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- Residual Commissions
- Payouts based on sales (not on clickthrus or impressions, etc.)
- Very attractive payouts of 20-30%.... (If a sale is made, the affiliate would earn AT LEAST $20.00)
- The affiliate's referrals are tied to their account for a 1 year period. That way if the referral decides to purchase within one year, the affiliate would get paid on it.
- Pay at least monthly and on time.
- Do not prominently display an 800 number.
- Answer all emails from affiliates personally.
- Send out a newsletter to affiliates.
- Update reports daily.
- Do not change link codes without notifying affiliates.
- If you sell products, provide links to individual products and categories of products.
- Direct deposit payout
- XML feed so the affiiates can have their customers order from their site
- A phone in system is good if you can tie in the affiliate ID number to the "extension" For example your number is 1-888-555-5555 and then you allow the affiliate to promote the toll free number with his or her "extension number (i.e. their affiliate ID code)" ensuring credit for them on any phone in order. Granted this takes a little more $$ to roll out, but it has been a very good method in the past.
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[b][link=http://www.eurodownload.com/download-software/4241/Tree-MDI.html]GRML Blog Tree[/b][/link]
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[b]GRML JoeUser Blog[/b]
[b]GRML Ebloggy Blog[/b]
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[b]GRML Blogspot Blog[/b]
[b]GRML Blogspot Blog[/b]
[b]GRML Browsers Blog[/b]
I think PPS is a completely viable program option.
You don't even have to complicate matters, estimate everything conservatively and throw out any extra revenue that isnt from your membership price (cross-sales, upsells, etc...)
Let's say you charge 24.95/mth and your average member rebills twice.
24.95 x 3 x 0.85 (we'll take off 15% processing fees to be conservative, this can be 5%-10% though)
1 average member = $63.63 in revenue
If you offer $25-$40 PPS you still have enough for you which should easily cover the bandwidth fees and any potential refunds/chargebacks that are incurred, while making profit.
Add in the revenue from the extras and that's a bonus
For sites with very low rebills, unless they make a killing on the extras, they are probably the only ones who have to worry about offering high PPS payouts
[b]GRML Bar Graphs Blog[/b]
[b]GRML 22Blog Blog[/b]
[b]GRML 22Blog Blog[/b]
[b]GRML 22Blog Blog[/b]
[b]GRML 22Blog Blog[/b]
PPS is possible but very difficult. If done honestly, it absolutely requires certain variables to remain relatively constant and absolutely requires a lot of initial capital investment, as you have to be prepared to take a loss at least in the first month until the rebills kick in. And that doesn't include any overhead such as content, maintenance, chargebacks/refunds (for every refund, you have to make about 3 new sales to cover it and regain profit - affiliate gets paid, user gets his money back, chargeback fee gets covered), staff (if you have even one staff member making $30k per year, that's a lot of sales you're going to need to cover just that one staff member. If you have 5-10 staff members, you're going to need a whole lot more). If one was to map this into a graph the numbers would be staggering.
Variables that must stay constant include the ratio of trial to full joins, the ratio of cross sells to full join, the rebill rate, and the low chargeback/refunds (theoretically cbs/refunds should not be a factor because the number should be so small compared to overall sales).
Now the example given was $4.95 trial, $39.99 full subscription. Is this the norm? Are most sites charging $40 for 1 month of access these days? I was thinking around $29.99 or mid 30's at most. Changing the cost of the subscription will also dramatically affect the ability to do PPS. Charging $39.99 and paying out $35 on the $4.95 trial seems like it can work, though it would be effortful. Then can $40-$50 be paid on $4.95 trials that recur at say $29.99 or less?
One question for Marc. Were payouts such as $50-$75 PPS ever reasonable or were such high payouts simply off the chart and not possible to do in your opinion? We used to see many programs with those numbers 2 years ago. They're almost non-existent today.
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Where the heck did this term come from? Why has it stuck? I don't think I'm alone here in saying that every time I read "dance" in reference to an update I cringe.
