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Never Too Young to Start – By Jill Swartwout

Colleen — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 14:00:14 +0000

The affiliate marketing industry has a number of parent/child teams working together, such as Greg Rice and Greg Rice Jr.; Andy Rodriguez and Andy Rodriguez Jr.; and Deborah Carney and Liz Fogg-Ababon. In recent years I have become more involved in working with my father, Bill Swartwout, in what is now our company.

Bill started planting the seed for my love of working in the Internet industry when I was a young teen, when he first got on the Web. I’m currently working on instilling a passion for technology with my three-year-old daughter, who has known how to find the browser on my iPhone so that she could see the sports page icon, since she was just 18 months old.

Now, at just three, she manipulates her two pages of apps on my iPhone like a pro. It just goes to show, it’s never too young to start teaching your child how to use technology, or to get them interested in our industry, for that matter.

In addition to affiliate marketing, my other job has been an elementary school teacher. It has been my experience that not every student is fond of working on a computer. As I have surveyed my student’s families to find out what kind of technology they have available in their homes, the students with no interest in computers often do not have access to them at home.

Kids need to have a foundation in computers, as proficiency has become essential in education and the workplace. . Today’s children will not have much choice but to learn to use computers as we are engulfed in a computer-centric society. As a teacher, I do whatever I can to introduce the use of computers into my students lives through daily lessons, kick-starting their computer literacy skills – and they love it!

As a mother, I am sure to include my daughter in learning to work whatever piece of technology I happen to be using whenever she is nearby.

That said, I’m going to go out on a limb and say that it is never too early to encourage an interest in affiliate marketing. My three-year-old certainly doesn’t know how to do what I do as President and Affiliate Manager. But she does know that “Mommy works on the computer a lot,” Mommy works with these things called “checks that have cool pictures” on them, “Mommy types a lot,” and that Mommy has fun with her work. She even loves to wear Mommy’s company hats and ID badges from past Affiliate Summits saying that she’s going to work with Mommy one day.

Jill, affiliate manager of www.GirlyChecks.com, is president of the “parent” Beaches and Towns Network, Inc.

Download the entire FeedFront issue 13 here – http://www.scribd.com/doc/45332687/FeedFront-Magazine-Issue-13
FeedFront issue 13 articles can be found here as well: http://feedfront.com/archives/article00date/2010/12a>

Is Offering Pre-paid Deals Good for Merchants? – By John Vehlewald

Colleen — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 14:00:51 +0000

One of the most popular promotional methods for businesses lately has been pre-paid deals. We’ve all seen them from places like Groupon, LivingSocial, or DealEx, but are they a good thing for merchants?

They are known by many names, such as “flash deals”, “Groupons”, “group buying”, or simply “pre-paid vouchers”. Names aside, they allow a merchant to offer deals to consumers that are so good that the consumer will pay for them. Generally, they offer consumers a hefty discount (40-60% off in many cases) in an effort to acquire a new repeat customer.

There have been some horror stories from businesses that trying these sorts of deals had a negative effect on their business. A recent study from Rice University found that 32% of surveyed businesses that offered a deal with Groupon found them to be unprofitable, and 40% said they would never do another one.

Statistics like this can make it a scary proposition for many businesses. Fortunately, with a little planning it doesn’t have to be.

Many merchants wonder how they can take advantage of this new revenue source, without the risk to their business. There are some key questions merchants should ask themselves when considering this avenue to drive additional revenue:

1) Is your goal short-term revenue, or long-term growth? This may seem obvious, but it’s important. Offering a deal like this to consumers generally will mean the merchant may take a loss initially to acquire the customer. If a merchant’s margins support the initial discount, it’s a great way to drive short-term revenue. If a merchant doesn’t have the margins to support the initial discount, they need to look at this loss as a customer acquisition cost, and work to make these new customer repeat customers.

2) Does your business lend itself to this sort of promotion? Just about any business can find a way to structure this sort of deal to be good for them. Services, high margin items, or anything with a subscription attached tend to be great fits due to the high lifetime value of bringing in a customer. If you’re not sure how a deal could work for your business, the providers of these sorts of services can talk you through ideas based on their experiences.

