The January issue of Internet Retailer has a great article by Bill Siwicki about how online retailers are blending video and ecommerce – and doing so quite easily.

According to Mr. Siwicki, “The majority of e-retailers do not have the resources to create an online TV network. But as merchants like Netflix, Ice.com, Bodybuilding.com and others are demonstrating, there are many simpler and less expensive ways Internet retailers can use online video on-site and on video-sharing sites and reap diverse rewards.”

Creating and deploying online video is no longer much of a challenge, says consultant Heneghan of Elevation. “For many of the things e-retailers can do, all you have to do is just connect a video camera to a computer and off you go. I mean, people are doing this every day at home with movies of their babies and then posting them on YouTube.”

As for the use of online video in e-retailing, one might say it’s a baby movie itself. “As far as its evolution goes, online video still is in its infancy,” says American Eagle Outfitters’ Savitt. “For us, having measured the click-throughs and conversions of our online video effort, so far we have seen good returns. Ultimately, online video is a significant part of Internet users’ online experiences and there is so much opportunity for retailers.”

Rosalind's Comment: And there is so much opportunity for affiliate marketers!

Read the rest of the article by signing up for your free issue of Internet Retailer here. BTW, Don’t be put off by the name & address form… it’s worth the bit of time it’ll take to fill out.

And to learn more about how to make your own videos for the web, check out Jim Edwards and Mike Stewart's “Web Video Secrets” course.

Have you read the “The Great Affiliate Marketing Sham” [find out why this link was removed] yet?

It's a little 56-page report by a fellow known only as “X”. Having managed affiliate programs for others as well as his own, and worked an affiliate, he was tired of affiliates being “sc___ed”. (Note: Don't read this report if you're offended by strong language.)

While outlining his evolution as an affiliate marketer, from “Age of Darkness” to “I Began to Build an Affiliate Business”, “X” talks about lousy tracking, poor commissions, terrible conversion and the fact that most merchants can't sell because “they and their consultants or “webmasters” have no clue what they’re doing, etc, etc, etc..”

“X' correctly reports “While most affiliates are worried about protecting their commissions from theft by other affiliates or people using their own link to buy, the reality is this only accounts for about 8% of commission loss in the Internet Marketing niche. In other niches, commission theft is negligible in contrast. The greater concern should be on the 25%”.

His mission now is to teach you how to, “Use Affiliate Marketing to Make Money, Build Your Business, Gain Valuable Insight Into the Business of Your Competitors – and Seduce Away Their Customers” — an obvious marketing statement for his upcoming Black Book DVD's, which I can't recommend as I haven't seen them.

However, the report is a quick (lots that can be skimmed through) yet worthwhile read and the point that he makes about how SMART Internet marketers use affiliate marketing channels is absolutely bang-on.

Click here to read The Great Affiliate Marketing Sham [find out why this link was removed].

Are YOU the perfect affiliate? What consitutes a ‘perfect affiliate' anyway?

Covering everything from trust to profitability to communication, Debra Rabin of American Life Direct answers that question in December's Affiliate Classroom magazine's feature article, “All I Want For Christmas Is the Perfect Affiliate! 7 Rules for Being that Perfect Gift to Your Program Manager!”.

Find out what it takes to be the Perfect Affiliate. Download your FREE copy of Affiliate Classroom Magazine now.

Other features in the magazine this month include:

• Two Years of AC Magazine: Looking Back
• Three Market-Changing Products of 2006
• Web 2.0 — Top 10 Tips to “Socialize” Your Site

Download Affiliate Classroom Magazine now.

Too funny, I'd just finished writing the post about Michael's Stinkin' Rich 3 package and the phone rang. Who was it but Michael himself?

He called to tell me – to tell you – that he wil give you a copy of his very popular EZ Ezine Toolkit – this is just for NPT subscribers and blog readers.

I don't need to tell you how valuable this bonus is… considering a site is NOTHING without an ezine.

Go on… Get Stinkin' Rich now!