Associate Programs Newsletter #102
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CONTENTS:
1. Don’t be fooled by “new top level domain”
2. Domain registrar’s nasty clause
3. Joker still seems to be cheapest
4. ClickFraud.com aims to ban cheaters
5. Why Jeff dropped the eToys program
6. Want to be a presenter at the Hawaii conference?
7. Respond says it will pay up
8. Top tips from Affiliate Force 2000
9. Create and sell your own info product
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1. Don’t be fooled by “new top level domain”
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I was surprised when I read an article by Patrick Stoddard in WebProNews newsletter about .WS, “the new top level domain”.
I know that a sub-committee of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), which oversees Internet domain names, has been considering adding six to ten new top level domains, but I didn’t know that .WS was one of them. In fact, reputable news services have been reporting that no final decision has been made.
If only ONE top level domain was being added, surely .WEB would have been the obvious choice?
Don’t be mistaken, ladies and gentlemen, don’t be misled.
Although WorldSite – https://www.WorldSite.ws – describes itself as “the alternative to .com” it’s no more THE alternative to .com than the ones you already know about, such as .CC (Cocos Islands) or .TO (Tonga).
“There is no difference between ‘.WS’ and ‘.COM’ addresses, except for the fact that there are a virtually unlimited availability of quality, easy-to-remember .WS domain names,” WebProNews reported.
No difference?
I asked Jack Erkman of https://www.000Domains.com to comment.
“WS doesn’t excite me much,” Jack said. There were already alternatives around like .CC or .TO. So, why should .WS be any different from the others? It is an alternative all right, but not THE alternative.
“If we are going to go by other countries’ extensions there are 239 alternatives to the .COM .NET .ORG trio. So far the trend in the market still appears to be on .COM’s side, but the market always needs alternatives. WS just brings that and for those who really want their name, it will serve the purpose alongside several other extensions.
“I think the customers also should be enlightened with the facts. WS is actually not World Site but Western Samoa, a Southern Pacific island, just like .CC (Cocos Islands) and .TO (Tonga). Private companies buy the rights to sell these top level domains (TLDs) from those countries and start advertising as if those are the new additions of ICANN to generic top level domains (gTLD) .COM, .NET, and .ORG. Very misleading!
“We are planning to sell some country extensions in the future and I assure you we will make them as affordable as our .COM, .NET and .ORG.”
Tom Jackson of https://www.Nameboy.com says it’s clear that other TLDs will have to be used to accommodate the projected increase in domain names.
“In three years, the number of registered domains is expected to increase tenfold!” Tom says. “So we expect a big increase in the registration of other extensions, I expect the premium for .COM domain names to increase dramatically. At Nameboy.com, we see requests to create and search for .COM domains outnumber all others by 5 to 1.
“I expect some others to come on strong before .WS. The .WS site looks like a scheme to develop a highly qualified opt-in list. They collect quite a bit of information and the privacy policy says it’s not too private.”
If you want to check that WS stands for (Western) Samoa, you can find it on these lists of country domains:
https://www.CheckDomain.com/list.html
https://www.ics.uci.edu/pub/websoft/wwwstat/country-codes.txt
Buying a .WS domain name from Global Domains International, Inc., a California corporation which runs WorldSite.ws, could be expensive.
Current fees (in US dollars):
4+ letters (for example ABCD.WS) $35 a year
3-letter names (for example ABC.WS) $250 a year
1 or 2-letter names (for example AB.WS) $500 a year
Also, I reckon you ought to be very cautious if you’re thinking of buying a domain name which is already in use with a .COM extension. Don’t even think of buying a trademarked name. Considering buying another name? You could be picking a fight – legal or otherwise – with the company which already owns the .COM version.
A better approach, I believe, is to use https://www.Nameboy.com and the “deleted domain search” at WhoIs.net and buy a good .COM name while they’re still available. There are still many thousands of useful names.
I found these available yesterday:
10BestDownloads.com
1BizAvenue.com
BizCreditCards.com
BestVacationFares.com
VacationBooks.com
Another approach is to make up a name. Dreaming up “eBoz!” doesn’t seem to have done Michael Wong any harm – he gets 300,000 visitors a month.
World Site has an affiliate program. I won’t be rushing to join it.
