Good News and Bad news

Hi again, it's been a while since I posted on here and I'm sorry about that.

First the Bad News.

I've been running Sleep Easy Loans as a meta-Search Engine for the last 5 years or so. I noticed the other day that some of the shtml and php files had been hacked and some code added. I had this happen before with Global Affiliate Programs and I fixed it by uploading my backup copies so I tried the same thing with Sleep Easy Loans and the search function has been seriously messed up, also the style sheets aren't working. I've tried fixing it with everything I know but no luck. So now I have a search engine that can't search, so that's no use.

The hosting for it is due to be renewed at the end of this month and I don't think I'll bother. Any one want to buy a PR2 loans domain?

Now the Good News.

Firstly, I've added a new section to Global Affiliate Programs. The new section is for programs related to Legal and Tax Forms and Services. The idea came from Allen Freeman of StandardLegal.com.

On the form that program managers use to submit their programs to the Global Affiliate Programs directory is a question which asks which section or sections they think their program belongs in. The thinking is simple; I don't assume to more about somebody else's business than they do. Mostly this bit gets missed out and I have to work out what someone is selling from what they tell me which is not always as easy as it sounds; some program managers suggest one or two of the existing categories but Allen to his credit suggested that I add a new Legal category. I've added in the Tax element and expanded it to include services as well as forms to make the page sustainable and searchable and that's how I got the new section.

The other good news.

The world markets are in crisis; we're all going to be poor; and governments are buying out banks as if they were at a fire sale. Therefore it's a great time to start a Foreign Exchange Trading Business. No, I'm not mad. Listen to this.

Etoro Foreign Exchange Trading provide an easy to use web based platform that enables people to conduct foreign currency exchange from home through their PCs and laptops. They run an affiliate program to draw in business and they've been on Global Affiliate Programs since last year. They contacted me this month to find out how I would like to be paid. That's always a question I like to hear.

It turns out that as well as referring affiliates I had referred a few clients their way and upshot was they owe over $3,000. That's nice as I have a couple of unpaid bills that would be just about covered by that with maybe a little left over. The people I had referred to them had made far more; that $3K was only the affiliate commission.

During our conversation Etoro asked if I had an ideas on how I could promote them further. When I suggested white label sites they told me the already did that. They must have added it after I joined their affiliate program as I'm sure I would have noticed that, but better late tha never I have now added the Etoro Forex Trading White Label Site to Global Affiliate Programs. You can find it here http://www.etoroforextrading.com.globalaffiliateprograms.co.uk/ .

Ok, you're think, very interesting, good for you, don't gloat you've had a little windfall, what's that to do with me. Well, since Etoro contacted me I've been looking into it in a bit more detail. The first thing is Etoro is not a scam. It works so well you might think it is one but it is not. It works like an online casino; you put money in, you move it between currencies based on their respectives value and trends, which are all available to you on the Etoro screen. If you trade profitably and sensibly you can make money, a lot of money. It's just like with poker - don't stake more than you can afford to lose, keep counting the whole time and don't do it drunk.

With the markets all over the place at the moment there is a lot of movement in the currency markets and it is that movement that gives you the chance to profit. It's all about timing. Go to the white Label site, suign up and use the 'Play' option so that you get some practice before you trade for real if you've never done it before.

Good luck.

Adsense and Interest-Based Advertising

I suppose it's time I got back to work.

The catalyst for this is today's earth-shattering news that Google have just launched what they refer to as 'interest-based advertising'. It sounds like good old profiling to me but what do I know.

As an Adsense user I received an email from Google this morning letting me know that I should update my Privacy Policy to reflect the changes Google have made to Adsense. This is what it said :-


We're writing to let you know about the upcoming launch of interest-based advertising, which will require you to review and make any necessary changes to your site's privacy policies. You'll also see some new options on your Account Settings page.

Interest-based advertising will allow advertisers to display ads based on a user's previous interactions with them, such as visits to advertiser website and also to reach users based on their interests (e.g. "sports enthusiast"). To develop interest categories, we will recognise the types of web pages that users visit throughout the Google content network. As an example, if they visit a number of sports pages, we will add them to the "sports enthusiast" interest category. To learn more about your associated account settings, please visit the AdSense Help Centre at http://www.google.com/adsense/support/bin/topic.py?topic=20310&hl=en_GB.

As a result of this announcement, your privacy policy will now need to reflect the use of interest-based advertising. Please review the information at https://www.google.com/adsense/support/bin/answer.py?answer=100557&hl=en_GB to ensure that your site's privacy policies are up-to-date and make any necessary changes by 8 April 2009. Because publisher sites and laws vary across countries, we're unfortunately unable to suggest specific privacy policy language.

