I was furiously taking notes I thought might be of use to blog readers during some of the sessions at the A4UExpo last week. I attended “The Confluence Of Search And Affiliate Marketing” by Kristopher Jones on the first day of the conference and thought he had some really pertinent points to make. Obviously, the below are not his own words I’ve only noted down some key points which appealed to me and how I interpreted them.

For anyone who is not aware of Kristopher’s work, he is one of the world’s top internet marketing experts, President and CEO of Pepperjam, a full service internet marketing agency which is one of the top 500 privately owned business’ in the US. In other words, he’s a super affiliate and he really, really knows how to generate revenue!

There were lots of really compelling stats right at the start such as 60% of affiliate sales are driven by SEM affiliates, 95% of sales come from 5% of affiliates, and much about how affiliate marketing is a great vehicle for merchants to improve sales. But this is a blog for affiliates, so we don’t need much convincing.

Kristopher’s original strategy way back in the day was to find a way he could generate a small amount of revenue each and every month for every merchant on the scene (around 2,000 at that time). His aim was to find $50 of revenue for each one, and he achieved this in 2000 / 2001. For those of you with poor mental arithmetic skills, he managed to rake in $100,000 US per month by following a very simple strategy. He found a very small, simple way to make a bit of revenue for a single merchant and then scaled it up to apply to every merchant in sight.

I suspect that brand name bidding had a lot to do with this kind of success back then, but its a very, very, pertinent bit of advice. You only need to find a way to make £5 a day from something 20 times to make £100 a day. That’s a very strong part of my own strategy. I always aim to get something up and out there every day. Following this formula I grew my own affiliate business to a full time income within 3 months.

Look to the long term – Perhaps this might seem an obvious bit of advice when it’s written right in front of you. However, many conversations I had at the Expo focussed on a distinct group of affiliates who still don’t look beyond next month and towards the way affiliate marketing will change in the future. It’s important to build quality landing pages and content which will support your affiliate business through periods of change. The old saying quality is king is well worn for a good reason.

Make sure you have a strong PPC account structure – We’re all very much aware of the mystic (or is it mythical?!) Adwords Account Quality Score. Much of the cost you pay and the rankings you achieve is based on an overall quality score applied to your account by the great “G”. According to Kris, by bidding on fewer keywords and making them strongly related to each other you can improve the old quality score, reduce your click costs, and improve your rankings. Also, if you have a keyword within an adgroup which has a poor click through rate, you should consider weeding it out or removing it to another adgroup to give your other keywords the best chance for strong performance.

Some Recommended Resources

Kris mentioned a few url’s of some online marketing resources he makes use of…

Competitive Research Tools
GoogSpy – Adwords competitor research.
Hitwise – Search behaviour and interaction data (although I believe this has a rather hefty subscription fee. Perhaps only for people with thousands of sites!)
SEO Digger – Analyse competitor sites to determine which keywords they rank high enough for to be in the top 20. Looks intriguing…
Compete.com – Competitive metrics for every site on the web.

Keyword Tools
Key Compete – Download competitors keywords and adwords. (Dunno about this one personally, I do well from stuff my competitors haven’t thought of yet, but that’s just me!)
Rapid Keyword – Generate keywords and typos (although there are loads of free typo generation tools knocking about.

A Final, Random Hint
If you’re creating an adgroup to target a common mis-spelling of a product name or keyword, spell it wrong in the adcopy. I’d imagine this only works with search terms where people genuinely think they have entered the right spelling into their search engine, as opposed to missing out or interposing letters.

Well, what an event this has been so far. I’m so glad we made the effort to come as it’s the best conference I have ever attended (I went to a fair few boring SEO affairs back in the day).

Unfortunately, Duncan and I were hangover victims for the entire first day after one of the waitresses at the Buy.at pre-event networking party took a shine to Duncan. This resulted in us being somewhat replete with the rather nice free wine and staggering home at a rather disgraceful 2am. I can’t have been too bad mind you, I was free of mystery injuries and there was a notable lack of traffic cones in our room! You can take the girl out of uni…

However, this didn’t stop us from attending some great conference sessions yesterday. I’ve taken lots of notes with tips and resources from some top affiliate industry types and I will be doing some session by session posts where I think there’s something useful for you guys.

