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Friday, October 31, 2008

PubCon Search Marketing Conferences 2008

PubCon Search Marketing Conferences 2008: "WebmasterWorld PubCon 2003-2008 Speaker Biographies

Peter Adams
President
Matchpoint
Tony Adam
SEO Manager
Yahoo
Joe Agliozzo
CEO
BetterPPC
Rainer Ahlfors
VP of Engineering
Wildcat Software
Glenn Alsup
President
Viewmark
Jeremiah Andrick
Program Manager, Live Search Webmaster Center
Microsoft
Paul Apodaca
Director, Program Management
Yahoo! Search Marketing
Elisabeth Archambault
Freelance Affiliate Marketer
Wedding-Resources
John Ardis
Vice President of Corporate Strategy
ValueClick, Inc.
Amy Armitage
Director of Business Development
Lunarpages Web Hosting
George Aspland
Founder & President
eVision, LLC
William Atchison
Founder
Crawl Wall
Andy Atkins-Krueger
Managing Director
Web Certain Europe Ltd
David Averill
General Manager, ContentLogic
InfoSearch Media
Brian Axe
Product Management"

MediaTrust Company Profile

MediaTrust Company Profile: "MediaTrust

MediaTrust Picture
MediaTrust is an ecosystem of digital media, marketing, and publishing solutions. MediaTrust combines innovative online media and advertising technology with human service and expertise. MediaTrust is comprised of: Advaliant, a performance-based affiliate marketing network; Data Management and Search & Social Media Optimization services and the MediaTrust Integrated Solutions Group (ISG). The ISG is made up of media specialists that analyze client needs and build customized performance-based campaigns that optimize results for advertisers, agencies and publishers.

Companies that choose MediaTrust benefit from relevant and intelligent online campaigns that deliver higher ROI and greater success in acquiring customers, creating brand awareness, generating sales and driving traffic.

The company is based in New York City and also has offices in Santa Barbara and Toronto."

Products

Advaliant performance marketing affiliate network
GoGoPayday
SmartChoices
bookQube social network site

Traffic Analytics

Compete

Mediatrust

Thursday, October 30, 2008

DONT VOTE!!!!!!!!!!

33 Reviews of the Best Affiliate Marketing Forums

33 Reviews of the Best Affiliate Marketing Forums

By Tim Scheer posted 9/29/2008

Here is a list of the top 33 affiliate marketing forums.

  1. 5 Star Affiliates
    Alexa: 134,671 | Compete: 22,639 | Members: 7,000+ | PR: 4
    5 Star Affiliates is one of the best all around sources for affiliate marketing information and networking. Linda Bouquet, the owner of the site, does a great job of providing free resources for anyone interested in affiliate marketing. They specialize in helping new affiliate marketers get started and pointed in the right direction. The forum is pretty active and all topics revolve around the affiliate marketing world. The moderators are also very quick to help and answer questions. There is also a thread for affiliate managers to post their affiliate program for feedback and review!

  2. Affiliate Forum
    Alexa: 249,190 | Compete: 452,526 | Members: 2,000+ | PR: 4
    Affiliate Forum seems to sometimes be un-moderated with the amount of "spam" posts that are posted daily, but always has a few hundred active users online at any given time. Posts can at times receive a lot of views, but responses are few and far between. The fact that the domain is "AffiliateForum.com" guarantees them a certain amount of affiliate traffic, so even though there is a lot of spam, it's one not to ignore. A thread for website reviews is also available here.

  3. Search Engine Watch
    Alexa: 19,877 | Compete: 3,357 | Members: 15,000+ | PR: 7
    Search Engine Watch Forums is a very popular forum for SEO and affiliate marketing topics. The more active in the community you are, the more boards and threads that you have access to post to. They have a small section dedicated to affiliate marketing but still gets a lot of traffic and attention.

  4. Affiliates 4u
    Alexa: 74,834 | Compete: 73,596 | Members: 26,000+ | PR: 4
    Affiliates 4u is a great forum with a lot of activity. Based out of the UK, they focus on UK affiliate programs, but also has a section for all other countries as well. The general affiliate marketing threads are universal, but they focus on talking about affiliate programs that are most successful in the UK. This forum is very active, with 1,000 users online at any given time.

  5. Affiliate Link
    Alexa: 589,606 | Compete: 948,353 | Members: 500+ | PR: 1
    Affiliate Link is much smaller and less active than most of the affiliate forums out there. There is enough activity to get some results from joining the community, but would not spend as much time as the rest of them. You will at most see 20 or 30 active users online. With only 575 total members, there are better places to spend time.

  6. Affiliate Helper
    Alexa: 123,493 | Compete: 123,863 | Members: 1,000+ | PR: 2
    Affiliate Helper is a small forum with about a dozen threads pertaining to affiliate marketing, building a website, and general "making money online" ideas. This is more active than Affiliate Link, but seems to be fading fast.

  7. Revenue Source
    Alexa: 121,162 | Compete: 218,551 | Members: 21,000+ | PR: 5
    Revenue Source covers topics ranging from affiliate marketing, reseller programs and also site design and development threads. They give affiliate managers the option to list their affiliate program for a review although it must be approved by a moderator before posting, you can get decent traffic from here.

  8. DNForum
    Alexa: 19,046 | Compete: 13,545 | Members: 60,000+ | PR: 5
    The DNForum is one of the more popular forums for all online marketing techniques and ideas. Thread Categories range from Domains, Content Development and Affiliate Marketing. They have free forums, and also upgrades are available to be able to post in the "Platinum" or "Gold" members only threads. These threads usually allow you to advertise a product or service or help wanted types of categories. All around a good resource and a very active forum.

  9. Associate Programs
    Alexa: 53,810 | Compete: 17,447 | Members: 18,000+ | PR: 6
    Associate Programs is another good resource with very helpful moderators. Allan Gardyne runs this website and personally answers many questions asked on the forums by new affiliates. They focus on providing information and resources for new affiliates, while providing a thread for website reviews and other general online marketing strategies. It doesn't have the most members but members are high quality.

  10. Affiliates Directory
    Alexa: 101,479 | Compete: 161,811 | Members: 3,000+ | PR: 5
    The Affiliates Directory is a small forum that is attached to an actual directory of affiliate programs. You can create an account to list your affiliate marketing program in their directory. The forum is not very active, but good to get link exposure if you make a few posts with your affiliate link.

  11. WebProWorld
    Alexa: 81,225 | Compete: 23,686 | Members: 66,000+ | PR: 6
    WebProWord covers a wide range of topics. The biggest topics here are in the Search Engine talk and webmaster tools and programming tricks. They do have one affiliate marketing thread which is pretty popular. A good all around source.

  12. Click Consultants
    Alexa: 60,286 | Compete: 146,022 | Members: 2,500+ | PR: 3
    Click Consultants is a very, simply clean forum that focuses primarily on affiliate marketing topics, and affiliate publisher information. Also has a "Learning Center" with affiliate resources available.

  13. Conquer Your Niche
    Alexa: 59,557 | Compete: 162,351 | Members: 40,000+ |PR: 3
    Conquer Your Niche topics range from marking, traffic generation, to general marketing. They don't offer specific affiliate categories, but under general marketing is where you will find a lot of affiliates actively post here.

  14. Webmaster Talk
    Alexa: 38,048 | Compete: 14,852 | Members: 62,500+ | PR: 3
    Webmaster Talk is a great forum that covers all of the main topics for webmasters and online marketers. They dedicate a lot of threads to programming and database questions. This is a very active forum, with usually 500 people online at any time. They are strict about spam, so be careful not to spam your links right away! This is a great forum to become an active member of the community in.

