Though it's short on detail (like how you get on the invite list) Phil Burns and Ryan Money (btw, great last name) are hosting the first Utah Bloggers Conference.

Billed as a networking opportunity for Utah Bloggers, dinner is free (very considerate for those of us not making cash on our blogs). They do say there will be a panel discussion. About what is a little vague. Read that as you have free reign.

Anyway, please come!

It's Tuesday, June 13th, 2006 from 6:30 pm – 9:00 pm at the Miller Innovation Center at Salt Lake Community College. That's 9690 South 300 West in Sandy.

See you there.

What does Vonage stock, Commission Junction, and conversions rates have in common?

It seems to be a down day, or at least a day of changes. Sad enough, Vonage share prices fell below the IPO price. I'm a big VoIP fan (though I used Packet 8 not Vonage). Not surprising, given that they are not now, and by their own admission may not ever be, profitable. Hardly something that gives stockholders comfort.

Then there's the story of conversion rates. According to the Persuasion Architect Blog Shop.org's 2006 numbers weren't rosy. Conversion rates were at 3.2% in 2002. It dropped to 2.4% in 2003. Then to 2.6% in 2004. Last year they were at just 2.4%. They seem to think it's because we're not good at presenting information and marketing just doesn't work well. I'm not sure that's it (care to chime in?). People who get it right see much higher conversion rates, but there are few who are.

Affiliates are debating Commission Junction's decision to change affiliate links from HTML to javascript. Some say it's not a positive sign. I think overall, though initially painful, it is. (Wait, isn't this supposed to be a downer post?). It gives CJ control to track links more precisely. That means they can keep the quality of affiliate links from their network higher. At least that part is good news. Overall looks like a lot of headaches and extra work for affiliates. Long term though it may be good news. As usual, stay tuned…

Today I was driving my son to day care at 1pm thinking how sweet it was that I work for myself and can actually spend mornings with him. He starts kindergarten in three months. I treasure this time we have together. I'm a better mom and worker now that I'm not so exhausted.

The first weeks working for myself felt like decompression. Lots of details to attend to. My business is very close to being incorporated (thanks to NoLo and Dave). I'm doing better at organizing my time and getting things done. I usually work best at night but my son makes sure I'm up every morning so I've curbed that.

I love being able to blog during the day. Small thing but it used to drive my boss insane. I usually blogged at lunch but I found I forgot a lot of my thoughts. This blog is like my brain made searchable. It's also a testing ground. I also like referring people to things that help me as an affiliate or in life. Which can help with cashflow, something every entrepreneur must be concerned about (that reminds me, I need to call my accountant).

Working for myself is a great adventure so far. Tomorrow is the filming for a video about affiliate marketing. I worked on the script. I'm also excited to write another article (not about affilate marketing, but VoIP). If your business runs a VoIP call center in Utah, I'd like to hear how it's going.

Stay tuned…

I'm interested in the dynamics between affiliates and affiliate managers. Today's Revenue Magazine had a hilarious article called The Break Up about affiliate managers. After a fit of power or a justifiable denial, you reject their application. But you later run into them at a conference. They don't like you. You want to hide. Included in the story is a sensitive reply email template for you to soften the blow and avoid making enemies.

Affiliate managers don't get respect! Many abandon the effort as they see how much their affiliates are making. Like I say, if you can't beat them, join them!

However, some of us do better working for someone else. When you're your own boss you can't fire yourself, and sometimes people need to be fired.

Since affiliate marketing is pay-for-performance it weeds out the unperforming pretty fast. Either way, full time or as a side job, it's a great gig.

Signing up through an Affiliate Network is a great way to get started as an affiliate marketer. You can earn extra cash doing it. Best of all it's free. However many times the links to signing up are hard to find (even on merchant web sites they're usually at the bottom of the front page).

I thought this bears repeating.

Here's get into how to sign up as an affiliate on Link Share, Commission Junction, and Clickbank. You usually just need to have a web site (I've used this blog). Some companies require minimum traffic or a dedicated site.

When you sign up with a CPA network and join a merchant's program you'll get a unique URL to the product. They will provide ads, banners, and other creative to help you promote their products. You'll also learn the commission amount they offer.

Clickbank – https://login.clickbank.net/signup/?&reseller=surveys2
The place to buy ebooks or promote them. After your application is accepted, search for an ebook. Click on the 50% link (or whatever percent they pay out). This launches a popup browser with a box to enter your affiliate username. Insert the ID you got when you signed up. You'll get a unique URL.

When you log in you'll get your stats. It's hard to figure out how to get from there to the marketplace. Follow this link to buy or browse ebooks on Clickbank. It's also a good place to sell your content. Since Clickbank manages all merchants on their servers, you can trust you'll get credited for every sale you send them.

Ebooks have great profit margins. The information in ebooks is often cutting edge and highly relevant. Reading ebooks is one of my favorite ways to learn about internet marketing. There are links in ebooks that lead you to additional resources online.

Commission Junction application – https://signup.cj.com/member/publisherSignUp.do
Commission Junction calls affiliates publishers. After you're accepted, log in on the home page by clicking "CJ Account Manager". It drops down with a login. I learned this from the Commission Junction booth at an AdTech or it would've taken me much longer to figure out.

