Dead Cat Bounces and other ways to get the most out of your post

Nick Bilton over at NYTimes.com writes a very informative article  How to make a dead cat bounce on twitter, it covers how to use social media to get extra views and reads of content that you create.

As a content creator you may find some new ways to promote and sell your stuff.

Linkshare Deep Linking Bookmarklet Demo Video

Check out the post prior to this one for links to the Linkshare site to read about this. I thought the video would also be helpful.

LinkShare Tip of the Week: LinkGenerator Bookmarklet – create deep links without logging into the Publisher Dashboard! | LinkShare Blog

This tip of the week from Linkshare recently caught my eye. I love it when you can link to your advertisers right from your browser, it makes or job so much easier.

LinkShare Tip of the Week: LinkGenerator Bookmarklet – create deep links without logging into the Publisher Dashboard! | LinkShare Blog

Interesting Affiliate Marketing Video by Roslind Gardner

I recently came accross the below video by Rosalind Gardner. She gives some very good advice about how long it takes to start making money via Affiliate Marketing.

You may want to check out her YouTube channel for other interesting videos. She is also on Twitter and Facebook. Check her out.



Check out her book below;

Books: Why She Buys

Editorial Reviews from Amazon.com

From Publishers Weekly

The founder of Female Factor Strategic Consulting is a convincing cheerleader for marketing more effectively to women. She points out that women purchase or are the key influencers in about 80% of all consumer product sales in the U.S. alone—but 90% of marketing execs trying to reach them are men. In her crusade to teach marketers to become female-literate, Brennan offers very practical advice, urging readers to think twice before using overtly masculine competitive messages, to avoid violent images and language, and to realize that women, focused on practicality rather than cool bells and whistles, require fairly sophisticated marketing: pink is not a strategy, she reminds us tartly. The five important global demographic changes affecting female consumerism—more women in the work force; delayed marriages and therefore more spending on self; lower birthrates resulting in fewer kids (but more stuff); a divorce economy, which translates into needing two of everything; and the growing rate of active older women—mean that the female market must be well catered to. BrennanÖs style is smart and straightforward, and her pragmatic advice is spot-on; marketers should take note. (July)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

“Bridget Brennan’s book provides a highly readable road map to help marketers and salespeople understand women’s beliefs, values, and sensitivities. Given that women account for a high percentage of purchases, while many products are developed and sold by men, a reading of Bridget’s book will go a long way to closing this gap and improving the satisfaction of both genders.” —Philip Kotler, S. C. Johnson & Son Professor of International Marketing, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University

“Bridget Brennan’s highly informative and entertaining book provides keen–and unusual–insights into both the psychological makeup of women consumers and the demographic facts that everyone in business needs to know in order to execute marketing strategies in this challenging economic environment. Long live the Female Economy!” —Joseph V. Tripodi, chief marketing and commercial officer, The Coca-Cola Company

"Ms. Brennan is all about the commerce she observes. 'If the consumer economy had a sex, it would be female. If the business world had a sex, it would be male. And therein lies the pickle.' [She] explores the marketing opportunities offered by trends…all of which leave women making even more buying decisions." –Wall Street Journal

"Is the customer always right? Yes, She is: An entertaining and …rich account of…untapped opportunities. Fun and anecdotal." --Financial Times

"Lively, insightful and relentlessly engaging…should be required reading for anyone burdened with a Y chromosome." –Fortune Small Business

"Brennan details the major trends behind female spending and provides strategies for companies to crack the code." –Forbes Woman

“[Brennan] explains why the existing misunderstanding of gender cultures isn't just a gender gap but a gender "canyon," and provides case studies of female-focused initiatives from marketers such as Callaway, Ryland Homes, Lululemon, Lexus and MasterCard" – Advertising Age

“Word of mouth can make or break a brand, and this book confirms the fact that women talk to other women more about products than men do” --Journal of Consumer Marketing

"Why She Buys [guides] retailers and consumer goods manufacturers on how [women] are increasingly powerful consumers and how they think and shop."–LA Times

“Nab the Women’s Market” – Investors Business Daily

“Since we (women) are driving the economy and the economy could use a boost, it’s all good news” – ABC NEWS NOW

“[Women] are the most important constituency because they make all the decisions….a much needed perspective” – Fox Business Morning

“Witty and insightful” – Marie Claire India


From the Hardcover edition.

