How to start affiliate marketing

1. How to Make Millions onGoogle and Other SearchEngines:My 10-Step
Approach
What do youdo?” People alwaysaskthatquestionwhentheyfirstmeetyou.If youwere toturna
movie cameraon me and watchme as I go througha typical workday,itprobablywouldn’tseemlike I’m
doingmuchof anything,andthat’sjustthe way I like it.WhenIwas firstlearninghow tomake money
placingaffiliateadsonGoogle andothersearch andcontentnetworks,Itypicallyputina solideight-
hour day,but nowthat I have the systemupand running,thingsgomucheasier.Ihave turnedoff the
alarm thatusedto wake me up at 5 a.m. everymorning.Isleepaslate asI want,unlessItake a turn
drivingmykidsto school.Before Ibecame anAffiliate Advertiser,Iusedtohave a 90-minute commute
to my jobinGreater Boston.Now,all of mycommutingtime isspentonmy pillow.Iammy ownboss
and—Idon’tmindtellingyou—Iamveryeasytowork for.A typical morningnow mightfindme rolling
out of bedaround eightornine o’clockandstumblingovertothe computer“
inmy bedroom.Icheck the ad campaignsI have runningonsiteslike Google andMSN adCenter.My
formal performancemonitoringroutine takesaboutanhour,butmost morningsIsimplyperformaquick
checkon four things(don’tworryif these termsdon’tmake anysense toyourightnow;I’ll explainthem
later):
1. The click-throughrate (CTR).Imake sure the percentage of people whoare clickingthroughthe adsI
place and goingto the advertisers’websitesare broadlyinthe range Iexpectforthe day of the weekor
the time of day. 2. Volume.Icheckto see whetherthe volumeof trafficisroughlywhatIexpectitto be
at that time.3. Costper click.I make certainthe cost perclickfor each of my campaignsisinthe range I

2. have come to expectforthe day of the weekorthe time of day. 4. Commissions.Imake certainthatmy
commissionsfromthe daybefore are roughlywhatIwouldexpectforthe trafficgenerated.
Most days,everythingisworkingexactlyasitshouldbe.Onthese fine mornings,Imaysimplygoback to
sleep,orI maygo downstairstoenjoya leisurelybreakfast.Justasoften,Imightgive mywife abreakby
takingthe kidsto school so she won’thave to.WheneverIhappentofeel the mostmotivated,Iwill
usuallyspendanhour(or eventwo) doingsome basicmonitoringandperformance-tuningtasks.On
rare days,I mightspendhoursor a whole daytryingto start a new campaignina particularly
competitiveadvertisingspace,butmostdaysI do verylittle real work.Inexchange forthese
“burdensome”tasks,Iregularlyreceive checksof over$100,000 permonthin mymailbox (okay,now
that I’ve learnedhowtohave them depositeddirectlyinto
The Best Webhosting
BluehostYou can click
GettingStarted
my checkingaccount,theydon’tshowupin mymailbox anymore,butyougetthe point).Iboughta
beautiful new home inFloridawithcash,andmyfamilyandI enjoyregularvacationswhereverwe like.
A LITTLE HISTORY
I’mnot tellingyoumypersonal storybecause Iespeciallylike totalkaboutmyself orbecause I’m
boasting.Iam tellingyouthisbecause,whenyouknow alittle bitmore aboutme,you’ll realize that
anyone,includingyourself,canbecome asuccessful entrepreneurthroughpaidsearchmarketingand
affiliate advertising.AsImentionedinmyintroduction,Ihave managedsome small websites,but the
fewwebsitesIcreatednevermade muchmoney,andmaintainingthemneverappealedtome that

3. much.This mightseemsurprising,because the best-knowntraditionalmodel tomake moneythrough
affiliate advertisingisasfollows:
• Create a contentweb site andpublicize itinordertoattract as many visitorsaspossible.•Take
advantage of the establishedtrafficbyplacingtextandbanneraffiliate adsthatturnthe site intoa
source of revenue.
I didassemble acouple of websitesthatattemptedto make moneythisway.Theygeneratedsmall
amountsof revenue here andthere,butthe costof drivingtraffictomy site exceededthe modest
revenuesIwasable togenerate.Yousee,veryfew of the visitorsIpaidforactuallyclickedonany of the
ads on myownsite.Theyhad alreadyclickedonanad for my site,afterall,andmostwere notwillingto
clickthroughto yetanotherad.
How to Make MillionsonGoogle andOtherSearchEngines
5
Why SendAnyone toMy OwnSite First?Since Iwas havingsucha difficulttime convertingthe trafficI
generatedfromrunningadsformy website onsearchand contentnetworkslike Google,the question
eventuallyoccurredtome,“Why notplace the affiliate adsdirectlyonGoogle instead?”Atthe time,I
thoughtthe ideaof placingaffiliate adsona searchengine site wasagreat epiphanyof myown.Since
then,I’ve discoveredthatIwasn’tthe firstto come upwiththisidea— notbya longshot—butImay be
one of the mostsuccessful.Initially,the ideaappealedto me because itrequirednooverhead,no
inventory,anditseemedlike somethingIcoulddoin the spare hour or twoI wouldhave eachday afterI
wentback to full-time employment(whichIwasplanningtodo before long).Remember,myinitial goal
was to bringinonlyan extra$200 or $300 a month.Ididn’trealize inthe beginningthatthiscouldbe
my tickettofinancial freedom.
Bittenbythe Bug At first,I signedupwitha few affiliate programsandstartedplacingadsfora small
numberof products.I beganby losingasmall amountof money—several centsperclick.Iadjustedthe
marginsa bit,and I discoveredafewproductsonwhichI could
makeafewdollarseachday.Then,Imadeacoupleofveryexpensivemistakesthatcostmeseveralthousanddolla
rsinthespaceofjustafewhours.Believe itornot,I almostgave up entirelyandcompletelymissedout
on the fortune Ieventuallywouldmake.A few thousanddollarswasanenormousamountof moneyto
me at thattime,and if thiswasthe kindof riskI would
betaking,Ireasoned,whatchancedidIhaveofmakingthatkindof moneyback?Fornearlyaweek,Iswore off
the entire idea.
6
GettingStarted
ThenI thoughtabout itand decidedtogive itanothertry.Afterall,I hadalreadyfounda couple of
productson whichI couldmake a fewdollarsaday, so whynotat leastleave those campaignsrunning?
Thenthe bug bitme: “If you can make moneyadvertisingthese products,youcanfindotherproducts
that will make evenmore.”Of course,Iproceededmuchmore carefully(asIwill teachyouto do) and
avoidedtakingunnecessaryrisksonunprovencampaigns.Afterputtingtogetherseveral campaignsthat
providedme withmodestreturns,Imade myfirstbigbreakthrough.InDecemberof 2004, I hit onone

4. advertisingcampaignthatgeneratedmore than$7,000, whichwas well beyondmywildestdreamsfor
the businessatthat time.Thissuccesslita fire underme,andI setout to findotherproductsand
programsthat wouldturnout to be big winners.Iresolvedtotapintountappedmarketnichesandto
aggressivelypursue establishingcampaignsincompetitive marketspacesaswell.Myinitial hardwork
paidoff,and one byone I addedestablished,successful campaignstomyportfolio,some of which
broughtin justa fewdollarsaday, while othersmade hundredsoreventhousands.Allthesecampaigns,
meanwhile,requiredverylittlemaintenanceonce theywere upandrunning.Isoonfoundmyself
spendinglessandlesseffortonthe riskyandtime-consumingprocessof establishingnew campaigns,
and myfocus shiftedtothe increasinglyrewardingpractice of monitoringandfine-tuningmyexisting
campaigns.Before long—eventhoughIwasnow workinganaverage of just twohoursa day—Iwas
earningmore thanI had everthoughtpossible.Mymonthlyadvertisingrevenue checksbroke intosix-
figure territoryand,needlesstosay,Ineverwentbackto my dayjob.
How to Make Millions onGoogle andOtherSearchEngines
7
MY 10 STEPS TO BECOMING AN AFFILIATEMILLIONAIRE
The stepsrequiredtobecome asuccessful searchmarketerandaffiliateadvertiserare well withinthe
reach of anyone,regardlessof priorbusinessexperience.The buildingblocksyouneedtoconstructyour
newsearchmarketing–basedbusinessare alreadyonlineandwaitingforyoutotake advantage of them.
All youneedisa bitof time,a computerconnectedtothe Internet,andalittle goodadvice.Bookstore
shelvesare linedwithdozensof volumesthatpromise toteachyouhow to go online andstartyour own
businessoropenupa newrevenue stream, butfew offeryouthe potential thatAffiliate Millionsdoes.
Bookscan take youonlyso far,however.It’supto youto take the firststep.In fact,any processgoes
more easilyif youbreakitintoa seriesof discrete steps—tasksthatyoucan tackle one at a time.Inthis
section,yougeta step-by-stepoverviewof the entire processof becomingasuccessful searchmarketer,
advertisingavarietyof affiliate programsonGoogle andothersearchand contentnetworks.
Step1. Set Your SightsonSuccessI didn’tstart to make seriousmoneyuntilIhada modestamountof
successon whichtobase myefforts.ThenmyimaginationkickedinandI begantoenvisionjusthow
much moneyIcouldmake if I steppedupmyefforts.I’maskingyouto beginbyexpandingyour
imaginationandbelievingthatyoucanbe a success.In manyways,becomingasuccessful online
entrepreneurisamatter of your mind-setandyourattitude.
Step2. Learn about Affiliate AdvertisingInChapter2,I introduce youto the conceptof affiliate
advertisingindetail.Affiliateadvertisingisthe revenueside of thiswhole
8
GettingStarted
process,sopay close attention.Once youhave ahandle onthe concept of affiliate advertising,I
introduce youtothe secondhalf of the equation:searchmarketing.
Step3. Learn about SearchMarketingSearchmarketingisthe processbywhichwe drive trafficto the
affiliate programswe promote.Chapter3introducesyoutothisconceptand helpsyouunderstandjust

5. howyou can use searchmarketing,insteadof awebsite of your own,tomake affiliateadvertisingmore
profitable foryouthanyoumighteverhave imagined.
Step4. Joinan AffiliateNetworkOnce youhave identifiedyourgoalsanddone some initial thinking
aboutthe kindsof productsyouwant to promote,youneedtojoinanaffiliate network.Anaffiliate
networkisa companythat workswithmanydifferentcompaniestomanage and/orpromote itsaffiliate
programsand to track the numberof clicks,commissions,andsoforththat individual affiliatesgenerate
for the programs.These networksoffertheseaffiliate programstopublishersandsearchmarketers,
givingthema central locationtosearchfor appropriate adcopy,consolidatingcommissionchecks,and
guaranteeingaccurate accountingof clicktrafficandcommissions.Affiliatenetworksare indispensable
resources;inChapter4, I introduce youtosome and walkyoustep-by-stepthroughthe processof
joiningafewof them.
Step5. JoinAffiliateProgramsOnce youhave beenacceptedintoone ormore affiliatenetworks,you
can start joiningthe affiliate programsyouwanttopromote.InChapter5, I tell youwhat tolookfor in
an affiliate program,andthenIwalkyouthroughthe processof joiningsome
How to Make MillionsonGoogle andOtherSearchEngines
9
programs,takingyouall the wayto generatingthe trackingcode youwill needtosetupyour adsin the
nextstep.
Step6. Create Search MarketingCampaignsSigningupwithanaffiliatenetworkisonlyone piece of the
puzzle.Youalsoneedtojoinone or more search andcontentnetworksonwhichto run youraffiliate
ads.Google AdWordsisan excellent place tostart.In Chapter6, I show you how to joinGoogle and
othersearch andcontentnetworks,andI take youstep-by-stepthroughthe processof creatingyour
firstad campaign.
Step7. Learn How to Manage Your SearchCampaignsJustgettingyourcampaignsrunningisn’tthe end
of the process.Notbya longshot.You’ll needtolearnhow to evaluate youradcampaignsandmonitor
and improve themaswell.Chapter7showsyouhow to use the reportingfeaturesyou’ll needtobe
familiarwith—asimpleprocess,bythe way—andChapter9teachesyouhow to monitorthose results
and improve existingcampaigns.
Step8. Don’t Let MistakesGetYou DownEveryentrepreneurencountersproblemsearlyon,andmost
make mistakesfromtime totime.Whatseparatesthose whogoon to successfromthe oneswhocrash
and burn?The winnerslearnfromtheirmistakesanddon’tletsetbacksdeterthem.InChapter10,I talk
aboutsome common,but sometimescostly,mistakesthatIhave made:whatto watch for,how tocatch
mistakesearly,andhowtorecoverfromthose mistakes.
Step9. Investand GrowYour Ad ProgramsBusinesspeople whoselltangible productsknow thatyou
have to planahead.You have to orderinadvance and assemble more of aninventorythanyouactually
needinorderto grow andprosper.In thisbusiness,youronlyinventoryisyourcashon hand,
10
GettingStarted

