How To Promote Affiliate Programs Without A Website

Affiliate marketing is the most versatile business model on the Internet. Otherwise, how can you have an online business without spending a penny, or very little, to get it started?

There has been a frequently asked questiobn, "Can I promote affiliate programs without a website?"

It is an easy answer, but there are certain conditions to meet.

Yes, you can build a strong and highly profitable subsidiary company without a website. In fact, for most people "testing the waters", I think this is the way to go. However, you will not be able to support your company affiliate business, or build it stronger, unless you have a website.

So, yes, it is quite possible, and people do it all the time. Here are six ways to get there.

Writing informative articles

By far the most productive way to promote something on the Internet, particularly affiliate products, is by writing high quality, informative articles, attaching a short author's resource box at the end, and submitting them to every article directory you can find.

Your articles will help promote your affiliate by:

• Driving quality, targeted traffic to merchant's site.
• Establish an "expert" status for you.

when the article directories like EzineArticles.com or GoArticles.com list them your articles on their site and bring in traffic through the search engines.

This targeted traffic will read your article and click on your link affiliation, either in the article or in your resources box, and go to the merchant site to buy your products. You then earn the commission.

Participate in forums

Forums are networking online communities where people can come and ask questions or answers them. They're also excellent places to establish links with other people and promote products that you are affiliated with.

Of course, each forum has a guideline as to how you can post and how you can promote products. More generally it's through your signature at the end of your post.

You will also want to make sure that you provide relevant information. You wouldn't want to reply to a question asking what's the best car wax to use for long lasting sun protection by pointing them to your pet food supply store. Not only will your post more likely to be deleted, it won't do you any good either.

Use other people's websites by being viral

Viral marketing is getting other people to promote your affiliate products for you. But this is where a condition that I mentioned earlier kicks in.

You must create something; a report, short ebook, video, audio interview, etc., and allow other people to give it away free from their website.

For example, Harvey Segal of SuperTips.com has several ebooks that he has written, one especially on viral marketing, and gives them away to other people. Inside these ebooks are links to his site and his products. He doesn't have to do nearly as much advertising because he has other people doing it for him.

Now for an affiliate it is a matter of creating a relevant infoproduct (one that deals with the niche of your product), putting your affiliate links throughout the product, and emailing website owners if they would give it away on their site.

If the topic is similar they will jump at the chance because it adds even more content to their site, or they can use it as a free bonus for subscribing to their newsletter.

Place ads in other people's ezine

The first three tips have all been freebies. You can use them without spending any of your own money to advertise the products you're affiliated with. This one actually costs some money, but if you do it right you will still earn a great deal of profit.

Advertising in ezines is still a major strategy in creating traffic to your site. However, it does carry a warning.

Research and find the ezine that best fits the product. Ezine co-op's do not help you generate good, quality, targeted traffic to the merchant's site. Yes, your ad will be seen by hundreds of thousands of people, but the majority will have no desire, need, want, or tingle for the product the ad is for. A waste of good money.

On the other hand, if you research and find the right ezine to place and ad with, the people reading it will already have a desire for it.

For example, you wouldn't advertise fishing tackle in an internet marketing ezine. But, if you found camping, fishing, sports, or other mens related ezines... you'd have found a great match.

A few years ago, when everyone was advertising in ezines, the costs were sky high. But, now with blogs and a content focus the prices have come back down to earth and it's now reasonable. You can profit by placing very good quality ads in ezines.

Do the joint venture thing

Joint ventures are a funny animal. Most people think it's a "I'll put your link on my site if you put my link on your site" type of thing. Sometimes it is. But, what if you don't have a site?

Then you have to be a lot more creative.

Here's something I did recently with a client that I could not, after much pleading, convince they needed a site so I set out to develop an advertising campaign for them, without a website. First, I found a few other website owners who were in the same niche. In this case it was pet supplies. I offered each of them a deal where both sides would win out.

I offered the site owners good, quality, original web content if they would put my clients affiliate text links and a few banners on these pages. They were all very good traffic sites and I knew that my client would receive excellent exposure.

Out of the 15 sites I contacted, 11 said yes. Why not... everyone loves fresh content. After the initial run of new articles for each site and my client's links were on those pages, he made a little over $500 in commissions that first two weeks. Now that there are even more articles with his links on them, he is making more.

You can do that too. Just ask people if they need fresh content, for free, and in return you can place your affiliate links on those pages. It doesn't hurt to ask for a good position on the home page either.

Google it with Adwords

This one takes a lot more research and very focused common sense. Google Adwords is a way to get your affiliate links on Google's first page, without having a site, but it does cost. And if not done right, and constantly monitored... a lot of money.

However, there are people, like Chris Carpenter of Google Cash that have made an incredible amount of money, a fortune really, just from listing affiliate products on Google Adwords.

But...

Yes, you can successfully promote affiliate products with the above six strategies, but, like I said, there are conditions.

You must be extremely diligent in your efforts, constantly monitoring results, and keeping a sharp eye on your costs to ensure profitability. It takes work, a lot of it, to promote affiliate programs.

Also, at some point, you will have to break down and create a website. Your long term success greatly relies on you developing a prominent and tangible "storefront".

Until then, promote your affiliate programs without a website using these six strategies.