Book Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Crown Business (September 13, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0307450392
• ISBN-13: 978-0307450395
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.1 x 0.9 inches

Books: Internet Marketing from the Real Experts

Internet Marketing From The Real Experts

Book Description - What do Tim Carter, Brian Clark, Joel Comm, Jim Kukral, Ted Murphy, Jeremy Schoemaker, and Mari Smith have in common? They all walk the walk when it comes to their Internet marketing expertise. And they also have joined a couple dozen innovators and thought shapers to share their ideas, advice, and insight.

"Internet Marketing from the Real Experts" is a collection of affiliate, email, blogging, podcasting, video, search engine, and social network rock stars that break down the how and why of Internet marketing in a clear, easy to understand way.
These are the people that do this stuff every day. Find out how they do what they do to achieve success with their online businesses.

Their voices, their ideas, their action items, and their lessons learned from mistakes--all for you to grow your business the day you start reading "Internet Marketing from the Real Experts".


Product Details

* Paperback: 346 pages
* Publisher: Morgan James Publishing; 1st edition (January 31, 2010)
* Language: English
* ISBN-10: 1600377440
* ISBN-13: 978-1600377440
* Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.9 inches

The Part Time Affiliate Marketer Series

Just finished reading an interesting series of blog post over at the Affiliate Classroom blog by Kathy Jackson.

The Part Time Affiliate Marketer’s Steps to Success, Part 1

The Part Time Affiliate Marketer’s Steps to Success, Part 2

The Part Time Affiliate Marketer’s Steps to Success, Part 3

The Part Time Affiliate Marketer’s Steps to Success, Part 4

The series is in five parts, and I look forward to reading the next part. For the most part this is basic knowledge that is presented in a very understandable format. It is broken down in a way that the beginning Affiliate Marketer can learn some key concepts.

Blogger and Amazon Integrate

Amazon announced "Amazon Associates for Blogger", a direct integration between Amazon Associates and Blogger.

This new collaboration enables Bloggers to monetize their content by adding relevant Amazon products to their blog posts without interrupting the blog editing process. Amazon Associates for Blogger is available now at http://affiliate-program.amazon.com/blogger. Amazon Associates who don’t have a Google Blogger account can set up a free Blogger account with their Associates ID and start earning right away.

The Complete Guide to Affiliate Marketing on the Web: How to Use and Profit from Affiliate Marketing Programs

Google-certified ad networks in AdSense

AdSense publishers in North America and Europe can now allow ads from Google-certified ad networks to appear on their pages. These ads will compete with AdWords ads, and will help publishers earn the most from every ad impression by increasing competition. At the same time, publishers will have full control over which ads and ad networks can appear on their pages.

Tip's For Music Bloggers and Tweeters

I've recently been using twitter. You can follow me FitzgeraldKC @Twitter.com. I enjoy it because there are so many new and nice people there. People on Twitter call each other Tweeple, or just tweeps for short. There are musicians, bloggers, fans, and many people who work in the music industry on twitter. They are interacting and communicating in a way that is amazing when you get down to it.

I have been studying how some people use Twitter, so that I can better understand how to use it to help promote music in general. And thought I would do a post and pass on my observations.

Here are a few tips I'd like to give to musicians, and music bloggers who have joined Twitter, but who may not know how to use it. This information can be useful to anyone who uses affiliate marketing also.


1. Read books. Read some books on Twitter and Affiliate Marketing to learn how to promote yourself and your music on Twitter.

