Copyblogger Weekly Wrap

I didn’t write the Wrap last week because Brian didn’t figure many people would be cruising Copyblogger over the holiday weekend, but I think that’s just yet another ethnocentric case of an American arrogantly assuming that his readership isn’t entirely composed of obsessive-compulsive Danish copywriting sailors with a high-bandwidth nautical Wi-Fi connection onboard their schooners.

And to that I say, Tillykke med fødselsdagen!

While I hobble off to the shop to get a fresh quill and have my peg-leg replaced (and naturally to flip each light switch I encounter along the way exactly seventeen times), you can check out what happened this week on Copyblogger:

Monday:

How to Captivate Your Audience with Story (From America’s Greatest Living Playwright)

This may mark the first time that a memo became a source of inspiration rather than de-motivation. This post takes snippets from a memo from playwright David Mamet to the writers working on his television show and pulls dramatic lessons from them. Want to know about drama, business, and the conveyance of information vs. entertainment? It’s all here, folks.

Read the full post here.

Tuesday:

The Most Important Element of Your Marketing Story

It’s kind of cool to think of yourself as the protagonist in your own marketing story, and it’s also quite beneficial from a copywriting standpoint. I’ll just point out that I don’t really want to be a Charlie Chaplin protagonist per this post’s photo. Instead, I usually choose to be an androgynous wizard with mall hair ala David Bowie in Labyrinth.

Read the full post here.

Wednesday:

Your Staggeringly Unfair Marketing Advantage: IMfSP Radio #4

This episode of the IMfSP radio show focuses on the huge advantage that good content marketing will give you, but also on mixed martial arts, Salman Rushdie, and the President. Once you have that, the marketing kind of takes care of itself. I mean, who wouldn’t watch that bout?

Read the full post here.

Thursday:

How to Craft a Marketing Story that People Embrace and Share

Continuing the story theme, this post is all about crafting your marketing story so that people will want to share it, much like they’d share a delicious jelly donut. It’s got good nuts and bolts about minding your audience, etc. to be most effective in using that story as a tool, but precious little time is spent talking about donuts. You know what kind I like? The glazed chocolate cake ones.

Read the full post here.

Friday:

The Rockstar Guide to Getting More Traffic, Fame, and Success

Awesome, I love posts like this on the “hold your head up” aspect of success. This one is about using showmanship to step into the position you want as an authority, and it makes me realize that TRUE branding might just be about KISS makeup and clothing with giant metal spikes on it. And big hair. Fortunately, I’ve lucked into it and already have all of those things covered. BRING ON THE GROUPIES!

Read the full post here.

This week’s cool links:

• You Are So Stupid: I waded into this post ready to fight Chris Brogan for mocking me YET AGAIN, but it’s actually a post about the negative things we say to and about ourselves. I actually pay attention to this kind of thing… good stuff.
• Why a Bad Memory’s Not Such a Bad Thing: THANK you for this post. The net gets criticized all the time for changing the way we think, but it’s usually assumed it’s for the worse. But is “education” really about memorizing and regurgitating?
• A Wandering Mind is an Unhappy One: So apparently, happiness correlates really well with mindfulness about what’s actually going on rather than having your thoughts elsewhere. Oh, what… so now I’m supposed to actually pay attention to the chainsaws I’m juggling?
• The inevitable decline due to clutter: This from the “more is less” school of thought, Seth Godin ruminates on whether adding more stuff to digital marketing is a good thing or a bad thing. (Hint: He thinks it’s a bad thing.)

About the Author: Johnny B. Truant specializes in selling through stories and would like very much to set you up with a cheap blog or website. (That’s “cheap” as in “inexpensive,” not as in “tawdry.”)

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Cup of Joe: Are You Marketing For Sh*ts and Giggles?

