Comments Off on My Usual Recommendations (for Merchants planning an affiliate program)

This is the most common set of recommendations I give to merchants who are planning to launch an “affiliate program,” based on the factors discussed in my other posts in this section. Read more »

Comments Off on Affiliate Technology & Network Choice

• There are dozens of “technology options” for a merchant to implement an affiliate program. Read more »

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• Primary Factors Considered by Affiliates: When a prospective affiliate is considering which merchants’ programs to join and promote, the affiliate may consider a wide range of factors. Many affiliates rely only on one or a few of these factors in making decisions; none consider all factors. Read more »

Comments Off on Public vs. Private Affiliate Programs

1. Should your affiliate program be public or private?
   • Public: Most affiliate programs are “public,” so that any member of the general public can learn about the merchant’s affiliate program (by using a link on the merchant’s site, by viewing a list of merchants on an affiliate network, or by finding a listing for the merchant in an “affiliate directory” site).
   • Private: However, several thousand merchants offer “private” or “secret” affiliate programs, which are available by “invitation only.” Read more »

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As a consultant, I earn much of my income by advising merchants who seek to add an “affiliate program” (also called an “associate program,” “referral program,” or “partner program”). However, not all merchants should have affiliate programs, and even those who can benefit from an affiliate program should be aware of certain “drawbacks.” Read more »

Comments Off on What’s an Affiliate Program?

An “affiliate program” is an advertising arrangement between advertisers (merchants) and publishers (affiliates). Read more »

Comments Off on T-Mobile Fraud (proprietary WiFi)

September 7, 2007 — Last week, my wife and I changed our cell-phone service and bought Nokia 6086 phone from T-Mobile, because of their offering of WiFi calling capabilities.

What they told us (and today, telephone sales AND in-store staff repeated this) was that these phones would work with any WiFi router using the 802.11 standards. Our experience was quite different: most of our calls were “dropped,” and we could not reliably connect to our WiFi network. Read more »

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The term “Affiliate Arbitrage” is used to describe a variety of strategies, nearly all involving “Pay Per Click Search” and “Affiliate Programs.” In this article, I attempt to explain many of these “strategies,” and why they might or might not work for you. Read more »

Comments Off on Should We Buy “Guaranteed Traffic” or “50,000 visitors”?

It really is “too good to be true.”  Several dozen web sites promise to deliver 10,000 to 100,000 visitors to your web site, for a low fee — much less than one cent per visitor, which is the cheapest you could ever draw traffic through Google’s AdWords program.

Paying for “guaranteed traffic” is a complete waste of money: Read more »

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April 3, 2007 — Why did I decide not to become a teacher? Read more »