3) Do you have a real understanding of how customers interact with your business? Knowing things like average purchase price, lifetime value of a typical customer, and time based buying trends can really help. This sort of data can help you to calculate the return you can expect to see by offering a deal, and ensure that it is going to be profitable for you.

There can be a delicate balance between creating a deal that works for the merchant, but is still compelling enough for the customer to actually buy. There are no absolutes, but if a merchant asks themselves these questions, creating a pre-paid deal can be a great way to drive additional revenue.

John Vehlewald is the VP of Affiliate Products at Inuvo, Inc.

Are You Using Twitter the Right Way? – By Matt Enders

FeedFront Staff — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 15:00:15 +0000

No, this is not another article asking “Do you have a Twitter account for your business?” or “How much time do you spend on Twitter?” Rather, this article is going to challenge you to ask yourself about your current Twitter strategies. The key question is, when you Tweet, are you talking at people, or are you conversing with people?

We all know that social media, Twitter included, is meant to be a communication tool . What it truly boils down to is an opportunity to converse in a much more real-time, collaborative, and interactive setting.

If you want to achieve success through Twitter, stop trying to lob your messages out there, hoping someone will catch them; and instead initiate and facilitate conversations. Here are some of my best tips:

1) ReTweet often. But, do not stop there. Always add your own thoughts or opinion to the original item that you found ReTweet-worthy. It is perfectly acceptable to post two or three Tweets in a row for this purpose.

2) Tweet plenty of @ replies. Remember, you are having a conversation and you want the other person to know you are talking to them.

3) Use a lot of hashtags in your tweets. This adds your thoughts into much larger conversations.

4) Similarly, search for new hashtags that you find interesting or useful. Join in those conversations.

5) Reply to everyone who sends you an @ message. No one will want to converse with you if you are not willing to throw the conversation ball back to them.

6) Use auto-responders for your followers with caution. If you must use one, keep it simple by just saying hi or thanks for the follow.

7) Do not automatically follow everyone who follows you. This is a quick way to make Twitter overwhelmingly useless.

Picture this… You are in a crowded room talking to a large group of people at the same time. There are no speeches or stages; it is just a gathering with friendly conversation. Do you think people would pay attention to what you have to say if you constantly push your own agenda, regardless of what the group is discussing? Of course, the answer is no. Why would you treat Twitter any differently?

Social media as a whole is about becoming likable, while portraying a true image of yourself, and having as many people as possible show an interest in what you have to say. People, by nature, like to feel important and connected to the things they care about. If you want people to care about your message, make them feel important and connected to it by engaging them in conversation.

By conversation, I mean both your conversation and theirs. Social media is a two-way street. You get what you give. Make sure you are contributing in a way which will give you the return you seek.

Matt Enders is the CEO of MGECOM, Inc., a leading outsourced affiliate program management firm.

Download the entire FeedFront issue 10 here – http://www.scribd.com/doc/29057000/FeedFront-Magazine-Issue-10
FeedFront issue 10 articles can be found here as well: http://feedfront.com/archives/article00date/2010/04

Lessons from North Carolina’s Affiliate Tax Fight – By Matt Enders

FeedFront Staff — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 07:26:10 +0000

Over the years many events, technologies, and companies have changed the face of affiliate marketing. The current battle against the Affiliate Tax (Advertising Tax, Amazon Tax) is one of the most important events to happen in our young industry.

The Advertising Tax has the power to both reform and injure our entire industry. To date New York, Rhode Island, and North Carolina have all passed the tax. Other states have seen the damage these laws do to small businesses and have shot down similar legislation.

Being headquartered in North Carolina, mgecom took a leading role in the fight against the Advertising Tax. In this fight, we learned many things which could be of great value should you find yourself in a state considering the implementation of the Advertising Tax. My best advice is this:

- Start an online petition and gather as many signatures as possible. The volume of signatures is important, but more from your state equals more relevance to lawmakers.
- Gather short, personal stories from every affiliate you can reach whose business will be negatively impacted. Print and bind these, and hand deliver them to your legislators.
- Use Twitter to get the message out and gain new supporters. Create a hash tag (we used #ncaffiliatetax) and include it in every Twitter update you write.
- Talk to the Performance Marketing Alliance and leverage their experience, data, and reach.
- Utilize the enormous power and community of ABW (ABestWeb.com) and other affiliate marketing forums.
- Organize face to face meetings with anyone in your state who has an interest in seeing the law shot down. Use these meetings to plan your group strategy.
- Don’t wait to start the fight. Make yourself heard as soon as the legislation appears. Even better, be preemptive and start educating your legislators on our industry.
- Visit your legislators in person. Meeting with lawmakers from your county is very important, but talk to anyone who will listen, particularly if they are on your State Finance Committee.
- Call your legislators multiple times. Don’t settle for speaking to an aide.
- Be persistent.

