Matt Ranta has not been an affiliate for very long. In fact, his Web page still has some kinks in it. He says he gets about two or three pages coded on weekends. In his off hours he is a musician, so he sells musical instruments on his affiliate site. He's not unlike a lot of affiliates out there - passionate about what he sells and hungry for commissions. The main difference … [Read more...]
iPod, Therefore iTunes
Affiliates interested in offering digital music downloads should pay tribute to Apple for legitimizing an over-hyped and under performing market that was close to flaming out before it ever got off the ground. Despite the continued existence of freely available music through peer-to-peer networks, Apple has sold more than 125 million songs through its iTunes online store since … [Read more...]
Targeting Affiliates
Name: John Hobson Job: Manager, Online Advertising, Target.com Date of Hire: September 2002 Previous Job: Manager, Online Advertising, FingerhutTarget's program is powered by LinkShare and earns affiliates 5 to 7 percent on purchases based on volume. The program currently has a 10 percent commission offer for October 1 to December 31.DIANE ANDERSON: How did you come into the … [Read more...]
Stumped About Stopping Spyware
Tuan Le is mad. And when he's upset, he speaks quietly, deliberately and very thoughtfully. He's hardly a hothead. But nothing gets him more riled up, if you can call it that, than knowing he's losing a large percentage of revenue from his two affiliate Web sites to other affiliates that are acting in unethical and unfair ways. Le, who's been an affiliate for the last few years … [Read more...]
The Journey to Become an Affiliate
Malcolm Lubliner contacted me in early November, just a month into my taking over the duties as editor of Revenue. He was looking to our magazine as a trusted source to give him some advice about getting started in the world of affiliate marketing. I was also in the process of trying to learn everything I could about this new market I would be covering. I responded to Malcolm's … [Read more...]
Know Your Audience
When designing a Web site, you must take the intended audience into careful consideration. Whether the Web site is business-to-business or business-to-consumer, the design will require a format that caters to the desired type of visitor, and it must also guide them through the intended process as comfortably and efficiently as possible.First, take into account whether the … [Read more...]
Spying Your Way to Profits
Don't start thinking James Bond thoughts. Instead, think of spying on your competitors and yourself. Illegal spying? Perish the thought. I'm talking about legal spying. Follow my reasoning here. A 10-year old boy walks into a hardware store. He asks the person in charge if he might make a local call on the telephone. The manager hands him the phone. The boy dials the number and … [Read more...]
Three Great Search Engine Marketing Myths
As search engine marketing has become ubiquitous and, in most marketers' minds, synonymous with generating profits from their Web sites, lore has sprung up around the process. Those who have an axe to grind or a product to sell mainly propagate these myths.When the success or failure of your Web site can be determined by a creature as capricious as the Google spider, then it's … [Read more...]
Being Ben Edelman
You'd be hard-pressed to find someone more knowledgeable or dedicated than Ben Edelman when it comes to the evils of spyware. The 24-year-old assiduously tracks the proliferation of adware from his own computer lab. He's a fierce critic of spyware practices and has testified in several high-profile adware-related lawsuits.Talk about overachievers: Edelman is a Ph.D. candidate … [Read more...]
Affiliates Yearn For Standard Bearers
Affiliate marketing is entering its adolescent phase, but the lack of standards for delivering data is inflicting some serious growing pains. If the industry is to grow up as well as out, merchants and affiliate networks need to provide affiliates with consistent methods of accessing the data that feeds their development.While nearly anyone with a Web address can create a … [Read more...]
Converting Visitors to Buyers
While affiliate Web sites can measure how many visitors and clicks they receive and send on through to merchants, that's only part of the story when making decisions on maximizing revenue potential. There is still that magical measurement of conversions; how many of the visitors that affiliates send to a merchant actually buy something? "It's really all about nuance now. Web … [Read more...]
Off the Mark
Affiliates and Web publishers who sell goods from the most popular brand name merchants are losing traffic and revenue to Web sites that lure consumers by deceiving them with unauthorized use of trademarked products. This happens when a Web publisher embeds the most popular brand names into their site in order to attract consumers who are using a search engine to find specific … [Read more...]