Shawn Collins' Blog

Affiliate marketing and other stuff from Shawn Collins, co-founder of Affiliate Summit.

Archives for July 2006

Ask Shawn Collins: The Affiliate Blogger

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Q: I am very new to this whole realm of Affiliate Marketing and I am starting from scratch. I want to use review blogs to begin, so I am attempting a system geared toward that. I get stuck on the smallest issues and seem to spend most of my time researching and researching. Can you give it to me straight? How many ads are we talking? How many articles and how often? How many Blogs? It is my goal to work at home and Affiliate Marketing really intrigues me, but it seems I may never sleep, the way I read about “doing this and doing that”. I see lots of ways to spend money, but… do you see where I am going here? I am overwhelmed.

Shawn CollinsA: Take a breath – it’s not that bad. Just take your time and build things up the right away. Achieving long-term success as an affiliate is a marathon, not a sprint.

So I’d suggest changing your paradigm a bit, and instead of asking about how many blogs, you should work on succeeding with one blog.

There is no magic number when it comes to ads in a blog – it’s all about testing to determine what works with a given audience and the tolerance of that audience to ads.

Before you can build the big revenue that you want as an affiliate, you’ve got to create compelling content and establish an audience for your blog.

Pick up a copy of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Growing Your Business with Google by Dave Taylor and pay close attention to what this guy has to say.

Three steps: generate quality content, drive traffic, and test the effectiveness of placement and number of ads.

Bodog.com Marketing Conference Postponed

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The third annual Bodog.com Marketing Conference, scheduled for July 23-35, 2006 at Wynn Las Vegas has been postponed.

The Bodog.com Marketing Conference had a focus on providing you with the tools necessary to “Ignite Your Online Gaming Business,” according to their Web site.

No new date has been announced for the conference.

They have a toll free number set up to handle any conference related inquiries: 866-591-0217.

Your Opinion on Affiliate Summit?

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We are soliciting opinions, feedback, ideas, etc. for the next Affiliate Summit.

Please note that there is only one place where we are collecting feedback, and that is in our feedback form at www.affiliatesummit.com/feedback.

I’ve been contacted by a number of people (those who did and didn’t attend Affiliate Summit) that Richard Lewis of Return On Affiliate sent out a mass mailing with the succinct subject: “Invitation to attend How to Improve the Affiliate Summit event on returnonaffiliate.com Business Network from returnonaffiliate”.

While we are delighted that there is such an outpouring of voices in the industry, we really need to have it flow to a central place due to the sheer volume of feedback.

As with each show, we appreciate all criticisms and endeavor to make any and all improvements for the future Affiliate Summits.

zanox Affiliate Event Next Week

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zanox is running an event for affiliates on Tuesday, July 25 in Chicago called the zanox Academy.

The zanox Academy is being sponsored by Encyclopedia Britannica, Date.com, Matchmaker.com and DADAmobile and it starts at 1 PM.

There will be a number of presentations (I’ll be pitching in with one from a secret, remote location) and discussions. I’d say it’s worth signing up and attending. Details at www.zanox.com/us/academy_chicago.

Here is some more information from a flier they were handing out at Affiliate Summit…

Front – Back

That same day, in the morning, zanox is running a seminar on their solutions for merchants that want to learn more. Details at http://www.zanox.com/us/agency_seminar/.

Video Coverage of Affiliate Summit East 2006 at YouTube

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YouTube has lots of videos from Affiliate Summit 2006 East, and I’ll be putting up more as they are ready.

I just added a video of Anik Singal, Founder and CEO of Affiliate Classroom. He’s at his booth speaking about Affiliate Classroom and what they have to offer to Affiliate Marketers.

Just search on YouTube for Affiliate Summit to see videos of the Pure Imagination Party, hosted by Digital River oneNetwork, Revenue Magazine, PartnerCentric and DirectTrack, as well as lots of other footage of late night networking.

Much more footage with the voices of affiliate marketing to come.

Google AdSense Triple Threat Against Affiliate Fraud

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Google has a new verification process (at least it wasn’t there when I started up with AdSense three years ago) that I’d love to see adopted by the affiliate networks.

It’s a way for them to verify affiliate e-mail, phone and mailing address.

The way the process works is that they send you an e-mail to let you know that you will be receiving a Personal Identification Number (PIN) via standard mail.

With the Google AdSense PIN Process, once you receive the PIN, you have to enter it into your AdSense account interface. If you don’t enter in the PIN, there are consequences.

If four months go by without entering your PIN, Google will start displaying Public Service Ads (PSAs) on your site. Let six months pass by and your account will be disabled. Any unpaid earnings will be refunded to the appropriate advertisers.

