Ros' Ramblings

In last week's NPC I mentioned the 'stupid merchant trick' that saw my Inbox filling up with unwanted messages.

So what else is new, eh?.

I suggested that you might want to create a new email address for each of your merchant partners, which you could then blow up should your partnership do likewise.

Well, that was my 'stupid affiliate' response. What I really meant to say was 'aliases', not new addresses.

Thanks to John M. for pointing that out to me.

In this NPC we check out Clickbank's new linking format, see what's new over at STTS and Revenue Mag (along with a surprise announcement re the latter) and best of all, get some more insight into making Adsense work in an interview with Joel Comm, THE Adsense expert.

Read and prosper!

Cheers,

P.S. Still a few seats left at the System Seminar in Chicago.

'Til next time, learn and prosper!

Rosalind

Rosalind Gardner is author of the best-selling "Super Affiliate Handbook: How I Made $436,797 in ONE Year Selling Other People's Stuff Online.

Super Affiliate Handbook

Clickbank Hoplinks New Format

Clickbank introduced a new link format this week which looks like:

http://AFFILIATE.VENDOR.hop.clickbank.net

Clickbank explaines that "Affiliates may find higher conversion rates using this newer format because the personalized domain name will not be recognized by filters and spyware that block advertisements" and that the old format will still work.

Based on the numbers who now report difficulty both installing and/or purchasing through the old links, this may prove a very worthwhile change.

April's "Secrets to Their Success" stories

Success Story #84: Paul Jerard

In January 2004, Paul Jerard's site was a featured site review In January 2004. Just one month later -- after implementing the STTS suggestions -- Paul's sales more than tripled from $3,000 a month to $9,700 a month!

Learn how the strategies suggested to Paul helped his business grow to the extent that he now rakes in $113,000 a year selling his home-study Yoga and Yoga Continuing Education courses to aspiring Yoga teachers.

Success Story #85: Melanie Boudar

Melanie Boudar doesn't have an online business -- and yet the Internet is the sole reason why her brand-new Hawaiian bed-and-breakfast inn makes over $8,000 to $12,000 in revenues every month!

Discover how Melanie uses the pay-per-click search engines and other key marketing strategies to generate interest in her traditional "brick and mortar" business -- and how 100% of her clients learn about her inn through the Internet!

Site Review: Kelli Newman

Kelli Newman's site is reviewed. Read this review with a critical eye as STTS discusses how to create a user-friendly shopping experience for catalog-style web sites.

See more Success Stories and Site Reviews at "Secrets to Their Success".

Revenue Magazine

The latest Revenue magazine is now available, and features these articles:

• Cover Story: Going Global: What affiliates and networks need to know about international affiliate marketing - the pitfalls, the benefits and who's competing with whom.
  
  
• 'Tis The Season: Tips on how to boost sales all year round.
  
  
• A Peek Into Affiliate Life: A look at an average day of an affiliate, an affiliate manager at a merchant and an executive at a leading affiliate network.
  
  
• Affiliate Home Run: Fans clamor for sports-related info and gear, and affiliates are there to fill the need.
  
  
• Commission Junction’s Reign: An in-depth look at Commission Junction more than one year after being bought by ValueClick.
  
  
• Branding Outside The Pack: Cheap tricks of the trade for offline marketing of your website.
  
  
• Ten Tools of the Trade: Useful software, services and tools that may make your affiliate life a little easier.
  
  
• Roger That: Marketing professor and noted author Roger Blackwell discusses issues that face international affiliates.
  

Get Revenue Magazine Today!

Interview with Joel Comm, Adsense Expert

A few weeks ago we looked at monetizing your affiliate site with Adsense.

Well, we got so many questions, that I decided to interview the Adsense expert, Joel Comm.

Here's what he had to say:

Interview with AdSense Expert, Joel Comm

Author, "What Google Never Told You About Making Money with AdSense"

1) Why did you decide to write an ebook about Google's Adsense program where you detail your secrets to making some very impressive advertising revenue?

I got started with AdSense in June 2003, shortly after Google launched the program. I placed the ad code on my web pages and waited for the revenue to add up. I was extremely disappointed when I saw I was making only a few dollars each day. I assumed that there wasn't any money to be made with AdSense, and I searched for other ways to generate advertising revenue.

In early 2004, I heard that some people were making good money with AdSense, so I began to test and tweak my code on my sites. After trying many different things, I stumbled across a formula that increased my revenue SIGNIFICANTLY. Initially, I was making approximately $30/day. By the time I implemented my new discoveries across my sites, I was earning over $500/day! It sounds unbelievable, but it's all true.

When I realized how much money I was leaving on the table, I began sharing my tips with my friends. When their Adsense took-off like wildfire, they suggested that I compile my tips together and put them in ebook form. They believed it was an investment that smart site owners would want to make, and they have been proven correct!