  15. eWealth
    Alexa: 51,433 | Compete: 106,636 | Members: n/a | PR: 4
    eWealth focuses on the individual affiliate networks and clickbank offers. They have some threads that offer affiliate resources and also a place available for website design reviews and feedback.

  16. ExperienceAdvertising Forums
    Alexa: 143,008 | Compete: 131,090 | Members: 600+ | PR: 4
    ExperienceAdvertising Forums is a small, basic forum that covers some general affiliate topics, SEO, and web design. There are only 8 categories available and a lot of the text on the site is red!

  17. Forum for Webmasters
    Alexa: 1,000,000+ | Compete: 131,090 | Members: 9,000+ | PR: 4
    Forum for Webmasters is another small, simple forum that has 9 categories that relate to web design and web development. They offer a thread for website reviews, and two threads that relate to affiliate marketing, and making money online. Not a lot of activity, but worth a post or two.

  18. More Niche
    Alexa: 59,792 | Compete: 43,583 | Members: 29,500+ | PR: 4
    The headline for their forum is simple: A meeting place for affiliates, merchants and the MoreNiche team. Honesty, transparency and effective communication between all parties. 4 Categories that keep it simple... General talk, affiliate talk, and link exchange requests.

  19. SitePoint
    Alexa: 3,011 | Compete: 2,615 | Members: 277,000+ | PR: 7
    SitePoint is by far one of the most popular forums for affiliates or internet marketers. They cover all major topics that relate to programming, web design, affiliate marketing and other SEO. They also offer the Sitepoint Marketplace which you can purchase premium listings and other upgraded listings for premiere placement. With 277,377 members, becoming an active member of the sitepoint community will be great exposure for you long term, and a great place to network with others.

  20. Warrior Forum
    Alexa: 12,648 | Compete: 10,137 | Members: 93,000+ | PR: 4
    Warrior Forum is also a very active site that focuses on general online marketing and discussions on making money online. They also offer programming and design support threads and other threads to network or share your products with others. Another great forum that will benefit you to become a spirited active member.

  21. DigitalPoint
    Alexa: 2,075 | Compete: 1,708 | Members: 200,000+ | PR: 7
    DigitalPoint has been called the best and the worst of internet marketing forums. They have one of the most active forums with on average 2000-3000 active members online at any time. The threads they offer cover all of the major online marketing topics. This forum is hit with a lot of spam naturually because of the amount of people that are active here. Even with this fact, becoming active on DigitalPoint is sure to give you good exposure.

  22. iWebTool Talk
    Alexa: 21,182 | Compete: 8,658 | Members: 13,000+ | PR: 3
    iWebTool primarily covers general webmaster and programming threads. They also offer a "marketplace" to buy and sell domains, or if you would like to post a service you are looking to purchase. They also offer a website review thread and some general online marketing threads that you will find active affiliate posts.

  23. WickedFire
    Alexa: 80,498 | Compete: 22,403 | Members: 29,000+ | PR: 4
    WickedFire has a lot of great topics for internet marketing and making money online. They claim to be the "bad boys" of the internet forums because they consider themselves to be R rated. You must become a true active member of the community in order to post on this site, otherwise you will very quickly be flamed and banned from the site. They do not take spam lightly here. If you do get a foothold, you will find a lot of successful affiliate marketers to network with and you will gain a lot of exposure to links you might post here.

  24. Affearners
    Alexa: 20,7595 | Compete: 406,248 | Members: 1,500+ | PR: 3
    Affearners is a semi active forum thats covers mainly affiliate marketing and affiliate networks. They have a few web design threads here but the focus is on the affiliate world.

  25. X10Hosting
    Alexa: 9,451 | Compete: 38,085 | Members: 147,000+ | PR: 3
    X10Hosting primary topics revolve around website hosting and website design topics. They have a couple of general online marketing topics which you will find affiliate marketing threads. They offer a point system based on earning points by posting useful information and getting positive feedback from other members. One of the more active forums available for webhosting and webdesign, but you will still find affiliates here too!

  26. DevShed Forums
    Alexa: 6,154 | Compete: 6,648 | Members: 230,000+ | PR: 4
    DevShed is a very active forum that has dozens of topics available. One of the most universal covering the widest range of internet topics. They have the most programming, database and networking threads. Webdesign and marketing are all covered here as well. With so many members, you are garunteed to find what you are looking for here.

  27. Major Geeks
    Alexa: 3,444 | Compete: 3,660 | Members: 147,000+ | PR: 5
    Major Geeks is primarily a gaming and tech forum, but with so many members selective posts depending upon the type of exposure you are looking for can generate a good amount of traffic to your site.

  28. The Switch Boards
    Alexa: 125, 611 | Compete: 262,419 | Members: 3,000+ | PR: 4
    A lot of general internet threads are available here, along with a "Critique my website" thread to help generate some more traffic and feedback. Small community, only worth a few posts.

  29. ABestWeb
    Alexa: 56,031 | Compete: 16,223 | Members: 47,000+ | PR: 5
    ABestWeb has a majority of affiliate marketing threads, with a very active userbase. With 774,000 posts and an average of 2,500 users online at any time, this is another one of the top forums to become an active member of. They are also very strict about spamming and affiliate links, so make sure to be an active community member.

  30. NetAffiliateTalk
    Alexa: 919,287 | Compete: 950,368 | Members: 100+ | PR: 2
    NetAffiliateTalk as of now only has 101 members. The few posts and threads that exisit now do recieve a high volume of views, but not many responses. This might be worth only a few minutes for an introduction post, or a website review post.

  31. The V7 Network
    Alexa: 45,884 | Compete: 13,934 | Members: 47,500+ | PR: 5
    V7 focuses on online marketing, web development, and web design. With over 500 online on average at any time of day, this is a good, active solid community to become part of. They also offer a webmaster marketplace to offer seo or other web services to readers.

  32. SEO Chat Forums
    Alexa: 23,596 | Compete: 5,206 | Members: 47,000+ | PR: 4
    Seo Chat covers all of the main online marketing and search engine optimization categories you need. This is a very active forum, with 400 people online on average at any time. Another good one to become active on.

  33. Wealthy Affiliate Forum
    Alexa: 38,946 | Compete: 31,505 | Members: n/a | PR: 4
    Wealthy Affiliate Forum is part of the membership you can purchase to gain access to a large variety of benefits and affiliate resources. They garuntee to get you more exposure by becoming a member.

RS #28 - Joseph Morin of Storybids

RS #28 - Joseph Morin of Storybids

Posted using ShareThis

33 Reviews of the Best Affiliate Marketing Forums

Here is a list of the top 33 affiliate marketing forums.

read more | digg story

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

7 More Sites to Cut Your Startup Costs - GigaOM

F|R Crib Sheet: 7 More Sites to Cut Your Startup Costs - GigaOM: "Crib Sheet: 7 More Sites to Cut Your Startup Costs
Last month we offered bootstrapping founders a short index of cost-optimization sites to help cut expenses for things .

Last month we offered bootstrapping founders a short index of cost-optimization sites to help cut expenses for things like health insurance, web hosting, wireless plans and electric bills.

Many of you wrote in to offer your own recommendations, so this week we’re expanding the list with seven additional resources to help you cut costs associated with project management, conferencing, financial planning and accounting — plus, an entire search engine devoted to sourcing free applications for just about everything else, including: data backup, CRM, product price tracking, professional video editing and more.

As always, if you’ve discovered additional tools for cutting startups’ commodity costs, please share them in the comments section.

ike health insurance, web hosting, wireless plans and electric bills.

