Make Money Online

Affiliate Summit conferences are always fun events to meet new people and find out what they’re up to in person, as opposed to behind a computer screen. One of the most popular inquiries we often get about our network is for the education vertical – more specifically eLearners. A hot commodity of parent company EducationDynamics, we have been managing this affiliate program for over four years now. If you’re interested in promoting eLearners stop by our booth (RG2017) at the Affiliate Summit East event to see yours truly and I will answer any questions you have about the program.

However, if for those affiliates who are not able to attend ASE this time around but are still interested in learning more about the program, here are 10 things to know about this merchant and their great selection of offers:

1. It’s about quality, not quantity. We appreciate the affiliates that can send 1000 leads a day, and we appreciate the affiliates that can refer those 1000 people who are real individuals and actually do inquire about schools of interest.

2. eLearners has some awesome education offers you will love, the latest being the high-converting Grants & Degrees campaign that is currently available to all affiliates. They also offer Degrees for Working Moms and Online Student Financial Aid.

3. Affiliates often ask us: “What are the most popular areas of study?” Well, they happen to be criminal justice, nursing and just health in general, law programs, as well as business degrees.

4. Affiliates love our dynamic tools to promote including, special campaign-branded banner ads (we even have a few in Spanish), direct-to-school form text links, and search box widgets that send prospective students to landing pages based on their selection from the drop-down menu.

5. The program does not allow host and post – GASP! I know this is a shocker and that affiliates are always asking for permission to do this, but via our program, it’s not something that’s permitted at the moment.

6. We often get the question: “What are your payouts?” Well, we offer $5-$40 for each verified lead an affiliate refers.

7. We only accept referred leads from the United States and Canada, and a little unique content never hurt anybody.

8. PPC is accepted in the program, but we do not allow brand name bidding. It’s just the right thing to do, guys.

9. We actually answer emails within 24 business hours – you are not just a number with us.

10. And finally, how do our top affiliates earn big bucks in the program? Well, they publish fresh, unique content and SEO is the name of their game.

If you would like to learn more about the eLearners affiliate program, come by our booth to us or feel free to reach us via email at eLearners at shareresults dot com.

The rest is here:
10 Things to know about eLearners

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Four years ago, I started a tomato garden.  I’m no gardening expert and I don’t have the greenest thumb, but I do love a fresh garden tomato, and that was enough of an incentive to get my hands dirty.

So I prepared the earth, fertilized it with tender-loving care and carefully planted my tomato plant.  Oh how I loved my tomato plant, watering it, ensuring its roots remained well covered and removing any weeds that could potentially take away from its growth and prosperity.

This continued for many weeks, and soon I began to see the fruits of my labor.  And they were red, and plump.  One day, when I checked in on my beloveds, I thought, finally, they were ready to be plucked.  Maybe just one more day.

And when the next day came, I raced to the backyard, eager and excited, with my woven basket in hand, ready for my bountiful harvest.  But apparently, I wasn’t the only one.  Waiting as patiently as I, was a family of racoons, who throughout the night had gorged themselves, leaving one single tomato on my lawn—with a bite taken out of it.

I was devastated.  So devastated in fact, that it took me four long years to get over my loss, and pick up my spade to try again.

What’s the point in trying again, the racoons will only eat them!

Why would I do all that hard work, only to fail.  Let the farmers handle the tomatoes!

Negative talk can sometimes get the best of us, especially when we’ve invested so much of ourselves into something that we feel passionate about.  When that negative talk turns into stalling, procrastinating and eventually abandonment, you know that you’re in trouble, and that it’s time to get back on track.

Affiliates can often experience this kind of frustration when building their online business.  You try something new out, and despite your best efforts, it is less successful than you had hoped.  You learn a new online marketing strategy and instead of making a return on your investment, you end up with a loss.  You get active with social media, but you don’t manage to connect.  You invest in a PPC campaign, get thousands of impressions and lots of clicks, but not a single conversion.

The key here, is to keep your goal at the forefront of your mind—not the challenges and obstacles that stand between you and your goal.  It’s easy to say, I want to earn $500 every month from my affiliate business, or $1,000 or $10,000.  But what if you translated that number into something really concrete—something tangible?

I want a new cell phone, and I want I want to make enough money through my affiliate marketing endeavours to pay for it.  I owe $10,000 for my school loan, and I want to pay it off in a year.  I want to take a trip around the world, and live in the lap of luxury, and not have to work a single day while I’m travelling.  Or maybe you want to promote products that you feel passionately about, or you want to demonstrate your expertise in a particular subject.

In my case, with my garden, it was my tomato sandwich.

And finally, this summer, I tried planting tomatoes again.  You better believe I was hesitant, plus I have two more kids than I did the last time around, and even less time to waste.  But you know what? Those tomatoes made it this time.  And damn they’re good.

Have a goal.  Keep it at the forefront of your mind.  And don’t let a few raccoons get in your way. 

