During my round table speaking engagement, I met some noob and also a few advance skill individuals, but I was glad to help everybody. 

Here are some tips that I summarized based on “What to look for in a CPL” session. What I would suggest is to go back to the core of affiliate marketing with these four steps.

• Step 1 – Identify your strength
  Identify your strength and what you do best? Are you a PPC expert, or Matt Cutt’s twin, or do you have an opt-in customer database where you are able to market to them. What are you passionate about and have the skills to execute it flawlessly.

• Step 2 – Partner Network
  Find a network that works in your favor, have competitive terms, have a good track record and works with you to accomplish your goals. As an advertiser, I treat networks and publishers as marketing partners that are critical to the success of my program. You want to look into networks that have fair and competitive terms such as paying within a reasonable time, lock period, threshold and support.
  One can partner with the traditional networks such as CJ, Linkshare or go with networks that specialize in CPA/CPL programs such as ClickBooth or PeerFly. Just beware of the fly by night networks as there are approximately 190 CPA/CPL networks, and some are questionable networks.
• Step 3 – Find that niche vertical
  There are about 30-40 verticals that you can participate in from the highly competitive dating, education, financial to the newer verticals like ecigarettes. You might want to take interest in knowing the governmental agencies that might regulate that vertical such as the Department of Education (DOE) will have influence over online education vertical, while the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will oversee the mobile phone vertical.
• Step 4 – Do your advance research about the advertiser
  Take your time to compare between different advertisers. You want to look at the usual elements such as eCPC, eCPM, conversion rate, etc. Other things to consider are market size, branding, share of voice (use Google or Google Trends to compare).

If you plan to go the extra yard, here are other things to consider about an advertiser :

• Setup news or alert service.
  There are free services out there such as Google Alerts that you can setup to monitor an advertiser.
• TV presence, or other marketing activities.
  In some instances, we have seen a 20% improvement in online conversion when TV commercials are running versus a period without TV commercials. Find out if they have a seasonal TV presence?
• Testing and support.
  Is that advertiser providing constant support and allowing publishers to embrace new technology. I.e. Pintrest.com is relatively new in 2012.

 Here are some of the things to avoid:

• Not reading the terms.
  Know your boundaries, what you can or cannot do. Different advertisers have different terms, and it is best to read the terms before diving in. Some advertisers will let you do paid search, or email while some will not.
• Not abiding by the terms.
  If you know the terms, but you think that you are smarter than the advertiser, you are just looking for a lot of grief. The last thing you want is to have your commission withheld, or getting terminated from a program/network.
• Intentionally breaking federal regulation.
  If you do any misleading advertising ,or don’t comply with any regulations, you are just begging for trouble . i.e. CAN SPAM Act of 2003, FTC will be your new best friend if don’t comply with the Act.
• Not paying attention to the rumblings
  After setting up Google Alerts, and you notice a trend that the CEO left, then there is a mass layoff, you might want to pull back or stop promoting that advertiser.
• Putting all your eggs in one basket
  Try to avoid being another Enron casualty where many employees put their whole retirement in Enron’s stock. When the mighty Enron fell, the high flying stock was not even worth the paper it was printed on. Diversify!

If you are an affiliate marketer, and will be at Affiliate Summit Central -Austin; swing by the Round Table sessions to learn about more about CPL and expand your earning potential.

When: Tuesday, May 15
Location: Salon C
Time: 4:00pm-5:30pm

For those who have questions you would like to address, you can reach me @ericewe or email me.

Update 5/18/2012: You can find a recap of what I presented at Affiliate Summit Central here.

Hackers Stuff Amazon Associates Affiliate Program's Cookies

The core of an affiliate program is the ability to have an accurate tracking and reporting system that compensate publishers (affiliates) accordingly. Behind the scene of the tracking system are cookies and scripts that help with the tracking. Large companies like Amazon.com to the small eTailers often utilize cookies for thier affiliate programs.

Apparently, hackers are using a sophisticated JavaScript exploit hidden on dozens of online forum sites to drop cookies onto the computers of millions of unsuspecting visitors. Ben Edelman mentioned that hackers targeted at Amazon Affiliate program on such a large scale that the hackers have utilized over 200 different Amazon Associates IDs in order to prevent Amazon from noticing just how much traffic is being generated from just one source.  Their excercise examined over 500,000 websites and some of the websites identified were searchenginewatch.com (Alexa traffic rank #2045), webdeveloper.com (#2822) and redflagdeals.com (#3188).

Ben explains why they used so many affiliate IDs.

“The preceding discussion noted two mechanisms by which Bannertracker-script attempted to conceal its actions. First, it placed its tags within the comScore section of affected sites, where unfamiliar code is less likely to attract suspicion. Second, it loaded its tags invisibly, including via the multiple nested invisible elements detailed above. Still, by sending so much to Amazon, Bannertracker-script clearly recognized that it risked attracting scrutiny from Amazon, which might question how one affiliate obtained so much traffic. Bannertracker-script therefore turned to multiple Amazon Associates ID’s. In our testing, we found more than 200 such IDs.”