6. but youstill needtomanage itas if it were a producton the shelves.Afterall,the adsyoupay torun
comprise yourproduct,and youneedtobudget carefullytoensure youcankeepthatproduct available
everyday.InChapter11, I talk aboutgrowingyourbusinessbysearchingforprofitable new campaigns
and byexpandingsuccessful existingones,too.The skyisthe limit,astheysay,andif you keeppushing
the limit,there’snotellinghowfaryou’ll go.
Step10. Manage Your BusinessLike aBusinessRunningyourownbusinessandbeingyourownbossis
fantastic,believe me,butitisn’talwayseasy.You’llneedtopaytaxesonyourprofits,remember,andif
youreach a certainlevel of success,youmayfinditnecessarytohire an accountant andevena lawyer.
Chapter12 addressesanumberof these concernsandgets youthinkingaboutsome of the duller,but
nonethelessimportant,aspectsof runningyourownbusiness.
MY MESSAGE TO YOU: HAVE FAITHIN YOURSELF
If you have a positive frame of mind,agoodworkethic,and justa little intelligence youcanmarketjust
aboutanything.If youplanahead andstick withyourmarketingeffortsforthe long haul,youwill be
successful.Makingmoneyonline isaleapof faithformost people.Tothe overwhelmingmajorityof the
general public,the ideaof sellingtangiblegoodsorservicesonline islikelearninganobscure foreign
language.Whenyouconsiderthatinthe case of affiliate marketingyourproductisa digital adon a Web
page,it can be an evenbiggerleapof faith.Take itstep-by-stepandreadthe chaptersthatfollow,and
you’ll standa goodchance of becominganAffiliateMillionaire yourself.
How to Make MillionsonGoogle andOtherSearchEngines
11
13
Chapter2
LearningaboutAffiliateAdvertising
Affiliate advertising(sometimesalsoreferredtoasaffiliate marketing)isthe termcurrentlyusedto
describe one type of programa website typicallysetsuptoallow othersitestoadvertise theirproducts
and/orservicesandto receive commissionsinreturn.Suchprogramsare oftenopento almostanyone
witha website,newsletter,orotherelectronicmeansof runningthe affiliate program’s ads.Typically,
the website eithercreatesanaffiliateprogramWebpage onits ownsite or contracts withan affiliate
networktopromote and runits affiliateprogram.Eitherway,companiesthatcreate suchprograms
developvarioustypesof textandimage advertisements,embedthemwithspecialtrackingcodesthat
allowthemtoknowwhosentthemthe traffic,andencourage affiliatestouse these advertisementsto
promote theirsites.
GETTING UP TO SPEED
Affiliate advertisingisone of those conceptsthatcan seema bitoverwhelming,evenafteryouhave
trieditfor a while.The wayto graspthe whole subjectistobreakit intocomponents.Affiliate

7. advertisingcanbe bestunderstoodbydefiningitsthree basiccomponents:affiliates,affiliate programs,
and affiliatenetworks.Once youhave abasicunderstandingof these elements,you’llbe able tostart
signingupforprograms and creatingyourfirstaccounts.
Who Are the Affiliates?Youare.Affiliatesare entrepreneurslikeyourself whoare willingtoadvertise
otherwebsites’productsandservicesfora commission.Theseaffiliate commissionsmaybe onlya
secondaryrevenue streamforsome entrepreneurswhoseprimaryonline businessiscomplementedby
runningrelevantadsonsome pages.Forothers, itmay representtheirprimaryrevenue stream.
Affiliatescanuse one of several modelstoconducttheiraffiliateadvertisingactivities.
Personal andBusinessWebSites.Traditionally,affiliate marketershave placedadvertisementsonweb
sitestheycreate themselves.These websitesmayprovide aproductorservice of theirown,runninga
fewadsin appropriate locationstocreate alittle extrarevenue.Insome casesthese websitesmight
containsome type of content(news,blogs,etc.) toattractvisitors,while relyingentirelyon
advertisementstogenerate revenue.Ineithercase,the keytothe successof theiraffiliate advertising
revenue streamisthe abilitynotjusttodrive traffictotheirsite,butalsoto provide advertisements
relevanttothe contentof the site that theirvisitorsare likelytofindinviting.One of the mostcommonly
seentypesof adstoday isnot a traditional bannerad,buta dynamicallygeneratedadthatrelatesin
some wayto the Webpage contentnearit. For instance, if youcreate a Webpage about science and
astronomy,orif yousimplymake apassingmentionof telescopesinyourblog,youcanplace
14
GettingStarted
an advertisingcode providedbyGoogle AdSense onthe page anditwill dynamicallyserve upamixture
of ads,all relatedtoyour site—inthiscase,astronomy.Some examplesof sample adsrelatedto
telescopesare showninFigure 2.1.

8. E-publications.Regularpublicationssuchasnewslettersthatare e-mailedtosubscribersare effective
waysto reach customerswhohave “optedin”to whatyou have to sayby signingup.Asthere isno cost
associatedwithsendingane-mail messagebeyondthe time andeffortputintowritingit,these e-
publicationscanbe costeffective—once youhave builtupa sizable listof subscribers,thatis.
Newsletterscantake time toprepare,andattracting andretainingsubscriberscanbe a verytrickytask.
E-publicationssenttoactive subscribersshouldnotbe confusedwithunwantedand
LearningaboutAffiliateAdvertising
15
Figure 2.1 Traditional AdsbyAffiliatesandOtherMarketersAre PlacedonWebPagesSource:
Screenshots© Google Inc.andare usedwithpermission.
unrequestedjunke-mail.Youshouldmail e-publicationsandnewslettersonlytouserswhorequestto
be addedas regularsubscriberstothe publication.
Free Software orFreeware.Anexcellentsource of revenue canbe embeddedaffiliate adsinhelpful
programsthat Web surferscandownloadforfree.Afreeware program, whichperformsaservice the
userwantsand needs,makesitclearthatdownloadingthe productwill resultinthe displayof
occasional advertisementssothatthe service canremainfree.Thisshouldnotbe confusedwiththe
unscrupulouspractice of embeddingspyware,whichmayinstallitself uninvitedorwhichmaynot
explainthe commercialaspectsof software before itisdownloaded.
SearchMarketing.My preferredmethodof advertising,andthe onlyadvertisingmethodthatwill be
coveredindetail inthisbook,issearchmarketing.Or,tobe more specific,paidsearchmarketingona
varietyof paidsearchand contentnetworks.Paidsearchreferstothe practice of chargingfor the
placementof adsinsearch resultsoron specificcontent-relatedwebsites(rememberAdSense?)—a
practice that makessearchand contentnetworkslotsof money.Mostsearchmarketersplace adson
paidsearch andcontentnetworkssuchas Google,Yahoo!,andMSN. On MSN,as on othersearch and
contentnetworks,these paidadsappearbothat the topand on the right-handside of a page of search
results(see Figure 2.2).These paidsearchadvertisementsare mybreadandbutter,and usingthemto
generate wealthisthe primaryfocusof thisbook.Ihave made millionsof dollarsalready,andif you
applyyourself,youjustmight make afew millionyourself.Chapter3offersmore informationabout
searchenginesandpaidsearchads.
16
GettingStarted
What Are AffiliatePrograms?Anaffiliate programisavehicle forwebsitesthatallowsthemtooffer
commissionstoaffiliatesforthe clicks/leads/salestheygenerate onbehalfof thatcompany.The
program maybe gearedtowardsellingproducts,registeringnew users,generatingsalesleads,or
collectingconsumerinformation.Whateverthe goal,affiliatesare encouragedtojointhese programs
and drive relevanttraffictothe affiliate program’swebsite.
What Are AffiliateNetworks?Anaffiliate networkdoesn’tplace adsforcompanies.Itisa companythat
functionsasa sort of go-between,providingservices

9. LearningaboutAffiliateAdvertising
17
Figure 2.2 Search MarketersUse the Visibilityof SearchandContentNetworksLike ThistoPlace Affiliate
AdsSource:Microsoftproduct screenshotreprintedwithpermissionfromMicrosoftCorporation.
for boththe merchantswhohave productsto advertise andthe affiliateswhoadvertise them.Affiliate
networksofferlotsof importantvalue-addedservices,suchastrackingclicks,visits,purchases,and
otheractions;providingtoolsforreportinghow manypeopleviewanad,or click onit; and processing
paymentstoaffiliates.Theyalsohelpbringaffiliatestogetherwithadvertisers:Advertisersmighthave
to pay a fee tojointhe network,buttheyare able to provide the networkwithlogosandother
advertisingmaterials,andthe networkhelpsbypublicizingthemtotheirindividualaffiliate members.
You mighthearthe wordtierusedinconjunctionwithaffiliate networks.Some networksare two-tier,
some are three-tier,andsoon.Atierisa stepon a systemof sign-ups:If youare a memberof a network
and yousignup someone else tomake apurchase,youare saidto be on the firsttier,andthe person
whosignedupison the secondtier.You earna referral fee forsigningupthe secondtiermember. The
second-tiermember,inturn,canearna referral fee forsigningupsomeoneelse,butonlyif the network
allowsthatnumberof tiers.Some of the best-knownaffiliate networksare listedhere (thisbrief listis
justa sampling,notacomprehensive survey,of affiliatenetworks):
CommissionJunction/BFAST(www.cj.com).CommissionJunctionisone of the largest,if notthelargest,
paymentnetworkforadvertisingande-commerce traffic.You’llfindoutmore abouthow to use itlater
inthischapter.
Affiliate Fuel (www.affiliatefuel.com).Thishighlyregardedaffiliate networkoffersavarietyof toolsand
reportingoptionsthatcan be extremelyvaluable tosearchmarketers.AffiliateFuel isparticularlyactive

10. ineducational affiliateprogramsandofferssome of the highestcommissionsandconversionratesin
that industry.
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GettingStarted
Advertising.com(www.advertising.com).Thisadvertisingnetworkprimarilyusesapay-per-clickmodel.
The networktracks the placementof banneradson websites. Advertising.comisnotable forits
“intelligentmodelingsystem,”whichkeepstrackof the typesof ads that have attractedthe greatest
response onyoursite.The systemthenplacessimilaradsonthe site.
LinkShare (www.linkshare.com).Apioneerof onlineaffiliate marketingthatadvertisesitself asthe largest
pay-forperformance affiliate marketingnetworkonthe Internet.
Performics(www.performics.com).Thisperformancebasedmarketingdivisionof DoubleClickbillsitself
as an online marketingservice forleadingmultichannelmarketers.
eAdvertising(www.eadvertising.com).Thissubsidiaryof LeadClickMediaadvertisesitself asa“private
CPA network.”Publisherscanuse banners,pop-ups,andsearchads.
CommissionStructuresAsasearchmarketer,your maingoal is to getpaidfor placingads.The
advertiserswhoagree toletyouplace ads don’thave a problemwithpayingyou.Theydo,however,
have differentpaymentsystems.
Pay PerClick.A pay-per-clickcommissionstructure paysyouafixedamount—generallybetween3and
25 centsper click—foreachclick(orvisitor) yousendtothe client’swebsite.Mostpayper-click
commissionprogramsspecificallyprohibitsearchmarketing,however,soyouwouldtake advantage of
these typesof
LearningaboutAffiliateAdvertising
19
programsonlyif you had a contentsite of yourown onwhichto advertise.
Pay PerSale.Pay-per-saleprogramsfall intotwocategories:
1. Percentage of sale or revenue.Youreceive apercentage of the purchase price ora percentage of
revenue (netprofit).2.Fixedcommissionpersale.Insteadof apercentage of the sale price,youreceive
a fixedcommission(e.g.,$5or $10 per sale).
You mighthearone of these optionscalledrevenuesharing.Some affiliateprogramsgive youthe option
of choosingapercentage orfixedcommission.Acommissioncanrange between5and 60 percentof the
purchase price,soexamine the eventual purchase pricesof the itemsyouare goingto promote:You
mightactuallydobetterwitha flatcommission.
Pay PerLead/Action.Informationisthe coinof the realmformanywebsites.These sitesplace asmuch
value inreceivingsomeone’scontactinformationandhavingthemfilloutaform or downloadapiece of
software astheydo inpurchasinga tangible goodor service.Theypayaffiliateswhensomeoneclickson
theirad and performsaparticularaction.Some examplesinclude:

11. • Completesforms.Suchsitespayafee whensomeone youreferfillsoutaform.Typically,aform
requiresthe persontosubmitaname,address,ande-mail address,all of whichcanbe usedfor
subsequentmarketingcontacts.•Optsfor free registrations.Siteslike the auctiongianteBay
(www.ebay.com)willpayaffiliatesif aclickon one of theirads causesthe clickerto signup witheBay,
althoughthey
20
GettingStarted
do require thatthe newlyregistereduserbecome anactive userbyplacingat leastone bidor
purchasingor listingatleastone item.•Takes advantage of free downloads.Some siteswill payyoua
referral fee if aclickon one of yourads leadstoa downloadof software theyprovide.Downloadscan
leadto eventual purchasesof the software.
Sitesthatdon’tsell tangible goodsandservicesbutthatdevelopcomputersoftware orprovide
informationthatyouhave toregisterto use are good candidatesforaffiliate programs.Lookforsites
that are especiallypopularandthatare relativelynew— inotherwords,those thatdon’talreadyhave
millionsof registeredusersthatare still growingsteadily.Inmyopinion,pay-per-lead/actionprograms
tendto be the most profitable onesforsearchmarketers.Ingeneral,the lessaprogramwantsyou to
getthe customertodo or to spend,the easieritwill be foryouto findcustomerswhowill performthe
actionsyouneedto receive afee.
NOTE: You mightsee pay-per-lead/actionprogramsreferredtoascost per action(CPA) bysome affiliate
programs.
MixedPaymentSystems.Somesites,like eBay,have welldevelopedaffiliate systemsthatpaydifferently
for differentactions.First,if youplace anad thatcausessomeone toregisterwitheBayforthe firsttime
and thenuse hisor her newregistrationtoplace abid,youearn a fee of between$12 and$22. At the
same time,eBayoperatesarevenue-sharingprograminwhichaffiliates earnapercentage of the
revenue eBaygeneratesfromeachsale— notof the final sale price—whentheyrefersomeonewho
placesa winningbidormakesan instant“BuyIt Now”purchase.
LearningaboutAffiliateAdvertising
21
Each aspect of eBay’scommission structure requiresthat,inordertobe paid,the shoppershave to
actuallybe willingtospendmoney—theyhave toplace abidif theyare new registrantsorplace a
winningbidormake a purchase if theyare currentlyaneBay member.Because of the need toattract
shopperswhomustactuallyfollow throughinsome way,eBaycanbe a difficultmarkettocrack: It’s
difficulttowrite adsthatpromptthe correctactions,and it’salsodifficulttofine-tuneandmanage
advertisingprograms.Notonlythat,but eBay’spopularitymakesthe competitionparticularlyfierce.
Nevertheless,becauseeBayissucha vast marketplace,the advertisingopportunitiesare virtually
endless.Tofindoutmore abouteBay’soptionsforaffiliates,visithttp://affiliates.ebay.com.
HOW DO I GET STARTED?

