Associate Programs Newsletter #121
It was a good day and a bad day. We’re having technical problems while making improvements to the AssociatePrograms.com database. For the next few days, it would be wise to avoid making any submissions to the directory.
Thanks. I appreciate your patience.
At a time like this, I definitely needed some good news. It arrived, and arrived, and arrived… Ka-ching! Ka-ching! Ka-ching!
To find out how, read on…
CONTENTS:
1. How I achieved 71 sales in 2 days – by doing nothing
2. Can you spare $6 – for a whole year?
3. Three ways to increase your business
4. Useful articles for affiliate merchants
5. Watch out for this clause in Drugstore.com’s agreement
6. PayPal decides to help fight fraud
7. Make your domain name memorable
8. Amazon’s new domain names
9. Friends, failures, experts, mistakes … and me
10. Thought for today: How to destroy your brand
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1. How I achieved 71 sales in 2 days – by doing nothing
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Like me, you’ve read a lot of hype about various affiliate programs. Here’s one in which I achieved 71 sales yesterday and today.
If I can do it, you can.
This is what a section of my email in-box looked like last night – a neat stack of emails, all with the same heading:
Congratulations, another sale!
Congratulations, another sale!
Congratulations, another sale!
Congratulations, another sale!
Congratulations, another sale!
This morning, over and over, the same message kept arriving … even more frequently…
Congratulations, another sale!
Congratulations, another sale!
Congratulations, another sale!
Congratulations, another sale!
Congratulations, another sale!
Congratulations, another sale!
Congratulations, another sale!
Congratulations, another sale!
Congratulations, another sale!
Congratulations, another sale!….
…and the messages kept on pouring in all day…
When I began writing this newsletter, I’d sold 56 copies of SiteSell’s brand new product, “Make Your Words Sell!”, and earned a 25% commission on each sale.
I’ve just checked my online stats again. I’ve now sold 71 copies.
So, how did I achieve so many sales so fast, when “Make Your Words Sell!” has only just been released?
That’s the magic of the SiteSell affiliate program.
I didn’t do ANYTHING to sell that book.
That’s right. Truly. I didn’t lift a finger. I haven’t begun promoting “Make Your Words Sell!” yet.
It’s a four-volume work and I haven’t even finished READING every chapter yet. (But from what I have read, I’m not at all surprised that it’s selling like hotcakes.)
So, how did I get those sales?
I’m going to reveal a few things I’ve never made public…
It all began last year when I took a calculated gamble and switched a large proportion of my promotional efforts over to promoting SiteSell’s first product, “Make Your Site SELL!”.
If you’ve been receiving the Associate Programs Newsletter for a while, you’ll know that I’ve been promoting SiteSell’s products heavily – so heavily that I’ve risked offending my readers – and some of you have told me so, very bluntly.
In fact, about 200 readers unsubscribed last week after I published a Special Edition reviewing SiteSell’s Dynamic Pricing. (If I’d read “Make Your Words Sell” I would have known I was making a big mistake using “Special Edition” as the title.)
I knew promoting SiteSell heavily was a risky strategy. I believed the program had fantastic potential, but I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to convince my website visitors and newsletter readers. A lot of people aren’t interested in building equity, in building a business which will be worth something one day.
I’d been studying affiliate programs since 1997. I’d done my research carefully and I’d spent many hours on the phone to SiteSell’s President, Ken Evoy. I was convinced his strategy of OVER-delivering, paying lifetime commissions and providing intensive support for affiliates was the best strategy on the Net.
So I took the calculated gamble.
A year ago I was earning some very useful commission checks from Corey Rudl – https://www.associateprograms.com/corey . You don’t need many sales when the commission is a generous $65 per sale. In comparison, Ken’s first product, “Make Your Site Sell!” – https://www.associateprograms.com/myss which costs under $20, was paying only about $5 per sale.
[UPDATE: Make Your Site Sell! is now FREE.]When I switched to promoting “Make Your Site Sell!” my sales volume rose but because I was earning only $5 each time instead of $65, my income declined sharply.