Recently a new site launched that has had a lot of folks talking on social media. The designers are using an innovative scrolling design with high quality illustrations to entertain and sell their brand. Ben the Bodyguard is a soon to be released app on the iPhone and iPad that protects your phone from theft and your boss from reading about your former workplace…I think….Or is it the photos on the phone from thieves? Where does the iPad play into all this???

Oh, to be honest I am actually pretty confused about exactly what or how this new product works. But for the 20 seconds it took me to look over their beautiful site, that didn’t matter. Will I buy their product? No, I mean I don’t understand it!

In marketing we  often hear folks say, “people want to be entertained”, which is true. But it’s also true that if you are doing nothing but entertaining your audiance without communicating your brand’s message then you are pretty much doing it all for sh*ts and giggles! And if that’s all you are interested in, more power to ya!

So the real question is, when do you entertain and when do you inform? Here’s a tip: Education is needed when you are innovating.

For example, when our fearless leader Andy Beal launched Trackur in Febuary 2008, he needed to not only sell his new tool, but also sell the concept of Online Reputation Management as well. Therefore a month later he published the first and only book on the topic! Here, Andy, knew that at the time ORM was so innovative that he needed a vehicle to communicate the underlying concept. Now, as a result we have an extremely competitive ORM consulting and tool marketplace because of Andy’s work.

Other products that aren’t that innovative can be more entertaining without the need to educate. Take for example Old Spice. Here we see a strictly entertainment-driven campaign. Education wasn’t needed because let’s face it, hopefully, everyone knows what deodorant is.

Talented marketers are able to mix both entertainment and education to create campaigns that engage their audiance in ways that stimulate their minds and their funny bone!

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Facebook Friday: “Tell Your Fans”…Through Email?

On Wednesday, Facebook announced a new way for brands to grow their fanbases by using email contacts to build your Facebook Page.

Now, from a brand perspective, this sounds great and it sounds like a fantastic way to reach individuals who are already interested in your brand and who just may not know about your presence on Facebook.

However, given my email marketing background, alarms have been going off in my head about whether or not this new development will alienate customers on your email contact lists.

Out of sheer curiosity, I tested this new Facebook tool and found a few things that made the email marketer in me a bit worried.

Although this new tool can expose your email customers to your Facebook presence and all of the great content you have there, there are a few things that might deter your email customers from even opening this email or agreeing to join you on Facebook.com.

• As a Page administrator, you are currently not allowed to personalize the message that you send to your email address list - not allowing brands to convey to the recipients why it is beneficial to them to join their Facebook Pages.
• The email message itself states that the brand Page wants the email subscriber to join Facebook.com, not the online community of the brand that they love.
• When the email arrives in the recipient’s inbox, there is no clear indication from the subject line that the email is from Facebook — the subject line just indicates the name of the Facebook Page. This leaves too much room for an email subscriber to be confused by who the email is from, especially if they are not Facebook users.

These issues could be large deterrents to individuals joining Facebook or joining your brand Page. And even for those who are already Facebook users, who may be comfortable with Facebook, they may not appreciate an impersonal and unconvincing email from Facebook in regards to your brand Page.

Is there room for improvement? Definitely. And if Facebook does indeed improve this tool to lend itself to be more enticing to the actual email customers, it may not come off as “spam-like” to your email contact list and lend itself to the growth of your fanbase and further integration of your online marketing channels.

What do you think? Do you believe that this new Facebook tool can boost a brand’s Facebook fanbase? Will it maintain the integrity and trust that brands might have with their email contact lists? Or may it do more harm than good in its current state?

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The Rockstar Guide to Getting More Traffic, Fame, and Success

Have you ever been to a concert where the opening act was just awful?

Maybe their music was okay, but there was something about the performance that undermined your ability to enjoy it. The group just lacked that special something that would make them stand out, that would draw you in.

That quality they’re lacking is called showmanship — and it’s not just for musicians.

You can spot a blogger who lacks showmanship a mile away.

