BlogHASH » Affiliate Marketing

DealDotCom Giving Away a Deal Every Day!

Raj — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 11:05:13 +0000

DealDotCom has now started giving away a deal everyday to one of its registered members. For those of you who don’t know about DealDotCom, here is a brief introduction.

DealDotCom offers one Internet Marketing Product everyday at a very low price. The price infact is much much lower than the actual price of the product and since the offered price at dealdotcom is much lower than the actual price, it is beneficial to keep an eye on their offers and pick the products that you can leverage to market your services and products.

DealDotCom is now giving away a deal and every registered member is automatically entered to WIN the Deal of the Day. All you need to do is check the website everyday and see if your name appears on the home page under the give away of the day section. If it does, login and claim your free deal. Sign-Up NOW for your FREE DealDotCom account.

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Blocking Ads: The dark side of ad blocking and its consequences

Raj — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 15:00:35 +0000

As Internet continues to evolve from just a concept more than a decade ago to it being called a network of networks, it has come a long way. Many years ago, companies used to be confined to a small geographical area for selling their products and when Internet came into picture, companies found that just by having a website, they could start selling their products on a global basis, but that’s a different story.

As of today there are over a 60 million (or many more) domains registered on Internet that are involved with plenty and variety of things. Some sell software, some offer services. Then there are those who offer free software and services, and are quite popular because of what they offer. But everything can not be free on Internet and that’s where advertisement comes into picture. Many companies want to reach audience from around the world and for them advertisement on Internet is the cheapest, fastest and the best way to accomplish this.

But what if you start blocking all the ads from showing up by using either some sort of ad blocking software or by other means? This will disturb the way Internet works today. Example – If Google offers you free search service, that’s because there are hundreds of companies using their AdWords program, spending enormous amount of money towards advertisement. Google indirectly makes money from various other services they offer and that powers the infrastructure and man power to keep their search engine running. Would you otherwise like to pay $1 or $0.1 for every search query? I don’t think so! I myself search ~300 to 1000 times a month on Google and if I were to pay for every time I search, I won’t even think about it. Would you?

Let me now draw you attention to the real problem which is the main objective of writing this post. The Adblocking plugins that many of us have been using in our browsers to block advertisement from showing up while we browse web sites, is directly contributing towards negatively impacting the advertisement model on the Internet.

If you are a publisher who’ll not like it if people block all the ads on your site when they visit it, you must also not block ads when you visit their websites.

There are some websites that have started to block Firefox browser because of the Adblock Plus plugin it supports. Last, read this anti-firefox post from John Andrew’s blog.

Would you still consider blocking ads in your browser or continue blocking them? Please share your thoughts by post them in the comments section below.

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Monetize Your Web Site Traffic using Video Ads from Gaiam and GT Media

Raj — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 19:23:57 +0000

Are you looking for ways to make money online by leveraging your website traffic?

Look no further, Gaiam and GT Media have an affiliate marketing program, through Linkshare affiliate network and managed by AMWSO, that lets you add video ads to your blog posts and website pages with an affiliate tracking ID embedded into it. By using video ads in your site’s content, you increase the chances of your visitors purchasing the product that you are recommending. The video ad helps them make a decision and it’s easy to setup too.

Consider for example, your site shows image ads of some DVDs which you want your visitors to buy. If your visitors can somehow see the content of the DVD before they actually buy it, don’t you think it will increase the chances of them actually buying it? That’s where a video ad helps you increase your sales.

How does it work?

All you have to do is pick a video that suits your content and embed an affiliate tracking link. Then display the video ad on your page and you get your commission paid for each sale generated from that video. It doesn’t just end there, when someone else embeds your video in their site, the tracking link goes along with the video and you earn your commission for sale generate through that ad on another site. I would say, this affiliate program has a clear edge over other similar marketing programs and you must definitely give it a try.

If you have a paid membership with WebVideoZone, you can add any video to your site and embed the affiliate link to it. Otherwise if you like to create your own videos, you may do so and get it approved prior to using it on your site. Here is a list of videos currently available to affiliates and more videos of Gaiam/GT Media are being added. Also, at the time of writing this post, Gaiam announced the launch of Linkshare’s new RSS feature using which you can leverage your RSS feeds to promote video ads. Here is a link to see an example of RSS video ads.

Will it work for you?

Yes, for many reasons. One being that you will now have an advantage of either creating your own video to embed in your content to achieve higher conversion ratio or use the already available videos along with your content for better conversion. If your site is dedicated on affiliate marketing, you will really be pleased by using this kind of video ads along with your content to achieve better results.

» For more information, click here
» To sign up with the Gaiam affiliate program click here.
» To sign up with the GT Media affiliate program click here.

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What If Your Site Disappears from Search Engines?

Raj — Sun, 08 Apr 2007 21:01:15 +0000

Can you imagine, what could be the impact on your business or the web site if all of a sudden your entire site disappears from search engine’s results? That’s right, no more visitors coming to your site from Google and other search engines, just the traffic from referrals of other websites, bookmarks and direct type-ins.

