Associate Programs Newsletter #36
CONTENTS:
1. You were right – Corey did go two-tier
2. Declan goes two-tier, too
3. Asces launches partner program
4. Starting a mall? Here's a better idea
5. Using frames to keep visitors onboard
6. Encouraging clicks to Amazon.com (part 2)
7. Trying to wangle higher Amazon.com commissions
8. Snippets
9. Articles at AssociatePrograms.com
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1. You were right – Corey did go two-tier
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It has been one of the Net's worst kept secrets. A few months ago highly successful e-marketer Corey Rudl introduced a second tier to his commission program – but it was only for the top 10% of his associates.
While Corey was testing the program, he asked those associates not to reveal the second tier of his program. However, because there was a sudden spurt in the number of web sites and newsletters suddenly praising Corey's program and offering testimonials, a lot of webmasters guessed what was going on.
Yes, he does have a two-tier program. It pays $US65 for sales of his home-study course, “The Insider Secrets to Marketing Your Business on the Internet”. Associates also earn $20 from sales made by sub-associates.
In typical flamboyant style, Corey told me: “There will be some MAJOR and VERY COOL changes to our associate program over the next 30 days. They will blow you away – you will make double what you are now with all good luck.”
I hope one of those changes will be removing the advice on spamming from his course. Corey assures me he doesn't use spam, and his info has helped me identify a few tricks spammers use (such as “Sorry about the delay in replying” or “Here's the info you requested”). However, there are far too many greedy, selfish, thoughtless spammers on the Net already. His info inevitably must encourage more. Even if removing the info decreased sales a fraction, I'm sure Corey could cope.
My commissions from Corey's course fluctuate quite a bit, but I make more money from this program than any other – partly because of the helpful information in Corey's regular newsletter which comes with it.
If you find the information in my newsletter useful, I hope you'll use my special URL when you sign up
https://www.associateprograms.com/coreys
I've added the course to the other two-tier programs at
Best two tier affiliate programs
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2. Declan goes two-tier, too
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Declan Dunn began selling his “The Complete, Insider's Guide to Associate & Affiliate Programs” at a small number of web sites. Now he has switched to a generous two-tier program, paying 25% to associates and 10% to sub-associates.
The book is unlike any other, says Steven Rothberg of Adguide in his review. Steven says it's an indispensable tool for anyone involved in affiliate programs. I agree. Declan's book gives concrete, specific examples telling you exactly how you can succeed with associate programs. While written mainly with merchants in mind, it also contains valuable insights for affiliates.
If you've been wondering whether you ought to buy this guide, Steven's review will make up your mind. You can read the review at:
AssociatePrograms.com/search/dunn.shtml
(Just in case you missed the announcement in a special edition of this newsletter: Declan Dunn has just written a second book, “Winning the Affiliate Game”. Highly recommended.
[UPDATE: This product is no longer available.]==================================
3. Acses launches partner program
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I tested the Acses price comparison tool last year and it didn't seem to work properly the day I tried it. However, I tested it again this week and it appears to have improved immensely.
Here's how it works. Say you're planning to buy a book, Jaclyn Easton's excellent “Striking It Rich.com”. Enter the name and the desired shipping method into the Acses search form and Acses will find you the best deal from 25 major online bookstores.
Whoops! I bought my copy from Amazon.com. You can buy it now from Shopping.com for a lot less – only $US12.47, plus shipping. On the other hand you could buy it from Powells for $24.95, plus shipping.
I tried searching for two other books. In each case, the best deal was found at Shopping.com, and Books.com was marginally cheaper than Amazon.com.
Acses will pay you $2 CPM to $4 CPM (per 1,000 impressions), depending on your site's quality, to put the search form on your site, which is probably more than you can hope to earn from most associate programs – unless you are writing brilliant testimonials or doing something else really clever.
You can remain an affiliate of Amazon.com or another bookstore, and you don't have to achieve sales to be paid by Acses. Your visitors are likely to use the price comparison tool, and then click on “Add to shopping cart” at the Acses site – so you just earn the CPM payment, not a commission.
If you are earning less than $2 to $4 CPM from your bookstore, adding the Acses search form would seem to be a good investment. It works most reliably if you search using an ISBN number, and doesn't appear to include Barnes & Noble.
[UPDATE: Acses became DealPilot.]========================================
4. Starting a mall? Here's a better idea
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I keep seeing sites whose webmasters think the way to fame and fortune is to start yet another online mall, using a stack of buttons and banners for associate programs. If anyone is making good money from this technique, please let me know. I'm dying to find out how you manage to get your visitors to return. I would never bother returning to a site like that.
Here's a better idea. Start a site dealing with some niche topic. Two good examples were described in LinkExchange Digest this week.
1. Edwin Hayward of https://www.searchengines.net has a site which has collected about 80 types of search engine boxes from all sorts of search engines and directories, and explains how to set them up on a site.
2. Don Ewald of https://www.nitroparts.com has a site dealing with pictures and history of drag racing from 1949 to 1972. He gets more than 2000 visitors a week.
Can't think of a topic for your new site? Here's one.