Ben suggested that each ID could generate up to $8500 and some of the site targeted includes affiliate websites such as RedFlagDeals.com. Here is how Ben came up with his calculation.

“Conservatively, suppose 40% of users are Amazon shoppers and make an average of four purchases from Amazon per year. Then 0.4*4/365=0.44% of users are likely to make purchases from Amazon in any given 24-hour period. If Bannertracker-script can deposit one million Amazon cookies, via hacks of multiple popular sites, it will enjoy commission on 0.44%*1,000,000=4,384 purchases. At an average purchase size of $30 and a 6.5% commission, this would be $8,547 of revenue per million cookie-stuffing incidents — susbtantial revenue, particularly given the prospect of hacking other vulnerable web sites.”

More kids know how to use a smartphone than tie their shoes!

More Americans own a mobile phone than have a passport.

20 million U.S. households no longer have a landline.

2/3 of mobile users use their phone’s backlight as a flashlight.

The most commonly texted “word” is simply the letter “R”.

Here are six basic fundementals on developing a successful mobile website on a shoe string budget.

Checklist for creating a mobile website

1. KISS – Keep It Simple Stupid
You don’t need to have neon blinking animations, or flying pigs on your mobile site. Present the mobile users with what they are looking for in as little clicks, or touches as possible. You don’t need an eleborate website,but plan on using icons/text wisely. Ensure that your mobile site will work on all major mobile OS (Apple’s iOS, Google’s Android, BlackBerry’s OS).

2. Relevant Content
As for content, a good starting point is to look over your analytics and pull out the highest traffic pages and skim it down. Nobody is interested in reading a technical document on a 4.6 inch screen, nor do you need to have all of the website’s content on the mobile site. Ensure that clean site codes and to reduce load speed.

3. Utilize mobile phone features and technology
Being that you are targeting smart phone users, be smart about it. Most smart phones have GPS tracking, camera, and voice commands and one should look at utilizing these features to interact with your user. A good example would be to serve up your store location info that is closest to them, or if you have a site-to-store like WalMart, then make it easier for the person to order via their phone and have it delivered to the store. Don’t forget to intergrate your Facebook, Twitter and other social media aspects.

4. Input device limitation
This goes back to No. 1 and knowing that you are working with fingers with a maximum of 4.6inch screen, or a scroll sensor. Use icons/text links that are spaced our so that you make it easier to navigate and to prevent accidental clicks. Avoid drop down menu, hover over, and flash as those might not be compatible with all devices.  Don’t overcrowd the screen with lots of text/icons, which makes it hard to navigate. Keep scrolling options from top to bottom as most mobile users prefer to scroll in one direction.

5. Drive the message Home
You are developing a mobile website for a reason – sales, lead, web presence! Make it easy for a person to convert with concise call to action. Streamline your conversion funnel and have your phone number clearly displayed as the last thing you want is for the person to leave your mobile site to Google for your phone #.

6. Test, Test and Update
What is the latest and greatest might drop off the cliff when things are moving quickly. Mobile searches have grown by 4x since 2010 (source: Google), and you want to be at the forefront as opposed to having your competitors lead the way. So test every quarter and tweak accordingly.

Here are some mobile websites that gave it some thought, and I am sure there are hundreds of good mobile sites out there.

• eBay http://mobileweb.ebay.com/
• Amazon http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw
• Safelite http://m.safelite.com/
• Lennoxhttp://touch.lennox.com/          
• Audible http://mobile.audible.com/

Please share your comments/feedback in the reply box.

Sunset at San Marcos Purgatory creek - Cannondale F4

I owned my bike for over a year and I have enjoyed the trails. Had a few ‘incidents’ which landed me in the E.R., from a badly discloated elbow that swelled up to the size of a grapefruit and almost slicing off my finger, but it is a hobby and adventure that I enjoyed.

I have been able to pack my bike and taken it to Austin, Houston, Huntsville, San Marcos for hours of fun and pain. I doubt I would have been able to fit a 29er (meaning 29 inch wheel as opposed to a 26 inch wheel) in my car. Learned more things about fixing my bike, other than the BMX years, physical limits and thinking 3x before taking that leap of faith as if I was 17 yrs old.

Throughout the last twelve months, I have spent more money on the bike than the purchase price. Some were ‘enhancements’, some were done to replace parts that broke/worn out.

• Fork RockShox Revelation Team 150MM – link
• Rims Easton Havoc DH WheelSet 32mm
• Hubs Easton 6 bolt, 28 hole
• Tires Schwalbe Rocket Ron UST, 26 x 2.1
• Pedals CrankBrother Candy Clipless
• Seatpost Thomson Elite, 31.6mm

Here are some pictures I took during the water breaks.

My Cannondale bike at Huntsville Park board walk

At Huntsville State Park, North of HoustonMy Cannondale @ Huntsville Lake

Analysts were anticipating that Groupon is valued at $15 to $20 billion, but I greatly question that value, but fell short. Don’t get me wrong, I have friends working there, and have bought from Groupon but I don’t see that model sustaining that $13-15 billion valuation.