Highlights so far…

– Chatting to a Scottish guy for 40 minutes at the buy.at party. He asked me where I was from. When I said, “I’m from near Girvan in Ayrshire.”
He said, “No Way!!! What a coincidence, there’s this girl with a really great blog from down that area, you must live REALLY close to her”
“Umm, that’s me?”
“No WAY!!! I thought you were a bit of a heiffer” (Ayrshire term for someone of bovine appearance)

He really, really ruined that rather nice moment for me.

– The meet the super affiliates panel. Not only is it good to see these guys close up (although I saw Kieron for a quick chat the night before) But there was some good, insightful knowledge and it was jam packed with tips for newbies that made an awful lot of sense.

– Hero from Webgains winning the award for best account manager. I thought this was so well deserved, she works incredibly hard and is a pleasure to deal with. Congratulations Hero!

– Finally getting the fish and chips after the award ceremony. Myself and the lovely people from Figleaves were so hungry that we all ended up seperately ambushing unsuspecting waiting staff for boxes of food. The result? 8 boxes of fish and chips between the four of us! We ate them all too.

– Kieron winning the award for best blog of 2007. Another well deserved win. It must have been a very close call between him and Fraser. Even Kieron felt the night before that Fraser would win. I doubt Fraser will mind to much at the moment, he’s far too busy adoring his new baby.

– The Affiliate Window freebies. Gotta love the first aid kit and the medicine bottles full of Jelly Beans. All the guys were dressed in white coats too. “resolving your affiliate marketing ills” was the general theme, and I thought it was hilarious.

Well, I’m sat in my jim jams right now drinking tea and trying to wake up to go and enjoy another action packed day. I’m going to try and chat with some more people today… I was finding communication somewhat difficult at certain points yesterday!

Well, we’ve just completed online check in for our flight down to London 24 hours before the big event.

I have to say I’m very excited at the prospect of getting down there and seeing if the event lives up to the hype. I’m also hoping I get some really good nuggets to post about on the blog (not least some drunken pics of some top affiliates and network types).

My only regret is that I won’t actually have any bloody business cards with me because the printer has let me down

If you see me there, do come and say hello… I’ve been starved of affiliate chat for 12 months and I’m totally champing at the bit to get the low down on all the latest affiliate goss. I’ll probably even share the secret of which network has really been screwing me around recently because of problems with their automated commission tiers.

See you there

I’ve been thinking about this one for a few days. Affiliate marketing these days is a seemingly endlessly complex corridor full of confusing information and allegedly killer schemes to make you a millionaire and hand you the affiliate holy grail within 3 microseconds.

Apart from all the outright lies and half-truths you have to wade through, you now need a thorough understanding of the Google Adwords Landing Page Algo and need to work out exactly how to build those killer Landing Pages Google won’t assign to Google-Slap oblivion as soon as your local friendly Adwords Robot pays your page a courtesy call.

Even more confusing… exactly what the hell is a robot? What in the name of all that’s holy is a spider doing on my web page? Why does someone try to sell me something every fizzing time I look for a plain and simple answer about any of these things?

Affiliate marketing these days seems to be a potentially wide and gaping chasm into which your valuable time and money, if you’re too quick to believe all those promises, will vanish without a trace as you struggle to understand what the bloody hell all these experts are talking about.

So let’s make like Margaret Thatcher and say LETS GET BACK TO BASICS

OK. For the sake of argument, lets say you’ve spent 12 months desperately trying to work out how to build a landing page that Google will think is A1 perfect. What now? Do you even know what to do with your landing page? Have you even built a landing page that you know contains something that will convert? The point I am trying to make is that there seems to be a preoccupation with getting a landing page sorted before moving on to promotion. That’s the way to do things though, right?

Wrong. You’ve heard of not being able to see the wood for the trees? I think too many would-be affiliates these days can’t see the sales for the landing pages. Too many people are worrying about the landing page first, and the actual commercial value of the work they have put in is an afterthought. They see the vast hurdle of landing page creation, and completely miss the glistening gold of the revenue stream that should be put in front of it.

