C28.com Shirt of the Week – Pray for U.S.

It’s darn close to Independence Day in the here in the United States and I think that this shirt is an awesome reminder that as a nation – we exist at the will of the Almighty God. He has protected us during some hard times because we were faithful and as we face hard times again, it’s my prayer that we return to looking to God for protection and guidance and to Jesus Christ for our salvation.

This is just another awesome shirt from C28.com – please support them by ordering this shirt and wearing it proudly.

If you’d like to promote this or other C28 designs, you can find them on AvantLink or Commission Junction. They pay a 10% commission on sales and have the best selection of aggressively styled Christian clothing and accessories on the market.

Tip for merchants – use your welcome email wisely

Some thing caught my eye today that I thought made a great “teaching moment.”

In addition to managing a number of affiliate programs, my partners and I also operate a blog (not in  a niche we manage programs in) that does some affiliate work.   We’d applied for a program recently and I got the following response to welcome us to the program (merchant’s name removed)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This message is sent in response to your application for the affiliate marketing program of XXXXXXXX.com, hosted on ShareASale.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you for your interest in becoming a XXXXXX affiliate.

We are excited to have you on board and look forward to our success.

If you have any questions, please email XXXXX@XXXXXX.com and XXXXX@XXXXXX

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That’s it……

Merchant’s – when you are looking to engage your new affiliates – don’t you think it would make more sense to give them a motivational welcome message and maybe give them some affiliate link codes to work with?   Or maybe give them some tips on what works?

At the very least, I’d go with something like this :

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

!!FIRSTNAME!! ,

Welcome to the Harvest Resources Affiliate Program!  We’re really excited to have you on the team here helping us to empower churches and ministries with great tools for Evangelism from Harvest Resources.

We’ve reviewed your application and you appear to be a great fit, so let’s get you started right away.  Here are some links that you can post on your site or blog, or in your email signature today to get started:

Basic Text Link:

(Basic Affiliate URL )

4 Weeks to Successful Evangelism Text Link:

(code here)

468×60 Banner:

(code here)

728×90 4 Weeks Banner:

(code here)

125×125 Banner:

(code here)

120×60 Banner:

(code here)

To use any of these links, just highlight the code in the box below the title and copy and paste it into your site.  Save your changes and you are all set.

Please always be sure to test your link to make sure it redirects correctly.

There are more links available to you in Shareasale.  You can login at http://www.shareasale.com/ with your username (!!USERID!! ) and the password you selected.

If you need any help at all, please call on us.  We’re here to help.

God Bless,

Wade, Karen and Joel
Affiliate Management Team
Greg Laurie – Harvest Resources
harvest@gtomanagement.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Better yet- get the affiliates a full HTML email with the link code in text boxes under the actual banner or text link itself so they can see what they are placing.

If you put touches like this into place, your activation will improve because you make the activation process for the affiliate easier.

Happy selling!

Wade

5 great corporate blogging examples

I just got done reading a great article by Chris Baggot of Compendium Blogware that spotlights 5 Outstanding Corporate Blogs and wanted to share some tips.

I’m often asked by clients if they should have a corporate blog – my answer to them is “well – do you have anything to say that is compelling?”

The 5 companies spotlighted in this article have done a great job of taking varied approaches to establishing and working corporate blogs to help them reach potential clients, interact with customers, establish their position in the marketplace as experts, pick up great natural search traffic or drive sales.  I’ll highlight a couple for you that hopefully will inspire you to blog for your company and do it in a way that will generate ROI.

The Fine Lines Blog from HHGreg – a large  consumer electronics and home appliance retailer uses their blog to build great search traffic through allowing employees to respond to consumer questions they receive onsite or in store.  They know that according to BigResearch 89% of consumers in key categories have conducted research online.  Having a smart and passionate staff blogging on topical issues and prospect and customer questions is a great way to be found, and to win consumer confidence.

Roto Rooter (who’d have thought a plumbing company would be playing the web 2.0 marketing game?)  has done a great job of generating traffic and ROI despite the fact that they have locations literally all over America through their blogging strategy.   I really like what they’ve done with their blog because they use it as a way to connect with their audience through highlighting the “above and beyond” service their employees give:

In addition to the SEO benefits, Roto-Rooter has further differentiated itself from the competition by blogging about the way its plumbing service professionals double as superheroes to rescue family pets, needy animals, and prized personal possessions for customers.”One of the aspects I’ve enjoyed most about blogging is its ability to give Roto-Rooter a true personality,” Abrams adds. “We’ve blogged about everything from cats rescued from underground pipes to customers’ diamond anniversary rings that our technicians recovered from deep inside sewers. Blogging gives us a platform to showcase the lengths our service professionals will go to when customers need our help.”

