Over the past few months my wife and myself have become huge fans of Darrell Bush’s art, and shortly after falling in love with his paintings we were happy to find out that Buffalo Games produces jigsaw puzzles based on his artwork. We bought our first one some two months ago, and when my wife finished putting it together, we were simply stunned by how vivid and realistic the minor details of the painting become when they are composed of puzzle pieces. Every log and the roof of the log house, pier boat and leaves on the trees just came to life! So we decided to frame that puzzle:
I think it turned out to into a pretty impressive item wall decor for our basement. We weren’t expecting it to turn out this way, and it was both a pleasant surprise, and a start of a hobby… Since then we bought and put together another one, and it also turned out gorgeous. We looked over the Buffalo Games selection again, and decided to purchase our last one (”Winter Bliss”), but couldn’t find it anywhere in local stores, and I turned to the Internet.
I’ve found the new puzzle at several online stores, but as I was going through the checkout process with each (ended up testing four: PuzzleWarehouse.com, PuzzlesAndBeyond.com, PuzzBuffs.com, and SeriousPuzzles.com) to find out how much shipping would cost me, I’ve bumped into something that I believe to sometimes pose a real problem that negatively affects some merchants’ conversion rates. I am referring to disclosure of full shipping and handling costs conveniently for the user. And by “conveniently” I mean by not demanding that the shopper opens an account first, entering their detailed personal information (including email, full name, full address, and making the phone number information as mandatory). This is exactly the method used by PuzzleWarehouse.com and PuzzlesAndBeyond.com.
PuzzBuffs.com (I’m giving them and the next merchant backlinks here, as they have really deserved it), on the other hand, has a convenient “Estimate Shipping” option, while SeriousPuzzles.com allow you to calculate your shipping options right within your shopping cart. Interestingly enough, in my particular situation, the merchants that did require me to open an account with them first, ended up displaying shipping costs 50% or even 100%+ higher than those that didn’t have the compulsory registration in place. Guess which two merchants I ended up choosing from…
Whatever you sell, do some competitive intelligence, and make sure you do not end up being less attractive to your customers: neither in the usability of your website, nor in the competitiveness of your offer (the first two merchants in my above example failed on both fronts). And if you are selling something that requires shipping, do not decrease your own conversion rates by demanding compulsory registration before the customer sees and agrees to the shipping cost. That contact information you will receive from them won’t be worth anything unless it is contact info of a satisfied customer.
I couldn’t find any statistics on the exact impact of non-disclosed shipping cost on the conversion rate (even though I’m positive it does affect it negatively). So if you know of any, I would certainly appreciate you sharing it in the comments area below.
Tags: Darrell Bush, usability, website conversion
Judging by the stats for the past 60 days, the 5th most popular post (by views) in my blog has been my Historic 2009 Snowfall in Virginia one posted on December 20, 2009 after it’s been snowing for two days straight.
Everyone who thought that was the super snow (including myself) were wrong. Look at the Twitter trends for Washington, DC now (image on the right) and you don’t have to be here in Northern Virginia to see the kind of snow we’re getting here now. Eight out of ten most discussed types of tweets now are about the super snowstorm we’re having right now.
CBS News has christened it “monster snowstorm”. “Extremely dangerous” and “epic” are the words used by the government; and it is being reported that “this storm could top the record 28 inches that blanketed the nation’s capital way back in 1922.” More here:
Power out………….. 
Tags: outdoors, virginia, washington dc
Yesterday an important information has been posted by Kellie Stevens of Affiliate Fair Play in the 5StarAffiliatePrograms’ forum. Her alert is about a fairly newly created contextual adware that operates according to a model similar to Zango, Clicksor, or MediaTraffic. As an advertiser, you may buy traffic on DirectCPV.com which will be driven to you through their LoudMo adware. LoudMo also has a pay-per-install affiliate program (paying affiliates $1.25/install) to spread their downloadable software to Internet users. Once the adware is installed, it will display DirectCPV’s advertisers’ ads based on competitors’ URLs or relevant keywords, and do so right on the original website. LoudMo is different from Zango in the following:
Their adware has the ability to deliver interstitial ads. So the end user is browsing a site and suddenly they are shown a page to another site in the same browser window. …the page is loaded in frames, so the URL in the address box remains the same for the site that was previously being viewed by the end user. Even though the browser is titled LoudMo and there is a link to “skip” the ad …this can be confusing for some end users as to where the ad is really coming from. This also has implications with regards to the http referrer information.
The software also delivers inline ads. …sometimes these links look very similar to the legitimate links on the targeted web site, again potentially causing confusion for the end user. [more here]
Per Kellie Stevens, DirectCPV is now marketing their services especially aggressively. Watch out for them coming through/on the social media too (in forms of applications suitable for Facebook, etc):
Both e-tailers and affiliates should be aware of LoudMo. The majority of affiliate networks (not to be confused with so-called “CPA networks”*) prohibit adware use, and justly so.
