Do you have THE ANSWER To Absolutely Everything?
This spectacular new DVD explores the fundamental questions of how to live a profoundly abundant and joyful life. Inspiring people whose stories are documented in The Answer have overcome adversity and realized their dreams... and so can you!
The Answer To Absolutely Everything gives you a road map to navigate and powerfully accelerates your life in the areas of health, wealth, relationships, self-expression and wisdom.
It's the movie you want to watch after all the rhetoric. The one to watch after all the philosophizing and you're left wondering, "Ok, now what? What's next?".
You can see and get everything right here.
But don't take my word (or even their word) that this stuff works. There's even an online community full of people who are singing this movie's praises and using the principles of transformation discussed in it.
Listen, you'll want to jump on this FAST, because for a limited time, numerous amazing bonuses are available for download if you purchase this movie. You'll have to see what I mean -- get the scoop, see all those success stories, and reserve your copy NOW here.
A few months ago one of the amazing stories in the movie won the CNN 2007 Hero AWARD!
If you have not seen the movie yet....Click here and experience an 8 minute excerpt of THE ANSWER for yourself.
(And TURN UP YOUR SPEAKERS so you can hear the full trailer.)
George
Monday, 30 June 2008
Tuesday, 24 June 2008
First Steps in Affiliate Marketing
I haven't posted for nearly a couple of weeks but it hasn't been due to laziness; I've actually been working long and hard on changes to my sites. Now I'm finally in position to start blogging about what you need to consider if you want to make a go of affiliate marketing.
You may also notice that I've started adding links and stuff to this blog so that it's clear what it is about and to provide some useful content. This will continue, probably until I reach overload.
Anyway back to Affiliate Marketing. What is Affiliate Marketing anyway? There are many definitions. Wikipedia says Affiliate Marketing is " is a web-based marketing practice in which a business rewards one or more affiliates for each visitor or customer brought about by the affiliate's marketing efforts." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affiliate_marketing It then continues further.
If your site is all about your pet hamster you may want to place ads on your site that relate to hamsters. Things you would be most likely to sell would be things that your audience, in this case, people who like hamsters, would be likely to buy. These would include hamster cages, bedding, feed, toys etc. You may also find that people who like hamsters also like guinea pigs and rabbits so maybe rabbit hutches will sell. The latest electronic gadgets or in-car accessories are unlikely to shift in massive numbers not because these people don't drive or have ipods but because that is not what they are thinking about if they have reached a site about a hamster.
Ok, so now we know that affiliate marketing involves advertising and selling. The key thing about affiliate marketing that separates it from multi-level marketing, pyramid selling schemes or franchising is that the affiliate never has to see the goods they are selling. This means that the costs can be very low and the rewards can be pure profit. Don't think this means it is easy - it isn't.
Back when I started in affiliate marketing the web, and it seemed the world, was a lot simpler. Most programs were pay-per-click whereby the affiliate provided more of a referral service for the merchant's site. It was simple, you just placed a banner on a prominent part of your site and expected about 1% of viewers to click it, and it worked for a time.
I'll end with a gripe, which is really a warning. One of the reasons I was so busy is that I found that some merchants whose programs I had joined through a respected affiliate network had in fact left that network some time ago and as result the programs had ceased and I was sending traffic to dead links. I had to check out where the programs were now hosted and apply to join them again, sometimes await approval and then change the code on the web pages. Some programs had completely gone and I had to remove them. This could have been avoided had I received an email saying the programs were ending. All programs start, thrive and eventually end; that is life and I'm not griping about that. Most affiliate networks will notify affiliates if programs are about to end. In this case notifications were not sent. So my warning is this - If you join a program check it frequently to make sure it is still active otherwise you're wasting your time.
Speak soon.
You may also notice that I've started adding links and stuff to this blog so that it's clear what it is about and to provide some useful content. This will continue, probably until I reach overload.
Anyway back to Affiliate Marketing. What is Affiliate Marketing anyway? There are many definitions. Wikipedia says Affiliate Marketing is " is a web-based marketing practice in which a business rewards one or more affiliates for each visitor or customer brought about by the affiliate's marketing efforts." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affiliate_marketing It then continues further.
