Archive for December, 2006
Make Money With OUR AC Magazine…
Posted by Anik Singal in Affiliate Classroom Events and Products, Affiliate Classroom Magazine, Affiliate Programs Tuesday, 19 December 2006 14:46 10 Comments
We have absolutely been swamped with questions from everyone who does not quite understand what we mean when we say “Our magazine is now brandable!”
Basically, YOU can start making money from the magazine, month after month. ALL the *monetized* links are going to now be YOUR links.
For example…
1) All links that promote Affiliate Classroom
2) All links to product reviews we do
Here’s what is even is more powerful. You can have YOUR name and website PROMINENTLY displayed in the Table of Contents stating the magazine is distributed by you. Think about the power behind this…
Each and every month YOU now get a VIRAL marketing tool to give your readers and site visitors. If they decide to pass it on to their friends and their readers, YOUR links go with it and your name and branding go with it!
Branding literally takes 2 minutes and you can do it right from your computer.
Here are the steps:
Step 1:
———
Sign-up for the affiliate program…
* It’s a 2-tier program.
($10/month – 1st tier
$5/month – 2nd tier)
Step 2:
———
Download the magazine…
Step 3:
———
Follow the instructions in our Branding Kit…
If I were you, I’d get on this ASAP. Be the first to start and your magazine will get the most exposure!
Social Networking – Best Word Of Mouth You Can Get
Posted by AC Editorial Team in Affiliate Marketing, Web 2.0 Marketing Monday, 18 December 2006 18:00 3 Comments
Social Networking is a new big word for something that’s been done for a long time. It basically means “Word of Mouth.”
That’s why social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook are so popular. People sometimes want to know what others think about a product or service before they buy it. The best way to do this is ask your friend who might know. Now, with the existence of these very large networking sites, you can ask a lot of people at once for their opinion, and probably get quite a few different answers.
The American Marketing Association (AMA) did a survey and found that the social networking sites may now be playing a larger and more influential role in e-commerce than was first expected.
I started a MySpace page at the beginning of the year, although I have to admit, I haven’t been very good at updating it. However, it was easy to start, and doesn’t hurt as a linking tool to my other web sites. If you don’t have a site, you should put one up. You never know when it might come in handy for one of your affiliate products.
When the AMA survey was complete, they found out that 47% of those surveyed said they would visit a social networking site to search for products and gift ideas; 29% said that they would buy the products on the sites if they found something they liked.
While this may seem like a good thing for marketers, there is one other thing to be aware of.
Negative word mouth can kill a site much faster than referrals from others can help, according to research done by Gomez. They did a survey to see if customers would tell others about a negative experience. And, not surprisingly, 47% of the people who responded to their survey said they would definitely spread the word.
When talking about negative word of mouth, remember that customer service is not the only thing that people complain about. People get upset with a web site and leave for a lot of different reasons. Here are just a few:
- More than three unsuccessful attempts to complete a purchase
- Slow loading website pages
- Slow loading Home pages
- Confusing order processes
Make sure you take these points into consideration when you are building your website. Hopefully your site will be praised and recommended by the 47% who are using social networking as one of their shopping avenues.
Quick Tips for Selecting a Good Domain Name
Posted by Matt Van Atta in Affiliate Marketing, Design Sunday, 17 December 2006 12:47 No Comments
When selecting a domain name that fits your site best, you have to decide which top-level domain you want to have.
So ask yourself, do you absolutely need “.com” in your domain name, as many prefer, or are you okay with “.net” or “.biz”? Since “.com” is recognized worldwide as the domain name of business, you will most likely want to stick with it.
Opinions among SEO experts are divided about whether to include keywords in your domain. But if you are building a small content site in a very specific niche, including keywords in the domain can increase clickthroughs to your site. After all, if you are searching for tiny toys for your pet Chihuahua, aren’t you more likely to click on a search engine listing called TinyDogStuff.com than a more generic sounding name?
Remember that some merchants forbid you from using certain keywords in a domain name. The same holds true for trademarks. Never assume that “common” words are not trademarked – you might be surprised. The best way to cover your bases is to read over your affiliate agreement, as well as the terms and conditions of the program, very carefully before you decide on a domain that includes keywords.
You should also think about whether you are okay with inserting hyphens or possibly adjusting the spelling of your domain. TinyDogToys.com may be taken, but TinyDogToyz.com may not. Just remember not to confuse your audience. If you have to adjust the spelling significantly, perhaps you’ll want to brainstorm a little more.
The key is to do your research in order to find the right domain name for your site that isn’t already owned by someone else. GoDaddy.com and other domain name registrars enable you to look up possible domain names so you can eliminate options, as well as to register a domain name. And a service like Nameboy.com allows you to enter keywords and will combine it with other words to create variations.
Blog Tagged: 5 Things You Didn’t Know About Anik Singal
Posted by Anik Singal in Affiliate Classroom Events and Products, Affiliate Marketing Saturday, 16 December 2006 21:17 15 Comments
TAG, YOU’RE IT! Let the child in you live, but this time through your blogging! There’s an interesting game going on where bloggers are tagging each other. Every time you get tagged, you have to tell the blogosphere 5 things they don’t know about you.
Then, you have to tag 5 more people.
I was tagged by Rosalind Gardner, who was tagged by Jeremy Palmer, who was tagged by Scott Jangro, who was tagged by Shawn Collins (I stole this from Ros’s blog).
So, here’s 5 things you probably didn’t know about me:
1. Before I decided to go to business school at University of Maryland, I was in a Pre-Medical program studying to go to Medical School. I was in one of the best programs in the country (I used to be smart!).
2. I lived in India for a little more than 3 years from when I was 5 to 8 years old.
3. When I was in kindergarden (while we lived in India), I stole 100 rupees from my parents and went to the school candy store to buy candy. I told them to give me whatever I could get for 100 rupees (which was a LOT of money). The “candy-man” called the principle, who called my sister (then in 7th grade) and then they called my parents. Yikes…
4. The reason we left India and came back to America was because in the area I lived, terrorists were kidnapping children and asking for a lot of money – my parents got nervous!
5. In high school I played a LOT of tennis and was planning to go to a Tennis Academy and hopefully go pro – that kind of did not happen 
Alright, now who will I tag?
Linda Buquet
Jim Kukral
Lisa Picarille
Joel Comm
Paul Colligan
Haha…You’re IT!
December Affiliate Classroom Hits the Stands!
Posted by Jeffrey Perren, AC Magazine in Affiliate Classroom Magazine, Affiliate Marketing Friday, 15 December 2006 21:22 No Comments
Our latest issue is now available for download and, imho, it is one of the best we’ve ever done.
You’ll find Debra Rabin’s excellent essay on what makes for the perfect affiliate. You’ll not only find a lot of great insights into a merchant’s point of view, you’ll get seven tips on how to make more money by striving to be that perfect affiliate.
You’ll get Helen Montgomery’s first-rate review of our past two years, compiled with the help of our outstanding regular columnist Evelyn Grazini.
You can read Mark Thompson’s reviews of three products introduced in 2006 that changed Affiliate Marketing forever.
And, last but far from least, you can study Katalin Torok’s excellent tips for how to incorporate Web 2.0 techniques into your affiliate marketing efforts.
In my opinion, even if you don’t have time to read the whole issue before Christmas, the full page Christmas card in the middle alone makes it worth a download.
Best to all our readers, and our sincere thanks for continuing to pursue your dreams. Your success helps us all!
Happy Holidays, Jeff Perren, Associate Editor