Also, you’ve got to verify your phone number. The Google AdSense Phone Verification is an automated process where you click to have the system call your number on file and then need to key in a 6-digit verification code.

Failure to do this results in the same perils after four and six months.

Nice work by Google to fight the shady fraudsters that try to trade on the good names and reputations of legitimate marketers.

The Law of the Mind

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It is often said there are no new ideas in Internet marketing. That may or may not be true, but as far as I am concerned, it doesn’t matter.

I frequently refer to my tattered copy of “The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing,” and one of my favorite passages is The Law of the Mind, where authors Al Ries and Jack Trout explain that it’s better to be first in the mind than to be first in the marketplace.

The example used in this, the third of the 22 laws, is the MITS Altair 8800 – the world’s first personal computer.

After the MITS Altair 8800, there were four other personal computers that came out shortly after: Apple II, Commodore Pet, IMSAI 8080, and Radio Shack TRS-80.

Apple stood out and still remains a powerhouse. MITS isn’t part of the conversation anymore.

As far as a more current example, there is the 1000-Word Page. The concept was that people could “adopt” one of 1,000 common words they featured on the site and point it to a URL. Early on, there was positive buzz and we all know what that leads to… competition.

Shortly after the 1000-Word Page launched, Internet marketing whiz Joel Comm rolled out a competitor called 500 Words.

Joel used his marketing acumen to launch an improved product with more effective marketing. Shortly after, Joel had sold out each of his 500 words. As I type this, the 100-Word page still has more than 95% of their inventory available.

And Joel took it a step further by selling a version of his 500 Words software for other Internet marketers to purchase, so they can try their hand at replicating the concept and making some cash from it.

The software for creating these sorts of sites is called the Link Sizzler.

Ask Shawn Collins: Marketing a Niche Product

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I am looking to market a niche product to the pet industry, targeting both vet hospitals and pet owners. What would be the best type of program for me to get involved in? I can’t afford the base prices of $2-$3K asked by some programs.

There are lots of quality affiliate solution providers at lower price points.

Some options that might work for you include Affiliate Clicks, FusionQuest, and ShareASale.

There are plenty of others out there, but I’ve used those three and was pleased with the pricing structure, technology and support.

I would suggest test driving a number of companies to see what works best for you. This will also give you a chance to get a feel for their support.

Also, check out what affiliates are saying in the affiliate forums about the various affiliate solution providers and networks.

In addition to price point, support, usability and other factors, you want to be sure you’re going with a company that affiliates like and are willing to use.

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Got an affiliate marketing question? Ask it anonymously at http://www.askshawncollins.com/ and I’ll answer it for you in the AffiliateTip.com blog. Read the Ask Shawn Collins archives.

Ask Shawn Collins: How to Hide My Identity

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Q: I was curious to know if there is any way around giving personal information to a company when becoming an affiliate?

Shawn CollinsA: Assuming you are based in the United States, as I don’t know the process in any other country anyway, you can incorporate your business.

By incorporating, you will be able to join affiliate programs with an Employer Identification Number (EIN), rather than your Social Security Number (SSN).

In addition to privacy concerns, there can be tax benefits when you incorporate a business, as well as some liability protection.

Check in with your lawyer and accountant (they are also key for a growing business to be sure you are doing things correctly).

Affiliates Gone Wild

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There are some entertaining videos going around that chronicle the after hours networking at the recent Affiliate Summit in Orlando.

WOW

The late night hijinks and jams led to the suggestion by somebody to launch a site, Affiliates Gone Wild. Before the end of the conference, Debbie (Loxly) Carney, Affiliate Manager at CafePress, had secured the .com and the site is now home to some footage.

It’s nice to see the camaraderie in the videos – affiliates, merchants, networks and vendors that compete with one another can get together over songs.

To me, these are the best pictures of what this space is all about… relationships.

There was talk at Affiliate Summit about having a jam at the next show (January 21-23, 2007 at Bally’s Las Vegas), and that sounds really good to me. We’re investigating it right now.

Wrapping up a conference day with a networking concert from an affiliate marketing super group sounds great to me.

When I was reading the feedback from Affiliate Summit this morning, there were some attendees who remarked that people in the industry who attended the show and industry itself is not professional enough.

Well, the reality is that many of the biggest performers work out of their house. Not by necessity, but by choice. They actively eschew conventional corporate culture (myself included).

It’s a diverse space packed with unconventional free spirits, and that’s why so many find it to be endearing.

In her conference wrap-up in the Revenue Magazine blog, Lisa Picarille remarked that “ninety-eight percent of the people I polled about their jobs said they were meant to be online marketers and couldn’t imagine doing anything else or having a better jobs.”

Now isn’t that what it’s all about?