The number one problem with CPC advertising of Affiliate Programs is that it can be very difficult to do tests(specifically split tests) on conversions.  I've began to see a growing trend amongst digital goods providers that allows an affiliate to add their tracking code to the vendors 'Thank You' page.  Let's look at why this is necessary and how this one simple action could seal the deal on choosing a product to affiliate for.

Out of the box digital product conversions on cost per click advertising cannot be tracked.  You can of course setup an affiliate landing page and track your own CTR's and even how many outgoing clicks your links generate.  However, often times visitors do not complete a purchase, click the link multiple times, etc.  To properly track a conversion a tracking code needs to be attached to a linking page and on a transaction completion page.  Since the affiliate doesn't own the product the tracking code can not be placed on the final transaction page.

Some companies are working closer with affiliates by allowing an affiliates tracking code to be placed upon their final thank you transaction page.  One digital product of note is the wildly popular MoviesCapital on Clickbank.  They openly accept tracking codes to be placed on their pages, which can help you fine tune your Adwords campaigns.

Tracking and testing to an affiliate is priceless.  Helping with tracking, to me, is the #1 thing an affiliate program manager can do to help their affiliates.  Although on certain scales this is not possible, coming up with a method to allow this interaction could pay off in spades to the right affiliate network.

Well, it's been just around 24 hours since I began testing the Chitika Premium Ads on my automotive site.  Currently, my automotive blog is receiving around 3,200 page views per day, with the majority of traffic coming from Google search.  This should spell a winning combination, considering how Chitika Premium works.  Let's look at my first impression, downsides first, then lets look at what's coming UP.

Initial Downside

Slow reports, which require at least till 10:00 AM the next morning before clicks are computed.  New users must also wait up to 3 days before earning are reported, so other than clicks and impressions, no other figures are provided.  When compared to Google Adsense, this is a huge short coming, but not something that will send me packing.

The reports, even once they are updating every 24 hours, require a audit.  This means that you will not be paid your reported earnings, rather a audit, based on quality of traffic, that usually amounts to a 10% drop in what is indicated.  I've never had this with other PPC programs, only on CPA traffic, so this is throwing me for a loop.

Last downside is the review process to start even using Chitika ads.  They require a detailed application, which is reviewed by a human and can take up to 3 days to be completed.  Thankfully, my review took less than 4 hours, I'm wondering if that's the norm.  But again, only in CPA programs have I ever had to set through a review process, when I'm ready to start using a new program, let me start on my terms!  Nothing to scare me off just yet though.

Initial Upside

So easy to generate code and the wizard is self explanatory for customizing size, colors, and ad-variations.  I was very pleased to hear that Chitika could be used next to Adsense, so without sacrificing too much web real estate to try a new program, I can test placements.  Which also brings up the fact of having an alternate ad shown, even on another network, when there is no search term found or unqualified traffic views the page.  I'm using a Google Adsense block of the same size, so earning comparisons should be spot on.

Great referral program!  That's right, Chitika has a great referal program that will pay you 10% of whatever your referral earns for up to 15 months.  This is what you earn per publisher, but make up to $25 for every $100 spent for referring an Advertiser.  Easy to see why so many guru's have the Chitika banners plastered all over their posts, coupled with long winded multiple part review posts. (hmmmm)

In 3 days I will happily give a report of my published earnings.  I'm hoping to at least compliment my Adsense placements without subtracting from their current earnings.  Right now I'm making some pretty impressive bank from tried and true Adsense, I will be a tough nut to crack.

Why sign up to another affiliate network like PepperJam, when there is already a ton of other options available?  Competitors like Commission Junction and LinkShare have been around a lot longer and provide a larger number of programs to pull from.  But what makes PepperJam special or why would someone suggest joining another affiliate network, even if to use the same programs?  I'll tell you why I choose to sign up with PepperJam and how it's made my online marketing life a lot easier.

Customer Service

First things first, the PepperJam Network provides the absolute best customer service of any affiliat network I've ever signed up to.  All of their employees have been extremely nice, helpful, and if they dont' have the immediate answers they have called me back within a reasonable time.  Furthermore, every time I've called I've been greeted with a real person, not an answering machine service.