I can remember when people would refer to their Google dance as the happy jig they might dance when Googlebot came calling or a Google dance might be a half-joking way an SEO might utilize "magical methods" to summon Googlebot (like some type of rain-dance)...
Somewhere along the way this dance thing got distorted...
[b]GRML Blog[/b]
[b]GRML Blog[/b]
[b]GRML Blog[/b]
[b]GRML Blog[/b]
[b]GRML Blog[/b]
[b]GRML Blog[/b]
[b]GRML Blog[/b]
[b]GRML Blog[/b]
Not too frequently, especially for any competitive terms.
My advice to the client would be to make the last ditch effort at a traditional marketing level. Heavy local advertising would be his best option at this point. Usually when people are looking for a locksmith, they've locked themselves out of somewhere. I doubt seriously that they will have computer access to run a search on Google for "locksmith my city".
First thing they will probably have access to is a telephone. They'll dial 411 and look for a local locksmith. If they are at a pay phone, which seem to be disappearing at an alarming rate these days due to technology, they might have access to the Yellow Pages. I would imagine that is where the bread and butter business is for a local locksmith.
If the client is a commercial locksmith and installs security systems, etc., then hooking up with local businesses to promote his services would be on the list.
If the client is a residential locksmith and does everyday repairs such as rekeying, installation of locks, etc., then doing the house to house thing with quality printed literature would be on the list.
The last thing I would spend money on at this point would be the Internet, especially for a local business making a last ditch effort. In the 3 to 4 months that it might take to establish an online presence, he could do much better using a traditional approach.
Do a vehicle wrap (full wrap vinyl graphics). Plaster that local number all over the place. Hook up with local apartment complexes, that is where the bulk of the weekend business is going to come from.
The list goes on and on. While the client is concentrating on his local presence, maybe his one page site can buy dinner a couple of times during the recovery period.
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Yes, a shorter title is better. But, I think this oversimplifies how you should consider page content in relation to your title. You also need to consider what your inbound link text is likely to be, and to look at your competition and why various phrases rank, and then figure out a title tag that will enable you to build longer phrases around the phrases your title contains.
Simplistically, a title of "big red widgets" might let you also optimize on the page for "big widgets," "big red gizmos," and "repairing red widgets," as well as for "big red widgets" and "red widgets."
Some interesting discussion in this thread about title length, word proximity, word repetitions, etc:
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[b]GRML Blog Browser[/b]
[b]GRML Blog Browser[/b]
[b]GRML Blog Browser[/b]
[b]GRML Blog Browser[/b]
[b]GRML Blog Browser[/b]
[b]GRML Blog Browser[/b]
[b]GRML Blog Browser[/b]
[b]GRML Blog Browser[/b]
[b]GRML Blog Browser[/b]
[b]GRML Blog Browser[/b]
[b]GRML Blog Browser[/b]
Title Element
The page title element (some refer to it as the title tag which is incorrect) is one of the most important factors for ranking highly in the search engines.
Page title elements are normally 3-9 words (60-80 characters) maximum in length, no fluff, straight and to the point. This is what shows up in most search engine results as a link back to your page.
Make sure your Page Title Element (title tag) is relevant to the content on the page.
References
W3C - 7.4.2 The TITLE element
W3C - : the most important element of a quality Web page
META Description Tag (Metadata)
The META description tag usually consists of 25 to 30 words or less using no more than 160 to 180 characters total (including spaces). The META description also shows up in many search engine results as a summary of your site.
Directories like Yahoo! and the ODP (Open Directory Project - dmoz.com) show the page title and description that you entered (and the editors modified) on their manual submission form.
Make sure your META Description Tag is relevant to the content on the page.
References
W3C - 7.4.4 Meta data
W3C - Resource Description Framework
META Keywords Tag (Metadata)
For those search engines that are META enabled, the META keywords tag used to be one of the most important areas after the page title and page description. It has been abused by both marketers and consumers alike that there is very little weight given to the META keywords tag.
Don't fret over your META keywords tag. Utilize keywords and keyword phrases from your title element, META description tag, heading tag and first one or two paragraphs of visible content. Try to limit it to 15 to 20 words if possible.