Even after they’ve built a small and loyal following of readers, they still never seem to reach the level of success that the “A-List” bloggers in their niche have achieved. They sometimes spend years trying to overcome that plateau. They can’t figure out why they never get past being the “opening act” for the real rockstars in their niche.

They get frustrated and discouraged. Many of them give up. They hang up their metaphorical guitars and get regular 9-to-5 jobs and tell stories about how rough the industry is.

Don’t become one of those. I’m going to show you how to get the showmanship and stage presence you need to become the main act in anyone’s feed reader.

What is showmanship, and how does it apply to blogging?

Showmanship, according to the infallible Wikipedia, is “the skill of performing in such a manner that will appeal to an audience or aid in conveying the performance’s essential theme or message.”

That should sound familiar. Conveying a theme or message to an audience is exactly what we’re doing with blogging and content marketing. Yet so many people struggle to develop a style that will set them apart from everyone else in their niche.

But even the most mundane niches can be made new and interesting if you’re willing to find something special you can bring to the table.

For example, one of my favorite performers is pianist Victor Borge, who could easily have achieved a fine career as a traditional classical pianist in front of a hushed concert audience.

Instead, he found a way to make the music interesting and entertaining by adding comedy to his performance.

His shows elicit roars of laughter from his audience — and when was the last time you saw the formally-dressed concert hall crowd rolling in the aisles? It was completely unconventional, but his audiences loved him for it.

And his mastery of the piano was undiminished.

What showmanship isn’t

Showmanship isn’t a gimmick. It isn’t tricking the audience.

If Borge had been a less-than-stellar pianist, he wouldn’t have been able to transcend the concert hall standards to create his own way of approaching the music. Putting on a show isn’t putting on a mask.

Find something that works for you and pursue it. No trickery or attempting to be someone else required.

Good showmanship, the kind that engages your audience, needs to have authenticity at its core in order to work. If you become a sleazy Internet marketer, resort to spamming, or engage in bait-and-switch schemes, your audience won’t care if you have the best show on earth.

No amount of showmanship can hide a scumbag. Instead, take your authentic self and add some style to create a “wow” factor that grabs the attention of your audience and won’t let go.

Showmanship and stage presence

Your showmanship is what you bring that’s unique.

But “unique” doesn’t necessarily mean “good.” You could be the only blogger out there dressing in bacon and playing a ukulele, but that doesn’t mean you have valuable information to impart.

If you’re going to help your audience feel confident about your authority, you’re going to need something more than showmanship.

You need stage presence.

Stage presence is your ability to connect with an audience.

At this year’s BlogWorld, Brian Clark gave an excellent example of how to use stage presence.

Especially when it comes to marketing, people are like ‘Oh, well I’m supposed to do this, or I’m supposed to do that.’ No you’re not, because then you’re going to do exactly what everyone else does and you’re not unique.

So don’t feel like you need to be Naomi Dunford. I’m probably more like her in real life, but I choose to keep that on the down-low.

(…) I try to help people out. I try to help them learn something and make a business related to that.

And it’s as [much] the “real” me as any other part of me, but we all play different roles.

So that’s just my two cents on authenticity. Be who you want to be to your people. Be the best “you” you can be for them — not for you, for them.

That’s stage presence. Knowing what part of your authentic self connects with your audience — and then choosing to emphasize that aspect — is the first step to becoming the main act instead of just the ho-hum opener.