Google Ad Manager Made Public

Back in March, we announced the beta release of Google Ad Manager, our hosted ad serving and management solution for publishers with smaller direct sales teams. Today, we are pleased to announce general availability of the product -- no invitation required! Thousands of publishers in hundreds of countries already serve billions of impressions each day with Ad Manager, and we've heard from them that Ad Manager has helped increase revenue, cut serving costs, and save time managing campaigns. Now we're excited to bring those benefits to all publishers. If you have an AdSense account, you can sign in to Ad Manager today. If not, apply for an AdSense account now. A Google AdSense account is a technical requirement for creating an Ad Manager account. Ad Manager can help you sell, schedule, deliver, and measure both directly-sold and network-based inventory. It offers an intuitive and simple user interface, Google serving speed and reliability, and significant cost savings. Best of all, Ad Manager can be optionally integrated with Google AdSense to offer you an automated way to maximize the revenue of your unsold and network-managed inventory. We've been busy since March; in addition to supporting thousands of new publishers on Ad Manager, we've been adding new features including: Interface available in 32 languages: Do you prefer to work in Turkish or Vietnamese or Hungarian? Now you can! Ad Manager supports international currencies, too. Ad network management: Easily manage your third-party ad networks in Ad Manager to automatically maximize your network driven revenue. Automatic macro insertion: Save time and avoid tagging errors since Ad Manager now automatically detects and inserts macros from most popular 3rd party vendors. Creative preview on live site: Preview the look and feel of ads on your live site to ensure ads look as expected before you start the campaign. Day and Time Targeting: Don't want your orders to run on weekends? No problem. With day and time targeting, you can set any new line items you create to run only during specific hours or days, or as little as 15 minutes per week. Use day and time targeting in addition to geography, bandwidth, browser, user language, operating system, domain and custom targeting. We also continue to roll out new features for the DoubleClick Revenue Center suite of publisher solutions, including DART for Publishers (DFP), our ad serving platform for publishers with larger direct sales teams. Google Ad Manager serves as an effective complement to the DoubleClick Revenue Center by providing new opportunities for publishers of all sizes. If you have any additional questions about Ad Manager or want to learn more, visit the Ad Manager Help Center. Posted by Alex Vogenthaler - Product Manager, Google Ad Manager Tuesday, August 26, 2008 at 8:05:00 AM

Chitika, An Alternative To Amazon Affiliate Program

Learn how to make more cash from a website using Chitika CPC ads rather than Amazon affiliate links. This guide will illustrate the requirements for using Chitika virtual shopping malls to boost the monetization value of a website. Chitika is one of the best ways to make money from your website especially if you have a gaming, entertainment, or technology-based site. Yet few people know about this excellent way of monetizing their site - Chitika has less than 20,000 publishers whereas programs such as Amazon’s affiliate program has 10 times or more that number.

Chitika streams unique product ads to your site that match your site content. These product ads are very similar to the ones that Amazon allows affiliates to use. The difference is that Amazon pays about 5% per sale meaning that you usually make around 50 cents on most product sales - and that is only if your site visitors actually purchase the product by clicking on the link from your site. Using Chitika you do not get paid for product sales, instead you get paid for clicks, and it is easy to make around 50 cents each time someone clicks on the product ad even if they do not buy the product.

Types of Products streamed on MiniMalls

• Books
• Games
• MP3 players
• Printers
• Computers
• Software, and more

You can see now how Chitika can make a website money in much the same way that tens of thousands of Amazon affiliates are but with a much higher payout. Consider that for every 1000 visitors on your site 5% of them click on the appealing and relevant Chitika ads but only about 0.001% of them actually buy a product on your referral. This will mean that for every 10,000 visits you would only make a few cents using per-sale referrals but you would make $20.00 or so from using Chitika’s publisher program instead.

Chitika also pays out with a $10 minimum through PayPal. So you might ask what the catch is to using such a great program. Chitika is one of the best publisher programs out there - however like all premium advertising networks it does not allow just anyone to sign up. The secret to making more money from effective advertising on your website is getting into premium networks rather than just the basic ad networks such as Google adsense that are available to everyone.

To get into a premium network such as Chitika do not just apply through the Link above and hope for the best. Applications are manually processed based on whether your site meets the criteria. Make sure that your website is not brand new - give it some time online until it is established and archived in search engines. In addition, make sure you are getting enough visitors to your site, preferably at least a few thousand unique visitors a month. Finally, click on the link above and upon signing up read through the other criteria for publishers, and you will stand much higher chance of being accepted into the program.

Google Adsense: One Account Can Be Used For Multiple Sites

We'd like to remind you that once you've been approved for AdSense, you can place the code from your account on any page that complies with our program policies. Simply generate new code and paste it onto your site -- we don't need to update your account, so there's no need to contact us about your new site (although we appreciate the thought!). Even if your sites relate to completely different topics, our system will display appropriate ads for each site. This is because your ad targeting is based on the content of your pages, rather than set within your account. In addition, please keep in mind that publishers may only maintain one account per payee name, so there's no need for you to submit a new application. If you run multiple websites, you may wish to view separate reports for each domain. Simply create a URL channel for each one. You won't need to modify your code in any way, and your URL channels will begin tracking data almost immediately. If you need to send these reports to other people who manage your site with you, you can set up emailable reports. But what if you've sold the website you applied to AdSense, and now you run another one? We don't need to update your account information in any way. Just remove your ad code from the old site, paste new code onto your current site, and our system will automatically take care of the rest. Finally, we'd like to note that we do constantly review sites displaying Google ads to make sure that they're complying with the AdSense program policies. If we find that a site isn't compliant with our policies, we'll contact the publisher whose ad code appears on the site to address the situation. If you're concerned about others placing your ad code on non-policy compliant pages, we recommend using our Allowed Sites feature. Posted by Arlene Lee - AdSense Publisher Support Friday, August 22, 2008 at 2:17:00 PM

TNX, A New Text Link Service

In light of the recent PageRank update that appears to punish sites that buy and sell text links, I suspect many people may be moving away from Text Link Ads.

Personally, I have had little success with Text Link Ads due to several reasons but I think the biggest one is lack of marketplace exposure. I spent half an hour trying to find my own blog in the marketplace but could not (without searching for my name directly). How are potential advertisers supposed to find my site in the marketplace if I can’t find it myself?!

A New Player in Town

TNX.net take a very different approach than other text link sellers in that they offer a point system as payment instead of a straight cash transactions. Although this doesn’t sound as profitable, it actually offers several advantages.

• Reinvestment: with a point service, it is easy to reinvest the points you have earned into buying your own ads on other sites. Since they make it so easy to both earn and spend points, there is a much higher volume of transactions which means a higher chance of being able to sell your links.
• Trading Points: points can easily be transferred to another user without limit. You can buy a review from a fellow TNX user using your TNX points if you wish. Or you can use it as a way to pay your friend back for dinner, who knows.
• Redeemable for Cash: points can be redeemed for cash at a rate of 1,000 points per 65 cents (increases over time). This isn’t very high but I suppose it is to encourage users to reinvest points back into the system.

Buying Links
If you opt to reinvest your points to buy links, you’ll notice that the link purchasing system is unique in that you can’t choose where you want your links to show up. You only have control over a few things: category, language, PageRank and Yahoo! backlink preferences. Once these preferences are set, your custom links will begin appearing on sites that are part of the TNX network. As a result, the main purpose of TNX is to build backlinks from relevant sites of a certain PageRank in order to boost your own.