I've also found that their employees, which specialize in specific programs have a stronger grasp of individual programs.  So isntead of talking to a catch-all employee, specific questions about a program are routed to the person in charge of that program.  Companies like CJ have this to an extent, but not on a level I've experienced while working with PJN.

Payment Options

The faster I get paid, the better and PJN offers payments every 2 weeks on locked commissions.  This means that my PPC campaigns aren't left out to dry over a month while I wait on a commission check.  After an initial hold on new accounts (30 days), if you keep your plate full its possible to receive payments twice a month.  Also, the Pepper Jam Network pays out through PayPal, which I prefer.

Program Tracking And Functionality

To be honest, I feel a little intimidated when I do searches on Commission Junction, looking to create a relationship with programs.  It's a bulky system with small popout windows, PepperJam just does a better job.  Their system is easily searchable, contains all relevant information, and provides links and banners is an easy to read fullsize window.  Searching for specific banner sizes, advanced links, and text ads is a breeze and doesn't require endless scrolling for the one that's  'just right'.

Their tracking appears to be spot on, especially when working with some of their larger affiliate programs like eBay.  Generally the tracking is done by third party systems, which are cross checked against PJN's stats.  My only complaint is that their SID reporting sucks (at least for the ebay program) and they don't offer a domain level report system.  This is more of a problem for me, since I setup multiple sites with multiple stores that causes confusion within their tagging of SID transactions.

All in all however it's a great tracking system with easy to read reporting.  Compared with competitors like CJ it feels light weight and easy to use, not nearly as daunting to get a quick read on how your programs are doing.

Conclusion

I originally signed up with PJN becuase I was looking for an alternative to the mess that was the Ebay Partner Network.  But what I found was a full service, easily approached, and functional affiliate network that I intend to grow with.  It's going to take some time, since I primarily focus on stores for eBay, but they offer enough variety that I can fill any niche I will come across.  I'm sure they will have something for you too, just check them out and see if they aren't one of the top players in the Affiliate Network business today.

Sign up to PepperJamNetwork today and get $10 FREE! I can't think of a better incentive to join a network that will help you grow your affiliate business.

This is a completely honest and straight forward review of the latest affiliate FireFox plugin, Affiliate Espionage.  This review will assume a few things about the reader,  so as not to wear down on the finer details of affiliate marketing.  First assumption is that you use FireFox and understand the plugin process.  Second, you are somewhat familiar with affiliate marketing and traffic generating methods. Lastly, you have a decent grasp on the workings of Adwords and are already familiar with the process of trial and error keywords to get the best ROI through your Adword campaigns.

My History Of Affiliate Tools

I've used my fair share of affiliate tools or plugins to help at least research and automate some of the research process.  Some of my favorite tools in the marketing process are SEO Quake, Rank Checker, and KeyWord Explorer.  This being said, I have never purchased a plugin or even purchased from a typical landing sales pitch page.  Yes, Affiliate Espionage is the first exception I've made to buying into the hype, no matter how well founded.

Experience With Adwords

At least one of my websites have had an active Adwords campaign going on at any given time for the past 2 years.  Generally I spend the majority of my time figuring out long tail keywords, low bid terms, or looking for new angles on creating a campaign.  It takes some time to build up enough research, not to mention money on wasted keyword campaigns.  This wasted time and money is what led me to search for an alternative, a way for me to gauge how well a keyword will convert, without me having to waste my own money on it.

This is not typical information you will find on webmaster forums, obviously the highest converting keywords are always kept a secret.  And in the past few months I've been trying to diversify my affiliate revenue portfolio, so testing has been the bulk of my time online.  Generally research starts with brainstorming, then to see what Google Keywords tool has to say, and finally throwing together a low budget campaign.  The problem is that these low budget campaigns can quickly add up over a few days and tweaking can take even longer to develop enough of a track record to know if it's(Adwords Campaign) really working or a fluke.  Affiliate Espionage is a FireFox plugin to help solve these problems and help me focus on only keywords that are converting.

