Affiliate Networks - Affiliate Window
Posted on October 23, 2008
Filed Under Affiliate Networks | Leave a Comment
Following my post about signing for Paid on Results, I thought I should continue in that vain reviewing the other networks I have signed with.
On Monday I signed with Affiliate Window. I am intending to enter the consumer electronics field - particlularly cameras - and Affiliate Window have some of the really big high street names - Comet, Dixons, PC World - along with some of the names known more for their internet presence such as Pixmania.
If I wanted to do a price comparison site - it would be better to include these merchants so signing for Affiliate Window was an absolute must.
In fact Affiliate Window has over 70 merchants in their Electronics sector so I knew I would have plenty to choose from and started the sign up process.
The first thing that I was surprised about was having to pay £5 to join. The fee is designed to discourage unscrupulous affiliates intent on making dishonest or fraudulent commissions from merchants on the Affiliate Window network. This fee has been credited against my account and will be returned as part of my first commission payment - lets hope I get one then!!
My application wasn’t instant but took about one and a half hours to be approved. Not long to wait but not as quick as Paid on Results.
Once my application had been approved I was free to sign up with the merchants - and I signed up with quite a few - probably too many for my own good bearing in mind I have now received 28 emails from Affiliate Window merchants - I feel a bit overwhelmed, especially since I’ve only had two from Paid on Results in the same period. Not only that but there are also 51 messages in my AW account.
I haven’t had a chance to use the ShopWindow toolset which i’ve read good things about - it did after all win the A4U 2008 award for Best Network Innovation - but that will come over time. I did however manage to download a datafeed today - first time I’d done something like that it wasn’t nearly as hard as I thought it would be.
Overall it’s been a positive experience so far and providing I can build a decent site, I’m sure I will earn some commission from Affiliate Window. But as it stands right now: Current Balance £5.00 - but that’s my own money anyway!
Google adwords - I’m about to dip my toes in the water.
Posted on October 22, 2008
Filed Under PPC | Leave a Comment
There are two main ways to get visitors to your website - via natural or organic searching - where someone types a phrase in their favourite search engine and comes across your site - and the second way is to make use of paid advertising.
The main benefits of the organic search are that it doesn’t cost anything - other than time spent writing content. However if you don’t appear high enough in the search engines what chances are there of your site getting anyone come visit you? I think I’m probably quite unique in that I will quite happily work my way through to page 10 of Google if I’m looking for something in particular - and you find some real gems down there. However I think I am probably quite unusual so if you’re past page 3 you can probably say goodbye to any chance of getting significant traffic.
I don’t want to rely only on organic searching. It will take time to add content, build links and optimise my site. Being unemployed at the moment, whilst I have the time to write content I don’t have time to wait for the visitors to come. Paid advertising is the way to do that - but it’s also a really easy way to lose money too - something I can’t afford either,
So I had to start doing my research and invested in the Ultimate Guide to Google Adwords by Perry Marshall and Bryan Todd.
Perry Marshall is really an adwords guru. His books are the most popular ones written on the subject and came highly recommended to me.
I got half way through the book during the weekend - and if I hadn’t been interrupted by little children then I would have been able to finish the whole book in an afternoon probably. It really is an easy read and I have a much better understanding of the subject now than I did beforehand.
The book walks you through setting up a campaign, how to test it and refine it to get better traffic for the same money and how to write killer ads. I’m confident that I can build a much better campaign thanks to this book and would thoroughly recommend it.
Using all the techniques he mentions you should over time be able to develop a strong and profitable campaign - can’t wait to try it out.
Affiliate Networks - Paid on Results
Posted on October 20, 2008
Filed Under Affiliate Networks | 3 Comments
I signed with my first Affilate Network on Friday - Paid On Results.
I’m not sure why I chose them to be my first. Admittedly they did have a full list of merchants I was able to look through and there were a few that matched my niches that were paying relatively good commisson.
It was extremely easy and quick to sign up and I got approved straight away and all the merchants that I wanted to sign up with were on auto-approval so I could, in theory, have started promoting them within minutes! If only I could write some content that quickly.
The interface presented to you when you log in is very intuitive - and you’re greeted with the balance of your account and a graph showing your performance. Terrific if you’re actually earning some commission. At the moment I’m still being greeted with Current Balance: £00.00 and a completely flat graph!! Shame!
Once you’ve registered your websites you’re free so start signing up with the merchants, and the creatives i.e. banners and text links is all there too.
All in all it was a good experience so far. I was really pleased with how easy it was. I’m impressed and hope to do really well through Paid On Results.
If you would like to see what merchants Paid On Results currently have click here.
Once I’ve done a bit more work I’ll review again to see whether I’m still so impressed.
« go back — keep looking »