I-Sales Digest has been discussing the pros and cons of HTML newsletters . Most people don't like them – some hate them. I believe that's because they are so often badly designed. Right now there's a niche market for a site explaining how to do it right when you publish an HTML newsletter. When people get the technique right, using decent design and restrained use of HTML coding, I reckon this will be a fast growing niche.
John Audette is running a survey to see whether people prefer text or HTML newsletters. You can vote here: mmgco.com/isales/survey/
See the survey results here:
mmgco.com/isales/survey/survey.cgi
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5. Using frames to keep visitors onboard
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Crystal Ortiz writes:
Hi Allan,
I was over at the Entrepreneur Magazine site at https://www.entrepreneurmag.com and noticed that they were an affiliate of iprint.com. They've laid their link out
in frames, thereby eliminating the need to truly leave their site. For those who don't trust cookies or would like to earn commissions on repeat business, I think this is
very smart. When finished ordering from your affiliate site, your visitors simply need to follow your “left.htm” frameset and can continue browsing through your
site. And when they go to reorder, they'll remember YOUR site, not the link that led them off.
Crystal Ortiz
Free Training Site for MLMers:
https://members.tripod.com/~newco4/training
Sure, good idea, in some cases. However, some companies supply associates with special URLs which will open up a new browser. Another problem is that unless you are expert at using frames you can have trouble getting your site ranked well in search engines.
[UPDATE: Also, many affiliate programs prohibit displaying their site in a frame.]============================================
6. Encouraging clicks to Amazon.com (part 2)
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Last week Heath Boutwell of https://www.betstart.com told us he had come up with a way of encouraging click-throughs to Amazon. However, Heath has been told by a guy at Amazon.com that his link usage wasn't quite right. “I guess if they would SUPPLY this kind of information, we wouldn't have to try to figure it out ourselves,” Heath says.
Here's the new link which Amazon.com says works better:
https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/external-search/
?keyword=sports+betting&tag=thedailyspread
Heath has attached it to the text:
Amazon.Com lists over 100 titles under the search term “sports betting”
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7. Trying to wangle higher Amazon.com commissions
=================================================
I reported recently that Kevin Patch had created a Perl script designed to help you earn more 15% commissions instead of 5% from Amazon.com. The script, called Anaconda, is for sale for $US20 at qwallet.com/anaconda .
However, writing book reviews may get you better results than using Anaconda. Stephanie McKnight of Amazon.com explains:
Hi Allan.
Sorry it took me so long to get back to you and thanks for writing to us about “Anaconda” – we've recently become aware of this product. It is very important to note that Amazon.com does not endorse the use of this product (or any 3rd party
applications and tools) and was not involved in any way with its design or creation. We cannot guarantee that it will work with either current or future versions of our web site.
The Amazon.com Associates Program currently offers to pay up to 15% referral fees on individually linked books for a very specific reason. We have always intended that this higher fee compensate our Associates for the extra effort required to choose and recommend books that are uniquely relevant to their visitors and areas of interest. Strong independent book reviews have been a powerful selling tool for some of our
most successful Associates. It is important to understand that although an application may appear to increase the number of direct links to Amazon.com, the higher quantity of lower quality (no independent reviews by Associate) may not result
in higher sales at all.
As always, you should verify any claims about the terms of our program that you find on other web sites by carefully comparing them to our own online Operating Agreement and FAQ. Again, we do not endorse or comment on any specific 3rd party tools and we always caution that we do not offer any technical support or customer service related to their usage.
Sincerely,
Stephanie McKnight
Associates Program
Amazon.com
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8. Snippets
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Netscape bug?
Gary Iverson of Gwensjewelry.com has discovered that the e-mail link on my web pages doesn't work with Netscape Navigator 4.07 but does work with I.E. 4.0+. He says the upper case “MAILTO:” link doesn't work but the lower case “mailto:” link does. Very odd.
Tracking repeat sales
Brad Waller of EPage – https://ep.com – says tracking affiliates' repeat sales is “rather easy”. I've added his advice to the article
Tracking affiliates' commissions – cookies aren't enough
Tracking affiliate commissions
Reporting.Net improves
Andrew Starr of https://www.emailman.com reports that Be Free's Reporting.net is getting better, providing associates with a way for you to easily view programs in which you are enrolled, and to consolidate logons if you belong to more than one program. Next? “It would be nice to have the option of e-mailed reports weekly or monthly or so,” Andrew says. “It's a pain to go around logging in to various sites.”
February bonus
Auction house UTrade is paying a $2 bonus for each visitor you send to UTrade who registers this month. That is in addition to the usual 15% commission on all listing fees and the 33% commission on earnings of your sub-associates.
utrade.com/index.htm?AssociateID=12393
No web site?
I think it's odd to try to succeed in marketing on the Net without a web site. It makes more sense to aim for repeat traffic. However, optimists will find this article useful: “9 Ways for Your Business to Succeed on the Internet Without a Web Site!” By Jeffrey Spencer
computers-best.com/9waysfor.htm
Type carefully, folks
I guess I should be flattered. Jon Lisbin has registered the domain name AssociatesPrograms.com .
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All the best
Allan Gardyne