12. Naturally,bynowyouare anxioustogetstarted,and youare probablywonderingwhenwe canbegin
joiningaffiliateprogramsandstartearningmoney.Don’tworry,we’ll getthere soon,butfirstwe need
to introduce youtoone more concept.Rememberwhenwe discussedthe differentmodelsthat
affiliatesuse topromote the affiliate programstheyjoin?Iidentifiedsearchmarketingasmypreferred
methodof advertisingtheseprograms.Searchmarketingisthe tool youwill use tomake youraffiliate
advertisingbusinessareal success,soyou needtounderstandthisconceptaswell before youcanreally
getstarted.In Chapter3, you’ll learnmore aboutsearchmarketing,the difference betweenpaidand
natural search,and the distinctionsbetweensearchnetworksandcontentnetworks.
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GettingStarted
23
Chapter3
LearningaboutSearchMarketing
There are lotsof waysto make moneyonline withaffiliate advertising,butone methodrequiresless
time,lessmoney,andlesscomputerknow-how thanall the others,andthatmethodissearch
marketing.SearchmarketingwithGoogle andothersearchandcontentnetworksisthe model that’s
beenmostsuccessful forme.Asyou’ll see inlaterchapters,it’salsoanadvertisingmediumoverwhichI
can exercise agreatdeal of fine-grainedcontrol.Iturnedtosearchmarketingonsearchand content
networkslike Google specificallybecause Ididn’twantthe upkeepandoverheadrequiredtomaintaina
website of my own.I hadno ideathat inaddition tobeingthe easiestandmostefficientwaytoearn
moneyas an affiliateadvertiser,itcouldalsobe the mostprofitable.Inthischapteryouwill learnabout
searchmarketersandsearch marketing.Youwill findoutjustwhata searchand contentnetwork isand
identifysome of the majornetworksavailable today.Youwill alsolearnthe differencebetweenthe
searchand contentsidesof these networksandhow torun yourads on one or the otheror both.
Finally,Ipointoutsome of the reasonswhysearch marketingisthe promotional methodof choice when
it comesto affiliateadvertising.
WHO ARE SEARCH MARKETERS?
Who are searchmarketers?Verysoonnow,youwill be.Forthe mostpart, searchmarketersare
enterprisingindividualswhoknow somethingabout how the Webworksandwho have faithinthe
powerof search enginestoattractlotsof visitorswhowantto findparticularfactsand figuresonline.
Sometimes,searchmarketersare peoplewhohave beenemployedinafieldlike Webdesign,website
management,orsearchengine optimization.Theyfindthemselves“betweenjobs”orwithextratime on
theirhands,andtheyturn to searchmarketingalmostasan experiment,tosee how fartheycan go with
it.Otherpeople withlittleornopriorexperience,like myself,stumbleacrossitsomehow anddiscover
an unknownandinnate talentformarketingand,withthe limitlesspotential of the Internet,they
quicklyparlaythattalentintoa fortune.Of course,searchmarketingisnotfor everybody.Some people
have askedme for advice aboutsearchmarketing,have takenouta few ads,and have quicklyfolded
theircards whentheylostsome money.Theydidn’thave the patience andthe drive tostaywithsearch
marketing,andthe lackof instantsuccesswasenoughtomake themgive up.If youdon’tpossesssome

13. degree of patience—andalittle bitof intelligence—thenyoursearchmarketingcareerislikelytobe
short andexpensive.
TIP: Some searchmarketerslike ToddMintzandknowledgeablewriterslike JenniferLaycock contribute
to the Search Engine Marketingsectionof the SearchEngine Guide website (www.searchengineguide
.com).Theircontributionstothe site cantell youmore aboutwho searchmarketersare and whatthey
wantfrom advertisers.
24
GettingStarted
WHAT IS SEARCH MARKETING?
Searchmarketing,alsosometimesreferredtoassearchengine marketingorpaidsearchmarketing,isa
collectionof marketingmethodsusedtoincrease the visibilityof awebsite inthe searchengine results
pagesof one or more searchand contentnetworks.There are twobasictypesof search results:natural
searchresultsandsponsoredsearchresults.Sponsoredsearchresultsare yourprimaryconcernhere,
but I will give abrief descriptionof both.Natural SearchNatural search resultsare,quite simply,alistof
websites,descriptions,andlinkstothe sitesinquestion.These are returnedinresponsetothe
keywordsenteredintothe searchengine,whichare usedinanalgorithmtoselectthese sitesfromthe
searchengine’s indexof sites.Figure3.1highlightsthe natural searchresultsonGoogle forthe search
termcomputerjobs.Notice thatthe natural search resultsdonot alwaysstartimmediately.Sometimes,
sponsoredsearchadswill appearabove the natural searchresults,seeminglyalmostaspartof the
natural search results.You’ll learnmore aboutsponsoredsearchsoonenough,though.Fornow,let’s
getback to natural search.There are two waysto promote a site inthe natural search results:search
engine optimization(SEO) andpaidinclusion.
1. Search engine optimization(SEO).Searchengine optimizationisthe processbywhichyouattemptto
improve awebsite’srankingsforrelevantkeywordsinsearchresultsbyoptimizingthe website
structure and contentinsuch a way as to make itmore easilyreadandcatalogedby the searchengine’s
software.The goal isto have the optimizedsite recognizedbythe searchengine’ssoftware
LearningaboutSearchMarketing
25
as more relevantthanothersitesandto appearhigherupin the searchresultlistingsasa resultof the
optimization.Trafficgeneratedbynatural searchresultsdoesnothave tocost the site owneranything,
so the searchengine optimizationprocesscanmake atremendousdifference inasite’soverall success
and profitability.2.Paidinclusion.Paidinclusioninvolvespayingasearchengine orsearch networkto
include awebsite initsnatural search index ratherthansimplysubmittingthe site forconsiderationand
possible inclusionforfree.Asitemightalsopayfora guaranteedhighrankinginthe natural search
results.
That is as muchas you needtoknowaboutnatural searchfor now.The real focusof thischapteris
sponsoredsearch.
26

14. GettingStarted
Figure 3.1 Google’sNatural SearchResults Source:Screenshots© Google Inc.andare usedwith
permission.
SponsoredSearchSponsored,orpaid,searchresultsare actuallyadvertisements— usuallytext—
triggeredbythe same keywordsthatsearchenginesuse toselectwebsitesfortheirnatural search
results.These textadvertisementsruntothe rightside of the natural searchresultsandsometimesjust
above them.These adsare usuallyidentifiedassponsoredresults,butbecause of the performance
algorithmsusedbythe premiere searchengines, these paidadvertisementsare alsohighlyrelevantto
the search termsentered,andmanyusersare quite willingtoclickonthese adsif theyappearto offer
whattheyare searchingfor.Figure 3.2 highlightsthese sponsoredadsastheyappearat the top and
rightside of Google’ssearchresults.
LearningaboutSearchMarketing
27
Figure 3.2 SponsoredAdsonGoogle Source:Screenshots© Google Inc.andare usedwithpermission.

15. The format issimilaronmostother searchenginesaswell.Figures3.3and 3.4 show the same search
resultsandad placementsonMSN and Yahoo!Regardlessof where these adsactuallyappear,however,
there are two basicmodelsforsponsoredsearch:payforplacementandperformance-basedpaid
search.Althoughbothmodelscanbe usedto make moneyinaffiliateadvertising,the performance-
basedmodel offersgreateropportunitiestoaffiliate advertiserswhorelyonsearchmarketingto
generate theiraffiliatecommissions.
Pay forPlacement.The pay-for-placementmodel simplyrewards the highestbidderswiththe highestad
placements,whichusuallygenerate the highestvolume of clicks.Thiscanbe an excellent
28
GettingStarted
Figure 3.3 SponsoredAdsonMSN Source:Microsoftproduct screenshotreprintedwithpermissionfrom
MicrosoftCorporation.

16. optionfora Web businessthathashighermarginsthanitscompetitorsandcan affordto pay more and
still make aprofit,butit isa verydifficultmodel foraffiliateadvertiserstomake profitable.The reason
for thisdifficultyis thataffiliatesare oftencompetingwithdozens,hundreds,oreventhousandsof
otheraffiliatestryingtopromote the same affiliate programsusingthe same keywords.Naturally,the
returnon any givenkeywordisroughlythe same forall affiliatesmarketingthe same program, and
typicallyanumberof themare biddingjustunderorrightup to the amounttheyall know theywill earn,
on average,perclick.Thisleavesaverynarrow margin,if any, onwhichto builda profit.There are a
couple of waysto overcome thisdifficulty.Foraffiliate programsthatofferperformancetiers(higher
paymentsfor
LearningaboutSearchMarketing
29
Figure 3.4 SponsoredAdsonYahoo! Source:Reproducedwithpermissionof Yahoo!Inc.© 2006 by
Yahoo!Inc. YAHOO!and the YAHOO! logoare trademarksof Yahoo!Inc.

17. deliveringmore customers),anaffiliate couldaggressivelyattempttooutbidhisorhercompetitors
across a large numberof relevantkeywordsandphraseswiththe goal of reachingone of the top
performance tiersandthusraisingthe returnperclickabove mostof the competition.Idiscuss
performance tiersingreaterdetail inChapter9,“Performance MonitoringandTuning.”The second
methodwouldbe totailoryourad to attract fewer,butmore relevant,clicks thanthe otherads.For
instance,if yourcommissionisdependentonuserspayingtoregisterinordertouse a site,youcould
state thisclearlyinthe ad. Fewerpeople will clickonthe ad,butmore of those whodo clickon the ad—
knowingthattheymustpay to register—will actuallyregister,thereforeprovidingyouwitha
commission.Youwill nowbe makingmore perclick,onaverage,andbe able toaffordto pay more per
click,thusraisingyourad to a higherposition,where itcangenerate more volume.You’lllearnmore
aboutwritingadsin the comingchapters,butfor now let’sgetback to learningaboutsearchmarketing
options.
Performance-BasedPaidSearch.The performance-basedsearchenginealgorithmsare reallyyourbest
betfor settingyourselfapartfromthe competitionandmakingreal money.Here ishow theywork:
Insteadof givingthe highestplacementtothe highestbidder,aperformance-basedalgorithmalsolooks
at the clickthroughrate (CTR) of eachad. If one ad has a higherCTR thananotherad, the ad withthe
higherCTR will nothave tobidas much as the lower-performingadtorun above it.How much lessyou
may be requiredtobidand still runabove the higher-payingaddependsonjusthow muchhigheryour
CTR is comparedto the competingador ads.If yourCTR ismore than double thatof the other ads,you
mightbidand pay as little ashalf asmuch and still have youradrun above the competition,generating
more clicksat
30
GettingStarted

