AffiliateReport.com Review

Affiliate marketing is a game of numbers. Every guru would tell you that. No matter how good your landing pages are or how much traffic you are driving to your website, if you are not constantly monitoring your numbers and improving every aspect of your website, you can’t expect to make any real money online. If you have been in the affiliate business for a while, chances are you are already using pay per click marketing to drive leads to your website. Any PPC marketer knows that the goal is stay ahead of the engines to keep your quality score high and your minimum bids low. And it helps if you could bring up your conversion rate. You need to do all that plus work with affiliate programs that you are associated with. Wouldn’t it be nice if you had an integrated software solution that allowed you to get more out of your campaigns? AffiliateReporting.com is an online service that allows you to increase your ROI and get more from your affiliate programs.

If you need a dashboard that aggregates data from all sources and gives you a better overall view of your campaigns, AffiliateReporting has a solution for you. AffiliateReporting provides you with:

• Aggregate Commission Data: CJ, Linkshare, Performics (Google Affiliate Network), ShareASale, PepperJam Network, ClickBank, PartnerFusion, Converseon, Kowabunga are all included in Affiliatereporting.com. I don’t know about you, but tracking these networks’ numbers on an individual basis is not the best way to track your progress as an affiliate.
• PPC Cost Data: AffiliateReporting.com allows you to aggregate your cost data from top search engines such as Google Adwords, Yahoo! Search Marketing, and MSN Adcenter.
• ROI Analysis: ROI should not be the only metric that you are concerned about, but it’s a very significant metric. With AffiliateReporting, you get sophisticated ROI reports without having to do all the hard spreadsheet work. Saves a lot of time.
• Alarm system: you also get an alarm system that notifies you if there are problems with your campaigns. If you are a busy affiliate like me, you’d appreciate this feature.
• Search Engine Management: wouldn’t it be nice if you could create multiple campaigns on top search engines at once? You can do it all with AffiliateReporting.com. And there is a bid management tool integrated into this system as well. So, if you have trouble optimizing your bids, you can always use the bid management software to keep you on track.
• Deep Reports: Not only you get top level reports on AffiliateReporting.com, you also get deep keyword, ad, and adgroup level reports from the system. The more numbers you can look at, the better, more knowledgeable decision you can make.

AffiliateReporting is not for everyone. It’s a sophisticated solution that costs a lot of money and is designed only for super-affiliates. The minimum fee you’ll have to pay is $500, and 2% of your ad spends are added to your monthly bill. If you are making lots of money in this business, you are going to save a lot of time and money, offsetting the fee. But if you are a newbie, you may want to stay away until you have enough revenue to justify purchasing this package.

Affiliate Theme Review

One of the biggest challenges that new affiliate marketers face is building their landing pages. I have heard from a lot of experts that you can make a lot of money from Google cash (direct linking). That may be true, but if you go in that route, you will be competing with top guns who have automated bid management systems that can overwhelm your bids and leave you with no real profit to show for. It’s never smart to get in a bidding war with super-affiliates. So, if you really want to make money in this business, you’ve got to create your landing pages, and you’ve got to be create a lot of them to test out and increase your conversion rate.

Building landing pages can prove too difficult for a lot of affiliate marketers. A lot of folks are scared of touching anything technical. A few others have no confidence in their web development abilities and often overestimate the obstacles in this area. Whichever group you belong you, you won’t have to worry about developing your own landing pages from scratch with Affiliate Theme. It’s a new theme that’s been released the help affiliate marketers build and test multiple affiliate landing pages fast.

Wordpress is an affiliate marketer’s best friend. With Wordpress you can set up your affiliate website in less than 5 minutes. But till now, you would have to program your landing page yourself, or use one of those dull themes that are available for free online. Affiliate Theme is a premium Wordpress theme that is designed specifically for marketers who want to test things out to improve their conversion rates. The theme comes with 6 different layouts, perfect for testing and figuring out what works for your niche.

You also get a color picker feature that allows you to change the look and feel of your website fast (in accordance to your niche). Let’s say you have a website about X-box. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could change the look and feel of your website to make it more attractive to your target audience, X-Box fans?

