We Do Search Engine Optimization.

I have been promoting the Microsoft adCenter affiliate program since its inception, and made some great commissions off of it. After $900 in earnings promoting the Microsoft adcenter PPC program, the affiliate managers began changing service options, restricting usage, playing coy with their loyal affiliates, cancelling the program twice, and finally terminating all payouts in October 2008.

I received a final email from microsoftaffiliates.net announcing the end of all payouts. However it leaves open the possibility of a new adcenter affiliate program in the near future.

Lets hope Microsoft returns to its senses and creates an incentive program for their contextual advertising property. Maybe MSN will launch it on microsoftaffiliates.com – what a novelty to use a .com

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MSAN News
September 11, 2008 v1.11

Windows Live OneCare To Be Set at $2.00 Payout
As previously announced, the payout for every US or CA based free trial of Windows Live OneCare will be lowered to $2.00 as of September 15, 2008 in order to extend the lifetime of the campaign. However, there will be additional promotions to come that will give you the opportunity to earn more, so stay tuned!

Window Live Toolbar Extends $2.50 Payout!
We are pleased to announce that the WIndows Live Toolbar $2.50 payout will extend through September for every unique, US-based installation. Be sure to log into the Affiliate Account Center to access all new banner ads and text links that will drive your customers to the enhanced landing page!

Update your promotions now to increase your conversions and take advantage of the limited-time payout opportunity of $2.50 through the end of September. After September, the payout will be set at $1.50.

adCenter Partner Program To Wrap Up In October
As you know, the adCenter Partner program stopped taking new sign ups on June 30, 2008, but has continued to pay on any of those sign ups that met the minimum spend requirement. October payouts will include the last earnings from the Partner program and then that program will be officially closed. Be on the lookout in October for your final payment. Thanks again for your participation in this initiative and we will be in touch as soon as we hear any details about a new version of the program.

Let Us Know Your Thoughts
We would love to hear your thoughts on our current programs, Windows Live OneCare and Windows Live Toolbar. What is working? What is not working? What would be helpful for you to be succesful? This input from you is vital for us to continue to optimize these programs to ensure they are where you need them to be. Please send your comments, questions and feedback to affiliates@microsoftaffiliates.net.

General Updates

* Commission: August commissions will be delayed this month. We are working to process and send out checks as quickly as possible. We will have an update for you next week.

Melissa Wit
Affiliate Manager
Microsoft Affiliate Network

_________________________
Voice: 727.324.0185
Fax: 313.447.2398
affiliates@microsoftaffiliates.net

Pepperjam Network is a new affiliate network that has won over the affiliate marketing world. They have taken the best features of Commission Junction, Linkshare, Connect Commerce and created a great affiliate platform with personalized service and true customer support.

To inspire new users and existing publishers, Pepperjam is offering bloggers $10 for every post about Pepperjam Network news or tools. Bloggers also receive an additional $7 for every new affiliate you refer to the program. Your new affiliates receive $10 as a sign-on bonus.

So start writing about pepperjam to increase your blog income and give new Pepperjam affiliates a $10 signup credit. This is equivalent to a $10 copuon just for signing up to this affiliate network.

I have used Pepperjam for nearly 6 months and have found many exclusive affiliate offers including SEOmoz & ebay. They provide the only 3rd party Ebay affiliate program, so if you dispute the tracking system on the Ebay partner network ebaypartnernetwork.com, try Pepper Jam instead.

If that’s not enough incentive to post about Pepperjam consider the 2008 Inc. 500 list was officially released today announcing that Pepperjam ranks as one of the top 100 fastest growing privately-held companies in the United States of America.

Pepperjam’s 2008 Inc. 500 ranking is #70 with three-year revenue growth of 2,447.5%. Pepperjam must have an extremely satisfied clientele that is driving it’s growth.

I have been running AuctionAds / Shopping Ads since their inception and have yet to see any real activity. I have actually forgot about the ads I placed on my sites, and checked the ShoppingAds site for a recent report.

Total earned $.36 for 52 clicks on 4273 impressions. This works out to less than 9 cents per thousand impressions. The average CPM for display ads is $10. I don’t think I’ll be using Shoppingads.com on any future sites.