18. a lowercost thanyour competition.That’sright—more clicksata lowercost.So remembertopay
attentionlater,whenyoustartlearninghow towrite these ads,because adcopyiskingin the landof
performance-basedsearchmarketing!
WHAT ARE SEARCH ANDCONTENTNETWORKS?
Searchand contentnetworksare arguablythe mostflexible andrelevantadvertisingvehiclesin
existence,andamodern-daygoldrushhasquietlybeenbuildingupsteamaroundthemfora decade or
more.By allowingyoutopickkeywordsandphrasestotriggeryourads, youcontrol who seesthese ads
witha level of detail neverbeforepossible.Unlikeinthe olddays,though,thismodern-daygoldrush
doesn’trequire thatyoupickupand leave everythingelse behindwhileyouseekyourfortune insome
farawayland.In fact,you neednotevenquityourdayjob.As I mentionedbefore,there are twobasic
typesof search andcontentnetworks:payforplacementandperformance-based.The pay-for-
placementmodel isthe traditional one.Explainedquite simply,the highestbidderreceivesthe highest
ad positioninrelationtosearchresultsandpaysthe mostper clickfor thatprivilege.Thismodel may
serve some businesseswell,butfora searchmarketerandaffiliate advertiserwhooftencompetes
againstmanyother searchmarketersadvertisingthe same affiliateprograms,there islittle ornomoney
to be made.The earningsperclickwill be virtuallythe same foranyone biddingonthe same keyword
and advertisingthe same affiliate program, andthe resultisusuallyseveral adsbiddingrightuptothe
maximumamountyouare likelytobe able toearn perclick.There are some exceptions,tobe sure,butI
largelyavoidthese typesof searchengines,asthere islittlehope of makingadecentreturnonmy
investmentof time andmoney.
LearningaboutSearchMarketing
31
The newer,performance-basedsearchandcontentnetworksare yourbestbet.Ratherthangivingthe
highestpositiontothe personwillingtopaythe most,performance-basedalgorithmstake intoaccount
the actual performance of yourad inrelationtoothers.If yourad isclickedon10 percentof the timesit
isviewed,andyourcompetitor’sadisclickedononly5 percentof the time,these algorithmsrecognize
that the search engine canmake more moneyrunningyouradeven bychargingyou justa little more
than half of what yourcompetitormightbe willingtopay.That’sright,you can geta higherposition
(whichtranslatesdirectlytohighervolume) foralowercostif you write anad that outperformsthe
competition.If youforgeteverythingelseItell you,rememberthis:Adcopyisking!Numeroussearch
and contentnetworksare availableonline;foramore complete andup-to-date list,youcanvisitwww
.AffiliateMillions.com,butfornowI listjusta few of the big ones.
First-TierSearchandContentNetworksThese networksare amongthe largestandbest-knownsearch
engines,andsometimeslesser-knownsearchpagesare poweredbehindthe scenesbythese engines
and theirsearchalgorithms.More important,however,thesesearchenginesprovide highqualityclick
trafficfromtheirInternet-savvyusers.
Google AdWords(http://adwords.google.com).The Google AdWordsprogramisa pioneerof
performancebasedpaidsearch,anditcan deliverbothquantityandqualityclicktraffic.Itoffersa
varietyof helpful tools,includingcustomizedreports,conversiontracking,geotargeting,keyword

19. suggestions,andaddiagnostics.Anadcouldcost as little as1 centper click,butyou are more likelyto
pay at least3 cents perclick on mostcampaigns.
32
GettingStarted
MSN adCenter(http://adcenter.msn.com).MSN’sadCenterprogramisanewerconvertto the
performancebasedmodel,andalthoughthe volumeof InternetsearchesperformedonMSN doesnot
currentlyapproachGoogle’s,the qualityof trafficisverycomparable.Also,MSN’sadCenterprogram
offersa varietyof toolsandoptionsthatinclude customizedreportsandgeo-targeting,anditeven
allowsadvertiserscertaindemographictargetingoptionsnotcurrentlyavailable onmany othersearch
engines.
Yahoo!Search Marketing(www.overture.com).Yahoo!SearchMarketingisone of the firstand largest
searchand contentnetworksonthe Internet.Althoughthe companyhasbeenaroundsince 1994,
Yahoo!didn’tgetaggressive aboutsearchmarketinguntil 2002, whenitbeganacquiringcompeting
companiessuchas Inktomi andOverture.ItstoppedusingGoogle’spaidsearchservice andbeganusing
itsown technologyin2004; and,while ithasonlyrecentlycommittedtoadoptingaperformance-based
paidsearch algorithm,Yahoo!certainlyhasthe potentialtomatchGoogle intermsof bothqualityand
quantity.
Second-TierSearchandContentNetworksThese searchandcontentnetworksmaynotbe as well-
knownor as popularas the first-tierengines,andthe qualityandvolume of the trafficgeneratedmay
not alwaysbe as high,butoftentimesthese enginescandeliverclicksata lowercost,and ina business
such as searchmarketing,thatlowercostcouldtranslate tohighermargins.These networkscanbe
great forpickingupsome extraclicksat a goodprice,butI encourage youto be evenmore selective
than youmightnormallybe whenselectingkeywordsandphrases(somethingdiscussedinmore detail
LearningaboutSearchMarketing
33
later).Inparticular,be verycautioususingbroadmatch on single keywords,assome of these algorithms
seemtobroad-matchmore widelythanothers,andthiscan sometimesresultinlessrelevantclick
traffic.
MIVA(www.miva.com).Thissite hasasitsmission“HelpYourBusinessGrow.”Ithas several international
sites,includingseparate locationsinthe UnitedKingdom, Germany,France,Spain,andothernations.
MIVA offersa pay-per-clicksystemaswell asapay-per-call system.If the companiesyouadvertise (e.g.,
those inservice industries,suchasfinancial andinvestmentcompaniesormedical professionals) want
to receive phone callsfromprospectivecustomers,considerMIVA.
Kanoodle (www.kanoodle.com).Alongwithtargetingadsbasedongeographic locationof the
prospective customers,the contextof the ad,andkeywords,Kanoodle offersone otherinnovative
solution:targetingthe behaviorof prospective customers.The BehaviorTargetprogramidentifies
segmentsof Websurfersbasedontheironline behavior,sendingadsforspecificproductsandservices
to individualsbasedonthatbehavior.Forinstance,if Kanoodle knowsthatsomeone hasvisitedthe site

20. of a surfingshopinthe past 30 days,it mightdeliverpaidplacementadvertisementsforsurfboardsand
otherequipmenttothatindividual.
Enhance (www.enhance.com).Thisnetworkseekstodistinguishitself fromthe competitionintwoways.
Firstof all,the site claimsthatitsclickprices(witha minimumbidof 3 centsperclick) are lowerthan
those of most othernetworks.Second,itseekstoofferahigherlevel of
34
GettingStarted
customersupportthanbiggercompetitors:Eachcustomergetsa telephone numberandaccessto an
account representative whocanhelp.Enhance hasexcellentcustomerservice,andmyexperience has
beenthatit can actuallydeliveraveryhighvolume of clicksat a low price,butyou mustbe very
selectivewiththe keywordsyouuse,makingcertainthattheyare highlyrelevant.
Why choose one of the second-tiercontentnetworks?Insome instancescontentnetworkslike
Kanoodle providehigh-qualitytrafficforspecializedsubjects.Forcertainproductsorservices,these
networksmightperformverywell,sodon’tleave themoutof youroptions.Idon’trecommendthat you
start out,though,withsecondtiersearchandcontentnetworks,becausetheirvolume and/orqualityof
trafficissometimesmuchlowerthanthatof theirbiggercompetitors.It’ssafertostartout withthe
biggerplayersandthenexpandtoone or more of these smallersitesafteryousecure afootholdinthe
marketand have some experience managingsearchcampaigns.
WHAT ARE MY SEARCH MARKETINGOPTIONS?
Most search enginesoffermore thanone wayto place paidsearchads on theirnetworks.Textadsare
the most commonand the mosteffective,butsome networksalsoallow youtoplace image ads,though
I haven’thadany successat all withthemmyself.Whenitcomestosearchmarketing,apicture is
definitelynotwortha thousandwords.Whatevertype of adsyoudo run,however,youneedtobe
aware of the venuesforrunningthem.The mostcommonchoicesare searchnetworksandcontent
networks,sowe shouldtake amomentto describe themboth.
LearningaboutSearchMarketing
35
SearchNetworksWe all know whata searchengine isbynow,butdidyou know that notall search
pagesare poweredbytheirownsearchengine?Manysearchpages,andwebsiteswithsearch
functions,are powerednotbytheirownsearchenginesbutbyanothersearchengine theypartne rup
withto provide these searchcapabilitiestotheirclients.CNN’swebsite,forinstance,offersasearch
functionpoweredbyYahoo!Those websitesthatpartnerwithasearch engine toprovide these services
are part of that search engine’ssearchnetwork.Whenyourunanad ona searchnetwork,thatad could
be displayedinthe searchresultsonhundredsof differentsearchpages.Some searchengines,like
Google forinstance,allowyoutoopt inor opt out of theirsearchnetwork(see Figure 3.5),whichallows
youto run your ad eitheron
36
GettingStarted

21. Figure 3.5 OptingIn or Out of Google’sSearchNetworkSource:Screenshots© Google Inc.andare used
withpermission.
justthe Google searchpagesor onall theirpartnersearch pagesas well.
ContentNetworksContentnetworksworkalittle differentlyfromsearchengines.
Whenyourunyouradonacontentnetwork,itisnotshowingupinalistof searchresultsinresponse tosearch
termsmatchingthe keywordsorphrasesyoubidon. Instead,youradis shownonwebsiteswhose
contentmatchesthe keywordsyoubidon.For example,if youare promotinganaffiliate programfora
jobssite andyou bidon the keywordresume,youradmightappearona website dedicatedtoresume
building.Some searchengines(I’lluseGoogleagainasanexample)willallowyoutooptinoroptoutof their
contentnetworksthe same wayyoucan opt inor outof
theirsearchnetworks,andtheywillevenallowyoutoplaceseparatebidsforadsrunningontheircontentnetwor
k(seeFigure3.6).Googlealsooffersyou the flexibilityof choosingexactlywhichcontentsitesyourads
appearon and has evenoffered,insteadof the pay-per-clickmodel,apay-per-impressionprogram,or
CPM, inwhichadvertiserspayafixedcostfor each1,000 timesanad is shownonthe Web page or
pageswhere itappears.Some contentnetworks,includingGoogle,give searchmarketersthe optionto
advertise byCPM,but I generallyadvise againstit.The CPMpaymentmodel isnottiedtoa measurable
performance metricandismore commonlyusedtoslowlybuildormaintainalevel of brandrecognition
amonga specificaudience ratherthantogenerate animmediate returnonyourinvestment.The pay-
per-clickbiddingsystemallowsyoutocontrol yourcosts andkeepyourspendinglevelsbelow your
expectedreturns.Thisismuchmore difficulttoaccomplishunderapayper-impressionsystem,andI
recommendyouavoidit.Contentnetworkscanbe a goodsource of additional traffic,
LearningaboutSearchMarketing
37

22. but notin all instances.Infact,I have had onlyone reallysuccessful contentcampaigninthe few yearsI
have beendoingthis.Itearnednearlyathousanddollarsaday for me while itlasted,soIencourage you
to try these nowandthen,but be aware that it maybe slightlymore difficulttobuildprofitable
campaignsonthe contentnetworksthanonthe search networks.
WHY USE SEARCH MARKETING TO PROMOTE AFFILIATEPROGRAMS?
Searchmarketingworksbecause itmatchesconsumers’desireswithawayto gratifythem.WhenWeb
surferslookforsomething—say,anexpensive pairof Italianshoes,theyare presentedwithadsrelated
to theirsearchfor,say, “Borelli shoes”thatprobablyevencontainthe brandname of the shoesthey’re
lookingforinthe mainheadingof the ad.
38
GettingStarted
Figure 3.6 OptingIn or Out of Google’sContentNetworkandSeparate BidsSource:Screenshots©
Google Inc.and are usedwithpermission.
LearningaboutSearchMarketing
39
Learningthe Lingoof PPCIn orderto make moneywithPPC,itpays(literally) toknow the language.
Wheneveryousignupforprograms or readabout them, youare presentedwithsome basictermsthat
everyone seemstoassume youknow.I’mnotgoingto make that assumption.I’mgoing toprovide brief
explanationsof the mostcommontermsalongwiththe manyalternative termsorphrases—itoften
seemseachwebsite hasitsown wayof speakingthat’sdifferentfromitscompetitors’lingo.Here are
some of the basictermsyouneedto know:

