Associate Programs Newsletter #70
CONTENTS:
1. Marketing gurus draw swords
2. Three approaches to successful Internet marketing
3. Eldon’s ezine affiliate program strikes problems
4. CJ.com offers $250 rebate for merchants
5. LinkShare adds live tech support
6. TeknoSurf’s daughter windows average $10 CPM
7. Fatbrain understands the importance of brand names
8. Stefanie’s neat marketing technique
9. How to hide referral links in e-mail
10. DirectLeads shortens URLs for e-mail
11. Good and bad results with RealNames
12. RealNames answers tricky questions
13. Holly’s one-stop shop a full-time job
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1. Marketing gurus draw swords
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I’m amused when Internet marketing experts argue over the best way to market things on the Internet.
Michael Campbell, author of “Nothing but ‘Net”, whose brilliant marketing tactics generated $750,000 in sales in just over a year, proclaims that search engines are the ultimate marketing tool.
The way Michael sees it, search engine optimization is the one thing you have to get right. He got it right – and tells how in his book.
However, innovative thinker Mark Joyner, CEO of Aesop Marketing Corporation, disagrees.
“It just burns me up to think that there are some unsuspecting folks out there being fed this nonsense,” Mark says (politely not naming Michael Campbell). “If they ever learn what is wrong with this approach it will only be after many hours of trial, error, and lost profits.”
So who’s right? Maybe both of them. Search engines ARE important. They are wonderful traffic-boosters if you learn how to use them to their full potential. However, there are HUNDREDS of ways to market things on the Internet. For example, I’ve had great success with a traffic-boosting method which many Internet marketing gurus overlook.
I call it “making friends”. I publish other people’s referral URLs in the AssociatePrograms.com directory. That approach seems a little crazy, but people like it, and recommend my site.
“Making friends” doesn’t sound scientific, but if you have a look at the “traffic” report while using the Alexa.com plug-in, you’ll see proof that it works.
By the way, if you find my site and newsletter helpful and you would like to give me a link, there’s a cute little fast-loading button graphic you can use at
https://www.associateprograms.com/associate.gif .
I’d really appreciate that.
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2. Three approaches to successful Internet marketing
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I’ve added the views of three marketing gurus to the AssociatePrograms.com Advice Archives. They’re all highly recommended reading:
How I get top rankings in major search engines
By Michael Campbell
AssociatePrograms.com/search/get-top-ranking.shtml
4 Evil Search Engine Myths
By Mark Joyner
AssociatePrograms.com/search/engine-myths.shtml
How to get insanely rich on the Internet
Total Idiot’s Guide to Internet Success!
By Linda Cox
AssociatePrograms.com/search/insanely-rich.shtml
(If you like a good laugh, Linda’s article is a must-read.)
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3. Eldon’s ezine affiliate program strikes problems
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Eldon Sarte, who publishes the e-Factory NewsDesk ezine, has been forced to phase out his ezine’s Cashplus! affiliate program and is working on a replacement referral scheme.
Eldon says a technical problem was causing him to lose subscribers and wasting a lot of his affiliates’ efforts.
The script he was using was Drewstar’s CashPlus from Superscripts.com.
“The software was not all that user friendly, which made it a bit difficult to manage the system well,” Eldon says.
“The major technical problem was a killer. Fixing it would have cost too much, more than I was willing to spend. I’m moving all subscription management fully to my Majordomo set-up. I am, however, looking at alternative, easier to implement and administer web site visitor referral programs, possibly two-tiered, but nowhere close to the direct subscription program that CashPlus was. That concept was the really neat thing about it.”
Eldon also had minor problems with cheaters.
“The system was set up to make it difficult for people to cheat in a practical sense. They could, but they’d have to work pretty hard at it. And at only a few cents per referral, it just wasn’t worth the effort. But get this: People still wasted their time doing it. Go figure.”
What do you recommend?
“Software selection to administer any affiliate program is critical,” Eldon says. “Check and test it thoroughly.
“It is also very important to check out the company and support behind the software. How quickly do they respond to e-mail? Can you pick up the phone and call them? Check to see how easy or difficult it would be to modify the software, customizing it for your own needs. Assuming, of course, that you can modify the code in the first place. Some license agreements are very restrictive, permitting only the source company itself to make any modifications (legally, at least). Remember that you’re likely just purchasing the rights to use the program, and not own the software outright.”