7 ways to use showmanship to command the attention of your audience

1. Choose a style that belongs to you. In order to be unique in your niche, you need to create a style that conveys who you are and what you do, in a way that your audience can get excited about. Find that “sweet spot” that will set you apart.
2. Immerse yourself in the style you’ve chosen. Once you’ve decided on your style, immerse everything you do in that style. That’s what showmanship is all about — taking what you do and wrapping it in a unique angle that gets your audience’s attention. If you don’t infuse everything you do with a single style, your audience will be confused by the conflicting brands you’re presenting.
3. Know what part of your personality connects with your audience. Being authentic doesn’t mean baring everything about yourself to the world. As Brian says, it’s about being the best “you” that you can be for your audience. Figure out what part of your personality “clicks” with your audience, and show more of that.
4. Focus on your audience, not yourself. I love what Sonia said at BlogWorld right after Brian finished his definition of authenticity. She said: “It’s not about you. It’s never about you. In business, it’s always about your customer.” If you want an engaged audience, you need to focus on what they want, what they need, and what they like.
5. Know the difference between authenticity and “too much information.” There’s a fine line between being authentic and telling your audience something they really didn’t want to know. Don’t cross the line into TMI. As Sonia says, “No one wants that much authenticity.”
6. Act like an authority if you want to be seen as one. If you want to be seen as an authority in your niche, you need to present yourself in a way that’s consistent with that level of respect. If you’re a financial advisor and you constantly complain about being broke, no one’s going to be very interested in your advice. Be mindful of how you present yourself.
7. Be consistent. At its core, branding is all about consistency — giving your audience the same positive experience every time they interact with you. If you want to command the attention of your audience, you need to be consistent in everything you do. Make sure everything you publish is in line with your overall brand, and stick to a consistent publishing schedule.

Being interesting isn’t enough

Being interesting isn’t enough if you want to establish yourself as an authority. Being talented isn’t enough, either.

Let’s face it, talented bands that are one-hit wonders are interesting for a time — then they fade into obscurity. No one wants that for their blog.

If you want to build a sustainable business model, you need to create a unique style that commands the attention of your audience, builds a solid connection with that audience, and establishes you as an expert.

Develop your showmanship and stage presence and you’ll be headliner for years to come. Even after you’ve turned old and gray, you’ll still be a rockstar.

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Interview: Nathaniel Broughton

Nathaniel Broughton is an internet entrepreneur, domainer and angel investor. His firm, Growth Partner, invests in post-revenue companies that primarily generate business online. He is a co-founder of SuretyBonds.com, a nationwide bonding agency. His previous projects have included 3 Inc 500 awards and 3 successful exits.

Tell us a little background info about yourself. Where are you from? How old are you? How long have you been making money online?
I grew up in St. Louis and went to the University of Missouri. I’m 27, and got into internet marketing with Show-Me Tickets in 2002.

Do you have any experience with affiliate marketing? If so, to what extent?
Most of my projects are ones where we own the backend company or service provider. I have done affiliate marketing in the edu space, as well as some real estate, moving, and other financial services. Lead-gen type plays, using regular old SEO and some Adwords. Usually we are the guys with the affiliate program though.

What accomplishments so far are you the most proud of?
I am most proud of the places I’ve traveled, and the people I’ve met. I love the internet because it allows me to travel wherever I want, whenever I want. And it gives me an excuse to go meet cool people from around the country and world, who share a common interest of making money online.

How did you become successful? Why did you choose this career? When did you first realize the full potential in the Internet? When did you first “hit the big time?”
I became successful by showing up every day, taking action, and learning from mistakes. Shortly after I started working for Brant Bukowsky and Show-Me, I saw how powerful SEO could be. We had a growing company, were making money, and it was a blast. I knew I wanted that as my future and not the crap I was getting in college (I was in accounting).

What do you think it takes to be successful?
Talent, timing, luck, and a long-term outlook. Combine that with a “I don’t give a shit, I’m going to do this” attitude and that helps in my experience. I mean that in a way that you take the risk, go talk to the guy across the room, put your money on the line, and the like. Never pass up a networking event. Never give up on an idea too quickly.

What have been your biggest failures and frustrations?
Two companies I’ve been involved with either as a founder or investor had a lot of growth in terms of traffic and revenue, but they fizzled out. It can be frustrating as an investor or entrepreneur when you get a few things going at once, and you lose focus on one of them. I’ve also seen a well-positioned business that had it all in terms of marketing and sales falter because the ownership group had bad seeds. That’s no fun.

