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Items by Shawn Collins

Affiliate Program Tip Blog

• 

  Free Affiliate Summit West 2009 Passes

  Posted: December 14th, 2008, 3:50am MYT by Shawn Collins

  Does anybody out there want a free pass to Affiliate Summit West 2009, taking place January 11-13, 2009 in Las Vegas?

  I’m not talking about just one, but bunches over the coming weeks - the Gold Pass, which is selling for $549.

  This pass gets access to the Affiliate Meet Market, exhibit hall, keynote from Gary Vaynerchuk, Sunday educational and sessions, networking events, access to all recorded educational session videos, PowerPoint presentations and the Affiliate Summit Social Network.

  

  The videos and other conference materials won’t be publicly available this time around, so you’ll need a Gold or Platinum pass to get them.

  Anyhow, I’ll be randomly posting messages to my Twitter account with coupon codes to register for Affiliate Summit.

  These codes will be good for one use only, so the first person to register with each code gets the free Gold pass.

  As with any complimentary passes to Affiliate Summit, these are not transferable.

  Keep an eye on [twitter.com] for those Affiliate Summit codes.

  
• 

  21 Essential WordPress Plugins

  Posted: December 13th, 2008, 9:28pm MYT by Shawn Collins

  The TechVivo blog has compiled a list of plugins for WordPress blogs.

  I am already using about a quarter of them, such as the FeedBurner FeedSmith, Google XML Sitemaps Generator, and WordPress.com Stats plugin, and there are others I used and have since deactivated.

  My favorite thing about lists like these is the discovery of plugins I haven’t heard about, yet.

  The biggest problem I have day to day is spam, so I am most interested in Simple Trackback Validation and WP-Spam Free look interesting.

  I’m currently running Akismet, Bad Behavior, and Disqus but spam comments and trackbacks are out of control.

  I think I’ll probably grab WordPress Database Backup, too.

  Check out the list at [www.techvivo.com].

  

  
• 

  Top One Percent Report from Joel Comm

  Posted: December 13th, 2008, 7:00am MYT by Shawn Collins

  I got a copy of the Top One Percent Report from Joel Comm a while back, and it managed to get lost in my inbox.

  But I came across it today and read through the twenty page publication. I have the September 2008 issue (#4) and it’s packed with solid information.

  Issue #4 includes thought provoking articles, like one on whether you’d like to be profitable or popular, as well as pieces on setting up a green office, marketing via Twitter, and video tips.

  You can get a complimentary issue of the Top One Percent Report from Joel’s site. Note that you’ll be billed monthly after the first month if you wish to receive it.

  Joel Comm will be speaking at Affiliate Summit West 2009 on mobile marketing.

  
• 

  People You Should Follow on Twitter

  Posted: December 12th, 2008, 11:28pm MYT by Shawn Collins

  If you’re on Twitter and trying to find some great marketing minds to follow, I’ve got a list for you.

  I’ve collected the Twitter user names for most of the speakers at the upcoming Affiliate Summit West 2009 and listed them on the conference speaker page.

  Check it out at www.affiliatesummit.com/09w_speakers.php for a quick reference of top affiliate marketers, bloggers, search marketers, and more.

  I follow all of these folks and their collective insight is invaluable.

  Some other Twitter accounts to check out…

  • Affiliate Summit @affiliatesummit
  • FeedFront Magazine @feedfront
  • Missy Ward @missyward
  • Shawn Collins @affiliatetip

  More details on Affiliate Summit, taking place January 11-13, 2009 in Las Vegas, at [www.affiliatesummit.com].

  
• 

  Win a Dell Mini from Affiliate Summit

  Posted: December 12th, 2008, 12:36pm MYT by Shawn Collins

  Affiliate Summit will be giving away a Dell Mini (CNET’s top laptop pick for the holidays) to three people in December 2008.

  In order to enter for a chance to win, make a post on Twitter.com that includes the words Affiliate Summit and the following hash tag: #asw09

  Example: I get to Affiliate Summit on Jan 9 #asw09

  We’ll be picking winners randomly from the entries for the 7 days leading up to each of the remaining Wednesdays in December 2008 (17th, 24th, and 31st), and they will receive the unopened Dell Mini in the mail.

  While you’re on Twitter, be sure to follow @affiliatesummit as well as Affiliate Summit co-founders Missy Ward (@missyward) and Shawn Collins (@affiliatetip).

  The winners will be notified by Twitter and/or e-mail, and they will be posted on the Affiliate Summit blog.

  Anybody who doesn’t wish to enter via Twitter can also enter via U.S. postal mail by sending a piece of paper with their name, mailing address, and email to the following:

  Affiliate Summit Dell Mini
  221 Sherman Ave
  Ste #8 PMB 185
  Berkeley Heights, NJ 07922-1173

  Mailed entries must be received prior to one of the award days (December 17th, 24th, and 31st 2008)in the contest to be considered.

  

  
• 

  Top 20 Worst Business Buzzwords

  Posted: December 11th, 2008, 11:27pm MYT by Shawn Collins

  I came across a list of the “Top 20 Most Hated Business Speak phrases” in the UK. It seems that annoying buzzwords refuse to be constrained by borders or oceans.

  The following are ranked in order of the most annoying, based on a survey conducted by YouGov.co.uk and commissioned by Ramada Encore.

  1. Thinking outside of the box
  2. Touch base
  3. At the end of the day
  4. Going forward
  5. All of it
  6. Blue sky thinking
  7. Out of the box
  8. Credit crunch
  9. Heads up
  10. Singing from the same hymn sheet
  11. Pro-active
  12. Downsizing
  13. Ducks in a row
  14. Brainstorming
  15. Thought shower
  16. 360 degree thinking
  17. Flag it up
  18. Pushing the envelope
  19. At this moment in time
  20. In the loop

  People really say “Singing from the same hymn sheet” in the UK?!

  This all reminds me that I really enjoy working from home and rarely attending meetings where I am subjected to this buzzword bingo.

  Affiliate marketing FTW!

  
• 

  GeekCast 47: The Really Ugly Twitter Cage Match

  Posted: December 11th, 2008, 9:41pm MYT by Shawn Collins

  Enclosure: [download]

  Download audio file (geekcast47.mp3)
  

  Episode 47 of the GeekCast show was heavy on Twitter mores, tools, and geek titans clashed on how Twitter should be used.

  Also, the Mac vs. PC battle rages on, Shmuly takes on Microsoft, the annoying Mac guy in the movie Waiting, editing green screen video, and Sam Harrelson is down on scheduled sex.

  

  Show notes:

  • Warren Whitlock’s podcast
  • TwitPwr.com (example link)
  • bit.ly
  • TweetLater Keyword Alerts and cli.gs via TwitterFeed
  • Microsoft Sics Lawyers on a Raving Fan
  • LifeTakesVista.com
  • Movies to See: Waiting (with the annoying Mac guy aping Jimmy Fallon) and Final Destination
  • Green Screens and Video

  Subscribe to the RSS for the weekly GeekCast show, or add us on iTunes.

  
• 

  Affiliate Summit Registrations Heading for a Sell Out

  Posted: December 11th, 2008, 1:41pm MYT by Shawn Collins

  I was just checking out the numbers for Affiliate Summit this year vs. last year in Las Vegas and registration numbers are 10% higher this time around.

  So, at this pace, we expect to be sold out pretty soon.

  If you’re planning to come out January 11-13, 2009 in Las Vegas, I’d encourage you to register ASAP.

  

  In the past, folks that waited too long ended up paying way over face value on eBay for registrations to Affiliate Summit.

  See [www.affiliatesummit.com] for details about Affiliate Summit West 2009.

  

  
• 

  Two Useful Twitter Tools for Affiliates

  Posted: December 11th, 2008, 12:26am MYT by Shawn Collins

  I came across new features for two Twitter tools that I currently use, and I think these would be pretty useful to many other affiliate marketers, too.

  One tool I’ve been using for a while is TwitterFeed.com. This service enables you to link up an RSS feed to your Twitter account, so any posts that hit the RSS feed will post to your Twitter stream.

  Back when I signed up for TwitterFeed.com, they automatically converted URLs to blog posts to a tinyurl.com address, but now they also support cli.gs addresses.

  This is helpful, because cli.gs provides stats for any clicks for the URLs that post to Twitter.