Buying Process

The Affiliate Espionage landing page is just like every other over hyped product on the market, it's flashy and full of look how cool I am pictures.  Personally, those are enough to turn me off, but it's function is what really brought me in, so I had to put blinders on to the marketing aspect of it.  As usual, the nuts and bolts of the sales process can be found at the bottom of an extremely too long page, Add to Cart for just $9.97.

Affiliate Espionage accepts PayPal and is a straight forward purchase, followed by the necessary 'Limited Time Offer' to upgrade to a keyword version of the plugin.  This upsell didn't interest me in the slightest bit, especially since I came after this plugin KNOWING what I wanted.  After I clicked off 'No Thanks' it was straight to the startup page, where I setup my account information, downloaded the plugin, go the PDF Manual and had access to the how-to videos.

I've picked the manual appart and it's very well put together and straightforward answering any and all immediate questions.  Also, the download is simple, only requiring an extration of a zip file and then typical FireFox plugin install.  Affiliate Espionage requires one verification process, which checks your license key and email.  No problems there and I have tested installing Affiliate Espionage on multiple computers, no issues there either.

Getting Started With Affiliate Espionage

My first reaction to using the Affiliate Espionage plugin was, 'This was a dud.'  For some reason, in my head, I thought that an existing database of keyword history campaigns would come with the plugin. No, there is no Affiliate Espionage database to download, import, or steal from, you have to make your own from your own set of keywords.

This makes sense, now, that in no way would I want others to have my keywords.  Furthermore, it's a discovery tool, a research aid to help me figure out what keywords I need to be competing with.  What good would the tool be if it gave everyone the same information.  Also, could you imagine how big that database of keywords and Adword campaign history it would be?  Too big.  My initial reaction was quickly alleviated once I realized that setting up my own automatic affiliate espionage campaign was simple.

The plugin works by utilizing individual keyword searches you make in Google, providing you with all the necessary stats that are presented on the Affiliate Espionage website.  However, to really get the most out of the plugin you need to do batch processing setup on a set schedule, that way you can really tell if a keyword is working for an affiliate.  Taking a snap shot of ad campaigns for just a few days is not enough,  this plugin needs weeks, a month, or more to get accurate data that you can start building affiliate sites and Adword campagins around.

Once these campaigns and automated keyword lists are setup, the rest is a breeze and the majority of the research is done for you.  It really is a wonderful tool, that keeps me from feeling guilty for not doing more manual research, and allows me to focus on more important different things.  Say for example, link building, writing bad ass plugin reviews, or just wasting my time on Reddit.

Ease of Use

Affiliate Espionage is really easy to use, once you get used to the acronyms used.  Basically after you performa  Google search you are presented with highlighted fields next to each individual ad.  Each highlighted area contains a plethora of information about the Ad campaign, such as length it's been used, keywords used, landing page url, and even has the ability to find out which advertisers are using affiliate links on the landing page.

Setting up your keyword list to run weekly can be a little daunting at first, but really is simple after you do it just once.  Much like figuring out the acronyms, after you know what they mean, it's a great tool to use at a glance.  No need for advanced usage here, what you see is what you get, it's just a matter of how often you search for valuable keywords.

Support for Affiliate Espionage

So far I haven't needed any support for the plugin, however it appears that they have an advanced ticket system if it's needed.  Also, they provide plenty of helpful videos and a through FAQ page that covers any basic questions or problems you might have getting started.

In Conclusion

I would strongly recommend the purchase of Affiliate Espionage to any affiliate marketer, at any level.  Even if you've been doing online marketing for years, the automatic process of pulling Adword campaign information is well worth the measly $9.97 you will spend on this Fire Fox plugin.  And if you are new to online marketing and looking to get your feet wet with Adwords, this tool could save you countless dollars, wasted on finding the best converting keyword combination.

If you found my review useful, please use my affiliate link when purchasing Affiliate Espionage.