What obstacles have you had to overcome? How did you do it? Let us know in the comments below.

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Me, My Tomato Sandwich and Affiliate Marketing

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There is an innocence and brutal honesty that my three-year old exudes every single day. And as much as I strive to instil my knowledge and experience on to her, she still manages to teach me so much.

Some of her words of wisdom, I’m somewhat less fond of, like: Mom, you have lines on your forehead, so I guess you must be getting old. I guess. Or: Mom, you should wear more pink, it makes you look more like a girl. I hate pink.

But most of the time, in her purity, in her determination to do things her way, she reminds me of the little things in life that I apply to my daily routine, and in turn, to my adventures in affiliate marketing.

Here then, are four tips from my daughter, which bring me back to basics, and make for great affiliate marketing lessons.

1. I want to be everything when I grow up
My girl says this regularly, and neither my husband nor I have the heart to break it to her, that she just might want to narrow down her focus—at least a little. And really, why should we.

Thinking big is essential to making it big, in life, as it is in affiliate marketing. Now, that doesn’t mean that when you’re starting out as an affiliate that you should launch endless websites, promote every single brand you come across and dip your fingers into PPC, SEO, blogging and social media all at the same time. It means you think big, and you want big, and then you come up with a plan to get you there. One step at a time, and patience, patience, patience.

2. When I wear a (pink) dress, I want it to twirl!
I have a hard time getting my girl in anything else but a dress—and skirts don’t count. And not just any dress; it has to be a dress that twirls when she dances and spins. Sometimes, in the craze of the early morning rush to get out the door, this demand can be difficult to meet. But then again, who can blame a girl who knows exactly what she wants.

Knowing what you want out of your affiliate business is paramount to reaching success. How else will you know when you’re there, if you don’t know what it is that you want? Once you’ve established what you want, tell the people around you, so they can help you make that happen. Your affiliate manager is a great person to start with. Maybe you want to know about all new promotions, new marketing creatives or new opportunities that fall within a specific sector. Having expectations is a good thing. Make sure you’re teaming up with the right people to help you meet those expectations.

3. That kid’s bad news
My daughter is in daycare and there are six other friends in her class. When I ask her how her day was, I ask her about her classmates, and if they had fun together that day. She’s not a big fan about one particular boy, and goes so far as to say that she doesn’t like playing with him. I know who he is, and sure enough, he spells trouble—and is often found in time-out because he’s done one bad thing or another.

In affiliate marketing, bad news often comes in the form of black hat SEO. Keyword stuffing, hidden text and page cloaking are just some of the many black hat SEO techniques that may seem like a fast-track to stardom, but in the end, can cost you your website and indeed, your business. And while you may experience a boost in traffic, this is usually only temporary. White hat SEO techniques will have a much more positive and long-term benefit for your website and will help you get to where you want to be in search engine results—and help you stay there.

4. But I like my old teacher…
My daughter’s daycare is divided into classrooms, which are divvied up based on age. Next September, she will be moving up to the 4-year-old level, and she’s a little hesitant about leaving her beloved Johanne, her teacher, behind. To prepare the children for this transition, her class has been spending about an hour every day in the big-kid class, and low and behold, she seems keener now for the move.

For many of us, and affiliates too, we have a routine that gives us comfort. Whether that be hanging with the same people or using the same familiar marketing techniques, humans are often creatures of habit, and that can act as a disservice to your affiliate marketing business.

Breaking out of your everyday routine may sound challenging, but it really is quite achievable. Just like my daughter, try doing something for an hour a day, that you have no experience in, that you’ve always wanted to find out more about—but never have. Attending conferences, for example, is a great way to meet new people, learn new techniques and be introduced to programs that you may never have thought about before. You’re not going to give up the methods that have proven fruitful for your business, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t add to them, and maybe discover something equally good, or better.

We’re continually inspired by wee ones. Check out one of our earlier posts called, All I Need to Know about Affiliate Marketing I Learned in Kindergarten.

How do your kids inspire you in affiliate marketing? Let us know in the Comments section below.

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What My Three-Year Old Teaches Me About Affiliate Marketing

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In part two of our Affiliate Guide to Standing out at a Conference, we explore setting a personal itinerary and scheduling appointments with people that will help you build your business. But first, let’s talk about personal branding.

Remember in part one of our guide we mentioned the importance of affiliates carrying business cards? Branding is everything and a conference is the first place to get started promoting yourself. Business cards are a must, but what about that initial in-person introduction? Besides smelling and looking good, people are going to pay attention to how you define who you are and/or the industries in which you specialize.

Here’s a scenario of what not to do:

My name is Frank. You know, I don’t really know what my niche is. I’m just kind of seeing how this all works for the first time.

The problem with the aforementioned statement is that it’s too vague and there’s nothing about you that stands out.