For more information about interest-based advertising, you can also visit the Inside AdSense Blog at http://adsense.blogspot.com/2009/03/driving-monetization-with-ads-that.html.


OK, so like a lot of you I was familiar with the old concept of Adsense, that being that you put the code for the ads on your page, it read your page, especially the title, description, and content tags as well as the text content and throw up an ad that was meant to be relevant to the page thus increasing the CTR. So far so good. Now Google are saying that the ads they are going to throw up will also be based on other pages that your visitor has been too which have also had Adsense ads on them to build up a profile of the visitor. The link above includes this explanation :-

The DoubleClick DART cookie is used by Google in the ads served on publisher websites displaying AdSense for content ads. When users visit an AdSense publisher's website and either view or click an ad, a cookie may be dropped on that end user's browser. The data gathered from these cookies will be used to help AdSense publishers serve and manage the ads on their site(s) and across the web more effectively.

Sounds OK, but up till now you could basically see the sort of ads that were appearing on your site now with the ads being linked to the visitors profile what you see and what one of your visitors see may be totally different which means you have relinquish some control over your sites. At the end of the day if it increases the CTR advertisers will love and if it doesn't they won't.

I'm going to watch developments closely.

Grace Rebecca Ellen Forsyth (2008 - 2009)

Back in November I was delighted to post that work on the site had slowed because we had been joined by Grace.

Now it is with shock and a sadness so deep it is impossible to measure that I have to report that Grace passed away suddenly and in her sleep on the morning of Saturday 14th February.

Grace was a wonderful baby; she loved company and would complain if she wasn't being held by someone. Every day she would fall asleep in my arms and I would work on the site one handed knowing she would wake up if I lay her down in her bed.

Grace brought joy and light to everyone who met her. She leaves a hole in our lives that can never be filled. A part of me died with her yesterday. Her brother Mark was weeping; her mother Charmaine is not coping at all. Her sister Abigail wept herself to sleep last night. Jacob is in tears.

No matter how bad you can imagine this to be trust me when I say that it is worse than that. You go over in your head the events that led up to her death asking yourself if there were any signs you should have seen, but there were none, you blame yourself even though everyone is telling you not to.

Grace was sleeping in the bed next to me. I had been working late the night before and was having a lie-in. Her mother checked on her before going downstairs to dress Lucy when she came back 10 minutes later I was still asleep and Grace was gone.

The exact cause of her death is yet to be determined but trying to find out what happened in those ten minutes is the only thing keeping me sane right now.

Grace was perfect she was beautiful; she was 88 days old. Our friend Cathie has started an online memorial on Gone Too Soon for her here http://grace-rebecca-ellen-forsyth.gonetoosoon.org/ .

Update to Global Affiliate Programs and Sleep Easy Loans are postponed until further notice out of respect for Grace.

New Program for the New Year - 121Doc.co.uk

This has got to be the easiest way to pick up $100 I seen yet. The program is run by 121doc.co.uk


121doc.co.uk - leading online clinic offering patients access to doctors for the treatment of a variety of medical conditions. 121doc only deal with doctors and employ services of network of pharmacies that have been verified for their authenticity and codes of conduct. Patients need to complete consultation online for treatments, and may be charged if deemed suitable. With a variety of revolutionary treatments available online, millions of people across the globe are looking for safe and secure treatment every day to treat their lifestyle related conditions privately within the comfort of their home. The ease and comfort of online treatments have truly made a positive difference in people’s lives in every corner of the world. As a webmaster, you can join the 121doc affiliate programme and make a very good income from referring visitors to their site. Just inserting either text links or a banner link to 121doc.co.uk, you will earn 13% from every order placed.

You can easily make your first $100 by doing business with 121doc.

• 121doc will deposit $25 when you sign up for 121doc affiliate program.
• 121doc will add to that $10 bonus to place a link or banner on your website or blog.
• 121doc will also add $10 for writing a 100 words review about 121doc on your blog or forum which may encourage the visitors to visit 121doc from your website or blog.
• 121doc will also add $10 for doing forums posting about 121doc on relevant forums related to health.
• 121doc will also add $10 for referring a webmaster to join 121doc affiliate program.
• 121doc will also add $25 for generating 250 unique clicks from your website, blog or forums or any other way of online marketing.
• and finally, 121doc will add $10 extra bonus when you generate your first successful sales order.

That sounds like the surest way to earn $100 I've seen in a while.


Speak Soon

George

New Year's Resolutions

Happy New Year,

Ok, so Christmas is over and we're all sick off the sight of leftover turkey but it's 2009 (at last) and time to get things into order.