*Disclaimer

I don't refer or affiliate any products on my blog that I don't personally use.  Even then I'm hesitant to recommend products or tools because mileage may vary on any digital product.  When you see a recommendation here, it is unsolicited, and comes from my own experience.

Whomever talked PepperJamNetwork into using SID reports instead of domain reports must have been one smooth talker.  It's cumbersome, difficult to read, specifically in regards to the eBay affiliate program when running multiple BANS and phpBay stores.  To Pepper Jam's credit however it is the only issue I have with the company.

Anytime I've called the fine ladies over at PJN they have been quick to answer the phone, helpful, and always seemed to talk with a smile on their face.  Hell, just tlaking to a real person at a company feels like an exercise in futility and rarely does the person ansering the phone know the answers to my questions.  Thank you Pepper Jam for providing GREAT customer support.

But please , PLEASE, PLEASE fix your reporting to offer some sort of solution other than SID tracking.  A simple way to analyze my stats via domain would provide me much more useful information than the crap SID reporting shows.  Perhaps this is only a problem for those using BANS or phpBay, but I know it's a pain in the ass because I can never tell specifically where the sale is coming from.

Furthermore, as a message to the boys managing the eBay affiliate program, FIX BOTS BEING COUNTED AS CLICKS.  Here we are months after release and bots are still being counted as clicks on my reporting methods through Pepperjam, which is destroying my EPC.  Figuring ROI through my ad campaigns is difficult enough on it's own, without having to comb through worthless reports and 'guess' at what my real EPC is.

CPALead offers a great tool to affiliates that provides a popup announcing to the visitor that they are accessing premium content.  In this popup it offers ways to access the page by filling out a few forms and generally submitting an email.  Of course these forms are affiliate links, which payout to the site owner, making the operator some cash by being paid per lead.  I needed an alternative to this, one that I could modify myself and add other offers and tweak to my hearts desire.

After some searching I found a free alternative to teh Premium Content Gateway script provided by CPALead, which is completely independent of any affiliate network.  I used the code from Dynamic Drive and their DHTML Window Widget to create my own content gateway.

The widget provides code that you must add to the pages of your site where you want the window to popup.  The widget actually works by opening a preexisting html page that you create.  Therefore it's possible to add any text, images, or affiliate links you want.  The html page can of course be modeled directly after the CPALead gateway if you wish.

View an example of my Premium Content Gateway to a MySpace resource site.  Happy affiliating!

This is my first post using Google Chrome and first impressions are a little lacking and one feature has me just freaking out.  There is an 'Incognito' feature that provides a safe and secure browsing experience for the user, but it also destroys any cookie's after the window is closed, BAD for affiliate marketers.

You've gone incognito. Pages you view in this window won't appear in your browser history or search history, and they won't leave other traces, like cookies, on your computer after you close the incognito window. Any files you download or bookmarks you create will be preserved, however. 

Going incognito doesn't affect the behavior of other people, servers, or software. Be wary of:

• Websites that collect or share information about you
• Internet service providers or employers that track the pages you visit
• Malicious software that tracks your keystrokes in exchange for free smileys
• Surveillance by secret agents
• People standing behind you

This leaves me asking myself some questions, namely how popular will this browser become?  Furthermore, how popular will the incognito browsing become?  I'm hoping there are some affiliate marketers out there that are much larger than I that will be able to track such things, as far as impact on their daily/weekly/monthly earnings.

The only light is that the cookies will remain effective for as long as the user has the window open.  However as soon as said Google Chrome user abandons that window and moves along, that cookie is lost.  So, if you are not getting immediate buyers with your sites, you can kiss those commissions goodbye.  In terms of programs like eBay where a cookie length will be up to 7 days, count only earning 1/7 of your existing revenue, in regards to visitors using Google Chrome.

Hopefully this won't have any impact at all, or at least not much of one anyway.  Chances are 'Incognito' mode in Google Chrome won't be used for anything other than surfing porn anyway.  Keep that surfing history away from your spouse.

