Cool Beans SF

Retailers routinely pay mystery shoppers to evaluate their stores on a specific set of criteria. They rate their experience in everything from the availability of sale items to the cleanliness of the changing rooms. What do you, as an affiliate, want to know about your merchants? Have a contest and recruit some mystery shoppers from your target group, give them an assignment to buy a product in a certain category at several merchants or and have them tell you specifically about their experiences, in depth, with a certain merchant. Depending upon the product, pay them or pay for the product they buy.

Ask about the feel and experience at a site, the product depth and breadth, displays and descriptions, product reviews and rankings, customer service, both interactive and email, shopping carts, payment options, bonus gifts, gift wrap, special offers, delivery experiences, returns. Have them tell you what they expected to find at a merchant, but didn’t. If they’ve been to a competitor, ask specifically what’s better and worse at your affiliate site.

Use the results to swap one merchant’s affiliate program for another, understand where you need to do product and service reviews of your own and where they’re unnecessary. Decide if there are merchants you should contact to discuss service expectations - in most cases they want to know what they should fix in order to encourage their own return customers. Find gaps and add new merchants, even if it’s just for one very hot product. The market never stays exactly the same, nor do service levels and merchant focus. By fine tuning on a regular basis you can stay relevant to your visitors and ahead of the competition.

Karen Kari’s articles and more information on the affiliate business can be found at:

http://www.affiliatebandit.com

http://www.advertisingcellar.com

http://www.billionfreeads.com

Successful affiliate marketers see obstacles as opportunities to learn, not reasons to give up. They have learnt the underlying secret of success - persistence pays.

Persistence brings its own unique pay-off in the form of what I call the four R’s - resources, realization, relationships and rewards.

1. Resources

If you persist with an affiliate program you get to understand the resources available to you and how best to use them for your program. Many affiliate programs today provide support for affiliate marketing in the form of solo ads, classified ads, banners, suggested signature lines, articles for your website or blog, safelist memberships, viral e-books, viral reports, marketing videos and autoresponder message series.

These resources are often backed up by forums, chat rooms, teleconferences, and tutorials where you can learn how to make the best use of these resources for the affiliate program involved.

It is not possible in two or three months to get to effectively use all these resources or fully understand your affiliate program, the product and/or service offering and the dynamics of the relevant target market.

By not persisting with your affiliate program, you are missing learning opportunities and under-utilising the resources available to you (which you are ultimately paying for).

2.Realization

Persistence brings increased realization through exposure to these affiliate resources, to successful affiliates and to the systems that support your affiliate program. You learn (over time) what marketing strategies are the most cost-effective for the product or service that you are marketing through your affiliate program.

You also come to fully appreciate your program’s follow-up system, reporting system and commission structure. Persistence helps you understand better the features and benefits of your product/service offering, the real target market and how to sell to this market.

Persistence can bring the realization of how best to use your personal resources and skills for your affiliate program. It can also help you realize ways to achieve synergy between the various affiliate programs you are involved in.

3.Relationships

Persistence develops relationships over time, particularly if you are active in communicating with your sponsor, upline, downline and other affiliates through the affiliate program’s forum, teleconferences or teleclasses.

Relationships, in turn, bring resources, support, encouragement and ideas to help you to improve your effectiveness and your affiliate income. You can access affiliate marketing coaching through these relationships.

If you do not persist, you cut yourself off from these relationship benefits.

4.Rewards

Persistence can bring a range of rewards. Loyalty to an affiliate program is often rewarded by a sponsor or program owner. Sometimes this takes the form of discounts, bonuses, extra credits or downline members. You may also benefit through the natural evolution of the program as it is refined, improved and upgraded. Long-standing members are frequently given first access to new offerings.

Persistence can result in your emerging as a program leader which in turn can lead to your receiving lucrative offers to act as a leader in another affiliate program.

These four R’s - resources, realization, relationships and rewards - are interdependent. With persistence comes a form of synergy where the four R’s reinforce each other and you receive an even greater benefit from the fact that they are actively working together to increase your affiliate income.

Persistence pays - it takes you to another level of development as an affiliate marketer, deepens your understanding of affiliate marketing, enriches your online experience and brings monetary rewards.

How often have you wondered: Where would I be now if I had only persisted with that other affiliate program?

This article is written by Ron Passfield, PhD, affiliate marketing coach, who is helping affiliate marketers develop their affiliate business through the step-by-step coaching provided by the Affiliate Classroom. Visit Ron’s blog for the latest on affiliate marketing and register for a free affiliate marketing course:

http://www.affiliate-marketing-coach.blogspot.com/

Copyright 2005 - Ron Passfield. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.

Hi i am trying to promote my new site pixelsupreme.com at this
site you are able to place business adverts,logos,website
pictures or any other images,these are placed on our homepage
for a minimum of 5 years maybe more & are solded in the form of
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or little as you like & will also have a link to your site with
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thanks russell pixelsupreme.com

So you’ve decided to start an e-commerce web site. Congratulations! There has never been a better time than now to start an e-commerce web site. To the average business person, starting an e-commerce site is a daunting task. The purpose of this article is to point you in the right direction and inform you of some of your options.

The first step in creating your e-commerce site is to decide how to create your site. Since e-commerce has exploded over the last few years, there are more design options. The “easier” option is to use an all in one package from one of the larger hosting companies. Another option is to use an e-commerce system like osCommerce or X-Cart. Finally, another option is you can have a web developer design a custom site for you. Now let’s take a look at these options.

All in One Packages
Are you new to the internet? This could possibly be the best option for you. Hosting companies such as GoDaddy, Yahoo, 1and1, and Homestead have created plans where you can setup e-commerce sites yourself using a sitebuilder. Instead of paying a large price for your site, you pay a monthly cost to cover hosting. For about $10 a month, you can have an e-commerce site.

E-Commerce Systems
Do you have a little experience with designing web sites? Then you can use an e-commerce system for your site. Systems such as osCommerce and X-Cart are full-functioning e-commerce solutions that make doing business easy. All you have to do is buy the hosting, install the software, and personalize the system. Although that is easier said than done, it is still a low cost solution.

Custom Design
If you’re looking for a specific type of e-commerce system or want a truly unique site, you can hire a web development company to design your site. While this is the more expensive option, you get what you pay for. If you choose the right company, you’ll get a designed to order e-commerce system and some search engine optimization. They can also provide information about online marketing and how to make your site successful.

Starting an e-commerce site is by no means an easy task, but it is a great idea. If done correctly, you can take your business to customers in different states, countries, or even continents! The door is in front of you, all you have to do is knock. Good luck with your online venture!

Discuss this article at ecommerceboards.com!
Eric Friese owns custom-ecommerce.com and is President of Tiger Web Solutions. Eric Friese has been in the web development industry for 10 years. Eric can be reached through the Tiger Web Solutions web site.