Tuesday, May 31, 2005

Affiliate Marketing--Huh? by Vickie J. Scanlon



Affiliate Marketing--Huh?
by Vickie J. Scanlon
www.myaffiliateplace.biz

In my search for a presence on the internet, I searched many avenues, but
was finding more scams and dead ends than I would care to speak about.

It was one last scam and six months of my presence on the internet that
I realized that the only way I could possibly make a living on the internet --
and gain any amount of satisfaction --was to work for myself.
Duh! But how? Affiliate Marketing seemed to be the answer.

What is Affiliate Marketing?

Affiliate marketing is the promotion of another person's or company's product, in
which you get a percentage of the profit if a sale is made. That doesn't sound
so hard, does it? Well -- it's doeable if you have the information you need to
get you started in this field -- and it is work. So let me begin the enlightenment.

First and foremost, you need passion?

What is Passion?

Passion is a feeling that you have -- a feeling that is so strong that it is
your driving force in doing it.

As you can see, passion is needed in any venture if you want to
succeed. With passion, it will drive you forward through the hard times,
the bad times, and the good times when developing your business.

This passion thing, I must admit, was my first stumbling block. I believed I
didn't have a passion for anything -- and feared that maybe, just maybe,
the corporate world and it 70 hour work weeks may have consumed my passion.

However, I was not willing to give up. Not yet. I searched out sites, read articles,
examined web sites -- in search of my passion. Then one day, in the
middle of my research, I heard myself asking probing questions of -- Why?
Where? When? How? My passion was found.

Research, curiosity and learning -- my strengths and my driving assets.
My creation -- "My Affiliate Place", was born. It would be a place where an
affiliate marketer or a want-to-be affiliate marketer could find information,
articles, and free tools.

So, I say to you, if I can find my hidden passion, you can too.

Onward and upward --with my passion defined, I needed a web site.

Web site! Do I need one?

Many people say you can do affiliate marketing without a web site --
however, with a website you can promote more than one product and reach
a greater number of people with the same interests. And last but not
least, marketing is the act of connecting with people -- and on the internet --
a web site is your vehicle.

Web Site Is Built. Now What!

Now that your web site is built, you will need to begin the promotion process.
There are many avenues in which you can venture. To name a few:

1. safelists
2. ezines
3. classified ads
4. writing articles
5. Off-line advertising -- brochures, flyers
6. Search engine optimization -- To get help in this area, go to
my web site at: www.myaffiliateplace.biz/affiliate_info
-- to begin your optimization process.

As you can see, advertising is only limited by your own imagination.

To conclude, affiliate marketing is a viable way to begin your journey on the
internet and to your own business. But as you know, with anything that is
worth having, you must work diligiently and passionately, and continue
to grow and learn -- if success is to be yours.

To your success.

About the Author
Vickie J Scanlon has a BBA degree in Administrative Management and
Marketing. She left the corporate world as an Reports Programmer,
to begin her journey as an Internet marketer. Visit her site at:
www.myaffiliateplace.biz for free tools, articles, ebooks, and how to info.

Is Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) killing your affiliate sales? by Mike Snyder



Have you noticed a drop in affiliate sales since Microsoft's Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) was released? I have and I didn't really know why until my wife, kids, and friends started asking me why their computer wasn't working right.

While using Internet Explorer my son said, "Dad, nothing happens when I click on this link." I scratched my head for a minute and thought, "he isn't doing anything different, the only thing I recently installed was XP SP2"; then the light went off ... one of SP2's features is the incorporation of a pop-up blocker. After installing SP2, links that normally opened in a new window now don't open at all. The immediate way around it is to hold down the control key (Ctrl) then click the link or right click the link and select "Open in New Window". To permanently turn off IE's pop-up blocker, click Tools > Pop-up Blocker > Turn Off Pop-up Blocker.

So how does all this relate to lost affiliate sales?

If you have your affiliate links set to open in a new browser window, they are considered "pop-ups" by the post-SP2 Internet Explorer and many other pop-up stopping programs. The average Internet surfer with pop-up blocking software or SP2 installed will simply go to another site because they think the link does not work. If they do not see your affiliate product/page, they will obviously not buy what you are selling. Since the pop-up blocking feature is more-or-less automatic with SP2, you potentially lose a customer when they upgrade their copy of Internet Explorer.

Why would anyone set their affiliate links to open in a new window?

I have heard both positive and negative reasons to open links in new windows. The main reason to do it is to avoid losing customers by sending them away from your page with no way to get back. That is what I used to do until today.

How can I tell which links open in a new window (generate a pop-up)?

A lesson in Html is beyond the scope of this article but, in general, if you do not have any tags after the URL in the HREF tag, you are not generating pop-ups. If you have a target="_blank" after the URL, it will open in a new window and is considered a pop-up.

What is an easy way to fix my links?

If you only have a few pages to fix, just edit them by hand. Pages with many pop-up links can be easily edited in Notepad or other software with a search and replace option. Simply replace target="_blank" with target="_top" (or target="_self", target="_parent" if you are using frames). If you have a lot of files to change, try ReplaceEm (http://www.orbit.org/replace/ ), a freeware program that replaces text strings in multiple files and directories.

The bottom line:

It may just be a coincidence but this morning I changed the majority of my links so they do not open in a new window and saw my affiliate commissions as well as overall site traffic jump within hours!

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About the Author
Mike Snyder is the owner of MrGoodbeer.com
For more information about Mike visit http://www.mrgoodbeer.com/aboutus.shtml