Update on understanding Epn and the new Quality Click model

November 26, 2009

Since my previous article was written, many EPN affiliates still seem to be confused about the EPN quality click model, and how to best optimize for success. More recent posts on the EPN blog indicate that the affiliates confusion is being recogznied.
In my previous post my conclusion was that the quantity of clicks you send under the new system does not matter. In theory this still holds. However evidence is mounting that the integrity of those clicks does matter a great deal.
If your sites are visited by a robot that generates a spike in non human clicks to eBay, or you EPN bound traffic contains a high percentage of unknown referrers then there is cause for concern.

There are some steps you can take to protect your EPN account:

Keep your RAW server logs for at least 3 months so you can prove your case to EPN in case your account get suspended (check your hosting account Cpanel to make sure the raw server logs are saved past the end of the month – the setting may be off by default)
Notify EPN if you get a sudden spike in traffic that you cannot account for, include your raw server log for the day it happened.
Ideally use an independent secondary source to log your traffic – statcounter.com keeps pretty good logs, Google Analytics can verify your traffic sources, if you need to bolster your case .
If you are a wordpress user are you sending out ebay listings in your RSS feed? or are scrapers picking up your rss feed that contains eBay listings? this can cause unknown referring traffic. If you are concerned about old feeds, then rename or delete any wordpress plugin files they may be pointing to on your server. I recommend and use the phpbay plugin because their most recent code includes some measures to protect your traffic from bots and external referrers ( check the Phpbay site for the latest information on what is supported).
If you are buying previouly owned domain names, know their history and traffic sources – was it associated with a banned affiliate account?
Avoid traffic exchange programs or any questionable source of paid or free linking to your sites.
If your account gets suspended through no fault of yours, dont panic, be professional and polite in your emails to the Quality team. Don’t be put off or discouraged by impersonal sounding replys to your emails – bear in mind that the people who deal with your emails are human, they may have a huge workload, and as in many technical departments in large corporations, or outsourcing companies, the person dealing with your case may not have english as a first language, so be concise, professional, and to the point, when stating your case, and give your utmost co-operation in providing logs, and tracking reports, and any information that will help them to clear your case.

Written by · Filed Under Featured

Are we getting rich yet?

November 25, 2009

The following passage quoted below is from the 1910 publiciation ”The Science of Getting Rich”, by Wallace D. Wattles. Although it was written in 1910, it rings as true today as ever, and is particularily relevant to the field of online marketing, where doing things in a “certain way” makes all the difference….

“Getting rich is not a matter of environment, for, if it were, all the people in certain neighborhoods would become wealthy; the people of one city would all be rich, while those of other towns would all be poor; or the inhabitants of one state would roll in wealth, while those of an adjoining state would be in poverty.

But everywhere we see rich and poor living side by side, in the same environment, and often engaged in the same vocations. When two men are in the same locality, and in the same business, and one gets rich while the other remains poor, it shows that getting rich is not, primarily, a matter of environment. Some environments may be more favorable than others, but when two men in the same business are in the same neighborhood, and one gets rich while the other fails, it indicates that getting rich is the result of doing things in a Certain Way. “

“And further, the ability to do things in this Certain Way is not due solely to the possession of talent, for many people who have great talent remain poor, while other who have very little talent get rich. Studying the people who have got rich, we find that they are an average lot in all respects, having no greater talents and abilities than other men. It is evident that they do not get rich because they possess talents and abilities that other men have not, but because they happen to do things in a Certain Way. Getting rich is not the result of saving, or “thrift”; many very penurious people are poor, while free spenders often get rich. “

“Nor is getting rich due to doing things which others fail to do; for two men in the same business often do almost exactly the same things, and one gets rich while the other remains poor or becomes bankrupt.From all these things, we must come to the conclusion that getting rich is the result of doing things in a Certain Way.

If getting rich is the result of doing things in a Certain Way, and if like causes always produce like effects,then any man or woman who can do things in that way can become rich, and the whole matter is brought within the domain of exact science.

The question arises here, whether this Certain Way may not be so difficult that only a few may follow it. This cannot be true, as we have seen, so far as natural ability is concerned. Talented people get rich, and blockheads get rich; intellectually brilliant people get rich, and very stupid people get rich; physically strong people get rich, and weak and sickly people get rich. “

So what is the takeaway for beginning online marketers? There are so many “Gurus” out there that claim that their method is the way to online riches, and they will teach me their system in exchange for my hard earned cash.

Before you sign up for an expensive course, or any course with ongoing fees consider the following:

Did/does this Guru make their money by practicing what they preach? or does most of their income come from selling their method.
Don’t fall for “testimonials” on sign up pages, instead check out the popular webmaster forums to see what real end users have to say, and don’t by shy about joining the forum and politely asking newbie questions.
Don’t buy an expensive course, or a course that requires monthly fees until you have built up some basic knowledge about what information is available for free, you might be surprised at how much information is available for free if you are prepared to look. The major affiliate networks, such as Comisson Juncton, and eBay Partner Network, and others provide extensive free information and advice for a start.
If you don’t have a hosting account, or a blog with your own web address (or you dont know how to get them) you don’t have to sign up for a course or pay anyone to tell you how to do this. Go to www.GoDaddy.com and buy a URL(web address), get a cheap hosting package (you dont have to have your actual website at www.GoDaddy.com ), For example you can set your URL’s to point to a cheaper external hosting account, such as at Hostgator (Link Direct to Order Page at Hostgator ), In the Cpanel setup on Hostgator, it just takes a couple of clicks to install a basic wordpress blog.
Ask youself are you prepared to put in the work? online marketing can be done in your PJ’s but it’s still work.