But what I like about Affiliate Theme is the fact that it’s highly optimized for PPC and SEO. Let’s say you want to start a new pay per click campaign on a cool new affiliate product. Wouldn’t it be nice if your landing page was optimized to give you the highest quality score possible? How about getting free traffic from search engines? Affiliate Theme comes with a clean HTML/CSS code, and the developers have used proper tagging to give you the best chance to get those high quality scores you need to run profitable PPC campaigns.

Affiliate Theme is highly customizable. Not only you get 6 layouts to work with, you can easily change the code to completely redesign your landing pages. The code is simple to understand and very easy to change. If you know any coding, you are going to find it very easy to create your very own layouts. You also have unlimited support, which means you can always ask if you are stuck.

Overall, Affiliate Theme is a great tool for affiliate marketers who want to spend less time coding and more time optimizing. By using Affiliate Theme, you can easily set up thousands of affiliate landing pages fast. And you can test them all too by changing the colors, fonts, and everything else in between. Talk about saving a lot of time and effort!

Download your copy here.

Should You Disclose Your Affiliate Links?

To disclose or not to disclose, that’s the ultimate affiliate marketing question. A lot of affiliate marketers try to pull a fast one out on their readers and hide our affiliate links, thinking that their audience is not smart enough to figure out they are getting paid through our links. A lot of us fear that by disclosing our affiliate links we are going to lose our commission money and even the trust we have built on our sites. These fears are legitimate. For some reason, many consumers have trouble coming into terms with affiliate links. It just seems some people have a hard time understanding that you can’t just create content forever for free without getting some compensation in return. It seems it’s easy for folks to assume you are recommending something because you are getting paid for it, but not so easy to understand that may you want to be paid so you can continue providing free content to others. You also want to protect yourself against hijackers which is why some folks hide their affiliate links.

This is really a thin line here. In reality, there is no way to tell the real motives of affiliates. A lot of affiliates promote products without even trying them. A few others put more work in to provide reliable information to their readers. But both groups may be doing it just for the money. In reality, you should focus on building trust with your readers to get around this issue. As long as your readers trust you have their best interest in mind, they don’t mind clicking on your affiliate links. However, if they feel you are in it for the money, they are not going to reward you.

Should you disclose your affiliate links explicitly? It’s really up to you. I have seen many gurus who go out of their way to make sure their audience know there are affiliate links on their sites. That approach can help you build trust or destroy it. So it’s a double-edged sword. If you feel your readers can handle it, then go for it. I personally disclose affiliate links on my about page. If my audience don’t like me using affiliate links on my site, they can just go straight to the source and avoid using my links. I focus more on providing value to my readers and less on worrying about money. In the end, everything works itself out. That has worked for me. But you can always test different approaches. Ultimately, it’s trust that matters not whether you are using affiliate or direct links.

Commission Junction Bites The Bullet

Many of you know about the budget crisis that is going on in California. But no one is going to be affected more than affiliates once the latest tax bill gets approved. We all know what happened with Amazon and the state of New York. Commission Junction understands that there is a good chance this bill will go through. That’s why it has decided to let affiliates know about the impending doom:

As you may already know, there are proposed California bills that could require the collection of sales tax for online purchases similar to bills proposed in other states and that could resemble the law that recently passed in New York State. At this time, a hearing date for AB 178 has been set for April 13, 2009. As with all laws, if passed, these laws may or may not apply to you and your business.

Commission Junction is headquartered in California and impacted by the current California budget crisis. Nevertheless, we are opposed to the recently proposed legislation and are working with a lobbyist and other groups in hopes that we can influence the rejection of the bills’ passage. Rest assured, we recognize that our industry and many of our clients may be impacted by these bills.

The application of the bills is dependent on particular business and factual circumstances, and Commission Junction is not in a position to provide legal and tax advice regarding the bills. However, we encourage you to perform the appropriate due diligence as it relates to your business. You may be contacted by advertisers in the Commission Junction network as they perform their due diligence.

The culprit here is Nancy Skinner. She believes this bill will bring the much needed revenue to help California avoid bankruptcy:

During this unprecedented fiscal crisis we cannot afford to lose sales tax revenue from out-of-state companies when our own local businesses are struggling to keep their doors open.