The Carhartt’s Tough Jobs Blog is an awesome example of user generated content done right.   One of the top challenges to successful blogging is posting with enough frequency to generate content rich in keywords and in sufficient volume to move up the search engines.   Carhartt decided to engage their loyal audience for content and hit a home run:

Carhartt turned this status quo model upside down by soliciting customer feedback and creating a specific landing page for its “Tough Jobs” network of blogs. By asking customers to tell the company about their “tough jobs” and placing that content directly on its blogs, Carhartt puts its happy customers at the front of its online marketing efforts. Furthermore, this extra content drives significantly more search volume, which in turn earns Carhartt more customers… which, in turn, drives more content on Tough Jobs, and so on. In short, you see what makes this a great corporate blogging program.

Sounds like a winner to me – engage your clients for content – get free content that encourages shoppers to buy your product – get more clients from the content they contribute – then end up with more content because you encourage the new clients to contribute compelling content as well.

If you are looking for a solution that supports corporate blogging and encourages your team to write keyword rich content, I recommend that you check out Compendium Blogware – I’ve demo’d it and met Chris and his team and they can set you up with a solution that will empower your staff to blog efficiently and effectively and meet your needs.    You can also follow Chris on Twitter at @iMediaTweet.

LinkedTube – awesome affiliate tool

Thanks to Shawn Collins and Linda Buquet for pointing this one out.  It’s a good one.

Have you always wanted to harness the power of video on your site?   It’s easy to do now using LinkedTube – you can create video creatives using existing YouTube videos and the links and copy of your choice.   Here’s a sample of a Greg Laurie video ad I created using my Shareasale affiliate link and an excerpt from Greg Laurie’s documentary “Lost Boy”

For more info including a sample demo video and a form you can use to create your own LinkedTube video ad – check out LinkedTube.com

God Bless,

Wade

C28.com offers end of month 20% off sale

If you have a blog or site that caters to a young Christian audience (14-35 or so) or that deals with Christian rock, metal or hip hop music, you really should be working with C28.com- they are the undisputed leader in “rock and roll” and urban styled Christian clothing and accessories.

They’re having a great sale right now with 20% off site wide – the catch is that it’s only running through midnight (PT)  tomorrow (6/30) a coupon code “20FORYOU”  must be used to collect the discount.

C28 operated their affiliate programs on AvantLink and Commission Junction.  They offer commissions from 10-15% depending on volume sent and they are rapidly approaching one of their traditional busy seasons – Back to School.   Now is a great time to get on board with them.

Sign up for C28 Affiliate Program on AvantLink

Sign up for C28 Affiliate Program on CJ

Christian Offer Spotlight: Truth About Dalits ebook

Dusky River Publications has released the much-awaited explosive book on the Dalits of India – “Truth About Dalits.”

Written by renowned Christian investigative journalist and human rights activist, Oliver D’Souza, the book presents an unprecedented extensive insight into the plight of the Dalits. It additionally provides a realistic and scholarly insight to the Dalit issue, as opposed to the archaic, piecemeal and often repeated information that is increasingly come into circulation.

Based on extensive research and on the ground realities of caste as it works out on the streets and by-lanes of India, the book draws deeply from the roots of caste system in religious scriptures, relating it to the historical, as well as, modern plight of the Dalits.

Unlike other works on Dalits, the book uses a combination of religious text, scholarly resources, statistical data and the author’ extensive field experience with the Dalits to put forth a work bound to change the common perception and understanding of the Dalit plight.

Although enormous literature on the individual Dalit problems and issues is available, rarely does one come across a publication that offers detailed information about the individual aspects of the Dalit plight – atrocities, discrimination, socio-economic-religious exclusion, poverty, education, Dalit women, emancipation efforts, Hindu right wing et al – in one book. Truth About Dalits does and fills the enormous gap.

The book also divulges the depth and width of the Christian role in Dalit emancipation, sifting through the publicity.

The author, who is deeply involved in the Dalit movement and in preserving the Constitutional rights and guarantees of Christians in the face of the onslaught of the Hindu right wing in the country, uses a unique approach in telling the Dalit story. He reports the Dalit situation, analyzes and opines on it from his first-hand exposure to the Dalitbahujan communities as a child and as a teenager, from his exposure to their plight as a journalist and activist, and from his on-going extensive involvement with Dalitbahujan and Christian organizations.

Whether it is a student, church, mission agency, funding entity or a seasoned activist, there is a lot Truth About Dalits has to offer everyone interested in the Dalits.

The book is instantly downloadable from www.truthaboutdalits.com in ebook (pdf) format and comes with a free copy of ‘Manusmriti’ – the caste bible, for parallel reading and reference.

Dusky River Publications is currently offering a limited time discounted introductory price and the book comes with a 56-day money-back guarantee.

The affiliate program pays a 40% commission on sales and you can find out more at http://www.truthaboutdalits.com/truth_about_dalits_affiliates.htm

NOTE – I’m reading this book now and it’s a super informative read about a really fertile mission field for Christians.  The Dalits are not culturally Hindu – and are utterly scorned and barred from advancement in society by the Hundu Caste system.   Many Dalits have found amazing freedom gained through relationships with Jesus Christ – by promoting this book, you will not only learn about the plight of the Dalits, you will fund mission work that is looking to liberate these oppressed people through Jesus Christ.