Twitter seems simple, but it is quite complicated and new research is being done on it all the time. To stay up on what is going on I recommend reading the latest books on the topic.

Please consider this list of books from Amazon.com;

Twitter Power: How to Dominate Your Market One Tweet at a Time by Joel Comm, Anthony Robbins, and Ken Burge (Hardcover - Feb 17, 2009)

Twitter Tips, Tricks, and Tweets by Paul McFedries and Pete Cashmore (Paperback - May 11, 2009)

Twitter Revolution: How Social Media and Mobile Marketing is Changing the Way We Do Business & Market Online by Warren Whitlock and Deborah Micek (Paperback - Nov 11, 2008)

The Twitter Book by Tim O'Reilly and Sarah Milstein (Paperback - May 26, 2009)

Twitter For Dummies by Laura Fitton, Michael Gruen, and Leslie Poston (Paperback - Jul 14, 2009)

2. Follow people to get followers. You have to follow people for them to follow you back. Unless you are very famous and have a large following in the real world, the only way that you can get and keep followers is to follow people. So find your fans and follow them. Find those who have common interest as you and follow them. Use the search feature, search for the type of music you play and follow those who tweet about that type of music. You may gain a new fan.

I can't tell you the number of regionally known musicians who only follow a handful of people, when they could make more connections and fans by following more people.

I'm not saying to just go out and blindly follow people either, make sure you have a common interest, like the same kind of music, and other common interest. As you get more followers you will gain a sense of what works for you. But initially, to get followers you have to follow others.

3. Interact with your fans on twitter. If you have an email list of your fans (if you don't then start one) use that list to find your fans and follow and interact with them. Search them out by name, or by region, or by any other way that you can think of, but do it. Don't expect them to find you, go out and find them.

I also see some musicians and bloggers who do not interact at all with their fans and readers. As a music fan I can tell you that when a musician interacts with me, it makes my bond with them stronger. Several nationally known musicians have interacted with me on Twitter, MC Hammer being an example of a musician who interacts with his fans. The jazz musician Melody Gardot also is good at interacting with her fans.

4. Promote Your Work via Twitter. Promote your music, your blog, your mp3s, your total body of work via Twitter. Link to anything that you want your fans to know about. Link to your web site, link to your music on sites that sell your cds, mp3s and albums. It is a win, win type of of situation. You get more sales of your music and/or more exposure for your affiliate links and the fans get more access to your work.

Don't go overboard with this, but do promote your own work. And share information with your fans.

5. Use Hashtags and search. Use hashtags (a word proceeded by the hash mark or #) to locate topics, and use them to identify what you are twitting about. For example I use the following tags all the time #blues, #harmonica, #rock, #folk #reggae, #soul, #jazz, and many others. You get the idea.

Also use Hashtags to identify what you are tweeting. If you are linking to some video of your band, then use the Hashtag #video, like wise if your blog post is about #hiphop then use that tag. I am often surprised by the number of musicians who are not identifying their tweets to make it easier for their fans to find them when they search.

6. Don't only Tweet about yourself. To get a little, you have to give a little. Tweet about the kind of music you like, tweet about other's bands and musicians that you like. This will cause those other bands to possible tweet about you. That is how twitter works best, the power of it is in others blowing your horn, as opposed to you blowing your own horn. You have to pay it forward, create value for your followers and the other members of your network.

Build your network by supporting and tweeting about the other memebers of your group.

Twitter is great for networking, for getting the word out about your body of work and what you are doing now, gigs, tours shows, etc. It is a great way to generate buzz. It is cheap and it is effective. I have measured the results of my twitter links vs my other affiliate links and blog post. There really is no comparison, Twitter out performs other blogging platforms, by all measures.

If you have read this blog in the past you probably know that I blog about music. I have three music blogs, blues music is covered in SqueezeMyLemon (SML), Reggae is covered in My Inna Fever and pop and other music is covered in KK&R Music Blog. In these blogs I promote music, musicians and provide music resources as well as use the blogs as a platform for my affiliate sponsors.

