Affiliate Programs

Schaaf Consulting announced today that it has acquired PartnerCentric, creating one of the biggest outsourced program management companies in the industry. This move continues Brook Schaaf's plan for affiliate marketing world domination that began with the founding of Schaaf Consulting with his brother, Forrest, in 2006 and then accelerated with the acquisition of Stephanie Agresta's OPM company, Affiliate Karma, in December, 2008.

Affiliate marketing is a much-coveted career path in the business of online moneymaking. After all, it’s convenient, it looks easy enough and everybody’s doing it. But make no mistake: it’s a virtual jungle out there.

There are a lot of ways to approach affiliate marketing. Here are a few of my favorite tips.

Feature Co-branded Messaging –
Among the fastest-growing areas of affiliate marketing, loyalty and cash-back sites have come to play an increasingly important role in affiliate programs. Given that these types of sites are responsible for delivering a huge number of sales and often have a very loyal member base to benefit from, maximizing conversions is obviously key.

How does one achieve this? Through co-branded initiatives.

With the economic downturn, many of us are tightening our belts. What does that mean for travel marketers? Are people still traveling? Should we downgrade our revenue expectations?

Here’s some good news. According to a PhoCusWright report, the U.S. online travel market continues to grow at a pace that far exceeds the overall travel market. Travel is the No. 1 sector in the affiliate industry, and affiliate shoppers tend to buy more than the average shopper. So there are still many opportunities for affiliates in travel – especially when you focus on the trends.

All of the predictions that 2007 would be the year of online video came true in spades - it rapidly gained in popularity as a medium last year and its momentum continues today.

The long-lasting Hollywood writers' strike possibly hastened the migration of people to pass their time visiting online video sites due to the lack of television programming. It's not just old episodes of "Grey's Anatomy" they are watching online, but all sorts of content.