For some background reading on how pioneers are laying claim to new top level domains, see
msnbc.com/news/384742.asp
Here’s a good article on how to choose a domain name:
https://www.NetMechanic.com/news/vol3/promo_no3.htm
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2. Domain registrar’s nasty clause
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Sorry folks, you really DO have to read those online contracts. Some of them have some nasty traps waiting for the unwary.
Joe Robson of https://www.adcopywriting.com is one of several people who have warned me about https://www.123domains.com, which sells domain names for $13.99 a year.
Joe found this alarming clause buried deeply in the Registration Agreement:
“You agree that Domain Bank shall have the exclusive
right to act as registrar of your domain name for the
initial term of registration plus three (3) years,
and any renewal of your domain name registration in
that period shall be processed using Domain Bank’s
services.”
“I have no reason to doubt the integrity of this company,” Joe says, “but why on earth do they insist you sign away your rights for the next five years?
“A hardened cynic may believe that perhaps they may choose to charge whatever fee they wish when renewal time comes around. And if you refuse, presumably you lose your domain, and consequently your business.”
Joe says we don’t buy a product or service on price alone. We buy credibility, service, and peace of mind.
“Anyone registering through this company could be literally held to ransom when renewal time comes around – $100, $200 a time?”
Here’s how to find the offending clause:
You have to start the search process first. Go to https://www.123Domains.com and search for a gibberish domain.
Up will come a “Good News” page with a link to Registration Agreement. The “exclusive right” sentence is near the end of Clause 4.
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3. Joker still seems to be cheapest
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I couldn’t get the form at https://www.EasyHosting.com/ to work, but Robert Hepburn says he managed to register Globalmoneynet.com at EasyHosting.com without a hitch.
Martin Kemp of Zooming.to has also registered some domains with EasyHosting.com but says they are not as user friendly as the others. “Another good registrar is https://www.Joker.com .” Martin says. “It seems the top three are all in different currencies (Easyhosting being $15 Canadian, Joker $12 Euro and https://www.000Domains.com $US13.50) which make the universal currency converter well worth a visit at https://www.xe.net/ucc/ . I think for just a few domains Joker is best, but for bulk registration 000domains is very good. However, why not use their supplier? https://www.OpenSRS.com is really only for ISPs and does say very clearly that it is not for individuals. However, there are more and more companies buying hundreds of domains so it is definitely something to look into. You have to register at least 25 a year and you have to pay in advance.”
For finding good available domain names, I like the “deleted domain search” at WhoIs.net and also https://www.Nameboy.com.
Bruce Galle says he checked out NameBoy.com and believes that you will find the Gizmo at OrderYourDomains.com/gizmo even more effective for finding quality domain names.
[UPDATE: The Gizmo has vanished.]======================================
4. ClickFraud.com aims to ban cheaters
======================================
According to DimeClicks.com, over 10 percent of all registered affiliates are cheating the system in some manner. Webmasters are finding a multitude of tricks to boost their click-through ratios and profits.
Webmasters who are caught cheating will quickly move on to another affiliate program. To stop these webmasters permanently, ClickFraud.com is imposing a “One Strike and They’re Out” rule. It will compile monthly lists of webmasters who have been found cheating.
“Once a webmaster’s name and URL are on the Affiliate Offenders list, they will be banned from joining any affiliate program that is a member of ClickFraud.com,” says ClickFraud.com owner Daniel Philp. “They can never cheat a ClickFraud.com member again.”
The first list of Affiliate Offenders will be released on May 1.
[UPDATE: ClickFraud.com has vanished.]=====================================
5. Why Jeff dropped the eToys program
=====================================
The decision by eToys.com to pay only a bounty for new customers and no longer pay commissions has prompted one of eToys’ top affiliates, Jeff Jameson, to dump the eToys program.
Jeff, whose site RamonaMall.com earns thousands of dollars a month from eToys, has sent the following letter to Dana Weinrot of eToys:
“Thanks for noticing the sales I’ve been bringing in to etoys.
Unfortunately I’ve received notification from your company
that they are changing the affiliate program in April and this
has caused me and many other affiliate marketing professionals
to look at other competing toy merchants. I know $10 per new
customer would give me slightly more income in the short term,
but we all anticipate it will be harder to make significant
income on just new customer bonus in the future.
“I have decided that kbtoys.com with their compensation plan
at $7.50 per new customer and 5% of sales to be the best place
to continue my efforts in driving toy related traffic.
“Please e-mail me if the company’s payment plan includes a
percentage of sales commissions in the future. It has been
great working with eToys and helping make your company an
etailer success story and I wish you and Etoys continued
success in the future.”