Instead, why not try the following:

My name is Frank and I’m a budding SEO affiliate with plans to launch two new domains by the end of September 2010. I specialize in virtual malls for Christmas holiday shoppers, and hot travel deals. In fact, I’m building a blog for reviews on the best resorts to stay during the winter…

Okay, so maybe you don’t need to say everything about yourself in the first five minutes, but the point is to tell people how your objectives/activities differ from others.

On another note, all conference organizers list their daily itinerary for the duration they are holding their event, so it’s important to take an advanced look at which seminars, courses, speeches, etc. will benefit you the most. Evaluate who the speakers or panelists are. Do some research beforehand to determine if they will be speaking on anything worthwhile. You may discover that they are a published author and have a wealth of knowledge on web analytics. Or, perhaps they have more than a decade of experience as a COO with a top online loyalty rewards network. Furthermore, some conferences have seminars that teach affiliates of all levels how to do something better. Perhaps it’s earning more commissions from affiliate programs, or finding innovative ways to use SEO to generate more traffic. If these events interest you, mark them down as high-priority events to attend.

On a personal level, if you don’t possess the most refined conversation skills, create a series of questions in advance to figure out what it is that you want and need to know from the professionals you meet. This is especially helpful in the case of meeting an affiliate manager or merchant for the first time. In fact, you should be making it a point to meet one-on-one with your affiliate managers at their booth, and other people of importance that can help your chances of earning more. Personal time with a professional can be vital and afford you more visibility. Take advantage of programs at conferences that offer mentorship opportunities. This is one the best types of training.

If you’re at a loss as to how to make initial contact with people and set up appointments in advance of a conference, you can always contact them directly via email or by phone one or two weeks before the big event. The beauty about obtaining a free pass to an Affiliate Summit conference is that you get to join their social network where you can set up a profile page to explain everything that you’re about, and make personal contact with people to introduce yourself and set up appointments in advance. Participating in forums like 5Star, AffSpot and ABestWeb are also great sources to see which industry members are going to the same event that you are. You can always send a private message if you’re interested in meeting someone personally.

Not every event at a conference is all about business, and requires a suit and tie. If you like to let loose, or find yourself bonding with other affiliates and want to hang out after regular conference exhibit hours, it’s a good idea to check out the different gatherings and parties taking place on and off the premises. If you’re a morning person, perhaps you prefer to attend an informal breakfast event. What if you’re an affiliate who functions better in the evening and night time? It may not be such a bad idea to attend an affiliate meet up scheduled at a hotel bar, or join other attendees at a party located at a downtown club. The point of attending these types of informal events is to increase your chances of meeting people: the more familiar you become to others, the better. You might also make friends with other affiliates who need support just like you.

In the final part or our guide, we look at what to do after attending a conference. For example, what do you do with all those business cards and contact details you’ve gathered?

Do you have any other tips about what to do at or how to survive a conference? Let us know by leaving a comment. We’d love to hear how you get the most out of attending affiliate marketing events.

Credit:
Affiliate Guide to Standing out at a Conference: Part 2

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If you don’t know Jonathan Volk yet, you should. Jonathan is a top-performing affiliate marketer and is making hundreds of thousands of dollars every month through affiliate marketing. This is a guy who has not yet reached 30 years of age. Want to know how he does it? You can download his free affiliate marketing guide and find out.

I’ve been through the guide and it really does offer some great insights for those who are just starting out in affiliate marketing. Addressing issues that focus on giving new affiliate marketers a good starting point, his guide has been downloaded thousands of times by hopeful affiliates and has garnered a lot of positive feedback and praise.

Recently Jonathan released a guide to Facebook marketing, where he will show you how he earns almost $4,000 a day using Facebook ads.

What we here at Share Results like about Jonathan is that he has the same attitude towards affiliate marketing that we do: do the right thing and the money will follow. In my interview with Jonathan, I learned a bit about how he got started, what products he likes to promote, and what affiliates can expect to get out of his free affiliate marketing guide.

Mark John Hiemstra: How long have you been in affiliate marketing and how did you get involved?

Jonathan Volk: I’ve been doing affiliate marketing since early 2007. I have been making money online since around 2004. Basically, it all started out with me trying to find ways to make money online. This started with me learning to develop websites and eventually owning a few websites such as arcade sites and proxy sites. These websites were made strictly to put advertisements on and ended up making me a fair chunk of change for being the age I was. (I’m 23 at the time of this interview)

Running these arcade sites was great fun to me. I was able to advertise these sites in Google on the keyword “games” for 4 cents per click and make an average of 5-6 cents per visitor. I ran this for a while until Google decided to launch a thing called quality score. My bids jumped to $10 and that lead me to search for other traffic sources and ways to make more money.

Though I struggled to make money online for most of 2004, 2005, and 2006, I had a passion for it and eventually came to have success with affiliate marketing. This is really where my life began to change.

MJH: Do you work by yourself, or do you have employees, or freelance and outsourced people that you work with?