Read more in Kellie’s thread here.
____________________
* The CEO of DirectCPV is also a VP at RevenueGateway CPA network
Tags: contextual adware, DirectCPV, Kellie Stevens, LoudMo, parasite affiliate, parasitism
It seems like this has been just yesterday, but another 100-day period has passed, and since in the course of it I have consistently blogged at least once a day, I feel like it’s a good time to celebrate. Yes, we’re gonna have another contest!! This time we have over $1,000 worth of prizes from 7 different sponsors, and I would like to thank them all for contributing.
On this 400th day of my non-stop blogging I think it is good to have some laughing fun, and the contest I’m starting now is going to be about jokes. The details, rules, and information on prizes may be found below…
– CONTEST RULES –
- Topic: computer & Internet-related jokes (jokes about developers, webmasters, online marketers, web analysts, and anyone related to computers or e-commerce qualify!)
- Restrictions and details: 1 joke per comment, no more than 3 jokes per contestant
- Deadline: to participate in the contest, post your jokes by February 18, 2010
- Further process: once all entries are in, I will post a poll so that people could vote for their favorite jokes. The poll will run from 02/18 till 02/25/2010 which is when the winners will be announced
- Prizes: we will have three prizes (details below)
– PRIZES –
1st Place
- Gold Pass (~ $280 value) to Affiliate Summit East 2010 [affiliate program: on ShareASale]
and:
- Course of your choice (value $249-269) from Legacy Learning Systems [affiliate program: on ShareASale]
2nd Place
- $100 gift certificate from JensonUSA.com [affiliate program: on ShareASale]
and:
- $100.00 gift certificate from UpscaleLighting.com [affiliate program: on ShareASale and Google].
3rd Place
- $50 gift card from DaySpring [affiliate program: on Commission Junction]
and:
- $25 gift card from LCI Paper [affiliate program: coming up]
Additionally, each of the above three winners will also receive an Estrella Journey ring (~$90.00 value + free shipping) from TopJewels.com [affiliate program: coming up].
Looking forward to reading your entries!
Yesterday I have illustrated how popular and fruitful a marriage of social networking with comparison shopping can be. Today I’d like us to turn our eyes to some staggering stats.
We’ve heard that this decade will be the decade of the mobile Internet, which per Morgan Stanley is expected eventually grow to “at least 2x size of Desktop Internet” [more here and here].
We also know the exact demographics: 81% of adults between the ages of 18 and 29 are already actively using wireless Internet, compared to 63% of 30-49 year-olds and 34% of those 50+ years old. Additionally, it is being reported that the “adult use of social networking sites has risen significantly” since 2007, and today “47% of online adults use social networking sites, up from 37% in November 2008″ [see today's post with the detailed Pew Research Center report here].
But here’s the part that I find to be most fascinating: close to two-thirds of all mobile pageviews are to social networking websites! This data was published by GroundTruth, a mobile analytics startup with offices in Seattle and New York. Here are the exact numbers:
Apparently the marriage of Mobile with Social is another area that marketers cannot afford to overlook. eMarketer wrote back in November 2008 that “the number of mobile users accessing social networks from their mobile devices will reach 607.5 million worldwide by 2013, representing 43% of global mobile Internet users” [source]. Wow… There are definitely some great affiliate marketing opportunities in there too.
Tags: mobile internet, mobile marketing, social media, social networks, statistics
Yesterday a sad news came from Colorado: the House Bill 1193 (aka “Amazon tax” or “affiliate tax”, but really an “advertising tax”) has passed the House (33 “yes” to 32 “no”), and moved on to the Colorado Senate where it will undergo a similar consideration and voting route.
This process is first an initial reading and then it will to a Senate committee. The committee will take action, either recommend passage or not. It moves back to Senate floor for second reading, voice vote and then third reading and recorded vote.
From there the bill will move to the Governor. He’ll either sign, veto or take no action in which case it automatically becomes law.
Lisa Picarille has pointed out that should the bill become legislation, it “will crush more than 5,000 affiliate jobs in Colorado.” This very argument was presented in the House, but “has fallen on deaf ears.” Lisa continues:
Neither party seems to fully grasp that the $4.7 million in revenue the bill is projected to raise in 2010 will be completed negated if merchants doing business with Colorado-based affiliates simply terminate those relationships once the bill is passed. In addition, the income tax paid to the state by the terminated affiliates will also be dramatically reduced if their primary source of income is obliterated.
This bill is a lose-lose situation. Colorado will not gain the additional revenue it seeks for hiring more teachers and a vibrant and thriving community of small businesses will be put out of business in the process.
Read more here and here, contact your representative in the Senate, and if you are a Colorado-based affiliate, be prepared to adjust your marketing strategies to partner with the merchants that understand your situation and value your participation.
