"The world has achieved brilliance without wisdom, power without conscience. Our is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants."Omar N. Bradley
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10 Time Saving Tips for Ezine Publishers
I recently spend several frustrating hours laying out and mailing an email newsletter. If you publish a free ezine, you will know its very time consuming to get all the information formatted correctly before sending. My long lesson should help you!1. Use ...
7 Steps to Highly Relevant, Search Engine Friendly, and People Useful Web Site Content
The task is to build a Content Rich Search Friendly and People Friendly Web Site Quickly. These 7 Steps will show you how with about 10 Hours work you can build over 50 pages of rich, Search Engine relevant content for your web SiteStep 1 - What is Your ...
How to Build Website Traffic
Websites are fiercely competing with each other to gain new visitors. For any ecommerce site to succeed, it must capture the interest and the trust of its visitors. It is not enough that your site is perfectly designed or has the latest in animation of ...
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Communication is Key!
When building an affiliate network communicating with affiliates is important for merchants to maintain a good relationship. An affiliate's web site targets visitors, who may not necessarily view a merchant's web site, and therefore expands a merchants market. An affiliate may not be able to actively keep up with the merchants product, it is important for a merchant to keep affiliate's informed about new product information, sales, new releases, links, graphics, promotions and special offers.
Keep in mind, not all affiliates are going to produce a high volume of traffic, and importantly, visitors who want to purchase a merchant's products or services. The occasional gem makes the time taken well worth your effort. Talk with successful affiliates, find out what they are doing to effectively promote your software, and use that information to assist those affiliates who are not as successful.
Assist affiliates in understanding your product; no one knows your products like you do. For affiliates to drive traffic that will convert to sales, they need to understand the benefits of the product they are marketing. Once an affiliate knows the product, they will be better able to act as an extended sales force. In order for the affiliate to make the effort, you simply must support them!
Make Communication Easy
Many 3rd party affiliate-tracking programs notify both the affiliate and merchant of a sale. This can often be automated and will create positive communication between merchants and affiliates. Making an affiliate's role easier will help them increase earnings and further promote a merchants site.
Provide affiliates with great looking graphics and sample text. Graphics that work best are those that highlight your web site, yet fit the look of an affiliate's web site.
Newsletters are another great way to get information to affiliates. Include tips and specific for affiliates, along with general marketing advice that helps with site promotion. If you are looking for software to manage newsletters, I highly recommend Group Mail -. http://tinyurl.com/23ljy
Affiliate Taboos
An affiliate generates a sale for a product and the merchant promptly decreases the commission. This sends a very negative message to the affiliate, in many cases they've taken a lot of time to place links, promote products and because they've driven effective traffic their commission is decreased. If its necessary to decrease a commission for whatever reason, be sure to include a personal note detailing the reason and letting the affiliate know that you still support their efforts.
A Cheat?
An affiliate sale occurs, you go to their website and don't find any links you decide they must be cheating you! This conclusion is simply a based on poor communication and reporting. Many, many affiliates have multiple sites, very few affiliate tracking programs allow affiliates to list multiple sites, and in many cases the number of sites listed do not accurately reflect the number of sites owned and managed by the affiliate. Additionally many affiliates manage opt-in newsletters that may result in sales, but links are not visible on a website. An example of a popular ezine often promoting affiliates is Lockergnome!
Links, Links, Links
Keep your links valid! If you update a section of the site or remove an offer provide a redirect or retain the link saying that such and such offer has expired and a new one has replaced it. It seems a waste to discard targeted traffic because a special has expired. Be sure to communicate with your affiliates, and if a link will only be good for a specified length of time tell them up front. When an offer expires notify affiliates a week prior to the expiration with a reminder. This will give them ample time to make any needed updates.
Added Incentives!
Affiliates love added bonuses for reaching goals or specified levels of sales. Many of the 3rd party affiliate vendors run contests and provide large incentives for their top performing ones. Reward and praise successful affiliates.
Affiliates tend to be experts in other areas, which relate to a merchants business; therefore, by communicating useful information, and helping affiliates increase their earnings, they will give added exposure and increase your sales. Communicating with affiliates will ultimately benefit visitors of both sites. A little effort in the beginning can mean big rewards in the long run.
Sharon Housley manages marketing for NotePage, Inc. http://www.notepage.net a company specializing in alphanumeric paging, SMS and wireless messaging software solutions. Other sites by Sharon can be found at http://www.softwaremarketingresource.com and http://www.small-business-software.net
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 Vallejo pins hopes on state tourism promotion in China - Vallejo Times-Herald
Vallejo tourism officials hope the city will benefit from the establishment of a California tourism office in China, agency officials said Thursday. The California Travel and Tourism Commission opened an office in China to promote group travel here ...
Church will offer fuel at 50-cent discount Saturday morning - Tulsa World
A new Tulsa church will sell gasoline at 50 cents less than the market value for two hours Saturday as a way to get involved in the community and help people. Foundations Church will sell discounted gasoline from 10 a.m. until noon at the Kum & Go ...
Swayze misses promotion because of ill health - Globe and Mail
The first no-show of the TV Critics Tour has occurred, and it is ominous indeed. At the last minute, film star Patrick Swayze cancelled his scheduled appearance to promote his new crime drama The Beast , which debuts January 15 on A&E. Rumours of ...
Stop your wife's expensive shoe habit with this T-shirt! - Walletpop.com
The T-shirt reads: "It only cost me $50,000 to stop my wife from shopping at Zappos.com." The promise: Buy this T-shirt for $50,000 and Zappos.com, the online shoe store, will permanently disable your wife's account. I laughed, anyway. It's a clever ...
Brookwood Systems Announces Donation to Palo Alto Medical Foundation - PR Inside
Brookwood Systems (www.bwsysinc.com) today announced a donation to the Palo Alto Medical Foundation (PAMF), California. The gift is an interactive personnel directory and map kiosk to be installed at PAMF's Mountain View Center, formerly known as ...
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