Archive for September, 2006
AdSense in Email?
Posted by Anik Singal in Affiliate Marketing, E-mail Marketing Monday, 18 September 2006 23:00 1 Comment
I’ve been at CJU (Commission Junction University) all day today, but when I snuck out to briefly check my e-mail, I caught some very intriguiung news. (And no, I’m not going to talk about CJU – some other great bloggers have already done that!)
But the news I got almost knocked me off of my feet! Loren Baker from SearchEngineJournal announced on his blog today that he actually tested this Google service while it’s in BETA…
I’ve tried (as a test) placing Google AdSense in Constant Contact powered emails and the ads were served and targeted almost perfectly.
Yes, it seems that Google is letting select publishers give AdSense in email a try. Being an affiliate marketer through and through, I’m not sure how I feel about this. So far it looks like this service is only for Premium AdSense Publishers. But if it ever opens up to the rest of us, I can see some great potential for some of my small niche newsletters…
Of course, the question remains: how will Google protect their advertisers from SPAM accusations, and how in the world are they going to handle the countless SPAM complaints?
Since I’m also an AdWords advertiser, the other question is just how advertisers will feel about this development. Appearing on a website I don’t like is one thing, but appearing directly in an email with the potential pf SPAM complaints – that’s just a scary scenario for an advertiser!
Anyway, check out Loren Baker’s post above, as well as the story that originally broke at DigitalPoint…
Easy-to-Create Datafeeds Can DOUBLE Conversions
Posted by AC Editorial Team in Affiliate Marketing, Design, Web 2.0 Marketing Thursday, 14 September 2006 18:41 No Comments
Ok, I admit, I want to make some sales for the Holidays. But I don’t have a lot of time to set up a really fancy site. I thought I would test doing it the easy way and use GoldenCan’s Datafeed option because datafeeds have been proven to increase affiliate sales.
Here’s how a datafeed works:
* A merchant datafeed is a file with data about products.
* The file can include photos, diagrams, specs, descriptions, and prices.
* Each category of information is identified with a code – sometimes called a token.
* When you add these tokens to your web templates, the product information is inserted into your web page in the appropriate spot.
I decided to use GoldenCan because it is very simple. You just select the company you want to affiliate with. Then sign up for their program (through Shareasale, Linkshare, etc.) and they give you a simple line of code that you put on your site. You can even have several companies displayed on the same site if you want.
It’s AMAZING to me that it works so well. It looks like I have an entire mall at that site. (If you use a company’s individual Datafeed, there can be much more to using it than the simple set up described above.)
The important point is: with a datafeed, your visitors can see and click on the actual product – right there on your page. The result? With datafeeds, your conversion rate – the percentage of clicks that turns into sales – can easily DOUBLE.
So, if you have a choice, look for merchants that offer datafeeds. It may even be worth rebuilding your affiliate site – or creating a new one – to take advantage of datafeeds.
To find merchants who offer datafeeds, and advice on implementing these programs, check out the datafeed forums at AbestWeb.com.
If this is your first experience with a datafeed, be careful to go with a merchant that offers this service FREE. Some affiliate networks charge for datafeeds – anywhere from a couple of hundred dollars to thousands. So be sure to look for free feeds and get accustomed to working with them before you spend money on feeds. (GoldenCan is free.)
You might be surprised at how well they work.
I put three companies’ feeds on my site at www.heartfullofgifts.com using GoldenCan’s “one line of code.” It’s been out there for a couple of months, but I haven’t started advertising yet. The other day I made a $30.00 Commission from a feed link – I think I’ll start advertising now!
Two Cheers for Clickbank’s Design Change
Posted by Anik Singal in Affiliate Marketing, Affiliate Programs Friday, 8 September 2006 11:18 1 Comment
So, I was dilly dallying around the internet today trying to help one of the students find some good affiliate programs for his list and so I thought “let me go to Clickbank.com” and see what’s going on…”
BOOM!
It was like hitting a BRICK WALL – I looked at the URL bar again, then at the site, then at the URL again, then back at the site and then ran to the window to see if pigs were really flying?!