Many of you wrote in to offer your own recommendations, so this week we’re expanding the list with seven additional resources to help you cut costs associated with project management, conferencing, financial planning and accounting — plus, an entire search engine devoted to sourcing free applications for just about everything else, including: data backup, CRM, product price tracking, professional video editing and more.

As always, if you’ve discovered additional tools for cutting startups’ commodity costs, please share them in the comments section."

F|R Crib Sheet: 7 More Sites to Cut Your Startup Costs

Carleen Hawn, Saturday, August 9, 2008 at 9:00 AM PT Comments (13)

Last month we offered bootstrapping founders a short index of cost-optimization sites to help cut expenses for things like health insurance, web hosting, wireless plans and electric bills.

Many of you wrote in to offer your own recommendations, so this week we’re expanding the list with seven additional resources to help you cut costs associated with project management, conferencing, financial planning and accounting — plus, an entire search engine devoted to sourcing free applications for just about everything else, including: data backup, CRM, product price tracking, professional video editing and more.

As always, if you’ve discovered additional tools for cutting startups’ commodity costs, please share them in the comments section.

1. Financial Modeling

Even if you never plan to raise professional money, you need to know how to build and read financial and accounting models in order to run your business effectively — especially during a recession. FinancialModelingGuide.com offers free tutorials and Excel spreadsheets (available for download once you register) that you can use to round out the capital-investment and cash-flow models in your business plan and help you with ongoing operations accounting. You’ll likely find the template for the enterprise software company useful. The site claims an active community of some 4,000 finance professionals, entrepreneurs, and academics who can give you quick and unbiased feedback.

Also take the time to listen to this lecture, by Prof. Aswath Damodaran of New York University’s Stern School of Business, in which he explains the how to easily assess the beta risk (or market correlation, a.k.a. recession exposure) of your business. (Ever wonder what tobacco companies and Twitter have in common? A low beta!) Other valuation resources are here.

2. Web Hosting (Addenda)

Slicehost.com is a reader-recommended site for web hosting and applications development. It includes a community for seasoned developers to share their tips and war stories and a very long list of free tutorials for building e-books working in MySQL, Ubuntu, Debian, Capistrano, etc. (Reviews of the tutorials are positive.)

WebhostNinja.com is another reader-recommended site that aggregates hosting vendors so you price-compare and buy wisely. We especially like this site for its index of coupons for further discounts and this handy list of articles, such as “The 3 key numbers when buying Web Hosting.”

3. Credit Assistance

Interactive media and online advertising firm MediaTrust is behind SmarterChoices.com, which aims to help consumers and startup founders (some of whom are also, we presume, MediaTrust’s clients) with certain finance and credit pressures. The site already provides auto loans, cash advances and will help you repair your poor credit. Apparently health insurance, debt consolidation and auto refinance are on the way. The sites seem a bit predatory at first, but MediaTrust is an established company, and heck, it’s an ugly truth that such services will be needed in tough times.

Meet the UK Digital Nation - eMarketer

Meet the UK Digital Nation - eMarketer: "Meet the UK Digital Nation



Does anyone go out to the pubs anymore?

Online life is thriving in the UK.

“And online behavior has become me more complex and sophisticated,” says Karin von Abrams, senior analyst at eMarketer and author of the new report, UK Internet Users and Usage Update. “UK residents increasingly use the Internet as a tool for social and political action, as well as e-mail, shopping, watching videos and keeping up with the latest news.”

eMarketer estimates that the number of Internet users in the UK reached 36.8 million in 2007, and will pass 38 million in 2008—equivalent to 62.6% of the entire population.

“With only one exception,” Ms. von Abrams says. “eMarketer estimates are higher than the available figures suggested by other research firms for 2007 and 2008.”

“The main reason for the discrepancy,” Ms. von Abrams, explains, “is that eMarketer is the only one that takes all ages and all access locations into account—and includes mobile Internet access.”

Though the mobile Web market has been slow to take off, the number of mobile UK Web users is increasingly significant and will play a stronger role in future years. According to Entertainment Media Research, less than 10% of adult Internet users in the UK were regularly"

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Clearspring Takes Top Spot Among Widget Networks - MarketingVOX

Clearspring Takes Top Spot Among Widget Networks - MarketingVOX: "Clearspring Takes Top Spot Among Widget Networks



'Your content. Everywhere'

Widget syndicator Clearspring Technologies is now the top widget network, bumping one-time leader Gigya, according to comScore's Widget Metrix.

In September, Clearspring served 254 million unique visitors worldwide, a 60% audience growth since August. In contrast, Gigya visitors fell from 174 million to 161 million from August to September.

Clearspring attributed its growth to its recent acquisition of AddThis, a bookmarking and content-sharing widget maker. It also inked partnerships with MetroLyrics and SnagFilms, adding to existing ones with KickApps, the Washington Post and the University of California, San Francisco.

Clearspring's service enables brands to disseminate their widgets across over 80 social networks, bookmarking services and blogs. In tandem with KickApps it launched a tracking service; and like rival Gigya, it launched an ad network to help content-sharing publishers monetize the platform.

Total US visitors in September numbered 101 million, a 43% gain from August. In June, Clearspring became the first widget network to win approval from the Audit Bureau of Circulations' Digital Technology initiative."

Online Ad Spend up 21% in UK; Could Overtake TV by '09

Internet ad spending in the UK grew to £1,682.5 million in the first half of 2008, a 21% year-over-year increase, according to the latest figures from the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB-UK) in partnership with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and the World Advertising Research Center (WARC), writes MarketingCharts.

iab-uk-online-share-drives-market-internet-grows-h1-2008.jpg

The biannual internet advertising spend study found that the total advertising market was £8982.5 million, down 0.7% year-over-year, during the period from January to June 2008. The advertising market would have experienced a 4.6% decline without the internet’s growth.

iab-uk-online-share-grows-h1-2008.jpg

In real terms, internet advertising added £348.2 million to its bottom line when compared with the same period in 2007. Online spending exceeded expectations to increase its market share by four points to 18.7%, only 0.6% behind total press display (19.3%) and 3% behind TV (21.7%).

iab-uk-market-share-all-media-h1-2008.jpg

The study suggests strong advertiser confidence in online media - including search, classifieds, rich media and video - at a time when TV, print, outdoor and radio, are experiencing declines.

Online formats surpassed expectations

  • Paid search spending grew 28% year-over-year and was worth £981 million in the first half of 2008, with its market share marginally up to 58.3% of total online advertising (57.8% in first half of 2007).
  • Total internet display advertising spending rose 16.3% year-over-year to £333.8 million. This was boosted by a 36.6% increase in spending on embedded formats such as banners, rich media and video. Internet display ads are still the only major display medium to be growing.
  • The majority of online display ad spending is still via major portals and online publishers, but sales networks - representing thousands of smaller sites - have increased their volumes and account for 41% of all display expenditures. Sales houses and networks are growing the 'long tail' of internet advertising - smaller and niche websites - and offer advertisers a streamlined 'quick sell' for direct response campaigns.

Technology, finance and entertainment & media top categories

  • In terms of revenues for specific sectors, technology is the top category with a 17.3% market share, followed by finance at 11.9%, entertainment & media at 10.7% and Recruitment at 9.9%.
  • Classifieds grew by 30.2% year-on-year to £361.6 million as recruitment, property, automotive and small ads continued their migration to the internet from print classifieds, which declined 10% year-on-year.

iab-uk-recruitment-advertising-leads-market-types-h1-2008.jpg

Key growth drivers:

Advertising networks: The rapid rise of advertising networks as efficient, streamlined warehouses that sell display advertising to the internet's 'long tail' are opening up the internet to more advertisers.