I don't like that definition because it makes no sense unless you already know what an affiliate is. I consider Affiliate Marketing to be pre-selling; that is the art, craft, practice or science of presenting goods and services before a selective audience that should be pre-disposed to purchase the said goods or services.
This leads to my first piece of advise to potential affiliates. Don't try to sell snow to eskimos or combs to bald men. To expand on that I'll give you example that may be a bit out of date now.If your site is all about your pet hamster you may want to place ads on your site that relate to hamsters. Things you would be most likely to sell would be things that your audience, in this case, people who like hamsters, would be likely to buy. These would include hamster cages, bedding, feed, toys etc. You may also find that people who like hamsters also like guinea pigs and rabbits so maybe rabbit hutches will sell. The latest electronic gadgets or in-car accessories are unlikely to shift in massive numbers not because these people don't drive or have ipods but because that is not what they are thinking about if they have reached a site about a hamster.
Ok, so now we know that affiliate marketing involves advertising and selling. The key thing about affiliate marketing that separates it from multi-level marketing, pyramid selling schemes or franchising is that the affiliate never has to see the goods they are selling. This means that the costs can be very low and the rewards can be pure profit. Don't think this means it is easy - it isn't.
Back when I started in affiliate marketing the web, and it seemed the world, was a lot simpler. Most programs were pay-per-click whereby the affiliate provided more of a referral service for the merchant's site. It was simple, you just placed a banner on a prominent part of your site and expected about 1% of viewers to click it, and it worked for a time.
There are still some per-per-click programs around but outside that adult arena they are few and far between. Adsense killed a lot off as well, but I'll discus Google Adsense another time.
These days most programs rely on sales to generate commission for the affiliate. This is fairer because the more the merchant benefits for the work of their affiliates the more the affiliate benefits. But just sticking banners on an existing site isn't enough anymore.
With merchants providing XML feeds of their entire stock for affiliates to use the name of the game now is building a site with the sole purpose of selling stuff. So now our hamster example wouldn't matter. The best way for our hamster fan to make money would be to build a virtual pet shop using content generated from the affiliate programs of real pet shops' websites and maybe link to it from their page about their hamster.
I'll leave it there but return to this theme in my next post.
If anyone is reading this stuff let me know otherwise it feels like I'm talking to myself, which I do a lot as I spend too long alone whilst working on the computer as it is. I can answer questions about affiliate marketing if you have any.I'll end with a gripe, which is really a warning. One of the reasons I was so busy is that I found that some merchants whose programs I had joined through a respected affiliate network had in fact left that network some time ago and as result the programs had ceased and I was sending traffic to dead links. I had to check out where the programs were now hosted and apply to join them again, sometimes await approval and then change the code on the web pages. Some programs had completely gone and I had to remove them. This could have been avoided had I received an email saying the programs were ending. All programs start, thrive and eventually end; that is life and I'm not griping about that. Most affiliate networks will notify affiliates if programs are about to end. In this case notifications were not sent. So my warning is this - If you join a program check it frequently to make sure it is still active otherwise you're wasting your time.
Speak soon.
Thursday, 12 June 2008
Internet Marketing Tips
This morning I got a very interesting email from Derek Gehl, talking about some project he is working on.
It was kind of cryptic and I am still scratching my head trying to figure out what the heck he is up to...
But if I know him, we should pay close attention because I am sure it will be profitable for all of us.
Anyway, rather than retype everything he wrote me, I have just pasted it here...
DEREK'S EMAIL TO ME:
----------------------------------
Hey George,
Derek Gehl here... I hope all is well with you and your biz!
Just wanted to drop you a quick email to let you in on an amazing project I am working on that has to be one of the best training ideas I have ever come up with...
I've finally found a way for my team and me to work with people who want to start their own Internet businesses on a level I am surprised I've never thought of before...
A way for us to be right beside their computer...
In their own homes...
Teaching people how to build their own successful Internet businesses from scratch!
I am still wrapping up the loose ends and I will not be completely ready until late June but I got excited and wanted to tell some key people about it now.
