RosalindGardner.com

Learn Blogging & Affiliate Marketing with Rosalind Gardner

Rosalind Gardner

Super affiliate, blogger, and speaker, Rosalind is best known for her affiliate marketing training in the Super Affiliate Handbook: How I made $436,797 in One Year Selling Other Peoples' Stuff Online. You can connect with her on Facebook.

Video Tour of Rosalind’s Home Office

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OK, don't laugh… or try not too… but here's my Cannes Film Festival entry… NOT.

I put together a little video tour of my home office (7 minutes, 55 seconds) during which I show you exactly how low-tech an internet / affiliate marketer's office can be. See the equipment list here…

You'll see all of the equipment I use – including my computers, printer, keyboard, backup power unit, external hard drive and even my chair (hey! don't laugh.. your desk chair is one the most important pieces of equipment! :-)) and hear what I really think of some of the stuff I've bought…

Anyway, it's all proof positive that you don't need a lot of stuff to operate a highly successful home-based businesses on the Internet! Enjoy!

Dell Affiliate Program: They Love Me, They Love Me NOT

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The Dell Affiliate Program recently migrated from Linkshare over to Commission Junction. During the transition, I received the following 3 emails from Dell, encouraging me to sign up for their new program.

  • August 17, 2007 – Dell Home Migrating To Commission Junction!
  • October 10, 2007 – Dell Home: You are missing out on great commissions! Join the Dell Home Affiliate Program at Commission Junction Today!
  • Ocotober 11, 2007 – Dell Home Affiliate Program: Still haven't migrated? You could be missing commissions!

The following snippets indicated that Dell really wanted affiliates to continue the relationship and move over to their program at CJ.

  • We are excited about the new opportunities joining Commission Junction will bring our publishers and look forward to an even more successful relationship with our affiliates.
  • Please let us know if there is anything that we can help you with regarding transferring over to the new Dell Home Affiliate Program or the program itself. We would be happy to help you.
  • As one of our dedicated LinkShare affiliates, your application will be fast tracked for approval during this time, so that you can begin to adjust your promotions accordingly and earn commissions right away!

Well, I gotta tell ya, I'm not convinced. I applied and my application was summarily rejected. Despite sending 2 emails in reply, I have yet to receive a response.

Gee… do you think that this experience – after nearly 10 years as a very enthusiastic Dell customer who has sold umpteen Dell computers by word-of-mouth alone – might influence the brand that I buy when it comes to getting my next desktop?


Sony Logo Hmmmm… It might just be time to check out Sony's other computer offerings. after all, I liked my first VAIO so much that when airport security in Toronto wrecked it, I replaced it with another one.

Oh ya, and that link to Sony? It is an affiliate link. 🙂

[tags]Dell,affiliate program,Sony,computers[/tags]

Is Your Site Ready for Paid Traffic?

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Don't Pay for Traffic Before Your Site is Ready…

New affiliate marketers often tend to fixate on getting “traffic, traffic and more traffic” to their recently launched content sites.

However, in their rush to start earning commissions, some affiliates make costly errors when they pay to drive traffic to sites that are not yet ready for visitors.

Before you spend good money on pay-per-click advertising, the following seven (7) conditions MUST be met on all your affiliate sites.

  1. Attractive Design – Use an attractive template that provides consistent navigation throughout the site. Request ‘no holds barred' feedback from friends and professional designers through webmaster forums.
  2. No ‘Under Construction' Pages – Avoid launching until all pages are complete, or remove links that lead to pages that are not ready.
  3. Legal Notices – Many affiliate programs require that affiliates post privacy notices to ensure visitors are protected from scams and spam. Depending on site content, disclaimers and terms of service pages should be considered.
  4. About Us Page – Builds trust by telling visitors about both the business and the webmaster. Make sure to include either your photograph or, if you are shy, replace the photo with a caricature of yourself.
  5. Contact Page – The presence of contact information enhances trust in you and your site. To protect yourself from spam, use a form rather than posting your email address.
  6. Ecourse / Autoresponder Series – Create a series of at least 7 messages on a specific topic relevant to your site's theme. Link back to appropriate content pages within the messages. An ecourse reminds visitors about your site and encourages them to revisit the site. Repeat visits also improves a site's search engine ranking.
  7. Email Capture Form – Placed an signup form for your autoresponder series in a prominent position (eg. near the top of the page in your navigation bar) on every page of your site to capture leads for your list.

Neglect even one of the above-mentioned site essentials and you may be wasting your money on pay-per-click advertising.

To achieve super affiliate conversion rates, be a Super Affiliate.

Feel Like You’re Up Against a Brick Wall? Watch this Video

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Do you sometimes feel like you're up against a brick wall or have trouble taking action to accomplish your goals?