So What Should We Be Doing Then, Oh Sarcastic PPC Lady?

“Good words are worth much and cost little.”
George Herbert

Everything else aside, Mr Herbert’s quote neatly encapsulates the very heart of what I perceive to be the secret of my affiliate marketing success. Your 12 month slog to create a killer landing page is totally useless if you can’t find the right words to throw at it.

I am, of course, talking about finding the right search terms for your campaign and even more importantly finding the merchant who will truly pay you the value of your words. You’ve got a landing page, OK. But your landing page is so much internet piss in the wind if you don’t use it to send the right traffic to the right merchant.

It is vital to make sure of this before you even put finger to keyboard to start creating the landing page that will see you on a beach in Barbados this time next year.

Well, That’s All Very Easy For You To Say Kirsty. How The Blazes Will We Do That?

Well. Another wee secret actually. One that many merchants (and even affiliate managers) seem to be unaware of. Certainly a lot of newbie affiliates don’t know it.

You ready? Lean in Now….

It’s still OK to send traffic direct to merchant.

Yes, Google has this single ad per display URL… but that doesn’t mean that Google has banned affiliates from doing this. Nor does it mean networks have outlawed it. Some merchants don’t want you to do it these days, but there are still a lot who are happy for affiliates to do send the traffic right up to the door.

No, you won’t get as much traffic as a landing page… but with direct to merchant all you need are those words the clever Mr Herbert saw as so valuable. By using your words cleverly, ferreting out things others have missed, and really placing yourself in your would-be customer’s shoes you can create a small traffic stream. What this will let you do is test your words, test a niche you are interested in, find your revenue stream.

THEN you can worry about creating a landing page. Your effort will be more productive. After all, you will already know where the money is. You will probably even have a better idea of what your prospective consumer expects to see in a landing page for your chosen niche.

The short version of this very long story?

Get the words right first.

Been worried? Were you starting to think about calling out “International Affiliate Rescue” to find the erstwhile authoress of Affiliate Stuff? I certainly got that impression when I dashed into the house today after 7 days of no internet access, put on the kettle and with shaky hands, switched on my beloved internet once more. Before the first stats page had finished loading, up pops Kieron telling me he didn’t vote for my blog in the A4U Awards so I could go letting tumbleweed gather about the place!

Sorry, having just been on a 365 day holiday, I absolutely had to nip off for nine days more of R & R. This time I went up to the remote North of Scotland with my Mammy and Daddy. Hence, there was no real internet access and a radio silence resulted. Probably for the best really. I’d only have been up all night wailing and gnashing my teeth looking at my desolate affiliate commissions during the postal strike!

I’m now back, and my wrists have duly been slapped… I promise to blog furiously for a week to make amends!

In case you’re interested, here’s a picture of Lossiemouth. This proves certain critics of Scotland’s weather entirely wrong!!

If you haven’t yet booked your pass to A4U Expo and you’re put off by the £279 price tag, Kieron has a great and easy to enter competition over at his blog to win one.

It’s open to affiliates only (he’s not paying for merchants or networks to get in – they get enough from affiliates, lol). All you have to do is tell Kieron what aspect of the 2 day event you would most be looking forward to. To enter, just leave a comment on his blog post about the contest.

I’m not entering because I already bought a pass for myself and the lovely Duncan at the early bird rate of £179. So, instead of leaving a comment on Kieron’s blog I will tell you all here what I am most looking forward to: –

Um, well anyone who knows me really well will be in no doubt that any section of the event involving me getting free drinks will be a firm favourite. However, over and above my love of alcoholic beverages I have to say I’m really looking forward to catching up with all my affiliate chums after a year out of the loop. I felt pretty isolated from the industry on my travels, and can’t wait to really get my finger back on the pulse over a drink or ten (see? I managed to bring alcohol into it again!!). I’d quite like it if I managed to catch hold of Kieron for long enough to enjoy a strawberry daquari too… but I suspect he’s going to be a popular guy at the event.

Get A4U Expo conference information here.