Let me start by saying I'm very, very excited about the new program eBay Partner Network will be putting into place, which will promote quality registrations and help weed out the thin affiliates.  Their plan, which will effect new signups but not existing EPN members until November 1st, is to not pay a flat $25 for all ACRU's in the US.  Instead, EPN will give payouts at the end of the month based on the quality of traffic sent and how eBay views the new registration, in terms of longevity and potential revenue to eBay.  If you derive most of your EPN affiliate revenue from winning bids, then this won't really effect you because those tiers are not changing, only ACRUs.

The tiers for the new ACRU system is wide and I mean wide, meaning that you could earn as little as a dollar for sending crap traffic or as much as $50!  I'm hoping to be at the latter end of the scale, since repeatedly my new signups purchase multiple items throughout the eBay cookie length.

To aid in the shock of this new system EPN will be providing parrallel stats until November 1st which will show you what affiliates would be making and will be making on the new system.  However, actual payouts on the new tier ACRU will only take effect in November, so if you are a thin affiliate sending craptastic traffic it will give you an opportunity to bail out and find something else.  On the flip side, it'll be hard to stomach those bigger numbers when you know you can't get them till later on in the year.

Big Question

There is still talk that EPN is having trouble tracking ACRUs and even winning bids and on a large scale if you believe the official EPN forums.  Will they be able to accurately track this new level of data?  I would expect some serious discussions going on between now and November 1st, most likely very heated discussions.

It was just last month that eBay announced that they would be hiring an outside firm to help test EPN tracking.  Would be nice if they would at least publish these results fix or state things are running smooth before rolling out a completely new revenue system.  But, I'm just a worker bee, not a thinker bee.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Programs I use to generate EPN ACRUs are phpBay and Build A Niche Store. Two great scripts that I highly recommend to any affiliate marketer new or experienced with eBay.

I'm always game for finding a way to simply my work and currently I'm using a number of helpful scripts to get my job done. Often times finding a script that makes adding affiliate links to Word Press blog posts is just what the Dr. ordered, which is why I utilize phpBay. I've also discussed the benefits of using phpBay, how it can also help with unique content and getting search traffic for long tail keywords.

Today I came across a new plugin that I'm hoping will make my life easier, WP-Amazon. This neat little plugin makes configuring my Amazon Associates ID and searching items to add to posts a breeze. WP-Amazon adds an Amazon search bar to the side of your 'Write' post screen, where you can find an item, select options and automatically add it to your posts. I'm eager to see how this will save me time and convert visitors to affiliate sales.

Perhaps the maker of WP-Amazon should look into creating a similar plugin for big CJ affiliates as well. There is no doubt I could find a use for a similar wp plugin for NewEgg and others.

See below for an example of what an Amazon product added to a blog post with WP-Amazon looks like.

The E-Code: 33 Internet Superstars Reveal 43 Ways to Make Money Online Almost Instantly---Using Only Email

I'll be coming up with a full review of this plugin, along with other suggestions in the next few days.  After my first post I'm noticing a few bugs that screw with my display, but no big deal.  Furthermore, having a nice template print out instead of a drag and drop image and title would be beneficial as well.  I'll do some searching and be back later.

It's taken a little while, but I'm starting to see some side benefits from running phpBay on my blogs.  Of course being a good SEO boy I try to target keywords within certain posts, unfortunately there are always the less popular that you never hit.  These long tail keywords are either not worth the time to research or are simply missed in the grand scheme.  Thanks to phpBay I've been able to get in on the search traffic from these less than popular keywords and bring an additional level of traffic.

For example, I may be writing a post about a 2010 Ford Mustang and obviously focus on that search keyword.  Once I enter in my phpBay code I can then set low priced items that have to do with Mustangs, in this case key chains, which will be displayed with their listing title off of eBay.  Thanks to these, often times key word stuffed, titles I'm now bringing in some side traffic to those specific posts, where a visitor is likely to click.

So you see the value of phpBay out weighs it's initial affiliate value and can do it's own part to bring in traffic without any additional work.  Free ever changing content, on each individual blog post, Google loves it and now so am I.