Shopping Ads report screenshot

Shopping Ads reps, please contact me if you have suggestions on how i can improve clicks and sales.

Microsoft Live Search has launched an initiative called Cashback which offers a discount for products purchsed on MSN search. This incentive is similar to an affiliate program where the publisher (MSN) receives a cash bounty for purchases made from participating advertisers. Microsoft only gets paid if a user buys a product, compared to normal Pay Per Click advertising (which provides 98% of Google’s revenue) which generates revenue for every ad click.
The interesting part of the Live Cashback promotion is that Microsoft gives 100% of the discount back to the consumer. So if you purchase a digital camera on MSN Cashback

Microsoft needs to do something drastic to get back into the search advertising game. They’re third in U.S. search market share with under 9.1% of the online search market. Six months ago Microsoft Live Search had 9.8% market share. Google, by contrast, has 61.6% and is growing steadily:

Statistics from eMarketer shows over 50% of web users in the US begin online shopping using a search engine. 14% of online shoppers begin a product hunt using a comparison shopping search engine. 15% of shoppers navigate directly to their e-commerce site of choice (amazon.com, buy.com, ebay.com etc.)

Listen to Danny Sullivan, Mike Arrington and Hugh MacLeod debate Microsoft’s new Cashback strategy. Podcast Recorded Thursday, May 22, 2008. download the GillmorGang mp3 podcast.

Ebay recently moved their affiliate program from Commission Junction to their in house Ebay Partner network.

This is some code that will help you quickly build ebay affiliate links without logging in to their website and using the auction link building tool https://www.ebaypartnernetwork.com/PublisherToolsHome

PHP functions for Ebay.com originally from Tamebay:

place this PHP code in your website to generate the ebay affiliate link


aff_link("URL","link text","custom ID","country");

where

* URL is the eBay URL to link to
* link text is the anchor text you will use – will also appear as the link title attribute)
* custom ID is like the CJ SID, append a specific ID to any link, for granular affiliate link tracking
* country is the two letter country code relating to the auction program being promoted (US, UK, FR, DE, AU etc.)

You can see more php code to create custom ebay affiliate links at Tamebay.

For those of you who promoted the Microsoft AdCenter affiliate program you know it converted well and was a goldmine for any search engine marketing related blog. Then on March 31 they sent all Microsoft Affiliates a termination email.

The good news is the adCenter affiliate program is still active and available to all!

Here is what you need to do:

1. Signup to become a Microsoft partner https://partner.microsoft.com/40009570. This is easier than it sounds, and all applications seem to be rubber stamped. I have never heard of anyone being declined. Another benefit is MS will send you lots of heavily discounted software.
2. E-mail your Microsoft Partner Program ID to the adcenter manager: affiliates {AT} microsoftaffiliates.net
3. Login to your affiliate account at www.microsoftaffiliates.net, agree to the new terms of service, generate updated text links and start collecting signups.

The process is really simple, and I received confirmation from both the Microsoft Partner application and adCenter affiliate manager in 1 day.

One big change in the program is they now record sales only after the user has spent $75, so affiliate conversions may not be immediate.

I completed this process and received this email from the Program Manager, Microsoft Affiliate Network.

Thank you for your interest! I have updated your account to reflect your Partner status. The next time you log in you should see the adCenter Partner offer appear as the others do.

In regards to the tracking—it is a little confusing right now as we are still in the beta version. It is not reflected in real time—once you have a customer sign up, you won’t see anything appear in your transaction history. Weekly, we update the Partner stats, so once we update them, you will see a transaction labeled as adCenter Partner. This transaction will remain as Pending until your customer spends the $50 or the $75 minimum spend requirement.

I have included the terms of this program below for your reference. http://www.microsoftaffiliates.net/forms/ Addendum-adCenter_04022008.pdf
As always, please let me know if you have questions.

Thanks you and best of success!

It was extremely easy for me to re-enable my adcenter affiliate account, and it should be for you as well.