  Also, Tweet Later is a free service I’ve been using for a while. The initial premise of the site was to set up Tweets to post at a later date.

  But the new feature I really like is the ability to set up alerts and track keywords in the public Twitter stream.

  It’s basically Google Alerts for Twitter where you can get email updates as often as hourly that display all Tweets that include your specified keyword(s).

  Tweet Later is really useful to find relevant people to follow, as well as catching any references to your own account that slip by you.

  
• 

  LinkShare Reports Big Success on Black Friday

  Posted: December 10th, 2008, 9:10pm MYT by Shawn Collins

  Enclosure: [download]

  Download audio file (affiliatething-120908.mp3)
  

  This week on the Affiliate Thing podcast, Shawn Collins and Lisa Picarille talked about the impressive numbers by LinkShare clients on Black Friday.

  The show also includes effective communications with affiliates, a breakout of affiliate networks used by retailers, contest from MarketLeverage, Merlin Mann’s affiliate site, the Tweet that resulted in a purchase on iTunes, and green screen action.

  

  Show Links

  • Green Screen for Affiliate Video
  • Communication and Motivation for Affiliates
  • Black Friday Success for LinkShare
  • Majority of Top Retailers Have Affiliate Programs
  • Online Reputation Management Workshop after Affiliate Summit
  • Enter the Affiliate Triathlon
  • Merlin Mann’s affiliate site and video
  • Any Affiliate Marketers Want an iPod Nano or Flip Mino HD?
  • StephARC > jangro > iTunes

  Subscribe to the Affiliate Thing RSS feed or listen on iTunes. You can also send a blank e-mail to affiliatething@aweber.com to get each podcast delivered by e-mail.

  
• 

  Online Reputation Management Workshop after Affiliate Summit

  Posted: December 10th, 2008, 5:38am MYT by Shawn Collins

  Online reputation management expert and author Andy Beal is hosting a one-day online reputation management “master class” the day after Affiliate Summit West 2009 in Las Vegas - Wednesday, January 14.

  Like Affiliate Summit, Andy’s Online Reputation Management Workshop is taking place at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino.

  This is a worthwhile event if you’re responsible for your company’s online brand or wish to add online reputation management services to your agency.

  Andy Beal will provide expert training to just 25 attendees.

  All attendees will receive a signed copy of Andy’s book, Radically Transparent, and a six month subscription to Trackur.

  More details at [www.marketingpilgrim.com]. Use coupon code asw09 for $100 off.

  Andy Beal is also speaking on the Tuesday of Affiliate Summit on a panel, “Managing Your Brand.”
  

  

  
• 

  Green Screen for Affiliate Video

  Posted: December 10th, 2008, 12:55am MYT by Shawn Collins

  I continue to stand by my assertion that video is the next big thing for affiliates. Video has been leveraged well by a handful of network, merchants and affiliates, but I’m still not seeing it too much these days.

  Anyhow, there are some relatively cheap tools of the trade that aspiring video affiliates can use to enhance their productions.

  One item I would recommend is a green screen. This enables you to film video in front of the green background and then add different stuff behind you to enhance the look of the video.

  You can see examples of green screen usage in videos at MarketLeverage TV.

  There are lots of vendors selling green screens, and I made the mistake of buying a really big one with a frame the first time around. This ran hundreds of dollars and it was more than I needed.

  Recently, I was looking for software to edit photos in front of a green screen, and found a good one called Green Screen Wizard (they have an affiliate program on ShareASale).

  They also sell green screens for a nice price, and I got an email yesterday that they are offering a special Christmas deal. For $59, you can get the following:

  • A copy of Green Screen Wizard Lite
  • 5′ x 7′ Pop-up Screen
  • 20 Magazine Covers
  • 120 Backgrounds in six collections

  I like this green screen a lot better than my bigger one - it folds up in a carrying bag that comes with it, and it’s big enough for most uses.

  The picture above is a quick shot I took of my dog and put it against one of their backgrounds. It was really easy to use - I didn’t bother to read the instructions and completed the process in a couple minutes.

  
• 

  Communication and Motivation for Affiliates

  Posted: December 9th, 2008, 8:45pm MYT by Shawn Collins

  Q: I sometimes lose touch with my affiliates, because I don’t know how to keep them motivated and how to keep our name on top. Any suggestions on how to motivate our affiliates and what we should communicate to them?

  A: As far as what you should communicate to your affiliates, I think a good rule of thumb is if you have nothing to say, don’t say anything.

  Communicate vital, mission critical information about your affiliate program. Spread the word if you have some new offer starting or ending, or anything else that is newsworthy and relevant to your affiliates.

  New promotions, the launch of products or services, etc.

  But don’t send out a communication to affiliates on a regular basis just for the sake of it. That’s annoying to affiliates.

  As far as keeping them motivated, one quick and easy thing is to send out a message to ask your affiliates what they want.

  And if at all possible and reasonable, give it to them.

  There might be some small elements of your affiliate program, such as available creatives or commission rate, which you could tweak to improve the number of active affiliates right away.

  Additionally, when you are recruiting affiliates, don’t offer them the public commission.

  You’ve identified that affiliate as a qualified prospect, so treat them accordingly and take care of them more than you would any old site.

  
• 

  Affiliate Summit on MarketLeverage TV

  Posted: December 9th, 2008, 6:56am MYT by Shawn Collins

  I was on the weekly installment of MarketLeverage TV today for a quick interview with Dina Riccobono, Marketing Manager at MarketLeverage.

  Take a look at MarketLeverage TV to see the latest offers, interviews, and industry news.

  There is also an extended version of the video interview on the MarketLeverage blog.

  Check out the interview for some insight into Affiliate Summit, FeedFront magazine, and tips for affiliates.

  Speaking of MarketLeverage, I am one of many bloggers running a contest in conjunction with them where affiliate marketers have a chance to win an iPod Nano or Flip Mino HD, plus other prizes.

  

  
• 

  Black Friday Success for LinkShare

  Posted: December 9th, 2008, 4:52am MYT by Shawn Collins

  While Black Friday online retail sales were up only 1% on Black Friday compared with 2007, LinkShare experienced a dramatic increase over Black Friday in 2007.

  So far, for the holiday season in 2008, $10.41 billion has been spent online, according to comScore.

  This marks a 4-percent decline versus the corresponding days last year. However, online spending on Black Friday totaled $534 million for a 1 percent increase.

  And the combination of Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday resulted in an increase of 2 percent for online sales compared with last year, based on findings from comScore.

  In contrast, preliminary data shows that the LinkShare network is up 17% year over year on a same store basis.

  LinkShare attributes the increase to their commitment to helping members of the network maximize Black Friday profits through communication, promotions, offers, and successful planning.

  The categories where LinkShare saw the greatest revenue were department stores, apparel, toys/games, and high-end luxury brands.

  I look forward to seeing numbers on LinkShare and the other affiliate networks for the Cyber Mondays leading to Christmas.

  
• 

  Top Affiliate Programs for November 2008

  Posted: December 8th, 2008, 10:40pm MYT by Shawn Collins

  Below are the Top Ten Affiliate Programs for November 2008 as tracked by the Affiliate Tip Affiliate Program Directory.

  The Top Ten affiliate programs are calculated by the number of clickthroughs each program received in the affiliate program directory.

  Disclaimer: While we attempt to include only legitimate programs in this directory, no warranties are made. Please research each company carefully to arrive at your own conclusions. If you experience difficulties with any of the programs listed, contact us, so that we may investigate them.

  1. AzoogleAds
  2. Shopzilla
  3. Orbitz
  4. Hydra Network
  5. eHealthInsurance
  6. The Scholastic Store Online - Scholastic Inc.
  7. Advanta Bank Corp
  8. zZounds.com
  9. Amazon.com
  10. Art.com

  CPA networks are treated as individual affiliate programs for the purposes of the Top 10 Affiliate Programs list.

  Affiliate programs can be submitted to the directory at [www.affiliatething.com].

  
• 

  Ethical Issues in Affiliate Marketing

  Posted: December 8th, 2008, 6:29am MYT by Shawn Collins

  This session, Ethical Issues in Affiliate Marketing, took place Tuesday, August 12, 2008 at Affiliate Summit East 2008.

  Session description:

  There are two sides to all issues and we will entertain audience questions for a panel of industry leaders.