JV: I have a team of people I work with. Jacob is a local, in house, partner who works for me about 35+ hours per week. I have a developer who lives in Florida who has been doing a huge amount of my coding work. Finally, I have a partner in Las Vegas who does a lot of projects with me as well.

MJH: What have you learned about yourself through your business ventures?

JV: I’ve learned a lot from running this business. Besides being a work-a-holic (and finding how to balance my life), I’ve learned a great deal about leadership, running a company, and exactly what I want in business.

That is – to run a successful company much like Tony Heish (Zappo’s CEO) does where it’s less about eeking out every drop of profit and more about creating an awesome, fun, and creative place to come and work at every day.

MJH: What do you love about this business?

JV: Call me a nerd, but I love technology, the internet, and all things relating to it. It’s great to be able to be around the things I love full time.

MJH: What are your favorite products to endorse? Does it have to do with the product itself, or how well it converts?

JV: Besides promoting my own products (like my free affiliate marketing guide or my latest facebook advertising guide), I really like to promote lead gen offers.

Lead gen offers are good for me because they convert well, I feel good about them, and they generally help people.

MJH: Do you experience frustrations, or ever wish you did something else for a living?

JV: Although I experience frustrations like everyone else, I don’t have a day where I wish I was doing something else. This is the perfect job for me.

MJH: How much time do you put into your marketing efforts? Do you manage to find personal time (if so, how?)

JV: I put a lot of time into my marketing efforts. Really it’s what I do most of the day (when not answering interview questions… haha).

I used to not be able to take personal time. I’ve come to learn that life is too short NOT to take personal time now. So, come 9PM I am usually off the computer and spending time with my wife. I also take Sundays off to enjoy time with friends, family and church. I’ve found that I actually can get the same amount of work done because my focus increases when I have had time to relax.

MJH: What’s your preferred method of advertising? Blogs, articles, comparison sites, PPC? What do you prefer, or do you have a preference at all?

My preferred method of advertising is whatever works. I’ve used every method – blogs, articles, comparison sites, review sites, email capture pages, etc. My favorite is probably direct linking because it requires the least amount of work. Hah.

MJH: What failures have you experienced that you were able to turn into positive learning experiences?

JV: I think most of my failures have taught me something. You learn from each mistake what not to do until eventually there are less and less mistakes that you can make.

MJH: Your free affiliate marketing guide has been downloaded thousands of times by people eager to learn about affiliate marketing. What can affiliates and those who want to be affiliates expect from your guide?

JV: Although I am hugely biased, I believe my free affiliate marketing guide is the best one stop place for learning how to do affiliate marketing. While there are other resources both paid and unpaid, I believe my guide has all of the starting blocks you will need to get started.

MJH: Did writing the guide help you with your own marketing efforts? (If so, how?)

I would say that the guide did help me with my marketing efforts. Mainly because I learned another thing about internet marketing – building email lists.

MJH: So, what will affiliates have to do to reach the level that you’ve achieved?

JV: Work smart, be detail oriented, and don’t give up.

MJH: You’ve just released a guide to Facebook marketing as well. What has been the secret to your success in Facebook marketing (one that you can share with us)?

JV: Facebook is one system that I really enjoy. One of the main things that is needed to find success with Facebook is to know not only how to use the targeting options but who to target. There are so many options for targeting users that it is one of the most targeted advertising platforms on the market.

MJH: How high on your list of importance is doing business honestly?

JV: Very high. I like to say “a good name is better than riches.” Well… I didn’t come up with that, it’s in the Bible… haha.

MJH: What’s next for affiliate marketing?

JV: Google slap 3.0? Haha kidding. I think affiliate marketing is really in its infancy stage right now. There is a lot of room for it to grow and I think it will continue to do so.

MJH: What’s next for you?

JV: I have a number of non-affiliate related projects that I am really excited about. While affiliate marketing is extremely profitable for me, I am interested in trying new things such as building websites, blogging, and creating services, etc.

So, there he is. If you want to download Jonathan Volk’s free affiliate marketing guide, you can do so here. And don’t forget to check out his guide on how to use money using Facebook ads.

Excerpted from:
Jonathan Volk Interview |Free Affiliate Marketing Guide

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The eLearners affiliate program now has teaching degree creative available for affiliates. Those catering to students, working parents or offering resources related to pursuing online education are welcome to promote online teaching degrees via the affiliate program in Share Results. Whether you have a blog about a particular education vertical, write EDU content about specific schools, or use paid search and SEO to generate leads, you’re sure to find success with these teaching creative and the other areas of study that are available.

