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

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Archives for December 2006

Ask Shawn Collins: AdWords Alternatives

December 30, 2006 by Shawn Collins

Q: What is the best way for an affiliate to sell a product without using Google AdWords or e-mail marketing?

Shawn CollinsA: Different types of marketing work best for different types of product leads. In other words, what works well to promote one vertical in affiliate marketing may not work well in others.

Also, it depends on whether you are looking to make a quick hit or intent on building a sustainable business.

There are lots of ways to approach product sales as an affiliate. You could run a coupon/rebate site, reward/loyalty site, comparison shopping site, content site, data feed site, etc.

You could also move into the realm of Web 2.0 and do some things with blogs, RSS, social networks, wikis, video, podcasts,etc.

Personally, I would encourage you to sit down, write a business plan, and work on a site with a long term vision. Come up with a unique value proposition and test out all sorts of methods with different affiliate programs to determine what works best for you.

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Save the Date: Affiliate Summit 2007 East in Miami

December 27, 2006 by Shawn Collins

The dates are set for Affiliate Summit 2007 East – July 8-10 in Miami.

The conference will be taking place at the InterContinental Miami Hotel overlooking Biscayne Bay in Miami, FL.

Registrations will open in January 2007 and there will be an extra low registration rate available ONLY during Affiliate Summit 2007 West. That’s January 21-23, 2007 for the super early bird discount rate.

More details coming soon at http://www.affiliatesummit.com.

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Filed Under: Affiliate News

Ask Shawn Collins: Baby Steps for Starting an Affiliate Program

December 26, 2006 by Shawn Collins

Q: I want to set up an affiliate program for my business, but I really do not know where to start. We have a booking system that clicks from the main site to the reservation form which is on a separate URL. I am new to this affiliate stuff so any advice would be welcome.

Shawn CollinsA: The first thing you’re going to need to figure out who is going to manage your affiliate program. That person will take the lead on all of the elements involved in developing your affiliate program.

There are a few routes you can go when it comes to affiliate program management. You can pull somebody internally at your company into the position, hire an experienced affiliate manager, or outsource to an OPM (outsourced program management).

If you go with a current employee, odds are they don’t have a background in affiliate marketing. So you’re going to need to get them up to speed ASAP.

I would recommend checking out Anik Singal’s Affiliate Manager 1st Edition. This is a robust package of educational materials for affiliate managers. Anik also runs an Affiliate Manager Boot Camp to train affiliates.

Another training seminar is run by industry veteran, Andy Rodriguez. Andy runs the Affiliate Manager Certification Seminar and his site indicates that dates will be announced shortly for the next installment.

And the twice yearly Affiliate Summit conference features educational sessions for affiliate managers of all levels.

Hiring an experienced affiliate manager can be a challenge. The universe of talented and well networked affiliate managers is fairly small, so their compensation tends to be pricey.

Try listing a want ad in the typical places like HotJobs, Monster, or Craig’s List.

Outsourcing an affiliate program is an increasingly popular option. On the plus side, you can get some seasoned pros to run your affiliate program without the bother of a learning curve, vacation time, benefits, etc.

Of course, the outsourced affiliate manager won’t be in your office, save for some occasional onsite visits.

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God is My CEO – Book Report for Affiliate Marketers

December 25, 2006 by Shawn Collins

Affiliate marketers of faith, like any other folks in business, frequently encounter situations where it’s tough to reconcile personal beliefs and business obligations.

God is My CEO by Larry Julian, helped me to find clarity when it comes to balancing faith and the sometimes cut throat business world.

The book covers ten key principles that the author deems essential for transforming workplace problems into both spiritual and bottom-line success stories.

Rather than playing on the latest fads in business management, God is My CEO features real stories from business veterans who have gotten past obstacles in their business by reflecting on their beliefs, instead of abandoning them.

Each chapter is based on common issues in business and offers a solution to the issue, along with two relevant stories on each issue.

For example, chapter four is titled, “Patience,” and asks the question, “How do I avoid becoming a slave to urgent, short-term pressure?”

The solution is to develop patience to run a long-distance race in a 100-yard dash world, followed by stories from Tony Dungy, Head Coach of the Indianapolis Colts, and Archie Dunham, retired CEO of ConocoPhillips.

Each chapter ends with a discussion guide. The book also includes the framework for a personal business plan based on three principles:

  1. God is the source of our wisdom, strength, and energy.
  2. Our personal plan is a plan for growth, not a plan for achieving things.
  3. We will enjoy success in God’s timing.

Lastly, the personal business plan has a promise of prosperity. This book is great for putting things into perspective and guiding you to do the right thing as an affiliate marketer.

Merry Christmas.

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Filed Under: Affiliate Resources

Ask Shawn Collins: Future of B2B Affiliate Programs

December 24, 2006 by Shawn Collins

Q: It’s been challenging to find appropriate publishers, and therefore recruit quality merchants that sell B2B. What do you feel the future of affiliate marketing is in the B2B Space?

Shawn CollinsA: I think the future, as well as the past, is all about managing expectations of merchants. The universe of available affiliates is inevitably smaller in B2B affiliates due to the focused nature of the products and services.