23. • Conversionratio.Youmightalsosee thisreferredtoas conversionrate.The conversionrate refersto
the numberof individualswhoclickonan online adandendup performingaspecificaction,suchas
makinga purchase or fillingoutaregistration form.•Clickvalue.Icommonlycall thisthe marginon a
click.It’sthe difference betweenwhatyoupayfora clickand how much you make onthat click.If you
pay $1 perclickfor one campaignand 5 centsfor another,itdoesn’tnecessarilymeanthe 5-centclickis
a bettervalue.If youearn$1.75 per clickwiththe $1 clickand earnonly6 centson the 5-centclick,the
$1 clickhas a higherclickvalue.• Costper click.The amountyou actuallypayforeach click,as opposed
to howmuch youbidper click.• Pay perclick.An advertisingsysteminwhichadvertiserspayforplacing
an ad basedon the numberof timessomeone clicksonit,asopposedtopayingforeach time the ad is
viewed(perimpression).
40
GettingStarted
• Returnoninvestment(ROI).Yourreturnonyour advertisinginvestment(i.e.,yourearnings).If you
spend$100 ona campaignandyou getback $150, yourROI is 50 percent,or$50. • Landingpage.A
landingpage isthe Webpage that yourlinkpointsto.It mightbe a linkto a productdescriptionpage on
Amazon.comorBarnesandnoble.comoronsome othermerchant’swebsite.•Keywords.Wordsor
phrasesthat people enterwhentheysearchforsomethingona searchengine.Alsocalledsearchterms.
• Negative keywords.Wordsorphrases that will exclude searchersusingthose negativekeywordsfrom
seeingyourads.• Performance tiers.Tiersare levelsof performance.If youdeliverabove acertainlevel
of volume inaquarter,some advertiserswill increase yourcommissions.Yourcommissionslides
dependingonhowwell youdowiththem.•Natural search.Whenyousubmitkeywordstoa website
and clickthe Search button,the resultsyougetare a mixture of natural searchandsponsoredsearch(or
paidsearch).The natural search results are the onesthe searchengine finds—notthe onespeople have
paidfor.Conversely,whenyousubmityourwebsitetoasearchengineforfree,itshowsuponnatural search
results—ifitisaccepted.•Paidsearch(alsocalledsponsoredsearch).Theseare adsthat publisherslike
youand otheradvertisershave paidtohave includedalongsidethe natural searchresults.
Were it notfor searchmarketing,youwouldbe limitedinthe numberandtypesof affiliate programs
youcouldjoinand earnmoneyon bythe contentof yourwebsite.Nosense tryingtosell fine Italian
shoesonyour astronomywebsite.The adspace will earnmore moneypromotingrelevantproducts,
like telescopes,thanbytryingto sell shoes.Youcouldcreate lotsof websites,eachwithunique and
differentcontent,butthisrequiresquite aninvestmentintime andmoney.Withsearchmarketing,you
have access toan unlimitedvarietyof relevantaudienceswithoutthe expense of creatingor
popularizingyourownvarietyof contentsites.Thisflexibilityallowsyoutopromote anyproduct,any
service,virtuallyanythingatall simplybybiddingonafew (orin some casesa few hundred) relevant
keywordsanddisplayingyouradsautomaticallytoarelevantaudience.Once yourcampaignisrunning
properly, itcan continue toearnmoneywithverylittle additional effortonyourpart,beyondsimply
monitoringthe returns.Some of mycampaigns,once established,have earnedtensof thousandsof
dollarsa monthformonthsat a time withnochangesat all.Try gettinga website toperformlike that
withoutconstantattention.
LearningaboutSearchMarketing
41

24. • Content-focusedadvertising.Advertisingthatmatchesadstothe contentaroundthem, which
increasesthe chancesthatthe readersof the contentwill be interestedinthe contentof the
advertisement.Alsocalledcontextualadvertisingorcontentmatchadvertising.
These termsare intendedasa startingpoint.You’ll findawiderselectionof termsinthisbook’s
glossary.
In short,searchmarketingis faster,easier,andcheaperthansettingupwebsitesonyourownto
advertise affiliate programs(althoughif youalreadyownandoperate asuccessful site,byall meansuse
that site as well).Inadditiontothese advantages,the potential of searchmarketingtogenerate income
islimitedonlybyyourownintelligence,drive,andinitiative.Inthischapter,youlearnedaboutmany
differenttypesof paidsearchoptions.Youwere introducedtothe majorsearchandcontentnetworks,
and youfoundout whysearchmarketingshouldbe suchanintegral part of your affiliateadvertising
business.Nowwe knowaboutaffiliateadvertising,we know somethingaboutsearchmarketing,andwe
knowwe wantto use these twodisciplinestogethertogenerate wealth.Iguess itisfinallytime toget
started.InChapter4, I start to actuallywalkyouthroughthe processof joiningaffiliate networks;in
Chapter5, we begincomparingaffiliateprogramsandchoosingwhichof those programsyoushouldjoin
and promote first.
42
GettingStarted
Part II
LaunchingYour AdvertisingCampaign
45
Chapter4
JoiningAffiliate Networks
Nowthat you’ve beenintroducedtoaffiliate advertisingandsearchmarketing,it’stimetotake some
concrete stepstowardmakingitall happen.Inthischapter,I walkyouthrough the processof joining
some affiliatenetworks,andbecause thisisoftenthe stage atwhichI receive the mostphone callsfrom
friendswhotryaffiliate advertising,Iamgoingto be as detailedaspossible.Keepinmind,though,that
websitessometimesmake changestotheirapplicationprocess.If yourunintotrouble,Ihave
developedaWebresource tohelpensure thatup-to-date informationandinstructionsare always
available.Thatresource isthe AffiliateMillionssiteatwww.AffiliateMillions.com.
HOW TO JOIN AFFILIATENETWORKS
There are dozens,if nothundreds,of affiliatenetworksavailableoutthere onthe Internetforyouto
join.Ican’t provide youwithstep-by-stepinstructionsonhow toparticipate ineachand everyone of
those networks,butIcan walkyou throughthe processwitha few of my favorites.Afterjoiningafewof
these siteswithmyhelp,youshouldn’thave anyproblemtakingyourself through

25. the processon yourown withsome of the manyother networksoutthere.Specifically,Iamgoingto
helpyougetstartedby walkingyouthroughthe processof joiningfourof myfavorite
networks:CommissionJunction,AffiliateFuel,Advertising.com,andAmazon.com’sAssociatesCentral.Even
thoughit isn’tanaffiliate networkperse,Amazon.comrunsone of the largestaffiliate programsonthe
Internetandoffersawide range of products.Since Amazonrunsthisaffiliate programonitsown,notas
part of anotheraffiliate network,Isimplytreatitasa networkof one.Ishouldremindyouhere thatthe
processof joiningmostof these networkswill gomuchsmootherif yousetup at leasta simple website
of yourownto representyournewbusiness(aprocessdescribedinChapter8).Most affiliate
applicationsrequestinformationaboutyourwebsite,evenwhenmanyof theiraffiliate programswill
allowyouto advertise theirprogramsonsearchengineswithouthavingawebsite of yourown.My own
website,www.AffiliateMillions.com, hasfree websitetemplatesandcanassistyouinfindingdomain
namesand Webhostingsites.Afteryoujoinone ormore of these networks—somemaytake some time
to approve you,soI recommendmakinggooduse of the waitingtime byjoiningatleasta few—Chapter
5 revisitsacouple of these networksandteachesyouhow tosearchfor andselectaffiliateprograms
and to generate the trackingcode youwill needinChapter6,whenyoustart writingyourads.
JoiningCommissionJunctionSigningupwithCommissionJunctionisnotacomplicated process,butif
youare newto the industryyoumighthave a hard time determiningexactlywhichprogramtojoin.The
Commission
46
LaunchingYour AdvertisingCampaign
Junctionhome page dividesitsclientsintotwocategories:advertisersandpublishers. Youmightthinkat
first—asIdid—thatyoushouldsignupas an advertiser.Afterall,youwillbe advertisingtheseaffiliate
programs,won’tyou?As far as CommissionJunctionisconcerned,though,the termadvertiserapplies
solelytothose companiesthatsignupwithCommissionJunctiontolaunchaffiliateadvertising
programsfor theirownwebsites.The businessesandindividualswhoapplytoCommissionJunctionin
orderto promote these affiliate programsonsearchenginesorontheirownwebsites, yourself
included,are publishers.Thinkof the termpublisherasa synonymforaffiliate,andrememberthatyou
will be publishingtheseads,eitheronyourownsite or on the searchand contentnetworkswe joinin
Chapter6. In any case,to become a publisherwithCommissionJunction,youneedtofill outits
applicationform.Youcan getto the form inone of twoways.The firstwayisto burrow intothe site
usingthe followingthree steps:
1. Go to the home page (www.cj.com) andclickthe “Publisherslink”onthe lowercenterof yourscreen
(see Figure 4.1).2. Whenthe Publisherspage appears,clickon“Learnmore aboutCJ Marketplace”(see
Figure 4.2). 3. Whenthe CJ Marketplace page appears,clickon“Clickhere”in the paragraphon
publishers(see Figure4.3) andyou will be takentothe applicationformpage.
The secondoptionisto jumpdirectlytothe applicationpage.Youcan pointyourbrowserdirectlytothe
applicationpage youwantat https://signup.cj.com/member/publisherSignUp.do.The only advantage of
not goingdirectlytothe sign-uppage
JoiningAffiliate Networks
47

26. isthat you can readsome backgroundon CJ Marketplace,whichisthe programyou’ll be applyingto
join.Ineithercase,whetheryougodirectlytothe applicationpage ornot,once you are there youwill
needtofill outthe two-partapplication.
Step1: PublisherApplication.Step1of the application(showninFigure 4.4) isa simple formrequesting
your language preference,country,andfunctional currency.Whenyouare finished,click“Next.”
Step2: Verifications.Afteryouclick“Next,”youwill be takentothe secondpage,“PublisherApplication:
Step2 of 2.” Thisis somewhatlengthy,butyou’ll have itfilledoutinnotime.
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LaunchingYour AdvertisingCampaign
Figure 4.1 Clickon the “e-Publishers”LinkSource:CommissionJunction,CJ.com
The top of page 2 consistsof three checkboxestoverifyyouhave readandacceptedCommission
Junction’sPublisherService Agreement(PSA) andprivacypolicyandthatyouare at least18
yearsofage(seeFigure4.5).Firstandforemost,besuretoreadand
acceptthePSA.YouwillneedtoreadthePSAallthewaytothebottom, where the Acceptbuttonappears,and
clickon it.Thenyou will needtoreadandaccept the PrivacyPolicy,makingsure tocheck the box
indicatingyouhave done sowhenyouare finished.
Finally,youwillneedtoverifythatyouareatleast18yearsofage
(assumingyouare)bycheckingtheappropriatebox.
Site Information.Belowthe verificationscomesthe nextsectionof the form, the Site Information
section.If youdo infact have a web
JoiningAffiliate Networks

27. 49
Figure 4.2 Clickon “Learn More aboutthe CJ Marketplace”Source:CommissionJunction,CJ.com
site,youmaylistit here.If youdo not have a website andintendtouse search marketingtodirectly
promote the affiliateprogramsyoujoin,thenthisformisnotreallydesignedtoacceptyourapplication,
as the website name and URLfieldsare required,butyoucantry a methodI have successfullyusedto
joinsome affiliate networksinthe past.Tryentering“SearchEngine Marketer”inthe name fieldandthe
URL of a searchengine inthe requiredURLfield,andthenmake itclearinthe website descriptionfield
that youdo not own
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LaunchingYour AdvertisingCampaign
Figure 4.3 Clickon the “Clickhere”Linkin the Paragraphon PublishersSource:CommissionJunction,
CJ.com

28. a website of your own,butthat you will be purchasingadspace on searchenginesandcontent
networks.Thismethodwillallow youtosubmitthe applicationforconsiderationeventhoughyoudo
not owna website.Some networkswill approve you;othersmaychoose notto.If an affiliate network
that youreallywantto jointurnsyoudownjust because youdonot have a website,youmaywant to
considerstartingone.Onmyown site,www.AffiliateMillions.com,Iofferfree website templatesand
assistance infindingdomainnamesandwebsite hosting.Inthe Categoryfield(seeFigure 4.6),select
WebServices> SearchEngine.Thenbe sure to checkSearch Engine Marketing,alongwithanyother
promotional methodsyoumightuse,inthe “Define yourpromotional methods”portionof the Site
JoiningAffiliate Networks
51
Figure 4.4 Step1 of CommissionJunction’sPublisherApplicationSource:CommissionJunction,CJ.com

29. Informationsection.Simplyanswernotothe questionaboutsite incentivesunlessyouhave orare
developingasite thatwill offeranykindof incentives.
Contact Information.Simplyenteryourname andaddress.
CompanyInformation.Unlessyouhave a separate businessentitytoenter,youmayenteryourpersonal
informationhere,includingusingyourownname forthe OrganizationName field.Whenyoucome to
the Tax ID field,youmayenteryoursocial securitynumberunless,once again,youhave aseparate
businessidentitycompletewithitsownfederal tax identificationnumber.Thenbe sure toselect
Individual/SoleProprietorfromthe drop-downmenuforTax Classification(seeFigure 4.7).
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LaunchingYour AdvertisingCampaign
Figure 4.5 VerificationsSource:CommissionJunction,CJ.com
PaymentInformation.Finally,inthe PaymentInformationsectionyouwill needtoselectyourpreferred
paymenttype fromthe drop-downbox (see Figure4.8).Youmay choose whateverformof paymentyou
like,butbe aware that onlydirectdepositiscompletelyfree of charge.Dependingonwhichmethodof
paymentyouchoose,youwill needtofill inthe relevantdetails.Youare now ready tosubmityour
application.Whenyouare finishedfillingoutthe form, clickon“AcceptTerms.”The Publisher
ApplicationSubmittedpage appears.Asthe firstparagraphof thispage explains,CommissionJunction
will sendane-mail (tothe addressyouprovided) containingyouraccountnumber,yourusername (the
same as the e-mail addressyoualreadysupplied),andyourpassword.Whenthise-mail arrives,youcan
logon to your CJAccount Manager™ and start
JoiningAffiliate Networks

