Associate Programs Newsletter #181
CONTENTS:
1. Script helps you increase Amazon sales and commissions
2. 23 ways to increase sales from any affiliate program
3. E-mail opportunities you’ve probably overlooked
4. Five myths of the affiliate networks, and other news
5. I’m hiring but…
6. Popular articles you may have missed
7. Thought for today: The beginner’s mind
__________________________________________SPONSOR__________
EARN MORE THIS HOLIDAY SEASON…
Join the NEW GoCollect Affiliate Network now:
Earn GENEROUS COMMISSIONS on the Web’s Widest Selection of
Collectibles & Gifts:
Access to 35,000 products from 125 brands
13% commission, low minimum payout and monthly statement
Banner Library with 2,000 digital assets and 35,000 direct
product links
Weekly Newsletters, promotions, FREE consultations and support
Sign up NOW through AssociatePrograms.com and receive a 3% BONUS
through 11/22/01: aff.gocollect.com/associates.html
Try this link: https://www.gocollect.com/affiliate/join/index.asp]___________________________________________________________
=========================================================
1. Script helps you increase Amazon sales and commissions
=========================================================
Perhaps because it’s not yet making a profit, Amazon.com seems to work AGAINST its affiliates instead of FOR them.
No commissions on this, no commissions on that…
The most annoying thing about the Amazon associate program is that the company keeps doing things that deprive its associates of the full 15% per commission, such as diverting visitors to other products that pay only 5% commission – or even pay nothing.
A visitor you send to a merchant’s site should arrive at a landing page that is a slippery chute. Amazon makes it a crossroads.
The second most annoying thing is that, in spite of all the faults in the Amazon program, it’s still the best choice for any affiliate who wants to sell books.
So, stuck with Amazon, affiliates keep hunting for ways to boost their sales and commissions.
Coming to their aid is David Cusimano.
David has figured out ways to keep potential book-buyers on your site longer before the point of purchase – and give them fewer distractions.
“One of the things I’ve done is create a Perl script that lets me show live Amazon.com search results in my web site in a customizable, non-branded way,” he says.
He calls it the “amazon.pl: Amazon.com Sales Booster Script”.
The aim is to increase your sales and increase the number of 15% commissions you earn instead of 5% commissions, similar to the way a more expensive script developed by Anaconda.net works.
“My script offers different formats without showing the Amazon.com logo all over the place,” David says.
“It also includes live prices and product descriptions and is not limited to just showing 1 to 8 items. Similar to Amazon’s interactive, my script permits you to change the header/footer of the output or put it in a table or put it anywhere in your HTML page.”
The script also bypasses “similar products”. After all, you don’t want the customer to be diverted into buying a product on which you receive only 5% commission.
This week David released a new version of the script which allows you greater choices in the way you display the search results on your site.
You can see different ways the script can be used here:
https://www.associateprograms.com/scripts
[UPDATE: This product is no longer available.]
You can also download a free demo copy.
(Other products with similar or complementary functionality are:
Amazon Foundation from https://www.anaconda.net and amazonsearch from https://www.digitalwindmill.com .)
David provides complete installation instructions and offers many examples of linking methods.
A second script David created – arpup.pl – alters the way the new “Amazon Recommends” linking method works.
“Amazon Recommends” links are dynamic links that automatically change over time, placing new material on your site. They’re very easy to install, but unfortunately they NEVER pay more than 5% commission. So if you’re chasing 15% commissions, you’ll need David’s first script.
David is not actually altering Amazon’s javascript, which is downloaded from Amazon on the fly.
You can learn more here:
https://www.associateprograms.com/scripts
[UPDATE: This product is no longer available.]
You can also earn 25% commission selling the scripts.
__________________________________________SPONSOR__________
BEST NEW AFFILIATE PROGRAM DIRECTORY
Go to AffiliateCash.com and find hundreds of independently run
programs not overexposed in the big networks! These
MyAffiliateProgram powered merchants offer many more linking
options; like articles, sig files, newsletter links and full HTML
pages, PLUS bigger payouts, lower minimum thresholds and more
personal service than any of the network operated programs can
give.
Check out Affiliatecash.com/a.asp today! [UPDATE: This site has vanished.]___________________________________________________________
=======================================================
2. 23 ways to increase sales from any affiliate program
=======================================================
Have you grabbed a copy of Marlon Sanders’ new handbook?
“The Associate Program Marketing Handbook” gives you 23 ways to get traffic, resell products and promote an affiliate product.