I think you’ve got to look at it almost like B2C affiliate marketing in the late 90’s when it was a matter of selling Webmasters on affiliate marketing before you could recruit them as affiliates.

So if you’ve got a client that’s selling some sort of construction products, take a list of all of their relevant keywords and search through Google, Yahoo, Ask, etc. to see which sites are coming up in the organic and paid results.

Start pitching the affiliate program to those sites. Plus any construction related blogs, newsletters, wikis, or any other type of potential affiliate.

It’s certainly more of a slow burn than a typical affiliate program selling widgets that have a mass appeal, but I think there’s a lot of potential if you are willing to put in the legwork.

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Don’t Let Shawn Collins Sing at Affiliate Summit

December 20, 2006 by Shawn Collins

There is an event called the Affiliate Jam Session and Sing-a-Long, sponsored by Shareasale.com, at the next Affiliate Summit. This is going to be a live karaoke and networking event, as well as a charity fundraiser benefitting Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southern Nevada.

There have been auctions which raised a total of $12,225. Affiliate Summit and ShareASale committed to match up to $5,000 each in donations to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southern Nevada, bringing the total to $22,225 to date.

The largest donor and winner of the three big charity auctions was FlamingoWorld.com.

FlamingoWorld.com has been saving shoppers money since 1998, focusing on coupons, discount shopping and price comparison from over 1,000 merchants. FlamingoWorld.com also includes local printable coupons and grocery coupons and features deal alerts and an active forum for deal sharing.

Anyhow, at the Affiliate Jam Session and Sing-a-Long, I have threatened to sing.

It’s up to you to bid to keep me off the stage. The winning bid must be over $200 to keep me from singing. 100% of the winning bid will go to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southern Nevada (Affiliate Summit will pay the eBay fees).

In addition to helping out a great organization with a tax deductible donation, you will be acknowledged at AffiliateMarketersCare.com. Plus, I will tout your generosity in this blog and the AffiliateTip.com newsletter.

Payment will be made directly to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southern Nevada via check or credit card.

Visit AffiliateMarketersCare.com for more information.

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Filed Under: Affiliate News

Affiliate Classroom Magazine – December 2006

December 19, 2006 by Shawn Collins

The December 2006 issue of Affiliate Classroom Magazine is out and this month’s issue features a story, “All I Want for Christmas is the Perfect Affiliate.”

This issue also looks back at the past two years of Affiliate Classroom Magazine, and has an article on the year’s best Web 2.0 marketing ideas.

Check out the new issue of Affiliate Classroom Magazine.

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Filed Under: Affiliate Resources

Affiliate Marketers Named Time Person of the Year

December 18, 2006 by Shawn Collins

Time Magazine has announced their coveted Person of the Year and affiliate marketers took the title this time around.

timeWell, it was a little more broad than just affiliate marketers, as they officially gave it to “you,” or more specifically the people of Web 2.0.

But just who are those people? It’s all about the people that make videos on YouTube, blog, participate in social networks like Facebook and MySpace, live a Second Life through an avatar, upload photos to Riya, podcast, share shopping recommendations on ThisNext, and participate in user generated content of any other sort.

Affiliate marketers are the epitome of the Time Person of the Year accolade. They are the straws that stir the drink. Experimental Netizens that explore, test, and evolve.

Congratulations on the honor. Now when are you going to make some magic happen with mobile phone marketing?

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Filed Under: Affiliate News

Season’s Greetings from Shawn Collins

December 17, 2006 by Shawn Collins

I’ve created a video to share the holiday cheer with you face to face. I’d like to wish Season’s Greetings to affiliate marketers – Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, Happy Kwanzaa, etc.

Also, I’d like to wish you best of luck for a happy and healthy 2007.

This is my video holiday card to you – yes, you personally.

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Filed Under: Affiliate Resources

Ask Shawn Collins: Don’t Believe the Hype

December 17, 2006 by Shawn Collins

Q: Why do most of the sites I have visited look and present so unprofessionally, and these guys are claiming that they are making huge dollars? The Revenue magazine articles seem to be about sites that are somewhat hokey too, but some of the sites look and are legit. I’m interested and feel that i could do this, but must admit I am very skeptical based on the some of the numbers that are being thrown around and some of the sites that I have seen.

Shawn CollinsA: The claims of wild success in affiliate marketing are a dime a dozen. And I’d say most of them come from wannabes.

They pretend to make the big cash and put up long sales pages with supposed pictures of their houses, cars and lifestyles.

The reality – most people that are making money in affiliate marketing are not sharing their secrets.

There are exceptions – Rosalind Gardner and Jeremy Palmer spring to mind as authentic success stories who wrote books on their experiences as super affiliates.

I’d suggest reading what they have to say, but don’t expect a magic bullet. Rather, tap into your creativity and come up with a unique angle for your affiliate venture.

Expect to put a lot of time into your affiliate efforts. Write a business plan, spend money, and test every possible angle.

Legitimate affiliate marketers aren’t overnight sensations.

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