RAP Bank
I have just signed up for RAP Bank myself - call this a mini-review.
It seems to be one of the smartest ideas for a long time as a great way to consolidate 100s of affiliate programs under a single entity for promotion.
It is also one of the best implementations of WordPress I have ever seen.
It is not without its bugs, as this is effectively pre-launch. For example I just found a bug in the keyword based search RSS feeds (yes RSS feeds for any term will be hot), but it looks like they might be onto a winner.
Check it out - signup for the basic service is free.
> 
P.S. It is not immediately obvious who is running the site, but looking at my Paypal receipt (yes I signed up for Vendor Plus) I believe the site is run by Bill Ortell From Rap-Extras.com who is RAP certified and does the membership add-on that is highly popular.
Tag Archives: affiliate marketing
SEOmoz Pro Review – Coupon Voucher Promo Discount Codes?
Would ranking for these terms bring SEOmoz additional traffic and take traffic away from affiliates? Would that be a benefit to the long-term SEOmoz brand?
Affiliate Product Launches I Refuse To Promote
For old-time affiliate marketers this post might stir up some unpleasant memories, or unearth some golden nuggets. It is primarily intended for people less familiar with affiliate marketing, who might otherwise feel it is all plain sailing if you can get a few sales.
Posted in marketing Also tagged affiliate bonuses, amazon s3, bonuses, Brightcove, CDN, hosting, karma, product launch Comments closed
HowTo: WordPress Multivariate Split-testing With Google Website Optimizer
WordPress Sales & Affiliate Themes
I spent the better part of a week and a few hundred dollars ($300-$400) on various WordPress sales letter and affiliate themes - I came to the conclusion that they weren't something I would use.- Some I would class as pretty but lacking substance (polite version of crap)
- Every single theme was designed around the concept that you run a single theme on your blog at a time
- They all suffered from what I regard as a horrible plague - theme option pages - if you need to set up lots of options after you have uploaded a theme, you have lost a sale, unless I can also import and export settings.
- The worst aspect of theme options pages is using them for the content that might appear on a page, because it is a nightmare to set up split testing, and when editing, you really want all the words on the page in front of you.
Posted in blog monetization, stats Also tagged google website optimizer, gwo, landing pages, multivariate testing, split testing, thematic, wordpress, wordpress plugins, wordpress themes Comments closed
Affiliate Evolution With Ustream
A number of internet marketers are now using Ustream extensively for training.
- Ed Dale with the 30 Day Challenge
- Sherman Hu with his WordPress Huddles
- Michael Cheney frequently holds free training sessions combined with special offers (I sat through 2 hours of one the other night)
- I know that crazy guy Jason Moffat is now into Ustream big-time
Posted in marketing Also tagged Affiliate Evolution, interent marketing, marketing, Russell Brunson, ustream, video Comments closed
Amazon vs New York – Affiliate Can of Worms
For years I have been paying sales tax (VAT) on purchases I make online through services such as Clickbank. It is inconvenient but it is much easier for Clickbank to work this way then to have to monitor the location of a seller and buyer.
The general rules in the US, as far as I can determine is that if you have a business presence in a state, you have to pay tax there. This applies if you own your own servers in the sate, or if you have employees.
Thus it might be beneficial for me, living in Europe to only
UK Consumer Protection Unfair Trading Regulations That Might Affect Advertising, Links, Affiliates & Product Launches
Lets preface this by I am not a lawyer, and I am aware that that is a very long headline and title.
Judith at SEO Chicks was looking at the new UK Unfair Trading Regulations
Here is a link to the official guidance (PDF).
What follows are my own notes whilst reading through the document, which I thought some readers might find useful, though you should read it in full if you trade from the UK (maybe 400+ subscribers)
6 BANNED PRACTICES (SCHEDULE 1)
(7) Falsely stating that a product will only be available for a very limited time, or that it will
Posted in blogging tips Also tagged advertising, consumer protection, disclosure, paid links, paid reviews, product_launch_formula, si3429, unfair trading regulations Comments closed
Clickbank XACH Bank Transfers & Blog
Clickbank affiliates who log into their accounts on a regular basis will already be aware of this, but a few days ago Clickbank (finally) launched a blog (WordPress) - they intend to publish a couple of time per week, which will be very welcome for both Clickbank publishers and affiliates.
Clickbank are one of the largest affiliate organizations in the world, but news from Clickbank often took a long time to filter out of the organization, often only through people with inside connections such as Harvey Segal at the Clickbank Forum. Also being a private company they have never been obligated
Posted in marketing Also tagged affiliate_network, clickbank, digital products, ebooks, paypal, xach Comments closed
Sphinn Moderation An Insult To Gary Halbert
Whilst this might be personally biased, it is my opinion that my Gary Halbert quote in my recent Players With Money Review is probably better content than 90% of what is submitted to Sphinn, and on its own might even have been front page material if posted on a blog that was actively promoting their content on Sphinn.
The whole article is better than 99% of Sphinn content
I wonder how many people on Sphinn have even heard of Gary Halbert?