Introduction to Text Link Ads

One of the hottest income streams in the blogging world, it is exactly the way it sounds - you get paid for having text link ads on your site.

How does it work?

Simply go to the Text Link Ads website, and sign up to be a publisher. It can take a few days to get your approval ( or rejection! ) so be patient. You’re approved based on your site, its content, and traffic. Once you receive your approval, you get to configure your ads to your liking. You can choose how many ads you’d like to display, and whether they’ll appear on a single page on your site, or on the entire site. Be careful when you’re choosing! These decisions will affect how much each link is worth. For example, if you decide to have 10 ads instead of 4, each ad will be worth less. You may have more potential overall, but less income per link.

Once you’ve made these decisions, you can customize the colors to match your site. Remember, you want your ads to blend in, not stick out. That merely creates an eyesore. After that, simply select your site’s blogging platform, and follow the instructions. If you’re a Wordpress user, there’s a simply to install plugin available. A word of warning to Movable Type users - the script included is not reliable, and may cause problems. On my last remaining Movable Type blog, I have to add the links manually. On my Wordpress blogs, the process is completely automatic. You can, of course, request that you personally approve each link. I don’t worry too much about is, as I check my site daily, so if something funny pops up I’ll notice it quickly.

That’s pretty much it. Once your script is installed, your site is listed on the Text Link Ads website. You’ll get an email each time a link is sold, and your money can be deposited into your PayPal account. Whatever the link is sold for you split 50 / 50 with Text Link Ads.

WidgetBucks Monthly Newsletter: August

WidgetBucks skins launched



On July 29th, WidgetBucks added another excitng and unique feature to its fast growing online advertising network: Skins! Publishers and bloggers will now have the ability to pick from over 125 pre-designed skins. There is something for everbody in the skins gallery. You can make your widget look like the Apple iPhone or choose a theme - such as basketball - that reflects you, your site's "personality" AND the affinity of your visitors.

And that's not all. You can use custom do-it-yourself tools to make each widget uniquely your own. Anybody can use these simple tools to create stylish widgets that will not only look good but bring in more bucks!

See a demonstration of how WidgetBucks skins can be used on a blog or Web site. Then take it for a test drive by visiting www.widgetbucks.com. You can also check out two skins in action — on TechCrunch and Mashable. Finally, click here to see which skins are most popular with WidgetBucks users.

WidgetBucks' 'European Union' off to a fast start



After expanding its CPC (cost-per-click) network into the UK last month, WidgetBucks has continued its roll across western Europe. On July 30th, Germany, France, Italy, Netherlands, Belgium, Norway, Sweden and Denmark joined the UK. This means that site visitors from those countries now see the double-revenue ad widgets — a CPM display ad followed by a CPC widget of country-specific products from in-country merchants in local currency.

The results so far have been stellar. Our publishers in the UK have shown a 2.5 times increase in eCPM (combining CPM and CPC earnings) over this time. We expect simliar results in the newly expanded countries in the coming weeks.

WidgetBucks hits 1 billion impressions in July



We would like to thank all publishers around the world for contributing to our first 1 billion impression month ever during the month of July. It is amazing to have hit this milestone just 10 months after our October launch. Widgetbucks continues to flourish as the internet's fasting growing ad network because of your continued hard work and dedication to us. Thank you!

June payments sent August 15th

WidgetBucks June payments were sent via PayPal on August 15th. Checks are being processed and will be mailed by the end of next week. As always, we encourage you to switch to PayPal. It's faster and more secure than snail mail — and there's no fee to receive payment.

Commercial Blogging is Not Easy

Blogging is a relatively new media, but it’s starting to mature in many ways. More and more money has been invested by companies as they attempt to “control” the conversations in the blogosphere. More commercial content isn’t a bad thing. Without a profit incentive, much high quality content wouldn’t be created, and it certainly wouldn’t be free. But being a commercial blogger has its’ own set of issues.

Commercial blogging is tough

Blogging initially had very little commercial appeal. It was mainly people sharing their thoughts in “journals”. To their surprise, the medium took off, and many of the early bloggers took to the airwaves promoting blogging with evangelical zeal. Of course their message of a new frontier available with easy profits attracted many people. Let’s face it; we live in a world where many people are discontented with their jobs and futures and are looking to become “masters of the own destiny.” Suddenly the WordPress was the modern printing press and a nascent nation of citizen journalists/entrepreneurs was born.

Here we are, a few years later, and the blogosphere is largely a commercial one. Sure, some people still share their innermost thoughts in the old tradition, but many bloggers are merely mercenaries. This includes myself. I can’t say I became interested in blogging until I noticed a few declines in my other online strategies and recognized the maturing blog market as one that could be exploitable using relatively few resources. I’m sure I wasn’t alone in my increased expansion into blogging. There isn’t an SEO or SEM company out there who hasn’t expanded into blogging, as well as the PR and marketing firms that have such clout in the offline world.

Commercial Blogging is competitive

Now we face a lot of competition in the online arena. There’s no debating it. If you plan on carving a living online, you better be prepared to work quite hard, and be tenacious in order for your dream to advance. Here’s a few of the challenges that face you:

1. Getting “natural” links without paying in the commercial blogosphere is very hard. Most people expect payment for their efforts. Without the links, you probably won’t rank. You need a link strategy if you’re a blogger, not just a content one.

2. It’s tougher to build readers in many commercial categories. You have competitors, and you’re writing about subjects that aren’t always conducive to interaction. Product review pages don’t necessarily inspire a sense of community.

3. Your pages will undergo a great deal of scrutiny since they have ads on them. People understand you’re trying to get paid, and want more from you.

Of course these disadvantages are no big deal in the end, because they’re outweighed by the positive fact that commercial blogging pays. You’re only confronting these issues because you went for the money.

Commercial blogging will continue to grow in the next years. More and more people read and trust blogs and the shift from mainstream media is unavoidable as more people spend time online. Commercial blogs are the future.

WidgetBucks: The Review

WidgetBucks heralds itself as the ultimate Google AdSense alternative: this publisher program inserts 'dynamic' ads that cycle through a handful of products in real-time, while displaying those products' star ratings, descriptions and "best prices."

Widgetbucks created a stir around the webmaster community with its aggressive, anti-AdSense advertising campaign, and promise of high click payoffs.