I just checked today and was flabbergasted to see that Marlon is STILL selling his handbook for only $20.
That has to be the best bargain anywhere for affiliates.
As you probably know, Marlon sells only really good stuff.
How many ways can YOU think of to sell affiliate products? Five? Ten? Twelve?
Learn about all the other good ways…
https://www.associateprograms.com/affiliate-manual
==================================================
3. Email opportunities you’ve probably overlooked
==================================================
Take another look at the confirmation message you send when someone subscribes to your newsletter. As Debbie Weil explains in a good article in ClickZ, you’re probably missing a host of marketing opportunities.
“Leveraging Your Confirmation Emails”
https://www.clickz.com/em_mkt/b2b_em_mkt/article.php/912961
=======================================================
4. Five myths of the affiliate networks, and other news
=======================================================
Linda Woods tells us what’s wrong with the major affiliate networks. They won’t like this article!
affiliatemarketing.co.uk/myths.htm
Stamps.com, which had a third-quarter net loss of $1.1 million, is to test a service that allows Internet users to print sheets of postage without the current USPS-imposed restrictions.
newsbytes.com/news/01/171495.html
Affiliate programs are developing new partnership models in their quest for profits and performance. One new model is the minipage, says Declan Dunn. Think of it as a direct response email postcard.
clickz.com/aff_mkt/aff_mkt/article.php/911091
Are merchants treating affiliates unfairly? Some are, but the focus has shifted from merchant needs to the needs of affiliates, says Jim Gribble. I hope he’s right.
clickz.com/aff_mkt/aff_mkt/article.php/911721
Egghead.com Inc., which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in August, has suspended all operations and stopped taking new orders.
internetnews.com/bus-news/article/0,,3_911831,00.html
Overture (GoTo) is profitable. Its net income for the third quarter was $9 million, or 15 cents a share, compared with a loss of $46.1 million a year earlier. Revenue nearly trebled to $72.5 million.
msnbc.com/news/648132.asp?0si=-
NeuStar, the newly appointed operator of the .us domain, says it will begin selling .us web addresses in the first half of 2002. I wonder who will buy AndSoSayAllOf.us?
newsbytes.com/news/01/171604.html
NextCard is experimenting with the predatory advertising outfit, Ezula – and saying it doesn’t know that affiliates will be upset. Could ANY affiliate merchant really be that out of touch?
revenews.com/archives/00000158.html
This probably explains things. NextCard is desperate and trying to boost sales fast…
NextCard puts itself up for sale
msnbc.com/news/650479.asp
__________________________________________SPONSOR__________
HOW DO YOU SPELL ONLINE SUCCESS? E-X-P-E-R-I-E-N-C-E!
Why reinvent the wheel … wasting time and money going it alone
… when a bunch of highly-successful webmasters and marketers have
SPILLED THE BEANS at a new Private Web Site?… Learn from our
mistakes and you’ll have more time to actually grow your
business!
marketingchallenge.com/cgi-bin/t.cgi/165582
[UPDATE: This site no longer exists.]___________________________________________________________
====================
5. I’m hiring but…
====================
I’m hiring, but there’s a catch. You must live in Dunedin, New Zealand.
As soon as I get to Dunedin for the southern summer, I’ll be hiring a new part-time assistant. If you’re interested, look for the classified ad in this Saturday’s Otago Daily Times.
Sorry to exclude everyone else in the world, but I want to be able to sit down and chat with the person I hire.
One of the things we’ll be doing is working our way through Marlon Sanders’ new Associate Handbook.
=======================================
6. Popular articles you may have missed
=======================================
Previous articles:
Want traffic? Go out and get it
Successfully build traffic
17 strategies from highly successful web sites
Ebook success story
How fast learner Yanik Silver succeeds
Follow up viral marketing
At last! Practical Guide for affiliate program managers
Affiliate program managers guide
Site Build It! V1.5 does the “grunt work” for you
Find super affiliates Part 1
My view of a sub-tropical bay
My view of a sub tropical bay
Are you new to affiliate programs? I highly recommend the free “Affiliate Masters” course.
Download the 10-day free course here:
=========================================
7. Thought for today: The beginner’s mind
=========================================
“If your mind is empty, it is always ready for anything; it is open to everything. In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities; in the expert’s mind there are few.”
– Shunryu Suzuki, author of
“Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind”
All the best
Allan Gardyne