As more and more people are realizing, the field of education offers a world of opportunity! Not only do teachers have options like areas of study they prefer to teach as well as the age group of students, they also have the option of where! Each year thousands pack their bags and head overseas to put their teaching degrees to use. Other benefits of being a teacher include summer vacations (probably the best) and the fact that its one profession that is sure to not be affected by recession. In fact, if anything the teaching profession is actually in higher demand during times of recession. One thing is certain; there is always a demand for teachers and with the option to obtain a degree online it’s easier then ever to enter the field of education, or any other field for that matter. There are heaps benefits too! You can earn a degree without quitting your day job, do the work on your time, set your own deadlines and enjoy the freedom and flexibility.

There are a wide variety of teaching degrees available through eLearners including early childhood education, K-12 education, adult and higher education, English as a second language and more.

If your not an eLearners affiliate as of yet, feel free to learn more about them via their merchant page. You can also email us with any questions you may have about the program or its wide variety of EDU offers.

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Earn a Teaching Degree Online

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For some reason, Facebook can’t seem to keep out of the news when it comes to privacy issues. Unlike recent issues, the latest event comes from a software glitch rather than a poor policy choice.

This month, capping a long string of recent security and privacy blunders, Facebook allowed users to see the private chats their friends were engaged in. Another glitch allowed users to view the pending requests of their friends. In their defense, Facebook staff immediately brought down the chat feature and fixed the bugs to prevent any additional information leakage, and things were back to normal within a few hours.

Noble as their efforts to fix this latest privacy breach, Facebook has earned quite a reputation as being completely carefree in regards to their users’ privacy. This is evident by CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s statement in a January interview with Mashable where he stated that users no longer care about privacy.

“People have really gotten comfortable not only sharing more information and different kinds, but more openly and with more people. That social norm is just something that’s evolved over time.”

There are two issues I find contradictory in this quote. As I see it, the first addresses the social norm. Yes, we are much freer with sharing information nowadays. We use tools like Facebook and Twitter to tell people what we are doing all day long and it’s quite normal to find out that an old friend from high school is on their third cup of coffee and ready to freak out with the guy in the next cubicle. People share information like that all day on social sites because it is harmless banter among people we generally know and trust. It is a norm because it represents normal conversation among friends.

What isn’t normal is allowing anyone with Google to find out who my friends are, where I went to school, my favorite sports teams, the names of my children, etc.

The second part of Zuckerberg’s statement that needs evaluated is his use of the word “people”. He claims that people have become more comfortable sharing information, and this much is true. But just because someone shares it with others online doesn’t make it okay for Facebook, or any other social networking service, to feel they have carte blanche to distribute that information publicly.

Just because I tell my friends online that my family is going on vacation next week doesn’t mean I want Facebook to tell everyone. If I make the decision to share it with a few people it does not give someone else the right to make it public information. Period. As far as I am concerned, end of argument.

Ultimately Zuckerberg’s statement is simply wrong. Watchdog groups and Congress are putting corporations like Facebook to task on how information their users share online is handled for a reason. If people truly do not care about privacy anymore there would have been no outcry when suddenly their private chats were shown publicly; instead users would have mistaken it as another anomaly in the constantly shifting bipolar landscape of Facebook’s UI.

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Facebook Acts Like Users No Longer Care About Privacy

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Recently, Avast Anti-Virus released a report claiming that Yahoo’s Right Media YieldManager is the leading distributor of “malvertising”. Malvertising being malware that exploits holes in the web  applications that are used to deliver web ads from the big ad delivery platforms. Yahoo! is not alone, malware was also found to be served by Fox Audience Network’s Fimserve.com, Google’s Double Click, and MySpace.

Visitors to sites like The New York Times, The Drudge Report, TechCrunch, and many others found their computers infected with a trojan that looks for vulnerabilities in Java, QuickTime, and multiple Adobe products. Even security savvy surfers were not protected as computers were infected once the ad loaded, not when the ad was clicked.

Once the dust settled, the finger pointing began. According to a CNET interview with Avast Researcher Jiri Sejtko, the malware is a Trojan Javascript form that targets the Windows operating system. Sejtko said that of the ad networks impacted by the Trojan, dubbed JS:Prontexi, only Double Click took proactive measures against it.

“The Google portion of JS:Prontexi is quite small and has gotten visibly even smaller as they have taken steps to improve the situation. That is not the case with Yahoo and Fox.”

Right Media VP Bennie Smith responded to his  network being accused of serving up malicious ads on TechCrunch:

“Partnering with a third-party ad network is a good thing, but you can’t remove all the risk and shift all the responsibility to the ad network…The user is coming to your site, not to the ad network. The primary responsibility still resides with you.”

That’s right. According to Smith it’s the publisher’s fault that the applications that they have no control over are serving up malware.

Working in web security, there I have seen plenty of web applications that are vulnerable to attacks. If I run a blog that is powered by WordPress, then I need to do everything I can to secure it. If a plug-in has known vulnerabilities I have to either look for a patch, disable it, or replace it.

However, unlike the blog example above, publishers have no way of working with the applications that run these ad networks to better secure it. Instead, they have to trust that the ad manager they are running on their site has been secured. They have to trust that the advertisements have gone through some type of review to insure that they are not delivering up malicious code to the visitors.

