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Archive for February, 2009

The Week’s Top Affiliate Marketing News Stories (February 27, 2009)

21728595.jpgWarning – California Online Sales Tax Proposed
There is a proposed bill to charge online sales tax in California and it appears to be modeled closely after the infamous New York “Amazon” tax.

Marketers Adapt as Social Networks Attract Older Users
Online marketers are forced to adapt as new research shows the average age demographic for Facebook and MySpace is 35-44.

Five Gaming Trends Marketers Need to Follow
One marketer suggest a top-10 list of gaming trends all marketers should follow over the next 12 months.

Online Ads: Even the Evangelists Turning Bearish
Interactive Advertising Bureau big wigs are predicting whole businesses dependent on online ads could go belly up.

The Powerful Potential of Permission-Based E-Mail
According to “Beyond the Click”, the majority of customers who receive e-mail from a company have a more positive image of that company.

Microsoft Wants To Be Less Hard: Unveils Initiatives To Reduce ‘Friction’ For Advertisers, Publishers
Microsoft unveiled initiatives to develop new versions of its online advertising systems for publishers and advertisers.

Ads in Google News Search May Tempt Media Lawsuits
Google announced last night it had begun serving ads on Google News results pages in the United States. Queries that now turn up AdWords paid listings include thermos, Kindle, marketing and many others.


Expand Your Marketing While Maximizing Your PPC ROI

21592281.jpgALERT! PPC Classroom has re-opened… and you can get the training free.

Click here now to get access before it’s full!

Affiliate marketers often hear of how much money a competitor is making from PPC.

However, done the wrong way, PPC can chew up all your available budget in a day. Done right, you really can profit, and profit big over the long haul, from PPC advertising.

PPC (Pay Per Click) is familiar to everyone now. It’s nothing more than those small text ads on the right that you see on Google or Yahoo when you search for something online.

The hope (validated every day) is that someone will click on an ad rather than, or along with, one of the organic results.

The sad fact is, though, that unlike a newspaper, you can pay, but you are not guaranteed placement. Ads can slip off to a later page or off the search site entirely.

Paradoxically, some marketers find that one the best ways to maximize their PCC dollars is not to aim at a sale at all. Instead, they aim at generating a relationship.

Here are four ways you can encourage your visitors to come back to your site:

#1 – Aim at Creating Relationships, Not One-Time Buyers

A person who clicks on your ad is, almost by definition, a good prospect. They are looking for something they think you are selling, as evidenced by your ad.

Suppose they do click and you hit them right away with sales copy and a picture of the item with its price prominently displayed. Great! You have made the product they seek easy to buy and they can make an immediate buying decision.

Now, what happens if you don’t have exactly what they are looking for at the price you’re offering? They will probably look elsewhere. You have just blown your one chance to make that sale. The money you paid to place that ad is wasted.

Yet by including an opt-in box on your site, you might very well capture that visitor’s name and email.  You can then build a relationship through follow up offers.

#2 – Product Reviews

When you shop for an HDTV, you want to know all about the product, not just its price next to a photo. You want to know the screen size, the resolution, and much more that will help you decide if that price is too much or just right. And you probably want a comparison between that product and those of its competitors.

Well-written product reviews provide visitors with that crucial information. The same ideas apply no matter what product is for sale.

Instead of making a sales pitch right away, think about providing more valuable information. People will be more likely to return to your site for that product and others in the same category.

#3 – Testimonials

Believable testimonials offer another way to provide great content for visitors who arrive from a PPC ad click. They’re expecting to be hit with a blatant sales pitch and instead you lay it in more subtly. Offer them trustworthy opinions on the product or service.

If you are selling an ebook, for example, both these methods work well. Unless you are a recognized author with a track record, you need others to brag about the benefits of your book. When lots of ordinary people say they bought it and are happy they did, you are one leg up on the competition. If a “big name” does so, you’re two steps ahead.

#4 – Get Opt-In Subscribers

Opt-in is a stellar way to profit from the majority of PPC ad clicks. Many people who click a PPC ad are just like you. They are not buying, per se; they are shopping.

The more regular subscribers you have, the more chances you have to put your pitch in front of them. A PPC ad click represents one chance to make a sale.

The way many affiliate marketers use it, a PPC ad provides a searcher with a way to purchase one product.