Jeff says he explained to Dana that the way he creates his “resource centers” the user is compelled to bookmark them and go back into the merchant through his sites every couple of months to buy, and that under the new plan he would get no commissions for sending his loyal traffic to eToys.
“The eToys program in April may still be good for those affiliate marketing professionals who find visitors looking for an online toystore in general but not for those who are attracting visitors who are looking for specific toys/video games,” Jeff says.
Jerry Forgey of AccessMall.com is another eToys affiliate who doesn’t believe he’ll be better off under the new payout plan. He has dumped the program and told eToys why.
At one stage, eToys was paying commissions of up to 25% and upset many affiliates when it reduced those payouts. Its latest decision to abandon paying commissions has persuaded more affiliates to leave.
In a bid to stop the rot, eToys is telling affiliates who complain:
“We believe that our new plan creates a strong program for both eToys and our affiliates. eToys can continue to gain new customers and keep the affiliate program running, while affiliates will receive higher fees for making the introductions. This higher fee can actually translate into more revenue for your site. Internet experts project that over the next few years the number of new Internet users will double. This represents millions of new users affiliates can introduce to eToys at a higher fee than our old program. We believe that this will result in substantial gains for our affiliates.”
The company is telling affiliates that it’s a smart decision to stick with the eToys program for these reasons:
eToys is a top Internet retailer.
Rated by Fortune magazine as the best online retailer.
According to Media Metrix, second most visited e-commerce site during the 1999 holiday season.
The clear leader in the children’s online space.
eToys is spending tens of millions of dollars in high quality marketing.
eToys’ marketing investment means your visitors will recognize your eToys links and click on them.
eToys’ conversion rate from visitors to buyers is excellent.
eToys pays a top-of-the-line fee for each new customer making a qualified purchase.
“It all adds up: More clicks to eToys + More orders per click = Higher overall profits for you. We are confident that the eToys affiliate program is a high quality, lucrative opportunity and represents the best available in terms of customer experience, brand recognition, and affiliate revenue,” the company says.
If you’re an eToys.com affiliate and you don’t agree with eToys’ assessment, please don’t just quietly leave the program. Make sure you TELL eToys.com that you’re leaving, and tell them why.
Please do that with ANY program you’re leaving. That’s the way to force affiliate program owners to take notice of affiliates’ concerns.
If you want to try a toy store which pays its affiliates a bounty AND a commission, here’s one:
KBkids.com
[UPDATE: KBkids no longer exists.]===================================================
6. Want to be a presenter at the Hawaii conference?
===================================================
The E-Commerce 2000 conference in Hawaii was a lot of fun and I picked up some extremely valuable tips – not just during the presentations but also during the informal chats I had with the presenters.
Thom Reece, who organized the conference, says he has tentatively set the schedule for the next conference as March 8-10, 2001.
“I have an early commitment from Matt Mickiewicz of ‘Webmaster Tribune’ fame to join us as a speaker and am looking for at least four additional speakers to round out the presentations. I am actively looking for new speaker/presentation proposals,” Thom says.
So if you would like to join John Audette, Allan Gardyne, Rob Frankel, Dan Janal, Matt Mickiewicz and Thom Reece at a high- energy, hands-on conference where people learn while vacationing in Hawaii, contact Thom at kaubiz AT hialoha.net and tell him why you should join the team.
If you just want to attend the conference, put it in your diary now. See you there.
https://www.associateprograms.com/hawaii
[UPDATE: This conference has been held.]==============================
7. Respond says it will pay up
==============================
Sometimes it pays to complain loudly and publicly if an affiliate program owner mistreats you.
I reported last week how Respond.com was treating Dale Reardon of LocalHost.net.au very badly, refusing to pay him his referral commission, although Respond.com had let him sign up.
Respond.com has now told Dale that it will pay up.
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8. Top tips from Affiliate Force 2000
=====================================
Brian Clark of Revenews has summarised the best 10 tips from the Affiliate Force 2000 conference. They include: Honing your pitch on your opt-in list; re-investing your commissions into advertising; and reverse affiliate programs.
ReveNews.com/advice/strategy/forcetips.html
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9. Create and sell your own info product
========================================
Ken Evoy just keeps on pouring out the good stuff.
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If it’s from Ken, you can guarantee it’s good.
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All the best
Allan Gardyne