Is there anything that you don’t like to do, that you just hate working on?
I hate emailing site owners cold. Too many days trying to build links the manual way, back in the day. Oh, a recent one – filling out expense reports. I never want to do that again.

What have you been up to recently? What projects are you working on?
WhitePixel.com is a new one, it’s a retargeting extension network. At least that’s what we call it. If you run retargeting ads, it lets you plug into our network and start pixeling people based on specific URLs that match your demographics. You can show retargeting ads to people who haven’t been to your site yet, but have been to a site that fits your customer profile.

I’m also working on getting more interested investors involved with Growth Partner. Either through a formal fund we start, a holding company, or just people who want to see our deals and might invest, creating a “bullpen” of those guys.

What problems have you had with those new projects?
It’s been a long road to try and sign up a lot of publishers for WhitePixel. Most people are into it if you can explain it – get additional revenue each month, display nothing, sell nothing. But the concept is a little different than they are used to with Adsense or lead gen or affiliate or display.

What motivates you?
The “game” of it all motivates me. Competing for traffic, sales, and whatever else. Taking something that doesn’t exist and making it worth a lot money.

What is the best advice you’ve been given and try to apply to your life?
I pulled most of my life advice from watching the Mighty Ducks films. Underrated in that regard.

What are some of your long-term goals? How much is enough? If money was no object, what would you be doing?
For me it’s all about: Live in California, own my own company, travel, and some day take my wife and kids to the beach on a Tuesday whenever I feel like it. As for the bankroll, I think $30 million would be enough. I’d be doing exactly what I do now if I had that $30 million, I’d just invest a lot more money and a lot more often.

Where do you want to be ten years from now?
Standing up at a desk sending emails.

How do you like to spend your free time? What doe work-life balance mean to you?
I like to blend the two together as much as possible so I don’t notice if I’m doing one or the other. Make work social, and do some work at random times. It’s easy to do with the tech that is out there. If you want to go chill at 2 pm go do it. If you want to work on something at the airport, do it.

If you could go back to being 18, what different career choices would you make?
I actually wish I could’ve done more in the affiliate space back in the day. I didn’t realize a lot of what I was doing in marketing our companies would’ve worked really well for generating money via affiliate marketing.

Do you have a Twitter account or Facebook “Like” page?
http://twitter.com/natebro

Thanks for having me on.

Building Your Business Through Logo Branding

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Logo Mojo. All opinions are 100% mine.

If there is one thing I’ve learned over the past few years while running this blog, it’s the power of a good logo. The Zac Johnson toon has taken on a life of it’s own and has become a very recognized symbol in the affiliate marketing and blogging niche. Without the extra branding from this logo and having it seen all over the place, it would be tough to achieve the same success the blog has seen over the past few years.

Not currently using a logo or design to brand your blog or business? You should be. Imprint an imagine in the minds of your followers, readers and customers. Doing so will not only allow them to remember a symbol and not just a name, but it helps extraordinarily for your branding purposes. Pepsi, Apple and Nike are all recognized by their logos… not their names. Twitter has been an amazing tool for branding purposes. If you are using Twitter and just have a basic background, you are missing out free branding and advertising every day. Most of the big name bloggers and branded companies have their own Twitter backgrounds which usually include their logo, web site name and personal or company info.

As easy as it sounds to brand yourself, it’s actually one of the hardest tasks to accomplish. First you have to think about what type of message and visual appearance your logo is going to display. Since the majority of us are not designers, you will also have to find someone to design your logo and make it look professional. I’m going through this process all the time, as I like to launch new web sites with only the highest designs and with their own unique logos. Logo Mojo

is a design company that actually covers the majority of what I talked about above. I’m always looking for new quality designers to work on projects. After looking through their site and portfolio, they have a nice selection of logos that they’ve designed, and compared to other design services, they prices are quite reasonable. The design process is laid out really well on the web site, as it walks you through the process on how to best describe your logo concept and how you would like it to be perceived.