Online audiences: The online population now reflects the demographic make-up of the UK as a whole, with a 52%/48% male/female split. 21% of internet users are 25 to 34 years and at the other end of the spectrum, the over-50s now represent 30% of total time spend online.

3G, wireless and inexpensive laptops: Wireless and laptops are no longer a luxury item or confined to business. Mobile network '3' sells more 3G dongles than mobile phones, T-Mobile offers a £10 per month 3G dongle, which coupled with a powerful inexpensive laptop, substitutes for a traditional broadband contract on a fixed-based PC. In Q1 2008, 6% of adults used mobile broadband and in the five months from February 2008, 511,000 mobile broadband connections were sold by the UK's five mobile network operators. 75% of those with access to mobile broadband use it at home, 18% do so at work and 27% while elsewhere/on the move.

Broadband as commodity: Faster, cheaper broadband, with deals as low as £4.50 per month from Virgin Media are attracting more people online. The proportion of homes taking broadband services grew to 58% by Q1 2008, a rise of six percentage points on a year earlier. By the end of 2007, 58% of UK households had a broadband connection, up from 52% a year previously and from 41% two years ago.

Catch-up TV: Launch of services such as BBC iPlayer and Channel 4’s 4oD are breaking the barrier between video entertainment and the internet as a communications or shopping tool. The Beijing Olympics was the tipping point for BBC iPlayer with a broader demographic profile using the online service. Consumers are responding to this increased supply. Some 27% of those age 15-24 claim to use the internet for watching TV programs in 2008, up by 17 percentage points in 12 months. 45% used it for watching video clips/webcasts, also up by 18 percentage points over the same period.

Social networking websites: Social media continues to have a large impact on the market, especially as an audience driver, the research said. In the first half of 2008 ad spending for this area was relatively low and coming off a small base, but is expected to grow steadily in the coming years. CPM values for user-generated content are lower in this sector and they are generally bought through networks. However, the premium channels such as MySpace Music and MySpace Film are sold at a higher CPM rate.

"Online is not immune from the economic downturn, but while other sectors see falls in expenditure the internet is still experiencing an incredible increase and is propping up the entire advertising market," said Guy Phillipson, CEO of the IAB UK. "The growth in internet advertising spend is beating all expectations as advertisers look to maximize their budgets, and take advantage of new display advertising formats such as video. They are also increasing their investment in paid-for search marketing because it delivers measurable returns on investment."

Digital Tactics for Reaching Young Adults - eMarketer

Digital Tactics for Reaching Young Adults - eMarketer: "Digital Tactics for Reaching Young Adults
OCTOBER 28, 2008

Social network ads can seem intrusive.

Responding young adults in the US said e-mail and direct mail were bigger influencers on their purchasing decisions than social networks, according to recently released data from an ExactTarget-sponsored survey conducted by the Ball State University Center for Media Design.

Mike Bloxham, research director at Ball State, noted in a statement that just because 18-to-34-year-olds like to spend time on social networks does not mean advertisers should try to reach them there.

Need data for presentations? eMarketer subscribers can download charts instantly — over 50,000 choices.
Learn About an eMarketer Subscription

“It is too easy to assume that the media consumers choose for their own news, information and entertainment are, by default, the best media to use for marketing messages,” Mr. Bloxham said."

Finding a Gold Mine in Digital Ditties - NYTimes.com

Finding a Gold Mine in Digital Ditties - NYTimes.com: "Joel Moss Levinson always knew he had a calling in life. But it took cheap video cameras, YouTube and some desperate corporations to show him what it was.
Skip to next paragraph
Enlarge This Image
Nicholas Roberts for The New York Times

Joel Moss Levinson has won nearly a dozen sponsor contests for commercials.
Multimedia
My Water Cooler Loves to Dance All Night (YouTube.com)Video
My Water Cooler Loves to Dance All Night (YouTube.com)
Mr. Watermelon, Party Fruit (YouTube.com)Video
Mr. Watermelon, Party Fruit (YouTube.com)
Related
Joel Moss Levinson's YouTube Page (External link)

Among Mr. Levinson's entries were YouTube videos about how much he loved Israel, above, and his water cooler.

Mr. Levinson’s skill is turning out homemade corporate commercials — what advertisers call a form of “user-generated content.” Companies, frantic to connect with younger consumers, sponsor contests seeking these commercials to find new ways to advertise their products, often attracting hundreds of entries and lots of attention.

So far, Mr. Levinson, a college dropout with dozens of failed jobs on his résumé, has won 11 contests — earning more than $200,000 in money and prizes. His success has made him into the digital age version of Evelyn Ryan, the woman from Defiance, Ohio, who supported her fam"

One Easy Fix Could Cure Email Marketers' Impotence - MarketingVOX

One Easy Fix Could Cure Email Marketers' Impotence - MarketingVOX: "Home » Archives » 2008 » Oct » 27 » One Easy Fix Could Cure Email Marketers' Impotence...


As wallets slacken and consumers grow more conscious of where their money is going, online retailers have become more aggressive about using email to promote discounts.

A recent report found online shopping is more appealing as gas prices increase. Armed with this and other optimistic forecasts, nearly three-fourths of internet retailers are prepared to survive the economic climate — and a full 35% expect to profit.

Email is cheap, and in some ways is the perfect vehicle to precipitate online profit growth. Forrester analyst Julie M. Katz says it costs about $2 to send a thousand emails. Better yet, marketers get an average $45.06 ROI for every dollar spent on email campaigns, says the Direct Marketers Association (DMA).

And while intentions may be noble, consumers are wary. Cory Porter, a web shopper from Washington DC, confessed, 'I find them annoying.' He receives about seven email offers per day — nearly twice as many as two months ago, reports the Associated Press.

Given 'all the economic uncertainty,' Porter slashed"

HOT OFFERS: Work From Home / Make Money | Advaliant Blog

HOT OFFERS: Work From Home / Make Money | Advaliant Blog: "HOT OFFERS: Work From Home / Make Money


Listen up Advaliant Affiliates, we’ve got some really cool offers to tell you about in the Business Opportunity / Work from Home / Make Money space. If you do well with these, or have been waiting for the right opportunity to try them, this is gonna blow you away:

1. Government Funded Grants (#1933)

2. Earn Google Cash (#1934)

3. eBay Cash Flow System (#1935)

The minimum payout on these offers to publishers is $35 - $10 above market value. But wait, there’s more: For one week only from October 28th 9AM - November 4th 9AM, there is a 10% bonus on all traffic to each of the three offers!

We all know that the economy has left lots of people without jobs, or maybe their simply looking for extra income. These offers are very timely and could benefit lots of people. Put a little money in their pockets and yours!

Not an Advaliant Affiliate yet? Sign up today and start making some money!"

Seth's Blog: Leadership is now the strongest marketing strategy

Seth's Blog: Leadership is now the strongest marketing strategy: "« The rapid growth (and destruction) and growth of marketing




Yelling with gusto used to be the best way to advertise your wares. There was plenty of media and if you had plenty of money, you were set.

Today, of course, yelling doesn't work so well.

What works is leading. Leading a (relatively) small group of people. Taking them somewhere they'd like to go. Connecting them to one another.

I say relatively because there are few products that need everyone in order to succeed. A tiny sliver of the market is enough. Bill Niman used to run Niman Ranch, a cooperative raising meat for fancy restaurants and markets. That was already a sliver of the huge huge market for meat. He moved on to start BN, a 1000 acre farm raising goats for a subset of that subset. It's enough.