  • Haiko de Poel, Jr., Managing Partner, dp internet services, LLC DBA ABestWeb (Moderator)
  • Connie Berg, CEO, FlamingoWorld.com, LLC
  • Chuck Hamrick, Affiliate Manager, affiliateCREW.com
  • Michael Jones, Chief Operating Officer, Pepperjam
  • Brian Littleton, President / CEO, ShareASale.com
  • Paul Nichols, Director of Sales, Ebates.com

  

  More Affiliate Summit East 2008 audio is available at [geekcast.fm] and video is at [www.affiliatesummit.tv].

  

  
• 

  Innovation in Affiliate Marketing Award from E-consultancy

  Posted: December 7th, 2008, 9:45pm MYT by Shawn Collins

  The E-consultancy Innovation Awards 2008 Winners have been announced and TradeDoubler / Dell won the Innovation in Affiliate Marketing category.

  The runner-up was sunshine.co.uk.

  What they won for (summary): Work for Dell including use of pay-per-call functionality to convert online traffic to sales over the phone. (TradeDoubler)

  What the judges said about winner:

  “TradeDoubler’s entry stood out for opening a whole new sales mechanism. Taking advantage of a limitation in capability, the innovative approach has created a truly cross-channel, modern, mobile service that links the device with (arguably) a more appropriate form of communication – voice rather than just the web.”

  See all of the winners at [www.e-consultancy.com].

  
• 

  Data Feed Problems and Missing Information

  Posted: December 7th, 2008, 10:54am MYT by Shawn Collins

  This session, Data Feed Problems and Missing Information, took place Tuesday, August 12, 2008 at Affiliate Summit East 2008.

  Session description:

  Data feed is often missing important information which can help their affiliates in bringing more value to their program.

  • Beth Kirsch, VP of Online Marketing, CallWave (Moderator)
  • Mitul Gandhi, Director of Marketing, Collectibles Today
  • Asif Malik, CEO, GoldenCAN
  • Christopher Penn, CTO, Student Loan Network
  • Bryan Rhodes, Affiliate Manager, Schaaf Consulting

  

  More Affiliate Summit East 2008 audio is available at [geekcast.fm] and video is at [www.affiliatesummit.tv].

  
• 

  Majority of Top Retailers Have Affiliate Programs

  Posted: December 7th, 2008, 4:29am MYT by Shawn Collins

  Internet Retailer magazine has released their list of the Hot 100 Retail Web Sites, and 75% of those retailers had one or more affiliate programs in place.

  I put together a chart of the affiliate networks that were mentioned two or more times in the results.

  

  Note: when reviewing the profiles for each retailer, I noticed some quirky information in the “Affiliate marketing management” area. For instance, GAIAM is listed in the magazine as having PayPal and Bill Me Later as their “affiliate program management”.

  However, last time I checked, GAIAM is on the LinkShare platform and it is managed by AMWSO. So, I can’t vouch for the accuracy of the figures - I’ve tallied what was reported in the magazine.

  In addition to the companies represented in the chart, the following were mentioned in one retailer profile: 360i, AMWSO, Bill Me Later, Clixgalore, LinkConnector, PayPal and “various”.

  It seems there was some confusion about the semantics, as the company picking AMWSO as their “affiliate management company” was Organic Bouquet.

  Organic Bouquet uses Commission Junction as the affiliate network for their program, but AMWSO is the company managing the program.

  So GAIAM should have counted towards LinkShare, Organic Bouquet for Commission Junction, and perhaps others that were wrongly attributed to the in-house category or not having an affiliate program at all.

  Even so, it’s an interesting indicator, and I’m curious to see of the needle moves in a positive direction in the coming year for the number of retailers with affiliate programs, as companies focus more on measurable ROI with the economy the way it is.

  

  
• 

  Microsoft Sics Lawyers on a Raving Fan

  Posted: December 6th, 2008, 7:04am MYT by Shawn Collins

  Former affiliate marketer Shmuel “Shmuly” Tennenhaus reached out to Microsoft to help after their much maligned Seinfeld ads, and the software giant responded with a nastygram from a Microsoft lawyer, according to TechFlash, a Seattle tech news site.

  Shmuly created a site called Life Takes Vista, where he mocked up a number of suggested ads for Microsoft Vista, but it was apparently not well received by Steve Ballmer and company.

  “Use of the Windows Logo Button on your website implies to visitors that your site is affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsed by Microsoft Corporation, when it is not,” wrote William Ferron, a lawyer with Seed IP Law Group, in a Nov. 12 letter. “Thus, we must ask that you revise your website to remove all instances of the Windows Logo Button from the site.”

  Some of the ads were entertaining and quirky, while others were just sort of out there.

  

  Shmuly even produced a series of emails that “prove” correspondence with Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer on the matter.

  It’s not like he got a Zune tattoo or something. Feel the love, Microsoft!

  Check out the site Microsoft doesn’t want you to see at [lifetakesvista.com].

  This blog post was made with a computer powered by Windows Vista.

  
• 

  Affiliate Marketing Podcasts This Week

  Posted: December 6th, 2008, 12:40am MYT by Shawn Collins

  I was a little podcast happy this week. In addition to the two I always participate in each week (Affiliate Thing and GeekCast), I was the guest on two other shows.

  Scott Fox interviewed me for a podcast that went up yesterday, “Affiliate Marketing: What You Need to Know,” where we chatted about some basics in affiliate marketing and getting started in the industry.

  I also had s short interview with Warren Whitlock about how Affiliate Summit is using social media. This one goes up today on his show on BlogTalkRadio today.

  Also, key an eye on future episodes of Market Leverage TV and Web Marketing Today for some video interviews I gave recently.

  Both the Affiliate Thing and GeekCast podcasts are available weekly via iTunes. Be sure to subscribe to hear the latest news, opinions, tips, and resources.

  
• 

  Enter the Affiliate Triathlon

  Posted: December 5th, 2008, 1:45pm MYT by Shawn Collins

  Affiliate Summit West 2009, taking place January 11-13 in Las Vegas, wraps up with the first ever Affiliate Triathlon.

  The Affiliate Triathlon is a 3-event contest of skill, determination and dexterity open to all attendees at Affiliate Summit West 2009. Athletes and non-athletes are encouraged to participate.

  The winning athlete (highest cumulative score across the three competitions) will be awarded their choice of:

  One non-corner, 10? x 10? exhibit hall booth (value: $5,195) or four Platinum Passes (value: $4,996) at Affiliate Summit East 2009.*

  *Either prize can be sold or transferred to another person and Affiliate Summit East 2009, which takes place in NYC over August 9-11, 2009.

  The entry fee for the Affiliate Triathlon is $100, which you will donate directly to the National Breast Cancer Foundation.

  Enroll now at [blog.affiliatesummit.com].

  Oh yeah, this isn’t a typical triathlon with swimming, biking and running.

  We’ve toned it down a little.

  

  The three competitions will be a race with adult-sized “Wacky Trikes”, a golf driving challenge, and a race against the clock shooting hoops.

  Register for the Affiliate Triathlon, benefit the National Breast Cancer Foundation, have fun, and maybe win a cool prize.

  

  
• 

  Copywriting Clinic

  Posted: December 4th, 2008, 11:44pm MYT by Shawn Collins

  This session, Copywriting Clinic, took place Tuesday, August 12, 2008 at Affiliate Summit East 2008.

  Session description:

  Panel of copywriting experts discuss the dynamics of producing high performance copy.

  • Lisa Riolo, Founder, Hammock Ventures (Moderator)
  • Adam Gilad, CEO, Gilad Creative Media, Inc
  • Scott Polk, CEO, Purplestream Marketing
  • Anik Singal, CEO, Affiliate Classroom, Inc.

  

  More Affiliate Summit East 2008 audio is available at [geekcast.fm] and video is at [www.affiliatesummit.tv].

  
• 

  GeekCast 46: Is Matt Bacak Really the Biggest Douche in Social Media?

  Posted: December 4th, 2008, 8:58pm MYT by Shawn Collins

  Enclosure: [download]

  Download audio file (geekcast46.mp3)
  

  Episode 46 of the GeekCast show touched on all of the important issues of the day, such as the backlash against Matt Bacak, a smut ban on YouTube, and some cool apps for iPhones.

  Also, Jim Kukral has completed his conversion to a MacBook pro, some guy is spamming “friends” on Facebook, Pownce is about to pull the plug, and Google wants you to further assimilate with Friend Connect.