So what can affiliates expect if and when this bill gets through? Simple:

• Expect a few merchants to get out of the market. The very same thing happened in New York, and I suspect this will happen here as well.
• Expect decrease in commissions. That’s right. Companies can’t afford to pay you the same amount of money if they are getting taxed through their nose.
• Affiliates to lose more battles across the country. I was optimistic a few months ago but not anymore. The country is in trouble, and I am sure there are a lot of states that want to close this “loophole.”
• Expect more Internet regulations. As the country struggles economically, you can expect more taxes and more regulations for the Internet industry. It’s sad to say, but right now the Internet industry looks extremely attractive to the tax masters.

Did I miss anything? Yes. The end of the world. OK, that’s not going to happen. But the way we are taxing the living and the dead, who knows.

The Glory Of Tiered Affiliate Program

Tiered affiliate programs. Everyone loves them, but we don’t seem to have enough of them around. It’s one thing to make 10% for every sale that you deliver. It’s another thing to make 10% per each sale that your sub-affiliates generate. If you play your cards right and get enough affiliates to sign up under you, you are going to make money without having to do much work. In reality, it’s more complicated than that. Many affiliates are not willing to do you a favor and give you a percentage of their commission just because you have introduced them to an affiliate program. Even though they are not losing any money, affiliates are very sensitive about taking advice from (and rewarding) someone who’s banking to make money off of them.

Master-affiliates realized this issue a long time ago. That’s why they invested in reporting and infrastructure to provide more value to their sub-affiliates. These folks also used economies of scale to get better deals not only for themselves but also for their sub-affiliates. Companies such as NCSReporting went behind reporting features and provided their sub-affiliates with creative, banners, content, and a dedicated affiliate manager. It’s easy to be ignored and wait for days to hear from your affiliate manager if you are working with a large affiliate network. But master affiliates provide you with better access and coaching as well.

Master-affiliates are smart entrepreneurs who understand they can make money from their sub-affiliates’ work in return for providing value to them. It’d be nice if you could make easy money from tiered affiliate programs. In fact, some super-affiliates do. But those folks have worked hard to get where they are, and not everyone can do what they do. Master-affiliates are super-affiliates who are not after quick cash but rather want to foster relationships and build a long-term business. With the value that they provide to their sub-affiliates, they can get more sub-affiliates to sign up for them and make more money in the process as well. The more value you provide, the more industry recognition you get, and the more money you make in the process.

Your take: have you had success promoting tiered affiliate programs online?

Catch Them While They Are Hot

Super-affiliates keep telling you how you need to work hard and keep banging your heard against the wall to succeed. In truth, a lot of super-affiliates are not what they seem to be. In fact, they make most of their money from membership sites and courses that they sell folks who are desperate to succeed in online marketing. In truth, a lot of top super-affiliates are successful due to their organization. These guys can launch campaigns, find hot products, and form partnerships fast, and that is the main reason behind their success. These guys look at their affiliate business as a real business and not some hobby you do from your bedroom.

You may not have their organization, but you can make a lot of money by catching the hot products fast. You hear from a lot of folks that you’ve got to wait to see a certain gravity number to start promoting a product. That’s exactly what you shouldn’t do. If you are not a super-affiliate and you don’t have their resources, you should start with new products as early as possible. Top affiliates afford to throw money around like crazy. If you get into that game with them, you are certainly going to lose. Speed does kill power, early on. In other words, as long as you are fast about going about your business, you can make money before the super affiliates come in.

Most gurus and super-affiliates have huge organizations. They hire employees and outsource things. That means they are going to be slower on a micro level. If you don’t have the resources they have, you can always use your speed of implementation to make money before getting into a head to head encounter with these guys. It may be a hit and miss approach, but it’s way better than burning cash on Adwords trying to outbid those super-affiliates.

Beware of Too-Good-To-Be-True Offers

Every business has its pitfalls. Affiliate marketing is no different. If you are a newbie affiliate marketer, you are probably searching for offers that provide you with the biggest bang for the buck. It is a very good practice to test offers before committing too much effort promoting them. But many new affiliate marketers are overzealous and fall for gimmick offers that are put out there by dishonest marketers. As an affiliate marketer, one should keep her eyes wide open to avoid falling into traps set by deceptive marketers.

Take the credit card market. It’s one of the most deceiving markets out there. It is possible to make money in the credit card market, but you have to spend a fortune to get clicks. And let’s not forget that many top companies have exited the market and those who have stayed have dropped their commission rates. But that’s not what you hear from folks who are selling get-rich-quick in affiliate marketing packages that supposedly teach you how to make millions from credit cards. Why would these guys want to share their secret money-making methods with you when they can make those millions themselves?