Unfortunately for the publishers, when their site infects a visitor, the visitor doesn’t blame the ad manager. They blame the web site. If my computer was infected after visiting TechCrunch, I am going to stop visiting. If The Drudge Report is flagged as unsafe, then I will go elsewhere.

Maybe publishers do need to take the initiative. To protect their visitors, perhaps they need to look at which ad networks are doing everything they can to prevent the spread of malware through their network. Ask them questions like:

•    What is the review process for ensuring an ad does not contain malware?
•    What is done to ensure that attackers cannot exploit the code of legitimate ads?
•    Is there a web application firewall in place to inspect web layer traffic?
•    When was the last time your application underwent a code review?
•    Who do I contact if I suspect an ad is serving malware to my visitors?
•    What will you do if your network serves ads on my site that contain malware?

If your questions can’t be answered to your satisfaction, maybe it is time to take responsibility and look for a new ad network. One who is willing to make sure your reputation isn’t damaged by the content they serve on your web site.

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prontexi trojan

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A world in which customers walk through the door of a business and get a coupon especially crafted for them is much closer, thanks to Foursquare.

The application, which has become the dominant player in the world of mobile, geo-specific check-ins, has unveiled a set of analytics for businesses which will put a name and a face to loyal customers.

The dashboard, which is still in alpha, is debuting for 30 select customers before a bigger roll-out. The dashboard gives businesses a look at who is checking in, breaks them down by when they come in, gender, and number of visits. Businesses will also be able to see which platform customers are using to share their status.  If your visitors are heavy into Twitter or Facebook, you can follow them there. Other types of information tracked includes: total check-ins, unique visitors, male-to-female ratio, and top visitors.

Writes Zachary Wilson of Fast Company,

“With priceless data like this, it’s easy to imagine a blow-up in participating venues coming soon. More businesses means more users, more users means more businesses, and suddenly Foursquare is the Facebook of check-ins.”

Foursquare plans to add additional real-time information for business users, including weather updates. Potentially, this dashboard could be used by large chain businesses (like a Wal-Mart or Starbucks) from a central location with a view of all of their outlets in real time.

“We’ve been talking with quite a few [large corporations] who are excited about the potential for this,” said Tristan Walker, Business Development at Foursquare, in an interview with Mashable. “Once we can add purchase information on top of check-ins things can get pretty interesting.”

This valuable information helps Foursquare give itself even more distance ahead of competitors like Gowalla, and the addition of a newly designed iPhone app will give FourSquare an additional bump in users.

As the dashboard and analytics are tweaked, based on the alpha tests, plans are to introduce the service to the 1,000 or so registered businesses currently running specials on Foursquare.

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Foursquare Offers Up User Data with Check-in Analytics

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Have you started taking advantage of the cash bonuses the 1-plus.com affiliate program has made available for March at Addition Elle?

If not, you should log in now to Share Results and become an affiliate for the 1-Plus affiliate program - because for this week Addition Elle has some exciting promotions ready for their online clientele only!

From March 3rd to March 9th, 2010 Addition Elle is offering all their online clientele the chance to Buy 2 Bras and get the 3rd one FREE! This is an excellent opportunity for retail affiliates to write some value-added content, highlighting all the features of The Convertible Bra – a versatile, comfortable, flexible bra with seamless design.

For more information on how to promote this brand, send us an email at 1plusaffiliates@shareresults.com

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This week at AdditionElle

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When it comes to best blogging practices, one of my favourite resources is Copyblogger. In fact, I took the format of this headline from some of their blog-writing tips: “[Fill in the Blank] That Everyone Ought to Know About”, because I trust that since it came from them, it might help my blog get some extra attention.

And that’s really the goal, isn’t it? Getting the most eyes on your blog, the most comments—and of course, ‘going viral’.

A lot of the affiliates that we work with in the Share Results network use blogs to generate traffic, and create a buzz around the product that they’re promoting.

We love blogging at Share Results, and because it’s a team effort, it’s always a lot of fun to bounce ideas off each other, and come up with some pieces that we feel are really going to be effective for our readers.

Most recently, our writing team teamed up with our SEO experts to present a training seminar on Best Blogging Practices. We got a lot of great feedback on this training, so we thought we’d include these tips on our blog to help out some of our blogging affiliates, and anyone else involved in blogging.

1. Make Sure Your Headline Rocks
In a world of RSS and Twitter feeds, where the headline of your blog is all you have to pique a reader’s attention, it’s so important that it be a good one. Take one of Copyblogger’s most recent blogs, for example: The Mr. Rogers Guide to Blogging from the Heart. I mean, as a blogger, I could barely click on the link fast enough. (Not to mention, I have a bit of special spot in my heart for Mr. Rogers). And really, that’s the effect you want to have every time.