God Bless,

Wade

MemoryCross has products for most popular VBS’s

I got an email this morning from my friend Mike at Memory Cross letting me know that they were now making Memory Cross products that tied into the most popular Vacation Bible School curriculums in circulation this summer.   Now that school is wrapping up around the country,  it’s VBS season and this presents an awesome opportunity for Christian affiliates.  

Mike’s partner, Pastor Andy Lambert, did a video to chat up the VBS products and I think you should check it out:

The following VBS curricula are being supported by Memory Cross this summer:

• Discovery Canyon by Augsburg Fortress
• Camp E.D.G.E by Cokesbury
• Gadget’s Garage by Concordia Publishing
• Wildwood Forest by David C. Cook
• SonRock Kid’s Camp by Gospel Light
• Kingdom of the Son by Gospel Light
• Paul and the Underground Church by Group Publishing
• Crocodile Dock by Group Publishing
• Boomerang Express by LifeWay
• Truth Trek by LifeWay
• Studio Go! Game Show by Standard Publishing
• Passport to the Promised Land: Following the steps of Jesus by The KJV Store

Memory Cross offers a self hosted affiliate program that offers a 10-15% commission on first tier sales and a second tier that pays you 10% commissions on sales that affiliates you refer to them bring in.  It’s a real win-win.  And get this – they don’t want you to promote a product you have no experience with, so if you post your link, then email Mike to let him know your link is live, he’ll send you a sample pack of their Memor Cross cards so you can recommend them from a position of experience.

Click here to see the VBS-themed products from Memory Cross.
Click here to sign up for the Memory Cross Affiliate Program

PS – I LOVE THIS OFFER!  The Memory Cross product is really cute, and fun and most importantly, it presents the Gospel in a really approachable effective way. I have made some nice bucks with these guys from simple promotion on this site, I have seen their products and I heartily recommend that you work with Memory Cross.

God Bless,

Wade

Matt Cutts on getting backlinks the white hat way

My friend Jonathan Dingman is a pretty good affiliate working with a number of programs I manage.  He had a great post on Facebook featuring Matt Cutts -  one of the most well known engineers at Google talking about some interesting and ethical ways that people have generated back links to their sites in ways that are totally embraced by Google.    

Check this out:

Why do backlinks matter? The quality and quantity of sites that link back to you factors heavily into your Google ranking.

Join Rhea Perry for conference call on building membership sites with WordPress tonight

One of the best ways to build income online is to set up a membership site where subscribers pay you monthly for the content that you offer or services that you provide.    Doing this in the past could be either challenging to figure out, expensive to get into, or both.    Not anymore!

Tonight my good friend Rhea Perry is hosting a teleseminar on how to set up a membership site using Wordpress at 9:00 PM ET (6:00 PT)

The number to call is 218-486-8700

The pass code is… 13579#

Rhea is an awesome Women of God who is passionate about helping people earn money online so they can spend their time raising their families with the right values.  One of my favorite things about her is that she stages live events where children are welcome… not to be off somewhere in daycare, but learning with their parents and developing an entrepreneurial mentality from a young age.  It works and it’s awesome – I am totally dying to get to one of her next events.

You can listen to the replay of this teleseminar here.

If you’d like to learn more about Rhea, check out her site at
www.EducatingforSuccess.com

Affiliate Tip – Using “off the shelf” affiliate marketing sites

In the past few days, I noticed something really odd with one of the programs that I manage.   I recieved well over a dozen applications from different affiliates using the exact same templated niche site.   I consulted with my partners on this (wanted to confirm that I wasn’t just seeing…. well – not double… like dozens) and they confirmed what I saw.

Karen did a bit of homework and found that the sites were all sourced from an Internet Marketer who sells information products – how to guides, videos on Internet Marketing… and apparently, niche websites on how to make homebrew beer.

It occured to me immediately that this is a teaching moment – so here we go.  Template sites are a starting point, and if you plan to use them for affiliate marketing (especially with a program that I manage) you need to invest a little time and your own creative juices to make those templates yours.  By this I mean – change the content!   Google really frowns on sites that show the exact same content as other sites (duplicate content) and when they notice it, they tend to discredit the site they see it on.   So if your hope is to pick up some free Google traffic by using a template that apparently at least dozens of others are using,  you’re not going to get what you want.

Here’s what you need to do -  at the very least paraphrase what is already there.   better yet, invest some time on the Al Gore (Internet) and do some research on the topic, and re-write the page content section by section based on what you have learned.   Google LOVES unique well written content.

I never said that this affiliate marketing stuff was going to be easy and taking this approach to trying to make it easy is not going to be effective and I think of it as intellectual fraud.

Oh – and one last note for you.  If you are using a template and you see a note like “place autoresponder form here”  you are supposed to paste  your Aweber code in place of that copy.

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