Associate Programs Newsletter #42
CONTENTS:
1. Pay-per-lead program pays $16
2. The Amazing Formula That Sells Products Like Crazy!
3. How to say “Get lost”
4. I.D. IT! bows out
5. I get free links from Free-Banners
6. How I increased my banner click-through rate
7. Amazon.com's advanced linking options
8. Declan Dunn pays for half your advertising
9. Please delete the hyphen
10. Snippets
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1. Pay-per-lead program pays $16
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If you have joined any of the pay-per-lead networks, such as WebSponsors, you'll find it useful to compare the payout rates offered by the Recommend-It Affiliate Network.
Like WebSponsors, TransAct or CyberBounty, Recommend-It has a pool of advertising offers where you can earn commissions. A sale is not necessary.
“In general our payouts are higher than those found at WebSponsors or TransAct (for identical programs),” says Amar Maktal of Recommend-It. “In addition we offer an online stats area and program management tools.”
Amar provided these payout comparisons:
FAMILYPOINT:
Recommend-It $1.50
Others $1.00
QUICKEN:
Recommend-It $16.00
Others $9.00-$15.00
COOLSAVINGS:
Recommend-It $1.00
Others $.75-$1.00
Unlike WebSponsors, Recommend-It does not have a two-tier program.
Before you start promoting any of these advertising offers it would pay you to have a quick look at Walter Aresca's comparison of pay-per-lead programs:
https://www.musictus.com/webmaster/comparison.html
For example, you'll find that while WebSponsors is paying a $16 when someone tries TurboTax software, you can get $16.50 for the same thing from DirectLeads.com.
As they say, it pays to shop around.
Recommend-It Affiliate Network
recommend-it.com
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2. The Amazing Formula That Sells Products Like Crazy!
======================================================
Oddly enough, this program wasn't “sold” to me. I was about to file an email when I spotted its teasing signature, which looked like this:
KNOW WHAT'S AMAZING?
https://www.associateprograms.com/amazing
If you click on the link below you'll find some of the most persuasive writing I've seen on the Net. It truly IS amazing, the handiwork of Marlon Sanders, a guy who is skilled in psychology and knows which buttons to push.
Yes, there's an affiliate program.
I couldn't resist.
https://www.associateprograms.com/amazing
========================
3. How to say “Get lost”
========================
One problem for people who work at home is that it's sometimes difficult convincing friends and neighbors that you really ARE working.
“ICQ is a nuisance,” says Merv Scoble of Newsrag.com. “People ask me why I am always invisible… duhhhhhhh. So I can get some work done.
“My next door neigbour always wants to chat and says my phone line is busy all the time… duhhhhhhhh. Then she keeps trying on ICQ and doesn't understand why I am not online… duhhhhhh. I am working but they don't get it duhhhhhhhh. Then she comes to the door… duhhhhh.”
You have my sympathy, Merv.
I had a friend who kept phoning me wanting a LONG chat. I kept trying to explain that I was busy, but he didn't seem to understand. In the end, I had an inspiration – I asked him if he would phone a shopkeeper and expect him to chat for half an hour. At long last the message got through. Yes, I really am running a little business here.
====================
4. I.D. IT! bows out
====================
The I.D. IT! Plates program run by Rick Beneteau and Kathie Verrette has closed “due to personal time constraints, low sales volume, shipping/delivery and software problems”. Kathie says everyone will be paid by April 15 at the latest.
Only 591 plates were sold in 5 1/2 months. Out of 3,000 affiliates only 164 earned commissions.
It seemed such a good idea, too . . .
[UPDATE: The I.D. IT Plates affiliate program was re-launched: https://www.iditplates.net .]=====================================
5. I get free links from Free-Banners
=====================================
I joined the Free-Banners banners exchange nearly nine months ago. I've placed a banner on one page, and scattered little button graphics around my site.
I see it partly as a way of getting clicks, and also as a small effort in “branding” the name AssociatePrograms.com.
Free-Banners is a two-tier program. I earn 20% of the credits earned by people I persuade to join Free-Banners. I also earn 10 cents whenever someone new signs up, and earn credits when someone clicks on one of the cute little graphics.
My stats show that my banner has now been displayed more than 101,000 times. That's quite a lot of free publicity.
Free-Banners provides many statistics. Here's a small sample:
Total visits to your site (one page) 46,860
Total times your banner was displayed 101,114
Total click-throughs to your site since joining 676
Banner click-through rate since joining 0.6%
Banner click-through rate since counter reset 3.1%
Cash earned since joining 63.60
(I convert any cash earned into more free displays.)
I know some people argue against banner exchanges because the banners “persuade your visitors to leave”. Well, I'll let you in on a secret: Your visitors are going to leave, anyway. The way I see it, Free-Banners gives me good free publicity.
