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Commission Explosion

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Every website has contact forms, order forms, contact us, inquiries or comment forms.

Are your forms processed by a form processor that also places the data in a spreadsheet format for later data mining and backup?

If not, you’re making a huge mistake. Even having the forms forwarded to multiple e-mail accounts does not afford data backup security. And, try mining data in that format and you will soon find many hours of man power are required and incredibly difficult to manage.

Why Data Mining?

Without it your missing potential increases in results that are out of this world. The closer that your data mining team and those in campaign management can work together, the better the results. The main goal of both teams is to focus on a narrow targeted customer group or batch of prospects, doing so effectively results in increasing response rates and the campaigns effectiveness.

What Type of Form Processor Do I Need?

Form processor software is widely available, at low to moderate costs. Most companies can get by with a simple system like Absolute Forms Processor offered by Xigla Software. The only drawback we ever have had with the software in 6 years has been that it requires a Windows server, our network resides on a Linux based system. Luckily it’s always performed on a low cost shared-server system with regular automated server back ups of course.

There are hundreds if not thousands of affiliate networks. As a publisher you have to continually find new or good offers to maximize your monetization of your website or network.

Unfortunately, many of them have too many false or misleading offers, you know the ones, free laptops, free cruise etc. We made a decision years ago to not promote these types of offers because they did not benefit our website in a positive manner. What happens is you never see that visitor again, they leave remembering the website they visited first and don’t return. Other affiliate networks, simply have too limited a selection of advertisers.

We recently discovered Logical Media and are pleased with the number of offers and creatives available to publishers. Nothing worse than needing a quick fill-in advertiser and have to search a bunch of networks to find something appropriate.

They use a familiar interface, locating and implementing offers is a breeze. Publishers can sign up now by clicking here to begin making money.

One of the hardest things for me going forward with my business is having the capital banked to do so. I make good money on a monthly basis and I live very comfortably too, but Media Buying is a completely different fish financially. Media Buying takes a fair amount of money to test campaigns out [...]

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Shopping Aggregators like Shopzilla, BizRate, Shopping.com and others are considered by many retailers large and small as an evil necessity. CPC (cost per click) campaigns through Google and Yahoo aren’t enough to capture enough of the retailers’ audience, especially when their competition is using shopping aggregators as well.

Over half of online buyers (54%) started their shopping at a shopping search engine or shopping aggregator website while just 46% started at a merchant website through direct navigation.

Most shopping aggregators work on a CPC (cost per click) basis, some like SHOP.com use a CPA (cost per sale) method, acting more as an affiliate. Either type of these programs are considerably expensive to enter so smaller retailers may not be able to budget using more than one or two services concurrently. The added exposure these shopping aggregators provide however is visibly measurable, and it can add to the bottom line of any retailer.

Another consideration when using a shopping aggregator is that they will be competing directly with you in the CPC (cost-per-click) arena for your own market, especially during the busy fourth quarter. Be careful to not inadvertently engage yourself in a bidding war with your own affiliates.

Whatever your decision, to use or not use these services, don’t rush into using a shopping aggregator without fully vesting yourself in understanding their operation, how they drive traffic to your website and how the additional costs will affect your bottom line. Also be wary of companies that maintain ownership or control ownership of the customer data. After all, your investment in acquiring the customer and maintaining that relationship is one of the more important benefits of customer acquisition for any business. You must be able to continue that relationship including future contact unhindered.

Lastly, be wary of a one-size fits all contract, your business may be able to negotiate a reduced percentage or price, declare active/in-active periods during your slower times of the year, or receive a trial period of their service without as many long-term contractual commitments.

Correction: We wrote in an earlier publication of this article that HayNeedle.com was a shopping aggregator, though in our opinion they are, in that they aggregate product results to deliver thousands of products, they are a privately held shopping aggregator or shopping portal that owns its 240 plus themed stores and is not open to outside retailers for product inclusion. Our sincerest apology to HayNeedle.com.

At the end of the day, negotiating is a cleverly crafted game, and you need to know the rules in order to play the hand you are dealt.

Negotiations