And George, if you have anyone you want to tell about this, you must do it now...
... because I can only allow 300 serious entrepreneurs to take part. So please don't show this link to people who you think will waste my time.
Anyway, I am not giving out too much info today but to give you a hint, go to...
http://www.marketingtips.com/dereks-project/t/811741
And if you want to know more, don't hesitate to call...
Derek Gehl, CEO
The Internet Marketing Center
---------------------------------------
So what was the first thing I did when I got this email?
Simple... I clicked on the link he gave me and signed up for a sneak peek... even I don't want to miss out on what he is working on!
So go to the link he gave me...
http://www.marketingtips.com/dereks-project/t/811741
Follow his instructions and let's see what he is up to!
All the best...
George
It was kind of cryptic and I am still scratching my head trying to figure out what the heck he is up to...
But if I know him, we should pay close attention because I am sure it will be profitable for all of us.
Anyway, rather than retype everything he wrote me, I have just pasted it here...
DEREK'S EMAIL TO ME:
----------------------------------
Hey George,
Derek Gehl here... I hope all is well with you and your biz!
Just wanted to drop you a quick email to let you in on an amazing project I am working on that has to be one of the best training ideas I have ever come up with...
I've finally found a way for my team and me to work with people who want to start their own Internet businesses on a level I am surprised I've never thought of before...
A way for us to be right beside their computer...
In their own homes...
Teaching people how to build their own successful Internet businesses from scratch!
I am still wrapping up the loose ends and I will not be completely ready until late June but I got excited and wanted to tell some key people about it now.
And George, if you have anyone you want to tell about this, you must do it now...
... because I can only allow 300 serious entrepreneurs to take part. So please don't show this link to people who you think will waste my time.
Anyway, I am not giving out too much info today but to give you a hint, go to...
http://www.marketingtips.com/dereks-project/t/811741
And if you want to know more, don't hesitate to call...
Derek Gehl, CEO
The Internet Marketing Center
---------------------------------------
So what was the first thing I did when I got this email?
Simple... I clicked on the link he gave me and signed up for a sneak peek... even I don't want to miss out on what he is working on!
So go to the link he gave me...
http://www.marketingtips.com/dereks-project/t/811741
Follow his instructions and let's see what he is up to!
All the best...
George
Tuesday, 10 June 2008
Father's Day Offers
It's Father's Day on Sunday. I know this because my stepson, who is 9, suggested it would be a great idea for us all to go to the beach. That was until my better half pointed out that being stuck in a car or a train on a 150 mile round trip in sweltering heat and sweating like a pig might not be Daddy's favourite way to spend the day. (Britain is in the middle of a heatwave at the moment for those you who don't live here unbelievable as that may appear.)
Too right it wouldn't! I'm expecting nothing better than a long lie, a cold beer, a relaxing afternoon and peace and quiet while watching Switzerland vs Portugal or Turkey vs the Czech Republic on the TV.
Any way, back to affiliate marketing.
A number of programs run promotions on the back of Father's Day. Here are a few that came to my inbox today.
Crown Bingo are celebrating Fathers Day on the site by giving away Nivea for men gift packs and a top prize of a £50 experience voucher. There are prizes up for grabs all day culminating with a mega fantastic prize at 7pm.
Prizes: -
You can win a Nivea men's gift pack on the hour every hour between 10am and 6pm.
You could also win the top prize of a £50 Red Letter Day Experience.
All you have to do is play the games on the hour, win the full house and have your fathers day gift sorted!! (just tell him its in the post!!)
PC World are also trying to make that most of the day with these offers all available for promotion on your sites.
Samsung P1000 Digital Camera – HALF PRICE – SAVE OVER £100
Was £199.99 – Now £99.99
Logik 8.5" Digital Photo Frame 8.5" Digital Photo Frame – Save £10
Was £79.99 – Now £69.99
Sony Speakers – Save £15.00
Was – Now £29.99
Hamleys the Toy Store are also running Father's Day offers including: -
Scaletrix
Enter the action of the Le Mans GT style racing with this Full Power track and car set. Race as either a Porsche Spyder RS or an Audi R10.