Tags: advertising tax, affiliate sales tax, affiliate tax, amazon tax, colorado affiliates, HB 1193
Not too long ago I’ve blogged about the bright near future for coupon affiliates. It seems that loyalty affiliates have a future as well, and certain strategic factors will make (or are already making) some of them significantly more competitive than others.
For instance — according to the data from a CMO Council study entitled “Leading Loyalty: Feeling the Love from the Loyalty Clubs” provided to eMarteter on January 25 and published today — over 50% of Internet users strongly prefer loyalty programs that provide personally relevant offers. Common sense, isn’t it? You’d think… But not all loyalty affiliates are taking advantage of the opportunity to customize, and truly target their offers.
Here is a detailed breakdown of how popular various factors that encourage U.S. web users to join loyalty programs are (highlighting mine):
Savings and personalization seem to be the keys to success, and these certainly remind me of that earlier-quoted coupon affiliates post. The secret to success of the best couponers I know is precisely in developing their own intricate blend of these two components that make customer stick, click and buy.
Once again, the full eMarketer’s post on the topic may be found here.
Tags: coupon affiliates, incentive affiliates, loyalty affiliates, loyalty programs
Based on all of the writing I have done (online and offline) over the past four years, I have compiled an online guide to affiliate marketing for merchants/advertisers. It is structured both according to the most frequently asked, and the most important questions you should know the answers to. At the time of initial posting the Guide contains answers to 50 questions, but I will be expanding it as time goes.
I hope you will find the below information of help, and please do not hesitate to leave your feedback about the Guide in the comments area under this post.
Online Guide to Affiliate Marketing
How to Start and Run an Affiliate Program
Introductory Considerations
- What is affiliate marketing?
- How do I choose the payment model?
- How much will starting an affiliate program cost me?
- What percentage of sales can an affiliate program bring in?
- Do affiliates get commission on canceled orders?
- Can a shopper and have cookies from different affiliates?
- Will the affiliate program help my SEO as a form of link building?
Setting an Affiliate Program Up
- How to calculate the affiliate commission rate?
- Is it true that affiliates are attracted only by high commissions?
- What should I set the cookie life at? [see also this study]
- Where can I get a sample affiliate program agreement or TOS? [see also this info]
- How to construct a good affiliate program description?
- How do I word the text of the affiliate approval email?
- How do I word the text of the denial email?
- What affiliate program software should I consider? [and a word about free solutions]
- What outsourced affiliate payment solutions exist out there?
- Where can I compare American affiliate networks? [see also this compilation]
- Which affiliate network has more affiliates?
- What about running my program on multiple networks?
- Will the affiliate network also manage my program?
- What are the responsibilities of affiliate program managers?
- What are OPMs and how much do their services cost?
Banners, Creatives, Data Feeds
- What size banners should an affiliate program have?
- What size should the affiliate banner files be?
- What mistakes should I avoid while creating affiliate banners?
- What are good examples of affiliate banners?
- Why may an affiliate need my product feed (or data feed)?
- What are the most common problems affiliates have with advertisers’ feeds?
When the Affiliate Program is Live
- What Key Performance Indicators speak of a manager’s performance?
- What methods of communication with affiliates should I emply?
- How should an affiliate newsletter look?
- How frequently should I communicate through the newsletter?
- How to recruit affiliates into my affiliate program? [see also this post]
- What about affiliate program directories? Should I add my program to them?
- What are super affiliates? [read also this article]
- Should I consider affiliates who charge placement fees?
- Should I block affiliates from certain countries?
- Is using automatic decline of affiliate applications a good option?
- What is a good affiliate program conversion rate?
- What affiliate marketing conferences can I attend?
- What do affiliates especially dislike?
- Why would an affiliate choose one program over another?
- Should I offer coupons through affiliates? [see also the coupon mistakes to avoid]
- What are incentive/loyalty affiliates and are they right for my program?
- What is cookie stuffing?
- What are parasitic affiliates? [see also my posts here]
- Who are trademark poachers?
- How do I motivate affiliates?
- How not to motivate affiliates? [read also this article]
- What common affiliate program management mistakes should we avoid? [see also this presentation]
Following the states of New Mexico, Virginia, Colorado and Mississippi, the state of Vermont — whose 2010 budget deficit is not as bad as that of the other four states, but is still at some $300 million this year – has stepped onto the “affiliate tax” path too.
Melanie Seery of Affiliate Advocacy has made a post about it earlier today.
She has also tweeted:
Shawn Collins of Affiliate Tip voiced out what is without a doubt every affiliate marketer’s sentiment:
Wow! Five states joined the list within just 8 days (between 21 and 29 January, 2010).
