RosalindGardner.com

Learn Blogging & Affiliate Marketing with Rosalind Gardner

BidClix Closing Today

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Recently purchased by aQuantive, advertising network BidClix is shutting its doors today. Today is also the last day to verify your contact information with BidClix f you have an account balance and are entitled to a payment or refund.

Too, as of August 6th, you'll no longer be able to login to your BidClix account – so if you have an outstanding balance, get in there and make sure you are set up to receive your due.

Final checks to all verified accounts will be sent between August 8th and 30th.

No Skype Promotions in Mainland China

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Skype - call the world at rock bottom pricesHere is a portion of a note that I just got from the Skype Affiliate Team regarding promotions of their product to people in Mainland China.

“Due to legal reasons, affiliates are no longer authorised to promote Skype in Mainland China. It is with great regret that we request you to cease the promotion of Skype in this country, with immediate effect.

We will be honouring the 90-day cookie policy and will be awarding commission for all sales generated prior to today, 17 July 2007. Please ensure all banners, text links and ad campaigns are removed as soon as possible, as no commission will be awarded to sales generated from China after 31 July 2007.”

Interesting considering Skype reportedly had over 25 million Chinese users toward the end of 2006, and supposedly growing at 100,000 users a day.

Hmmm… but they didn't explain reasons for the change.

Perhaps Skype can't afford to pay the commissions? Hmmm…

[tags]Skype, China, affiliate, affiliate marketing[/tags]

New at Clickbank: Recurring Billing

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On June 19th, Clickbank announced that it will offer a recurring billing option to merchants that sell subscription services and/or have membership sites.

This is great news for merchants and affiliates alike.

As an affiliate marketer, I've always specifically sought out those affiliate programs that pay recurring monthly commissions on product sales, such as for dating site memberships and web hosting services.

So, the next time you're in Clickbank looking for a recurring product to promote, do a search sorted by “Future $” which is the average total rebill revenue earned by the affiliate due to sales from a site. Generally this equates to the average sum of all rebills.

Granted, it may be awhile before anything shows up in this category, but well worthwhile to keep checking Clickbank to see who comes on board to offer recurring commissions.

[tags]Clickbank, affiliate, recurring, commissions[/tags]

Affiliates: What Do YOU Want?

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Jeremy Palmer, Scott Jango, Vinny Lingham and I are ramping up for our panel discussion at the next Affiliate Summit called “What SUPER Affiliates Want” to be held on July 9th in Classroom C at 11:30am.

We've built a BIG list of all the things that we, as affiliate marketers, would like to see improved in relation to affiliate programs, merchant site conversions, communication between managers and affiliates, and more.

But we don't want to miss anything at all, so you're invited to add to that list. Please leave a comment and share what affiliate program aspects you really appreciate and/or those that absolutely peeve you the most.

Go ahead, don't be shy – you'll be helping to improve our industry. 🙂

eBay US Affiliate Program Changes

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On June 1st, 2007, eBay US made a payment structure change to their affiliate program that could increase your affiliate earnings.

See the image below for the compensation model, which is only available through Commission Junction

Note: An “ACRU” is a new eBay active user, who registers for eBay for the first time, then confirms their registration and lastly places a bid on eBay or uses BIN (Buy it Now) to buy an item within 30 days of registration.

That's pretty straight forward. The more users that you recruit and the more revenue you generate, the more you make.

On the flip side, here's a policy change that could see your earnings drop.

If you are driving traffic to eBay via paid search, you will not be compensated for traffic purchased from Google, Yahoo, MSN or the associated content networks (Google AdSense, Yahoo! Publisher Network, and MSN ContentAds) if your ad links directly to any of the eBay.com, eBay Express, or eBay Store domains. This change only applies to the U.S. program and the search engines mentioned above.

So, if you're direct linking to eBay with paid search, change those ads ASAP.

Register for eBay

Join Our Affiliate Program – Just $2000!

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Here's a portion of a letter I got the other day about a site and affiliate program built to profit from the overwhelming current interest in the movie, “The Secret“.

Please note that the emphasis in italics is mine.

“I am writing now to invite you to join me in an affiliate opportunity called The Science of Getting Rich (SGR) Program. You can read all all about it and join at my site (link removed). In brief, for an initial cost of $2000.00 you purchase the SGR program AND the opportunity to become an affiliate!”

What a joke!

First of all, I would NEVER consider paying 2 grand to join an affiliate program — and I hope you wouldn't either!

Secondly, I guess this promoter has never heard of Rebecca Fine whom I met at Yanik Silver's first Underground seminar and is by every account a first-class human being who really cares about giving her very best on every level.

Rebecca has built an entire business around the “Science of Getting Rich” book by Wallace D. Wattles, which she offers as a free download to her visitors. Her site model is much like this one, in that she offers additional value through a free newsletter, open forum, articles and more. Furthermore, Rebecca's affiliate program is free to join and pays up to 35%.

So, here's a caution for you.

DON'T pay to join an affiliate program just because it coattails on the book or movie of the moment – despite that book or movie's great content or popularity.

DO your homework and you just might find a better program that is not only equally relevant, but provides more value for your valued visitors and subscribers at lower cost.

How's that for a good-for-the-soul-and-pocketbook profit model that makes everyone happy?

The ‘Affiliate Sham’ Saga Continued…

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Back in January, I introduced you to a little white paper called The Great Affiliate Marketing Sham which the author offered as a product preview for his upcoming product. I later used the report as an example in a marketing lesson.

Although I wasn't overly impressed with the author's offensive approach and foul language, I summarized the report as being a “worthwhile read”, noted that “the point that he makes about how SMART Internet marketers use affiliate marketing channels is absolutely bang-on” and I looked forward to reviewing the final product for possible promotion.

The author however took great exception to my marketing lesson… greater than I realized until yesterday…

[Read more…]

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