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A review of the How To Make Affiliate Programs Work For You seminar at the Phoenix Forum

The seminar began with a brief introduction of the panel members: Alli from TopBucks, Rocki from TrafficCashGold, Duane from DrunkDollars and EvilChris from XXXCash; and what each person does for their respective affiliate programs.AD PROGRAMS

A review of the How To Make Affiliate Programs Work For You seminar at the Phoenix Forum

The seminar began with a brief introduction of the panel members: Alli from TopBucks, Rocki from TrafficCashGold, Duane from DrunkDollars and EvilChris from XXXCash; and what each person does for their respective affiliate programs. The seminar was basically a continuation of the prior seminar, “How to Convert Traffic Into Dollars”, as both topics relate to affiliate programs’ contributions to revenue models on every level.

Experimentation was the hottest piece of advice throughout the seminar. Each panel member agreed that experimentation is the key to success. Trying out different affiliate programs, different revenue programs and different ways of handling your traffic stream can give webmasters the best results for their efforts. The underlying message was that affiliate programs should work for the webmasters and not the other way – it is in everyone’s best interest.

Traffic optimization was another popular discussion. The concept of giving surfers what they want, rather than misleading them through miles of useless content, was among the main suggestions. In addition, filtering your lower-converting traffic to dialers or a per-click affiliate program is also a way to optimize your traffic – the overall lesson was “make every hit count” – traffic is gold – there is no value in wasting any of it.

There was no debate among panel members regarding the collection of emails… “Grab all the emails you can!” Offer surfers one picture, one story or something to pique their interest and then promptly send them to your affiliate program. Your opt-in email lists are perhaps one of the most pure traffic streams as the surfer is asking for the type of content you provide.

Throughout the seminar the discussion turned to the content offered by webmasters. One of the most valuable pieces of advice given was to present your surfers with unique and exclusive content. Surfers are getting smarter and pickier; they know what they want and where to find it. If you, the webmaster, can offer them something they haven’t seen much or any of, you have a devoted surfer and the opportunity to cash in on your efforts.

A key point to webmasters was to avoid generalizing your traffic. Do not assume you have only “Asian traffic” when you may have a mix. Niches are offered by most affiliate programs. Using them will give you the return you are hoping for as your surfers will find “exactly” what they are looking for – in turn, targeting your traffic to the respective program.

The subject of variety vs. saturation was briefly touched upon. Which is more valuable, 80 paysites or two? Opinions were mixed on the issue as some felt that there is no reason to saturate your traffic stream by offering way too much of one thing, while others felt there is a lot of value in giving the surfer options and choices in terms of content.

When presented with the question, “What are the most successful niches?”, panel members for the most part agreed that tranny content and large cock sites are the most successful, currently. Ebony and Latina niches are currently on the rise as well. However, the most successful niche for webmasters is the one that keeps your surfers coming back for more.

Warnings for webmasters were also offered regarding affiliate programs you can trust and work with. The advice was to explore your options and make sure affiliate programs pay on time, every time. Find out what special features your affiliate program may offer – will they make special banners? Do they offer targeted links to specific sites? Is there a points system to earn “stuff”? Your affiliate program should want to put forth every effort to help you succeed, because if you make money, they do too. Another piece of advice is to find out which billing companies your affiliate program works with. Ensure that they are established and solid companies that will not cause you more grief than glory.

Finding your ideal affiliate program can be as easy as asking around. The opinions of other webmasters are very valuable in this business. Listen, pay attention and do your research. As you read this, you are on one of the best resource sites mentioned during the seminar. YNOT offers an incredible listing of affiliate programs with positive reputations in this industry – this is a great place to start your search.

Although the seminar was cut short for lack of open discussion, panel members, as well as the audience, offered useful tips. These seminars tend to be very helpful to the newbies of the industry who are just starting out and need all the advice they can get. It was unfortunate to see the seminar cut short, however, as there were not many newer webmasters attending the seminar to help keep the discussion open. Questions asked were valid and intuitive although perhaps a bit timid. The panel was a great mix of knowledgeable people who work for some of the leading affiliate programs. This was the perfect opportunity to pick their brains on specific issues.

The bottom line of the seminar was, “How much are you being paid for your traffic?” “What dollar figure are you seeing emerge from your efforts?” “Are you getting out what you put in?” Try different equations with your traffic. For example, send your quality traffic to pay-per-joins, and your lower converting traffic to pay-per-clicks. Whatever scenario you choose, make sure it gets every ounce of your traffic to count!

Liz works in marketing for SexTracker MoneyTree and can be reached at lizr@mtree.com