Well, imagine my delight yesterday on my first day back in dear old Blighty as I staggered from my bed at half past twelve in the afternoon and checked my e-mails with bleary eyes. In my inbox was a lovely e-mail from those fine chaps at A4UExpo informing me that Affiliate Stuff has gotten into the final 5 in an award at the inaugural A4u Awards which are being run at this years event.

Affiliate Stuff has been nominated for “Affiliate Marketing Blog of 2007“, which is an absolute honour and a thrill considering how young this blog really is. So, to all of you who voted for me I would like to say a heartfelt thankyou, it’s great that people like reading my sometimes random gems of affiliate marketing knowledge and were impressed enough to nominate me.

So What Now?

Well, there is now a second round of voting on A4U to determine the winners of all the various category nominees. The nominations are only open to A4U Forum members. My esteemed fellow nominees are as follows: –

AffiliateBlog.co.uk – Fraser Edwards
Here.org.uk – Kieron Donoghue
Mooseontheloose.co.uk – Paul Wheatley
MorleyMouse.com – Dan Morley

Nominations close 5pm October 5th 2007.

It’s an absolute honour to be classed with these guys, so I already feel like I have won a prize this week. If you aren’t a member of A4U and would like to vote for anyone in the best blog class I would urge you to join up. Not just for the sake of voting, but also because it’s a great community with genuinely helpful people looking out for each other.

What a welcome home!

Thanks to Richard at Lovehoney who has re-sent me a wee surprise package after he read my reply to a post by David Fiske a while back. He got the wrong address first time round after taking details from a domain of mine… so it wasn’t the surprise it would have been!

Well, I say it wasn’t a surprise. It just wasn’t me who actually got surprised. I got Lovehoney to send my wee surprise to my mother’s house in order that I could open it as soon as I got home. Knowing my mother can never resist opening a package not addressed to her I didn’t bother telling her to expect a present of a somewhat naughty nature. “What the hell.” I thought. “It’ll be a laugh to send my mother a shock in the post.”

So this is what Richard sent me….

True to form, my dear old mammy opened up a package the other day and was confronted with a beautifully presented “Jessica Rabbit” vibrator just to show that Lovehoney aren’t scared to send out saucy gifts unsolicited to their female affiliates.

After giving her a few days to stew I e-mailed her about it, and she admitted she’d opened it and then hastily tried to re-package good old Jessica Rabbit so I wouldn’t know she’d been nosey parkering in my packages again. She was so relieved when I sent her a mail about it. Poor old stick really didn’t know what I was planning to do with my spare time when I got back from this trip, lol.

For those of you who don’t know, the Jessica Rabbit Vibrator is a bit of an all time best seller for lovers of naughty toys (now don’t be saying you never get any niche tips from Kirsty’s blog, huh?). Beats David’s 100 condoms hands down in my opinion.

Available at Lovehoney for just £19.99, it’s a real bestseller.

If you want to make a bit of commission from Jessica Rabbit or any of the other extensive range of naughty toys available at Love Honey, you can join their programme via Affiliate Future, or join their In House Effort. Commissions begin at 16% and rise to 21% based on performance.

Richard’s very keen to attract in new affiliates and is a terribly friendly (and possibly cheeky) chappie to boot. Give it a go, you won’t regret it!

LoveHoney.co.uk

Bula Bula everyone. Greetings from the land of sun, sea, and copious helpings of Kava – a mild narcotic root drink!

Well, we’ve been in Fiji for 11 nights now, starting off the final leg of the great affiliate-marketing-funded trip around the globe. When we flew into Nadi, we immediately jumped onto a ferry to take us out island hopping.

As soon as we were zipping over the azure waters towards our beach bure, I got that same old excitement about the life I’m leading right now and where my passion for affiliate marketing has taken me. It’s a giddy sort of feeling travelling to all these places I never thought I’d see in my wildest dreams, and STILL being able to save for a great deposit on the home Duncan and I are planning to buy next year.

When I visit all these great and wonderful locations, my mind always inevitably turns to the vehicle that’s brought me here. It’s all thanks to the wonderful world of affiliate marketing, and I seem to make some kind of connection to it everywhere I visit.