£145.00
The Xbox 360 console fuses powerful hardware, software, and services to provide a dramatic leap forward in high-definition gaming.
£339.99
The PicooZ mini copter is ready to fly! With a unique roto-blade stability system - you'll always get near steady perfect lift.
£ 24.99
Hornby Virgin Trains locomotive - This stylish and Virgin liveried locomotive is a perfect starter train for those beginning their voyage into the world of model railroads.
£ 45.00
On a completely different tack one of my favourite affiliate merchants, Be Cheeky, have a sale on including 25% off all Lola Luna thongs. On second thoughts and having had a look maybe that is the best offer for father's day yet.
Whatever you do on Sunday, if you have kids, do it with them as they're only small for a very short time.
I' ve been meaning to post more often but I've had some IT problems and a lot of work to deal with.
The email issue turned out to be my ISP and not my host although it was my host Web Mania who suggested the solution and not my ISP, Virgin.
Next post will be on tips for successful affiliate marketing.
Take Care
George
Too right it wouldn't! I'm expecting nothing better than a long lie, a cold beer, a relaxing afternoon and peace and quiet while watching Switzerland vs Portugal or Turkey vs the Czech Republic on the TV.
Any way, back to affiliate marketing.
A number of programs run promotions on the back of Father's Day. Here are a few that came to my inbox today.
Crown Bingo are celebrating Fathers Day on the site by giving away Nivea for men gift packs and a top prize of a £50 experience voucher. There are prizes up for grabs all day culminating with a mega fantastic prize at 7pm.
Prizes: -
You can win a Nivea men's gift pack on the hour every hour between 10am and 6pm.
You could also win the top prize of a £50 Red Letter Day Experience.
All you have to do is play the games on the hour, win the full house and have your fathers day gift sorted!! (just tell him its in the post!!)
PC World are also trying to make that most of the day with these offers all available for promotion on your sites.
Samsung P1000 Digital Camera – HALF PRICE – SAVE OVER £100
Was £199.99 – Now £99.99
Logik 8.5" Digital Photo Frame 8.5" Digital Photo Frame – Save £10
Was £79.99 – Now £69.99
Sony Speakers – Save £15.00
Was – Now £29.99
Hamleys the Toy Store are also running Father's Day offers including: -
Scaletrix
Enter the action of the Le Mans GT style racing with this Full Power track and car set. Race as either a Porsche Spyder RS or an Audi R10.
£145.00
The Xbox 360 console fuses powerful hardware, software, and services to provide a dramatic leap forward in high-definition gaming.
£339.99
The PicooZ mini copter is ready to fly! With a unique roto-blade stability system - you'll always get near steady perfect lift.
£ 24.99
Hornby Virgin Trains locomotive - This stylish and Virgin liveried locomotive is a perfect starter train for those beginning their voyage into the world of model railroads.
£ 45.00
On a completely different tack one of my favourite affiliate merchants, Be Cheeky, have a sale on including 25% off all Lola Luna thongs. On second thoughts and having had a look maybe that is the best offer for father's day yet.
Whatever you do on Sunday, if you have kids, do it with them as they're only small for a very short time.
I' ve been meaning to post more often but I've had some IT problems and a lot of work to deal with.
The email issue turned out to be my ISP and not my host although it was my host Web Mania who suggested the solution and not my ISP, Virgin.
Next post will be on tips for successful affiliate marketing.
Take Care
George
Thursday, 5 June 2008
Email Problems
This is just a quick post for any affiliate program managers or link exchangers out there who are waiting to hear from me as to whether your program or link has been added to any of sites.
Tonight I have had a problem with my email - nothing is leaving my Outbox. I think it is a fault with the SMTP servers where the sites are hosted and I have reported this. Hopefully the boffins will be working on it and you will receive your notification very soon.
Sorry for the delay.
George
Tonight I have had a problem with my email - nothing is leaving my Outbox. I think it is a fault with the SMTP servers where the sites are hosted and I have reported this. Hopefully the boffins will be working on it and you will receive your notification very soon.
Sorry for the delay.
