Recent Articles
Last call for submissions for Christian Affiliate Program Directory eBook
Sep 24, 2008 Site Announcements Comments
Hi,
If you have a Christian affiliate program that you would like to see included in my upcoming Christian Affiliate Program Directory ebook, and you haven’t submitted your profile, time is running out fast.
I would like to get to the actual data import and formating of the book this weekend, so I will be closing down the submissions Friday night at midnight Pacific.
I want to be listed - please take me to the submission form!
If you have any questions, please email me through the site form, or call me at 360.540.0730
God Bless,
Wade
Coming soon Christian Affiliate Marketing Today on Ustream
Sep 23, 2008 CAMBlog Videocast Comments
After much prodding from Jim Kukral and Alejandro Reyes, I picked up a web cam last night and will be starting to do a Ustream show at least weekly focusing on educating and motivating Christian affiliates as well as matching them up with offers that they should be working with.
Keep your eyes peeled for announcements on scheduled shows and follow me on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/camblog for impromptu shows and Q & A Sessions
God Bless,
Wade
GodBogCon wrap up
Sep 23, 2008 Uncategorized Comments
Last weekend, I headed to Las Vegas for GodBlogCon held in conjunction with the BlogWorldExpo. I have to compliment the GodBlogCon team on a job well done as everything went really smoothly and the entire (100% student and volunteer) crew did a wonderful job at keeping things running on time and making sure everyone felt welcome.
I have to say I had one disconcerting moment when I was repeatedly called “Mr. Tonkin” by the extremely respectful and well meaning staff who clearly were not aware that “Mr. Tonkin” is in fact my dad - who is some 28 years my senior - but we’ll let that pass.
I presented on “How to Support your Christian Blog… while staying Saved” and I think it went really well - I got lots of excellent questions and I hope everyone enjoyed it and found it useful in their blogging ministries.
I also got the chance to chat with some awesome folks from the secular side of blogging and online marketing that confirmed that the affiliate marketing model is alive and well. Blogging studs like ProBlogger (Darren Rowse), CopyBlogger (Brian Clark) and John Chow all confirmed that affiliate marketing is a strong part of their money making mix on their sites along with Paid Sponsorships. Chow even revealed that Affiliate revenue would soon outpace sponsor revenue on his site as he has recurring revenue arrangements with many of his merchant partners that compound earnings monthly.
I even got some great video with Darren talking about how he got his start in blogging as a “GodBlogger” with an assist and inspiration from “The Tall Skinny Kiwi“ Andrew Jones - who keynoted the GodBlogCon this year. Will post that shortly.
Blogging live from BlogWorld - GodBlogCon
Sep 20, 2008 Uncategorized Comments
I am in Vegas to speak tomorrow at GodBlogCon - If you are in town, come see me at 11:00 am.
In the meantime, I am sitting in on a ton of different sessions from different tracks including blog monetization with a lot of my affiliate marketing peeps as well as sports blogging (www.skagitradio.com baby) and GodBlogCon.
I’ll try to share cool tips I pick up along the way - watch for quick notes on the right column viat Twitter or follow me at @camblog
God Bless,
Wade
Death to Banner Farms!
Sep 11, 2008 Affiliate Rant Comments
Okay all you newbie affiliates and prospective affiliates out there. Here is some cold reality for you:
If your affiliate marketing business plan involves launching a site where you just slap up banners with no content - quit. Now. Please. Just quit.
Here is the deal. No content equals NO TRAFFIC equals no value at all to merchants and hence no chance for any results on your end. I don’t even care if you just plan to send friends there. Newsflash - they most likely won’t shop on your banner farm. There is just no compelling reason to do so.
If you want to get started in affiliate marketing and don’t have a lot of web skills, I recommend getting started in one of a couple ways.
1. Blogging - get your self a blog - use Blogger or Free Wordpress if you must. I’d recommend making a commitment to the project and getting a domain of your own as I am prejudiced against affiliates who apply for programs with a XXX.blogger.com or xxx.wordpress.com address. Why - because it doesn’t show any commitment to being a successful marketer. Get yourself a “brand” and work that brand through your web address.
2. Check out Squidoo - Squidoo allows you to build out niche pages on the topic of your choice. They can do nicely in search and you can get traffic from the network until you learn how to market yourself and drive traffic.
Please… Please… Please… bring something to the table. Share your point of view. Write about products and companies you like. Learn something new and blog on the process and what you learn. Just please bring something unique to the table.
You don’t in any way have to be an SEO genius or a stud programmer anymore. You just need to have something to say.
God Bless,
Wade
C28 Affiliate Program adds new banners
Sep 9, 2008 Christian Affiliate Programs Comments
I just finished uploading 2 sets of banners for the C28 Affiliate Program into AvantLink.
The banners come in a variety of sizes and come with 2 messages as seen below. The “Wear your Faith” set is intended for general purpose use by secular and Christian affiliates alike. The “Support this Ministry” themed set is intended for use by non-profit Christian ministries to encourage visitors to support their ministry through commissions from C28 sales referred through their link. We have some big plans along these lines that we’ll be announcing shortly that I think will be awesome for churches and independant youth ministries.
As I said, there are a variety of sizes of banners to choose from in each of these themes from 120×60 - 728 x 90. If you aren’t working with C28.com yet - you should check them out. If your site is Christian muisic oriented or appeals to Christian youth and young adults C28 should do really well for you.