Free-Banners
https://www.associateprograms.com/free-banners
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6. How I increased my banner click-through rate
===============================================
The click-throughs I've had on my banners have been very disappointing. At one stage after I switched to being a Gold Member at Free-Banners (banners near the top pages), the click-through rate climbed to 1.8% but then sank to 1.4%. Over all, it was recently a dismal 0.5%.
Then BannerWorkz.com designed a new banner for me. I left all the details to BannerWorkz.com. The resulting banner is simple, striking – and highly effective. I'm testing the banner now at Free-Banners, and my click-through rate has soared to 3.1%.
Here's the banner:
Bannerworkz.com/images/showcase/associateprog/associate_3.gif
Thanks, BannerWorkz.com
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7. Amazon.com's advanced linking options
========================================
Tom Schonhoff of Amazon.com has some handy advice for Amazon.com associates:
Hi Allan
I noticed in your last few newsletters that there's been some discussion about how Amazon.com Associates can form links to various pages on our site other than our home page or individual items in our catalog . . . there are actually detailed online instructions for forming such links. At this URL:
amazon.com/exec/obidos/subst/partners/associates/assoc-ways-to-link.html
you'll find a link near the top of the page to “Advanced Linking Options”. Here we've described how to form links to virtually any page on our site, including not only best-seller lists and subject-specific sections of our site but also to pre-programmed search results (some call this a “canned” search) where the link performs a particular search automatically . . .
Tom Schonhoff
Amazon.com Associates Program
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8. Declan Dunn pays for half your advertising
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Declan Dunn appears to have captured the role as the best advice-giver on the Net for people who join revenue sharing programs.
Some large companies have concentrated on building up databases of thousands of associates – and then left those associates virtually untrained. Now nimble Declan is showing the lumbering giants what they ought to have been doing.
When you buy “Winning the Affiliate Game”, you don't just get a book, you get a complete marketing system, and a steady stream of helpful advice on how to create your own network of people making money for you.
“Declan has always been passionate about making sure that our program makes money FOR THE AFFILIATES,” says Declan's partner Patrick Anderson of ADNet International.
“He wants to give them all the tools and training to make them succeed. Now he has come out with an offer of co-op advertising for ALL of his affiliates,” Patrick says.
“The way it works is very simple… if you have an idea of how you would like to advertise the book, talk to us and we'll make arrangements to pay HALF of the advertising cost.”
Patrick says they have one person placing ads in USA Today. “He has always wanted to do this, but it was too expensive. Since we are covering half the cost – he can now test an ad with less risk and exposure than if he were doing it on his own!”
They have added an ad tracking feature, so that you can tell which ads are performing by adding your own code to the end of your affiliate number. “For instance, since your code is 1151, you might use code number 1151 if you were to run an ad in USA Today… or 11511, 11512, 11513 for three different ezine ads that you were testing.”
This code will show up in the online real-time stats in both the traffic report (referrer log) and in the commission report.
Declan says that when he began his affiliate program for “Winning the Affiliate Game”, he wanted to do something really different. “Every program seemed to be announcing a new way of thinking, but eventually the truth crept in. Few programs are really working together with their affiliates, in the spirit of co-operation.”
Declan says he looked up the definition of “co-operation” in an old Reader’s Digest Dictionary:
Co-operation
1. A working together toward a common end; joint action.
2. The association of laborers, farmers, small capitalists,
etc. in a common endeavor for mutual economic benefit.
“Think about the keys to these definitions – small capitalists… working together… in a common endeavor for mutual economic benefit,” Declan says.
“Now look at your affiliate program. Most are set up for you to market for them. They may send you an ezine, possibly some training, but outside that, you are on your own.”
He says many businesses use the Internet's automated mechanisms to avoid their customers, and their affiliates. Automation makes things easy, but to really succeed, you have to do something different.
You have to help others, help themselves. It is the spirit of co-op advertising, he says.
“To improve my system, I remembered my days as a sales manager with a hip, San Francisco computer reseller. We sold Apple Computers, which in those days was a good, profitable thing to do. Apple would share co-op advertising money with us when we promoted Apple Products.
“Why wouldn't they? Even though we sold other kinds of computers – Compaqs, IBMs, etc. – Apple supported our efforts when we promoted their products. It just makes sense for Apple, and for me, to do this!”
“Now look at your affiliate program again. Don't they get this?”
Declan posted this on the ActiveMarketplace web site:
“Advertising is the key to building your network and
increasing your sales. I believe in your success and am
willing to invest in your sales potential by paying half
of your advertising costs. That's right – I will match
you dollar for dollar and together we will profit from
effective advertising.”