It's enough if the tribe you lead knows about you and cares about you and wants to follow you. It's enough if your leadership changes things, galvanizes the audience and puts the status quo under stress. And it's enough if the leadership you provide makes a difference.

Go down the list of online success stories. The big winners are organizations that give tribes of people a platform to connect.

Go down the list of fashion businesses or b"

Monday, October 27, 2008

HOT OFFER: Credit Report America | Advaliant Blog

HOT OFFER: Credit Report America | Advaliant Blog: "HOT OFFER: Credit Report America


If you read this blog, you know we don’t pimp offers very often. Don’t get me wrong, we have TONS of great stuff on the network, but we don’t want to clutter the blogosphere with offers you already know about. This offer just came online today. As the Agency of Record, we’re going to do everything we can to really blow this free credit report offer up.

First off, if you do well in the credit space, this offer is going to blow your mind. We’re offering a $35 minimum payout - $10 above market value! Additionally, this an “A+” advertiser, so you know the quality is there. In a nutshell, this offer converts as well as all the other credit offers, but pays like no other.

Check it out at: www.CreditReportAmerica.com and click on the “Become an Affiliate” link at the bottom of the page, or just head over to: www.advaliant.com to get started."

Free PPC Affiliate Tracking Software | Tracking202

Free PPC Affiliate Tracking Software | Tracking202

What is Tracking202?

Tracking202 Inc., also commonly referred to as T202, is based in San Francisco, California and primarily a Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Affiliate Marketing Analytics company. T202 offers advanced features such as keyword cloaking, keyword tracking, spy view and much more. If you would like to learn more about the people behind this product and how to contact us personally, please visit our team page.

AdBuyer.com | Profitable online advertising made easy!

AdBuyer.com | Profitable online advertising made easy!

AdBuyer.com’s automated platform allows smaller advertisers to compete on even footing with the giants of online marketing across both search and display

Three unique and powerful features set our platform apart:

Provides a centralized dashboard allowing marketers to quickly understand their online marketing ROI across media types and outlets

• Reduces the barriers to entry in display advertising

Is media type and publisher agnostic – we simply focus on improving your ROI wherever you are advertizing online

Dual Action Cleanse

Dual Action Cleanse

Copywriting Packages

Copywriting Packages: "Write On ~ Creative Writing Services
Write On ~ Creative Writing Services

You Deserve Copywriting Solutions to Support Your Marketing Goals ~

PSSTTT...Want to know the secret of increased sales? Shhhh...
Copy is the DNA of your marketing materials. This bit of wisdom was shared with me by my mentor Lorrie Morgan-Ferrero and it's true. Imagine your marketing and promotional materials without words..."

Lemonade: e-commerce for everyone

Lemonade: e-commerce for everyone: "about create stand"
about

For many of us, setting up a neighborhood lemonade stand was our introduction to entrepreneurship. It taught us life lessons in responsibility, self-reliance and hard work. In a similar way, lemonade inc. enables people to combine commerce and community in the digital neighborhood of their personal online space. We are proud to be on the forefront of Consumer Generated CommerceTM. Cost-free and easy to use, this is the next generation of the old-fashioned Lemonade Stand concept.

Good Web Content: The Definitive guide | SEO Services

Good Web Content: The Definitive guide | SEO Services: "SEO Services

Buzz for Your Business
Google Reader or Homepage Subscribe Add to My Yahoo! Add to Technorati Favorites!
Good Web Content: The Definitive Guide
Search Engine Optimization makes for great web content!

Search Engine Optimization makes for great web content!

We’re still seeing a great deal of heated discussion online about what makes for good web content so I thought the subject is worth revisiting.

It’s all very simple really. Websites need words, whatever their reason for existing, they need words.

Each and every website is created to attract visitors–that goes without saying. But in order for people to see it, that website has to first impress the search engines because if it doesn’t, the search engines will never throw it up in a search. So unless you’re doing an obscene amount of Pay Per Click or you have other concrete sources of traffic, the search engines need to love you, and most important of all the search engines is Google because they have the lion’s share of the search industry. Period."

Friday, October 24, 2008

Azoogle Announces iMobilePublisher iPhone App | Affiliate Marketing Blog by Shawn Collins

Azoogle Announces iMobilePublisher iPhone App | Affiliate Marketing Blog by Shawn Collins: "Azoogle Announces iMobilePublisher iPhone App
October 23rd, 2008 · Comments
Epic Advertising

The Azoogle Ad Network has announced the beta launch of their new iPhone Publisher Reporting Platform, iMobilePublisher.

iMobilePublisher provides publishers in the Azoogle network the ability to check all facets of marketing campaigns including payment history, leads, stats, clicks and effective CPCs.

The interface also allows the publisher to sort by offers and a variety of date ranges.

And iMobilePublisher works on the iPod Touch, too, with a wireless Internet connection. The app will be free to Azoogle publishers and downloadable at iTunes shortly.

Being that I am a Blackberry guy, I’m out of luck on this. So my wife will be wondering why it pops up on her iPhone.

Then again, I am planning to get a Touch, so I will be able to explore it unhindered.

Rollout and expansion to Azoogle’s publisher base is expected in early 2009 with enhanced functionality. There will be demos and promotional giveaways at Affiliate Summit West 2009, where the Azoogle Ad Network is also the Platinum Sponsor.

If you’d like to be a part of the Beta, email them at iphone(at)AzoogleAds.com or call toll-free: 1-866-891-0300.

More information at http://www.azoogleads.com/corp/imobile_pub.php."

Affiliate Marketing Blog by Shawn Collins

Affiliate Marketing Blog by Shawn Collins: "Pepperjam Store Builder Launched by Pepperjam Network
October 24th, 2008 · Comments
Epic Advertising

The Pepperjam Network has announced the beta launch of their new product feed technology, the Pepperjam Store Builder.

The feature is available for free to Pepperjam Network affiliates and merchants.

Pepperjam Store Builder enables affiliates to manipulate Pepperjam Network product feeds in real-time to build product storefronts on their sites, as well as to easily link to specific products and create dedicated product feed sites.

This tool provides affiliates with access to millions of products from hundreds of Pepperjam Network advertisers.

More details at the Pepperjam Network blog."

RevTrax Goes Live with First In-store Retail Advertiser: CompUSA / TigerDirect | Affiliate Marketing Blog by Shawn Collins

RevTrax Goes Live with First In-store Retail Advertiser: CompUSA / TigerDirect | Affiliate Marketing Blog by Shawn Collins: "RevTrax Goes Live with First In-store Retail Advertiser: CompUSA / TigerDirect
October 24th, 2008 · Comments
Epic Advertising

RevTrax, a solution that bridges the gap between online advertising and in-store purchases, has gone live with their first in-store retail advertiser, CompUSA / TigerDirect.

They are currently recruiting coupon affiliates to promote the in-store offer and RevTrax has the ability to work with loyalty players and search affiliates with their dynamic bar-code generation software that can capture key words and member IDs.

I think this is the first in-store affiliate marketing program, right?

It would be great to see this concept spread across more click and mortar retailers."

Meet the Team Monday: Chantelle White

Meet the Team Monday: Chantelle White

Posted using ShareThis

Twitter Eats Big Media’s Lunch

Twitter Eats Big Media’s Lunch

Posted using ShareThis

Twitter Eats Big Media's Lunch!

