Discover how your business can leverage podcasts before it's too late.Everyone's talking about podcasts, those audio files downloaded from the Web and played on demand using an Apple iPod or any MP3 media player. Many podcasts are just for fun, but marketers are discovering they're also a promising new way to deliver advertising.In a sense, there's no difference in what you can … [Read more...]
Mistakes Lead to Success
Learn from your missteps and the path to affiliate success will be paved with opportunity.Lurk around any affiliate marketing forum for more than a few minutes, and you will surely encounter a post that reads much like this: "Affiliate marketing sucks! I'm not making ANY money and I've tried EVERYTHING - Google AdWords, AdSense and affiliate programs. NOTHING works. My … [Read more...]
Over-the-Counter Advice for a Healthier Home Page
A double dose of design is not nearly as potent as performance for a site that needs a checkup.What does design mean to you? Since the goal of this column is to teach website owners, Internet marketers and developers how to design home pages and landing pages that meet business objectives, it's important that we are on the same page, the same line - the same word - as we … [Read more...]
Going Out Is In
Companies are outsourcing affiliate managers to fuel online marketing programs. Former London-based freelance writer Rob Palmer knew he was on to something when he launched the affiliate program for his FreelanceWorkExchange.com subscription site. For several years he ran the program in-house; revenues were decent, affiliate applications were steady, but "there simply … [Read more...]
Summer Reading Extravaganza
Forget about what Oprah's recommending. Put away the latest from Philip Roth and that potboiler from James Patterson. It's summertime and what's really sizzling is online marketing. So, now's the time to catch up on your reading about a variety of hot topics including affiliate marketing, performance marketing, online advertising, search optimization and more. And there's no … [Read more...]
Recess Is Over
Back-to-School promotions can lead to big bucks if online marketers start early.Back to school is a big deal for affiliates - it kicks off the part of the season between June and January where many earn the majority of their annual revenue. The overall "back to school" season refers not just to shopping for kids in grades K through 12, but other spending periods including "back … [Read more...]
Music Needs Tuning
The complex space needs some harmony before online marketers start to sing.Imagine you're a publisher trying to parlay your expertise and passion for vacuum cleaners into a performance- based business. You are shocked to learn that sellers don't compete on price, that you aren't allowed to see what is in the manufacturers' catalogs and that if you want to sell in volume, … [Read more...]
Fair Game
In-game advertising offers geotargeting of a captive and highly lucrative audience.National advertisers looking to reach mass audiences have had few choices online. The highly fragmented Web lacks properties that can match the millions of viewers who routinely view network TV.However, online gaming (not to be confused with online gambling) sites are now accruing the millions of … [Read more...]
Domain Reign
Domains are the undeveloped land on which e-commerce properties are built and like real estate, it's about location, location, location.Gary Kremen is driving along I-5 in San Diego. He's talking on his cell phone and sounds like he's just had a pot of coffee he talks fast and furiously. Kremen is not from Southern California, but he seems to relish his newfound role as alien … [Read more...]
Full Steam Ahead: Q & A with Chris Henger
Performics' new VP of affiliate marketing claims the industry is still growing and is fueled by performance-based marketing.Earlier this year Chris Henger, a veteran of affiliate network Performics since 2002, took the helm of the company's affiliate marketing business unit. As vice president, affiliate marketing, Henger is charged with representing publisher interests to … [Read more...]
Jeremy Palmer: The Million Dollar Man
Jeremy Palmer knew he had the entrepreneurial spirit. He just hadn't found the right thing to let it soar. He knew there was more to life than his mid-level job at a small financial services company. As a Web developer, in 2002 he launched website MeetYourMatch.com in hopes that it could generate a little extra cash for his wife and two kids in Utah and give him an outlet to … [Read more...]
The Lure of Youth
They're wired, they're affluent and they are a largely untapped market. This prized group is teens. They are often referred to by a variety of different monikers including Echo Boomers, Millennials, Netizens, Generation Y, Trophy Children (because of the strong impact that parents have in their decision-making process) and Generation N (for Net). When analyzing this group, … [Read more...]
Follow Up or Fall on Your Face
Guerrilla affiliates know well the importance of customer followup and prospect follow-up because they know what it takes to succeed in business.Why do most businesses lose customers? Poor service? Nope. Poor quality? Nope. Well, then why? I say, it's apathy after the sale. Most businesses lose customers by ignoring them to death. A numbing 68 percent of all business lost in … [Read more...]