30. 53
Figure 4.6 Site InformationSource:CommissionJunction,CJ.com
lookingforaffiliate programstojoin.Insteadof waitingaroundforthate-mail toarrive,though,let’s
continue onand joinafewmore affiliate networks.
NOTE:Youmay have noticedwhile youwere onthe CommissionJunctionhome page thatthere wasa
linkforsomethingcalledthe BFASTlogin.BfastwasoriginallyaValueClickcompanycalledBe Free,
whichwasin operationbefore ValueClickacquiredCommissionJunction.Today,CommissionJunctionis
definitelythe bigplayer,andIrarelyuse Bfast.I finditsuserinterface lessintuitive thanCommission
Junction’s,andthe selectionismuchbroaderonCommissionJunctionaswell.There isone affiliate
program at Bfastthat I had goodluck withearlyoninmy career,though,and youmay finditworththe
effortof
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LaunchingYour AdvertisingCampaign
Figure 4.7 CompanyInformationSource:CommissionJunction,CJ.com
joiningjusttoparticipate.Barnes&Noble isthe affiliateprogramof whichIspeak,andI do recommend
it to beginners,asithas reasonable commissions,awide varietyof productstomarket,andachievable
performance tiers.
JoiningAffiliateFuel.comAffiliate Fuel isapremiumaffiliatenetworkthatacceptsonlyhigh-qualityweb
siteswithestablishedtraffic,soif youare lookingtosubmita site of yourown,it had betterbe top-
notch or youare justwastingyourtime.If youare lookingtojoinjustas a search marketer,Affiliate Fuel
isone of those networksthatconsideredmyapplicationtopromote itsaffiliate programsusingonly
searchmarketing.Ithas verystrict rules,however,about
JoiningAffiliate Networks
55
Figure 4.8 PaymentInformationSource:CommissionJunction,CJ.com
whichprogramscan and cannot be marketedinthisway,as well asa longlistof protectedkeywords
youcannot bidon. Breakthese rules andyouwill be thrownoutof the networkveryquickly,andlikely
youwill notbe paidfor your fraudulenttraffic.Obeythe rules,however,andyoucanenjoysome of the
highestpayoutsonthe Internetforthe qualifiedleadsyouare able togenerate.Tobecome a publisher
withAffiliate Fuel,youwillneedtovisititsapplicationpage atwww.affiliatefuel.com/cgi-bin/newhost
(see Figure 4.9).
LoginInformation.The applicationitself doesnotappearuntil youscroll downthe page,tojustbelow
the ApplyToday!icon.It starts withthe LoginInformationsection,where yousimplyneedtochoose
your username and passwordbefore movingalongtothe
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LaunchingYour AdvertisingCampaign

31. Figure 4.9 AffiliateFuel’sApplicationPage Source:© 2001–2006 AffiliateFuel Corp,
www.AffiliateFuel.com
AccountInformationsection.Boththese sectionsappearinFigure 4.10.
AccountInformation.Thissectionisfairlystraightforwardaswell.Enteryourname,social securityortax
ID number,andaddressandcontact information.Be sure tofill inyourcompanyname if
JoiningAffiliate Networks
57
Figure 4.10 Fill inthe LoginInformationandAccountInformationSectionsof the ApplicationSource:©
2001–2006 AffiliateFuel Corp,www.AffiliateFuel.com
youhave one,and specifytowhomAffiliate Fuel shouldmake outthe checks.Evenif youhave a
businessname,youmaywantto use yourpersonal name here,unlessyouhave abusinessaccountata
bankor creditunionthatwill acceptcheckswrittenoutto your business.Finally,choose the minimum
amountyour accountwill earnbefore Affiliate Fuelsendsyouacheck(youwill notreceive more than
one checka month,at most,but the companywill holdoff sendingyourmonthlycheckif youraccount
balance hasnot yetreachedthe minimumcheckamount).
Website Information.Enterthe name andURLof yourwebsite;if youdo not have a website of your
own,thissectionwill require the same methodwe discussedearlier.Namely,youwill enterthe Website
URLs of the search and contentnetworksonwhichyouintendtorunthese ads,identifyyourself asa
searchmarketerinthe Website Name field,selectSearchEngine fromthe Website Categorydrop-down
menuand identifyyoursearchmarketingstrategyinthe Describe YourSite field(seeFigure 4.11).If you
do nothave a priorsearch marketingrecordfromwhichtodraw some statisticstoshow your
proficiency,youmayneedtoleave the lasttwofieldsinthissectionblank.If youare turneddownasa
result,donot despair.Youcan returnand reapplyata later date,whenyouhave some statisticsabout
the numberof impressionsyouradstypicallyreceiveperday,andwhatlevel of trafficyougenerate
fromthese impressions.
Opt-InEmail.Unlessyoudoinfact have a newsletterorane-mail list,youmaysimplyleavethisentire
sectionblank.
How Can We Help?Thissectionasksonlythat youidentifythe typesof offersyouare lookingfor(see
Figure 4.12).
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LaunchingYour AdvertisingCampaign
SignUp. All that remainsnowisto readand acceptthe Termsand Conditions,enterthe verification
code shown(see exampleinFigure 4.12),andclickon the SignUp buttonat the bottomof the
application.Please note,however,thatyouwill alsoneedtosubmitaW9 form, and instructionsfor
doingso appearjustbelowthe SignUp button.
JoiningAffiliate Networks
59

32. Figure 4.11 Website InformationandOpt-InEmail Sectionsof the ApplicationSource:© 2001–2006
Affiliate Fuel Corp,www.AffiliateFuel.com
While youwaitto see whetheryouare acceptedintoAffiliateFuel’snetwork,youmaycontinue onto
anotheraffiliatenetwork:Advertising.com.
JoiningAdvertising.comAdvertising.comisanotherone of myfavorite affiliate networks.Irecommendit
because Ipersonallyhave beenverysuccessfulwiththiscompany,particularlyearlyinmycareer,when
some of my campaignswithAdvertising.comaffiliateprogramsprovidedme withmyfirstbigsuccesses.
The programs tendto paywell
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LaunchingYour AdvertisingCampaign
Figure 4.12 HowCan We Helpand VerificationSectionsof the ApplicationSource:© 2001–2006 Affiliate
Fuel Corp,www.AffiliateFuel.com
and have highconversionrates,sodon’tmissouton the opportunitiespresentedtoyou.To join
Advertising.com’saffiliate network,youwillneedtovisititspublisherspage at
https://publisher.advertising.comandclickonthe JoinNow!buttononthe left-handsideof the screen,
justbeneaththe SignInsection.Thiswill take youtothe applicationpage,where youwill firstcomplete
the Account Informationsection.
AccountInformation.Bynowyouare familiarwiththistype of form(see Figure 4.13).Simplychoose a
username and a passwordand fill inyourcontact andpayoutinformationasbefore.
Channel Selection.The nextportionof the applicationisthe ChannelSelectionsection.Here youwill
simplycheckthe Affiliate box (see Figure4.14) and clickon Continue.
Affiliate Site Information.The nextpage isthe Affiliate Site Informationpage (see Figure 4.15).Fill in
your website informationinthe fieldsrequested,oruse the methodsdiscussedpreviouslytoindicate
that youmarketaffiliate programsdirectlythroughothersearchandcontentnetworks.The Monthly
Impressionsfieldisrequired,soif youdonot have yourown website,youwill needtoestimate the
numberof ad viewsyoucan deliverthroughsearchmarketing.Whenyouare finished,clickContinue.
VerifyApplication.The lastpage thatnow appearsis the VerifyApplicationpage.Simplydouble-check
all the informationentered.Thenreadandacceptthe Terms andConditionsandclickcontinue to
submityourapplication.
JoiningAffiliate Networks
61
62
LaunchingYour AdvertisingCampaign
Figure 4.14 Channel SelectionSectionof the Advertising.comPublisherApplicationSource:
Advertising.com

33. Figure 4.13 AccountInformationSectionof the Advertising.comPublisherApplicationSource:
Advertising.com
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63
Figure 4.15 Affiliate Site InformationPage of the Advertising.comPublisherApplicationSource:
Advertising.com
Nowthat youhave finishedapplyingtoAdvertising.com,Ihave one lastprogramI’d like toencourage
youto joinbefore we move onto Chapter5. Thisis Amazon.com’sprogram.
JoiningAmazon.com’s AssociatesCentral ProgramAsIstatedearlier,Amazon.com’sAssociatesCentral
isnot technicallyanaffiliate network.I’mlistingAssociatesCentral inthischapterbecause eventhough
it offersonlyone affiliateprogram,itdoesmore businessthanmostaffiliatenetworkscangenerate with
all theiraffiliateprogramsputtogether.The companyisbig,hasa wide productbase,andoperatesone
of the mostmarketable affiliateprogramsonthe Web,withone of the largestselectionof products.
Associates Central alsoofferstwochoicesof commissionstructure:ClassicandPerformance.These
commissionstructuresare adjustedfromtime totime,soyoushouldcompare thematthe endof each
quarterbefore decidingwhichtojoin,butgenerallyspeaking,the Performance structure,whichincludes
performance incentivesthatbringyouhighercommissionsforhighersalesvolume,ispreferabletothe
Classic,whichisa flat-rate option.The Amazon.comaffiliateprogramisanexcellentone forbeginners
to joinbecause of the wide range of productsto market,whichcan all be tiedto andworkingtowarda
collective performancetierstructure.Inotherwords,all yourvariouscampaignsforAmazoncan help
the otherAmazoncampaignsby helpingyoureachahigherperformance tierandraise the payouts
across the board.Also,Amazon’sAssociatesCentral notonlywelcomesaffiliateswhodosearchengine
marketing,butwhenyoulogonto the site (http://affiliate-program.amazon.com) andclickPerfor
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LaunchingYour AdvertisingCampaign
mance Tips inthe listof linksonthe left-handside of the page,youfindanentire sectionof tipsfor
searchengine marketers.Youcanread case studiesof businessesthathave become Amazon.com
affiliatesandboostedtheirbusinessbypromotingAmazon.commerchandise.There’salsoasetof
discussionboardswhere associateshelpone anotherwithtipsandadvice.
TojoinAmazon’sAssociatesCentral,youwillneedtovisitthe JoinAssociatespage,byeithergoingdirectlyto
http://affiliateprogram.amazon.com/gp/associates/joinor,more simply,clickingonthe JoinAssociates
linkat the bottomof Amazon.com’shome page.Once there,youwill wanttoclickon“Want to Join?
Clickhere foreasyregistration”(see Figure4.16).
JoiningAffiliate Networks
65
Figure 4.16 JoinAssociatesPage Source:Amazon.com
AccountInfo/SignIn.Once youhave clickedon“Want to Join?Clickhere foreasyregistration,”youwill
be takento the AssociatesCentral sign-inpage.If youalreadyhave anaccount withAmazonunderthe

34. e-mail addressyouwouldlike touse,youmaysignintoAssociatesCentral usingthate-mailaddressand
password.If not,you mayenteryoure-mail address,andyouwill thenbe takentoa quickand simple
registrationpage before youare able tosignin.
Your Contact Information.Afteryouhave successfullysignedin,youwill be takentothe general
informationpage of the application,the firstsectionof whichisYourContactInformation,a
straightforwardrequestforyourname andcontact information(seeFigure 4.17).Whenyouare
finished,scroll downtothe YourWeb Site Profile portionof the application.
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LaunchingYour AdvertisingCampaign
Figure 4.17 Your ContactInformationPortionof the ApplicationSource:Amazon.com
Your WebSite Profile.Here youwill enterthe informationaboutyourwebsite if youhave one,oryou
will fill outthe formindicatingthe searchenginesonwhichyouintendtoplace paidsearchads(see
Figure 4.18). Amazonisa searchmarketing–friendlyaffiliate program, sothisshouldn’tpresentanyreal
problemsforyou.Whenyouare finishedfillingoutthisportionof the form, clickContinue.
Your Payee Tax Information.AfterclickingContinue onthe screentitledYourWebSite Profile,youwill
arrive at the paymentinformationpage,the firstsectionof whichisYourPayee Tax Information(see
Figure 4.19). Simplyenteryourname orbusinessname inthe Tax Name field,type yoursocial security
or tax ID numberinthe Tax ID Numberfield,andmake the appropriate
JoiningAffiliate Networks
67
Figure 4.18 Your WebSite Profile Portionof the ApplicationSource:Amazon.com
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LaunchingYour AdvertisingCampaign
Figure 4.19 Your Payee Tax InformationPortionof the ApplicationSource:Amazon.com
selectionfrom the OrganizationType drop-downmenu(you’ll probablychoose Individual).Once you’re
finished,scroll downtoYourPaymentMethod.
Your PaymentMethod.Finally,underYourPaymentMethod,youmayselectfromthree different
paymentoptions(see Figure 4.20).Directdeposithasa clearadvantage overthe pay-by-checkoption,
whichincursa service fee,soif youhave a bankaccount and are comfortable withthe technology,then
thisisthe optionIrecommend.Once youare finished,clickContinuetosubmit yourapplication.
ReviewandSubmit.Before Amazonacceptsyourapplication,itwill displayall of the information
previouslyentered.Reviewthisinformationcarefully,thenreadandacceptthe Associates
OperatingAgreementbeneathyourinformation,and clickonContinue tore-submityourreviewed
applicationforconsideration.