On Saturday night TBS had a massive technical failure that caused the first 30 minutes of the Red Sox / Rays game to be blacked out nationwide. TBS didn't tell their audience what was going on, but the Twitter community figured it out and worked together to find a solution.

read more | digg story

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Using Social Media to Make Ca$h in Affiliate Marketing

Can you make more money in affiliate marketing using social media? Absolutely! MediaTrust's Jivan Manhas recently sat on a panel at Affiliate Summit East to talk about how. Great tips here.

read more | digg story

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Next-Generation Ecommerce With Service Oriented Architecture | Get Elastic

Next-Generation Ecommerce With Service Oriented Architecture | Get Elastic: "Next-Generation Ecommerce With Service Oriented Architecture
Posted October 20, 2008 by Linda Bustos /

We talk a lot about customer experience, usability and conversion optimization here on Get Elastic. Certainly as the Web evolves, more consumers come online and get familiar with innovations and improvements of the leading-edge e-tailers.

Customers seek out and prefer sites with ratings and reviews. They want to advanced search capabilities and product features. They want to ship to store, check in-store availability, choose from multiple payment options, and even browse your site and purchase from a mobile phone.

At the same time, growing retailers launch new storefronts for international customers or to serve new market segments. Or, multi-store retailers like the Gap experiment with merging sister brands into one checkout.

But for many retailers, it’s not that easy to evolve as fast as they’d like…
Roadblocks to “Next Generation Ecommerce” - Legacy Architecture

Legacy architecture can prevent online retailers from implementing the cutting edge usability, customer service and functionality of the online shopping experience that customers are quickly coming to expect.

For example, an online retailer who began 10 years ago with a home-grown ecommerce platform has updated its systems several times over the last dec"

"Technorati Acquires AdEngage Advertising Network

"Technorati Acquires AdEngage Advertising Network

Posted by Sara on October 15th, 2008

We’ve been acquired! You can read about the acquisition on TechCrunch or Technorati.

With this acquisition, we anticipated that you guys might have a few questions so we’ve taken the initiative to list and answer a few:

What will happen to AdEngage?

AdEngage will continue to run as a separate business under Technorati Media. We will still serve ads and connect publishers and advertisers worldwide.

How will the acquisition affect me as an AdEngage Publisher or Advertiser?

As an AdEngage customer, you will not experience any changes. Everything will continue to run and operate just the same. We will still offer all services for all of our advertisers and publishers.

How do we feel about the acquisition?

We are very happy to be part of Technorati Media and expect the acquistion to affect AdEngage favorably.

If you have any additional questions, please let us know!"

Monday, October 20, 2008

Measuring the Success of Your SEO Efforts

Before starting any SEO project Hamlet Batista always recommends being perfectly clear on the overall goals you are trying to achieve. Are you looking for more leads, more sales, more traffic, branding — or do you simply want to show off high rankings for keyword X?

read more | digg story

Sunday, October 19, 2008

LEADCRITIC | Mortgage Leads News and Opinions

LEADCRITIC | Mortgage Leads News and Opinions: "About the Author

Silence Dogood, the namesake of the slightly prudish widow of Poor Richard's Almanac. Reformed Internet lead buyer and consumer grinder. Inclined now to focus on how to turn Internet client advocacy into increased conversions and long-term production. You might also catch me engaged in rumor mongering or needling the less intelligent.

Why the Lead Exchange Model Can’t Work

There have been some interesting posts lately about the lead exchange model. I felt it might be an entertaining topic, so entertaining that it may even be worth coming out from my long slumber to make another contribution. Firstly, I’ll try and give a little color to the background of the lead exchange as I understand it. Ultimately, there have only ever been a few lead exchanges in existence.

There is one relatively new attempt. The first lead exchange remains solvent, but has required numerous rounds of funding to do so. The second lead exchange which is now out of business, was started with a great deal of capital (from what I understand). Lewis Ranieri, who is now infamous in this industry as the father of the CDO (Collateralized Debt Obligation), contributed millions of his own funds on top of additional venture capital money that was raised to help start this company. Yet, today the company doesn’t exist. Why is one operating after raising a Series E round of funding while the other is insolvent? There are a number of contributing factors, but ultimately it is because the lead exchange model can’t work. There are two reasons why the model can’t work: the margins are too thin and the market does not need an exchange to operate. I will elaborate.The lead exchange model is different from the traditional lead model in that there is no marketing. The lead exchange is simply an efficient conduit between a lead buyer and a lead generator. They do not purchase the lead, or purchase marketing that generates a lead, mark it up for margin and re-sell it. They simply operate as the device that matches prospective lead buyers with lead generators whose leads fit the buyer’s filters. For revenue, they take a percentage of the price that the lead captures, typically in the 10%-20% range. For example, let’s say a lead is bought by 4 buyers for $20 each. That lead would be worth $80 ($20 x 4). The exchange would keep, (I am guessing based on information I have come to understand) about 20% of that, or $16 and the company that originated the lead would keep the other $64. So there you have it, the key flaw. Margins are too thin. With gross margins of approximately 15% there is not a tremendous amount of room for things like payroll, taxes, infrastructure, technology, etc. unless there is an exceptionally high volume of leads being passed through the machine. Its value is derived via efficiency. Think of Costco. The margins on the goods that you buy from Costco are paper-thin. But because Costco moves a very high volume of these goods they are able to make money, (also there are the membership fees which are where Costco really makes its money, but I digress…).

In my opinion, the lead exchanges have not really been able to make significant traction in products beyond the financial arena. And furthermore, with the contraction that the mortgage industry has seen, probably 40-50% smaller today than it was two years ago, the arena has actually gotten altogether smaller. So with the contraction of the financial sector coupled with the inability for the lead model to gain significant traction in other verticals, there simply isn’t a big enough market to feed a low margin, high volume business model. The second reason why the exchange model can’t work is because the market doesn’t need an exchange to operate.

Think of an example of where an exchange does work; the most obvious one being the stock market. If we as purchasers of stock could go directly to Google to buy shares of the company, it would make the NYSE or NASDAQ irrelevant. But we can’t purchase stocks in this way. If we want to buy shares of stock, we only can do so via the exchange platform where the company has chosen to list their stock. Likewise, if the only way to buy a lead from a LendingTree or a LowerMyBills were from an exchange, then the exchange would be relevant. But since you, the lead buyer, can go directly to any number of viable and legitimate lead sellers directly, there really is no need for the exchange. The exchange is merely another means for acquiring leads and not a necessary means. With its razor thin margins, unless it is a necessary means for acquisition, I just don’t see it gaining the prominence needed - especially in the current market conditions - to be a sustainable business model.So that is my opinion.

I am sure there are many out there may feel differently. I look forward to your responses and any of the dialogue that may result. For what it is worth, I do believe that the concept is about as innovative as anything this industry has seen. Had the model been born in 2001 rather than 2005, then it very easily could have been different than it is now. Ultimately, as I have discussed, I think there are a couple of fatal flaws that have prevented the model from gaining the traction needed to be successful. What are your thoughts?

"All Marketers are Liars" - Seth Godin speaks at Google

Seth Godin is the author of six bestsellers, including Permission Marketing, an Amazon Top 100 bestseller for a year and a Fortune Best Business Book. His newest book, All Marketers are Liars , has already made the Amazon Top 100 and has inspired its own blog. Seth is also a renowned speaker, and was recently chosen as one of "21 Speakers for the Next Century" by Successful Meetings Magazine and is consistently rated among the best speakers by the audiences he addresses. Seth was founder and CEO of Yoyodyne, an interactive direct marketing company, which Yahoo! acquired in late 1998. He holds an MBA from Stanford, is a contributing editor to Fast Company magazine, and was called "the Ultimate...


Seth Godin: Sliced bread and other marketing delights

In a world of too many options and too little time, our obvious choice is to just ignore the ordinary stuff. Marketing guru Seth Godin spells out why, when it comes to getting our attention, bad or bizarre ideas are more successful than boring ones.