For quite a while, I wondered whether I’d made a wise decision.
Should I switch back to promoting Corey’s course? After all, it’s also jam-packed with useful info and although it costs a lot more, it’s still great value for money.
It was a tough decision. I must admit I had a few doubts. Some people rubbished me on my own message board.
“I’ve made the best decision for the long term,” I told my wife, Joanna, who keeps a sharp eye on the commission checks. “You’ll see. Just wait till those lifetime commissions start to take effect.”
I wasn’t making quite as much money as I once did, but I stuck with it…
And that’s how I achieved those 71 sales…
Ken Evoy’s SiteSell affiliate program pays affiliates LIFETIME COMMISSIONS.
I’m sure a lot of merchants and affiliates of other programs haven’t really figured out how just important SiteSell’s lifetime commissions are.
If you’re an affiliate and the customer buys a product, such as “Make Your Site Sell!” that customer is yours for LIFE.
Ken’s business philosophy is to OVER-deliver. He believes in giving his customers far better value than they could ever expect to receive.
So EVERY product Ken produces sells well – and that means more lifetime commissions for his affiliates – for you and me.
When Ken announced his second product, “Make Your Knowledge Sell”, I immediately achieved a rush of sales.
My income picked up very nicely indeed. SiteSell soared to the top spot on my Top 10 list of best-sellers – Best affiliate programs. (It’s now in number two spot.)
Then SiteSell launched “Make Your Price Sell”. I received another flurry of sales.
Now he has launched “Make Your Words Sell”… and it looks as though my revenue stream is turning into a river.
All SiteSell’s products appeal to website owners, but judging by sales yesterday and today, “Make Your Words Sell” – which is being sold using Dynamic Pricing – will be SiteSell’s best- selling product yet.
Of course I didn’t really “do nothing” to achieve those sales. Don’t believe anyone who says you can make money on the Net by doing nothing. Earning money is hard work.
It’s only AFTER you’ve done the hard work that it all seems so easy.
Then this happens…
Ken announces his latest product to his customers, to his affiliates, and to people who have merely signed up for one of his newsletters. He lists all the benefits of his product.
Among those people are “my” customers, ones who have previously bought through my referral link. They’re delighted with the product they bought, so they buy the latest product – and I receive the commission.
Then Ken thanks me, and puts money in my bank account.
Does YOUR favorite affiliate program help you that way?
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if Amazon.com’s program did?
While we’re waiting for that to happen – and for the next Ice Age – I strongly recommend you join Ken’s program.
If you have already joined the SiteSell program – and I know many of you have – but haven’t been promoting its products much lately, pause for a moment and ask yourself:
What is the lifetime value of a SiteSell customer going to be worth in commissions to an affiliate?
$100? $700? More?
I don’t know. No one can know. However, we do know that SiteSell is producing a steady stream of products which are incredibly good value for money, so we can feel good about promoting them.
EVERY website owner needs them. That means there’s a huge market for them – lots of potential buyers for us to sell to.
So there are lots of opportunities for you to start earning those lifetime commissions, and start receiving some really good commission checks.
Get started now on the track to lifetime commissions and decent sized affiliate checks.
You can join the program here.
https://www.associateprograms.com/affiliates
If you’re new to all this, the best way to get up to speed is to take Ken’s free Affiliate Masters course.
You can download it here:
Then one day write and tell me how YOU achieved more than 71 sales in two days. I look forward to receiving your letter.
