Posts Tagged "Affiliate Window"

Final Words Of 2009

Posted on 31 Dec 2009 in Miscellaneous | 0 comments

As we enter the last minute of 2009, I’d like to post a very quick entry to thank everyone for their kind words and wishes. Special thanks to the following companies who, over the past few weeks, have filled my kitchen cupboards with a host of goodies;

• Affiliate Window (Hotel Chocolat Hamper)
• BBC (Nature’s Great Events Book)
• Demon (Food Hamper)
• Existem (Food Hamper)
• Gone Digging (Bottle of wine)
• House Of Fraser (Sweet Hamper)
• Laura Ashley (Christmas Stocking)
• Linkshare (Duchy Food Hamper)
• Paid On Results (Bottle of JD)

My 2010 resolutions…

• Invest monthly in new startups
• Move a few websites over to the Wordpress platform
• Enjoy Affiliate Summit West in 2 weeks time
• Stop and buy The Big Issue from our local seller whenever I see him

Hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas, is enjoying their New Years Eve… and here’s to 2010!

Create An Affiliate Website In 15 Minutes

Posted on 17 Jul 2009 in Development | 12 comments

So you want to quickly knock up an affiliate website? Here’s how I managed to create one within 15 minutes… that’s less time than it took to write this post!

1. BUY A DOMAIN
You could spend hours searching for a generic domain that’s either free or due to expire in the next few days like Cufflink.org.uk by using the facility over at Caught.co.uk. Alternatively you could settle for a domain name that describes what you plan to offer such as Quirky-Gifts.co.uk.

2. INSTALL AFFILISTORE
I first mentioned Affilistore back in 2007 when I wrote a piece on making use of old domain names. Affilistore is a very simple tool that will create a website based on a merchants datafeed and it’s completely free of charge if you agree to leave the footer links in place. Affilistore also has a great (if somewhat small) set of forums, that means obtaining help is a breeze.

3. ADD A DATAFEED
OK STOP RIGHT THERE!
As we all know, merchants datafeeds differ greatly in size and quality and this is the main thing you need to consider when choosing a merchant to work with. For Quirky Gifts I chose Totally Funky on Affiliate Window has they had one of the cleanest datafeeds I think I’ve ever seen. This meant integration was as simple as can be, something Totally Funky should be proud of!

4. GRAB A LOGO
Either knock one up yourself quickly, create a Web2.0 logo online, or pop along to Logo Instant and tweek one of their free logo’s along and grab one of their free ones.

5. TWEAK
Once everything is in place, over the next few weeks you will need to tweak Affilistore, changing settings here and there, seeing what works and what doesn’t. Their forums are a great starting point!

WHY DID I CHOOSE THIS PARTICULAR NICHE AND MERCHANT?
After the A4U Awards in London, Jane and myself shot across to Paris for a wee break and whilst there visited a quirky store called Pylones. On our return, I saw Totally Funky had joined Affiliate Window and after browsing their website, noticed they stocked a lot of similar products.

I found their site enjoyable to browse due to it’s clean, uncluttered, crisp feel and easy navigation system – and also fell in love with (almost) everything they had especially the Crayon mugs!

After having a look at their datafeed I found it to be like their website – clean and uncluttered – meaning integration would be a doddle. I know Totally Funky have a sister site (Strawberry Fool) which I would expect to have a datafeed of the same quality and are due to introduce a third site dedicated to VeeDub followers On top of this, with Existem-AM managing the affiliate programme, any requests you may have for specific graphics, content, links etc is you can be sure Mark and others will help you out quickly.

Remember… when starting off in affiliate marketing it’s often best to focus on an area you have particular interest in, something you enjoy, or an area you have partiuclar skills in. It just makes creating an affiliate site that little bit more enjoyable and less of a chore!

Was 2008 A Bumper Year?

