The Past, Present, and Future of Affiliate Marketing
The Good Old Days
Remember the good old days? You'd purchase a domain name, set up your site (with a few swear words here and there), and place some banner ads (while crossing your fingers for the best banner ad click-through results). This all worked great--for a while; until people managed to avoid our banner ads like the plague. Life got more complex. What were us internet marketers to do? We had to become more savvy. Fortunately for us, the affiliate model was introduced.
Ah, the affiliate marketing model. It never hurts to get a little help from your friends, right? Affiliate marketing networks offer a wide range of advantages to businesses. In short: it's a booming business with dollar signs all around it. Sure, affiliate marketing can be a profitable business, but it can also be very aggravating, time consuming, and antisocial. So here's the big question: Why the heck do we keep putting ourselves through all of this pain? The answer, although seemingly complex, is quite simple: easy money.
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
The average person thinks of affiliate marketing as a "get rich quick" scheme for geeks and nerds. Actually, it's the farthest thing from the truth. Nowadays, you're just as likely to find a High School dropout behind an affiliate marketing operation; as you are to find a computer science major.
Despite the revenue advantages, many successful affiliate managers are weary of transparent affiliates. After all, there's a lot of trickery out there.
You have to be on the lookout for the ?Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.' That's right folk, if you're the good guy, beware of the bad and the ugly affiliates. They're out there right now placing infectious adware on an unsuspecting consumer's computer.
As a marketer, it's your responsibility to investigate your affiliates use of adware. Don't turn your head and look the other way. It's OUR consumers that may receive unwanted and/or destructive ads.
Can you blame them for becoming angry at the marketer who (perhaps inadvertently) funds adware infections? Of course not. Destructive ads shouldn't even be considered a marketing strategy. It's completely unethical.
The New Guy
In a nutshell, affiliate marketing is a great starting point. If you experience success--run with the ball.
Explore additional performance compensation structures. But before you even consider jumping into the game, you should ask yourself the following questions (to avoid business pitfalls):
1). Will affiliate marketing assist you in reaching all of your business targets?
2). Will affiliate marketing have advantages over other types of online marketing?
3). Do you have the time and commitment to run a developing affiliate operation (which will require time to flourish and succeed?
4).
How flexible is your budget for affiliate marketing?
Here's some background information for the 'new guy': Time and commitment are essential to your success.
While running a network of affiliates doesn't require a college degree, it does require your attention for details. Perhaps this is why merchants find outsourced providers offer a very appealing solution. In addition, the new guy should realize:
? Not everyone will make five figures a month with affiliate marketing. There's a lot of marketers out there.
You're the new guy, remember? Find some successful companies that use affiliate marketing. Research them. What did they do to become such a success? Can you duplicate that plan?
? You're not going to make any money eating potato chips in front of the television. If it were that easy--I'd be doing that instead of writing this article on affiliate marketing. Be prepared to devote a lot of time to your business and your affiliate relations.
? Don't take blind referrals from anyone! You'll discover the best affiliate opportunities through your own research.
The Future
In just the last few years, affiliate marketing has become a very powerful force on ecommerce. Every day thousands, if not millions, of merchants rely on affiliate marketing to drive their businesses. But is affiliate marketing all just a big hype? What ever happened to customer service? What strange times we live in; as the value of business is no longer placed on the customer--but on the relationship with whoever facilitated the connection.
This just goes to prove that affiliate marketing is only as good as the people who run it.
Remember, there are ways to get your affiliate program noticed; just make sure that you get it noticed for the right reasons. If you value internet based businesses and you'd like more job leads, educational information, and tools to aid your internet entrepreunership, than visit: http://www.ebyro.com (a Vertical Portal for Internet Entrepreneurs). .
Marissa Ranello is an independent marketing consultant with clients in the United States and Canada. As an employee of eByro, a Vertical Portal for Internet Entrepreneurs, Marissa devotes her time to internet business, performance-based marketing, and affilate programs. Visit: http://www.ebyro.comOk, you've got a puter, and you get online.