Here are my observations:-

• Finite merchants and value.
  I have mentioned before and I will mention again, merchants/stores often don’t benefit from getting on Groupon other than the flash-in-the-pan sales from Groupon. In some cases, it is a disservice to the brand itself. The example I like to bring up is Gap selling on Groupon. Yes, it brought PR to the Gap at a huge cost of negative association as a brand discounter. Gap does not spend millions to have the Material Girl, Madonna promote the billion dollar brand and then be associated with a discounter like Groupon. Thus, there were complaints by companies that appeared on Groupon that the customers that walk through are there for the discounts and never return. There are also a finite number of companies that Groupon is able to approach.Despite Groupon’s eight-percent growth in the last quarter, its local deals revenue fell by three percent. Taking into account the growth in subscribership… It may not be a good sign that its core local deals business is already losing market share.
• Sustainable growth with competition
  Groupon’s business model is no rocket science and the barrier to entry is pretty much non-existence. The two big dogs on the block, Amazon and Google are also in this space. One day before Groupon’s IPO, Google Deals launched with a nationwide REI deal. Groupon’s closest competitor, LivingSocial is owned by Amazon.
  As of September 30, Groupon had 143 million subscribers, but in the third quarter only 30 million of them bought Groupons. Repeat customers increased from the second quarter but only numbered 16 million, according to a regulatory filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Failing to win enough repeat customers along with stiff competition may dampen the rapid growth.Days before the IPO, Groupon cut 10% of its sales force plus half of the copywriters in China.

It would be great to see Groupon fly high, but I just don’t see the machine fueling its growth with this business model.

Sadly, Apply released the iPhone 4S on Oct 4, 2011 and it was a mellow event. One must be wondering what the Execs know about Jobs’ condition during the announcement and knowing that the end was near for the ex-CEO.

Steve Jobs  touched the soul of millions, and here are some of his contributions.

• Started Apple computer at 20 year old in a garage
• 313 Apple patents.
• Graphical user interface, as opposed to command based computers.
• Macintosh, the first computing unit with that weird thing called a Mouse as an input device.
• iPod was a giant leap forward in the way people listened to music on the go. It started the digital music revolution.
• iTunes revolutionize the music industry and helped kill the CD.
• iPhone, redefined what a smartphone should be and put the internet in your pocket.
• iPad, made the device thin, lightweight, dynamic and easy to carry and merged the PC with a smartphone.
• Bought Pixar Animation, and successfully release Toy Story, Cars to name a few animations

We lost a great icon that revolutionize the electronic industry that touched the lives of millions.

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” - Steve Jobs (1955-2011).

Here are some interesting facts about the history of MySpace since News Corp acquired MySpace in July 2005.

• From July 2005 to late 2008, MySpace saw traffic grew from 20 million unique visitors to 70 million + visitors. As of May 2011, MySpace is tracking down and ended the month 30.1 million unique visitors as opposed to Facebook which is estimated at 142.6 million unique and on a upward trajactory.
• News Corp bought MySpace, the social media super star in July 2005 for $655 million ($580 million + $75 million to the founders), but began shopping MySpace around in Feb 2011 for a new owner. It was reported that MySpace will experience an operating loss of $165 million ending fiscal year June 30, 2011. News Corp was expecting to generate offers north of $100 million for MySpace when trying to unload the ailing social network, but accepted an offer for $35 million, or just 6% of the sum News Corp paid to acquire MySpace.
• At its peak Myspace employed 1,600 employees, which was reduced to 1,000 after laying off 30% of its workforce in June 2009. By June 2011, further job cuts reduced its size to 400 employees, with Myspace to lay off at least 150 employees and put another 150 employees on a transition plan in which they can still work for pay temporarily while looking for another job.
• The new owners, Specific Media along with
  Justin Timberlake mentioned that they might take the company public in the future if things goes as planned.
• News Corp. shares rose 1.3%, or 22 cents, Wednesday on the Nasdaq stock market to $17.39 after confirming the sale of MySpace.

So who is this chap by the name of Captain Francis Light? Apparently he was in the arm forces or responsible for a ship, as he had the title of a Captain.. He was the founder of Penang, the Pearl of the Orient, or at least that is what is written in history. The Thais and Burmese have been trading with the locals of Penang prior to that but in 11 August 1786, Francis Light landed on Penang at what is later called Fort Cornwallis, and renamed the island Prince of Wales Island in honor of the heir to the British throne. Francis Light was born in Suffolk, England on 15 December 1740 and lost his life in 21St October 1794 to malaria.

The grave of Capt. Francis Light. It looks like it was repaired.

Penang Catholic Cemetery Map. This map will identify the graves of those that are buried at the cemetery. It is often mistakenly called a Protestant cemetery but per the map, it is a Catholic cemetery. Not that it makes a difference to me but just a FYI

Penang Catholic cemetery map with the details of those who are buried there. It also gives you a short description of the person buried in the grave/tomb.

Tomb with a pergola. It was interesting to see some of the different designs and structures around there.

Tomb of Rev R. S. Hutchings, founder of Penang Free School 21 October 1816. There were fresh flowers laid at his tomb.

The tomb of Captain Francis Light. 15 December 1740 - 21 October 1794

If you found the information useful, please feel free to leave a comment.