35. OtherAffiliateNetworksThere are,of course,otheraffiliatenetworksthatmightworkwell foryou,and
I provide acomprehensive andup-to-datelistof affiliate networksonthe AffiliateMillionswebsiteat
www.affiliatemillions.com.Fornow,though,Ithinkyouare off to a good start.Hopefullybynow,one
or more of the affiliate networksyouhave justsubmittedinformationtohasacceptedyourapplication
and youare readyto beginsearchingforindividual affiliateprogramstojoin.InChapter5, I walkyou
throughthe processof selectingaffiliate programsforsome of the networkstowhichyou’ve just
applied.
JoiningAffiliate Networks
69
Figure 4.20 Your PaymentMethodPortionof the ApplicationSource:Amazon.com
71
Chapter5
JoiningAffiliate Programs
In precedingchapters youhave learnedaboutaffiliate advertisingandsearchmarketing,andyouhave
evenbegunjoiningsome affiliate networks.Now it’stimetogoa stepfurtherandlearnhow to search
for,choose,andjoinindividualaffiliate programs.I’ll take youthroughthe wholeprocesswithacouple
of the affiliatenetworkswe joinedinChapter4,as the processvariesa bitfrom networktonetwork.
Before yougetstartedjoiningthese programs,Iwantto talka little aboutwhatyoushouldlookforin,
and whatyou shouldknowabout,differentaffiliateprograms.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN AN AFFILIATEPROGRAM
Whenyouare lookingforan affiliateprogramtomarket,you’re betteroff startingwithaproductyou
knowaboutand are familiarwith.Whenthe time comestostart writingyourads,personal knowledge
of the productor service youare marketingisabig advantage.
Be Knowledgeableaboutthe Productor Service Asyousearchfor potential affiliate programstojoinand
market,keepinmindthatthe more youknow about the productsor servicesoffered,the better.Thisis
especiallyimportantwhenyouare newtothe business.The more youknow aboutthe product— what
people likeordislikeaboutit,howitcomparesto competingproductsinprice,performance,andvalue,
and whatsetsit apart fromthe competition—the easieritwillbe foryouto write effective adcopyand
identifythe appropriate keywordsandphrasestotriggerthese ads.Asyoubecome more familiarwith
thisprocess,youmay eventuallybe able torely onyourownresearchto educate yourself onpotential
newaffiliateprograms,butinthe beginning,whenyouhave somuchelse tolearn,itwill payto focuson
productsand servicesyoualreadyknowquite well.
Be Knowledgeableaboutthe AffiliateProgram Make sure youhave a clearunderstandingof all aspects
of the affiliateprogramsyouadvertise before youstartrunningads.Commissionstructures,payment
methods,anda hostof otherconcernsshouldbe addressedbeforeyouactuallystartpayingtopromote
any affiliateprogram.

36. CommissionStructure.The mostimportantof these concernsis,of course,the commissionstructure
itself.Make sure youknowwhatyour goal is.More specifically,make sure youknow whatthe affiliate
program will payyoufor,and howmuch.Will youreceive apercentage of salesorjusta percentage of
revenue?(Revenue isthe netprofitonthe sale,notthe entire sale price.) Are youpaidfordownloads,
formcompletions?Are yourcommissionstiedtopaidmembershipsorfree registrations?Speakingof
registrations,will yoube paidforeachregistrationoronlyforthose that go onto become active
members?Doesthe
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LaunchingYour AdvertisingCampaign
program have performance tiersorbonuses,and,if so,whatmustyoudo to triggerthem?
PaymentTermsandMethods.The standard inthe industryisfor advertisersoraffiliate networksto
issue paymentsevery30 days.If you see termsthatspecify60 or 90 days,youshouldbe aware that you
will be spendingonadvertisementsforupto three monthsbefore youeversee adime inreturn,and
youneedto planaccordingly.Dothe companieswithwhomyoudobusinesscharge forpaymentby
check?Do theyofferdirectdeposit?Asageneral rule,searchmarketers,includingmyself,prefer to
receive paymentsinthe formof electronicfundtransfersthatgodirectlyintotheircheckingaccounts.
Most advertisersandnetworkswillallow this,aswell asthe optionof receivingacheckinthe mail,but
theygenerallycharge extraformailing apapercheck.
MinimumBalance forPayment.Almostall advertisersissue paymentsonlywhenthe affiliate has
reacheda minimumlevel (often$25).Many offerlowerlimitsfordirectdepositthantheydoforchecks.
ProvisionsforRolloversandCarryovers. Rolloversandcarryoversoccurwhenan affiliate doesn’tmeet
the minimumbalance requiredtoreceive apayment.
PaymentforReturningReferrals(Referral Period).Sometimes,you’ll refercustomerstoasite whowon’t
buyanythingrightaway.They’ll look aroundothersitesandmake a purchase ona future visit.Lookfor
programsin whichmerchantshave a referral periodduringwhichtheywill issue youacommissionif
one of the people youhave referredmakesapurchase ona future returnvisit.
JoiningAffiliate Programs
73
ChargebacksandReturns.Chargebacksandreturnsare the bane of all retailers,buttheyare a fact of
life.The personwhobuyssomethingasa resultof a referral byyoumightwell returniteventually.Most
merchantshave a chargebackperiod—aperiodof time inwhichthe customercanreturnthe product for
a refund.If so,your commissionwill be debited.Merchantswhohave a returnpolicytendtohave a
betterconversionrate,because consumersare more likelytobuyfromthem.Butthe same policymight
resultinyourcommissionbeingtakenawayif the itemisreturned.There’snothingyoucando about
such a policy,butit’sgoodto be aware of it so youaren’tsurprisedwhenapercentage of your
commissionsare eventuallyreversed.
Qualityof a Company’sOnline Presentation.Wouldyoubuyaproduct fromthe companyyou advertise
as an affiliate?Youshouldrefertomerchantsthathave an effectiveonline presentation—lotsof photos,

37. clearinformationaboutbrandnames,model numbers, sizes,colors,andothervariations,anda clear
purchase path.The purchase pathis the path thatleadsfromthe productdescriptionpage tothe
checkoutarea.Don’t sendcustomerstoa site that isloadeddownwithlotsof intrusive pop-upadsand
otherdistractions.These distractionswill loweryourconversionrate.Also,know whetheryouraffiliate
program offersspecial discountsandpromotions.Besidesinducingpurchases,youcanmentionthose
incentivesinyourownaffiliatead.
Qualityof the Merchandise.Affiliate advertisingisanimpersonal thing.It’snotlike goingintoaretail
store and testingthe merchandise tosee how itfeelsandlooks.It’sactuallyeasytolose sightof the fact
that youare promotingreal productsandservices.Butqualityissomethingtokeepinmindwhenyou
are choosingproductstopromote.Justimagine how youwouldfeel
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LaunchingYour AdvertisingCampaign
if you were referredbyawebsite toa productthat turnedoutto be of inferiorquality?Poorqualityor
overpricedmerchandise ismore likelytobe returned.Checkfortestimonialsandreferencesfrom
existingcustomerstofindoutaboutthe qualityof goods.
Reputation.Obviously,youdon’twanttostrike upa relationshipwithamerchantthatisn’tgoingtopay
youon time or one that has generatedaslew of complaintsfromothercustomersandaffiliates.If you
signup withan affiliateprogramthroughanetwork,chancesare you won’trunintomany bad apples.
Nevertheless,youshouldtrytoavoidmerchantswhoalreadyhave abad reputation.If youcan find
otheraffiliates(throughadiscussionboardornewsgroup) whouse the merchant,askaboutthat
company’sreputation.
IDENTIFYINGANDJOININGTHE RIGHT AFFILIATEPROGRAMS
Okay,let’sgetstarted.You’ve learnedsome bestpracticesforvettingthe affiliateprogramsbefore
promotingthem;nowit’stime toroll up our sleevesandactuallystartlookingforsome programstosign
up with.Aspromised,I’ll walkyouthroughthe processwithsome of the affiliatenetworksyoujoinedin
Chapter4.
CommissionJunctionCommissionJunctionisagreatnetworktostart off with,as itoffershundredsof
affiliate programs,anintuitiveinterface,andavarietyof methodsthatyoucan use to compare
programsagainsteach other.Afterloggingintothe CJAccountManager, withthe e-mail addressand
passwordyouprovidedduringthe registrationprocess,you’ll be takentothe CJMarketplace home page
(see Figure 5.1).
JoiningAffiliate Programs
75
Thispage can provide youwithalot of useful andcustomizablestatisticsonce youare in businessfora
while,butfornowyou’ll notice itdoesn’thave muchtooffer.Let’sjustmove straightaheadtothe
affiliate programsbyclickingonthe GetLinks tab beneaththe CommissionJunctionlogo.Thisshould
bringyou to the General Categoriespage (Figure 5.2),where youwillsee CommissionJunction’saffiliate
programsbrokenout intodifferentcategoriesandsubcategories.There are lotsof differentcategories

38. to explore,andbasedonsome of the advice I’ve givenyouearlierinthischapteryoushouldbe readyto
explore thislist.Since Idon’tknowwhichof these categoriesmightholdthe mostinterestforyou,Iwill
selectone withbroadappeal for the purposesof movingforwardwithmyexample.Irecommend
clickingonthe Commerce categoryin
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LaunchingYour AdvertisingCampaign
Figure 5.1 CJ Marketplace’sHome Page Source:CommissionJunction
the firstcolumnto begin.Thisshouldtake youtoan AdvertiserSearchResultspage (see Figure5.3).This
page listsall the affiliate programsCommissionJunctionhascategorizedascommerce sites.The first
thingyoumightnotice isthat each of these programscan be measuredagainstthe othersbythree
differentperformancemetrics.Theseperformance metricsare “3Month EPC,” “7 Day EPC,” and
“NetworkEarnings.”Atfirstglance,the earningsperhundredclicks(EPC) metricsmightlookthe most
finelygrainedandtherefore the mostuseful,butasa search marketerwithnoway of knowinghow
much these clickscostto generate,thismetricisnotparticularlyhelpfulinselectingprograms.A more
useful metricforselectingprogramsisnetworkearnings.Aslidingscale of one tofive bars(lookunder
the NetworkEarningscolumninFigure 5.3),withfive
JoiningAffiliate Programs
77
Figure 5.2 CommissionJunction’sGeneralCategoriesPage Source:CommissionJunction
beingthe highest,indicateswhichprogramsare generatingthe mostearnings.The biggerthe pie,after
all,the easieritisto cut yourself aslice.Notice thatthe tophonorsin the NetworkEarningscolumnin
Figure 5.3 go to a superbaffiliate programwithafive-barrating:eBay!Thisisanexcellentprogramto
join,asit offersanunlimitedvarietyof productstopromote,hasa competitive commissionstructure,
and holdsunparalleledname recognition.Let’sinvestigatethisprogramfurther,proceedingasthoughI
were notrecommendingit.Byclickingonthe advertiser’sname orimage inthe Advertisercolumnon
the resultspage,youcan openthe AdvertiserDetailpage showninFigure 5.4.Be sure to readall the
detailsof the affiliateprogram,especially
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LaunchingYour AdvertisingCampaign
Figure 5.3 CommissionJunction’sAdvertiserSearch ResultsPage Source:CommissionJunction
regardingthe commissionsandreferral periods.IneBay’scase,youare offeredatwofoldcommission
structure,one that payscommissionsonarevenue-sharingbasisandone thatpayscommissionsbased
on the numberof active registeredusers(ACRUs) youradsgenerate.Bothcommissionstructureshave
performance tiersthatallowyoutoearn highercommissionsif yougenerate more revenueormore
ACRUs.Anotherimportantconsiderationisthe GetLinkssectioninthe upperrightportionof the
AdvertiserDetailpage.Here youwill findhyperlinkstoeachof the differentkindsof linksthe advertiser
(inthiscase eBay) offers.If youowna website of yourown,youmightuse any numberof these links—
and I would