Recently a wave of information has surfaced about Search Engine Security Holes, Browser Vulnerabilities, redirection to malicious Websites, even Online Extortion Scams. Adware, Malware, Spyware Oh My !
You surf your favorite sites, Sports, Shopping, Cowchip Tossing Blogs, and so on. Your kids download songs and IM their friends. But are you being tracked ? Is your personal information stored safe on your puter or is it being mined to a geeky looking guy sitting in the dark half a continent away ?
Do you know for sure you are secure ? Many people don't. They take it for granted that their service provider is watching over them.
If there is one thing I cant stress enough, its always read the fine print before you hit the download button.
A survey I read about a month ago stated that less than 7 % read the info posted on the Download windows. Some Spyware will download itself without even you knowing it.
And then how about the Link Hijackings....
Adware > Ok, you've got a puter, and you get online.
eBlocs Phishing Alert: eBlocs Phishing Alert Offers Protection Against Phishing Attacks
(ContentDesk) October 12, 2005 -- eBlocs has identified the following potential phishing attacks for October 10, 2005.This assessment is available at http://www.eblocs.com/support/scam.html.eBlocs Threat Level: 5Target: pages.ebay.comScam URL: http://81.196.121.130/ws/aw/cg~Date Discovered: 10/10/2005 11:56:23 AMeBlocs Threat Level: 5Target: pages.paypal.comScam URL: http://61.76.141.1/www.paypal.~Date Discovered: 10/10/2005 7:22:15 AMeBlocs Threat Level: 5Target: pages.ebay.comScam URL: http://219.141.41.39/phpDate Discovered: 10/10/2005 6:57:25 AMeBlocs Threat Level: 5Target: pages.ebay.comScam URL: http://218.4.140.130/guestbook~Date Discovered: 10/102005 5:37:40 AMTo learn more...
eBlocs Phishing Alert: eBlocs Phishing Alert Offers Protection Against Phishing Attacks
Adware > eBlocs Phishing Alert: eBlocs Phishing Alert Offers Protection Against Phishing Attacks
Gas Generators
A wide variety of fuels are used to power generators. The most common are gasoline, diesel, propane and natural gas. With such a wide array of options, the house owner's choice of fuel and the right type of generator will depend upon factors such as the availability of fuel and the frequency of the use.
Gasoline generators
Gasoline generators are the most familiar type of generator. The fuel is readily available and is relatively inexpensive. The power per weight unit...
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The Past, Present, and Future of Affiliate Marketing exercise
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The Past, Present, and Future of Affiliate Marketing fruit
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Lead Actor Takes Reprieve From RENT
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASENew York, NY -- November 22, 2003Lead Actor Takes Reprieve From RENTActor/singer Ryan Link, who has been playing "Roger Davis" in the Broadway company of the hit rock musical RENT since September, announced today he is taking a medical leave from the show. Citing vocal health issues, including "recurrent laryngitis, hoarseness and pre-nodular edema", Link has reached an agreement with the production team to "suspend and extend" his contract, and will resume performances on...
The Past, Present, and Future of Affiliate Marketing
Adware > Lead Actor Takes Reprieve From RENT
"Shanghai Dream" - New Technology Thriller Published by Hong Kong-Based Author
Hong Kong (ContentDesk) August 8, 2005 -- Author and journalist Sahr Johnny is pleased to announce the publication of "Shanghai Dream," the first English language cyberpunk technology thriller by a Hong Kong-based author. The fast-paced novel is set 30 years in the future and touches on the themes of artificial intelligence, virtual reality, quantum computing and a world in which most of the world's technology innovations are coming out of China."Shanghai Dream" starts in the Union, a futuristic...
online degree The Past, Present, and Future of Affiliate Marketing "Shanghai Dream" - New Technology Thriller Published by Hong Kong-Based Author
Adware > "Shanghai Dream" - New Technology Thriller Published by Hong Kong-Based Author