Make sure your META Keywords Tag is relevant to the content on your page.
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[b]Data entry software[/b]
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[b]Data entry software[/b]
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The key metrics to evaluate are cost of customer acquisition and the lifetime value of that customer.
If a customer is likely to make 10 purchases from you over the next two years, you can afford to lose money the first time they come- assuming you don't have to keep makrteing them the way to get them to come back. If, on the other hand, they only buy once, you better make a decent profit on that one sale.
1 out of 162 sounds low, but it really depends what you are selling, and 1 out of 6.7 sounds high, but again it depends. Personally, I get around 1 out of 45 buying.
Your marketing costs as a percentage of your sale price also depends entirely on what your other product costs are. If you ar selling a download, with effectively zero product cost, and only the credit card fee to pay, then you can easily spend 50% on marketing and still do well. If you are selling clothing, you should hope your marketing costs are well under 20%.
Again, figure out the customers lifetime value, and the lifetime cost of aquiring each customer, and you should get a good feel for where you're at.
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[b]Database software[/b]
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[b]Database software[/b]
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[b]Database software[/b]
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[b]MS Access alternative[/b]
Even though search engine algorithms might be designed by humans, when indexing 3 billion pages of data and information within a range of field which is theoretically infinite many many assumptions have to be made by the algorithm designer.
Humans have the ability to think laterally on many levels. In the real world, offline marketing techniques can use a level of subtlety and lateral expression. Take a television advert for example - there is no need to fill one with many keywords to direct relevance in the viewers mind - humans are intelligent enough for themselves to categorise, assign relevance and importance (the human equivilent of PR say). Such an advert can be far more subtle or lateral than a webpage because it is directly viewed by humans - there is no computer algorithm process "in between".
Computers are not (yet) intelligent enough to make those subtle lateral thought processes.
Design is a marriage of function and form. In the offline marketing world, both form and function can incorporate lateral and subtle technique. In the online world, a literal element is required for the benefit of the search engines.
I don't think that's the fault of the search engines. I don't believe they have the technology to do anything else. Human web designers on the other hand, have the ability to think intelligently and design accordingly for the online world and incorporate the necessary elements.
You're asking the search engines to "think" laterally. I'm saying that its more reasonable (given current technology) to expect web designers to throw in a little more literal thought instead.
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[b]GRML Web Browsers[/b]
[b]Pioneer Report Web browsers[/b]
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[b]GRML Web Browsers directory[/b]
[b]Bar Graphs (GRML Web Browsers)[/b]
[b]Tree MDI (GRML Web Browsers)[/b]
I prefer "topic distillation" to "regurgitation," of course. There isn't a whole lot that's earth shattering or new in SEO, but here is always a demand for common sense, and for different perspectives. Anyone can knock it all they want, for any writer, but the proof is in the results.
I agree with nuclei that just putting content on your site isn't going to magically draw a lot of links in a hurry. Sending it out into the world works a lot faster. Link building is not the largest benefit of providing content, though. A good article generates a long term flow of quality traffic. Case in point, the old sales site for my book gets at least a hundred visits every day, almost a year after we took it out of the search engines and stopped promoting the URL.
I make very little effort to "manufacture" links for my own sites. I am, quite frankly, too busy to worry about how many links show up. I'd rather see good links in the right context. I've made more requests for links to be removed in the past year, than for links to be added.
The prescription of "put good content on your site, and the links will come" is a bit simplistic. I think it was Stephen Covey who said, "first diagnose, then prescribe." Here's a better prescription: make sure your site offers visitors a compelling value proposition. If "lots of content" is part of that, fine, but content isn't the only way to add value on the web.
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[b]Web Browsers[/b]
[b]Web Browsers[/b]
[b]Web Browsers[/b]
[b]Bar graphs Web Browsers[/b]
[b]Web Browsers[/b]
[b]Web Browsers[/b]
[b]Web Browsers[/b]
[b]Bar graphs Web Browsers[/b]
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[b]Web Browsers[/b]
[b]Web Browsers[/b]
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