You can get “Make Your Words Sell” here:
https://www.associateprograms.com/words
[UPDATE, April 2001:I’ve just sold another 45 ebooks in only two days, without lifting a finger. That’s because “my” customers have rushed to buy the latest SiteSell product, the ebook Make Your Net Auction Sell! It tells you how to make a great income with Internet auctions – and you don’t even need a web site. Once again, again, I’m earning lifetime commissions. Start building YOUR lifetime business.] [UPDATE 2011: Ken’s main product is now SBI!, a suite of tools and a system for researching a profitable niche, building a website and marketing it so that it gets good traffic. We use SBI, because it’s ideal for affiliate marketers, and it just keeps on getting better and better. I earn four-figure monthly commissions and have earned five-figure commissions from the affiliate program. It’s been my top earner for years. When you join the affiliate program, be sure to read the affiliate agreement carefully. To qualify for the second-tier commissions and residual commissions, you need to be committed to making ongoing sales. When you join, you’ll receive a superb Internet marketing education.]
Join the affiliate program now.
https://www.associateprograms.com/affiliates
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2. Can you spare $6 – for a whole year?
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Here’s a nifty little tool which packs a powerful punch.
It solves several problems simultaneously.
We all know how easy it is to get sidetracked in Internet marketing. It’s easy to lose focus and end up wasting time on techniques which don’t produce good results. (Been there, done that.)
Do you have 10 minutes?
That’s all you need each day to put your Internet marketing on the right track – with daily help from experts at this stuff.
Mark Joyner’s new “Promote-Ivator” will give your marketing a kick-along with constant reminders, constant encouragement, camaraderie, expert advice, and goal planning.
Mark, who has a military background, likes military metaphors.
The daily “Boot in the Head” provides you with hard-hitting, and immediately useable tips from some of the biggest names in marketing and advertising.
The “Daily Patrol” gives you a very specific marketing task to accomplish each day. It will be something easy, but immediately beneficial to your business.
“Promote-Ivator” gives you constant encouragement, making you feel good about your marketing and reminding you how important it is that you promote your business – daily.
The “Promote-Ivator Firing Line” is an exclusive members-only forum where you make friends and business contacts, and get advice from others who have gone through the same troubles you’re experiencing right now.
“I’ve also arranged for some of the biggest names in marketing to drop in from time to time,” Mark says.
Because we’ll all be given daily reminders to visit the message board, I reckon it will quickly become one of the most popular boards on the Net. So marketing posts there will give you good publicity, attracting useful traffic to your site.
“Promote-Ivator” even has a built-in affiliate program, so you can tell your friends and opt-in list about it, and receive commissions on sales of all Mark’s Internet marketing products and services – which pay VERY useful commissions.
Inside Promote-Ivator is also a little tracking device that will allow you to track your current marketing goals and even help you plan the specific steps to achieve those goals.
For only $6, any ONE of the features would be an absolute bargain. However, if you order today, you’ll receive the WHOLE LOT for only $6.
Actually, you’re not even risking that $6.
If you don’t like the Promote-Ivator, just send Mark an e-mail and he’ll give you a refund immediately. I’d be amazed if anyone wanted their money back.
Grab this bargain now, and tell your friends about it.
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3. Three ways to increase your business
=======================================
Jay Abraham says there are only three ways to increase your business:
*Increase the number of clients.
*Increase the average size of the sale per client.
*Increase the number of times clients return and buy again.
Sounds deceptively simple, doesn’t it?
If you have the right tutors, it is. You can discover how to do ALL those things, by using the awesome power of words.
SiteSell’s new “Make Your Words Sell” tells you how.
As you know, SiteSell OVER-delivers, packing incredible value for money into every product.
“Make Your Words Sell” is no exception.
Whether you’re an affiliate or a merchant, you need this book, because everyone who has a website needs it.
If you don’t get the words right, you won’t achieve sales. If you don’t achieve sales, you’ll be like those crashing and burning dot-coms, on a smaller scale perhaps.
Learn from a couple of experts who DO know how to write words that persuade, words that achieve the sale.
“Make Your Words Sell” tells you how to get the words right – on your website, in your e-mail and in your online store.
Want an overseas holiday? Get the words right. Want a better house? Get the words right.
For a really powerful example of how it’s done, see
https://www.associateprograms.com/words
Is it any good? Do these guys know what they’re talking about? Do they REALLY know how to write words that SELL?
