Affiliate Marketing Blog

Affiliate marketing news and opinion from Shawn Collins, co-founder of Affiliate Summit.

Archives for June 2010

Insights into Affiliate Marketing Data

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The 2010 edition of the Affiliate Summit AffStat Report, where over eleven-hundred and fifty affiliates were surveyed, was published a couple months ago, and recently I chatted with Janice Scrim of Share Results about some of the data.

dataSome items discussed were the affiliate stat that surprised me, why most affiliates only promote 2-5 affiliate programs, and why video isn’t more popular with affiliates.

The Affiliate Summit AffStat Report is available free to read online or download.

Read the complete interview at shareresults.com.

Interactive Schedule Tool Available for Affiliate Summit East 2010

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The interactive schedule tool for attendees of Affiliate Summit East 2010 is now available at http://ase10.sched.org/.

Attendees will now be able view detailed agenda information by the type of pass they have registered for and create a customized schedule based on the events they would like to attend. The schedules can be accessed via a mobile-formatted version for iPhones, Blackberry, Nokia, and Android phones, downloaded to iCal, and added to Google Calendar or Microsoft Outlook.

Additionally, users can coordinate schedules with friends and view popular sessions.

To use the basic functionality of the scheduling tool, simply:

  1. Visit the Affiliate Summit Schedule tool at http://ase10.sched.org/.
  2. Sign in with Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or create an account.
  3. In the “Audience” drop down tool, select the pass type that you have registered for (See below). The events that you can attend will be displayed based on your pass type.
  4. Select the events that you would like to attend.
  5. Once finished, you may display your customized schedule and print.

Affiliate Summit East 2010 Schedule

There are additional features that you may wish to explore including connecting your account to Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn; viewing schedules of attendees who have opted to share them; viewing popular sessions, etc.

Google Affiliate Network Link Structure Changing

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The affiliate link structures are changing in the Google Affiliate Network as they complete the migration of affiliate operations to Google systems.

Google Affiliate NetworkCurrently, there is a mix of legacy and new generation links available, but eventually all links will migrate to the gan.doubleclick.net url and any legacy links will redirect to the new domain.

The new link structure is like the following:

http://gan.doubleclick.net/gan click?lid=410000000XXXXXXXX&pubid=210000000XXXXXXXX

See the Google Affiliate Network help section for how to build a redirect link.

More details on the Google Affiliate Network at http://www.google.com/ads/affiliatenetwork/.

Free Affiliate Marketing Webinars from ShareASale.com

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ShareASale.comShareASale.com is offering a series of complimentary, live webinars for merchants covering best practices and strategies in affiliate marketing.

Participants do not have to be in the ShareASale network. Each webinar will be followed by an interactive Q&A session.

Topics include recruiting, datafeeds, fourth quarter ramp up, etc.

Register for webinars at http://blog.shareasale.com/2009/12/22/webinar-schedule/.

Making Money with Articles

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Q: How can I make money as an affiliate with articles?

Shawn CollinsA: There are a number of ways you can monetize articles, and I’ll share some things I am doing.

I am an EzineArticles.com Expert Author, and when other people post those articles on their sites, I get traffic from a link they have to include with the article. So in this regard, articles are a traffic source to my relevant sites.

In turn, I am able to monetize that traffic that comes from my articles. Plus, since these sites are linking to me, I get some degree of SEO benefit, as well, and I’d consider that a form of currency.

Also, EzineArticles.com has a variety of RSS feeds where you can import excerpts of articles to your blog. It varies from category to category, but I’m using a handful that have new content daily.

For instance, one you can take a look at is FatShawn.com. I initially created this as a fitness blog I intended to update regularly, but lost interest along the way.

So, instead of just shuttering it, I figured I’d start pulling in relevant content, and I began importing the articles on running from EzineArticles.com. I run some Google AdSense and affiliate ad units on the blog.

As far as pulling in the RSS feed(s), I use a WordPress plugin called AutoPost.

There are certainly other ways to monetize content, but these are a couple things I am doing.

Most Affiliates Don’t Cloak Links

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Affiliates were asked “Do you cloak links (CGI, .htaccess, meta redirect, etc.)?” for the latest Affiliate Summit AffStat Report.

The majority of respondents, at 61.6%, said no, and the remaining 38.4% indicated they do cloak their links.

Affiliate Link Cloaking

I am sort of surprised that more affiliates are not cloaking their links. I am pretty sure I was doing this as far back as the 90s.

At the time, I was using meta redirects, and more recently via an .htaccess file. For the past six months, I’ve been using a WordPress plugin called Pretty Link.

Last year, I posted a primer on redirecting and cloaking affiliate links.

Over eleven-hundred and fifty affiliates were surveyed on their methods, preferences, and strategies for the 2010 Affiliate Summit AffStat Report.

Desirable Demographics in the Affiliate Channel

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Desirable Demographics in the Affiliate Channel from Affiliate Summit East 2007, which took place July 8-10, 2007 in Miami, FL.

Proprietary research to demonstrate the value of affiliate shoppers. A leading affiliate network, Google Affiliate Network drives online sales and actions for 300+ advertisers.

Note: the companies and positions listed above were current as of the time of the conference. Some of this information may have changed since then.

Video: Desirable Demographics in the Affiliate Channel

Managing Taxes for Affiliate Marketers

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Q: Are you aware of any software or services that keep track of taxes for online affiliates? Also any accountants that work with online affiliates?