With WidgetBucks, your income structure is based on pay-per-click, where you are paid for each click made on an ad by a legitimate website visitor. You do not earn anything for conversions, or products sold as a result of those clicks. Also, don't even think of clicking your own ads - like any other publisher program, this will throw a red flag in the air.

The main core competency of Widgetbucks ads is that they dynamically cycle through a list of products, rather than showing a static ad that only changes with a page refresh. Widgetbucks ad code uses Javascript to call its Adobe Flash-based ads.

How Does Widgetbucks Work?



Widgetbucks is perhaps one of the easiest publisher programs to use, and a breath of fresh air from the multiple-page atrocity of setting up AdSense ads. The "New Widget" screen, as seen above, is your be-all-end-all start and finish screen for creating a new widget. Name and identify where the widget will be seen. Next, select a widget size, and a product rotation interval (how fast do you want Widgetbucks to scroll through a list of products? The choice is from a 1 to 10 second pause).

Select a color scheme to apply to your ads - make it match your site's color scheme as much as possible!

Last but certainly not least: from your menu on the right, you can select the broad and sub-categories of products you'd like to see featured in your ad (how we all wish AdSense had this feature...). While all of these changes are being made, the preview area (not seen in the screenshot above) dynamically updates and lets you see the exact ad you'll get. Finally, save and add the code to your site - and you're done!

Is Widgetbucks Legit?

Widgetbucks is a legitimate company, and is managed by the Mpire Corporation, of whom has substantial vestments:

WidgetBucks comes to you from the folks at Mpire Corporation...Founded in 2005, Mpire is backed by Ignition Partners and former eBay executive and Pay Pal angel investor Richard Rock.

Widgetbucks officially launched on October 2, 2007. The first-ever round of payments have successfully been reported by Widgetbucks publishers during the first week of December 2007. The waiting period for the very first payment was approximately 45 days, in many cases.

Can Widgetbucks be Used With AdSense?

Yes - Widgetbucks and AdSense can co-exist on the same page! AdSense's terms of service state that other advertising venues may be used, as long as they are distinguishable from AdSense ads that are located on the same page (and, as long as they do not encourage clicks to AdSense ads).

So, is Widgetbucks Worth Using?

Widgetbucks is a great alternative publishers' program for anyone looking to jazz up their blog or site with a graphical, ever-changing ad that displays multiple products. Note that it is not for those looking to blend ads with the rest of their site - these ads do scream "I'm an ad!", so - other tactics should be assessed for your website(s).

Widgetbucks is a good alternative for AdSense users suffering from penny clicks. Even at the minimum, I was earning $0.07 per click for a video site that was previously earning penny clicks with AdSense.

Widgetbucks' contextual option struggles, for the most part (it's the option that looks at your page, and displays items that it thinks would be most relevant). Selecting your own categories is highly recommended.

Note that some Widgetbucks users complain about how Widgetbucks ads will slow down the load time of a web page. This matter was addressed by Widgetbucks in late October, with more optimized ads. Many webmasters have reported more success with using Widgetbucks ads near the bottom of a page (since the ad will be loaded by the time you scroll down to see it).

It should also be noted that Widgetbucks works best on websites or blogs that review products - such as consumer electronics.

The best advice is to give no advice here - try Widgetbucks out for a week, and see how it works for you! Much like any other publisher program, your payout per click depends on many variables, which include the market you're targeting, as well as the products being displayed for them. The many varieties and sizes of ads makes for a more pin-pointed ad experience.

If you've found this review to be helpful, please sign up with Widgetbucks and try it out for yourself! See how it compares to the other ad programs you've previously used (or are currently using)...just click on the banner to get started - and Happy Monetizing!

Why should I submit my site to web directories?

Web directories essentially serve as a catalog of links sorted by relevant topics. In the earlier days, when search engines weren’t as popular, directories served as the main method of finding relevant sites. But nowadays, search engines like Google and Yahoo have taken over and serve as the main medium that connects users with what they’re looking for.

So why should you even consider submitting your site to the directories, especially when not many people use them any more?

There are a few answers to this question:

To get your website indexed

Search engines like Google and Yahoo send out crawlers (spiders) to search the web for new sites that come up everyday. If you have a new site and you want search engines to know of its existence, then there couldn’t be an easier and better way to let a search engine know than having it find your site through links in various directories.

One way links -> Improvement in Search Engine Rankings

Most directories provide one way links, which is beneficial from the SEO aspect of your site. Search engines give importance to the number of inbound links to your site when ranking it for a given position during search and one way links are thought to be valued more than reciprocal links (links exchanged with other sites). Thus, directory links can help give a boost to your SEO efforts.

Targeting specific keywords / phrases

Most directories allow you to provide a link with keywords describing your site. It’s not easy getting links to your site with the keywords you want and directories serve as the easiest medium for getting such links. Getting links with targeted keywords / phrases can have search engines favoring your site over others when ranking for the given terms.

Traffic (not such a benefit with most directories)

There aren’t many directories that could boast of providing your site with traffic that would number in the hundreds per day but there are a few directories that are known to give some traffic (albeit very little) to sites in certain categories.

Most directories are free to submit to

Given the benefits and most directories being free to submit to, it makes business sense to having your site listed in as many SEO friendly directories as possible. After all, you don’t lose anything for doing so.

Submitting to directories can be a time-consuming process though and finding the right directories to submit can take quite a bit of effort. To save yourself the trouble, you may use directory submission services like ours to get your site submitted to all the top quality SEO friendly directories out there. We have a sizeable team of directory submitters who are well-trained in submitting to web directories.

Tribal Fusion review

The good: As an established company, Tribal Fusion customer support is simply awesome. They will provide you with complete instructions on how to set up the ad.

If you are a webmaster, I think Tribal Fusion is a good program to consider into if you are looking additional source of revenue besides Adsense for your website or blog. With 6000-7000 pageviews per day, I suppose you will be able to make around 10$ per day, depending on the type of ads that are displayed.

Overall Tribal Fusion is a good program when you want to diversify your earning while at same time not wanting to affect revenue of PPC; as they are based on CPM. Unlike adsense, you don’t have to blend the ad in your website design so it’s a time saver.

The bad: It had me wait for about two weeks to receive the result whether my blog was accepted to the publisher program or not. The registration process took sometime that you might want to divert your thought on that for a while.

Regarding the ads, some of the most popular products advertised via Tribal Fusion network when you have a tech related website are smileys and cursors software. Sometimes, they look flashy that you might want to ask your website visitors to use an adblocker if they hate that kind of ad.