A tip that I recommend when it comes to writing great headlines is, summarize your wow-factor. If one of the merchants you are promoting has a product that you have tried and made you look ten years younger, I suggest you get that in your headline—it’s your wow factor!

2. Hook Your Reader with a Great Lead
Ok. So you’ve managed to garner some reader excitement with your great wow-factor headline; next in line is your lead paragraph. In terms of best blogging practices, after the headline, your lead paragraph is the second most important element of your post. Readers are busy, and there is an abundance of really great blogs out there, so if they’ve given your blog a chance, based on your great headline, then the goal of your lead is to hook them into reading your whole blog.

Say something bold, get personal, expand on your wow-factor, but at all costs, engage your reader. Report on some unbelievable new research that is affecting the industry, the most interesting aspect of a product you’re promoting or state a product benefit that you know will be of interest to them. Whether you like to use humor, or prefer a more serious approach, be like Mr. Rogers, and convince your reader that what you’re about to share in your blog has real value, and that you care.

3. Keywords, Anchor Texting and Inter-Linking
Keywords are essential for obtaining blog traffic from search engines. Keywords should be incorporated into your headline, and then every 75-100 words in the blog post. In this blog, for example, I am using the keyword, “Best Blogging Practices”. You will find that keyword as part of my headline, and then I have used it throughout the rest of my blog. For best blogging practices, you also should bold your keyword on the second mention.

In addition to using keywords, interlinking to other blog posts should be done with every entry. You can use your own blog for this, and even link out to other blogs. You want to use an anchor text to link to the blog that uses your keyword from your article title, or if not, then a related keyword to the text of the entry.

4. Closing with a Strong Call to Action
A good call to action will not only prompt a reader to take the steps you are suggesting, but will get them to take that action NOW. You may want a reader to visit a merchant’s website, sign up to your newsletter, take a demo of your affiliate marketing software solution, or simply provide their feedback. Whatever it is, make it ridiculously clear what they are suppose to do, and what will happen when they do so.

Statistics show that incorporating “Click Here” into your Call to Action is the most effective way of getting readers to take the step you are suggesting. It’s even better if “click here” is at the end of the sentence, like this: “To sign up to my affiliate newsletter, click here.” But here’s the trick. Whatever link you use in your “Click Here” link in your Call to Action, HAS to also be used in the body of your blog, and must also be relevant to the page you are linking to. And a final word of caution here, I don’t recommend using this approach each and every time, as it can get a bit dry and predictable. So make sure to switch it up!

These are some of the best blogging practices that we try hard to incorporate into our Share Results blog. We’d love to know what practices have worked best for your blog. Tell us about them here! (That’s your cue to take action now!).

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Best Blogging Practices That Everyone Ought to Know About

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Based on the book, All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten, by Robert Fulghum

Share everything
One of the great things about the affiliate marketing community is that it really is a community. If you discover a new technique for online marketing that you’re finding successful, don’t be afraid to share it with your friends. In turn, they’ll share their tips to success with you, which makes everyone richer; figuratively AND literally.

Play fair
This can be a tough business, and the temptation exists to employ questionable techniques, like Black Hat SEO, for example. When employing these techniques, rest assured that they are very likely to come back at you with unfavorable results, eventually. Play fair, work hard, and reap the rewards.

Don’t take things that aren’t yours
As above, affiliate marketers who attempt to get their traffic by duping people into coming to their site most often end up bouncing a far greater amount of traffic than they convert. The rewards just aren’t there, especially when one considers the harm that this does to legitimate affiliate marketers. Trust is what motivates a sale, above all other conditions.

Live a balanced life – learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some
Incorporate that balance into the work aspect of your day as well. Endeavour, on a daily basis, to learn something new about affiliate marketing. Find out about new SEO practices. Discover how other affiliates are converting traffic. Read about website analytics; read someone’s affiliate marketing blog. Get to know your affiliate manager. Constantly test your methods of marketing and employ new ones to see what works best. Find the techniques that work best for you by constantly trying different things. It’s all about trying to achieve that balance.

Take a nap every afternoon
Seriously. Life as an affiliate marketer can be trying, so take a rest when you have a chance. When I was working as a full-time affiliate marketer I took a 45-minute nap every single day on my couch and it helped me get re-energized for the rest of my workday, no matter how much longer it was. We last a lot longer when we take the time to recharge our batteries.

When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands, and stick together
Many of the people I know who are successful affiliate marketers have made a point of becoming active members in affiliate marketing communities. There are a lot of benefits to getting to know people that are also involved in this business, and I guarantee that you’ll be surprised at the amount of people who are willing to help you out. Of course, there are some who do not play well with others, but there always have been, and there always will be. Just seek out positive people who are headed towards success and you’ll be following in their footsteps in no time.

