Monetise It

Skimlinks Release Vbulletin Plugin

2010-01-03T13:38:53Z

Skimlinks have finally released a vbulletin plugin.

The plugin will only redirect links that point to sites that Skimlinks are able to monetise on their network.

The plugin automatically downloads a list of domains from SkimLinks every night, so your site will always have the most current set of sites in the Skimlinks network

You can download the plugin from within your Skimlinks account.

NB: The plugin is currently only available for Vbulletin 3.*

TradeDoubler And Bad Unclear Communication

2009-10-08T10:03:07Z

TradeDoubler are not some little startup. They don't have any excuse for bad communication, yet they still send out totally meaningless emails to their publishers:

First the subject line:

"Apple ? Important Status Update"

So is it "Apple" or something else?

"Dear XXXXX,

With reference to your participation in the Apple Store Affiliate program through TradeDoubler.We have noticed that your site has not been active on the Apple Affiliate program indicating that you are no longer interested in the program. We will therefore be de-activating your account as of 13th October 2009. If you are still interested in being part of the Apple Affiliate program, please re-apply to join the program at any time.

If you have any questions or need any assistance, please contact your local TradeDoubler Team: xxxxxxxxxxxx at xxxxxxxx@tradedoubler.com

We thank you for your contribution and we wish you the best for your future endeavors.

TradeDoubler team
"

There are several serious issues with this email

Which site does it refer to?
How can TD claim to know what I am interested in or not?
Why are they using US spelling?
Which part of my account are they deactivating?
Why was the subject line of the email so weird?

They also sent out another email regarding Apple which again is badly worded and totally misleading.

"Dear publisher of the Apple Online Store Affiliation Program,

From today all publishers of the Apple Online Store Affiliation Program are required to respect the Guidelines for Apple Online Store Affiliate Publishers.

These Guidelines can be reviewed at:
http://hst.tradedoubler.com/file/2554/OLS_Affiliate_Banners_Guide_102708.pdf
http://hst.tradedoubler.com/file/2554/OLS_Affiliate_Photo_Guide_102708.pdf

Please note that TradeDoubler will monitor the respect of these Guidelines by the publishers of the Apple Online Store Affiliation Program and failure to respect these Guidelines may result in the termination of your affiliation with the Apple Online Store Affiliation Program.

If you have any questions please contact your local Tradedoubler account manager xxx xxxx at xxxxx@tradedoubler.com

Thank you for your partnership,

TradeDoubler
"

Why isn't it addressed to me? It's not as if they can't manage that ...

The subject line refers to "branding":
Apple IE: Affiliate Brand Guidelines

Branding is not exactly a subject that is going to have me rushing to open my email, yet, again, TradeDoubler are actually talking about something completely different and much more important than mere guidelines.

Look at the body of the email - note the "charming" threats ...

Now look at the PDFs ...

They aren't just about Apple / Tradedoubler expressing some preferences for how publishers place banners. They are, however, very clear rules on how publishers are meant to do things.

Tradedoubler - you really need to work on your communication. Seriously. Get your act together.

Bit.ly For Amazon Affiliates

2009-04-12T14:56:57Z

Image via CrunchBase

If you are an Amazon affiliate then this little tip from Bit.ly might be of interest.

They've made available a little snippet for Firefox users who want to easily create bit.ly links to Amazon.

NB: You have to be in the Amazon Associates control panel to use this ie. it won't work with the Amazon sitebar

Thanks to @werner for mentioning it on Twitter

Adsense Publishers - Update Your Privacy Policy

2009-04-04T10:53:06Z

Google is introducing yet more changes in its contextual advertising service, Adsense.

As a result of the latest changes which involve the introduction of "interest based" advertising, Adsense publishers need to update their privacy policy.

Fortunately Jensense have made available a sample privacy policy that publishers can use.

If you are an Adsense publisher you will need to have the new privacy policy in place by April 8th

Eircom Pull Ads From TradeDoubler

2009-03-31T09:50:02Z

Image via Wikipedia

I've just got an email from Tradedoubler saying that Eircom are pulling all ads from the network effective tomorrow:

"Eircom ? important notice

Eircom publishers,

.