The payout is only available in cheque form and when you reached the minimum balance in account (50 dollar), a cheque will be delievered to your address. It’s unfortunate that it doesn’t Paypal payment option unlike Chitika. I’m sure having this option would make us all very happy as it will save much time.
Tribal Fusion: Revenue results

Overall result: comparing with Adsense and Chitika, my results so far are:

Adsense > Tribal Fusion > Chitika

(Chitika produced the least revenue)

Tribal Fusion’s Publisher Website Requirements

To join the network, your site must have:

* A minimum of 2,000 unique users per day.
* Highly targeted, relevant and regularly
updated content.
* Professional site design.
* An active user base.

You can send your application if your site meets the above requirements. So, what do you think about Tribal Fusion?

Need search engine traffic? Typos is your solution!

Typos are a great way to get additional search engine traffic for your keywords. We’re all only human and we make mistakes. And we do them when we search on google, yahoo or other search engines. And we can use this knowledge when we make a website.

For example: We’re selling Blogger Templates. It’s quite easy to make a mistake here, for example leave out a letter, double the letter, skip a space etc. And now you get a wider range of search keywords for your original one:

Skip a letter:
logger Templates
Bloger Templates
Blogger Templats
Bloggr Templates

Double letters:
BBlogger Templates
Bllogger Templates
Blogger TTemplates
Blogger TempPlates

Skip spaces:
BloggerTemplates
etc.

How can you use this in your advantage? Quite simple. Make additional pages to your original one, but use the typos on these new pages. Use them in your title, description and in your body text and in your alt tags (images).

And now people who will mistype BloggerTemplates with Bloger Templates will get to your website! And the good news is that you’ll probably rank high in the search results, because there is not such a competition with the mistyped keywords as it is with the original ones.

Forex FAQs

Q1: What is a Forex Broker?

A Forex broker is very similar to a stock broker, and many new online Forex brokerages have recently emerged. The key difference is that Forex brokers deal only in currency exchange investments.

Similar to securities brokerages, Forex brokers come in all sizes, shapes, and levels of service. An online Forex broker provides minimal service at minimal cost. If you require more advice and expert guidance, there are many full service Forex brokers available, as well.

If you do go with an online broker, make sure that you choose one that has an extensive online knowledge base and 24/7 support so that you can execute all trades wisely, and quickly.


Q2: How do I open a Forex Trading account?

A forex trading account can be opened with any established forex broker. Before you open a forex trading account, please be sure to check the broker’s endorsements as a Futures Commission Merchant (FCM) registered with the National Futures Association. You can open a forex trading account online, over the telephone, or via fax.

To open a forex trading account, you will need your standard information as well as social security number and bank account information. This is why it is important to verify that the broker is a member of the National Futures Association.

Once your account is open, you can choose to participate in a demo account or begin live forex trading.


Q3: What is traded in the Forex market?

The instrument traded by Forex traders and investors are currency pairs. A currency pair is the exchange rate of one currency over another. The most traded currency pairs are:

USD/CHF: Swiss franc
GBP/USD: Pound
USD/CAD: Canadian dollar
USD/JPY: Yen
EUR/USD: Euro
AUD/USD: Aussie

These six currency pairs generate up to 85% of the overall volume in the Forex market. So, for instance, if a trader goes long on the Euro, she or he is simultaneously buying the EUR and selling the USD. If the same trader goes short or sells the Aussie, she or he is simultaneously selling the AUD and buying the USD.

The first currency of each currency pair is referred as the base currency, while second currency is referred as the counter or quote currency. Each currency pair is expressed in units of the counter currency needed to get one unit of the base currency. If the price or quote of the EUR/USD is 1.2545, it means that 1.2545 US dollars are needed to get one EUR.


Q4: Forex Terminology?

Bid/Ask Spread

All currency pairs are commonly quoted with a bid and ask price. The bid (always lower than the ask) is the price your broker is willing to buy at, thus the trader should sell at this price. The ask is the price your broker is willing to sell at, thus the trader should buy at this price.

EUR/USD 1.2645/48 or 1.2645/8

The bid price is 1.2645

The ask price is 1.2648

Pip

A pip is the minimum incremental move a currency pair can make. A pip stands for price interest point. A move in the EUR/USD from 1.2545 to 1.2560 equals 15 pips. And a move in the USD/JPY from 112.35 to 113.40 equals 105 pips.

Margin Trading (leverage)

In contrast with other financial markets where you require the full deposit of the amount traded, in the Forex market you require only a margin deposit. The rest will be granted by your broker.

The leverage provided by some brokers goes up to 400:1. This means that you require only 1/400 or .25% in balance to open a position (plus the floating gains/losses.) Most brokers offer 100:1, where every trader requires 1% in balance to open a position.

The standard lot size in the Forex market is $100,000 USD.

For instance, a trader wants to get long one lot in EUR/USD and he or she is using 100:1 leverage.

To open such position, he or she requires 1% in balance or $1,000 USD.

Of course it is not advisable to open a position with such limited funds in our trading balance. If the trade goes against our trader, the position is to be closed by the broker. This takes us to our next important term.

Margin Call

A margin call occurs when the balance of the trading account falls below the maintenance margin (capital required to open one position, 1% when the leverage used is 100:1, 2% when leverage used is 50:1, and so on.) At this moment, the broker sells off (or buys back in the case of short positions) all your trades, leaving the trader "theoretically" with the maintenance margin.

Most of the time margin calls occur when money management is not properly applied.


Foreign Currency Trading Rates

The simplest definition of foreign currency exchange rates is the rate at which one currency, such as U.S. dollars, can be traded for another. As these currency exchange rates fluctuate constantly, there is considerable opportunity to earn money from the differences - called "arbitrage."

There are online sites that show currency exchange rates in real time where traders, or travelers, can check exchange rates.The market through which investors trade in foreign currencies is called the Forex market.

You can refer to Foreign Exchange Rates at the Federal Reserve website: http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/h10/update/


Q5: What is the mechanism of a Forex trade?

