by Matthieu Dejardins, eCommerce Activist

Affiliate Advertising Success Stories – Raising an Affiliate Program Money Cow

The following interview with Shawn Collins, a prominent expert in the
affiliate advertising and marketing field, need to prove instructive to the reader. Shawn
has enjoyed a meteoric rise in the field and now runs his own affiliate
program management and consulting firm. As this interview is inherently
limited in scope, 1 is encouraged to read a lot more about Shawn’s experiences
in the field and the suggestions he dispenses by means of his books, conferences,
blog, articles, reports, and weekly radio show. The reader can also meet
Shawn at the Affiliate Summit, a “cannot miss” conference for those
interested in excelling in the competitive world of affiliate marketing.

Q. Shawn, how would you describe your initial experiences with affiliate
marketing and advertising?

A. It was back in 1997. I had a dial-up account on AOL, a 14.4 modem and
a desire to make more money. At the time, I didn’t know a factor about
creating web sites, advertising, etc. But I went via a tutorial at AOL on
writing HTML and picked up the basics. Then, I produced a hideous, single
page internet site about New York City and put up some Amazon links. I never ever earned
a cent on that internet site.

Q. What growing pains did you endure at first? What were the greatest
obstacles and challenges from that period of time?

A. Back then, there was a monopoly on registering domains, and it cost
a year. At the time, that was a bit prohibitive for me (I didn’t
recognize what a good investment a brief name would be). That was a trend –
an unwillingness to invest in my affiliate efforts. I was going the totally free
route with tools, hosting, and so on. That surely delayed my progress.

Q. What was your first “Ah-ha” moment? How did you incorporate the
lesson learned into your affiliate marketing organization?

A. The initial time I got my reporting by way of e-mail from Amazon with
info on commission earned. Back then, there was no selection to login
to an interface – just a periodic email with affiliate stats. When I
realized it was genuine that I could earn cash this way, I was excited and
motivated. This persuaded me that I was wasting my time working in
magazine publishing – it was time for me to get into a line of work that
was stimulating and rewarding.

With my limited affiliate advertising and marketing experience, I managed to get a job
with a start-up in 1997 named Medsite.com, and I bluffed my way into
running the affiliate program there. I’ve enjoyed my work ever because.

Q. With no mentioning names, have you joined affiliate programs that did
not maintain their promises and/or provide proper compensation? What
measures did you take when confronted with this situation and what suggestions
can you give other people to prevent this circumstance?

A. Lots of affiliate programs lie in their recruiting efforts – they
talk about how effortless it is to earn commission from them. That is just not
accurate – it’s not easy. I just do not pay attention to most recruiting
efforts from affiliate programs. I would encourage affiliates to ignore
proclamations of effortless earnings and high EPCs – the most critical thing is
to test everything yourself and promote what works for you.

Q. How has affiliate marketing changed in the last seven years? What
techniques would you implement now that you would not or could not do
years ago?

A. The business has matured greatly. Seven years ago, numerous affiliate
marketers had been content sites which relied on 468×60 banners. The analytics
were primitive and fewer businesses provided affiliate programs.

Now, the market is so diversified. Essentially, any way to marketplace on-line
is being leveraged by affiliates… such as comparison shopping,
domaining, video, Search engine optimization, e-mail, social networks, PPC, rewards programs,
and so on.

If I could turn back time, I would have started up numerous niche
community sites back then for well-liked topics. By now, if nurtured they
would have grown nicely and turn out to be lucrative affiliate internet sites.

Q. If one is gifted marketing and advertising an affiliate item or service, is it
likely that this individual can effectively marketplace his/her own items or
services? Should men and women look into creating their own items whilst
advertising or rather of advertising and marketing others’ products/services?

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A. I’d say anything that is already selling online can be efficiently
marketed by means of an affiliate program. Selling your own merchandise or
services can definitely provide a lot more rewards in the very best case scenario, but
then you’ve got a lot more risk, too.