Deception is one of the biggest issues in the affiliate marketing. There are a lot of guys who claim to know way more than they actually do. Then, we’ve got folks who make money off of others by sugar-coating highly competitive markets. In truth, if something sounds too good to be true in this business, it usually is. If there is a certain way to make millions online, you can be sure that most top marketers won’t share it with you. And those who share it with others essentially render the method useless by increasing the competition level by 1000 folds. Making good money in this business is possible. Just don’t expect to do it on your first night.

Why Affiliate Marketing Is Recession Proof

Affiliate marketing is one of those fields that will always be recession proof regardless of what industry’s hit badly by an economic Tsunami. In fact, as times get tougher, one should expect companies to lay off their staff and take on more affiliates. Affiliate marketers act as a marketing extension for merchants. And while they do require commission to get their jobs done, they won’t cost as much as employees. Here is why:

• No sales, no cash: affiliate marketers don’t get salaries. If they don’t produce, they get no money.
• No limits: there are no limits to how many affiliates you can hire. There will be paperwork, but as long as they produce for you, you won’t mind.
• Competition: the competition among affiliates can not only push them to higher levels but can bring you lots of sales. That level of competition is not possible if you have employees.
• No health insurance: affiliates don’t get any benefits from the merchants they work with.
• Motivation: you can easily motivate your affiliates by giving out prizes or commission increase. And it will be all tied to their performance. No more dealing with folks who want a raise but don’t perform.
• No office space: you don’t even have to have an office to recruit affiliates. You won’t have to provide your affiliates with computers, printers, or anything in particular. The start-up costs are extremely low here.

Affiliates do pose their own challenges. Your top performing affiliates will ask you for commission increase, and they won’t be so loyal to you if you don’t compensate them for their troubles. But as folks are losing their jobs, you can expect commissions to decrease but affiliate marketing won’t go away unless the government makes the business unprofitable for merchants (e.g. NY Amazon tax).

CPA Offer Raises Hell

If you have been to Fox News, MSNBC, or one of these top content sites, you have probably seen that ad which has Obama holding a check in front of his face. Obviously, the ad has been created that way to show Obama is giving money away to all of us. If you click on that ad, you see a mini-blog that talks about how a guy got a $12,000 check from the government and changed his fortunes.

The problem with that side? The site is pushing a CPA offer that pay $30-$40 per application. Now, normally people promote these kinds of offers and don’t get into trouble. But it’s not every day that you get a piece about your campaign on Fox or MSNBC.

Some of these stories are for real, but you lose credibility when you try to make money from a service that is available for free to consumers. I have talked about this issue before on this blog. Affiliate marketing is about being honest and providing value to your readers. You can sell a junk product to your visitors, but they are not going to respect you once they find out you have tricked them or had anything but their best interest at heart.

I like CPA offers. Don’t get me wrong. But I care more about building relationship with my visitors than making some quick bucks. Thinking long-term in this business is everything.

Don’t Fall For Get-Rich-Quick Scheme

If you have been involved in the Internet industry, you have probably seen these courses on how you can make a million with PPC affiliate marketing fast. In essence, you see a “guru” who teaches you how to make money from PPC easily by doing proper keyword research and bidding on two million keywords. There is no question some folks are making loads of money online from PPC marketing, but have you wondered why these guys are teaching their secrets to you if they are making $200,000 a month?

That’s really the fundamental problem with most info products. Smart marketers understand that in order to be able to sell their courses to others, they have to project the images associated with being super rich. Some show you their $10,000 Clickbank checks. Others even show you their homes and cars. These are all designed to make you believe it’s easy to make millions of dollars online from pay per click marketing.

People are looking for knowledge in this business. A lot of folks want to make money online, and the market is there. You can have the best course out there, but if you can’t prove that you are actually making money online, nobody is going to buy from you. With these big checks, fancy cars, and large homes, these folks can claim that they have made it and keep selling you their courses. I have bought many info products in the past few years. I buy them to figure out how these guys go about selling their products. But I can firmly claim that out of every 1o0 info products that I have bought, only 2-3 of them are worth more than $20.

It’s good to be a learner. You’ve got to learn and evolve at all times. But don’t expect other marketers to tell you how. That’s just not realistic.