Then the video lecture I stumbled across online this morning (and then had the good fortune to see presented again on Oprah later in the day) will kick you into high gear.

The video is of Professor Randy Pausch, giving a ‘last lecture' before a packed house at Carnegie Mellon University on September 18, 2007. “Last lecture” is apparently a common theme for college lecture series, in which professors deliver a hypothetical final talk about what they've learned and want most to impart to others..

Randy Paush's talk wasn't hypothetical however, he is dying of pancreatic cancer.

During his talk entitled “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams,” Pausch discussed his lessons learned and shared advice with the attendees on how to achieve their own career and personal goals.

Seriously, if you do nothing else today, watch this video. It is brilliant, inspirational and to the point. And if you really do feel like you're up against a brick wall, take special note of what Dr. Paush has to say about why those brick walls are there in the first place… it should give you insight into how to break them down.

The YouTube version posted below is just shy of 10 minutes in length. If you would like to see the whole lecture (1 hr. 44 mins), it is available here on Google Video.

NPT Digest: If you do nothing else today…

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While I watched the maple tree outside my office window lose all it's leaves this week, I added quite a variety of posts to the blog — everything from a new product release (the availablility of which a number of you had queried), my Halloween costume, to 2 programs that should work on just about any site — especially during the holidays and quite a few more.

Here are the ‘nutshell' descriptions:

Speaking of videos, I'll have one for you next week. 🙂

Til next time — Promote and Prosper! 🙂

Cheers,
Ros

First Casino Affiliate Convention in Asia

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With gaming predicted to one of the largest growth markets in Asia during the next decade, Ticonderoga Ventures, Inc. is holding its 1st annual Asian gaming conference for affiliates in Macau, China on November 28-29, 2007.

Respected affiliate marketing industry leaders to speak at the inaugral Asian Casino Affiliate Convention event include:

  • Mor Weizer, CEO of Playtech
  • Jason Chan, President of Entertasia
  • Monte Cahn, CEO of Moniker
  • Chen Yu, Vice President at YeePay
  • John Ryott, Affiliate Director at Gaming VC
  • Graeme Eastman, CEO of AffiliateGuide

Attendance for the Macau event is limited with online registration ending on November 22nd, 2007.

Ticonderoga stated that it is also planning an event at the end of June in Moscow in support of Russian super-affiliates that have been unable to obtain visas to travel to past Casino Affiliate Conventions.

[tags]Casino Affiliate Convention,Macau,Ticonderoga Ventures,affiliate,gaming[/tags]

Tiny*Prints: BIG EPC’s for Affiliates

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At the last Affiliate Summit, I picked up a Tiny*Prints ‘Last Minute Card Kit' (shown here to the left). The card kit was originally designed for the 2007 Golden Globe Style Lounge event where celebrities such as Paris Hilton, Brooke Shields and Jessica Simpson placed orders for the unique cards. The pack of 10 foldover cards, each with a coordinating colored envelope was also placed in the Entertainment Weekly Oscar gift bags.

The cards were of such high quality that I checked out the Tiny*Prints site and affiliate program. I went straight to the Customer Testimonials page where I found 100's of testimonials from satisfied customers, most of whom note not only the great product quality, but the exceptional customer service that they received from Tiny*Prints.

It was easy to understand why their customers are so pleased when I noticed that Tiny*Prints offers a a convenient pre-ship envelope service to all customers purchasing birth announcements. They send the announcement envelopes before the actual delivery date, which allows customers to address the envelopes in advance and get them out quicker after the baby is born. Nice touch!

Tiny*Print also offers photo greeting cards, which are great for custom birth announcements and family holiday greetings.

Their affiliate program is administered by the ShareaSale affiliate network. Here are some of the details:

  • Base commission rates of 10%
  • up to 15% commissions with volume sales
  • Monthly affiliate promotions – e.g., $250 for the first five affiliates who reach monthly volume target
  • $175 average holiday order size and $35 EPC!
  • 180-day cookie
  • 5% holiday coupons for customers
  • Product data feed

Tiny Prints reports that they are expecting a tremendous holiday season in 2007 with expected order volume of over 5 million cards, and reminds affiliates that the peak season for their holiday orders begins in mid-October and runs into mid-December.

Card categories and products include:

  • Baby Shower Invitations
  • Baptism & Christening
  • Birthday Party Invitations
  • Bar & Bat Mitzvahs
  • Holiday Parties
  • Corporate Holiday Parties
  • Holiday Party Favors
  • Baby Shower Favors & Gifts
  • Dogs and Pets

I'd highly recommend signing up to promote the Tiny*Prints program through ShareaSale over the holidays (or at any time) on almost any niche site.

[tags]Tiny*Prints,Tiny Prints,greeting cards,affiliate,program,EPC,holiday[/tags]

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