George
Wednesday, 4 June 2008
Affiliate Program Offers
One of the things that well run and active affiliate programs do is run short term offers. This can be because theirs is a seasonal business or because of some event like Christmas or Mothers' Day.
Normally I can't do much with these types of offers on Global Affiliate Programs as I'm trying to promote the program itself but I can add them here in the knowledge that they will eventually be archived and not be so prominent as they will be now.
To give you a flavour of the types of offers that merchants run here are a few of the offers that popped into my mailbox today.
Coral - Euro 2008 Due to the massive success of the last Football shirt campaign, we are running it again. For Every new account open during the EURO 2008 via TradeDoubler network will be automatically entered into a prize draw and there will be 50 Football/EURO 2008 Team Shirts to be won! That's right! FIFTY new Coral.co.uk players referred by YOU will win Football/EURO 2008 Team Shirts! Last campaign we saw an impressive 160% increase in Click-Through- Rate!!!! And to spice it up a little...If a player you send to us wins one Euro 2008 football shirt, you win too! It's as simple as that...everyone's winner with Coral.co.uk affiliate programme! 50 shirts to your players and 50 shirts for you!
With Euro 2008 about to kick off I expect there will be alot of promotions run by bookmakers and sports programs.
BeCheeky MensWear 25% off promotion - In light of June being Male cancer awareness month, and with Fathers Day falling on the 15th, this week BeCheeky.com are celebrating our Men! Treat the special man in your life and enjoy a whopping 25% off all men's underwear and swimwear, including Ted Baker, Calvin Klein, Bjorn Borg, Hom, Ginch Gonch, Tommy Hilfiger and more.
Barnes & Noble - are running a number of promotions including 40% off summer reading, 3 for the price 2 on DVDs and Coldplay's new album Viva La Vida for $9.99. The are also offering 40% off the complete series of Sex and the City.
If you're interested to pushing these promotion on your site then join up now. Go to Global Affiliate Programs and find the offers for you.
I tried to blog here yesterday but I see the blog didn't appear. I don't know if the fault was at my end or at Blogger. Anyway let's see if this appears.
In the future I intend to blog some tips for would be affiliates, explore the issues of shopfronts and hopefully answer questions if anybody asks them.
The next blog might not to on-topic though as I still have the series finale of LOST in my head.
Normally I can't do much with these types of offers on Global Affiliate Programs as I'm trying to promote the program itself but I can add them here in the knowledge that they will eventually be archived and not be so prominent as they will be now.
To give you a flavour of the types of offers that merchants run here are a few of the offers that popped into my mailbox today.
Coral - Euro 2008 Due to the massive success of the last Football shirt campaign, we are running it again. For Every new account open during the EURO 2008 via TradeDoubler network will be automatically entered into a prize draw and there will be 50 Football/EURO 2008 Team Shirts to be won! That's right! FIFTY new Coral.co.uk players referred by YOU will win Football/EURO 2008 Team Shirts! Last campaign we saw an impressive 160% increase in Click-Through- Rate!!!! And to spice it up a little...If a player you send to us wins one Euro 2008 football shirt, you win too! It's as simple as that...everyone's winner with Coral.co.uk affiliate programme! 50 shirts to your players and 50 shirts for you!
With Euro 2008 about to kick off I expect there will be alot of promotions run by bookmakers and sports programs.
BeCheeky MensWear 25% off promotion - In light of June being Male cancer awareness month, and with Fathers Day falling on the 15th, this week BeCheeky.com are celebrating our Men! Treat the special man in your life and enjoy a whopping 25% off all men's underwear and swimwear, including Ted Baker, Calvin Klein, Bjorn Borg, Hom, Ginch Gonch, Tommy Hilfiger and more.
Barnes & Noble - are running a number of promotions including 40% off summer reading, 3 for the price 2 on DVDs and Coldplay's new album Viva La Vida for $9.99. The are also offering 40% off the complete series of Sex and the City.
If you're interested to pushing these promotion on your site then join up now. Go to Global Affiliate Programs and find the offers for you.
I tried to blog here yesterday but I see the blog didn't appear. I don't know if the fault was at my end or at Blogger. Anyway let's see if this appears.