Please endeavour to extract all eircom creative from your site before tomorrow evening.
Unfortunately, we are not in a position to offer ?filler? eircom banners. All eircom creative must
be extracted in its entirety. From April 1st, remaining banners will display as errors on your site.

Please note: You can still promote eircom using text links.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to email:
support.ie@tradedoubler.com

We apologise for this inconvenience and for the incredibly short notice.
"

Google To Retire Video Units

2009-03-28T19:24:59Z

Video units for Adsense publishers are being retired at the end of April 2009.

I for one won't miss them, but other publishers may have had more success with them.

Full details on the adsense blog

Monetise Wordpress Blogs With Amazon

2009-02-08T15:07:13Z

The latest beta release of Associate-o-matic includes a new feature that should be of interest to Wordpress users - a Wordpress plugin.

Full details of how the plugin will work haven't been finalised, but it maybe worth keeping an eye open for the final release when it comes in a few weeks time.

Post-Christmas Sales

2008-12-26T19:26:46Z

Now that Christmas is over it's sales season.

Most of the affiliate networks (and independently run programs) have been sending out emails since last week with news of the various discounts and promotions available.

While there maybe a credit crunch and general economic downturn, there's no better time to promote some of the huge savings that can be made online.

Eircom Affiliate Program Launched On TradeDoubler Ireland

2008-12-22T19:31:26Z

Eircom, one of Ireland's largest broadband and telecommunications companies, has just launched on the Tradedoubler network

They're offering an 80 euro bonus until January 16th on all broadband sales.

Nice!

Bwin Launched On TradeDoubler Ireland

2008-12-18T21:23:55Z

TradeDoubler have announced the addition of the Bwin program to their portfolio.

The Irish offices of TradeDoubler seem to be attracting a lot of new programs for Irish affiliates, so this is a very positive move.

ScreenClick Terminates Affiliate Due To Negative Feedback

2008-12-18T19:22:36Z

I posted on my personal blog a couple of days ago about the new Screenclick site.

One of Screenclick's affiliates also posted on his blog about the site redesign and has now found that his account has been suspended!

Is this how most companies handle feedback from their affiliates???

Beginners' Guide To Affiliate Marketing

2008-12-15T18:32:38Z

If you're interested in getting started in affiliate marketing, then this post may be prove useful:

Beginner Basics of Affiliate Marketing

It covers a lot of the topics that people tend to ask about and is definitely worth taking a few minutes to read

Skimlinks Launched

2008-12-14T13:30:37Z

The affiliate marketing world has gained yet another service in the last few weeks with the launch of SkimLinks.

Aimed at blogs, forums, web applications, and content sites that want a hassle-free way to earn money from affiliate marketing, Skimlinks turns normal product links into affiliate links, with no intervention required by the publisher.

That sounds wonderful, but what exactly does that mean?

In simple terms the idea behind Skimlinks is that it does all the "heavy lifting" for you ie. creating the precious deeplinks that are more likely to convert. If you're going to link to an advertiser you're more likely to get a return on a deeplink than you are on a simple homepage link ie. linking to a product is better than linking to the advertiser's main site.

So how does it work?

The guys in Skimlinks have created a short video to show the system in action:

skimlinks.com :: How it works? from Ciaran Rooney on Vimeo.

Microsoft Affiliate Network Closes Tomorrow

2008-12-14T13:25:17Z

Microsoft has announced the closure of its affiliate network.

In an email to publishers last week the company thanked them for their participation and talked of a new range of products being launched on a new platform in 2009

Last Push Before Christmas

2008-12-07T13:21:25Z

Image via Wikipedia

If you haven't prepared your affiliate marketing and monetisation for Christmas at this stage don't bother. You're too late.

The last few shopping days are now pretty much upon us with most of the online vendors urging people to place their pre-Christmas orders now.

So if you are playing catchup then maybe you should really be working on the post-Christmas sales instead.

Most of the bigger online vendors will start offering discounts almost immediately after Christmas.