It seems like the Sphinn moderators were having another hissy fit - they see an article written intended to promote a
Posted in web 2.0 Also tagged gary halbert, internet marketing, online marketing, players with money, product launch formula, Social Media, sphinn, sphinn moderation Comments closed
Players With Money Review & Bonus
Gary Halbert has been an inspiration to online marketers
What I want to impress upon you is… if possible… you should endeavor to confine your selling efforts to…
Players With Money!
Why? First of all, it is easier to sell something to someone with money. It's an obvious fact that person has the money to buy what you're selling. If you've got a $500,000 house for sale, it doesn't matter how appealing the house is if the family you're pitching it to has a pitifully low total income.
But there's another fact you mustn't overlook
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged affiliate_bonuses, blogging, email marketing, email_subscription, online_marketing, players with money, rss, sales funnel, subscribers Comments closed
Dear Jason Calacanis – The Good Citizen Of The Interwebs?
I honestly want to believe that you are a good internet citizen, and your attacks on search engine optimization and now affiliate marketers are honest, and without any form of prejudice.
So while you are attacking affiliate marketing, please ensure you have first of all cleared up all the problems in the paid links debate, such as what seems to be a company, where you are on the board of directors, buying links.
It is widely discussed that buying links in Wordpress themes is something that might be a signal of web spam, and the same should be true for buying links
Posted in SEO Blog, blogging tips, wordpress Also tagged blogging, disclosure, jason calacanis, paid links, paid_review, SEO Blog, wordpress Comments closed
PepperJam Network – First Impressions
Posted in blog monetization, marketing Also tagged affiliate_network, affiliate_program, pepperjam, pepperjam network Comments closed
Amazon Affiliates Burned At The Stake By Kindle?
Whilst the blogosphere has been ranting or raving about Amazon's new Kindle Ebook reader, I have been sleeping on the idea.
Sure it is easy to earn yourself a quick $40 or whatever by promoting it, by dropping text links all over the place such as this one:- Kindle: Amazon's New Wireless Reading Device
Or you can use some other creatives such as a nice sidebar widget (might not show in a feed reader)
Amazon's Success Is At Least In Part Their Affiliate Program
For years affiliates have been driving traffic to Amazon. They don't get the benefit of recurring or lifetime commissions, the
2 Reasons DealDotCom Is Going To Be Truely Massive
Imagine WOOT but for internet marketing products - deal of the day, software of the day, game of the day… you have got the idea?
Well Jason Potash and Marc Quarles will be launching DealDotCom on Tuesday, Sept 18th
That is when the first product offers will be published.
But you get to sign up today…
Sign up?
Well yeah, it is is an affiliate run operation, so unlike those other lesser sites not only do you get to refer people to it because they get good deals, you actually make money doing it as well, on 2 tiers!
Why am I telling you?
- I want
Posted in blog monetization, marketing, news Also tagged dealdotcom, jason_potash, make_money, marc_quarles Comments closed
The One Million [blank] Day
In the realm of Internet & Affiliate Marketing, John Reese with his $1,000,000 Day certainly got his name in the history books, and many others have emulated his achievement.
You can start multiplying the number, or adding zeros, but that is rarely as impressive.
The One Million Link Day
One million links from separate legitimate domains owned by different people
A pretty awe inspiring concept
With the right planning and concept, I do think 10,000 is easily possible within one day, 100,000 would take extreme planning.
Counting Links
These things are hard to quantify from external sources. Yahoo reports almost all links, including those with nofollow, and
Posted in Projects, marketing Also tagged angel_investor, chief_technical_officer, cto, SEO Blog, startup, vc Comments closed
Get The Most From DoFollow | No Nofollow
So now people have calmed down a little from their running around like headless chickens leaving comments on every blog they could find that used Dofollow, and then linking through to unrelated content, lets start looking at how to link a little more strategically.
Sponsored Reviews Now Live – In Depth Review
Yep this is a sponsored review, though it was something I was intending to write about anyway, to announced that Sponsored Reviews is now live and available for both advertisers and bloggers.
Posted in blog monetization, blogging tips, marketing, reviews Also tagged affiliate_program, backlinks, buzz_marketing, disclosure, links, make_money, monetization, paid posts, paid reviews, payperpost, review_me, SEO Blog, sponsored reviews, website_promotion Comments closed
AuctionAds Review – AuctionAds Partially Solves Two International Affiliate Problems
Shoemoney Media and Mediawhiz (The parent company of Text Link Ads and ReviewMe) have released an innovative new monetization model, based upon Ebay Auctions – AuctionAds.com
Mainstream media will no doubt not even think let alone write about the 2 core advantages of this system for a large segment of the affiliate marketplace.
Read more on AuctionAds Review – AuctionAds Partially Solves Two International Affiliate Problems…
Posted in blog monetization, blogging tips, marketing, mininet, niche website Also tagged affiliate, auctionads, blogging, blog_monetization, cashflow, Ebay, ebay_affiliate_program, international_affiliates, make_money, mediawhiz, monetization, niche marketing, niche website, shoemoney, tags, utw Comments closed
Conclusive Proof: Affiliate Marketers Can Recommend a Site Without a Referral Link
I just read over on Sam Harrelson’s CostPerNews that Jim Kukral will be taking a little bit of a breather on Blogkits. He will still be running it, but no longer on the payroll of Forge Corporation.