Seth Godin may be the ultimate entrepreneur for the Information Age," Mary Kuntz wrote in Business Week nearly a decade ago. "Instead of widgets or car parts, he specializes in ideas -- usually, but not always, his own." In fact, he's as focused on spreading ideas as he is on the ideas themselves.

After working as a software brand manager in the mid-1980s, Godin started Yoyodyne, one of the first Internet-based direct-marketing firms, with the notion that companies needed to rethink how they reached customers. His efforts caught the attention of Yahoo!, which bought the company in 1998 and kept Godin on as a vice president of permission marketing. Godin has produced several critically acclaimed and attention-grabbing books, including Permission Marketing, All Marketers Are Liars, and Purple Cow (which was distributed in a milk carton). In 2005, Godin founded Squidoo.com, a Web site where users can share links and information about an idea or topic important to them.
"[Godin] is a demigod on the Web, a best-selling author, highly sought-after lecturer, successful entrepreneur, respected pundit and high-profile blogger. He is uniquely respected for his understanding of the Internet."
Forbes.com


Monday, October 13, 2008

Social Media Marketing Essential 50 Sites for Business

n essential list called “50 Social Sites That Every Business Needs a Presence on” This is a listing of sites you can leverage to help your company network, advertise, recruit, and more.

read more | digg story

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Social Media Case Studies

Social Media Case Studies: "Social Media Case Studies

Affiliate marketers are working with social media in a variety of ways. Hear about the nuts and bolts of successful efforts in social media.

* Jim Kukral, Owner, ScratchBack.com (Moderator)
* Michael Jenkins, CEO/Founder, MarketLeverage
* James Keating, VP of Marketing, ShopWiki
* Jivan Manhas, President, Advaliant, a Division of MediaTrust"

Why Copywriting is the Key to Successful Online Marketing | Copyblogger

Why Copywriting is the Key to Successful Online Marketing | Copyblogger: "Why Copywriting is the Key to
Successful Online Marketing

What’s the missing ingredient that prevents most people from succeeding online?

Copywriting skills.

Content drives the Internet, and using the right words in the right way will determine not only how well your site converts visitors into sales, but also how well you rank in search engines and how many links you get.

Now that blogging has become the smartest strategy for growing an authoritative web site, it’s your copywriting skills that will set you apart and help you succeed. Copyblogger is all about helping you:

* get traffic
* gain subscribers
* attract links
* sell something!

All you need to do is write in a strategic, persuasive, compelling manner.

The Art and Science of Compelling Copy

Copywriting is the process of writing words that promote a person, business, opinion, or idea, with the ultimate intention of having the reader take some form of action. Even if that action is a link, bookmark, or a vote at Digg that leads to the traffic you need.

In other words, copywriting is all about people responding the way you want them to.

We all use persuasion techniques each and every day, whether we are conscious of it or not. With our spouses"

TurnTo - Add TurnTo to Your Site

TurnTo - Add TurnTo to Your Site: "Add TurnTo to YOUR Site

TurnTo turns your customers into trusted references for their friends regarding your site and the things you sell. Nothing is more persuasive than advice from friends your visitors know and trust.

It's simple: The TurnTo widget goes on your site and tells a visitor when they know someone who has experience with your products or services. These trusted references, presented at just the moment a buyer is doing his research, induce trial, increase conversion, promote cross-sell, and raise loyalty. It's a practical, powerful way to increase word-of-mouth, build community, increase customer trust, and make your site a better place to shop.

TurnTo is useful for many types of businesses:

* Shopping of all types
* Travel providers and hotels
* Health-related
* Entertainment and tickets
* Membership and subscription
* Non-profits
* Local services and directories
* Conferences and trade shows
* Business-to-business of all sizes
* Many others!

To learn more or to add TurnTo to your site, contact us."

Twitter Like A Super Ninja!

Statistics, Analytics & Reporting Software

Statistics, Analytics & Reporting Software: "AFFMETER

What is Affmeter?

Affmeter is an easy, secure, and reliable way to gather your affiliate revenue statistics from all of your Affiliate Networks and Google Adwords PPC costs data into one place. Webmasters who are currently using multiple programs are finding Affmeter to be a big time saver.

By using Affmeter you can;

+ Consolidate all your revenue data from all of your Affiliate Networks into one place.
+ Easily find which merchants are your big revenue generators, and which ones are costing you the most.
+ Make a net revenue analysis by comparing how much money you have earned and how much money you have paid for a campaign

Affmeter;

+ Saves you a lot of time and money on repetitive tasks.
+ Helps you to auto-login your affiliate network accounts.
+ Automates routine business processes like collecting statistics from affiliate networks.
+ Has an extremely easy and straightforward user interface."

Seth Godin: Sliced bread and other marketing delights

"All Marketers are Liars" - Seth Godin speaks at Google

Friday, October 10, 2008

Poke -A-Yoke: Error Proofing Your Q4 Marketing Strategy

Poke -A-Yoke: Error Proofing Your Q4 Marketing Strategy

Posted using ShareThis

affiliate program directories

BrightTeeth.com: "We are proud to be listed in the following Affiliate Program Directories:
ClicksLink.com AffiliateBets.com
AffiliateFirst.com ProAffiliatePrograms.com
AffiliateGuide.com Best Affiliate Program
AffiliateHangout AffiliateSummary
AffiliateSeeking.com RevBoard.com
WhichAffiliate Affiliate Tracking
Webmaster Opportunities"

SmokeJumping: How Online Video Engages Audiences

SmokeJumping: How Online Video Engages Audiences

How Online Video Engages Audiences

Much has been written about YouTube and there is ample hype about where online video is going. I don't get too excited about the latest dog on skateboard or Japanese student in dorm room dance sensation. Forrester Research (commissioned by Veoh Networks) recently took a systemic and fundamental look at online video and the impact it is having on consumer behavior and attitudes.

James McQuivey presented a summary of this today at an event in NYC "Watching the Web: Engaging Consumers in Online Video. See James' blog for his personal take on the subject. The full research will be available via Veoh. It answers questions such as . . .
  1. What it means to be an engaged online video viewer
  2. Why engaged viewers watch online video
  3. How online video holds viewers attention
  4. Which types of online video are more likely to engage consumers
  5. Whether online video present advertisers with a unique medium with which to reach consumers
  6. How viewers feel toward online video advertising
  7. Which advertising experiences are more likely to be be accepted by viewers
Online Video is Hot
  • Nearly 2/3rds of those online in the U.S. watch video in a typical month (117M)
  • The average online video viewer watches 56 minutes a week (>100m of total viewing hours each week)
  • Moving beyond strictly a YouTube phenomenon - people are watching everything from animation to TV re-runs to news clips
"Our kids will take a look at us sideways when we talk about schedules for TV."

Engaged Viewers are Most Attractive
Online video is creating a market of users who are more engaged and involved with the content being viewed (pay more attention - as I check email, switch between baseball playoffs, Monday night football and a "classic" Sharks hockey game, draft a blog entry, twitter, talk to my son and listen to voice mail) and are more receptive to ads. Marketers need to understand this audience and then leverage video content to connect to their core/target audiences.

Who are Engaged Video Viewers
Forrester defined Engaged Viewers as those who watch more than an hour of online video per week.
  • Though they are just 36% of online viewers, they watch 74% of all video
  • A third of them - 36% - are between 13 and 24 years old
  • They spend 2.5 hours with online video a week (on average), watching 6.1 different types of video content
  • They pay close attention to what they are watching (vs. when watching TV)
Forrester breaks these Engaged Viewers down into more detailed groups of consumers worth understanding.