  

  Show notes:

  • Matt Bacak Rules Twitter (Press Release)
  • The. Biggest. Douche. In. Social. Media.
  • A Personal Brand is Demolished by Being Selfish Instead of Useful
  • Google Friend Connect
  • Get Your Google Profile Tidied Up
  • Pownce Deadpooled, Team Moves To Six Apart
  • YouTube bans ’suggestive’ vids
  • Dell Mini

  Subscribe to the RSS for the weekly GeekCast show, or add us on iTunes.

  
• 

  Any Affiliate Marketers Want an iPod Nano or Flip Mino HD?

  Posted: December 4th, 2008, 12:47pm MYT by Shawn Collins

  I am running a contest, sponsored by Market Leverage, during the month of December 2008 where the winner will have the choice of either an iPod Nano or a Flip Mino HD.

  It’s easy to enter - just submit a video or text tip related to affiliate marketing. It’s got to be original - I will dig around to see if you swiped it from somewhere.

  There are a bunch of other blogs in on this contest via Market Leverage, and the winner at each blog will be considered for on of three Grand Prizes.

  I select the winner here, and all of the participating blogs running the contest will vote for the Grand Prize winners who will receive a Market Leverage Grand Prize Pack that includes an Amazon Kindle, a $100 Market Leverage Rewards Card and a $50.00 iTunes Gift Card.

  The grand prize winners will be announced on January 5, 2009.

  Some fine print for you to read…

  1. You can only use Market Leverage as an example network in your submission.
  2. Your entry can be submitted by a text or video comment on my blog. For a video comment, please upload your video to YouTube, tag it with “Market Leverage Share Your Secret”, and submit the link to your video in the comments section on my blog.
  3. All entries must be submitted by 7pm on December 31, 2008.

  Don’t put it off - share your tip, so I have the chance to award you an iPod Nano or Flip Mino HD.

  Personally, I’d go for the Flip Mino HD - it’s a pretty sweet looking device. Just 3.3 ounces, and it produces HD 720p (1280 x 720 resolution at 30 frames per second; 16:9 wide-screen) video.

  
• 

  New Photo Features from Magnify.net

  Posted: December 4th, 2008, 1:42am MYT by Shawn Collins

  Magnify.net, the popular video community used by many affiliates to monetize video, has put out some new photo upload management and presentation features.

  The beta release of Photo Gallery from Magnify.net is already enabled for most channels on the site, so if you’ve got an account there, you should be able to accept photo uploads from your channel members now.

  To post a photo, just go to your channel’s submission page and upload an image file in the same way you would post a video.

  The photo gallery is an easy way for your visitors to explore the most recent photos uploaded to your site, one at a time, or in a slide show.

  More details on the Magnify.net blog.

  

  
• 

  Cyber Monday, the Prequel

  Posted: December 3rd, 2008, 8:13pm MYT by Shawn Collins

  Download audio file (affiliatething-120208.mp3)
  

  This week on the Affiliate Thing podcast, Shawn Collins and Lisa Picarille chatted about the impact of Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

  The show also includes Scott Jangro’s frozen turkey, breaking up with the ASUS eee for the Dell Mini, a new WordPress plugin from Chitika, an app for iPhone users that want to pretend they have a Blackberry Storm, Coupon Cabin running a TV commercial in San Francisco, and the Affiliate Triathlon.

  

  Show Links

  • The Economy and Online Shopping for Christmas 2008
  • Electronics to Buy on Black Friday
  • OneCause Discussion on ABestWeb
  • TouchType App for iPhone Email in Landscape Mode
  • Chitika Premium Ads Plugin for WordPress
  • Dell Mini Laptop
  • Scott Jangro and the Case of the Frozen Turkey
  • Coupon Cabin commercial

  Subscribe to the Affiliate Thing RSS feed or listen on iTunes. You can also send a blank e-mail to affiliatething@aweber.com to get each podcast delivered by e-mail.

  
• 

  PPC Classroom LIVE 2008 This Week

  Posted: December 3rd, 2008, 4:22am MYT by Shawn Collins

  PPC Classroom LIVE 2008, a three day conference focused on pay per click search marketing, is taking place December 4-6, 2008 at the Hyatt Regency Orange County (near Disneyland).

  The event is run by super affiliates Amit Mehta & Anik Singal, and the keynote speaker will be Vinny Lingham of SynthaSite.com.

  More details at [www.ppcclassroomlive.com].

  Total non-sequitur, but since PPC Classroom LIVE is taking place close to Disneyland, I figured I’d share that it reminds me of that very cool song from Dada.

  
• 

  Buying an Affiliate Site

  Posted: December 2nd, 2008, 11:32pm MYT by Shawn Collins

  Q: I’d like to buy/acquire an established affiliate site. Do you have any places you’d recommend to do this?

  A: There are two sites where a lot of buying and selling of affiliate sites takes place: Digital Point and SitePoint.

  

  Some folks use eBay to search for affiliate sites for sale, too.

  As far as determining the value of an existing affiliate site, part of the worth of a site will be the domain name. There are some third party domain appraisal services you can use to get an idea about the market value.

  I would also encourage you to perform some due diligence on whether the content on the site is original.

  And if they are trying to use a metric like an Alexa ranking to prove popularity of the site, don’t put too much stock in it, since it can be manipulated.

  I would suggest asking to see the actual stats provided from their host to determine the most popular pages, referrers, traffic volume, etc.

  Good luck.

  

  
• 

  Chitika Premium Ads Plugin for WordPress

  Posted: December 2nd, 2008, 12:44pm MYT by Shawn Collins

  Chitika has launched a new WordPress plugin for Chitika Premium ads.

  Chitika Premium Ads is a CPC search-targeted advertising solution with 20 ad unit sizes that can be be run on the same page as Google AdSense, or on its own as an AdSense alternative.

  The plugin enables affiliates to easily change the display of Chitika Premium ads through a settings page in the WordPress admin interface.

  The following aspects of the ads can be customized with the plugin:

  • Ad size
  • Link and text color
  • Background color
  • Display position (above or below your post)
  • Channel

  More details at [wordpress.org].

  
• 

  The Economy and Online Shopping for Christmas 2008

  Posted: December 1st, 2008, 10:46pm MYT by Shawn Collins

  The fragile economy has been a source of great anxiety for many affiliate marketers as we head into the biggest month of our year. But if Black Friday was any indication of consumers opening their wallets, we should be in good shape.

  More than 172 million shoppers visited stores and sites over Black Friday weekend this year, which was up from 147 million shoppers last year, according to the National Retail Federation’s 2008 Black Friday Weekend survey.

  The survey also indicated shoppers spent an average of $372.57 over Black Friday weekend, an increase of 7.2 percent over $347.55 in 2007.

  So today is Cyber Monday, which is often reported as the biggest online shopping day of the year.

  I expect it will be a strong day for affiliate sales, but it’s not the strongest Monday of the season, based on holiday trend data shared last year by the Google Affiliate Network (then DoubleClick Performics).

  If the past is any indication, we’ve got a few other Mondays and other days this month that should outperform Cyber Monday.

  
• 

  International Options for US Affiliates

  Posted: December 1st, 2008, 12:11am MYT by Shawn Collins

  This session, International Options for US Affiliates, took place Tuesday, August 12, 2008 at Affiliate Summit East 2008.

  Session description:

  Discussion of expanding business internationally.

  Presenter: Jim Mansfield, CEO, Intela

  International Options for US Affiliates View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: ase08 affsum)

  More Affiliate Summit East 2008 audio is available at [geekcast.fm] and video is at [www.affiliatesummit.tv].

  

  
• 

  Lead Generation for EMarketers

  Posted: November 29th, 2008, 10:46pm MYT by Shawn Collins

  This session, Lead Generation for EMarketers, took place Tuesday, August 12, 2008 at Affiliate Summit East 2008.

  Session description:

  Lead generation is one of the biggest tools of emarketing. The success of a lead generation campaign is the single most useful tool for advertisers to target their products and services to prospects.

  • Kelli Beougher, Senior Vice President, LinkShare Corp. (Moderator)
  • DC Cullinane, CEO, thinkingVOICE
  • John Engler, Vice-President and General Manager, UnsubCentral
  • Dave Wengel, General Manager, Interactive Markets, TARGUSinfo

  

  More Affiliate Summit East 2008 audio is available at [geekcast.fm] and video is at [www.affiliatesummit.tv].

