to admire this guy.
See how an expert sells:
cebn.com/merchants.htm
[UPDATE: Ted’s site no longer exists.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!SPONSOR!!!!!!!!!!!
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Join today. It’s FREE!
Visit promo.nexchange.com/1342.asp
[UPDATE: Nexchange closed because it was unable to get funding.]!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
==================================
3. Cash back and two-tier cash for downloads
==================================
Dash is a free service launched this week which gives shoppers cash back every time they shop at a list of web merchants. All they have to do is download a small piece of software, a browser plug-in similar to the Alexa.com bar.
“Just shop as usual, and Dash takes care of the rest,” Dash says.
Dash, a New York company with substantial funding from leading investors such as AT&T Ventures and J.P. Morgan Ventures, provides cash-back discounts of up to 50% on every purchase. It says it has over 100 leading affiliated online merchants.
For example, if you’re visiting Barnesandnoble.com, Dash can flash a message about a 5% percent discount being offered by a competing bookseller.
Dash is initially available only for the Internet Explorer browser, but the company is working on a Netscape version.
The affiliate program is reserved for larger sites. Smaller sites can earn cash by joining the banner program.
It’s a two-tier program. Webmasters earn $1 per download, plus 25 cents for each download for any sites you refer (maximum 2,000 for each webmaster, then 1 cent for each one after that).
Dash should be popular. Shoppers love bargains and Dash will make finding them easy.
It’s a professional looking site, from a company with money behind it. Looks good. I’ve signed up but haven’t heard back yet. When you sign up, I hope you’ll say allan AT AssociatePrograms.com sent you :-)
[UPDATE: Dash fooled me. It had a hidden multi-level marketing element. It deserved to vanish – and it did.]!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!SPONSOR!!!!!!!!!!!
HAMMACHER SCHLEMMER is the nation’s longest continuously
published catalog and one of the nation’s most established
retailers. HAMMACHER SCHLEMMER offers a 10% sales commission and
30 day commission duration within the product categories:
electronics, leisure/recreation, travel, home office,
automotive, kitchen, memorabilia, and gifts. Easy process for
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service reps.
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[UPDATE: This program has closed.]!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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4. Only two ad spots left for 1999
=========================
If you’re planning to advertise in the Associate Programs Newsletter some time in 1999, you’ll have to hurry. There are only two spots left, both in December. Details are on an autoresponder:
classads AT AssociatePrograms.com
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5. ShagMail – trivia, humor and lots more
==============================
Here’s a new program from Jaffer Ali’s PennMedia.com.
ShagMail offers “fun and amusements in your e-mail free”. Topics to choose from include:
Today’s Almanack, Bizarre News, By the Numbers, William F. Buckley, Today’s Consumer, Country Music News, The Daily Recipe, The Daily Tease, Dear Abbey, Entertainment Today, Film & TV Quotes, Health Tips, Your Horoscope, Laff A Day, Clean Laffs, On The Net, Pet Connection, Quote A Day, and a guaranteed offensive Up Yours! (My brother-in-law will love that one.)
There’s a simple sign-up form making it easy for people to subscribe to several newsletters at once.
Webmasters earn 7 cents for every new subscriber.
[UPDATE: These newsletters are no longer available.]=======================
6. Be kind to the environment
=======================
Here’s an environmentally friendly company you could promote: Zapworld.com.
“ZAP stands for Zero Air Pollution, and it is our goal to produce high-quality products that meet this description,” says Ken Braziel.
He says Zapworld.com has sold more than 30,000 electric bikes, trikes and Zappy scooters.
“These are fairly high-ticket items – the most popular seller on the site is the Zappy scooter at $649.99 (the commission would be $45.50).”
https://zapworld.com
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7. Heidi Messer on Affiliate Radio
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New interviews on the Affiliate Radio Network include LinkShare President Heidi Messer, Brian Sroub of Beyond.com, William Sutjiadi of CashPile.com and a new segment from Declan Dunn’s Affiliate Seminar audio series.
realvoices.com/affiliateradio/
[UPDATE: RealVoices died.]==================
8. How to be irresistible
==================
Casey McCabe has released a new two-tier affiliate program for an online book, “22 Secrets to being Absolutely IRRESISTIBLE to the Opposite Sex”, written by his friend, Michael Ryan.
Affiliates start off making 30% on the first level – or $11.70 – and about 8% on the second level – $3. Bonuses will be given for high sales.
“22 Secrets” isn’t quite the image I want for my site, so I haven’t signed up. However, the site is well worth visiting as a useful example of persuasive writing. If you’re unlucky in love, you may find it hard to resist.
22secrets.com
[This one died, too.]!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!SPONSOR!!!!!!!!!!!
Enter to win a $5,000 online shopping spree with Be Free.
Become an affiliate of the Web’s top merchants and you could
win! Each time your visitors click on a merchant link located on
your site and then buy, you earn a commission. Plus, you’ll
also have your name entered to win cool monthly prizes and the
grand prize – a $5,000 online shopping spree.
More info?
befree.com/contest.htm
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
==============================
9. TeknoSurf AdWave’s astounding CPMs
==============================
John Ferber’s TeknoSurf AdWave is going ahead in leaps and bounds, thanks in no small part to the innovative optimization technology it uses to serve more of the banner ads which work.
Scott Brew of USxchange.com told Online-Ads discussion list [UPDATE: This list closed.] that he is getting a click-through rate of 3.4% this month and an effective CPM (cost per 1,000 impressions) of $8 to $9.
Those figures are being achieved on a high volume cartoon site serving about 10 million to 12 million ad impressions a month, so it’s a pretty substantial test of TeknoSurf.
To beat that with an affiliate program, you’d have to write a brilliant testimonial.
Highly recommended.
[UPDATE: TeknoSurf is now Advertising.com.]========================
10. My Top 10 programs change
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I’ve updated my list of Top 10 affiliate programs – the ones which achieve the best results for me. Not surprisingly after all the heavy promotion I’ve done lately, Ken Evoy’s program has hit the top spot where it deserves to be – it’s incredibly good value for only about $17 (US). Jim Daniels has slipped off the bottom of the list (Sorry, Jim!) and a newcomer on the list is the innovative Mark Joyner.
Here are the programs which sell well for me:
All the best
Allan Gardyne
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