The trader, after an extensive analysis, decides there is a higher probability of the British pound to go up. He or she decides to go long risking 30 pips and having a target (reward) of 60 pips. If the market goes against our trader he/she will lose 30 pips, on the other hand, if the market goes in the intended way, he or she will gain 60 pips. The actual quote for the pound is 1.8524/27, 4 pips spread. Our trader gets long at 1.8530 (ask). By the time the market gets to either our target (called take profit order) or our risk point (called stop loss level) we will have to sell it at the bid price (the price our broker is willing to buy our position back.) In order to make 40 pips, our take profit level should be placed at 1.8590 (bid price.) If our target gets hit, the market ran 64 pips (60 pips plus the 4 pip spread.) If our stop loss level is hit, the market ran 30 pips against us.


Q6: Why Forex?

• 24-hour trading, 5 days a week with non-stop access to global Forex dealers
• An enormous liquid market making it easy to trade most currencies
• Volatile markets offering profit opportunities
• Standard instruments for controlling risk exposure
• The ability to profit in rising or falling markets
• Leveraged trading with low margin requirements
• Many options for zero commission trading
• A trader can open a position for any period of time he wants
• No fees, except for the difference between buying and selling prices
• An opportunity to get a bigger profit that the invested sum
• Qualified work in the FOREX market can become your main professional activity
• You can make deals any time you like

It’s very important to understand every aspect of forex trading. Start first from the very basic concepts, then move on to more complex issues such as Forex trading systems, trading psychology, trade and risk management, and so on. And make sure you master every single aspect before adventuring in a live trading account.

How eBay Works

Today, tens of millions of people converge daily at eBay.com and eBaymotors.com to buy and sell millions of dollars in new and used merchandise. From simple products like old Monopoly games and used Elvis records, to wholesale electronics and digital cameras, all the way up to exotic motor vehicles and real estate, eBay has become the global trading platform for the everyperson.

The eBay business model is magnificently simple: provide a safe and motivating online marketplace where anyone can gather to trade products with confidence. Charge people a small fee to sell their wares, and enforce safety and trust for everyone.

At its base level, eBay works exactly like an electronic “flea market”:

1. eBay sellers pay a small flat fee plus a 1.5% percentage fee to eBay in order to market their wares;
2. eBay buyers visit and use the marketplace without any surcharges;
3. Any parties that abuse the system or each other will be disciplined or ejected.


At a higher level, eBay is different from a regular flea market for several reasons:

1. The eBay marketplace is international, and crosses language and national boundaries;

2. The massive choice of goods is awe-inspiring;

3. Sales can either be auction format (competitions between bidders), or traditional fixed price format. The sellers choose whichever format they prefer;

4. The buyers and sellers will likely never meet in person;

5. The buyers do not get to see the product in person before purchase, but are given various post-purchase guarantees to ensure satisfaction;

6. Very sophisticated computer measures are implemented to minimize electronic dishonesty on all sides;

7. Fulltime staff are employed to enforce safety and fairness across the system;

8. An honesty incentive model called “positive feedback” is used to motivate buyers and sellers to trade with integrity;

9. Professional third parties payment services, like Paypal, Bidpay, and Escrow.com, are brought in to ensure safe and trusted payment between eBayers;

10. eBay is easier to use than a flea market.

The Basics of Commission Junction

Most webmasters and e-zine publishers have learned that writing copy for a product and making a share of the profits through affiliate advertising can be a lucrative way to boost their online incomes. For that matter, it can be a great single source of income all by itself, so long as the writer is knowledgeable on how to create enticing copy. However, learning how to use an affiliate program (a program that allows users to place ads for other companies or products on their sites in exchange for a share of the profits) can be a daunting task for the beginner. For that reason, the following is a guide to using Commission Junction, one of the largest and most sophisticated affiliate networks on the web.

Step #1: Creating your publisher account. You do not have to be an expert at affiliate marketing to simply create an account. All you will need to do is provide your contact information and the information for your website, newsletter, blog, or whatever means you desire to use for your affiliate marketing program. Simply fill in the form under the sign up link and go from there. No research required. Do be prepared to explain the purpose of your site and what kinds of products you feel would benefit the most from your articles or promotions.

Step #2: Search for links. Perhaps the quickest and simplest way for the beginner on Commission Junction to find products and services to promote is by simply entering key words that match their own sites or pages into the search box and taking a look at what comes up in the results section. For example, if you run a website on pet care, you might type in "dog," "cat," "vet," etc. While you can certainly ask for a complete list of all advertisers, this method ensures that you will view the most relevant affiliate programs first. Programs that have used similar key words to describe themselves for the site's search engine will appear for your perusal. Be aware that some programs will allow you to sign up instantly by clicking on the "join network" link, while others will make you wait through an application process. If that is the case, you will be notified if you are accepted, usually within a couple of weeks.

Step #3: Be choosy. While you can decide to sign up for as many affiliate programs as you like, it is best to start by really getting to know those that will serve you best. In other words, you want to promote products and services with professional websites that have working links and that will pay you well. Make sure to visit the outgoing pages that your visitors will be taken to should you they click on these links to make sure that the ad matches the result (in other words, an ad that you promote should never be misleading or useless to the customer). Ask yourself if you would be interested in the actual product provided based on the ad that took you there. Does the advertisement suggest that it is a link to a professional medical website, when in fact it leads to a site selling an herbal product? This is exactly what you want to avoid. You want your readers to actually gain something useful from these links, and to be interested in seeing what you promote each day. Choose wisely.

Step #4: Understand how you make money. Unlike Google Adwords, affiliate networks rarely, if ever, pay per click. Instead, they pay only upon an actual purchase or action. A purchase profit is self-explanatory. You will make a percentage of the profits from each sale that originated with a click on one of your links. However, some affiliates will pay you for every person you send them that completes a certain action, such as filling out a form, completing a survey, or signing up for a newsletter. On Commission Junction, you can find out how an affiliate pays you before signing up with them by simply clicking on the link you are interested in. If the payment information is not clear, do not sign up!

Step #5: Choose your ad. After choosing your affiliates, you will need to select the type of ads you want to use. Most offer text ads, keyword links, and various banner ads. What you choose will depend on the section of your web page that you plan to advertise in, as well as the actual offers made in each ad. For example, you might feel that the words used in a particular banner ad for one affiliate are more enticing than the text ad they have created. On the other hand, you may feel that a text ad would be more suited to your space requirements. You can choose a different ad every time, and you can choose html or Javascript codes for each.

The best part about using Commission Juncion is the service provided for beginners. The process is simple. Sign up, choose your programs, and get the codes. Commission Junction will tell you how many clicks have been made on your links, as well as what your commission totals are, right on your publisher home page. Just place ads well, and Commission Junction will do the rest.