That's where Resolutions come in. You know the promises you make to yourself that are usually forgotten by now.

Mine should be to post here more often, but actually they are more complicated than that and involve a hospital appointment, a surgeon's knife, a legal process a lot of as yet un-earned money.

While resolutions for the New Year give us a wonderful sense of positive intent, they are extremely hard to stick with unless we turn them into clear, well-defined goals.

Here are 2 goal setting videos that will help you to stay on track with your resolutions and make the upcoming year unforgettable:

http://www.goalsettingstudio.com/george.html

All the best,
George

Using Affiliate Programs to Boost Web Site Traffic

I received the following advice in an email from AddMe.com and I thought I should share it more widely.

It addresses why merchants should use affiliate programs as part of their online sales drive and well thought through.

Have you ever heard of using affiliate programs to get a boost in targeted visitors to your web site? This can be an excellent web site traffic promotion to put visitors in touch with the products or services you have available on your site.

Let’s say you have a product you have created and are selling on your website for $97 (In this example the product will be an e-Book).

Visitors arriving on your site, pay $97, and can then download the e-Book. Your profit is $97 less any payment processing fees (credit card, etc).

With an affiliate program, you pay a commission for every sale of your product or service that is made by a referral of your affiliate. You pay for results only, no sales means no payment.

This means you are getting someone else to market and promote your web site for free!

What does this mean? More targeted visitors of course as more visitors are sent to you by the affiliate.

It's highly likely that a large portion of the visitors may never have found your web site, so in many ways these sales could be thought of as bonus sales, above and beyond those you would ordinarily have made.

The downside is you need to share a percentage of the sale with the affiliate but you should also remember that it is quite possible the customer will buy more from you in the future.

This is the power of affiliate programs and affiliate marketing in general. Not having an affiliate program is an area where lots of marketers fall down.

Assuming you have an opt-in in place, then not only have you made a sale, but you now have a customer you can promote more products to in the future! One of Marketing 101’s golden rule is that it’s far, far easier to sell to an existing customer than to a brand new one. After all they loved your product enough to buy it, right? You have established a relationship with them at this point, and provided that your product has great relevant content they will be hooked!

The other thing to keep in mind is that it’s likely that you will have a higher percentage of sales from your affiliates visitors because (hopefully) the affiliate has already pre-sold his customers on your fantastic product. More than likely the affiliate has built up a solid reputation with his customers (who more than likely have purchased from him in the past) and because he has recommended your product, they come to your website already pre-sold that your product is a decent and worthy one, and at this point you have a visitor who already trusts and believes in your product because of the relationship they have with the affiliate recommending your products.

You need to think beyond the commission you are paying the affiliate and look instead at the long term relationship you have the potential to build with your new customer.

Make sure you look at using affiliate programs to maximize web site traffic. Payment is only required if the visitor purchases an item, so you have no upfront costs.

Christmas Promotions

As previously posted Christmas comes but once a year and this year it comes right in the middle of a worldwide recession. Many retailers are expecting tough times and here in the UK it doesn't look like Woolworths will make it to Christmas. The result of all this is retailers desperate to shift their stock even if it means reducing their margins.

This is all good news for affiliates as lower prices usual mean more sales and more sales mean more commissions. Some retailers have realised this and started offering affiliate incentives.

Here are some examples. I'm sure to post more through December. These are things that really should sell this season.

Customers at Play.com can save 10% off any of their fantastic clothing range which includes brands such as Quiksilver, Animal, Bench, RipCurl and more! Code: CLOTHES08 , Valid until December 22nd.

BeCheeky have opened the BeCheeky Christmas Shop and at the same time are offering 20% off Chemises and Babydolls, and FREE UK Delivery on all UK orders.

PC World have extended their 5% commission offering on all Digital Photoframes until 5pm Xmas Eve (24th December 2008) for all online sales. (Standard commission 2.5%).

Batteries.com have announced their Holiday Bonus Program. From now through December 18th, each affiliate who reaches $500 in sales will receive an additional $25 in commissions. Doesn't everything need batteries at Christmas and yet never comes with any - sales here should be good.

Throughout the month of December, WBTVShop.com is holding an affiliate contest for a chance to win a $200 gift certificate to shop any of the WB sites, including WBShop.com, MGMStore.com, CartoonNetworkShop.com, MarvelShop.com, NewLineShop.com and of course WBTVShop.com! Any affiliate who generates 50 sales combined throughout the month for any of the WB accounts will be entered into a drawing. At the conclusion of the month, a winner will be picked and they will win the $200 gift certificate to shop!

So as you can see there's lots of offers to push and commissions to make.