Getting Started with Google Ad Planer Overview

Google recently launched the new Google Ad Planner Publisher Center. This is a new feature of the Google Ad Planner that is designed to improve the quality and accuracy of site data.

The Publisher Center is available in English only at this time, but all publishers can use the tool. The Google Ad Planner Publisher Center lets publishers contribute directly to the site data found in Google Ad Planner. Web masters can specify their site descriptions, content categories, supported ad formats and sizes, and share their Google Analytics traffic data in Google Ad Planner, which will allow for better targeted ads tailored to the site specifics.


click for a lager image

According to Google;

The Publisher Center enables publishers to contribute directly to the site data provided in Google Ad Planner. Website owners can specify their site descriptions, content categories, supported ad formats and sizes, and share their Google Analytics traffic data in Google Ad Planner. With shared Google Analytics data, we can supplement our traffic estimates with actual, site-measured data from the publishers themselves. In turn, you'll have access to more robust and accurate information in Google Ad Planner to make better-informed decisions about which sites to include in your media plans.

Google Ad Planner @Twitter

Inside AdWords: Improvements to Google Ad Planner data

Affiliate Blog How To: A Travel Related Blog

My online friend, fellow blogger and contributor to several of my other blogs Ron Moorby has a blog about a trip that he went on. Canada Summer 2007, is a collection of photos, and observations by Ron about what he did on this trip.

I thought it might be interesting to turn this blog into a travel blog and see if we could generate some passive income for Ron.

When I say passive income, I mean that Ron can take this blog that he created for fun, and place affiliate links on it. By placing affilate links on the blog he can sell books, photo equipment and other travel related goods and services. And over time it will generate for him some income that he does not have to do too much work to maintain. It will be there for as long as there is an internet possibly. And by using some of the features of search people will be able to find it for years to come.

Lets start our plan, by doing a pros and cons survey.

Here are a few of the pros;
- Ron is well traveled
- Ron has many photos of trips that he has made around the world
- There are many affiliates that offer goods and services that Ron could promote on his blog.
- Ron is a prolific blogger, he knows how to create post and put them into his blog.
-

Here are a few of the cons;
- There is a steep learning curve that Ron will have to climb.
- Ron will have to join affiliate programs
- Ron will have to learn how to post affiliate links
- Ron will have to market his blog
- It will be a huge investment in time
-

OK, now that we have a few of the pros and cons of doing this laid out. It helps to understand where we might need to start if we want to do this.

step one - Join affiliate programs - Here I want to keep it simple in the beginning, so we will have Ron join the Amazon.com affiliate program first.

And net start a google AdSense account.

I think these two affiliate programs are a good way for a beginning affiliate to get exposed to some of the ideas involved with affiliate marketing.

After Ron has taken this step, we will move on to the next step as well as get more into the total overview of our plan.

A Practical Guide to Affiliate Marketing

A Practical Guide to Affiliate Marketing:
Quick Reference for Affiliate Managers & Merchants

click image for info @Amazon.com

Review - A Practical Guide to Affiliate Marketing is a must read for anyone running an affiliate program! The tips and advice Geno provides will help affiliate managers run more effective programs and avoid costly mistakes. If you're contemplating launching an affiliate program this book will save you time, money, and frustration. If your existing affiliate program isn t getting the results you had hoped for, you'll find tons of ideas that will help you get the most out of your program. Even if you're a seasoned affiliate manager, you're bound to pick up several priceless nuggets. --Michael Coley, Amazing-Bargains.com

A Practical Guide to Affiliate Marketing presents concrete and functional information for retailers and marketers to ensure optimal results from their affiliate campaigns. The information is easy to grasp and comprehensive. I can confidently recommend this book to any companies embarking on or refining their affiliate programs. --James Long, Director for PriceRunner.com US

Finally a definitive guide for affiliate managers and those considering starting an affiliate program. Geno has not only done his homework and research in putting this guide together, but his wisdom and hands on experience is evident in every chapter. As an outsourced program manager, I find the guide to be a great reference tool and always keep it handy. I often find myself grabbing Geno's book to see if there is something relevant there. Even with my many years of experience I can honestly say I found new, helpful information and ideas in the book I had not considered before. --Ron Bechdolt, 7 Days A Week Marketing

How to Advertise On YouTube

Ever wonder who to get add content placed on YouTube. I had been wondering about this for some time. But after reading YouTube is Fighting Hulu With Both Hands Tied Behind Their Back @Mashable.com.