And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned – the biggest word of all – LOOK
I can never stress enough the importance of testing and then analyzing your campaigns. Use affiliate marketing software that lets you see track impressions, clicks and conversions. Having affiliate marketing software that provides you with in-depth analytics can make the difference between a lukewarm program and a red-hot one. Keep testing and analyzing, and never, ever take your eye off the prize. It’s there for you; all you have to do is reach out and grab it.

If anyone can think of a way to incorporate the “warm cookies and cold milk” part of this into an affiliate marketing strategy, let me know in the comments section below!

All I Need to Know about Affiliate Marketing I Learned in Kindergarten

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According to their own statistics, Facebook currently has more than 400 million active users. Of those users, more than 20 million become fans of Facebook pages every single day. It’s already been happening with Twitter, and now, Google is indexing Facebook Fan pages and displaying them in their search results.

We experimented with this a little bit today to find out whether or not this is already impacting Google search results. In order to come up with a result that all of us here recognized as a Facebook page and we know to be a very popular one, we did a Google search for “can this pickle get more fans than nickelback”. At the time we did our search, the actual Facebook fan page did not show up until the third page of results. Still, it’s better than not being there at all, as before, but I had expected for it to come up a little sooner, which sparked a discussion here on how Google is assigning authority to Facebook Fan pages.

Will you get more authority in Google if you have more fans, or is it just going to be based strictly on the requirements that Google has been using all along?

Either way, at some point I realized that on the Facebook Fan page they had actually changed the spelling of Nickelback to Nickleback to avoid any legal issues, so another search of “can this pickle get more fans than nickleback” moved the Facebook Fan page result up to page two of the results, given that it’s two letters more relevant. Pretty good, or at least, better.

Update: As of Friday morning, each of these search results put the Facebook fan page at number two on the list of results.

But it still didn’t satisfy my own curiosity of how Google would be assigning authority, or giving PageRank to a Facebook page. There has to be a little something else in the Google algorithm that is going to decide whether or not it’s going to be featured as a top result. So, I did a Google search for “how will google assign authority facebook pages”. Incredibly, the first result was actually a Facebook Note that was written by a person with a Facebook Fan page for their business. Well, that worked out well for them, didn’t it? However, I still don’t have an answer to my question.

So, what does it mean for those of us working in affiliate marketing world? It means one more opportunity for brand recognition, another opportunity to build links back to your own site and yet one more opportunity for people to find your page when they’re searching for content relevant to the goods or services that you provide.

Now, what I want to know is, when will I be able to check how many visitors I am getting to my Facebook page? Is Facebook ever going to provide us with some kind of analytics program?

What do you think of this latest addition to the Google algorithm, and how is Google indexing Facebook Fan pages affecting your business? Let us know in the comments section below.

Read more from the original source:
Google Indexing Facebook Fan Pages

Search Engine Keywords:

• cpalead facebook google

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Paypal has begun expanding its money-swapping services to social media outlets such as Twitter and Facebook.

Paypal – a unit of Ebay Inc – is poised to jump on the wave of social media interest and offer its services for payment of various products. Facebook has already partnered with Paypal to offer payment services for advertisements and gifts amongst other things. The international appeal and recognition of Paypal has been a major influence on Facebook’s recent partnership. It is expected to increase advertisement income – a major source of revenue for Facebook.

Paypal has also launched a variety of promotions and contests on Twitter to promote the use of Paypal. Contests include having users Tweet something related to a Paypal contest to be entered in a draw for cash prizes, which are then paid out through a Paypal account.

With the apparent decline of Ebay’s auction-based services, Ebay Inc. will undoubtedly look to its other units for growth and sustained profitability.

Can Paypal successfully utilize its international appeal and become a major player in a quickly growing social media landscape?

Will the shift to mobile platforms be a positive or negative influence on Paypal’s success?

See the original post here:
Paypal Reaches out to Social Media

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Last year eLearners.com’s Project Working Mom campaign, partnered with the Tyra Banks Show and made dreams comes true by awarding five lucky finalists full-ride online scholarships to accredited online institutions. And guess what…they’re back to do it again this year!

Project Working Mom is a scholarship campaign, which offers working moms (and dads too!) the opportunity to receive an online education tuition-free! The aim of the program is to provide aid to working parents and help them to overcome the obstacle they are faced with when returning to school.

Earlier this month on the Tyra Banks Show,  Lisa Johnson, one of last year’s finalist, told viewers how winning a Project Working Mom scholarship changed her life! Lisa is currently pursuing an MBA with a focus on Marketing and working toward her goal of becoming a newspaper publisher.

The Project Working Mom campaign is powered by eLearners and is currently exclusive to select affiliates in the program. While last year’s campaign offered affiliates a $25 CPL, this time around, the campaign offers publishers a $40 commission per verified US lead.  So, if you are interested in promoting online education and financial aid to your visitors, sign up to the eLearners.com affiliate program to help your web visitors’ dreams come true! Want to learn more? Check out this PWM article or email us today!

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eLearners partners with The Tyra Banks Show to make dreams come true, again!

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