You can join the C28 program now at https://www.avantlink.com/affiliate_app.php?mi=10265
God Bless,
Wade
Promote your Christian affiliate program for FREE
Sep 2, 2008 Site Announcements Comments
I mentioned in an earlier post that I am speaking at the GodBlogCon on how Christian bloggers can monetize their blogs in a way that doesn’t threaten their values and integrity. Affiliate Marketing is a big part of what I want to talk about here and I want to give the Gospel-advancing merchants out there the chance to promote their Christian affiliate program to the audience I am speaking to at GodBlogCon in 3 weeks as well as the Illuminate Conference in October.
As a deliverable to people who attend my sessions, I want to pass on a Christian Affiliate Program Directory in eBook form featuring affiliate programs that these bloggers and other affiliates to consider joining as they get “into the game.” So here is your chance for some free (and darn near eternal) publicity since eBooks are forever.
If you have a program that appeals to the Christian market, is Christian owned and operated, etc that you would like to have included in the Directory, please complete this form
I will be taking sign ups through next Monday - September 9th, then compiling the Directory, so please act fast to make sure you are included.
God Bless,
Wade
Save 20 percent on GodBlogCon registration
Sep 2, 2008 Christian Networking Events, Uncategorized Comments
I am really excited about the upcoming GodBlogCon bloggers show in Las Vegas. It’s just over 2 weeks away at this point and if you are on the fence about coming, I want to encourage you to take the leap. It’s a really great show from the standpoint of both the content and the fellowship and networking opportunities with other Believers.
I’ll be speaking on Sunday morning (recent change) on how you can “Support your Christian Blog (while staying Saved)” and I would love to see you there. If you have any questions about how you can use affiliate marketing, blog sponsorships, “tipping” services or other means to support your Christian blogging efforts, I hope to address them in my presentation. I promise that I will leave plenty of time for questions and answers and audience participation.
I did a podcast a couple of weeks back with Dustin Steve from GodBlogCon, Marcus Goodyear of TheHighCalling.org and Chris Cree from SuccessCREEations.com on my topic for GodBlogCon. I had a blast - check it out if you like.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Anyway - if you are on the fence about going - I’d like to offer a couple of incentives to get you involved.
1. I’ll save you 20% on registration between now at 9/12 this includes any GodBlogCon and GodBlogCon combination registration packages. To take advantage, please click this link, and when prompted, enter the coupon code “CAMBLOG20″
2. If you register through my link and let me know about it, I’ll buy you a coffee at GodBlogCon.
I would love to meet as many Christian bloggers as possible at the event and spend a little time with everyone talking about how I can help you support your online blogging ministry through affiliate partnerships with Gospel-advancing merchants. If you’d like to set up a meeting, please get in touch.
Practical eCommerce Tip - respond to criticism respectfully
Sep 2, 2008 Tips for Merchants Comments
Respond via comments on blog posts, forums, or consumer review sites. When you find your company is being talked about, don’t be passive, especially if what’s being said is negative in tone. Be respectful and state your case. More than once, I’ve seen critics become advocates simply because their complaints were responded to by a representative in the company.
Paul Chaney Practical eCommerce Contributor
I love this advice because I have been on the wrong side of it so many times as an affiliate manager. I make decision based on the information that someone has submitted in their application, some quick research, and a gut feeling, and next thing I know someone sends me back an angry email and flames me on a blog or forum. Guess what - the decision wasn’t personal… do don’t let your response be.
The same is true with corporate blogs and forums. When someone takes the time to post negative feedback, they are giving you a chance to address their issues and win a convert over. It’s the guys who don’t post and just flame you privately that you need to worry more about. If you get negative feedback on your site or blog here’s what I suggest.
- Acknowledge - post a comment and email the person with the issue and let them know you will look into the issue and get back in touch with them in a reasonable time period. Be positive and thank them for the opportunity to fix the issue.
- Act quickly - do your research and come up with a proactive response. Do this as quickly as you can reasonably. Try to put yourself in their place and come up with a solution that would make you happy in the same situation.
- Follow through - Get in touch with your critic and apologize if necessary and lay out your solution for them. If you give them a well thought out solution that would have made you happy in the same situation, and treat them with kindness, most likely their anger will be defused and they’ll be cool with your solution. Most likely they will follow up with a post or comment on how proactive you were.
One converted unsatisfied customer or prospect can go a long way - especially if you get that positive feedback after all is resolved for the public to see.
A big part of being a Christian in business is applying our values like kindness and forgiveness to business situations as well as personal ones. If we keep this in mind, we should be in great shape when “hiccups” occur.
God Bless,
Wade
Wordtracker Kick Ass Keyword Strategies eBook - worth checking out
Aug 27, 2008 Natural Search Comments
I am sure there will be some CAM Blog fans that won’t appreciate the title, but I think the resource is worth checking out. Aaron Wall is an SEO guru that knows his stuff and he has worked with Wordtracker to put out an ebook called 50 Kick Ass Keyword Strategies
They are selling it for $27 during the month of August and I recommend that you check it out. I think that the tips you pick up (if applied) should be more than made up for with traffic you can add to your site. Here’s what they claim you will learn:
- How to use keywords as you’ve never used them before.
- The secret strategies that your competitors will never have thought of.
- How to impress your clients as you let loose a cannon of sure fire ways to boost their traffic.
Happy selling and God Bless!
Wade