39. JoiningAffiliate Programs
79
Figure 5.4 AdvertiserDetail Page foreBaySource:CommissionJunction
encourage youto explore them—butasa searchmarketer,yourprimaryconcernis to make sure that
the KeywordLinktype isactive (blue).Thisinformsyouthatsearchmarketingisallowed.If the Keyword
Linktype is notactive,youmay notbe able toadvertise thataffiliateprogramdirectlyonsearch
engines— althoughyoucanalwayse-mail CommissionJunctionorthe advertiserforclarification.
Finally,tojoin the programyoumust scroll throughthe AdvertiserDetail page,readingandaccepting
any special termsandconditionsthatmayapply,andthenclickingonAcceptat the bottomof the page.
Some advertiserswill acceptyouimmediately;some maydenyyouimmediately;othersmaytake hours
or evendaysto reviewyourapplication.Once youare approved,youwill needtoreturntothe
AdvertiserDetailpage andclickonthe KeywordLinkhyperlinkinordertocontinue.Thiswill openthe
KeywordLinkpage (see Figure 5.5).Onthe right-handside of the KeywordLinkpage,clickGetHTML to
take yourself tothe Get HTML page showninFigure 5.6. Pay special attentiontothe Usage
Recommendation,ProtectedKeywords,andNon-compete Keywordswhenyouplace yourads forthis
program inthe nextchapter.Anyviolationof the affiliate program’skeywordpolicycouldresultin
nonpaymentof commissions,meaningyouwill have spentmoneyrunningadsandwill earnnothingin
return.At the bottomof the page isthe trackingcode you will needtouse asyourdestinationwhenyou
create your ads inthe nextchapter.Thiscode will directthose whoclickonyour adsto the eBayhome
page and will alsoalerteBaytothe fact thatit was youwhosentthem(thuseBaycan track the results
to determine yourcommission).Youmayselectthiscode andcopyit yourself.Alternatively,youcan
clickon the HighlightCode /CopyCode buttonto
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copy itautomatically.Eitherway,youwill thenpaste the trackingcode—makingsure tolabel which
affiliate programthe code isfor—inadocumentandsave itto use whenyoucreate your ads inChapter
6.
CAUTION:Please donotuse the tracking code inthe example inFigure 5.6.Youwantto generate this
code yourself,sothatCommissionJunctioncanembeditwithyourownPID.If youuse the code in
Figure 5.6, youwill notearncommissions.
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Figure 5.5 KeywordLinkPage Source:CommissionJunction
Nowthat youhave your trackingcode saved,youare readyto start signingupwithsearchenginesand
runningads.You can skipaheadto Chapter6 if you’dlike tostart runningadsrightaway, or youcan
continue onwiththischapterto learnhow to getyour trackingcode from Amazonas well.
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40. LaunchingYour AdvertisingCampaign
Figure 5.6 Get HTML Page Source:CommissionJunction
TIP: Inadditiontothe standard keywordlinkcode,whichwill linkdirectlytoeBay’shome page,eBay
alsohas whatit callsthe FlexibleDestinationTool. Thistool enablesyoutocreate customizedtracking
codesdirectingpotentialcustomerstoanyeBaypage youwishto sendthem.Thiscan be especially
useful if yourunads forbaby cribsor usedautos,asyou can linkyourad directlytoa relevantresults
page on eBayinsteadof justsendingyourtargetedtraffictoeBay’shome page.Be sure to experiment
withthe Flexible DestinationTool,asitwill dramaticallyimproveyourconversionrate.The linktothe
Affiliate Toolkitishttp://affiliates.ebay.com/tools/.
Amazon.com’sAssociatesCentral Amazonmaybe onlyone affiliate program, butthe advertising
opportunitiesare enormous.Alongwithone of the largestandmostvariedinventoriesonthe Internet,
Amazonisone of the most recognizedandtrusted brandsonthe Web.Its affiliateprogramisalsoone of
the largeston the Weband, as youare aboutto findout,one of the friendliestandeasiesttouse.After
loggingonto AssociatesCentral (https://affiliate-program.amazon.com) withthe e-mailaddressand
passwordyouprovidedduringthe registrationprocess,you’ll be takentothe AssociatesCentral home
page showninFigure 5.7. From here,you’ll clickon“BuildLinks”onthe leftside menuandthenclickon
“TextLinks”that appearsbeneathit.Thiswill bringyoutothe TextLinkspage showninFigure 5.8,
where youwill be able tobuildthree differenttypesof textlinks,all of whichyouwill findquite useful as
a search marketer.The TextLinkspage offersthree differenttypesof linksyoucangenerate:Linkto
Favorite Destinations,LinktoSearchResults,andLinktoAnyPage at Amazon.
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83
Linkto Favorite Destinations.LinktoFavorite Destinationsallowsyoutochoose a landingpage at
Amazon.comthatdisplayscertainproductlinesandsubcategories.If youselectBabyfromthe Select
ProductLine drop-down,forinstance,andStrollersfromthe SelectaSubcategorydrop-downandclick
Get HTML, you’ll be takentothe screenshowninFigure 5.9. On thisscreen,you’ll findthe trackingcode
for the textlinkyou’ve created.Thiscode isdesignedtobe addedtoa Web page,however,soyouwill
needtocopy onlythe portionof the code I’ve highlightedinFigure 5.9,whichconsistsof everything
inside the quotation marksafterthe “href=”portionof the code.Whenyouuse thisportionof the code
as the destinationlinkforthe adyouwill create inChapter6, itwill leadtothe page shownin Figure
5.10.
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Figure 5.7 Associates Central Home Page Source:Amazon.com
Linkto Search Results.LinktoSearchResultsallowsyoutolinktoa search resultspage onAmazon.com
by selectingaproductline (oryoucan selecttosearchAll Products) andkeywordsforthe search.If you
selectAll Productsfromthe productline drop-down,forinstance,andenterHarryPotterinthe Enter
Keywordsbox andclickGetHTML, you’ll be takento the screenshowninFigure 5.11. Once again,you’ll
findthe trackingcode for the textlinkyou’ve created. Thiscode isalsodesignedtobe addedtoa Web

41. page,so youwill needtocopythe portionof the code I’ve highlightedinFigure 5.11.Asbefore,this
consistsof everythinginsidethe quotationmarksafterthe “href=”portionof the code.If you use thi s
portionof the code as the destinationlinkforanad youplace on Google or anothersearchengine,itwill
leadto the page showninFigure 5.12.
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Figure 5.8 TextLinksPage Source:Amazon.com
You mightnotice thatbecause we selectedAllProductswhenbuildingthissearchresultslink,we donot
see onlyHarry Potterbooksor onlyHarry Pottermovies.Insteadwe seeamixture of productslines
relatingtoHarry Potter.
Linkto AnyPage at Amazon.com.LinktoAnyPage at Amazon.comallowsyoutolinktoany page on
Amazon.com(exceptsearchresultspages) bycopyingthe URLfor that page intothe Enter the URL field.
ThensimplyclickonGet HTML. Asin the lasttwo examples,copyeverythinginsidethe quotationmarks
afterthe “href=” portionof the code.Whenyou paste thisportionof the code into the destinationlink
of the ads youcreate,itwill leadtothe same AmazonURL youpastedintothe Link to Any
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Figure 5.9 Favorite DestinationsTrackingLinkSource:Amazon.com
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Figure 5.10 BabyStrollersLandingPage Source:Amazon.com
Figure 5.11 Linkto SearchResultsTrackingLinkSource:Amazon.com
Page tool,onlynowit will be embeddedwiththe trackingcode necessaryforyoutoearn commissions
on purchases.Nowthatyouhave joinedsome affiliatenetworks,selectedsome affiliate programs,and
generatedsome HTML trackingcode to embedinyourads, youare finallyreadytobringitall together
and start yourfirstsearch marketingcampaigns.Inthe nextchapter,I’ll walkyouthroughthe processof
signingupwithGoogle,andcreatingyourfirstcampaigns.
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Figure 5.12 Harry PotterSearchResultsPage Source:Amazon.com
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Chapter6
CreatingSearchMarketingCampaigns

42. Thisis the chapterwhere itall reallystartsto come together.You’ve learnedsomebasicsaboutboth
affiliate advertisingandsearchmarketing.Youhave joinedsome affiliate networksandselectedsome
affiliate programstopromote.You’ve evenobtained the trackingcode youwill needtoembedinyour
ads so yourclientscantrack the actionsof the customersyousendtothemand, of course,keeptrack of
your commissions.Nowyoucanfinallystartbuildingadvertisingcampaignsandpromotingyouraffiliate
programs.FirstI teach youhowto write effectiveadcopy.ThenI explainhow tochoose relevant
keywordsandkeyphrasestotriggeryour ads.Afterthat,I give yousome tipsaboutdecidinghow much
to bidand howto setyour campaign’sdailybudget. Once you’velearnedall this,Iwalkyoustep-by-step
throughthe processof joiningbothGoogle andMSN and settingupyourfirstcampaigns.What do you
say we getstarted?
STEPS TO CREATE A CAMPAIGN
Before yousetup our firstreal campaign,let’sdiscussthe stepsinvolvedandthe principlesyou’ll use to
make your decisions.Thenyouwill be readytocreate yourfirstcampaign.
CampaignwideSettingsThere issome variationfromone searchenginetoanotherinthe campaign
settingsandat whichstage in the processyouwill be requiredtosetthem.Mostsearchengineshave
some versionof the followingsetting,however.
Basic Settings.The basiccampaignsettingswill include the name of the campaign,astart and enddate,
and sometimesevenspecifictimesthe campaignwill orwill notrun.
Target Audience.Whenyoucreate anew campaign,youmustspecifywhichlanguage orlanguagesyour
target audience speaksandwhichcountriesand/orregionsyouwishyouradstoappearin.Some search
engines,like Google forinstance,allow finergrainedgeo-targetingtoolsthatprovide youwithsuch
flexibilityasenteringanaddressandrunningadswithina10-mile radiusof that address.Thisisa useful
functionif,forinstance,youowna flowershopwithadeliveryrange of 10 milesanddonot wantyour
ads to run outside thatrange.
BudgetOptions.Here youwill specifyexactlyhow muchyouare willingtospendperdayor monthon
thiscampaignand whetheryouwantto spreadyourexposure evenlyoruse upyourbudgetas quickly
as possible.We talkabouthowtochoose the right budgetamountafterdiscussingthe biddingprocess,
as thisis typicallythe pointinthe processwhere youwouldalsosetanew
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campaign’sbudgetoradjustan existingcampaign’sbudget.Be aware,though,thatalthoughmany
searchenginesrepresentthisamountasa dailybudget,if youlookcloselyyouwill findthattheyare
reallycommittingtoamonthlybudget,calculatedbasedonthe dailylimityou enter.
Networks.Manysearchengineshave searchnetworks,othersearchpagesthatuse a biggersearch
engine asthe back endfor theirsearchresults,andcontentnetworksaswell.Whenyoucreate a
campaign,youwill needtospecifywhetheryouwantyourads to run on these networks.Ihighly
recommendthatyouparticipate inthe searchnetworks,butchoosingwhethertoparticipate incontent
networksisa more difficultdecision.Generally,Ihave noticedhighercostsperclickand lowerreturns
perclick oncontentnetworkscomparedtosearchnetworks.Sometimesyouhave asmall profitmargin

43. to workwith;othertimesyoudo not.I have had onlyone reallysuccessfulcampaignthatreliedheavily
on contentnetworktraffic,butthiswasworthtensof thousandsof dollarsto me overthe life of the
campaign,soI have to say that there can sometimesbe rewardstoparticipatingincontentnetworks.
My advice,however,istosave themforlater.Inthe beginning,the tightermarginsyouare likelyto
encounterwill onlyserve tomake the toughjobof becomingprofitableinthisgame a little bittougher.
AdvancedOptions.Almostall searchenginesofferafew unusual optionsforfine-tuningyourcampaign.
Some may be more useful thanothers,butI wouldsaythatnone are for beginners,andIcannot
recommendanysuchoptionstoanyone justgettingstarted.Afteryouare establishedinthe business
and are well aware of the strengthsandweaknessesof yourowncampaigns,youwill be
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your ownbestjudge regardingwhichof these toolsmightbe of some assistance toyou.
WritingEffective AdsAsI’ve saidbefore,adcopyisking.The textyou write foryoursearch marketing
ads isthe most importantpiece of thispuzzle,andyourabilitytoproduce goodadcopy will ultimately
decide yourfate inthisbusiness.A turnof phrase can make the difference betweenimpressionsthat
turn intoclicksandclicksthat turn intopurchases.Because of the performance-basedsearchalgorithms
usedbyGoogle and others,whenyouwrite abetterad,you loweryourcostsand raise yourvolume at
the same time.That’sthe bestway to getan edge overyour competition.Keepfourthingsinmindas
youwrite yourads:
1. Use ad grouping.2. What are youpromoting?3. Whyshouldyourtargetsget itfrom you?4. What do
youneedthemto do?
Use AdGrouping.Adgroups are setsof ads andkeywordswithinacampaigngroupedbyrelevance.For
instance,youdon’twantto write anAmazonad for toysand an Amazonad for college textbooksand
have bothads showingthe keywordchildren’stoysbecausebothare groupedtogetherandshare the
same keywordlist.WithinyourAmazoncampaign,youwillneedanadgroupfor toys(maybe even
multiple adgroupsformultipletoysandtoycategories) andanad group for college textbooks.Thisway,
youcan create separate relevantkeywordlistsforeachdistinctadgroup.
What Are You Promoting?The headlineof youradshouldclearlyindicate whatyouare promoting,and
the destinationlink
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of yourad shouldtake the useras quicklyaspossible tothe pointof sale.Forexample,if youare trying
to sell aCanon PowerShotDSC600, notonlyshouldthisbe the ad’sheadline,butyoushould be certain
that the landingpage yourad directsusersto offersthe productforsale.If the landingpage iscluttered
witha numberof othercameras,or if the userneedstosearch furthertofindthe specificproduct,you
are muchlesslikelytogeta sale thanif you sendthe userto a page dedicatedtoorderingthe Canon
PowerShotDSC600. Conversely,if youare promotinganentire line of digitalcameras,yourheadline
and ad textshouldbe appropriatelybroad.Youshouldalsomake sure thatyour landingpage offersa