2) Can anyone benefit from using AdSense, or is it only for site owners with alot of pages or alot of traffic?

I have seen both large and small sites benefit by including AdSense code. It's wide open to anyone with a web site. You do have to go through an application process with Google in order to get approved to display AdSense, but I've heard very few stories of rejection. Whether someone has a well-established site, or if they are new to web publishing, the tips I teach in my ebook can be beneficial to everyone. If you have an existing site and aren't maximizing your AdSense, you may be leaving alot of money on the table. In my personal case, I left THOUSANDS of dollars on the table by not implementing these changes sooner. And if someone is starting a new site today, I believe it is better to get Adsense "right" from the beginning. Better to start sooner than later!

3) How many sites running Adsense ad blocks does one need to begin to see Adsense commissions adding up?

It depends on what your definition of "adding up" is. Some people display as few as 250 page impressions/day. But If they are making $1/day, why not increase it to $2, $3 or more each day? Of course, that number only increases in scale as the number of impressions increases. And if you are displaying thousands of impresssions each day, imagine making double, triple or quadruple what you are making now. In fact, I had a reader write to me just the other day. He reminded me that he was initially skeptical of my claims. He then went on to tell me that he is one of the people who is making quadruple the revenue that he was making before he read my ebook! I love to hear those stories and they pop up in my email regularly.

4) Joel, can you give us a taste of what we can expect to find in your ebook? Are there any tips that you would be willing to share right now?

Sure. One of the main things to remember is that you don't want to treat your Google ads like traditional advertisements. One of the biggest mistakes site owners make is to use the standard AdSense code that Google provides for you, without testing different sizes, ad colors and site placement. The very worst thing you can do is use the traditional 468x60 pixel banner size, which is what most people gravitate towards. Why? Because it is the format we most frequently recognize as "advertising". My ebook goes on to demonstrate which ad blocks you should use in order to dramatically increase your clickthrough rate and revenue. Along with knowing what colors you should use and where you should place the ads on your pages, these tips are absolutely invaluable to site owners.

5) Is it better to build one large site focused on a single niche, or should people be looking to build several smaller sites in order to maximize their AdSense income?

This is a matter of personal preference. I always tell people to build sites that they are excited about. Some people use Traffic Equalizer or other programs designed to build instant mega-sites. Those sites will come and go. But people who build a site centered around their interest or passion will be building an annuity that can pay off for many years to come. I have many sites, but I am excited about many things! For me, having several sites has been effective. However, my friend Tim Carter (AsktheBuilder.com) does one thing, and he EXCELS at it. He has no reason to distract his attention from his main business model.

6) What is a good approach to using website content that can be most profitable with Google Adsense?

Since Google uses a bidding process to determine value of keywords, there are certainly keywords that pay significantly more than others. For example, sites whose content revolves around the Vioxx controversy may display ads with a substantial value. I know these keywords were bid as high as $50 at one time. More typical keywords, such as "online chat" will pay only pennies. Note that it is against Google's terms of service to build pages just to display Adsense. However, Google loves quality content. So if you can build useful content that would pull high-paying keywords, I believe that is very acceptable. My ebook lists an indispensable tool that keeps track of high-paying keywords. It details thousands of keywords ranked by price, Google searches and more.

7) Many site owners want to add more pages to their sites, but don't know where to look to find additional content. What tips can you share that can help them build more quality pages that can then be monetized with AdSense?

Many site owners are syndicating content in order to get greater exposure. With the rise of the blog, RSS feeds are freely available from hundreds of sites. Exploring options for displaying other site's feeds on your site is a great way to build content. For example, Yahoo makes a variety of their news feeds available at http://news.yahoo.com/rss This is just the tip of the iceberg. My ebook lists several sites that offer free content that you can use on your site. In fact, one particular site I mention is one of the best-kept secrets. It has over 12,000 articles on a full variety of topics. Anyone can use as many of these articles as they want as long as the copyrights and links are kept in tact. It's a fantastic way to build quality page content quickly.

8) What kind of traffic does it take to start seeing money with the Adsense program?

Even if you have 100 impressions/day, you are likely to get SOME clicks. Sure, it's pocket change, but it is a start.

However, once you start displaying 1000 impressions daily, you will be encouraged to build more quality content so that you have more pages to display AdSense code.

9) Lately, I have seen some AdSense copycats on the web. Are any of these serious competition to Google yet?

I don't think there is any considerable competition for Adsense at this point. Yahoo! is on their way to announcing a competitor, but Google has a strong product and it is going to be difficult to get people to change. However, competition is always good for the marketplace, so I will be open to examining new programs. For now, Google Adsense is King of the hill.

10) What signs should people look for to know that they are on the right track with AdSense?

Increased CPM, CTR and revenue are the true signs of success. If your stats don't say it, it's not happening.

To learn more about Joel's work with Adsense, visit:

What Google Never Told You About Making Money With AdSense