For some of us this would mean a disaster and immediate drop in earnings, for others this would further result in loss of business following a closure. Can this happen to you? I think yes, it can happen to majority of us who depend on search engine traffic as our sole source of visitors who would then turn into customers.

Should you put your business in hands of search engines?

Yes, but partially! and only to an extent till which you can withstand the loss of search engine traffic at any time and still make profit. Most of the businesses out there heavily rely on the traffic resulting from search engines as the single most source of receiving potential customers. Even their business model is slowly adjusted to start depending on search engine’s traffic. This doesn’t alway work! You may lose majority of the search engine traffic, if not entirely, and if your business model depends on search engine’s traffic then you are in trouble. You must know that you can not always stand in top 10 results or the first page of the search engine for most of the time. There could be some other website that can start ranking higher than your site and drastically affect the traffic to your site. And since 90% of the users do not go past the second page of the search engine’s results page, this would mean further trouble! Think about it!

What can you do to avoid this potential risk?

One immediate step that you must take is to ensure that you stop relying on search engine’s traffic as the only source of getting potential customers to your site. Engage in affiliate marketing and other relevant marketing programs that will give you further exposure into the market and get more customers. This way you will slowly discover new avenues of receiving potential customers. Start building more referral links from other websites, participate in advertisement programs that will refer targeted customers who will be more likely to buy your products and services.

If you have some tips for our readers or suggestions, please share it in comments sections below.

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Amazon Launches Context Links Program in Beta

Raj — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 13:11:02 +0000

After a closed group beta testing, Amazon has launched its Context Links program to public in beta mode. Context Links automatically identify and link relevant phrases within your page content to Amazon products, so you don’t have to manually create links to products from Amazon. Below is a screen shot that shows how an Amazon Context Link would work, snapshot is from MuppetCentral.com

Amazon currently offers the following customization to publishers:

Specify which portion of the page will be linked
Choose number of links that will be displayed per page
Any specific product category from Amazon that you want the links from
If exact product name must be matched for the links
Style and color of the preview window that opens up when user hovers over the links, and finally
Option to choose the style of the link, whether single underline, double underline, dashed underline, to differentiate it from rest of the links from your site.

If your site has lot of content on books, hardware, computers or anything else that you think you can find on Amazon website as a product then Context Links is the right program for you!

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10 Tips for Advertisers to Achieve Better Conversion Ratio with Affiliate Marketing

Raj — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 00:41:46 +0000

Google recently launched the PPA program in beta, we covered it here, and opened a new media for advertisers to use Google’s PPA program to advertise and sell their products. Compared to the PPC (Pay per Click) programs, PPA (Pay per Action) [could also be called as an affiliate program to a certain extent] have an advantage and it is that advertisers pay publishers only when a click converts to a sale. Advertisers run the affiliate program using various marketing programs and many do find their campaign to be successful but some struggle to convert a visitor to a customer. Here are some tips for advertisers to achieve better conversion rates using their affiliate marketing