  
• 

  Electronics to Buy on Black Friday

  Posted: November 28th, 2008, 10:58pm MYT by Shawn Collins

  I was just looking at Google Trends and see that many of the popular Black Friday searches are related to electronics and video games, so I figured I’d share a list of cameras, computers, video games and other items I purchased and liked a lot this year.

  These items cover a wide price range, and they are not in any particular order, aside from the order I thought of them.

  The one thing they all have in common is that I love and use each on a regular basis, so they could be a good treat for you or somebody on your gift list.

  • Canon VIXIA HV30 High Definition Digital Camcorder: well priced, great quality, and easy to use
  • Blackberry Bold: by far the best phone I’ve had
  • Apple iPod touch: I didn’t want an iPhone, but wanted the functionality and apps
  • Dell Vostro laptop: I got a 1400, but it’s no longer available
  • ASUS Eee PC 900-W017 Notebook: fantastic, small machine for travel
  • Nintendo Wii: get extra controllers and chargers - great fun playing 4 player games
  • BeerTender: not really consistent with the theme here, but a great toy for Heineken drinkers
  • GPS: I have the Garmin Nuvi 260W, which seems to only be available as a refurbished unit now
  • M-Audio MicroTrack 24/96 Professional 2-Channel Mobile Digital Recorder: great for podcasters
  • Broadband card: I have an AT&T USBConnect 881 and use it constantly - if you travel, you should have one
  • Sony PSP 2000: essential for cross-country flights

  One last item I didn’t purchase yet, but I’m thinking about it, is the Flip MinoHD. However, while the video is better than previous Flip cameras, it still doesn’t have an external audio jack.

  Happy Black Friday.

  
• 

  Lessons Learned in Using Video for Affiliates

  Posted: November 27th, 2008, 9:03pm MYT by Shawn Collins

  This session, Lessons Learned in Using Video for Affiliates, took place Tuesday, August 12, 2008 at Affiliate Summit East 2008.

  Session description:

  A discussion of what we have learned in terms of using video to drive higher click through and conversion rates.

  Presenter: Jonathan Stefansky, EVP Sales and Marketing, Qoof

  Lessons Learned in Using Video for Affiliates View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: affiliate affsum)

  More Affiliate Summit East 2008 audio is available at [geekcast.fm] and video is at [www.affiliatesummit.tv].

  

  
• 

  Black Friday and Affiliates

  Posted: November 26th, 2008, 10:05pm MYT by Shawn Collins

  Enclosure: [download]

  Download audio file (affiliatething-112508.mp3)
  

  This week on the Affiliate Thing podcast, Shawn Collins and Lisa Picarille talked about Black Friday and what’s hot for affiliates.

  The show also includes talk of a new affiliate marketing conference, ASUS eee as a Christmas gift, Instant Form Pro from Joel Comm, a new affiliate control panel from AWeber, and the Affiliate Summit Twitter Contest.

  

  Show Links

  • Network Solutions and Black Friday
  • Holiday Shipping Deadlines for Affiliates
  • Will Affiliates Survive this Economy?
  • New Survey Tool for Affiliate Marketers
  • New Affiliate Control Panel at AWeber
  • Twitter Contest: Chance to Win a Free Pass to Affiliate Summit

  Subscribe to the Affiliate Thing RSS feed or listen on iTunes. You can also send a blank e-mail to affiliatething@aweber.com to get each podcast delivered by e-mail.

  
• 

  Web 2.0 for Affiliates

  Posted: November 26th, 2008, 5:58am MYT by Shawn Collins

  This session, Web 2.0 for Affiliates, took place Tuesday, August 12, 2008 at Affiliate Summit East 2008.

  Session description:

  You will quickly be left behind if Web 2.0 strategies are not part of your overall marketing blueprint. How are affiliate marketers using these new kinds of media and what impacts are they having?

  Presenter: Ernie St. Gelais, CTO and Co-founder, LinkConnector

  Web 2.0 for Affiliates View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: summit affiliate)

  More Affiliate Summit East 2008 audio is available at [geekcast.fm] and video is at [www.affiliatesummit.tv].

  
• 

  Network Solutions Widget for Black Friday

  Posted: November 26th, 2008, 5:45am MYT by Shawn Collins

  Network Solutions has put together a Black Friday Deals widget based on the Mashable list of Black Friday deals.

  The widget brings in feeds from many of the top sites along with buzz from Twitter on Black Friday.

  You can even check it out on your iPhone, Blackberry or other smartphone at [www.bffeed.com].

  Aside from the convenience of having Black Friday deals in one place, another cool thing here is that Network Solutions has left the affiliate links intact from the feeds included.

  If you’ve got a Black Friday site that’s not included, try leaving a comment at [blog.networksolutions.com] about it.

  Get the Black Friday - by Network Solutions widget and many other great free widgets at Widgetbox!

  

  
• 

  New Affiliate Control Panel at AWeber

  Posted: November 25th, 2008, 11:11pm MYT by Shawn Collins

  The AWeber affiliate program has incorporated new features and launched a revamped affiliate control panel.

  In addition to some nice aesthetics, the new control panel enables affiliates to better track campaigns with easily readable, downloadable affiliate statistics and reports.

  

  The custom sub-domain isn’t new, but I love this option from AWeber for my affiliate URLs. So, I have the option of using either of the following:

  • [affiliatetip.aweber.com]
  • [aweber.com]

  One thing I’d love to see in the future from the AWeber affiliate program is a single login for the affiliate program and a user account.

  Otherwise, this is a prime example of a homegrown affiliate program that is affiliate-centric.

  More details at [www.aweber.com].

  
• 

  The Future of Performance Marketing

  Posted: November 24th, 2008, 10:14pm MYT by Shawn Collins

  This session, The Future of Performance Marketing, took place Tuesday, August 12, 2008 at Affiliate Summit East 2008.

  Session description:

  Industry leaders will explore the performance marketing landscape and what the future holds. Who will lead the growth as the industry matures? Publishers? Networks? Google? Who will acquire who?

  • Steve Schaffer, Founder & CEO, Vertive, Inc. (Moderator)
  • Stephanie Gay, Director, External Channels, American Express
  • Chris Kramer, Co-Founder & Media Director, NETexponent
  • Kim Riedell, Vice President, Client Development-East, Commission Junction

  

  More Affiliate Summit East 2008 audio is available at [geekcast.fm] and video is at [www.affiliatesummit.tv].

  
• 

  Holiday Shipping Deadlines for Affiliates

  Posted: November 23rd, 2008, 10:16pm MYT by Shawn Collins

  The Google Affiliate network has compiled a list of holiday shipping deadlines from many merchants in their network for affiliates to use for planning over the coming weeks.

  The list indicates Gift Card Shipping, Hanukkah standard and premium shipping, Christmas standard and premium shipping, and Kwanzaa standard and premium shipping. The list also shows whether or not a merchant offers in store pickup.

  

  See the complete list of holiday shipping deadlines.

  

  
• 

  Online Shopping More Common in U.K. Than U.S.

  Posted: November 23rd, 2008, 5:23am MYT by Shawn Collins

  Online shoppers in the U.K. are shopping more than folks in the U.S., as the U.K shoppers are spending 40% more money and making 24% more purchases online than their U.S. peers, according to a new Jupiter survey commissioned by LinkShare.

  The typical U.S. online buyer is forecast to spend $755 online in 2008, making an average of 7.5 purchases online in the last 12 months. U.K. online buyers, meanwhile, are forecast to spend an average of $1,060 online in 2008, making an average of 9.3 purchases online in the last year. These forecasts have been revised down recently, although fourth-quarter U.S. online spending is still expected to be about 10% up.

  So, it looks like the U.S. can still expect a decent degree of growth. And U.S affiliates may be wise to work on a U.K. version of their site(s).

  More details at [adage.com].

  
• 

  The Ten Hottest Strategies for Internet Marketing

  Posted: November 22nd, 2008, 3:47am MYT by Shawn Collins

  This session, The Ten Hottest Strategies for Internet Marketing, took place Monday, August 11, 2008 at Affiliate Summit East 2008.

  Session description:

  Discover top affiliate trends, what’s working for business, how to build your personal brand. Explore the best Web 2.0 tools, social media, conversion, long tail, video, podcasts and virtual worlds.

