What SMART Affiliates Do for Christmas...

I confess... I avoid shopping malls like the plague between November 1st and January 2nd. I just can't make myself go there.

It's not that I don't like Christmas.

I do.

Gathering around the fire with friends and family for friendly banter and fine brandy - or in my case, beer - is a wonderful way to spend a cold winter's evening around Christmastime.

My aversion to malls doesn't mean I've given up gift-giving. Thoughtful gifts are in fact my specialty.

Unlike the winery-worker acquaintance who year-after-year gave me wine and wine-related products - despite knowing I'm allergic to wine - I strive for and revel in those heartfelt 'it's absolutely PERFECT!' responses to my gift selection prowess.

But I still won't go to the mall.

Outside Las Vegas, huge crowds and cacophonous places make me nuts.

Picture frazzled adults racing through over-stocked aisles of noisy displays while pushing screaming children in ankle-crushing strollers, and you'll appreciate my disinclination to hazard the risk.

And it's always SO much fun to try and extract useful information from inexperienced sales people with bad attitudes and sore feet to boot. (Pardon the pun.)

With that in mind, I regularly Thank Goodness for the Internet, because not only do I sell online, I buy online too.

Actually, I credit my Internet shopping forays with some of my success as an affiliate marketer.

In the Super Affiliate Handbook I suggest that to properly endorse the products you promote as an affiliate, it's best to have first-hand knowledge of those products.

Furthermore, understanding the selection, check-out and payment processes your customers encounter makes you a better affiliate marketer, and being a better affiliate makes you more money!

Granted, buying your merchants' products is not always practical or economical - especially if you sell high-end goods like treadmills or diamond jewelry.

However, you can still experience the buying process by doing some or all of your Christmas shopping online.

In addition to improving your knowledge as an affiliate marketer and protecting your ankles, by shopping online you will also:

• Avoid perilous drives in heavy traffic or blinding snowstorms;
• Avoid bus and subway 'body crush';
• Avoid lugging heavy items down the street and up the stairs;
• Avoid bruises left by sharp, impatient elbows, and;
• Avoid salepeople who ate garlic at lunchtime;

Better yet, you will also:

• Shop when YOU want (even at 3AM!);
• Dress how you want (or not at all);
• Have many more products to choose from than you do in Upper Rubber Boot, Saskatchewan;
• Have access to complete product information;
• Receive Internet-only discounts (read 'save money');
• Get free shipping in many cases (read 'save more money');

So, save your feet from blisters and your Manolo's for dancing this Christmas. Shop online and put yourself in your customers' Shoes.com. (HO! HO! HO!)

Cheers,

---

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

Taking a Page out of Oprah's Book

Here are 10 of my favorite online stores to shop for Christmas (or any) gifts as well as some ideas for unique, unusual and/or trendy gifts.

	eBay - You won't find ancient Egyptian gold scarab rings at Sears. For those and other gifts for the antique hunter in your life, visit eBay - The World's Online Marketplace®. eBay (US), eBay (Australia), eBay (Canada), and eBay (UK), (CJ Merchant)
	eHarmony - A friend of mine is getting ready to wing his way to China to meet his online dating sweetheart, and it's all my fault - I sent him to my online dating service review site, Sage=Hearts.com. :-) Do you know some single people? Give the gift of love this holiday season. Until Dec 31, 2002 - Buy One Month, Get the Second Month Free - Use Promo Code: 999SHCJ
	Travelocity - This Christmas, one of my friends is going to receive a ticket to a very exotic destination... I just hope he's not reading this newsletter and/or knows who HE is. I'll order the ticket through Travelocity which has a 'best fare finder'. If I'm feeling in the spirit, I'll make hotel and car reservations too. :-) (CJ Merchant)
TicketsNow - Hey sports fans! Hockey is back! and TicketsNow is the world's favorite and most trusted site for sports, concert and theater tickets. Go Leafs!
	Brookstone - Shop for unique, high-quality, hard-to-find-elsewhere products at Brookstone. Their Regan airport store saved me time (and my bacon) when I lost the mini optical mouse for my laptop somewhere enroute to Yanik's Underground Seminar last year in Washington. I LOVE this store online and off! (CJ Merchant)
Hammacher Schlemmer - I can spend a entire 2-hour flight thumbing through a SkyMall magazine which features many unique and unusual products offered by Hammacher Schlemmer. The Bose® Noise-Cancelling® Headset is especially handy for avoiding interruptions during my catalog research. Can't decide? Give them a Hammacher Schlemmer Gift Certificate and let them choose. (CJ Merchant)
	Ice.com - Offers beautiful, quality jewelry at everyday prices. Save on a wide selection of diamonds, pearls, gemstones and more. Each ICE.com purchase includes a free gift box, easy monthly payments, certificate of authenticity, a 30-day money back guarantee & Free FedEx on orders above $150. (LinkShare Merchant)
	Amazon - When all else fails, get 'em a book. Amazon offers earth's biggest selection of books, magazines, music, DVDs, videos, electronics, computers, software, apparel & accessories, shoes, ...
	Shoes.com - Did someone mention Shoes... again?
	CafePress.com - Unleash your creativity! Create your own one-of-a-kind products and sell them or give them away. CafePress.com is dynamic online retail experience where you'll find over 11 million unique items created by members around the globe. No matter what your passion, there's a product for you.

HOT Gifts for Christmas 2005

New 30GB iPod - Now with a thinner profile and excellent video on a 2.5-inch screen.

SIRIUS Satellite Radio – Hear what you want, when you want to hear it. Buy a SIRIUS Radio and catch a $30 rebate