Read more on Conclusive Proof: Affiliate Marketers Can Recommend a Site Without a Referral Link…
Clickbank Require Disclosure – A-List Bloggers Totally Missed the Point In December
I am not sure how long this has been in the rules at Clickbank, as Clickbank currently block archive.org – that being said I am sure it would have been brought up by someone during the last few months in discussions regarding various paid review services such as PayPerPost, ReviewMe and Sponsored Reviews.
Read more on Clickbank Require Disclosure – A-List Bloggers Totally Missed the Point In December…
Posted in blog monetization, marketing, news Also tagged clickbank, clickbank_rules, clickbank_terms, disclosure, ftc, law, legal, news, womm Comments closed
Google Requiring Affiliates Not to Declare? FTC | WOMMA
I watched this video last night… slept on it, and listened to it again today.
This video was originally posted on the Google Adsense blog, and the presenter is Laura from Adsense Support.
Now I should point out that Google have been very clear in their wording with all the recent correspondence relating to Adsense changes, which in some ways makes this even more extraordinary.
The interesting bit in regard to financial declarations starts 1min:30 from the start.
It should be noted that this wasn't recorded live, as you can see from the out-takes at the end, is in response to
Posted in Google, blog monetization Also tagged adsense_referral_buttons, disclosure, disclosure policy, ftc, Google, google_adsense, law, legal, news, policy, rules, womm, womma Comments closed
Disclosure Ethics and Pay Per Post
I have been offline for a few days, so time to play catchup.
Techcrunch and Pay Per Post seem to have a love/hate relationship. Who will Techcrunch write about now that Pay Per Post with their requirement of disclosure can no longer be pinpointed.
Posted in marketing Also tagged disclosure policy, disclosurepolicy, ethics, pay per post, payperpost, techcrunch Comments closed
FTC | Word of Mouth and Affiliates
I was honestly so caught up in other things over the last 36 hours, I totally missed this and it is highly relevant to my Disclosure Policy Plugin.
I am not a lawyer, thus any interpretation of the situation I am going to leave in the hands of lawyers who I have a great deal of respect for, and who themselves are involved in the internet marketing field.
Posted in Projects, marketing, plugins Also tagged affiliate, amazon, clickbank, Commission_Junction, disclosure, disclosure policy, Ebay, ftc, Google, Linkshare, pay per post, techcrunch, word_of_mouth Comments closed
Blog SEO | Evaluation | Taking action
One of the most rewarding things about blogging, at least for me, is when you see people taking action based on something you have suggested.
There are actually 2 distinct stages in taking action
Posted in Google, SEO Blog, blogging tips, wordpress Also tagged backlinks, blogging, linking strategy, nofollow, search engine optimization, search engines, SEO Blog, ultimate tag warrior, utw Comments closed
Major Clickbank Rule Clarification
Here is a little news item that will be highly interesting for Clickbank affiliates. For some time there has been discussion on whether it is a breach of the Clickbank terms to offer additional bonuses as an affiliate for someone to purchase an item through your affiliate link.
Concern was so great that some products designed to automate the bonus process for Clickbank affiliates were pulled off the market by their developers, just in case it was looked on as breaking the rules.
Mike Filsaime | Social Marketing | Copyright Violations
Mike Filsaime always provides real quality in his free reports, and The Death of Internet Marketing is no exception.
I have read all 59 pages of this free report. It certainly isn’t junk, and it shouldn’t be ignored.
Read more on Mike Filsaime | Social Marketing | Copyright Violations…
Posted in blogging tips, reviews, web 2.0 Also tagged alexa, blogging tips, copyright., Digg-this, email marketing, how_to, link_blogs, mailing_list, marketing, marketing_technique, out-sourcing, rss, rss-sharing, rss_syndication, sales_technique, social networking, splog, technorati, youtube Comments closed
Pageflakes updated – new look for the Web 2.0 Ajax Desktop
As an example lets look at Alexa
Whilst on the surface it looks like Netvibes are way out in front of their competitors (and in some ways they are), the other services are much younger. Pageflakes (and friends) is catching up with Netvibes, having similar traffic (as per Alexa) to where Netvibes were 6 months ago.
Posted in niche website, web 2.0 Also tagged affiliate_program, ajax, Ajax Desktop, Ajax Desktops, alexa, cost_per_action, CPA, CPA Network, desktop_applications, Interface Design, marketing, netvibes, niche website, pageflake, pageflakes, squidoo, web 2.0 Comments closed
How To Get An Authority Link To Your Affiliate Review
Erik Ortega is going to get a link from me for TriFilliate PayDay as he left a comment with a link to his review.
The reasons why I am mentioning this?
Read more on How To Get An Authority Link To Your Affiliate Review…