I’m in the business of creating and flipping websites. One thing is abundantly clear when dealing with my customers … there are a lot of people out there who are trying to get in this business or just make a success of the web properties they buy or create that don’t know the first thing about how to set up a blog, what to do with it once it is set up, how to promote it, how to get it indexed, how to get traffic and make sales.

I just launched Niche Demon exactly for this reason. If you fall into the category above, this ebook is for you. Geared towards newbies, it gives detailed information on how to set up a Wordpress blog and then drive traffic and make sales from it. This is a 98 page ebook jam packed full of information that even some more experienced affiliate marketers don’t know … ranging from setting up a website to marketing, social bookmarking strategies on autopilot, traffic and linking strategies that will send your site to the top of Google results, to setting up a Google Adwords campaign. Read the rest of this entry »

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I made a list of CPA Affiliate Networks in an earlier post. This is a list of US and International Affiliate Networks that you get commission for selling products, rather than generating leads. I’m a member of Commission Junction (CJ), Linkshare (LS), Affiliate Future US, ClickBank, PayDotCom.com, ShareASale (SAS) and MarketHealth, with MarketHealth being my best performing now, but PayDotCom.com the best in the past. Hope you’ll find this list useful when searching for products to promote. If you run an affiliate program that is not listed, leave a comment and I will add it. More information needed to choose the best networks can be found in my newest Dot Com Mogul article: Is the Cookie Monster Eating Your Commissions?

The Largest Affiliate Networks

AMWSO - Affiliate Management Consulting firm lead by Chris Sanderson, manages 20 affiliate programs from leading merchants such as Western Union, Panda Software, Shopster, GoodTimes Entertainment, Gaiam, South Beach Diet and Forzieri.

Commission Junction (CJ) - a ValueClick company, delivers performance-based online marketing solutions. Network access to the USA, UK, Germany and France.

Linkshare (LS) - LinkShare pioneered online affiliate marketing, and today runs one of the largest pay for performance affiliate marketing network on the Internet. Network access to the USA, UK, Canada and Japan.

Microsoft adCenter Affiliate Program - If your site is focused on Internet marketing, search marketing, web development or business you have the opportunity to generate revenue by referring new advertisers to MSN adCenter, via the Microsoft® Affiliate Network.

PartnerCentric - manages 40 top affiliate programs including well known brands like National Geographic, BriteSmile, Medifast, 21st Century Insurance, The Company Store, Lamps Plus, Domestications & Quicken Loans.

Performics - Now owned by DoubleClick, provides performance-based online marketing services and technologies for leading multi-channel marketers. Clients benefit from Performics´ custom approach to affiliate marketing, search engine marketing and lead generation programs.
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One of the top ways of monetizing websites is lead generation. Here’s how it works. Becoming a CPA affiliate is fairly simple. You sign up with numerous CPA Networks, drive traffic to the custom landing pages they provide or make your own landing pages, and get paid whenever a site visitor fills out and submits a form. One of the best ways to drive traffic to your CPA Offers is through PPC program like Adwords or Yahoo.CPA networks are clearinghouses bringing advertisers and publishers together. The advertisers provide custom landing pages and forms, pays the network commission for making it available to affiliates, and affiliates are paid for driving traffic and generating signups.

CPA stands for “cost per action.” The action is the site visitor filling out the form. Compared to traditional affiliate marketing, it is often a much easier and more lucrative way to monetize a website.

Traditional affiliates have a tougher job. They have to get the traffic, presell the product, and send visitors to the vendor through an affiliate link, hoping to generate something like 1% to 5% sales. Conversions are highly dependent on the vendor’s sales letter and product. If the vendor does a poor job of selling, or has an overpriced or poorly received product, the affiliate has spent a lot of time, and perhaps money, for very little return. Read the rest of this entry »

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The latest buzz word in marketing is “Conversation Marketing.” Without ever hearing about conversation marketing until recently, this is the way that I prefer to get a message out about something that I’m endorsing or yes … if you want to hear the dirty word … selling. The phrase that really stood out in my mind was “All marketing is a conversation.”

“The awful truth about marketing is that it broadcasts messages to people who don’t want to listen…. much of business communication is written in contrived and artificial language, supposedly designed to impress, but actually signaling just how impersonal the firm and its professionals are.”

I see so many of the long, hypey big red lettered sales letters and still wonder how that type of marketing can be successful. I know that many “gurus” use them and make money, but in my opinion, you aren’t reaching a large part of the market through this method of communication. Basically, you’re reaching an audience who is looking for a “dream in a box” solution and willing to believe anything that promises that.

To me … and maybe it’s just me, I find those type of sales letters to be more annoying than persuasive. It’s packaged marketing, spoken in a fake voice and often uses scare tactics and unfounded promises to reel their customers in. Many marketers see marketing as a one-sided dialogue … nothing more than a propaganda campaign. This type of marketing rarely answers any questions I might have about the product.

The marketer that is able to reach his market in a real voice and engage his audience in a two-way dialogue is the marketer who is going to be able to build trust and relationships that convert into sales. In the offline world of marketing, where you meet your prospective clients, you have a greater opportunity to employ Conversational Marketing. Instead of giving yet another boring presentation, you can have a question and answer session. In a personal one-on-one presentation, you can give your prospects a handout and then instead of launching into a one-way dialogue of your capabilities and contract issues, see if you can engage your prospect in a conversation to determine what his problems and needs are. Read the rest of this entry »

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