But by establishing an ongoing relationship, complete with integrating some of the above tips, you have many more opportunities to sell not just one product or service, but many: a subset of all searchers — those who are interested in what you offer. They are predisposed to buy your product.

By offering them information and establishing a long-term relationship, you turn a possible one-time buyer into a probable ongoing customer.

Following these ideas will result in more sales over the long run, and not very long at that. At the same time, you will stretch and multiply your PPC budget dollars. That’s something we could all be happy about.

NOTE: For more information on mastering the power of PPC and maximizing your ROI, visit ppcclassroom.com!


PPC Classroom Surprise?

If you’ve got questions about the relaunch of PPC Classroom… questions like “What’s it going to cost?” and “What’s included?’ you can watch this video, which answers everything (plus it includes a little “shocker!):

Click here to watch video now

Important Sections of the Video

The entire video is important, but here are
the critical parts to pay attention to:

2:12 – 3:00
How Much PPC Classroom Costs

3:00 – 6:24
Exactly What You Get

7:35 – 10:12
Introducing The PPC Inner Circle (Very Important!)

10:32 – 10:49
VERY Important – This Is The Commitment YOU Make To Us…

10:57 – 11:06
Your Commitment Is VERY Light (nothing to lose really…)

PPC Classroom Re-Launching 12 PM ET – TOMORROW
Tuesday, Feb 24th – 12 PM ET – that’s the time! Here’s how to convert your time zone:

Time and Date Converter

The waiting list on this launch seems to be twice the size of the last one, so
it may close very fast. If you watch the video, you’ll see why!

Student Interview Call…
Listen-in as we interview some of our TOP students. Many of whom were in the same position as you just a few months back… but now, they’re making a full-time living online through PPC!

Click here for the student interview

But most importantly, watch the video now (you may be surprised at what you find out)!


PPC Classroom 2.0 Relaunch Tomorrow, February 24, 2009!

PPC Classroom will re-launch tomorrow, February 24, 2009 at 12:00 pm noon EST!

A lot can be said about the power of PPC Classroom, but the most impressive is that our students have earned more than $4.2 million since its initial launch in October 2008.

And they did that in spite of a bad economy!

PPC Classroom 2.0 launched in October 2008 as an online course and community, supplemented by training webinars and teleseminars. Since then, thousands of marketers have learned how to use PPC (pay per click) search marketing to earn affiliate commissions, with amazing results.

Take a look at this  webinar with the founders of PPC Classroom, Amit Mehta and Anik Singal; also listen to Amit explain his entire business strategy.

And there’s a surprise waiting for everyone when PPC Classroom relaunches tomorrow!

Take a look at what some of our students have to say about the impact PPC Classroom has had on their lives!

NOTE: Space is at a premium, but you can still get on the waiting list at PPCClassroom.com.


The Week’s Top Affiliate Marketing News Stories (February 20, 2009)

16172118thb.jpgYahoo Shows Search Ads With Images and Video
Yahoo announced Thursday that is introducing a new type of search advertising that integrates images and video in paid listings.

Coupon Sites Grow at a Fast Clip
In a rough economy, frugal shoppers are turning to coupons. And according to comScore Media Metrix, coupon sites were the fastest-growing online category in November 2008.

Using Demographic and Trend Research Tools
It used to be somewhat hard to find good data for building and optimizing campaigns. Now there are so many tools out there it’s almost overwhelming. Some of the best tools are from search engines themselves.

New Pay-per-Call and Video Tracking at CJ – AMI Podcast
Commission Junction now accepts FLASH creative and short video creative with fully encoded publisher identifications or PIDs. This new functionality will open doors to affiliates and merchants who want to leverage the power of video to sell products and services.

Expanding Ads Come to the iPhone
PointRoll, the Gannet-owned firm has begun offering advertisers and agencies the ability to use its trademark expandable ads when targeting users of the device.

Proposed Toolbar Policy from Sharesale
ShareASale hosted a toolbar roundtable on February 3, 2009 and they’ve compiled the feedback and ideas into a proposed toolbar policy.

Top 500 Internet Retailers Report Big Gains in 2008
The Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide is still being compiled for 2009, but 30% of companies who have already shared their results for 2008 report big gains.