  Presenter: Jay Berkowitz, CEO, Ten Golden Rules

  The Ten Hottest Strategies for Internet Marketing View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: ase08 affsum)

  More Affiliate Summit East 2008 audio is available at [geekcast.fm] and video is at [www.affiliatesummit.tv].

  
• 

  Twitter Contest: Chance to Win a Free Pass to Affiliate Summit

  Posted: November 21st, 2008, 11:49pm MYT by Shawn Collins

  We’re less than two months away from Affiliate Summit West 2009, taking place January 11-13, 2009 in Las Vegas, and we’re kicking off a new contest to win a free Platinum pass to the conference.

  In order to enter, you must do the following:

  • Post to Twitter with the Twitter name of somebody you want to meet at Affiliate Summit and tell them why
  • Include #asw09 in your Tweet

  How can you find out who is going to be at Affiliate Summit and also is on Twitter? Well, you can look at the Affiliate Summit agenda and see who is speaking at the conference.

  If you’re not currently following speakers and don’t know their Twitter name, you could try finding them by searching Google for their name and the word Twitter.

  For instance, search Gary Vaynerchuk (he’s the keynote speaker for the conference) and Twitter on Google and the first result is his Twitter address: [twitter.com]

  You could also use Twitter search and submit a query for Affiliate Summit or affsum. You’ll see Tweets from people who are talking about Affiliate Summit on Twitter.

  Here is an example of an entry you might submit:

  @jimkukral I want to meet you at Affiliate Summit to learn more about thebizwebcoach.com - may I buy you a drink? #asw09

  Every Monday through January 5, we will pick a winner and notify them via Twitter. Only entries submitted the Monday through Sunday leading up to each Monday will be eligible for that week.

  Winners are picked by the Affiliate Summit team and all decisions are final.

  And I’m not saying it will help your chances, but you should be following @affiliatesummit on Twitter to stay in the loop.

  

  
• 

  Problogger - The Book

  Posted: November 21st, 2008, 9:09pm MYT by Shawn Collins

  I just read ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income by Darren Rowse and Chris Garrett and I really enjoyed it.

  One thing I liked a lot was that Rowse and Garrett didn’t sugarcoat things. They are candid about how it is really a tough grind to produce a successful blog.

  They go through all of the steps to monetize a blog. The information will be a little elementary to bloggers who are already monetizing their blogs, but I’d definitely recommend it for new bloggers or those who haven’t monetized, yet.

  The Problogger book kicks off with an introduction where Darren Rowse and Chris Garrett tell their stories of becoming successful bloggers.

  The book also gets into nice blogging, setting up a blog, how often you should post, thoughts on buying and selling blogs, as well as lessons from top bloggers.

  I read lots of books about online business, and most are useless. But the Problogger book has lots of useful nuggets, and I would urge anybody looking to make money on a blog to check it out.

  
• 

  New Survey Tool for Affiliate Marketers

  Posted: November 21st, 2008, 7:10am MYT by Shawn Collins

  Instant Form Pro is a new, robust survey tool that is like Survey Monkey, plus all the features you wished they had there.

  

  This new software enables you to create simple questionnaires, complex surveys, contact forms, testimonial generators, feedback forms, file uploaders, tests and quizzes - pretty much any sort of data collection you’d like to do.

  Also, Instant Form Pro was created by Joel Comm and his team, so it’s a marketing-centric tool, rather than the clumsy sort of interface I’ve typically seen in other data collecting resources.

  Instead, it’s really intuitive and I like the drag and drop functionality a lot.

  That said, I was initially hesitant by Instant Form Pro being a software that had to be installed - one of the reasons I used Survey Monkey in the past was to avoid screwing up installs.

  But it was an easy process, and that’s coming from somebody who always outsources installs and migrations (just paid a guy to move a bunch of WP blogs from LivingDot to RackSpace).

  I’ll be using it in the near future to gather some affiliate statistics.

  
• 

  PPC Super Affiliate Strategies You MUST Know

  Posted: November 21st, 2008, 6:42am MYT by Shawn Collins

  This session, PPC Super Affiliate Strategies You MUST Know, took place Monday, August 11, 2008 at Affiliate Summit East 2008.

  Session description:

  Super Affiliate Amit Mehta reveals little known techniques and strategies he uses to drive massive volume and generated large revenues via PPC affiliate marketing.

  Presenter: Amit Mehta, Founder, SuperAffiliateMindset.com

  PPC Super Affiliate Strategies You MUST Know View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: summit affiliate)

  More Affiliate Summit East 2008 audio is available at [geekcast.fm] and video is at [www.affiliatesummit.tv].

  

  
• 

  How to Viral Market Webinar

  Posted: November 20th, 2008, 10:28pm MYT by Shawn Collins

  MarketingSherpa is holding a webinar training event, “How to Viral Market,” on Wednesday, December 10 at 2:00-3:30 pm EST.

  This webinar will cover the following…

  • How to plan, budget and promote viral campaigns
  • What works and what’s next in viral
  • 7 Interactive tactics that they can employ now

  The cost for this training session is $97 and includes a copy of their “How to Viral Market” toolkit.

  The toolkit includes 75 pages of step by step training, 16 case studies, as well as charts, spreadsheets, checklists, and timelines.

  More details at SherpaStore.com.

  
• 

  GeekCast 45: The Rules of Following People on Twitter

  Posted: November 20th, 2008, 9:55pm MYT by Shawn Collins

  Download audio file (geekcast45.mp3)
  

  Episode 45 of the GeekCast show got into Twitter, Internet celebrities, Jim Kukral’s emotional roller coaster with his new MacBook Pro, and Obama as the first technology President.

  Also, we got into some pre-Affiliate Summit stuff in Las Vegas, like CES and a joint event with Gary Vaynerchuk and Robert Scoble, plus Ted Murphy in a tub of cereal, divorce Second Life style, and how Jim thinks Howard Stern’s wife is a dog.

  

  Show notes:

  • Twitter Contemplates Charging for Use
  • iJustine on Mozy Commercials
  • MediaWhiz Launches InLinks
  • Gary Vaynerchuk Takes on Howard Stern
  • Barack Obama Loses His Blackberry
  • Mark Cuban vs. the SEC
  • Wal-Mart to carry iPhone after holidays?
  • ‘Second Life’ Affair Leads to Real-Life Divorce
  • Seth Godin’s Tribes and Sam Harrelson does a 20-second Review Without Reading It
  • Gary Vaynerchuk and Robert Scoble Before Affiliate Summit
  • Facebook Fan Pages Ranking Well in Google
  • Ted Murphy in a Tub of Cereal

  Subscribe to the RSS for the weekly GeekCast show, or add us on iTunes.

  
• 

  Google Affiliate Network Integrates Google AdPlanner Data

  Posted: November 20th, 2008, 6:59am MYT by Shawn Collins

  The Google Affiliate Network announced that they have incorporated data provided by Google AdPlanner.

  This weekend we introduced new site profile links in our interface to provide users with better information about the traffic profiles of their marketing partners. Advertiser and publisher users will now see “Site Profile” links in a variety of locations in our interface.

  The new links will produce an overlay containing data provided by Google AdPlanner.

  More details at [googleaffiliatenetwork-blog.blogspot.com].

  

  
• 

  Lisa Picarille Has Twitter Withdrawal

  Posted: November 19th, 2008, 10:47pm MYT by Shawn Collins

  Download audio file (affiliatething-111808.mp3)
  

  This week on the Affiliate Thing podcast, Shawn Collins and Lisa Picarille started out with the Twitter fail whale and finished with turduckens.

  The show includes talk of Lisa’s frustration over the latest Twitter outage, the latest on Affiliate Summit, cool Amazon affiliate stuff, recruiting affiliates, and Jim Kukral’s new Biz Web Coach launch.

  Show Links

  • Become Lisa’s friend on Twitter
  • Affiliate Summit News - Week of November 17, 2008
  • Amazon Christmas Toy List for Affiliates
  • The Transition of eBay to an In-house Affiliate Program
  • eBay Sues High Profile Affiliate for Cookie Stuffing and Fraud
  • Jim Kukral is the Biz Web Coach
  • Barack Obama’s Favorite Affiliate Program?
  • Battista’s Hole in the Wall in Las Vegas
  • Turducken

  Subscribe to the Affiliate Thing RSS feed or listen on iTunes. You can also send a blank e-mail to affiliatething@aweber.com to get each podcast delivered by e-mail.