THEY MADE A DESIGN CHANGE ON THEIR SITE!!
Wow, they actually made changes, I’m proud of you ClickBank for finally coming around and showing that you are at least trying to keep up with the market now.
However, at the same time I have to say, I absolutely do not like your new site design one bit! You’re a huge company (I know you are, I just know you are) – you can most definitely afford a much better design than this:
And, what’s with this guy?
http://www.clickbank.com/promote_products.html
Need I say he looks goofy and I mean “dollar bills flying around” -
Thank you for making a change, thank you for making your marketplace more searchable, thank you for trying – but I personally think it’s time to go back to the drawing board!
What To Do When You Don’t (Yet) Have a Domain
Posted by Ryan Hall, AC Forum Moderator in Affiliate Marketing, Affiliate Programs, Website Development Thursday, 7 September 2006 14:59 2 Comments
“I’ve been feeling a bit disturbed over the fact that some affiliate programs are asking you to have a web URL or domain name to sign up with them. Please correct me if I’m wrong, but this seems a bit backwards? I want to be sure I can get into the program before I spend any money!”
Think of it from the Merchants point of view.
For one thing, requiring a domain name for affiliates to sign up weeds out the people who just go around signing up for every program out there, and not working on any. (I was guilty of this when I started). If a person has gone to the trouble of purchasing a domain name, then it is more likely that they go to the trouble to promote the program.
For another, it gives them a way to view their affiliates’ work. If you had a super-affiliate who was making more total sales than YOU were, wouldn’t you want to have an easy way to look at their site and see how they’ve done it?
If you are on a small budge, go to GoDaddy.com. You can purchase a domain name specifically for that affiliate program for a little under $9.00 per year. So it is not a large investment.
If you still cannot afford it, here are some ideas:
1. Go to blogger.com and get a free blog. Make a post like “This blog will be used for letting people know about X product/niche”. Use the blog URL as your domain. They should accept it.
2. If you have a generic main domain, set up a page on it that says “A site to promote X product coming soon”, and submit that. I’ve had sites accepted like that or worse.
3. You can leave the URL form blank and tell them that, you do not have a website as of yet, but will build one if their program seems worthy.
The first idea is really your best bet. Many, many affiliates promote programs with nothing more than a blog and blogger.com is very well known.
Are You Ready for the Busy Season?
Posted by AC Editorial Team in Affiliate Marketing, E-mail Marketing, Upkeep Wednesday, 6 September 2006 14:21 4 Comments
Labor Day is over (for those in the U.S.) and the new holiday season is not far off. So, it’s time to make sure that your affiliate business is up and running properly to take advantage of the upcoming busy season.
If you have a gift-related business, this will be even more important. Here are a few things you will want to make sure are working well.
Are your Auto Responder messages profitable? If you have had your auto responder messages set up for some time, it’s time to review them. Perhaps you have come across new products to promote or higher ticket items that just never made it into the AR. Some people think that once you set up your AR messages you can forget about them, but that shouldn’t be the case.
You should review them every now and then and put your most profitable messages at the front. While you still have the attention of the subscriber (and before they unsubscribe). It could pay handsomely to rearrange your AR’s with the new products you have found.
Links – Are all of your links working? I was horrified to find out recently that one of my better paying promotions, set up in the AR, had a broken link. I had coded the link with some software, and when a new version was installed, my files were moved. You can’t make money if a subscriber can’t open your link. I don’t know how long this link was invalid, but I am glad I did a check of my messages and found it.
Web Software – Now might be the time to get all your content online and begin to look at Content Management Systems (CMS). A CMS based system will allow your visitors to easily find your information. Your readers can pull up articles from several issues at a time on one topic if they want. If they stay at your site and read, you’ve got a good “sticky” site. The user may even bookmark it!
Subscribers – Are you treating your subscribers right? Do you send them good, interesting information, or just constant ads for products? It’s a good idea to reward your subscribers with valuable freebies every now and then, to keep them opening your emails.
A little housecleaning now could go a long way during the next few months.