Long-Form Video Engages More
Long-form content sites not only attract desirable viewers, but also they cultivate an environment that garners more viewer attention and engagement with advertising. Some unique attributes of those who watch long-form content online:
  • more likely to pay full attention to the videos they watch
  • interact and rate the videos they watch more often
  • 2x as likely to recall in-video ads
  • agree more readily that advertising helps pays for their free experience
  • try to replicate the TV experience by looking for things "they wish were on TV"
Implications for Content Providers
Online video growth will continue and will result in more engaged viewers. Content providers need to prepare given:
  • Engaged Viewers want even more content
  • They want it to be even easier to watch
  • They enjoy the convenience of watching many kinds of video on the same site
Implications for Advertisers
Advertisers need to rethink their approaches in order reach the Engaged Viewer
  • Think "Advertainment", not Advertisement - be creative and don't repeat the same ad over and over in the same piece of content
  • Use all the ad units on a page in concert to activate viewers
  • Use content (and sites) to target video ads
More details, including details on the make-up and composition of engaged video viewers, available Veoh Networks.

See NY Times (GigaOM) coverage, including recent research from Heavy.

YouTube Blog

YouTube Blog: "Like What You See? Then Click-to-Buy on YouTube

When you view a YouTube video with a great soundtrack, you often see comments from YouTube users asking about the name of the song and where they can download it. Or when users watch the trailer for an upcoming video game, they want to know when it will be released and where they can buy it.

Today, we're taking our first steps to providing YouTube users with this kind of instant gratification, by adding 'click-to-buy' links to the watch pages of thousands of YouTube partner videos. Click-to-buy links are non-obtrusive retail links, placed on the watch page beneath the video with the other community features. Just as YouTube users can share, favorite, comment on, and respond to videos quickly and easily, now users can click-to-buy products -- like songs, books, and movies -- related to the content they're watching on the site. We're getting started by embedding iTunes and Amazon.com links on videos from companies like EMI Music, and providing Amazon.com product links to the newly released video game Spore(TM) on videos from Electronic Arts.

This is just the beginning of building a broad, viable eCommerce platform for users and partners on YouTube. Our vision is to help partners across all industries -- from music, to film, to print, to TV -- offer useful and relevant products to a large, yet targeted audience, and generat"

Google Base

Google Base: "Simply describe your items on Base to make them as easy as possible for people to find when they search. You do not need a website to put your stuff online. Learn more...
Examples of popular item types:
Events and activities Hotels
Housing Jobs
Personals People profiles
Products Reviews
Recipes Services
Vehicles Vacation rentals"

Tuesday, October 07, 2008

The Importance of Testing Your Affiliate Marketing Campaign

There is a continuing shift in online advertising. Gone are the days of blanket institutional “big splash” campaigns. Advertisers want guaranteed results, and to that end, web publishers need to provide click-favorable real estate.

read more | digg story

Monday, October 06, 2008

Cypra Media | Best Targeting, Best Practice, Best Value

Cypra Media | Best Targeting, Best Practice, Best Value: "Cypra Media

Sending out email marketing or content publishing campaigns is easy. Getting them delivered is an altogether different thing...

Cypra Media is an email delivery specialist. We offer a wide range of email marketing data management,and delivery services for companies that are new to permission-based email marketing and for companies that are experienced veterans.

Our offerings include both hosted and semi-hosted email delivery services, whitelisting, data management, email delivery consulting, and world-class creative services. We also provide custom development services to support creation of emails, landing pages, and web-based registration processes.

Our excellence in achieving superlative email delivery rates is based on a simple paradigm – helping all out clients maintain a best practice profile and rigorous CAN-SPAM compliance in any email marketing or content publishing that they do. Cypra excels in leading its clients through the maze of ISP, whitelisting and email technology processes that are required to achieve optimum delivery of their offers, newsletters, or other content."

JS-Kit: Comments, reviews, ratings, scores, polls, Navigator and more...

JS-Kit: Comments, reviews, ratings, scores, polls, Navigator and more...: "Fast, powerful and incredibly simple, JS-Kit's services let web publishers build dynamic, compelling online experiences in just minutes.
Comments

* Foster a social network on your site
* Encourage valuable user-generated content
* Let you communicate directly with your visitors
* Provide fully-featured commenting engine for your site

Ratings

* Build trust and foster online community
* Turn occasional visitors into active contributors
* Provide valuable data to guide your business decisions

Reviews

* Improve conversion rates, pageviews and overall user experience
* Combine the power of comments and ratings in a single service
* Bring 'social search' to your online offerings

Polls

* Add variety and interactivity to your site
* Gather and share community opinions
* Can be used as a marketing, research or entertainment tool

Navigator

* Highlights your site's most popular content
* Simplifies content management, saving you time and money
* Lowers bounce rates and drives pageviews

Advisor

* Real data from trusted sources on specific web items and services
* Visibility into information needed at the point"

Google Affiliate Network: DoubleClick Performics is now Google Affiliate Network

Google Affiliate Network: DoubleClick Performics is now Google Affiliate Network: "Google Affiliate Network
News, views and product information for Google Affiliate Network advertisers and publishers."

Categorized List of Social Media and Social Networking Websites | Traffikd

Categorized List of Social Media and Social Networking Websites | Traffikd: "List of Social Media and Social Networking Sites

This page will be continually updated to add new resources, so please use our contact form if you know of a site that should be included."

101 Twitter Resources | Traffikd

101 Twitter Resources | Traffikd: "101 Twitter Resources

It seems like every day I see more and more being written about Twitter. I have to admit that I don’t really get the fascination with micro blogging, but it’s becoming more and more common, and many bloggers find the services to be extremely useful for connecting with their audience. With all of the information that I’ve been seeing on Twitter, I decided to put together this collection of resources."

Marketers Guide to Del.icio.us | Traffikd

Marketers Guide to Del.icio.us | Traffikd: "Marketers Guide to Del.icio.us

Del.icio.us is not only a great resource for internet users to keep track of bookmarks, but it is also one of the best ways for website owners to market their site. Everyday pages that are on the front page of del.icio.us receive a few thousand visitors and gain a number of bookmarks from users. Throughout this article we’ll take a look at how del.icio.us works and what you can do to use it to promote your website.
Introduction to del.icio.us

If you are not familiar with del.icio.us or other bookmark managers, it is basically a place to store all of your favorite pages. You have probably used the bookmarks or favorites feature of your internet browser. Del.icio.us provides the same benefits but in a much more efficient manner.

To start with, new users will need to create an account with del.icio.us (which is free). Once you have an account you can download a toolbar for your browser of choice. The toolbar will allow you to easily bookmark any page that you are on. So, when you visit a page that you think you may want at some point in the future, you can “tag” it to save it. Del.icio.us will then prompt you to add several descriptive one-word tags to categorize the page. The tagging system is a key to del.icio.us, as you will find when you want to retrieve a page."

How to Target Social Media with Specific Posts | Traffikd

How to Target Social Media with Specific Posts | Traffikd: "How to Target Social Media with Specific Posts

There are a number of different approaches that bloggers can use to target social media. If you’ve done much research into social media, I’m sure you’ve noticed that certain types of posts tend to do better than others, and many bloggers use the approach of creating content that is specifically aimed at social media audiences.

If you’re submitting your posts to social media (or someone else is submitting them) and getting no results, it could be due to one of the following reasons:

1 – The content isn’t a good fit for social media.

2 – The content is not targeted at the right social media audience.

3 – It’s not getting enough exposure in order to get votes (possibly related to the profile of the submitter).

4 – It’s not interesting or high-quality content."