Posted on 2 Feb 2009 in Development | 9 comments

In the past, I’ve kept track as to the amount of sales I done on behalf of merchants purely out of interest. 2008 has been a good year mainly due to the introduction and focus on new sites, especially niche and seasonal ones, helping to bump up sales throughout the year.

Sadly the huge increase in sales, isn’t reflected in the same way when it comes to commissions. Trust me, I would be jumping for joy if I could say an average 10% commission was paid for each sale, and certainly would be giving up the day job!

Even so, it goes to show that us small affiliates (the ones that do it along side fulltime jobs, in our bedrooms) can still help companies achieve growths and profits.

So why the changes? Well once again a lot of it is down to my relationships with networks. CJ, who in the past I’ve found to be a bit of a faceless company, have made contact with me. Just having a contact on MSN (thanks Hildegunn) has driven me to look at and push their merchants a little more, resulting in a 426% increase.

Another possible reason is the introduction of a bi-weekly newsletter. After collecting email addresses since I care to remember, I never did a single thing with them. Now my newsletters are sent out every 2 weeks, pushing merchants who in turn offer me and my visitors something special.

All in all a good year, but I’m not holding out much hope for this year with the credit crunch, yet think Eco Friendly stuff maybe worth a punt.

Is It Time To Ditch Your MTV?

Posted on 6 Oct 2008 in Merchants | 7 comments

Abel and Cole are the latest merchant that appears to be suffering from MTV (merchants tunnel vision). Having applied to their programme via DGM, I received an emailing saying my application had been declined – the first in over 2 years from memory! The response didn’t come as too much of a shock as I was given a heads up by the lovely Jess at DGM that this was likely to be the case.

The reason is that Abel and Cole don’t want to be advertised on Discount Code or Voucher Code websites, which is fine and totally within their right. However, it appears that some merchants presume that if an affiliate owns a discount code website, then that’s all they own and are therefore refused to promote them anywhere else. Sadly Discount Codes don’t make me enough money to the point where I don’t have to venture out into alternative verticals such as beauty, valentines, flowers, holidays and of course Christmas.

The major annoyance is there appears to be one rule for one affiliate, and another rule for others. I notice that anyone who has a discount code website via iCodes, which is a type of white label discount website, is able to promote Abel and Cole – see here. So why do they choose to be selective? Is it just an oversight?

Despite the selective approval, I think sometime merchants should remember that affiliates have their hands in many pies. If you don’t want to feature on a discount code website then that’s fine and totally acceptable (even if it doesn’t make complete sense) but enforce your rules on everyone and make it clear. At the same time it’s worth realising that a discount code website isn’t always the only website an affiliate owns!

Affiliate Window Rates My Site

Posted on 2 Sep 2008 in Development | 4 comments

Affiliate Window often send newsletters out to their merchants, in which they focus and introduce an individual affiliate or an individual website. This time round it was my turn, and Affiliate Window decided to review Discount Codes giving it an overall score of 95 /100… Not bad!

Over the past year, I’ve really taken time out and focused on trying to help merchants understand what I have to offer and how best they can work WITH me in order to develop a rewarding working relationship. This has included;

• the creation of a presentation emailed to networks and merchants
• the creation of a google calendar to help plan extra exposure
• arranging meetings prior to networking events

I am glad to report that by focusing away from websites, and more on what I can do to form a stronger relationship with networks and merchants, I have seen my time and effort pay off. I’m not just talking about increases in commissions or prizes (Dixons, Wickes, Sunshine, Vodafone, … sorry… I will stop there!), but simple things like a testimonial from a merchant.

So whats next? How do I get an extra 5 points to reach 100/100? I’m sure that if Affiliate Window reviewed my website in 12 months time, I could expect to receive a mark somewhere in the low 70’s. That’s not because of my site deteriorating, its because of the ever changing landscape and new challenges us affiliates face, as we battle it out with each other

Thanks AWin for a glowing review, but worry not, I won’t be resting on my laurels!