Introducing GoDaddy.com Marketplace

Disclaimer: I have not received any remuneration for writing this post. The opinions in this post are my own opinions and based on my personal experience. Links to 3rd party sites may contain an affiliate tracking id, if you sign up to a program or buy a product through my link I may receive a small comission if the action is tracked to this site.

Written by · Filed Under Featured

Starting a business online? watch this video FIRST

November 9, 2009

Thinking about STARTING a home-based business online

Then watch this video FIRST:

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO NOW

You’ll learn the top business models that are
PROVEN successful (and that will succeed in the
future as well).

You’ll also learn all of the other skills you need
to set your business up, and make sure it’s
successful.

Check it out now, it’s only going to be available
for a few more days…

Here’s the link again:

CLICK HERE FOR THE DETAILS

Written by · Filed Under Business

Getting started with CPA Networks

November 9, 2009

A simple but effective way of online marketing is through CPA networks, CPA stands for Cost-Per-Action or Cost-Per-Acquisition.

There are advertisers who will to pay you for sending them traffic or generating leads -the leads could be a zip code, an e-mail address, their mailing address… the important thing is that you are not paid per click, like Adsense, and there doesn’t need to be a sale.

I use NeverBlue ads now to display CPA ads at www.girlzgamez.com. This site attracts a younger demographic , from around the world, Adsense ads were not always relevant, then I discovered Neverblue ads. I noticed their ads on competitor games sites, such as for Zwinky and MySpace graphics, programs that fitted the bill perfectly – so I signed up. The site looks better with relevant ads, and so far so good.

It’s not aways easy to get into CPA programs. I had an established site in place first before I applied. A few days after I filled out the online form I got a phone call from Neveblue to follow up and discuss my plans for promoting their programs. I described my situation and how I had been looking for suitable ads for the site etc and my membership was approved.

Once you have been accepted into a CPA network, you will find lots of offers to promote, in fact you don’t even need a website to promote many of the CPA offers. There are offers that can be promoted using search engine marketing, you place an ad on a search engine results page, with your affiliate code in the link and when somebody click through your sponsored ad, and completes the action you get a comission.
Yahoo! Sponsored Search is popular with CPA marketers, you can see their ads listed on top sites like Yahoo!, AltaVista and CNN. Currently Yahoo! Sponsored Search have a special offer if you sign up you get a $25 credit. . Once the free credit is completed you can add your credit card and continue your advertising promoting your own websites or affiliate programs. Note: Before promoting a CPA promotion through search engine marketing remember to check their conditions to verlfy what promotion methods are allowed.

Disclaimer: I have not received any remuneration for writing this post. The opinions in this post are my own opionions and based on my personal experience. Any links to 3rd party sites may contain an affiliate tracking id, if you join and program or purchase through my link I may receive a small comission if the action is tracked to this site.

Written by · Filed Under CPA

Review: Adwords Reinvented ( It delivers!)

November 8, 2009

“Adwords Reinvented” is an affordable video course detailing how you can use Adwords to profit from CPA (mainly form-fill) offers. I have purchased this course just yesterday at a special discount rate that is currently still available on the website.

The course will teach users how to identify a profitable form-fill offer, find the best keywords to promote the offer, quickly test it with direct linking, create slap-proof landing
pages (templates included) and monetize the pages beyond basic affiliate commissions. The course will also show how to how to take your system to the next level by means of automation,testing and tracking. I can personally recommend this program for someone who wants to get started in affiliate marketing, especially CPA , as the videos are easy to understand and take a step by step approach that is easy to follow . If you are an experienced marketer, but unsatisfied with your results you will see how a successful marketer operates, and how you can emulate his methods – this just might be the jump start you have been waiting for. In fact I learned a few tips myself that I will put into practice right away in my own campaings.

Bottom line: Inexpensive introduction to Affiliate marketing, well worth it, covers the basics, valuable tips,well easy to follow videos, free templates and tools – a great head start if you want to get into affiliate marketing esp CPA.

You will learn:

+ Where to find these exact form-fill offers that
are so profitable
+ How to uncover secret keywords that convert like crazy
+ Quickly test the offer to promote using direct linking
+ How to create landing pages in minutes that will never be slapped by
Google
+ How to track, automate and repeat

CLICK HERE TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE CURRENT SPECIAL OFFER!

Disclaimer: I have not received any remuneration for writing this post. The opinions in this post are my own opionions and based on my personal experience. Any links to third party sites may contain an affiliate tracking id, if you sign up to a program through my link I may receive and small comission if the action is tracked to this site.

Written by · Filed Under Adsense, Featured

Boost your affiliate income with Great Mini Niche Templates

November 8, 2009

Professional Affiliate Mini Sites Templates will give you a step up on the competition. Niche review sites are great – but – there is one huge problem! Most affiliate marketers have no idea how to create great looking, well designed review sites that actually sell. A great site, once set set up can run on autopilot for years, spitting out cash!

These guys have a proven record and if you are quick you can take advantage of their current FREE sample. CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS they are currently offering a free template so Don’t forget to get your free affiliate review site!

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO

Written by · Filed Under Affiliate Marketing, Make Money