“Our affiliates love it,” Declan says.
“For example, an affiliate in Australia had been advertising in newspapers… He wanted to advertise in the USA Today, but it seemed too expensive. We reviewed what he wanted to do, and paid half of his fees. Now that ad will help us both.
“Or take the affiliate who has a free web page, and needed some help selecting opt-in email advertising and setting up autoresponders. We set him up with consulting, assistance, and advertising. We paid half. Now he is doing things the right way, with our assistance.
“The key to remember is mutual economic benefit. My affiliates help spread the word; I should help them…
“Co-operation is the key to affiliate programs. It just makes sense, for me and for you,” Declan says.
Can't afford to buy “Winning the Affiliate Game” right now? You can get 25% off the purchase price by signing up for the affiliate program first, and then using your own special URL when you buy the book.
[UPDATE: This book is no longer available.]===========================
9. Please delete the hyphen
===========================
A Canadian with a sense of the ridiculous has registered the domain name associate-programs.com.
I wouldn't like to be accused of using HIS name, so I've deleted the hyphen from the special email address – and the form – used for subscribing to the Associate Programs Newsletter.
Unfortunately, this means that if you're a true friend and have posted instructions on how to subscribe to this newsletter, your instructions won't work any more. You'll need to delete the hyphen. I'm really sorry to be such a nuisance.
Here are the new instructions:
Go to Newsletter Archive and sign up there.
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10. Snippets
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Great domain name
Clever webmasters know that a good way to promote something is to buy a new domain name and set up a special small site for it. Here's a good example. Rick Bier has one to promote First Place Software's WebPosition Gold. “I love the domain name,” Rick says. “I was amazed that First Place Software or one of their dealers hadn't registered it already.”
https://www.wpgold.com
A few fewer subscribers
I had a little scare yesterday when I checked to see how many newsletter subscribers I had – for the first time in 11 months I had FEWER subscribers. Today Phil Tanny at OakNetPub.com, which distributes the newsletter, explained that he was cleaning dead addresses from the address list. “I'm removing only ‘hard bounces' or dead addresses that will never be reachable again in any circumstance.” Phew! The new, accurate count is over 7,500.
New auction site
Outpost.com has launched an attractive auction site, where users can bid on a variety of computer-related products.
OutpostAuctions.com
Fast sales
Greg Hudson of Hudson Software has received a letter from a delighted Willem van Tuil of oznet1.com.au . Willem says he achieved two sales on the same day ($236 commission), only three days after displaying a Hudson Software banner.
Promotion tutorial
Joshua Reimer's useful Promotion Tutorial for Beginners is now available by e-mail. Simply send any e-mail to:
part1 AT promotionworld.com Part I
part2 AT promotionworld.com Part II
Getting listed in Yahoo!
Having trouble getting listing in Yahoo? Danny Sullivan offers lots of help in this new article:
https://searchenginewatch.com/sereport/9903-yahoo.html
Amazon.com discussion list
Thom Reece will have a challenging task moderating his new AMAZON-AFFILIATES Discussion List. It discusses advanced marketing methods, techniques, strategies, and promotional opportunities for Amazon.com associates. “Particular attention is given to innovative new ways to maximize revenue generation and profits . . . Technical issues are discussed as well as new sales and marketing concepts,” Thom says.
https://groups.yahoo.com/group/Amazon-Affiliates/
Outlook bug
Apparently there's a bug in Microsoft's Outlook Express. If you use it to read e-mail newsletters you'll find some fancy URLs don't display properly. Try Pegasus or Eudora. Eudora Lite is free at https://www.eudora.com
Add interactivity
A site to keep an eye on is Jim Townsend's SitePowerUP.com. It is “dedicated to providing the best set of free tools for web sites anywhere in the world to provide interactivity for their users”. So far the site provides a free message board, and Jim plans to add custom polls, forms processing and “circles of power” – which sound like web rings only better.
sitepowerup.com/
Recommend specific products
Associates who use a customized art gallery on their site experience increased sales, says Art.com. It tells associates to take a look at https://arts.galganov.net as an excellent example. “Recommend specific products to your visitors. This is far more efficient than sending your visitors, without focus, to a large store where they can become easily distracted,” says an Art.com newsletter.
Wow! $500 commission
Michael D. Reader of the BellWether Group, which organizes conferences, says I've earned a whopping $500 (US) commission. “We booked a meeting in Toronto, Canada, in October 1999 for The Fan Club of Le Femme Nakita, a popular U.S. television show,” Michael says. “The resulting commission due you . . . will be around $500.” Perhaps it would be worth while buying a new domain name to promote BellWether Group.
https://www.meetings.com
Never more than 5 ads:
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All the best
Allan Gardyne
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