The success formula is alive and well according to infopreneur Jim Edwards, and he'll show you how to profitably market your own knowledge via ebooks in this informational tome co-written with copywriting guru David Garfinkel. As an author and affiliate grand marshal, Mr. Edwards walks the talk of infoproduct marketing. He centralizes his operations at eBookFire.com, where you will find numerous affiliate programs to join which market his various ebooks and tools. While a bit over the top in approach, his philosophy makes sense -- you've gone to the trouble of creating an infoproduct, so why not get it in front of as many people as possible for maximum sales? You can't argue with a ringing cash register, right?
For seven reasons why a digital information product is the best way to build your fortune on the Net, check out Instant Internet Profits by Yanik Silver, an infopreneur who shows you how you can create riches with a Web-based business that practically runs itself. It may not be that easy, but goodness, that sounds appealing! With a home base at Surefire Marketing, Mr. Silver's extensive network of best-selling infoproducts places him at the forefront of today's successful ebook entrepreneurs.
Founded in 1996, LinkShare was an online affiliate marketing pioneer, and today runs one of the largest pay-for-performance affiliate marketing networks on the Internet. In addition to its affiliate program, LinkShare Search Advantage is a turnkey solution for managing and optimizing all performance-based programs, including paid placement, paid inclusion, and search affiliate management, so retailers can handle all of their online PPC marketing efforts in one place. Affiliates find a well-rounded selection of some of the Internet's best merchants as clients, including OfficeMax, J.C. Penney, 1-800-Flowers.com, AT&T Corp., American Express, Avon Products and Dell Computer Corporation. LinkShare also differentiates itself in that it offers B2B affiliate management services as well as their more well-known B2C model.
There are many affiliate tracking and management systems out there. MyAP by KowaBunga earns consistent rave reviews from clients as diverse as Mobil, ClubMom and 1800Contacts and they have tons of no-cost goodies worth checking out, which is enough to earn them a review in our book. MyAP comes in both Pro and Enterprise flavors, and promises to seamlessly integrate with virtually any e-commerce/billing system on the planet. Should you opt for MyAP Pro (which runs $995(US)), you also get a no-cost listing in KowaBunga's AffiliateCash directory, a no-cost Affiliate Announce submission to all the other major affiliate directories, a complimentary copy of AffStat 2004, which rounds up statistics and trends from 140 of the world's leading affiliate programs, and more. This is a well-rounded company with lots to offer, including a comprehensive Affiliate Training Center website which is open to all and well worth a visit.
At the time of this writing, popular payment process PayPal has made selected components of its infrastructure available to third party developers through its Web Services API (Application Program Interfaces) program. This means that developers can now create new software applications and systems that directly integrate with PayPal. You can expect that PayPal will soon become a more viable option for affiliate marketers and merchants. While PayPal has long been the payment method of choice at eBay (they were acquired by eBay in 2002), their services have never really been optimized for the special needs of affiliate marketers, although some have chosen it simply because of its ubiquity. A new crop of soon-to-be integrated technologies - including the ability to "MassPay," or transfer funds to many recipients - will make PayPal a more effective affiliate choice very soon.
Performics is one of the big guns - they provide "performance-based online marketing services and technologies" for leading merchants and marketers. Many of these large pay-for-performance networks seem to resemble ad networks, complete with pay-per-click compensation in return for banner ad placement on their network of distributor sites. But that's only the tip of the iceberg. Increasingly, these networks offer a "one-stop shop" for all PPC programs, whether affiliate marketing, search engine keyword buys or email prospecting. For example, Performics calls itself an "acquisition specialist." Advantages also include a loyal distributor network and centralized tracking and reporting technology, which means each client cuts one check to pay for its monthly acquisition program and Performics takes care of distributing commissions to thousands of sites. Performics' clients include America Online, Eddie Bauer, L.L. Bean, Motorola and Target.
QuinStreet is an e-commerce network whose merchants are specialty retailers of consumer products. The company refers to itself as a "leading online direct marketing company for specialty products and services," and its affiliate network is supported with sophisticated merchandising, direct marketing,
reporting and account management features. The company also creates e-commerce/lead generation solutions for direct sellers like Electrolux. More than 100,000 members in turn promote QuinStreet merchants to their customers. Merchant partners include Herbalife, The Body Shop at Home and Nature's Sunshine Products.
Launched in December 1997, Refer-it.com's comprehensive listing of more than 6,700 affiliate programs is still fresh, with programs rated on revenue share, ease of implementation for the website owner, responsiveness if problems arise, reporting capabilities and clarity of each affiliate program's terms and conditions. Each listing also includes program description, direct links for joining, fee information, program launch date, and, most importantly, a list of websites that currently belong to each affiliate program.
Marketing powerhouse Ken Evoy's "Affiliate Masters Course" promises to turn you from a mere mortal to an affiliate master in 10 days, after which, of course, you will need to recruit affiliates. Perhaps his Site Build It! "Web business in a box" product will help you do so? Once your affiliates are in place, you will need to help them perform. Perhaps they need a website building and promotion system like Site Build It! too, which (for $49.95 a month(US)) delivers fully optimized mini-sites with SEO, email marketing and other promotional components built right in. If you, as an affiliate manager, join the 5 Pillar Affiliate Program and sell Site Build It! to your affiliates, not only will they be able to create better-selling websites, but you will earn a commission as well. Another master affiliate marketer at work.
Make your site sell. Make your words sell. Make your
knowledge sell. Make just about everything sell, according
to the gospel of Ken Evoy. A leading online marketer, Evoy
is the author of the classic book on Net selling - "Make
Your Site Sell" - and creator of an accompanying universe
of products and commerce solutions which represent an
affiliate network unto themselves. Not only can you learn
much by visiting here, but you can also tap into affiliate
revenues by repping these products.
Be sure to visit the SiteSell University for the
free Affiliate Masters email courses, and do sign up
(for free) as a Ken Evoy affiliate to gain access to a very
thorough guide to affiliate marketing.