  
• 

  New RSS Feed for Affiliates from Buy.com

  Posted: November 19th, 2008, 6:45am MYT by Shawn Collins

  The Buy.com affiliate program has launched a new RSS feed for their affiliates that updates daily with their weekly deals.

  Affiliates just have to replace 999999 in the RSS URL with their Commission Junction PID and the links will convert to trackable links.

  RSS feed of weekly deals/ price drops / email deals:

  [www.buy.com]

  They have also posted the information in an RSS feed for affiliates to subscribe and monitor for deals to feature at [feeds.feedburner.com]

  Note that this second URL isn’t for use by affiliates. It’s for reference.

  
• 

  Promote the Sears Affiliate Program

  Posted: November 19th, 2008, 3:27am MYT by Shawn Collins

  We have thousands of affiliate programs to choose from when setting up campaigns. There are many factors to consider when selecting an affiliate program to promote, including the niche, brand, payout, conversion, etc.

  But I came across a good reason for affiliates to join up and promote the Sears affiliate program on the Google Affiliate Network, thanks to a note from Alan Hamilton, Program Manager for Dreamofjewelry.com.

  Sears has a policy in place where they pay the difference in salaries and maintain benefits for employees who are called up as military reservists.

  Companies are legally obligated to keep jobs open for reservists when they return from duty, but nothing more.

  The Sears Holdings Corporation (SHC) does a really good thing with their Military Pay Differential and Benefits Continuation program.

  Military Pay Differential and Benefits Continuation

  • In September 2004, the company extended its military pay differential (fills the gap between military pay and employer pay) and benefits continuation to 60 months for eligible employees called to duty in the Reserves or National Guard.
    • Previously, policy provided 36 months of coverage.
  • While deployed, eligible employees can:
    • Continue participating in SHC’s life insurance, medical and dental programs.
    • Receive annual merit pay increases, incentive pay.
  • SHC holds a comparable position for deployed employees for up to five years.
  • The company has encouraged and supported employees serving in the armed forces for decades.
    • Records indicate that Sears provided support to employees serving in the military in 1916.
    • Sears’ pay differential was first instituted in 1990 for Operation Desert Shield-Storm.

  It’s admirable that Sears operates this program, and with little fanfare.

  The only time non-employees of Sears seem to hear about it is when they receive an email passed around to recognize what they are doing for their Reserve and National Guard employees.

  So anyway, just something to consider when deciding whether to promote Sears or one of their competitors.

  

  
• 

  PPC Search: Disclosure vs. Free-for-All

  Posted: November 18th, 2008, 10:11am MYT by Shawn Collins

  This session, PPC Search: Disclosure vs. Free-for-All, took place Monday, August 11, 2008 at Affiliate Summit East 2008.

  Session description:

  Judicious use of additional affiliate sites to buy PPC links can increase overall sales. Uncontrolled use of affiliates to buy PPC results in bid escalation. What’s the right mix?

  Presenter: Kevin Lee, Chairman and CEO, Didit

  PPC Search: Disclosure vs. Free-for-All View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: affsum ase08)

  More Affiliate Summit East 2008 audio is available at [geekcast.fm] and video is at [www.affiliatesummit.tv].

  
• 

  The Transition of eBay to an In-house Affiliate Program

  Posted: November 18th, 2008, 6:07am MYT by Shawn Collins

  It’s been a while since eBay made the transition from Commission Junction to an in-house affiliate program as the eBay Partner Network, so I wanted to check in for an update.

  I was able to catch up with some folks from eBay at PubCon about the latest with their in-house network.

  They had a two month overlap with the two platforms during April and May, and by the end of May over 90% of their active affiliates had followed them to the eBay Partner Network.

  At this point, they’ve got over 100,000 affiliates on the new platform.

  One of the changes they made after the transition was to implement a system where referrers of the highest quality eBay members would be compensated accordingly.

  This program was announced in August where they moved to a value-based pricing plan for Active New Registered Users (ACRUs).

  The intention was to better reward top affiliates, provide incentives for other affiliates to improve the quality of their traffic, and pay fair compensation for users who have low lifetime value to eBay.

  In the old arrangement, they were paying $25 to $35 per new active user, and now eBay pays affiliates $1 to $50 per new user.

  The new pricing structure went into effect on August 1st for new affiliates and November 1st for all existing affiliates, and so far, more than one third of their active affiliates are now earning $28 or more for every new user they drive to eBay.

  Several hundred affiliates are qualifying for the new $40 and $50 tiers.

  Also, they have continued to make enhancements to their platform to provide more data to affiliates.

  They now have a campaign quality report that shows affiliates which of their tactics and campaigns are driving the most engaged users.

  Plus, there is a new report that tells affiliates which categories of products their users convert so they can improve their targeting.

  Finally, they’ve added new Holidays and Deals Creatives and tools like their Custom Banner.

  More details at [www.ebaypartnernetworkblog.com].

  
• 

  Amazon Christmas Toy List for Affiliates

  Posted: November 17th, 2008, 11:07pm MYT by Shawn Collins

  The Amazon affiliate program has released a new link for affiliates that enables shoppers to navigate through the hot toys this year by age or price.

  The “Holiday Toy List” allows customers to watch hundreds of toys, video games, sporting goods, electronic gadgets, and DVDs in action with an easy-to-use video display.

  Shoppers can move through the list with their cursor buttons and zoom in to specific products with the space bar.

  

  To link directly to this page, just use the following link format and replace “YOUR_ID_HERE-20″ with your affiliate ID:

  http://www.amazon.com/gp/holidaytoylist?&tag=YOUR_ID_HERE-20

  Take a look at an example of the toy list.

  Amazon also has a section with Black Friday Deals and Amazon Frustration-Free Packaging.

  I love this Frustration-Free Packaging, since half of Christmas ends up being a mess of undoing tons of twisty ties and cutting through space-age polymers to get to the kid’s toys.

  Get those pages and sites set for Black Friday, Cyber Monday and the rest of the Christmas season (and then the last minute gift cards and gift card redemption).

  

  

  
• 

  Site Templates with Affiliate Integration

  Posted: November 16th, 2008, 10:13pm MYT by Shawn Collins

  CardOffers.com has launched BuildOffers.com, a solution for affiliates to create a turnkey site that guarantees approval by affiliate programs in the BuildOffers.com service, including American Express, Chase, and Discover.

  BuildOffers.com provides pre-designed, customizable affiliate marketing websites for businesses and individuals that want to start making money from a website immediately. Clients simply select one of our customizable affiliate website templates, choose which of our pre-approved affiliate marketing programs they would like to advertise on their new website.

  Everything is updated dynamically by BuildOffers.com, so affiliates don’t have to worry about compliance related aspects of the site from card issuers and other creditors.

  Also, the BuildOffers.com sites are not limited to offers in their network. Affiliates can also add their own links to their site.

  This is a good resource for newbie affiliates looking to get into promoting credit card offers.

  More information at [buildoffers.com].

  Update:

  I neglected to include pricing for the BuildOffers.com sites. Here is the information I received from them…

  The cost for a BuildOffers.com site begins at $310 (one time). This includes the first monthly maintenance charge of $35. The monthly maintenance fee guarantees that the site is always compliant and content is always updated. I must emphasize, with a BuildOffers.com site, you do not have to wait for approval and you are automatically approved for some credit card programs that are not offered anymore, like Citibank and Bank of America. The 40% off brings the cost for a site to $200. Paying for a website might not be worth it to someone who is a novice at building sites; but it would be valuable to those just getting started (and haven’t experienced the rigidity of some affiliate programs when up for approval) and maybe someone who feels their time and the guaranteed affiliate approval is worth more than the $200. All pricing information is on the BuildOffers.com homepage.

  
• 

  Cligs: Geo-targeted Short URLs for Affiliates

  Posted: November 16th, 2008, 12:31am MYT by Shawn Collins

  
  Right Clig Demo from Pierre Far on Vimeo.

  There is a neat, new service from Pierre Far called Cligs, which not only enables affiliates to create short URLs with analytics, but also has a geo-targeting option.

  Right Clig is an advanced feature of the Cligs service that allows affiliates to set alternative geo-targeted destination URLs for each short URL.

  This is a particularly useful service for Twitter when including affiliate URLs in a post.