Good wordings in Ad campaign – Using right kind of language and words go a long way in attracting visitors to your Ad and website. Avoid using negative and non-value adding terms in your ad campaigns. One example of bad wordings could be “We do SEO”, which could have been written as “Affordable SEO Solutions”. Imagine the impact that it would make when a visitors spots your Ad on a website, if your Ad is served along with 5 other Ads, there must be a difference between your ad and theirs. Isn’t it?
Provide accurate information – Always provide most accurate information about yourself, your products and company to the visitors. This helps in building trust between you and your would-be customers. If your product has known bugs, do mention about them. There is no point in hiding the negatives of your product, it only results in losing the trust and customers won’t come back even if you later on build a flawless and world class product.
Setup a separate landing page – For every ad campaign that you wish to run, setup a separate landing page for visitors to land from the ads they click on. This serves two advantages for you. First, visitors see a dedicated page containing information about the products or services that you advertised in your Ad, and second that you can update the information and keep the landing page up to date with latest information. Having a separate landing page avoids the confusion visitors might have by looking at several products on your site which could distract their attention from making a purchase decision.
Quality of your content – Are you providing very clear and precise information for visitors to make a purchasing decision when they are on your site? Putting up lot of content and documentation on the site does not help but ends up showing unnecessary information to users who may stop reading and navigate away from your site. On the landing page, put up a list of all important features of your product and/or services, comparison charts if applicable, discounts that you wish to offer and any other important information that will help them make a purchase decision right away.
Deliver what you had promised – I have often seen ads showing free copy of a product but when visited the site I found it to be a free trial copy of the product and that too a limited edition. Never promise what you are not offering. If you wish to offer a trial copy of the software, your ad must clearly state that. If your services have certain limitations, make a very clear statement about it on the landing page or in the advertisement. Attracting users by making fake promises does not serve you any good other than getting lot of useless traffic. You will simply lose your name and brand in the market.
Make it easily available – I had once clicked on an ad that promised a free report on some kind of marketing analysis data and landed on the website which asked me to fill out a so called short survey before I could download my free report. I started with the (short) survey and completed ~20 questions. Then hoping to see a download button, I clicked on the submit button at the end of the survey and the website asked me to register with them to see the link to free download. I simply closed the browser. Avoid such things as much as possible. Don’t put up surveys, registration process, compulsory email address forms, credit card info for trial accounts etc. You might receive 100 clicks, but only few might actually end up trying your product or services. Whatever you are selling must be easily accessible to your visitors, putting up lot of formalities before the actual product is delivered simply irritates the users and wastes their precious time.
Privacy Information Policy- If you are asking your visitors to enter their email address, home address, phone number or credit card number, display a link to a page that tells them what you will do with the their personal information that you are collecting on your site. Providing information on how you will keep their information confidential or your plans to safeguard their personal information proves very valuable at times.
Guide them to Buy – Many advertisers often do the mistake of not putting up a buy button on the landing pages. You should put up a ‘buy now’ button at the bottom of your features, comparison charts etc so as to let visitors, who have made a decision buy your product, place an order. For a clear example, visit any web hosting provider’s website and check out how they place the ‘Order now’ button below their comparison/features chart.
Policies, Terms & Conditions – If there are certain terms and conditions to use your services, they must be shown to your visitors. If you are hiding some information from them, it will only work against your reputation and market value. You should put up a page clearly dictating your terms and conditions that apply while using your products and services. An example would be the ‘Acceptable User Policy’ that most hosting providers ask their visitors to read and agree with before they buy an account with them. By doing so, you create win-win situation for both your customers and yourself.
After Sales Support – Ok, you have successfully sold a product/service but what about after sales support? How will you handle the support related issues that could arise while using your product? Will you offer any refund if your product fails or will you support the bugs and problem of your product by fixing them when user complaints? You must clearly provide this information to your visitors since it makes a lot of impact on their buying decision .

I hope this information will be valuable and help you achieve better results. If you have some tips for our readers, please don’t forget to post your comments here!

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Google PPA (Pay Per Action) Program

Raj — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 02:45:10 +0000

By now, you must be aware of the announcement made by Google about their new PPA (Pay-Per-Action) program which marks their debut in the affiliate marketing industry. Google, so far, had been leading the advertisement industry with their AdSense and AdWords programs and with their launch of Pay per Action programs, though in beta test mode, existing AdWords users can right away signup for the beta program and start using it (beta feature is currently available to AdWords advertisers in the United States on a limited basis) without much fuzz. Google’s recent acquisition of AdScape made their plans clear about entering into the video game advertising industry but that will take some time before it nears any kind of domination in the that market segment. Let’s put our focus on their PPA program and leverage it to our best.

Background of PPA

PPA is Pay Per Action. An action which is defined by the advertiser that could be anything from clicking on a button and entering your email address to filling up a survey and submitting it. Most prominent action event from PPA programs are when a user clicks on an Ad in a website, lands on a landing page of the advertiser’s website and buys a product. Buying a product marks the completion of the action defined by the advertiser. Google’s PPA program is exactly going to do that. Note that, it’s not necessarily an advertiser who will always create an action plan, could be a publisher too who can create a plan to track conversions on her/his own website.

How does Google PPA work?

It’s quite simple and works like most other PPA programs in the market. There is nothing unusual about it, except the new text link ad format that can be placed inline along with the content. You can use the text link ads as a hyperlink within your content too! Here is a quick rundown of the steps involved in this program:

Step1: Advertiser starts by creating a campaign, define an action such as ‘click and purchase’ that you would like a user to do on your site. Then set the amount that you are willing to pay for the action when it completes. An example could be, a hosting provider creates a campaign, defines the action as ‘signup for $1 per month hosting account’ and sets the cost as $0.3 for the action when it completes.

Step2: Now that an advertise has created a campaign, defined an action and set the cost per action, she/her will setup conversion tracking to enable Google track the completion of an action (conversion) through the tracking. Finish this step by installing the tracking code on your website and verify the code so that Google can begin tracking the conversions from your site.

Step3: Select a name for your product (select it as it is), a product group, name of your campaign and the language you will use.

Step4: Select the countries where you target to show your Ads and it will be shown only to the publishers from those countries.

Step5: Create your Ad, basically create an Ad unit with text upto a maximum of 90 characters. Keep it simple but make it powerful and avoid any words that do not add value.

Step6: Now the last step, set a daily budget for your campaign and based on your budget the Ads will be displayed. The frequency of Ads depends on your budget. Note that, you as an advertiser, will remain responsible for a conversion that occurs upto 30 days after the PPA ad was clicked.

How better will Google’s strategy be against their competitors regarding the fraudulent purchases is something that we will have to wait and watch over next few months.

You have something to add? Do you want to share some tips with our readers? Don’t forget to post your comments here!

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