In North Carolina, we were unfortunately fighting against the perception of “fairness” in the eyes of lawmakers.

Many were focused on ensuring that Amazon.com and local book retailers were both subject to the same taxes and removing what was seen as an unfair competitive advantage.

North Carolina being in a significant budget deficit certainly did not help our chances. To lawmakers, the Affiliate Tax seemed like a way to both close the budget gap and keep local retailers happy.

We found that personal stories from affiliates and getting legislators to see how the Affiliate Tax laws negatively affect small businesses and individuals was much more effective than speaking to them about their misconceptions of fairness and new tax revenue streams. In the end we lost the fight, but we did make headway with key legislators. Now, we will work towards repeal of the Affiliate Tax.

Matt Enders is the CEO and Founder of mgecom, inc., an Outsourced Affiliate Program Management firm.

Download the entire FeedFront issue 8 here – http://www.scribd.com/doc/20220412/FeedFront-Magazine-Issue-8
FeedFront issue 8 articles can be found here as well: http://feedfront.com/archives/article00date/2009/10

Inside Information on Affiliate Classifying – By Matt Enders

FeedFront Staff — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 15:00:46 +0000

When my company takes over the management of an existing affiliate program or launches a new one, we do so using the Structured Diversity Method I have developed. Affiliates are categorized into three distinct classifications: Aggregate Volume, High Potential, and Premium Partners.

Each affiliate within any given classification is equally significant and must be treated with a high level of importance. This ensures that your affiliate partners are able to consistently improve their sales volume and helps your program become a significant portion of your overall online revenue.

Aggregate Volume affiliates comprise the foundation of your program. These affiliates are what most would consider rookies to affiliate marketing. They will likely have many questions and may need to be taught the basics of generating traffic and converting visitors. These affiliates typically generate a few orders each, per month.

Your program should be designed so that you have hundreds of converting affiliates at the foundation level who occasionally generate individual sales, but who, as the Aggregate Volume group, contribute a significant amount of monthly revenue.

High Potential affiliates are important both as a group and individually. This group does not typically make their living entirely from affiliate marketing, but they are generating consistent sales each month. Their commission earnings play a role in both their business and personal budgeting. High Potential affiliates are likely to increase their sales rapidly if they are given the right tools.

Premium Partner affiliates are your top performers. They may or may not be considered an industry Super Affiliate, but regardless are generating a significant amount of your monthly sales. These affiliates should be viewed as a method of “sharpening the tip” of your affiliate program. They have the ability to drive significant amounts of revenue, often in a very short period of time. More importantly, their high performance level is often sustainable over time.

You can build a significant revenue generating program through Aggregate Volume and High Potential affiliates alone, but overall growth will be inconsistent and slow. Likewise, a program built with Premium Partners alone may not be sustainable over time as any number of factors beyond your control could temporarily or permanently affect their sales volume. The loss of even a single Premium Partner in a program consisting only of this group will result in a significant decrease in overall revenue.

In utilizing the Structured Diversity Method for your affiliate program design, you will be able to reach profitability from the sales generated by Aggregate Volume and High Potential affiliates alone.
However, you must attract and recruit affiliates of all three classifications in order to realize the sharp growth curves you are looking for. You must manage your program under the assumption that each partner in each classification wants to earn more with your program and is actively working on improving their business. If you provide the tools and assistance needed, you will find a steady flow of affiliates advancing their performance level and generating more sales in your program.

Matt Enders is the CEO and Founder of mgecom, inc., a leading Outsourced Affiliate Program Management firm.

Download the entire FeedFront issue 7 here – http://www.scribd.com/doc/17376069/FeedFront-Magazine-Issue-7
FeedFront issue 7 articles can be found here as well: http://feedfront.com/archives/article00date/2009/08