Domain Tasters May Go Hungry
Google announced yesterday that Google Adsense will start looking for domain names that are repeatedly registered and refunded - a practice known as “domain tasting” or “domain kiting” - and as of February 11, 2008, will begin blocking Adsense ads from appearing on those domains.
Domain tasting is the practice of registering a domain and testing its marketability during the five-day grade period during which the registration is eligible for a refund. Income is generated by placing Google Adsense for Domains on the newly registered sites. On January 24th, 2008, Jay Westerdal of Domain Tools reported that “It was disclosed in court that one partner that Google had was generating as much as $3 million dollars a month from the practice and that was after Google’s revenue share“.
And the practice is extensive. According to Wikipedia, “By February 2007, the CEO of GoDaddy reported that of 55.1 million domain names registered, 51.5 million were canceled and refunded just before the 5 day grace period expired and only 3.6 million domain names were actually kept“.
Although I’m always thrilled to see a reduction in web crap, I can’t help but wonder if Google’s recent lowering of Adsense referal bounties (from $250 to $100) and eradication of the $2000 bonus was implemented to somewhat offset what they’ll lose by by killing off the domain tasters. Goodness forbid that honest marketers should make a few pennies when the big revenue generators (profiteers) are removed from the mix.
What do you think?
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Can I Use Auctions to Sell as An Affiliate?
Here’s a question from Tony P. about selling ebooks on eBay as an affiliate…
Hi Rosalind, I am interested in becoming an affiliate for several online companies. A number of them offer an e-book and I intend to sell these e-books via online auctions. As with any auction sale, selling prices will vary. Knowing that I have an average 50% margin, I may begin the bidding at a 20% mark up. Read more
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Cyber Monday Online Retail Spending Hits Record $733 Million
Here are snippets from a comScore press release about Cyber Monday online spending… and it’s good news all ’round.
RESTON, Va., Nov. 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — comScore, Inc. (Nasdaq: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released an update of holiday season e-commerce spending covering the first 26 days (November 1 - 26) of the November - December 2007 holiday season, including spending totals for Cyber Monday (November 26). More than $10.7 billion has been spent online during the season-to-date, marking a 17-percent gain versus the corresponding days last year. Cyber Monday saw $733 million in online spending, representing a 21-percent increase versus last year and an 84-percent jump from the average daily online spending totals during the preceding four weeks.
“Cyber Monday is an important day during the online holiday shopping season, representing the first significant spike in online holiday spending activity,” said comScore Chairman Gian Fulgoni. “Cyber Monday once again set a record with $733 million in sales, the first time a single day of online retail spending has broken the $700 million threshold. While that makes it the heaviest online shopping day on record, we expect that a number of individual shopping days during the coming weeks will surpass the Cyber Monday total, with some days potentially surpassing $800 million.”
Some other notable findings for Cyber Monday 2007 include:
- The number of online buyers was up 38 percent compared to Cyber Monday 2006, while the average dollars spent per buyer was down 12 percent. The decline in dollars per buyer may be due to two factors — deeper and broader price discounts offered by online merchants this year and the fact that “new Cyber Monday buyers” tended to spend less online than returning buyers.
- 6 percent of the Internet users on Cyber Monday made an online purchase.
- 44 percent of Internet users on Cyber Monday shopped online (i.e. visited an online retail site or used a comparison shopping engine)
- 60 percent of dollars spent online on Cyber Monday came from work computers, with the balance coming from home and university computers.
On Cyber Monday, most of the top online retail sites experienced significant gains in the number of visitors. Amazon Sites saw the most visitors on Cyber Monday 2007, up 26 percent gain versus the same day last year and up 50 percent compared to the average daily visitors during the four weeks leading up to Cyber Monday. Six out of the top ten retail sites saw their visitors more than double compared to the daily average over the four weeks preceding Cyber Monday. Apple’s modest gains are the result of consistently high traffic levels during the weeks preceding Cyber Monday.
Read the full press release at comScore, Inc..
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20/20 Challenge Update
John Cowburn commented “If anyone completes the challenge successfully within the 20 days (or even 30, 40 days) AND he isn’t a GURU, let’s hear about it. Expect silence!” re Michael Green’s 20/20 Challenge.
Fair enough to be skeptical (despite the money-back guarantee) I suppose, but to the cynic I’m happy to report that it’s been just over 20 days and Michael sent out an email with feedback from successful 20/20 Challengers like this from Sarah Coates in Concord, New Hampshire:
“Michael, boy was that fun. I took your 20/20 Challenge seriously and feel like I’ve really put my back into it, but 20 Days later and I’ve achieved my dream of earning enough money online not to have to work the day job anymore. Thank goodness” Thank you - Sarah Coates, Concord, NH, USA.
And this from John Speck in San Fransisco…
“$20k in 20 days? I’ve just done it and then some Thanks Michael. I never really thought it would be possible, but you’ve (or perhaps that is I’ve) proved myself wrong. I’m very grateful.” John Speck, San Fran, USA.
Proof positive that when someone wants something bad enough and believes they can make it happen, they WILL. 
Click here to see if there are copies of the 20/20 Challenge left.