So What Does Fiji Have To Teach Me About Affiliate Marketing?

Much to my surprise, quite a fair bit. We’ve stayed in lots of resorts run by villagers for villagers. The Fijians really do treat their guests as part of the extended village family, and as honoured guests. I was immediately struck when I arrived in our first resort by just how happy the islanders are… I sat outside our Bure for 3 hours with the happy laughter of the villagers and their kids echoing back to me. Not only this, but they seem to manage to be incredibly happy when in fact they have very little. No flash cars, no swanky houses, no mortgages, no worries.

This caused me to have a bit of a look at myself in terms of my constant preoccupation with building and growing my affiliate business. Undoubtedly my obsession with the bottom line is what has created my own personal success. However, like many affiliates I seem to suffer from borderline workaholism when it comes to making m living.

Looking at the happiness of the locals who live so simply and apparently in their own carefree style makes me realise it’s important not to let affiliate marketing be your entire life. The temptation is undoubtedly there. After all, your earnings are only limited by the amount of time you put in. However, I do know there are many top earning affiliates who spend so much time working they never actually take the time to enjoy their money.

It’s important to strike the right work-life balance. What’s the point of being your own person when you’re still tied to a desk?

A pretty odd subject from a girl who’s only worked part-time for the last year. But I know I’m in real danger of reverting to the affiliate-o-holic lifestyle when I get back to it full time. Just ask my long suffering partner how many times I’ve disappeared into the home office for several hours on what was supposed to be various romantic nights in.

So, I resolve to take a leaf out of the Fijian’s book when I get home. Be happy with what I have (which really is so much already) and concentrate on the things that really matter in life.

Bula!!

Check out my affiliate personality test to see if you are in danger of becoming affiliate addicted!

OK, lets assume its your first day as an affiliate manager. Your boss gives you a bit of a pep talk, tells you to increase performance by 100%, and then bogs off back to the golf course without a backward glance.

Let’s also assume you don’t have a clue about affiliate marketing. In fact, you were only in the building asking directions to the nearest train station when they asked you the fateful question “Ah. So do you know what this internet thing is then? Beautiful. You’re hired!”

OK? Right. The following advice is the best you’ll ever hear in your new career.

Forgive the sarcasm (it’s not as if you’re not expecting to see it on this blog!). However after being alive and kicking for around 10 years in the UK, the venerable institution of affiliate marketing still seems to be beset by what I perceive to be newbie mistakes by an unacceptable proportion of merchants.

A recent survey of super affiliates by UK affiliate management agency R.O.EYE (geddit?!) uncovered that the biggest bar to growth of many affiliate programmes is simply poor management. This isn’t news to myself and most other affiliates. We’re well used to this status quo. It’s time for merchants to sit up, listen, and make use of the valuable resource affiliates represent. Most importantly, it’s time for merchants to realise that lack of attention to your affiliate programme can seriously damage your bottom line. The study underlines that with Affiliate Marketing in the UK having passed the £2 Billion mark in 2006, it’s high time that the resources dedicated to programme management reflected its revenue spinning potential.

So sit back, relax, and let the affiliates do the talking: –

What Super Affiliates Really Want

- Do Your Housekeeping. Is an up to date data feed too much to ask? How about making sure your affiliates are up to date with current special offers and promotions? Regularly updated creatives? It’s hardly rocket science guys.
- Communication Is The Key. Communicate directly with your affiliates. Passing information only via your affiliate network can be frustrating for your affiliates. It can also result in “Chinese Whispers” syndrome with miscommunication a common by-product.
- Affiliates Really Just Want To Be Loved. Include the affiliate stream as an integrated part of your marketing strategy. Make use of their expertise at the outset of your online campaigns, and make sure everyone is aware of each other’s goals and striving to achieve them together.

There. It’s not hard is it? There are many highly talented marketers in the affiliate world. They are in the business because they can earn better money from their talents than becoming a marketing consultant… doesn’t that tell you something about their skillset?

On behalf of all affiliates I say: –

“Oh great merchants hear my plea… YOU can make more money by talking to me!”