AdBrite Unveils Behavioral Targeting (BT) Network

Internet ad marketplace AdBrite, said it will leverage its 70,000 plus active Web sites to unveil a behavioral targeting product that it bills as the first to utilize behavioral targeting methods over a network with such vast reach. AdBrite introduced the product at the OMMA Behavioral conference in San Francisco today.

AdBrite’s network has grown significantly this year (it was 50,000 strong in January) – right now, the company is second only to Google in the breadth of its reach. Interactive advertisers will be able to use the new BT product to target ads on five times more sites than they could previously, the company said.

“Site owners are joining AdBrite at an accelerating rate to take advantage of our unique targeting options and transparent ad marketplace,” said Ignacio Fanlo, CEO of AdBrite. “AdBrite’s mix of high-reach publisher brands and engaging specialty content sites is an unbeatable combination for advertisers and publishers alike.”

Advertisers will be able to show ads to relevant users in 14 major categories and more than 3,000 sub-categories. Prices are set via a real-time action and transparent reports of performance will be available to optimize results.

User interest categories include Automotive, Business & Finance, Careers, Consumer Electronics, Dating & Singles, Health, Music, and Travel. The service is currently available to a select group of advertisers on an invitation-only basis.

Website Branding

Branding livestock goes back to around 2700 B.C. Even paintings in the tombs of Egyptians show hieroglyphs of people branding oxen. This branding confirmed the ownership of the livestock. You may not be branding livestock, but this certainly applies to your website. It needs to be brandable so people will connect your website with a product, service, or other type of value.

1. Branding With A Domain

Have a domain which describes the name of your business as best as possible. Shorter domains are easier to remember. People can return to your website if the name is catchy and memorable. Avoid long domain names if possible, which detracts from the professionalism of your business.

2. Create A Logo Thats Memorable

Make or have someone create a logo for you. This is also key for branding yourself. Remember, A picture is worth a thousand words. A logo, or image on your website will help connect customers, as well as potential customers with what your website is selling or promoting. You want to brand an image in peoples minds so they think of your business first when there is a service or product they need, or that their friends need.

3. Have A User Friendly Website

Make your navigation simple and easy to use. A lot of people don’t realize that the user friendliness of a site is a part of branding. When you go to a website that is disorderly as well as looking and feeling complicated, would you rather stay and figure it out or find another resource that is simple and user friendly? If your website is simple and easy to use to purchase something, then people will come to you first over your competitors.

4. Coin A Phrase

A motto is another great thing to be known by. Almost every large company out there that you can think of has a motto. If you have a Logo for your website, then it might be a good idea to create a motto that is easy to remember as well.

5. Set Yourself Apart And Specialize

Setting yourself APART from the rest really encompasses everything from the last 4 tips. Make sure to be different from your competition. Know what you want to be known for. What aspect of your company do you want people to recognize when they think of your business? If you are selling a wide variety of power tools, would you want people to recognize you as a leader in the industry of drills? That would certainly be easier as a niche than competing with larger companies which offer power tools as well.

From the last 5 tips, you can see that branding is huge! If you are starting an E-Commerce site or have one already, but are lacking the success, then this is one of those things you have to take a serious look at and ask yourself, “why would people come to my site over my competitor”. Until you think like your potential customers, you may find that your business is lacking. If you follow these tips on branding, you will be building upon something that will have a lasting effect far into the future.

What is ForEx?

ForEx, or foreign exchange market, is a non-stop cash market where currencies of nations are traded, typically via brokers. Foreign currencies are constantly and simultaneously bought and sold across local and global markets, hence investments appreciate or depreciate in value based upon currency movements. Foreign exchange market conditions can change at any time in response to real-time events.

The main enticements of currency dealing to private investors and attractions for short-term forex trading are:

* 24-hour trading, 5 days a week with access to global forex dealers
* An enormous liquid market making it easy to trade most currencies
* Volatile markets offering profit opportunities
* Standard instruments for controlling risk exposure
* The ability to profit in rising or falling markets
* Leveraged trading with low margin requirements
* Many options for zero commission trading

Forex trading

The investor's goal in forex trading is to profit from foreign currency movements. Forex trading is always done in currency pairs. When trading currencies, trade only when you expect the currency you are buying to increase in value relative to the currency you are selling. If the currency you are buying does increase in value, you must sell back the other currency in order to lock in a profit. An open trade (also called an open position) is a trade in which a trader has bought or sold a particular currency pair and has not yet sold or bought back the equivalent amount to close the position.

Private investors can trade in forex directly or indirectly through:

* The spot market
* Forwards and futures
* Options
* Contracts for difference
* Spread betting

It is estimated that anywhere from 70% to 90% of the forex market is speculative. In other words, the person or institution that bought or sold the currency has no plan to actually take delivery of the currency in the end; rather, they were solely speculating on the movement of that particular currency.

Exchange rate

Currencies are traded in pairs and exchanged one against the other when traded, so the rate at which they are exchanged is called the exchange rate. The majority of the currencies are traded against the US dollar (USD). The four next-most traded currencies are the euro (EUR), the Japanese yen (JPY), the British pound sterling (GBP) and the Swiss franc (CHF). These five currencies make up the majority of the market and are called the major currencies or "the majors". Some sources also include the Australian dollar (AUD) within the group of major currencies.

Margin

Banks and/or online trading providers need collateral to ensure that the investor can pay in case of a loss. The collateral is called the margin and is also known as minimum security in forex markets. In practice, it is a deposit to the trader's account that is intended to cover any currency trading losses in the future. Margin enables private investors to trade in markets that have high minimum units of trading by allowing traders to hold a much larger position than their account value.

Leveraged financing

Leveraged financing is the use of credit, such as a trade purchased on a margin. It is very common in forex trading, and results in being able to control $100,000 for as little as $1,000.

Risks

Although Forex trading can lead to very profitable results, there are risks involved: exchange rate risks, interest rate risks, credit risks, and country risks. Approximately 80% of all currency transactions last a period of seven days or less, while more than 40% last fewer than two days. Given the extremely short lifespan of the typical trade, technical indicators heavily influence entry, exit and order placement decisions.

Website Re-Design

The real power of the internet is in its ability to market directly to individuals, by giving them the information that they need, when they need it. The websites that achieve this will grow exponentially while the sites that don’t will ultimately fail to those who do.