Whether you are looking to have a new logo identity created for your web site, blog or Twitter, it’s a great idea to visit Logo Mojo. Not only can you get inspired by their designs and tips, but walking through their design questionnaire will also help you determine the look and feel you are trying to get with your new logo.

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Why I’m Watching LinkedIn Company Pages

Last month LinkedIn announced the launch of their company pages, starting with a small group of 40 companies.  Here’s why I have my eye on them (and so should you):

1. The “Products and Services” Tab – With the addition of this tab, companies will be able to showcase their offerings without looking overly promotional. The tab also makes it very easy to find what you are looking for without navigating an entire company homepage.

2. Public Recommendations – When LinkedIn members recommend products or services via the company page, their recommendation is publicly posted for all of their connections to see. Free reviews and promotions for the company.  Sound like another social network we know?

3. Company Overview – Customers and potential customers can get all the essential information about a company in one place. Yes, you could probably go to their website, but you’d have to search around to get all of the pieces. The company overview gives you a snapshot of all company activity on LinkedIn, new hires, employees, followers, statistics, recent Tweets, news articles and the latest stock updates. Most importantly, it shows you how YOU’RE connected to the company, which will prove valuable for potential employees and potential customers looking for a “connection.”

4. Your Audience is Already Here – With 75,000,000 members on LinkedIn, many of which influence or make business purchases, there’s a really good chance your target customer or employee is already engaging and connecting on LinkedIn.  And not only are they probably on LinkedIn, but they are more likely to be there for business/professional purposes.

One month later, I would love to know the impact the pages have had on their businesses. If you haven’t poked around a company page yet, I encourage you to do so.

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How to Craft a Marketing Story that People Embrace and Share

You’re telling a story.

Whether you know it or not, or intend to or not … you absolutely are.

Everything you do to market your business is another paragraph, page, or chapter in the story people hear from you. And the story people hear is the one they act (or don’t act) on, and repeat (or don’t repeat) to others.

Now, it’s not necessarily fatal if you’re not aware you’re telling a story, and you’ll never completely control your story anyway. But purposeful storytelling is the mark of the great novelist, screenwriter, and playwright, and purposeful marketing stories are a sure sign of a great content marketer.

So why not tell your story on purpose? Here’s how.

1. Know your audience

The battle is won or lost, right here. Put me up against the greatest writer in the world, and if I understand the audience better, I will kick his or her ass every time when it comes to connection, engagement, and conversion.

What do you need to know? You need to know whom they admire, and what they aspire to, despise, fear, and cherish. Instead of sitting around dreaming up stuff you guess people might react favorably to, you tell an educated story based on one or more archetypal individuals who represent the whole.

Understanding your audience at such an intimate level makes creating buyer personas important. It also helps to be a part of the market you’re speaking to, which results in a more authentic story and easier leadership of the tribe you form.

Research doesn’t sound sexy, but it’s the foundation of any smart marketing plan. The more time you spend understanding the people you’re talking to, the better story you’ll tell them.

2. Select your frame

When you know your audience well, what you’re really tuning in to is the way your people view the world. And when you understand the worldview your prospects share – the things they believe – you can frame your story in a way that resonates so strongly with them that you enjoy an “unfair” advantage over your competition.

Consider these competing worldviews, framed differently by simple word choice:

• Fitness Enthusiast vs. Gym Rat
• Progressive vs. Moonbat
• Businessman vs. The Man

These are extreme examples, and you can cater to audience beliefs and worldviews without resorting to name-calling. For example, the simple word “green” can provoke visceral reactions at the far sides of the environmental worldview spectrum, while also prompting less-intense emotions in the vast middle.

Framing your story against a polar opposite, by definition, will make some love you and others ignore or even despise you. That’s not only okay, it’s necessary. You’ll likely never convert those at the other end of the spectrum, but your core base will share your content and help you penetrate the vast group in the middle – and that’s where growth comes from.

