PW: First of all, can you tell us a bit about yourself and your wildly popular site, AssociatePrograms.com?
AG: Wildly popular? Well, it's the most popular site based in Tuan,
anyway! Quite a few people say you need 500 visitors a day to be
profitable. I seem to hovering just over that mark this week.
I live in Tuan, a tiny fishing village without a shop in sub-tropical
Queensland, Australia, with my wife Joanna. We live in a pole house
that we designed, among gum trees and jacarandas. It overlooks a
little beach so secluded there's hardly ever anyone on it. I like
borrowing a line from Zig Ziglar: "I wasn't born here. I just got here as
fast as I could." I was brought up on a farm and I like wide open spaces.
I love that fact that an Internet business can be run from anywhere.
Joanna and I were both born in New Zealand and we're both journalists
- I work three days a week as a sub-editor for the Fraser Coast Chronicle
and Joanna one day as a reporter. To try to keep up with all the e-mail I
receive I usually work from 6am or 7am till about midnight. It's a crazy
schedule, and definitely not what I intend to do with my life indefinitely.
AssociatePrograms.com is a directory of associate programs. I
started it because I was making $US10 a pop selling Jim Daniels'
book, "Insider Internet Marketing" and wanted to find more associate
programs. I hunted in several search engines and was amazed that
I couldn't find a directory of associate programs. So I started a one-page "Guide to Associate Programs", which grew into the Directory of
Associate Programs. I got my own domain name in March, 1998.
PW: Okay, to get really basic for a second here, what exactly is an associate program, and how do they generally work?
AG: Associate programs (or reseller/partnership/affiliate programs)
are revenue sharing arrangements organised by companies selling
products and services. Webmasters are rewarded for sending
customers to the business. Usually, you place a banner or graphic
on your site - or a link in an article on your site or in your newsletter.
You are paid when someone clicks on the link and buys the
product, or you may be paid "per lead". Web Cards, for example,
pays $1 if someone just asks for a free sample.
PW: How does AssociatePrograms.com fit into things?
AG: It's a huge list of such programs, alphabetical and by subject. But
what is unusual is that I allow people to recommend a program
and include their own revenue-earning special URL or ID number
in the listing. Companies may recommend their own programs,
too. Whoever is first gets the listing.
Here's an example: In the directory, ValueClick was listed by
Jim Reardon of http://www.freecenter.com . The link to it is
http://www.valueclick.com/cgi-bin/refer_host_signup?host=h0002000
and Jim will earn money from the link.
I get quite a few letters from people telling me I'm crazy - that I'm
doing it all wrong - and that I'm missing out on a fabulous
opportunity to make money. But people seem to like my way of
doing things. And I get a kick out of the thought that I'm helping
people make a little money. As Zig Ziglar says, the best way to
be successful is to give people what they want. It seems to be
starting to work.
Anyway, I can still join a few programs and sell advertising on
the site, so I'm making an income, too.
PW: What advertising format would you recommend a webmaster use to promote
associate programs on their site? Banners, text links, buttons or newsletter
ads?
AG: All of them. Experiment - especially with the AIS range of products
and services because it is so easy to check what works. You can put up
a banner or write a paragraph including a text link and as soon as a sale
is made you are automatically notified by e-mail. You can then tweak
the write-up, the heading, or add a recommendation under the banner,
and see if your sales go up or down. An AIS link looks like this:
http://www.dealerprograms.com/d.cfm?AG45xJOSH . See how you can
change the last four letters/digits so you'll know which promotion is
working? Of course, you really ought to have proper tracking so that
you can track and tweak all your promotions.
PW: Do you have any tips or ideas to help our readers to get a better return
from associate programs?
AG: Do something - anything - other than merely plonking banners on a page.
Here's one of the most successful things I did. AIS had a pretty awful
clause in its contract. People complained to me, I passed on the complaints
and within 24 hours AIS had removed the bad clause from its contract. So
I wrote a little paragraph praising Thomas Harpointner of AIS and saying
how it was great to see a company so responsive to the wishes of its
associates.
I included a text link to AIS.
For the time spent, writing that little paragraph must be about the best
thing I've ever done. It worked so well that I left it on my main page
long after it was old news - and it kept on working, making sales.
Personal recommendations work well, too. I know it's difficult if you're
short of money, but take the plunge and actually buy the product you're
selling, so that you can write from personal experience. I did that with
Corey Rudl's marketing course and my sales soared - even though I said good
and bad things about the course.
At the moment I'm promoting a book by Declan Dunn and because I have a
copy I can quote from it and make it clear that I've read it. I'm sure that's
helping achieve sales.
PW: Thank you for your time, Allan! Do you have any closing comments for us?
AG: I get a lot of letters from people who assume that because I'm
getting a bit of publicity I must be some kind of an expert. I'm just a
little guy who is finally making a little money after floundering around
on the Net for a couple of years. I'm really not the best person to seek
advice from. You're far more likely to get a knowledgeable, helpful reply
from the people on the HelpDesk mailing list. There are thousands of
friendly subscribers just waiting to answer your questions.
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