There are several ways to make money online, and some of my favorite are affiliates and CPA. Affiliate networks are regular sites that have signed up to give an advertiser a specified percentage on all completed sales. A webmaster places a targeted link with affiliate tracking code on their site, and if a user clicks through to the publisher’s website and makes a purchase, the affiliate receives a portion of the sale, generally between 5% – 10%.

Affiliate networks

• Commission Junction – the largest affiliate network, with most recognized brands. CJ grows by 3-10 new affiliate publishers per day. Good reporting and a fairly easy to use layout. Reasonable response from customer service. Offers brands on five different national markets, including Sweden, Germany, France, United States and United Kingdom.
• Shareasale – has the best reputation among affiliate managers and super affiliates. SAS is the most affiliate friendly program available, and while it does not have a lot of big name companies they are a quality company.
• Pepperjam Network – PepperJam is a new affiliate network run by a gregarious search marketer, and I have high hopes for this affiliate program. Many of the sop search engine optimization consulting forms and conferences including Search Engine Strategies and SMX have signed up with PJ. This is a very positive indicator of a trustworthy program.
• LinkConnector – technologies, provided by LinkConnector, are the Naked Link Technology and Affiliate Connections. The Naked Link Technology allows you, as an affiliate, to link directly to the merchant’s site without using a third party URL. This gives your site more of an editorial feel and mayincrease your earnings. Affiliate Connections helps to find optimal promotions and maximize EPX. If you choose various promotions to put on your site this technology will know which one that’s the most profitable at the moment and optimize its display.
  LinkShare – this affiliate program was a dying dog before being purchased by the Japanese e-commerce company Rakuten. They have a new admin interface and better management tools. Second only to Commission Junction for big brand representation – most mall department stores are represented in Link Share.
• Performics – lots of large companies, decent interface but substandard support. Performics and Connect Commerce seem to not want you to know they have real people running their website.
• ClickBank – good solution for digital downloads, ebooks, subscriptions, writing and one off items. Huge downsides to Click Bank are they require 5 unique purchases before they will send you a commission check
• Share Results – smaller affiliate network with less recognized brands. There is very little data on shareresults.
• LinkTrust – another small affiliate publisher network, unsure if it is worth signing up for.
• DirectTrack – Old school affiliate program that serves niche markets. Good affiliate system if you like the specific publishers
• Kolimbo – notable for the myaffiliateprogram.com system which lets you run your affiliate program from your own domain name. Affiliates never leave your site. The downside is it is harder to attract super affiliates who may be running hundreds of offers concurrently.

CPA networks

• Azoogle – long standing cost per action affiliate network with a reasonable selection of affiliate publishers and good affiliate support. I have always been able to reach Azoogle Ads via phone if necessary.
• Incentaclick – Recently renamed to CX Digital, this cpa affiliate network
• ClickBooth.com

These are good at their intended purpose and are optimized for sending traffic to landing pages. CPA leads can convert well if the traffic exactly matches the offer and landing page setup. These users are not looking to browse, they are looking to buy.

Unfortunately the Microsoft adCenter Affiliate Program has come to an ignominious end. MS has cancelled this lucrative program and swept the rug out from all its loyal affiliate marketers who have diligently helped raise awareness for this affiliate offer. Should we be surprised at Microsoft’s behavior?

Their press release:

Microsoft adCenter Affiliate Program to Close February 29, 2008
Thank you for your participation in the adCenter Affiliate program. Unfortunately, the adCenter offer will no longer be available after February 29th, 2008.

Any banner or text ads that you currently have placed and are receiving traffic will still be eligible for payout through February 29th. However, any traffic after this date will no longer be eligible for the coupon or commission payout. As of today, February 20th, no new marketing material will be available to current affiliates and new affiliates will not be able to sign up for the offer.

Final commission payout for any activity through the end of February will be processed and paid out in the month of March as usual. Please be sure to remove all marketing materials associated with this offer from placement by February 29th as you will no longer receive credit for this activity.

We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause, but hope that you will take advantage of other offers available within the Microsoft Affiliate Network including Windows Live OneCare and Windows Live Toolbar. You can find more information about these programs by logging into the Affiliate Account Center and selecting Offers from the left-hand side navigation.

Thank you for your participation in the Microsoft Affiliate Network. Please let us know if you have questions.