Vermont’s “affiliate tax” bill, introduced by Representatives J. Wilson, J. Rodgers and M. Smith, bears the name of House Bill 661, and was introduced yesterday, on January 29, 2010. Seery writes:
Legislation is very similar to NY, NC and RI versions [my comment: the 3 states that currently have such a legislation in place]. Of course as we learned, interpretation may be different. If passed will take effect July 1 2010.
There is the all-familiar reference to “soliciting business through an independent contractor, agent, or other representative” who is compensated on “commission or other consideration” basis, and “directly or indirectly refers potential customers, whether by a link on an Internet website or otherwise”, and the threshold is again at the $10,000. You may view the full text of the bill here.
Names and full contact information of current Representatives may be found in The Vermont Legislature Legislative Directory, and I urge you to contact yours a.s.a.p. Examples of Maryland, California and Hawaii have shown that this is an issue that can be dealt with, but requires an active approach. Educate your representative on the topic, and express your concern — the sooner, the better.
Tags: advertising tax, affiliate sales tax, affiliate tax, amazon tax, vermont affiliates
Having analyzed the growth of the global search market in the month of December 2009 compared to the search landscape in December 2008, comScore has registered a 46% increase in online search demand globally. The U.S. “represented the largest individual search market in the world” accounting for some 17% (or 22.7 billion searches total) of all global searches. China came second, followed by Japan, while the U.K. came forth. Encouragingly for me (needless to elaborate why I’m following this particular geographic market with great interest), Russia has registered “the highest gains in 2009″ in the world growing almost two-fold. France and Brazil followed Russia in the “highest gains” race.
Here are the details from comScore:
------------------------------------------------------
Top 10 Countries by Number of Searches Conducted Dec 2009 vs. Dec 2008
------------------------------------------------------
Total Worldwide, Age 15+ - Home & Work Locations
-------------------------------------------
Source: comScore qSearch
----------------------
Searches (MM)
------------
12/08 12/09 Percent Change
----- ----- -------
Worldwide 89,708 131,354 46%
------------------------- ------- ------- ---
United States 18,688 22,741 22%
-------------------------- ---- ---- ---
China 11,778 13,278 13%
---------------------- ---- ---- ---
Japan 6,213 9,170 48%
---------------------- ---- ---- ---
United Kingdom 4,623 6,245 35%
---------------------- ---- ---- ---
Germany 4,079 5,609 38%
---------------- ---- ---- ---
France 3,362 5,425 61%
-------------------------- ---- ---- ---
South Korea 2,796 4,039 44%
---------------------- ---- ---- ---
Brazil 2,454 3,763 53%
---------------------- ---- ---- ---
Canada 2,900 3,710 28%
---------------------- ---- ---- ---
Russian Federation 1,735 3,333 92%
---------------- ---- ---- ---
While Japan has also seen a substantial increase in search inquiries, it is a significantly more saturated market for affiliates to get into. This cannot be said about Russia, Brazil and France (the sequence of affiliate marketing development in these three countries would probably be backwards: France – more savvy, Russia – most underdeveloped). The above data definitely opens interesting horizons to specific geo-markets for affiliates.
Speaking of individual search platforms, Google was naturally leading the way, followed by Yahoo! sites. “Microsoft Sites saw the greatest gains among the top five properties, growing 70%”, but it was the Russian Yandex.ru that has registered the highest gains here too, having grown by 91% in 2009.
Here are the top 5 players worldwide:
------------------------------------------------------
Top 10 Search Properties by Searches Conducted Dec 2009 vs. Dec 2008
------------------------------------------------------
Total Worldwide, Age 15+ - Home & Work Locations
-------------------------------------------
Source: comScore qSearch
----------------------
Searches (MM)
------------
12/08 12/09 Percent Change
----- ----- -------
Worldwide 89,708 131,354 46%
------------------------- ------- ------- ---
Google 55,638 87,809 58%
-------------------------- ---- ---- ---
Yahoo 8,389 9,444 13%
---------------------- ---- ---- ---
Baidu (China) 7,963 8,534 7%
---------------------- ---- ---- ---
Microsoft 2,403 4,094 70%
---------------------- ---- ---- ---
eBay 1,327 2,102 58%
---------------------- ---- ---- ---
Bringing Bing to life has certainly helped Microsoft conquer more of the search market’s grounds, but they still have a long way to go to even come close to Google’s share of the pie. Microsoft and Yahoo! sites’ searches combined made up only a bit over 15% of Google’s total searches. Nevertheless, it would be irrational for search-oriented affiliates to ignore this part of the market altogether, and diversification should definitely be present in their strategies.
Once again, the findings from the comScore’s report may be found here. I wish we had more data than just the December 2008 to December 2009 comparison, but taking the holiday traffic increase into account, these are certainly important (and interesting) numbers to review.
Tags: bing, google, microsoft, search engine marketing, search market statistics, statistics, yahoo
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