A: When it comes to taxes, I don’t see a reason for a solution that is unique to affiliate marketing. If you’re going to do it yourself, I guess check out Quicken or QuickBooks.

Shawn CollinsPersonally, I’ve been using a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) since I started as an affiliate in 1997.

Anyhow, one service I find useful for tracking my payables and receivables in affiliate marketing is mint.com. This free service enables you to link your bank accounts and credit cards, so you can quickly get a snapshot of what you’re spending and earning with your affiliate efforts.

I find this helpful to have another source of aggregated information to make decisions on which affiliate marketing projects to focus on.

And then when it comes to finding an accountant, I also don’t see a need to hire somebody with knowledge of affiliate marketing.

I’ve always gone with local firms, and that has worked just fine for me. Ask local business owners for referrals.

Marketing Super Group Formed – BlueGlass Interactive

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Search and Social, 10e20, and Brent Csutoras, Inc have merged to form BlueGlass Interactive, a new agency of Internet marketing experts.

BlueGlass

The BlueGlass management team includes Chris Winfield, Chief Marketing Officer; Dave Snyder, SVP of Search; Brent Csutoras, SVP of Viral Marketing; Jordan Kasteler, SVP of Content; Loren Baker, SVP of Online PR; Tony Wang, CTO; and Danielle Winfield, VP of Operations.

Services from the agency consist of social media marketing, search engine optimization, online PR, online reputation management, pay per click marketing, conversion rate optimization, content development, and application development.

More details at http://www.blueglass.com/news/blueglass-has-formed/.

What is Affiliate Summit?

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I was chatting at the Affiliate Summit networking event in NYC this past Monday with a woman who is about to launch her first affiliate site, and she asked what I did.

Affiliate SummitI said I was a Co-founder of the Affiliate Summit conference, and her response was… “that’s it”? This sort of surprised me, since it’s certainly a full-time job to put on a conference twice a year for thousands of people with a tiny staff.

Then again, Affiliate Summit is more than the premier conference in the industry.

The conference, started back in 2003, is owned and operated by my partner Missy Ward and myself (both affiliate marketers since the 90s).

In addition to providing a platform for education and business relationships since that time, it’s also enabled us to promote the industry externally and help affiliate marketers internally through a variety of cross-promoted projects and initiatives.

Some of the things we are doing…

  • FeedFront Magazine – we’ll be publishing issue 11 of our free, quarterly magazine in August 2010. The magazine gives a voice to the people in the industry to share opinions, tips, and advice. Each issue goes to more than 25,000 subscribers by mail, as well as many thousands more of each issue distributed at conferences and events. Several thousand more people read the issues online.
  • GeekCast.fm – podcast network dedicated to issues related to Internet marketing. The site is free for people in the industry to start up and host a podcast, and each of the couple dozen shows can be streamed on the site, downloaded, and subscribed on iTunes. Past Affiliate Summit sessions are posted to GeekCast.fm, too. One of the first podcasts on GeekCast.fm was Affiliate Thing, which has run weekly since 2006.
  • AffStat – affiliate marketing statistical reports published for the past eight years, which are quoted regularly by magazines, blogs, and conference presenters. The current AffStat report is available free to read online or download. Over eleven-hundred and fifty affiliates were surveyed on their methods, preferences, and strategies for this edition of AffStat.
  • Affiliate Tip Blog – I’ve been blogging affiliate marketing tips, news, and resources since February 2004, and haven’t missed a day in years. This obsession has enabled me to catch many vital stories to relay to the industry, including the quiet, early stages of the advertising tax back in 2007.
  • MissyWard.com – Missy Ward’s blog on affiliate marketing, social media, events she attends, and her extensive charity work in the name of the affiliate marketing industry.
  • Velocity NYC Press – book publishing imprint created to provide a venue to Internet marketers to get published and benefit from our promotional avenues via Affiliate Summit, FeedFront, GeekCast, etc. The first book, Internet Marketing from the Real Experts, was a bestseller on Amazon, and it featured 88 people in the industry writing on their various expertise. We’re speaking with many folks in the industry about book projects, and interested authors can submit their book ideas to us.
  • Affiliate Marketing on YouTube – I am a YouTube Partner, and I’ve produced hundreds of videos on affiliate marketing, including instructional videos on how to do various things as an affiliate, and answering questions submitted anonymously via AskShawnCollins.com.
  • Affiliate Marketers Give Back – Missy has organized teams for charity walks to fight breast cancer for several years, and each effort yields tens of thousand dollars to charity in name of affiliate marketing. Earlier this month, the Affiliate Marketers Give Back team raised their highest amount to date with a total of $73,058.81 for the 2010 Avon Walk for Breast Cancer in Chicago. The team was the 5th largest fundraising team and Missy was the 3rd largest fundraiser overall for the walk.
  • Other Events – in addition to the conferences we produce twice a year, there are also a number of other events we put on for industry networking, learning, and awareness. We just brought a group of people together in NYC this week, and a fundraising cocktail party in San Francisco this past April. Last summer, we teamed up with buy.at for a meeting on the advertising tax and crab feast. Later this year, we will be running the first Affiliate Summit unConference in Orlando with Sea World. Event passes are just $10.00 per person and include access to sessions, networking, lunch and coffee breaks.

So, Affiliate Summit is a conference, magazine, book publishing imprint, podcast network, statistical report, charity fundraiser, as well as a text, audio and video news source for the industry.

I look forward to seeing the thousands of affiliate marketers that will be at Affiliate Summit East 2010, the fifteenth Affiliate Summit.