3. Choose your premise

The premise is the way you choose to tell the story so that you get the conclusion you desire. It’s the delivery of the framed message with dramatic tension and one or more relatable heroes so that your goals are achieved.

• It’s the hook, the angle, the purple cow.
• It’s the difference between a good story and an ignored story.
• It’s the clear path between attention and action.

It’s important to understand the difference between the beliefs or worldview of your audience (the frame), and the expression of that belief or worldview back to them. Think about your favorite novel or film … the same information could have been transmitted another way, but just not as well. In fact, stories have been retold over and over throughout the ages – some are just better told than others.

The premise is essentially the difference between success and failure (or good and great) when it comes to copywriting and storytelling. We’ll be talking more about it in the next couple months.

Content marketing as storytelling

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Ever Saw The Gary Halbert Letter?

Around six months ago I was listening to an interview with Mike Filsaime, one of the so called “Internet marketing gurus.” At one point he started talking about copywriting, and how he learned much of what he knows from a guy called Gary Halbert.

Mike also mentioned that Gary Halbert had had a paid newsletter for many years, called The Gary Halbert Letter, and that now he believed everything was free and available online. That got me curious, and I went to search for the thing.

It turned out to be true. You can find all the editions of his paid newsletter here: TheGaryHalbertLetter.com. I haven’t counted, but there seems to be more than 100 of them.

What is the newsletter all about? Copywriting and marketing. There are some sales picthes here and there (mostly for products that don’t exist anymore), but overall it’s is a valuable resource if you want to learn about direct marketing, copywriting and marketing in general.

You can learn both from the concepts Gary talks about, and from his own copy and approach to the newsletter. Check it out.

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Your Staggeringly Unfair Marketing Advantage: IMfSP Radio #4

You’ve probably had fantasies of winning an MMA world championship wherein the title match is between you and a skinny seven-year-old.

Maybe you dream of writing a Booker Prize winning novel – with Sir Salman Rushdie working as your confidential ghost writer.

Or perhaps you’re determined to become the next President of the United States, thoroughly enjoying the fact that your last name happens to be Kennedy-Reagan.

If done well, a relevant Content Marketing strategy can create these kinds of conditions for your business. Conditions in which you possess a staggeringly unfair advantage over your competitors.

In this episode Sonia Simone and I discuss:

• How to sell when you’re allergic to selling
• What to do if you have no connections, no money, and no experience
• The concrete, three-step process of effective online marketing
• Why 19th century marketing skills are critical to 21st century success
• Where your customers are, and how to reach them

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Click here to download the mp3 | 38.7 MB | 26:49

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Should You Feel Guilty Pushing Slightly Shady Affiliate Offers?

One of the many decisions you will have to make as an affiliate is what type of offers you will run to make money. The good thing is you literally have a limitless supply of offers to choose from. Offers range from anything as simple as entering a sweepstakes, completing a free trial offer or even earning a commission on a purchase. On the flip side, you also have offers which bring little value to the user, but are still good money makers.

Below is a breakdown of ad campaigns which some may consider shady or offer a bad user experience. Don’t feel too bad about pushing these offers, because if you aren’t, someone else will.

ZIP / EMAIL Submits – These campaigns have been around forever and have always been very successful. You, the affiliate, will earn a commission around $1 every time someone submits their zip code or email. In all honesty, the great majority of people who sign up for this offer will never get the freebie or special offer as it’s a very long process and actually will cost the user a few hundred bucks and a lot of time and tracking of offers that have to complete. Back in 2007 I completed one of these email submit offer in whole, I did get the TV, had to cancel all of my free trials, then also had to pay tax on the “free” $800 TV I later received. Was it worth it in the end… In my opinion, NO! Since 2007 the terms and conditions for these types of offers have gotten much harder and stricter to accomplish.