M Witt
Affiliate Manager
Microsoft Affiliate Network
_________________________
Fax: 313.447.2398
affiliates@microsoftaffiliates.net

Sky High Auctions is an Ebay auction education program that teaches e-bay sellers how to maximize online profits.
The Sky High Auctions JV Launch Page launches one of the most comprehensive guide to making money from eBay ever created.

This auction education program shows internet marketers how to use ebay as their private e-commerce shop. They have conducted exclusive interviews with eBay powersellers who show on video how to:

* Make money selling $2.99 ebooks
* Make backend sales from selling ebooks on eBay
* Use eBay marketplace research tools to uncover profitable markets which can be profitable in adsense and other affiliate markets.
* How to use eBay to sell affiliate products. One of the guys interviewed is good at setting up jvs with product owners and sells them and earns affiliate commissions.
* There are also bonus interviews with well known internet marketers -> Mark Joyner on time management, Mike Filsaime on email marketing and viral marketing, and Ewen Chia on making money in the “make money online” market.

Sky High Auctions will be launching on 6th March 2008 at 11am. The affiliate program is by invitation only and we will be paying $100 per sale you generate.
Why promote Sky High Auctions?

* Over 1,000,000 people earning a living on eBay.
* Sky High Auctions is one of the few courses (if not the ONLY course) teaching how to make a full-time living from eBay.
* Over 26 hours of video lessons, written notes, interviews with eBay powersellers, and more.
* As an invited JV Partner, you’ll receive a complimentary copy of Sky High Auctions so you can evaluate it yourself!
* Affiliates earn $100 per sale. The product sells for a very reasonable $167 (introductory price).

Launch Competition — $5000+ in cash prizes!

From the 6th March to 13th March, view the launch competition. Send traffic to Sky High Auctions and you could walk away with some extra cash in your pocket.

JV Leaderboard Prize Awards:
1st: $3000
2nd: $1500
3rd: $1000
4th: $700
5th: $500
6th: $200
7th: $200
8th: $200
9th: $200
10th: $200

I just read about an investor and businessman who has been around the world 2 times, once on a motorcycle through China, and recently on a souped up mercedes benz through 160 countries.

Wow

His name is Jim Rogers and he has no fear, and amazing entrepreneurial spirit, and a certified risk taker. This international investor is generally bullish on the world. He is taking investments away from Russia and South America and investing in Japan, China. If the Euro works, it will be the new world currency, replacing the US dollar. This is huge, and involves the strength of the European economy to keep the Euro strong. One day we may do well to transfer all dollars to Euros. The only other possibilities are the Japanese Yen or the Chinese Yuan if China ever allows its currency to be free.

More about this great investor after we describe his custom around the world ride:

All Activity Vehicle combines the comfort and styling attributes of the Mercedes-Benz SLK 230 sports car with the sturdy durability of the legendary Mercedes-Benz G-Series wagon. It helped Paige and Jim set a Guinness World Record.

powered by the proven, reliable 177 hp 3-litre G-Series Turbodiesel six-cylinder engine and comes with a five-speed automatic transmission and a four-wheel-drive powertrain. For road clearance, the Sunburst Yellow body rides a full foot higher than the stock SLK. Specially designed full fender flaring and a step-up rocker system visually blend the hybrid’s two characters giving it a unique identity. Prisma designed a matching trailer since extra storage capacity is needed for a trip like this. Metalcrafters manufactured the trailer.

The MB Millenium Mobile

How cool is it to travel the world in a 4×4 sports car?

Here are links to video interviews of Mr. Rogers

• http://media.dorseywright.com/jimrogers/JROG1.wmv
• http://media.dorseywright.com/jimrogers/JROG2.wmv
• http://media.dorseywright.com/jimrogers/JROG3.wmv
• http://media.dorseywright.com/jimrogers/JROG4.wmv

Mr. Rogers wrote a book called “A Bull in China” and “Adventure Capitalist” Here is one thing I can teach this multimillionaire: You’re leaving money on the table by not linking through an affiliate link. Create an affiliate account in Amazon.com and BN.com and use your link.
So get your affiliate account and stop leaving money on the table