  For instance, you might join the Amazon affiliate program for the U.S., U.K.. Germany. Japan, etc. and setup Right Clig rules for the respective countries, so your followers get their country specific site with your affiliate link.

  

  Thanks to Li Evans for letting me know about Cligs.

  More details at [blog.cli.gs].

  
• 

  Prayers for Andy Bourland

  Posted: November 15th, 2008, 7:02am MYT by Shawn Collins

  I saw in Andy Bourland’s blog today that he had some bad news… he’s dying.

  Many of you who know me might have noticed that I have not been around much over the past six months. Prior to that, you may have seen me at various marketing conferences and events. There’s a reason I’ve pretty well disappeared from the scene. I’m living with a chronic illness that will take my life anywhere from a few months to a couple of years from now.

  For those not familiar with Andy, he’s something of a legend in online media. Among his many accomplishments, Andy was co-founder, former publisher and CEO of ClickZ.

  It was in that role that Andy played an instrumental role in my career. Back in 1999, I was a fan of ClickZ and I touched base with them about writing an affiliate marketing column.

  I was ecstatic when they said yes and my first piece, Affiliate Programs 101 - A Primer For Success, ran on December 3, 1999.

  This column resulted in my getting noticed by Que Publishing and a deal to write the book, Successful Affiliate Marketing for Merchants in 2000, as well as a series of other good fortunes from the exposure.

  I’ve admired Andy for years but never connected the dots about how his creation helped me so many years ago. Not until I read his post, Andy’s Health Update, and got to thinking.

  So thank you, Andy.

  Follow Andy on Twitter @AndrewBourland

  
• 

  Barack Obama’s Favorite Affiliate Program?

  Posted: November 15th, 2008, 12:55am MYT by Shawn Collins

  I got an email last night with the subject: ** A message from President Elect Obama **. Since I am a political junkie, I figured it was some political list I’d joined, and I opened it up.

  However, it wasn’t “A message from President Elect Obama”, but rather a pitch to join the Luxor Linens affiliate program.

  “Yes We Can” revitalize the economy. In a last minute effort to save The Holiday 2008 Season from this economic crisis we are implementing operation “SECRET” into effect Immediately!

  Beginning November 14th, 2008 all affiliate partner commissions will be increased to 15% and “Return Days” will be increased to a long 90 days. In addition have added compelling NEW banners, coupons, and text links with more to come, so check back through out the next 30 days.

  While Egyptian cotton sheets may or may not heal the economy, I don’t like being duped.

  The solicitation ends with some pithy small print…

  Disclaimer: luxorlinens.com is not affiliated with president elect Obama. The name “president elect Obama” was just used for promotion purposes. President elect Obama has not approved this message.

  I bet they thought it was a clever method to increase open rates.

  But what I thought… it was deceptive and lame. It was the first time I’d heard of their company and they left me annoyed.

  Don’t short sheet affiliates when you’re trying to sell your program to them.

  

  
• 

  GeekCast 44: Jim Kukral, ShamWow and PubCon

  Posted: November 14th, 2008, 10:03pm MYT by Shawn Collins

  Download audio file (geekcast44.mp3)
  

  Episode 44 of the GeekCast show was sans Jim Kukral and Lisa Picarille, so Sam Harrelson and Shawn Collins did the only logical thing - they rambled on for about two hours.

  Plenty of things were covered, including blog themes for WordPress, getting e-mail on a Blackberry while flying, Jim Kukral rebranded, and Cisco Systems geeking up the new Yankee Stadium.

  Also, some talk on Diggnation audio vs. video podcasts, Flickr as a venue for affiliate links, giddiness over the Amazon Stripe, and the fake Bluetooth infomercial thing.

  

  Show notes:

  • Jim Kukral: Blend This Book | JimKukral.com | The Biz Web Coach
  • Unique Blog Designs
  • Cisco to provide video gear to new Yankees Stadium
  • Diggnation
  • Using Flickr as an Affiliate
  • As Seen on TV
  • PubCon 2008 Recap

  Subscribe to the RSS for the weekly GeekCast show, or add us on iTunes.

  Listen to the show at [geekcast.fm].

  
• 

  PubCon 2008 Recap

  Posted: November 14th, 2008, 6:53am MYT by Shawn Collins

  I just got back from checking out PubCon in Las Vegas last night. It was my first time going to PubCon after all these years of meaning to get out there.

  I was speaking on a panel on the first of four days of PubCon and neglected to check the schedule for other stuff going on. They had lots of interesting panels on the first day, but the exhibit hall wasn’t opening until the second day (when I was flying out).

  It was a good day of learning and networking, since the crowd didn’t have an exhibit hall to visit that day.

  

  Before my session, I was interviewed by Dr. Ralph Wilson for a video series he has up on YouTube. We chatted about using social media to promote affiliate links, as well as recruiting affiliates.

  It was nice to meet Dr. Wilson, as I’ve been following his stuff for many years, and he put out a couple editions of the definitive report on affiliate program software back in the day.

  Check out his YouTube channel for his PubCon interviews in the coming weeks.

  Before my panel, I checked out an interactive site review panel with Wil Reynolds of SEER Interactive and a few other folks.

  I prefer that format myself, where the panelists take sites on the fly and critique them, over the more rehearsed kinds of sessions.

  

  Later on, I was on a panel, moderated by Lisa Riolo, on relationships between affiliates and merchants. Also on the panel were Bob Rains, President of Lets Make it Awesome; Brook Schaaf, CEO of Schaaf Consulting; and Beth Kirsch, VP, Business Development & Marketing for uAmplify.

  I also checked out a panel on working with affiliate networks, moderated by Chuck Hamrick, and panelists Karen White, who used to be Vice President of Marketing & Business Development at Partner Fusion and is now at a new company whose name escapes me; Jamie Birch, Owner of JEBCommerce; and Durk Price, President of eAccountableOPM.

  After the panels wound up, I headed down to the exhibitor reception. I think they may have had the longest lines I’ve ever seen for bars.

  My camera literally could not fit the entire line in a frame from far away.

  

  But it was a good time meeting people and the line enabled me to learn about an area that I’d never heard about before… medical tourism. It was equal parts intriguing and creepy.

  Lots of new faces and information jammed into the one day I was there. So, I felt compelled to celebrate with a song at the end of the evening.

  I was sort of dreading a visit to Las Vegas for the third time this year, but I think I’ll do the same in 2009 for Affiliate Summit, Blog World, and PubCon.

  
• 

  Jim Kukral is the Biz Web Coach

  Posted: November 13th, 2008, 8:00pm MYT by Shawn Collins

  I was excited to see the launch by my friend Jim Kukral yesterday of his new site, the Biz Web Coach.

  Jim has been around the business for over a decade, and now he’s offering a hands-on coaching and consulting service at an affordable price.

  It’s a membership site built for small businesses and brands who need a teacher or Web expert in their back pocket. Someone who can help them when needed with specific advice and guidance. Someone who they can count on to help them ensure they don’t make all the mistakes everyone makes.

  You know, not every business can afford to hire a consultant like me. I get tons of calls every week from people who just want a few answers, and some minor advice… not a 10-page Web strategy. Of course, I would always just help those people free of charge, and I will continue to do so.

  

  I would definitely encourage anybody looking to learn the ropes in building a business online to give the Biz Web Coach a try.

  Jim Kukral is the real deal. You can also see him in action as the emcee of Affiliate Summit in Las Vegas in January 2009.

  
• 

  Affiliate Marketing and Giant Hamburgers

  Posted: November 12th, 2008, 8:00pm MYT by Shawn Collins

  Download audio file (affiliatething-111108.mp3)
  

  This week on the Affiliate Thing podcast, Shawn Collins calls in to Lisa Picarille from PubCon in Las Vegas.

  The show includes talk of PubCon, ad:tech NYC, and the future of affiliate marketing in a fragile economy. Also, a way people may be able to compete for a booth at Affiliate Summit, eating giant hamburgers, affiliate links on Flickr, and the death of bookstores.

  

  Show Links

  • PubCon
  • Using Flickr as an Affiliate
  • Comparison Shopping Engines Survey Report 2008
  • Black Friday and Cyber Monday for ShareASale
  • My Tools for Podcasting
  • Revenue Magazine: The Pink Issue

  Subscribe to the Affiliate Thing RSS feed or listen on iTunes. You can also send a blank e-mail to affiliatething@aweber.com to get each podcast delivered by e-mail.