Once you're in it takes some time to learn how to get links. Commission Junction has videos to teach new publishers how the site works.

Commission Junction has email. Most people don't know merchants can only reach you through this email system. You can find out how to contact merchants through the merchant page. Otherwise everyone's identity is confidential.

Link Share - Pretty straightforward. The interface is a bit clunky (to get links, see your programs, etc) once you're in though. There's a login on the top right side of the home page that says "client login".

Hope this helps. Last, I must plug Jeremy Palmer's ebook. Even if you're an internet marketer (beginner through advanced intermediate) you'll learn from this ebook. High Performance Affiliate Marketing is 100% guaranteed. There is no risk. You'll learn tips and techniques Jeremy used to make over a million dollars as an affiliate marketer.

When you buy the ebook you get a BONUS feature: the forums. Jeremy personally posts on the forum, answering questions. I've never seen another author provide such a quality forum. You won't get flamed on this forum. It's very friendly to new affiliates and a great way to learn.

At the Vegas Affiliate Summit this year I was particularly interested in hearing from the poker affiliate manager. Not because I gamble but because the industry is very good at internet marketing. Unfortunately it was a short (but punchy) introduction.

Since it's Sunday and I'm thinking about God and weaknesses, I thought I'd comment on this article in A List Apart blog, "the Devil has its Due…". Rather than stay totally away from evil perhaps we can learn from it. As they point out they need some innovation, but they do some things well.

Bob talks about doing an Alta Vista search years ago and the term God and porn had roughly the same number of searches. More recently, God is far ahead (around 6 million) and porn is about 3 million (though sex may out number both).

Google shows and sex wins (700 million), God (600 million) is next, and last porn (125 million). However the trend for searches for God are flat while the others show growth. I'll try to get a better image of the Google Trends image.

Shawn Collins recently polled (and I'm waiting for results) to see what people thought of promoting the more seedy industries.

Here are some lessons learned:

Give 'em what they want

Porn sites are good at customer service and invest heavily in infrastructure so the customer experience is seemless.

Author Bob Jacobson describes how the porn industry offers many options for parting with your money. "Porn’s pioneering customer-service technology, once limited to credit-card payment, now also employs personal funds-transfer and telephone subscription methods," he said.

Co-operation rather than competition

In Vegas the take home message was how poker sites worked together. If you didn't want to play one site's offering they tried to entice you to a competitor on the way out. This taught both more about their respective audiences. When a customer does go to a competitor the original site still makes money (which it wouldn't have) and gets information they can use in their respective marketing efforts.

The Adult Industry – Early Adopters
The adult industry is cutting edge. They are quick to adopt new technology. Other industries and groups, like Christians, react to what they do. There is supposedly an ebook about this, but I haven't found it yet.

I'd like to interview someone (a local expert/guru) on this subject: How to get your product franchised. Anyone out there who can refer me to someone I can talk to or other resources about franchising your product?

Ten Tips for Success in Business. This from a highly successful direct marketing company. You can tell they are passionate about what they do. I think they are right on. This isn't just about business, it's good advice for life.

Some excerpts:

• Love your enemies (or you never know when your competitors can help)
• Take risks. If you're afraid that's simply a challenge to prepare better
• Choose the right people (talented, motivated, open-minded) to work with
• Change and adapt – little changes can make a big impact
• Use multimedia to do the best possible marketing. Develop all your channels to their maximum potential.
• Network: "Seemingly unnecessary meetings and contacts today can turn into valuable contracts tomorrow."

I love what they said about networking. It has been true many times for me. I could do even better at this.

When vendors come, network with them! Welcome them. Learn everything you can about them. Know what they do beforehand. Come with questions. Build buzz around it in your company. Believe in who you invite. Prep them on who will be there and the people who have key roles in making decisions. Let them know the dynamics of the team or how your company works. Treat them very well.

I've made a lot of good contacts, job leads, and a good friend by inviting quality companies to tell us what they do.

To end, a favorite quote from the article:"As your company evolves, so must your corporate strategy. Don't fall in love with a business plan because it will only break your heart."

Before I got Parallels I had to restart my computer to toggle between Windows XP and Mac OSX. About $40 later and it's all seamless (and fast). I don't have to buy a Mac and PC version of Microsoft Office and Photoshop. This is good news.

Did I say how much I'm enjoying my new Mac? There's a learning curve (I forgot Mac shortcuts) but the last annoyance has been removed. I can't wait to use the podcasting program. I'm taking a class on it next Saturday at the Apple store. I'm becoming a regular.

Google trends is a quick way to do research to see what people are searching for online. So if you're an affiliate trying to decide whether to promote ipods or VoIP, type in both terms separated by commas. You'll get a side-by-side comparison of both (VoIP by a long shot). It will also provide news items about the search term.

Use the tabs below to see what cities, regions, or languages where the term is most popular. Affiliates are getting into international markets. This is a great tool to see where to focus and to further research on promising search terms.

The data is not based on all searches, but it's a sampling. Still, it's free and is a great way to get a snapshot view.

Be aware that the order that you put your terms in (2 words or more) brings different results.

http://www.google.com/trends