Just because your website isn't working doesn't necessarily mean you need a new one. Let's face it, you already bought a website and some of the elements are okay. Sometimes, it is possible to improve your website's performance without having to start over.

In some cases, we can give you a website makeover without starting from scratch. A Website Redesign can dramatically improve your site's performance, deliver the results you expect in less time, for less money and with less hassle.

If you are considering a Website Redesign you might ask yourself (or an objective customer) the following questions.

1. Does Your Website Look Professional?

Is the information current? Is the quality of your graphics and photographs professional and optimized for the internet? Compare your website to that of your competitors.

2. Is Your Website Growing and Improving Your Business?

You may be using your site as a brochure to show existing customers, but are new potential buyers finding your website when they are searching for products and services such as yours?

3. Is Your Website in Front of New Customers When They are Looking for Your Products or Services?

If you do a relevant search, for the product or service you sell, where is your company listed? Is it on the first page of search engine results? Is it in the first three pages? If not, you are losing business. Studies have shown that search engine users rarely look past the first three pages of search engine results before moving on to a new search.

4. Does Your Website Speak to Your Customers' Needs?

Think about all the questions your customers ask you before they decide to buy. Think about all of their concerns. Do you answer those questions in your website? Do you address those concerns? If you don't, you are losing potential customers.

5. Is Your Website Easy to Use?

Consider the flow of information in your website. Is it easily navigated by a site user? Does it deliver relevance with every link? If you are using custom applications in your website, do they function correctly? Are they easily used by all visitors, regardless of connectivity speed or processor speed? If you've answered "no" to any of these questions, your website is losing potential customers.

6. Does Your Website Convert Visitors?

Do you know the percentage of people that visit your site compared to the number that visit and take a desired action? (Call you, email you, download something, etc.) You should.

7. Does Your Website Allow You to Stay in Contact with Prospects and Existing Customers?

Are you collecting information about the people that visit your site? They need you. Otherwise they wouldn't have found you. It is important to keep in contact. If you are not collecting information on your visitors, specifically their email addresses, phone numbers and names, than how are you going to follow up with them to discuss ways in which you can assist them?

Top 10 WAYS TO IMPROVE A WEBSITE DESIGN

1. Balance your page

When users enter a website, their focus first starts at the top left of the page, and hovers there before slowly tracking to the right. Contrary to what many think, the web user is focused more on the text of the page, than on images or graphics. This is where balance comes into place.

2. Keep it simple

Less is more. Clean your website up by removing all the unnecessary visual elements. This will allow important items to stand out. Leave some white space on the page. The illusion of space is visually pleasing, as well as easier to navigate. Otherwise, your visitor will get whiplash by darting their head from left to right in an attempt to look at all the information crammed on your screen. Or worse, they'll clíck on out of there in a hurry.

3. Fix your fonts

The size and type of font you select will have an effect on how your reader takes in your information. What font should you use? San-serif fonts such as Arial and Verdana are popular choices for on-screen reading. And keep the size in mind too. The font size should be no smaller than 10 points and no largër than 14 points. You don't want the reader to be able to read the information from across the room, but you don't want them squinting and leaning closer to the monitor either.

4. Clean backgrounds

Go subtle. The background textures and colors you choose have the ability to gauge the overall appeal of the website. Lots of texture and graphics in the background can be distracting, and the more texture you add to the background, the less noticeable your text and images become.

If you're going to use a color on the background, make sure there is a significant contrast between the background color and the text. Strike a good balance, or you may compromise the readability of the text. Make good choices. You will rarely go wrong with black text on a white background. It's crisp, clean, and easy to read. Be cautious when using darker and brighter colors such as red or yellow. They cause visual fatigue and the reader will löse their focus on the text.

5. Graphics

Graphics are often overused on web pages. We often clutter the pages with objects that look cool but serve no purpose Here are some instances where you can use graphics to enhance your pages:

* Logo – Your logo is your brand recognition and it adds visual appeal to your web pages.
* Title bars – The title bar lets your visitors know which page they are on.
* Horizontal rules – Graphic lines are often used to separate categories or sections of a webpage.
* Background images – Are used to add visual appeal or make a web site easier to navigate.
* Photos – Personalize a website and make it inviting.
* Navigation icons, such as `home' and 'back' enhance a page because they are familiar and users anticipate seeing them.

6. Easy navigation

Create a toolbar with links that are easy to navigate. Position the toolbar in an area that makes sense. Web users often look for the toolbar across the top or down the left hand side of the page. Going with the norm will create a sense of familiarity and facilitate the ease of navigation. And don't forget a link to your homepage. It's often forgotten but very important to point your users to your home page. Chëck out www.pocruises.com for an example of easy and well structured website navigation.

7. Text readability

You have great copy, but are you displaying it effectively? Make your pages easy to read. Break up blocks of text and create short paragraphs.

* Consider the key points on each page and create headings and subheadings.
* Only use one or two fonts. Select one font for your headings and subheadings and another for the body text.
* Highlight key words and phrases by bolding or using a different color. Be careful when selecting colors, and don't use every color in the rainbow. Many, such as yellow and pink, don't stand out well if you've selected a white or black background.

8. Scrolling

Horizontal scrolling? Yikes. That needs to go, now! Users hate, hate, hate to scroll left to right. It's disorienting and annoying, so if you've got it, lose it. Vertical scrolling is ok if you have to have it, but consider moving larger blocks of information to another page and providing links. There's also the danger of missing vital information that falls below the screen if a user decides not to scroll down to view it. So if you've got to have a scrolling page, try to keep all your important information above the fold.

9. Make it quick

We all get impatient when it takes more than 5 seconds to connect to a website. Users want to make contact, and make it quick. Ensure that your pages load as quickly as possible. Eliminate unnecessary graphics, especially flash graphics...they can be time hogs. You need to make an immediate impression, and the only impression you're leaving as your page slowly grinds in to view is "this page sucks"...if they're still there to see it at all.

10. Don’t Make Them Think... Make Them React

Viewers in general have come to a site because of an issue whether it be a product, information they have a need. The trick is to help guide visitors to the area of interest as fast as possible, not keep them browsing through a maze of dead ends, or they won't be coming back to your website next time they see it mentioned. Remember to make a sitemap/table of contents of your website, or a search engine, or just the good old "Breaking News" headline. Find one that works best for your site, and stick with it.