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4. CJ.com offers $250 rebate for merchants
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If you’re thinking of starting an affiliate program the no-worries way, using affiliate network Commission Junction, now is the time. CJ.com is offering a $250 rebate for merchants who sign up and go live before November 24.
https://www.associateprograms.com/cj
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5. LinkShare adds live tech support
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Affiliate network LinkShare now offers live technical support for affiliates. To get help from the support department immediately, affiliates can click on “Contact Us” on the home page at https://www.linkshare.com, and then click on the Live Agent. Live support operates from 12pm to 5pm EST five days a week.
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6. TeknoSurf’s daughter windows average $10 CPM
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John Ferber’s TeknoSurf, which is growing by more than 45% a month, now offers five different sized banners:
468×60
234×60
125×125
120×60
88×31
TeknoSurf’s optimization technology helps it achieve an average click-through rate of 1.2% – far higher than the industry average, says Vice-President Chris Parente.
TeknoSurf is also offering what it calls “daughter windows”. A daughter window is a 350×300 pixel browser which opens up direct to your visitors when they access your web page. You can see one in action at https://www.joke.com .
CPM (cost per 1,000 impressions) based daughter windows have a guaranteed minimum pay out of $2 CPM. CPC (cost per click) based daughter windows a minimum pay out of 20 cents per click.
“The average click-through rate so far has been just over 5%, so imagine earning $10 CPM for every page view on your site,” says John Ferber of TeknoSurf.
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=====================================================
7. Fatbrain understands the importance of brand names
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By Stefanie Puetz-Lehmann
of https://www.partnerprogramme.com
Did you gasp when you were told that ComputerLiteracy.com, an online bookshop, had changed their name to Fatbrain.com? Well, I sure did. How could they choose such an ugly name with negative connotations?
If you did, you are in for another surprise: The new name was a big success leading to increased sales, higher customer loyalty and made Fatbrain T-shirts the number three best-selling article in the shop, says Chris MacAskill.
Chris was responsible for renaming ComputerLiteracy. In “Renaming Fatbrain.com: The Black Art of Internet Branding”, a fun to read paper, he describes what led to the name change, what new names were considered, how the names were tested and the impact on the employees, who nearly revolted.
This story gives a great insight on branding issues. And you can share Chris’s emotions in the process, the strain of the decision …
I really enjoyed reading “Renaming Fatbrain.com…” You can too because it’s FREE (requires Adobe Acrobat Reader).
Read this free 15-page story now:
partnerprogramme.com/free_knowledge/
[UPDATE: This link now redirects to Barnes & Noble.]======================================
8. Stefanie’s neat marketing technique
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Did you notice how neatly and unobtrusively Stefanie tucked a referral URL into the above article on brand names?
The partnerprogramme.com/free_knowledge/ link takes you to her site and flicks you over to Fatbrain, collecting a referral URL on the way. If you buy a book while you’re at Fatbrain, Stefanie will earn a commission.
[UPDATE: Fatbrain was bought by Barnes & Noble.]I used a similar technique this week in a brief item I wrote for Online Advertising Discussion List [Now closed].
My article was a response to Sue Long, who works for a store owner who is pulling in $500,000 a year – without any marketing training. Sue had asked for ideas on how to promote the business.
I saw her question as an ideal opportunity to mention Michael Campbell’s useful book, “Nothing but ‘Net”.
I suggested Sue interview the store owner, write an ebook – using Michael’s book as inspiration – and promote it via a two-tier affiliate program. Of course, I had to give the URL.
[UPDATE: Michael Campbell has stopped selling this product. If you want a really good, comprehensive instruction manual on affiliate marketing, I recommend Rosalind Gardner’s Super Affiliate Handbook. Here’s a review of Super Affiliate Handbook.]I didn’t want to risk anyone thinking I was hiding something, so I added this sentence, which turns a possible negative into a positive:
(That’s a referral link for a program with a generous two-tier commission.)
No one seems to object to such a marketing technique as long as you are offering useful information.
[UPDATE: Discussion lists these days are much tougher on the use of affiliate links in posts. Check the rules carefully. If in doubt, ask the moderator.]======================================
9. How to hide referral links in email
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Here’s how to use a short, simple URL in email instead of a longer referral URL.