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The 20/20 Challenge
I groaned when Michael Green told me about his latest 20/20 Challenge project, in which he promises to teach you step-by-step how he made $20,000 in 20 days and how you can replicate his process.
As a rule, I HATE those ‘make x in x number of days’ promises, especially because most that I’ve seen to date are complete pipe dreams… or worse, schemes to try and sell you a bunch more products.
“Michael, I can’t possibly tell anyone about the 20/20 Challenge unless you SHOW me your EXACT plan AND I can verify that it’s realistic and feasible“, I told him.
“But of course” he responded.
I should have known that Michael would come through with the goods… he always does.
Based on the daily action plan that I saw, what Michael teaches is entirely workable and true to his promise, the only “extra’s” you’ll need are a domain name and hosting. That’s right - no other expenses.
Furthermore, Michael guarantees that if you fail to make $20,000 in 20 days after following his plan, he will refund the cost of the course completely. Moreover, Michael’s courses are always user-friendly - easy to understand and follow.
And for some of you (me included) having a daily action plan to give you something concrete to do each day is a huge motivator to turn off the TV or stop surfin’ and get to work!
As the course is currently in pre-launch, it is available for a huge discount. The price doubles on September 29th, (launch day) and only a limited quantity will be sold.
If you’ve been hoping that I’d talk about something other than PPC training this month, or if you’re ready to go beyond PPC and affiliate marketing to create your own product - the 20/20 Challenge is the perfect way to expand your Internet marketing horizons.
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How Not to do Business on eBay… or Anywhere Else
I like sharing ‘learn from the mistakes of others’ stories for the valuable business lessons they provide, as well as the fact that they may save you from suffering through a similar ordeal on the customer side.
What follows is a timeline account of some of the worst customer service I’ve experienced to date on eBay - or anywhere else for that matter.
(The people in this story should have availed themselves of “The Insider Secrets to Selling on eBay” by Derek Gehl and the Internet Marketing Center’s Advanced eBay Mentoring Team.
To set the scene - the cell for my saltwater pool gave up the ghost in late June. With 100 degree temperatures and no cell, we were pouring chemicals into our pool like there was no tomorrow. Simply cleaning the rapid algae growth took a LOT of time, not to mention made for a high YUCK factor. Read more
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My Favorite Business Model
If you’ve read my book, you know that my favorite affiliate business model is selling subscription memberships that pay commissions on a recurring basis.
Sage-Hearts.com is based almost exclusively on that model. Most of the programs that I promote pay 50% recurring commissions on dating service memberships - which most people maintain for around 5 months.
Given a choice between a one-time flat fee of 200% of the purchase price or a recurring commission of 25%, I’ll almost always choose the latter.
Why?
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New at Clickbank: Recurring Billing
On June 19th, Clickbank announced that it will offer a recurring billing option to merchants that sell subscription services and/or have membership sites.
This is great news for merchants and affiliates alike.
As an affiliate marketer, I’ve always specifically sought out those affiliate programs that pay recurring monthly commissions on product sales, such as for dating site memberships and web hosting services.
So, the next time you’re in Clickbank looking for a recurring product to promote, do a search sorted by “Future $” which is the average total rebill revenue earned by the affiliate due to sales from a site. Generally this equates to the average sum of all rebills.
Granted, it may be awhile before anything shows up in this category, but well worthwhile to keep checking Clickbank to see who comes on board to offer recurring commissions.
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Online Sales to Soar in 2007
The State of Retailing Online 2007, a study conducted by Forrester Research, Inc., forecasts that online sales will soar again this year.
According to report, 2007 online sales (including travel) are expected to rise 18 percent to $259.1 billion. Sales excluding travel will reach $174.5 billion. This strong growth will come off of an impressive performance in 2006. Online sales last year rose 25 percent to $219.9 billion. Excluding travel, online retail sales rose 29 percent to $146.5 billion, representing six percent of total retail sales in 2006.
Apparel has taken over the top spot in terms of online sales volume. Online clothing sales are forecast to hit $22.1 billion in 2007, and 10 percent of all clothing sales are expected to occur online in 2007.
Why such dramatic growth?
“Retailers are doing such a great job online that in some cases it’s easier to find and buy clothing on the web than it is in a store” said Scott Silverman, the executive director of Shop.org. Free shipping policies, more merchants and making the buying process easier are also responsible for the increases.
Computers, autos and auto parts, and home furnishings round up the top 4 online retail sales categories. For more information about the study (and more niche market selection ideas), read the full National Retail Federation press release.
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Can You REALLY Make Money with Paid Online Surveys?
I list paid surveys as a work-at-home job for those who don’t want to become an online merchant or affiliate marketer, and have been asked many times whether or not it’s possible to really make money with paid online surveys.
My answer - From the little bit that I tried, you can probably make some money, but just like any other opportunity, you’ll have to really work at it to make any significant earnings. But I’m not an expert in that realm, so I found someone who is…
And so, here’s the answer from the ‘opinion expert’, Deborah Casey who has been getting paid for her opinions for the last 30 years and then discovered the first paid online surveys database in 2001.
Read the interview with Deborah Casey now.
Do you have experiece with paid online surveys? Leave a comment and tell us about it!
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