Free Trial Offers – One of the biggest makers for affiliates in a long time, and still is, are the free trial offers. In short, you can make anywhere from $35-$70 for every new customer you send to a site that pays a low trial or shipping fee to “try” an offer, which is usually a weight loss or enhancement product. Since the FTC started cracking down on these offer, and many affiliate networks got burned, they are now a bit more legitimate and there is less shady companies behind these programs as it’s been much harder on companies to handle the CC process and complaints. Not as shady as they used to be… but still slightly misleading.

Free Game Downloads – Everyone loves playing games, but no one likes the pop ups or installs that come with them. In most cases, why would an advertiser pay you a buck or two for someone to play a free game. A great deal of free gaming downloads include some type of nasty install that the end user really doesn’t want. The ad company then makes money off serving ads, such as popups, on the users computer in exchange for offering a free game download to play.

Personally, I don’t care what type of offers you decide to push and I’ve run campaigns for all of these types of offers in the past. Business is business, and if you aren’t advertising a specific product, someone else will. My question to you is, are you aware of the services and offers you are pushing to internet users, or are you just looking at the bottom line?

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Cyber Monday Sales Resulted in Smart Spending

Yesterday, while shoppers were clogging the internet with holiday transaction, reporters at CNN were waxing on about how Cyber Monday is a myth. More to the point, they said it was a marketing ploy (gasp!) and is erroneously labeled “the biggest online shopping day of the year.”

It might not turn out to be the biggest day, but retailers aren’t complaining this morning after seeing a 19.4% increase over last year. The numbers come from Coremetrics, an IBM Company’s third annual Cyber Monday Benchmark Report and here’s how it adds up.

Cyber Monday 2010 Compared to Black Friday 2010

• Consumer Spending Increases: Online sales were up 31.1 percent, with consumers pushing the average order value (AOV) up from $190.80 to $194.89 for an increase of 2.1 percent.
• Luxury Goods Continue Comeback: Jewelry retailers reported a significant jump of 60.3 percent in sales.
• Social Shopping: The growing trend of consumers using their networks on social sites for information about deals and inventory levels continued on Cyber Monday. While the percentage of visitors arriving from social network sites is fairly small relative to all online visitors—nearly 1 percent—it is gaining momentum, with Facebook dominating the space.
• Mobile Shopping: Consumers continue to use mobile as a shopping tool. On Cyber Monday, 3.9percent of people visited a retailer’s site using a mobile device.

Cyber Monday 2010 Compared to Cyber Monday 2009 (year/year):

• Consumer Spending Increases: Online sales were up 19.4 percent, with consumers pushing the average order value (AOV) up from $180.03 to $194.89 for an increase of 8.3 percent.
• Luxury Goods Report Big Gains: Affluent shoppers opened their wallets wide, driving sales of luxury goods up 24.3 percent over 2009.
• Shopping Peaks at 9:00 am PST/Noon EST: Consumers flocked online, with shopping momentum hitting its peak at 9:00 am PST/noon EST. But consumer shopping maintained stronger momentum throughout the day than on Cyber Monday 2009.

The consumer may have been generous this year, but so were the retailers, offering not only deep discounts but free shipping on all purchases and that added up to big savings.

Not only was spending up, but Google says there was a sharp increase in holiday deal related search terms. Phrases such as “Cyber Monday deals” trended earlier than usual and “Cyber Monday 2010″ was the second fastest moving search term yesterday.

Google also reports a dramatic rise in online meets offline search terms such as “Black Friday store hours” and “printable coupons.”

This year’s Cyber Monday deals truly were exceptional which makes me wonder if, in spite of the 19.4% increase in spending, did the average retailer actually turn much of a profit? Even though I was already done my holiday shopping (yes, really), I couldn’t resist a late deal offered by Warner Archives that cut 50% off the price if I bought five DVDs and they threw in free shipping. Like a good holiday shopper, I bought five even though I only was interested in three. Can’t turn down a deal like that, can I?

How was your Cyber Monday experience?

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