Using your FTP software, create a new directory called, for example “imc”. In it, place a file called “index.html” and make the URL, for example, https://www.associateprograms.com/imc .
The “index.html” file is very small, containing only a meta refresh set for zero time and the referral URL. For example:
(html)(head) (meta http-equiv=”refresh” content=”0; url=https://www.marketingchallenge.com/index.cgi?12202″) (/head)(/html)
(To try to ensure that this tip displays properly no matter what email software you use, I’ve changed all the chevrons – or angle brackets – into ordinary brackets. You’ll need to change them back.)
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10. DirectLeads shortens URLs for email
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Pay-per-lead network DirectLeads has shortened its text URLs – a major improvement for newsletters publishers.
“Now the URLs are only 44 characters long,” says Jason Wolfe. “They won’t wrap when you add them to your newsletters.”
https://www.associateprograms.com/dl
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11. Good and bad results with RealNames
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Varun Krishna says he has booked a “great” free RealName “Cool Net Stuff”, which points to his FortuneCity URL.
“The sad part is that I get absolutely no traffic from it! Does RealNames discriminate between the paid and the community real names?” Varun asks.
No. I’m sure it doesn’t. That’s not the problem. I went to GoTo…
[UPDATE: It’s now called Yahoo! Search Marketing.]…and clicked on “Search Term Suggestion List”.
https://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/
Bad luck! Last month, out of the millions who visited GoTo.com almost NO ONE searched for “cool net stuff”.
There’s the source of the problem.
When choosing a RealName, the main tactic is to aim for a 100% match. If almost no one is typing in the words “cool net stuff” at GoTo.com they probably aren’t at other search engines. (As a comparison, try searches for “net” and “detective”.
A second tactic is to aim for a near-match. In your case, many people have chosen RealNames which include the word “stuff” so your RealName gets lost in the crowd.
At GoTo.com you can try typing in separately “cool”, “net” and “stuff” to see what people ARE searching for. Doing that will give you lots of ideas for keywords which would be popular.
Martin Kemp of Zooming.to reports good results:
“A friend of mine recently bought a RealName, before which his search engines brought him no traffic because of his ranking. He has already had 3 sales which more than cover the cost of buying the name. It is not a matter of whether they are worth it, just got to decide what name is best and fast!”
For research on popular search terms which are useful to know when choosing a RealName see:
Wordspot.com
Searchwords.com
https://50.lycos.com
Mall-net.com/se_report/
Only AFTER you’ve done some careful research and careful reading of the rules at RealNames is it time to choose a RealName:
[UPDATE: RealNames died.]======================================
12. RealNames answers tricky questions
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I was told that RealNames cuts off hits after they reach 2500 a month.
“Is that true?” I asked RealNames Customer Service and Support Supervisor Bill Tuck.
“We do not actually cut off hits to your page,” Bill said. “Our
terms state that if you are getting excessive traffic (i.e. more
than 2,500 click-throughs per month) we reserve the right to
re-negotiate the original contract. The new scale would be based
on a price per visitor basis. This is meant to protect our
small-sized business customers from a large company like Ford
subscribing for $100. We feel that large, well established
brands should be on a different pricing model than small
companies trying to make a name for themselves.”
What will RealNames do if a large company receiving more than 2500 click-throughs a month refuses to pay the price you suggest?
“If this happens then we reserve the right to stop service for
this keyword,” Bill said. “This has not happened and we do not
anticipate it happening, but it is a possibility. We are not in
the business to penalize people for excess traffic. We are in
the business of direct navigation and ensuring that our pricing
structure is fair for everyone involved.”
Actually, it would be a nice problem wouldn’t it? 2,500 visitors a month would be 30,000 a year – for $100.
[UPDATE: RealNames died.]=========================================
13. Holly’s one-stop shop a full-time job
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I received a heart-warming note this week:
“I just wanted to let you know that I linked to you in my Internet Day article (which has apparently been copied and distributed to other online publications),” writes Holly Culpepper of Shop-central.com.
“By the way, your site is wonderful … it gave me the start I needed, which has developed into a full-time occupation!”
internetday.com/archives/091699.html
[UPDATE: Internet Day was bought by internet.com and scrapped.]
All the best
Allan Gardyne
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