If somebody has the infrastructure and know-how to sell a specific product
or service, I’d say to go for it. But don’t take uncalculated risks.

Q. What are vital errors that newbies tend to commit?

A. Lack of investment and understanding. It’s actually tough to
succeed in affiliate advertising if you are unwilling to spend the time and
dollars required to develop a long-term strategy. And affiliate marketing and advertising is
most certainly not a quick endeavor – it takes patience to endure and
succeed.

Q. What are some of the creative (maybe seldom utilized) methods to
employ in the affiliate advertising field?

A. Just going beyond the banner. There are a lot of exciting
opportunities out there with Web two.. It is just a matter of figuring out a
special angle.

Q. How lengthy does it realistically take to construct a full-time income with
affiliate marketing and advertising, assuming “full-time commitment”?

A. I do not believe you can qualify and quantify passion. And to me,
passion is an crucial ingredient in affiliate advertising success. Also,
there are so numerous variables, like the size of a given vertical, the
margins involved, competition, etc.

Q. Is it easier to create income from this type of advertising now or was
it less complicated years ago? (Please take into account competition, Internet usage, advent
of Adwords and Pay Per Click, and so on.)

A. It was never effortless. There was definitely less competition in the past,
but also less in the way of possibilities of advertisers to pick and methods
to promote them. Plus, there is the continuing growth of ecommerce. I
believe the opportunities for success are just as wholesome now as they had been
years ago.

Q. Although I know that you do not recommend any certain affiliate
marketing and advertising programs, in your estimation, what are the “hottest fields?”

A. The “hottest fields” are a slippery slope. They change over time. I
think the hottest field for any given individual ought to be the location that
interests them most. You can surely go out there as a mercenary and
promote the most lucrative factor at the moment, like ringtones or debt
consolidation, but I recommend going with a long-term program in an location that
interests you.

Q. Is there any affiliate advertising software program that is a “need to” when 1
pursues an affiliate advertising and marketing venture?

A. This actually depends on the sort of affiliate. There are software
programs that aid optimize affiliate efforts for distinct affiliates.
For instance, if you are working with data feeds, you really should check out
WebMerge.

Q. What are your views concerning affiliate advertising and marketing networks such as
LinkShare and Commission Junction?

A. I believe they’re the backbone of the business. The affiliate networks
account for the majority of large affiliate programs, and they also
present a level of convenience in that you can consolidate a lot of your
activity under a couple of logins.

I would like to see them function together to establish standards. For
instance, there is a lack of standards in data feeds, which is a challenge
for the folks employing them.

Q. Can any absolute statements be produced concerning the most lucrative kind
of affiliate marketing payment system (e.g pay per sale, pay per click,
etc.)?

A. In general, CPA seems to be more profitable, particularly presents for
goods and services that are not physical items.

Q. What influence, if any, will blogs make on the affiliate advertising
landscape?

A. I believe some are influencial in the way networks, merchants and
affiliates operate. For instance, Jangro.com is considered to have had an
impact in the choice by Commission Junction to alter their plans on the
Link Management Initiative (LMI).

Q. What are, statistically, the very best avenues to market an affiliate
program?

A. It depends on the vertical. Email and PPC work properly for some CPA
provides, even though an established web presence can be a lot more essential for
selling goods on a revenue share.

Q. Do you see any future trends in the affiliate marketing and advertising field?

A. Smaller affiliate programs. Affiliate managers are focusing on
working much more closely with fewer affiliates. Also, I think we’ll see an
growing number of affiliates embrace the opportunities out there with
Internet 2. and innovate with the new tools that roll out.

Q. What present projects are you undertaking in affiliate marketing and advertising, such as
your work with the Affiliate Summit?

A. My major concentrate is Affiliate Summit, the largest affiliate advertising and marketing
conference. Our last show had more than two,000 this past January in Las Vegas.
We also have events scheduled in Miami (July 8-10) and London (September
28) this year.

Additionally, I present affiliate management and consulting services as
Shawn Collins Consulting, and I