In the future I intend to blog some tips for would be affiliates, explore the issues of shopfronts and hopefully answer questions if anybody asks them.
The next blog might not to on-topic though as I still have the series finale of LOST in my head.
Sunday, 1 June 2008
Today's Activities
Well, it's June so summer should be starting soon and I'll be less inclined to spend balmy summer evenings in front of PC; but for now it's a Sunday so I'm at home and can casually go through my inbox.
There are four new program added to the directory today which is slightly less than average but OK for a Sunday.
Drug Delivery - A Canadian site selling medicines, mostly to Americans as medicine in the US is vastly overpriced as anyone who has seen Sicko can testify.
Traffic Secrets Manifesto - An E-book on how to get great traffic to your website. I must get one of these one day when I have enough time to read it properly.
E-Junkie - A new Shopping cart / e-commerce provider that support affiliates on its merchants like an affiliate network.
The Most Complete Recipe Collection - An E-books collection of thousands of recipes.
My main job on Global Affiliate Programs at the moment is updating my accounts with the merchants. You see I moved house in March and need to notify all the accounts for all the programs of which I'm a member.
The big networks were easy but now I'm down to going through all the programs one by one and updating with my new address. Sounds simple doesn't it. Until you realise I have 3,496 entries in the directory. As of today I have 565 still to update. I'm going through in Alphabetical order and that is the way they're listed in my database. I'm at 'H'.
The thing about doing this is it can teach you four things.
One - Some sites have gone and no-one notified the affiliates so I have dead links. This is really annoying but is easily fixed. I just delete the program from the directory
Two - Some programs have ended and nobody has notified the affiliates so I'm sending them links and traffic but there's no program for visitors to join. Again annoying but fixed by deletion.
Three - Some merchants have improved their banners so I can make the entry more appealing. Well in my opinion anyway.
Four - sometimes a find that a program I'd joined and forgotten about has had a number of referred affiliates join it and I have a small balance owed to me that I didn't know about. All good for the soul.
After I've finished that I'll do a manual check of those that are left to make sure all the programs are still as advertised.
Then I'll see about moving programs up the pages. By that I mean making sure each page within each category has no more than 30 program on it. Sometimes I move programs to pages nearer the front; sometimes they get moved further back. It's all about balance.
There are four new program added to the directory today which is slightly less than average but OK for a Sunday.
Drug Delivery - A Canadian site selling medicines, mostly to Americans as medicine in the US is vastly overpriced as anyone who has seen Sicko can testify.
Traffic Secrets Manifesto - An E-book on how to get great traffic to your website. I must get one of these one day when I have enough time to read it properly.
E-Junkie - A new Shopping cart / e-commerce provider that support affiliates on its merchants like an affiliate network.
The Most Complete Recipe Collection - An E-books collection of thousands of recipes.
My main job on Global Affiliate Programs at the moment is updating my accounts with the merchants. You see I moved house in March and need to notify all the accounts for all the programs of which I'm a member.
The big networks were easy but now I'm down to going through all the programs one by one and updating with my new address. Sounds simple doesn't it. Until you realise I have 3,496 entries in the directory. As of today I have 565 still to update. I'm going through in Alphabetical order and that is the way they're listed in my database. I'm at 'H'.
The thing about doing this is it can teach you four things.
One - Some sites have gone and no-one notified the affiliates so I have dead links. This is really annoying but is easily fixed. I just delete the program from the directory
Two - Some programs have ended and nobody has notified the affiliates so I'm sending them links and traffic but there's no program for visitors to join. Again annoying but fixed by deletion.
Three - Some merchants have improved their banners so I can make the entry more appealing. Well in my opinion anyway.
Four - sometimes a find that a program I'd joined and forgotten about has had a number of referred affiliates join it and I have a small balance owed to me that I didn't know about. All good for the soul.
After I've finished that I'll do a manual check of those that are left to make sure all the programs are still as advertised.
Then I'll see about moving programs up the pages. By that I mean making sure each page within each category has no more than 30 program on it. Sometimes I move programs to pages nearer the front; sometimes they get moved further back. It's all about balance.
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