Which led to this interesting link, How to advertise on YouTube.

Amazon.com's Associate Central Redesign

Amazon.com recently redesigned their Associate Central web site and rolled out some cool features. You can read about it here at the Amazon Associate Blog.

All though I often think that redesigns are done just for the sake of redesign. And many of the redesigns done on affiliate marketing sites do not offer much benefit beyond the cost of time that has to be invested in learning how to use the new features.

I am happy to report that I really like the new design and think that features like the "site stripe" are very useful.



The "Site Stripe feature" allows you to create links to products and pages on the Amazon.com site so you can update your website more frequently and with fewer clicks. And this is a feature that I wish many other affiliate marketing programs would use this approach.

If you are logged into your Amazon Associates account, the Site Stripe will automatically show up on the Amazon.com website just below the navigation bar (see example above), According to an email that I received from Amazon.com:

There are four buttons available to you on the Site Stripe:

• 'Link to this Page': By clicking on this link, you will be taken directly to Associates Central and receive the HTML code needed to add that particular Amazon.com page to your website or blog. After visiting Associates Central, you’ll see a link to take you back to the same page on Amazon.com that you were on prior to clicking on the Site Stripe. This allows you to create links to any page on Amazon directly from Associates Central while browsing the Amazon.com site.


• 'Add to aStore': Adding links to your aStore is just as easy as creating text links. By clicking on this link, you will be taken to the Associates Central aStore configuration page where you can quickly add this product/link to your aStore. After visiting Associates Central, you’ll see a link to take you back to Amazon to continue shopping.


• 'Your Earnings Report': Keep track of your earnings with this shortcut to your earnings report directly from any page of the Amazon.com retail site. Find out where you are earning referral fees while navigating the Amazon.com site to add more links on your website or blog to products and pages that appeal to your readers, based on your earnings performance.


• 'Settings': The Settings tab allows you to configure your Site Stripe tabs as you like and also gives you the ability to turn off the Site Stripe if you would prefer not to see it while you are on the Amazon.com website. Please note that if you do turn off the Site Stripe, you will need to visit your Account Settings within Associates Central to turn it back on. All of your Site Stripe settings can be accessed there. You can always hide the Site Stripe at any time without turning it off. Just click on the “hide” button on the toolbar. To see it again, click on the “tab” at the top left.

If you are an Amazon.com affiliate you will want to check this new feature out, and if not then this new feature will make it easy to start.

Discussing the Content Vs Buzz Question

There was a very interesting discussion going on over at the BlogCatalog.com titled Is Good Content Overrated.

I was surprised that some people really believe that you should focus more on buzz then you do content. I offered the following;

In my humble opinion, content is more important than buzz.

But there are many factors that go into deciding which is more important to you as a blogger. One major consideration is what are your goals?

Because different bloggers have different goals, they focus on different parts of blogging.

As stated some (1) blog for the joy of creating good content, (2) some blog for money, (3) some blog for recognition (comments), (4) some blog for the sense of community, and this list could go on and on.

So I think it is difficult to definitively say which is more important without taking the goals of the blogger into context.

What I enjoy the most is creating good content (and sometimes I think I actually pull it off), but I also know that I have to create a certain level of buzz if anyone is to read or enjoy the content that I create. I have to be part of a larger community that passes my blogs around and considers what I write.

All in all it is just good to get the opinions of so many different bloggers and to see what is important to them.