Well, first of all, they’d have to be able to sell their OWN book, wouldn’t they?
For me alone, they’ve just sold 71 copies in two days. If that’s not a resounding YES, I don’t know what is.
[UPDATE: Make Your Words Sell! (MYWS!), which used to be sold for $29.95, is now FREE.]==========================================
4. Useful articles for affiliate merchants
==========================================
Neil Durrant has added to his site a couple of articles useful for affiliate merchants:
Eva Rosenberg’s case study of the BottomLine Personal affiliate program: affiliatemarketing.co.uk/casestudy.htm
Quality not Quantity – the new Gold Standard in Affiliate Marketing, by Linda Woods: affiliatemarketing.co.uk/linda2.htm
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5. Watch out for this clause in Drugstore.com’s agreement
=========================================================
Marcia Frost of https://www.CollegeAndJuniorTennis.com was shocked to find out that Drugstore.com has in its agreement a clause which she says “allows them to keep up to $99 in affiliate revenues every quarter”.
“As webmasters, we need to make sure that large companies do not get away with programs like this,” Marcia says. “I appreciate any help you can give me in getting the word out…”
The agreement says:
“Approximately 30 days following the end of each calendar quarter, we will send you a check for the marketing fees payable for such quarter, less any taxes that we are required by law to withhold. However, if the marketing fees payable to you for any calendar quarter are less than $100.00, you will receive a drugstore.com credit certificate for the amount that can be used for your purchase of Health, Beauty, Wellness, and Personal Care items.”
As well, sales of prescription items do not earn a commission.
As many companies do, Drugstore.com reserves the right to change its agreement however it likes, whenever it likes, and just post a note on its website.
You can read the agreement here:
https://www.drugstore.com/associates/agreement_text.asp
So if you aren’t likely to earn $100 in three months, and don’t want to receive Drugstore.com products instead of cash, it would be best to avoid this program.
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6. PayPal decides to help fight fraud
=====================================
Online payment service PayPal says it will now reimburse any person using its service who is defrauded when dealing with a vendor that PayPal has determined is “verified”.
msnbc.com/news/440155.asp
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7. Make your domain name memorable
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One way to make your domain name more memorable is to make it easier to read.
Browsers don’t care about capitalization in domain names, says Stewart Hutton of https://www.practicalselling.com – whoops, I mean https://www.PracticalSelling.com .
“So if you have been forced into a morethanonewordruntogether.com domain name (and most of us are now) – you can make it a bit more memorable by capitalizing the constituent words – you do it, I do it (now), but I see a lot of names that need to be studied to make sense. Like the poor soul who owns Worldofart.com – do you think I should tell him?”
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8. Amazon’s new domain names
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Amazon.com may have some big plans for the future.
The Register – https://www.theregister.co.uk/ – says Amazon recently registered these domain names:
NewCarsAmazon.com
UsedCarsAmazon.com
SellCarsAmazon.com
CarClassifiedsAmazon.com
PartsAmazon.com
LuxuryAmazon.com
Jewelry-Amazon.com
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9. Friends, failures, experts, mistakes … and me
==================================================
Mark Brownlow of the Internet Business Forum interviewed me in the longest interview I’ve ever endured … I mean enjoyed.
Topics we discussed included the day I quit my day job, what I think makes me successful, friends, failures, experts, mistakes, role model affiliates, what I’d do if I were starting again, and more.
The interview is now online.
If you want to know which Web personality I’d most like to have dinner with, and why, skip right to end.
https://www.ibizinterviews.com/
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10. Thought for today: How to destroy your brand
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“Forget for a moment what your brand is. The fact that you choose to spam immediately distorts whatever you are into the commonly held perception of what a spammer is. Usually, it’s associated with low-life scum who steal money from naive suckers and inexperienced users. If that’s how you wish to be perceived, so be it. You wouldn’t be the first to destroy your brand through a poor choice of tactics and I doubt you’d be the last.” – Rob Frankel, Robfrankel.com
All the best
Allan Gardyne
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