Lead fraud is possibly the largest obstacle to successful lead gathering via Affiliate marketing on the internet. Finding pre-qualified leads online can be either very successful or very frustrating depending on how you set up your program to deal with fraud.

Gathering leads through an Affiliate program can be a very successful venture if you find the right Affiliates. Names and contact details of people who have an active interest in your product increases conversion rates for offline sales and hopefully increases your bottom line. That benefit may, however, be adversely affected if the time you spend sifting through rubbish leads becomes too great. But there are a few things you can do.

Choosing Affiliates

As with all Affiliate programs, you will need to choose your Affiliates wisely at the beginning to have a fraud-free campaign. This means manually vetting Affiliate applications to join your program. Look at other sites your Affiliates have gathered leads for and ask for references if you think it is warranted. Remember also that seeking legal redress against fraudulant Affiliates is much easier to do in your home country, or countries with a similar, enforceable legal systems. Be sure that you know all of the contact details of your Affiliates so if something goes wrong you can contact them quickly.

Monitoring Your Lead Campaign

You will need to monitor your campaign manually, especially at the beginning to ensure you are receiving quality leads. Look at the leads you are receiving – if they all exhibit similar properties then you could have a problem. Things to watch out for include similar spelling mistakes on each lead (which would indicate one person is filling out the lead many times) and identical IP addresses (which could also indicate that one person is filling out the lead form several times or getting friends and relatives to do it). You will need to keep doing this manually until you are happy with your Affiliates and the quality of leads they are sending through.

With just a few hours of diligence at the beginning when you are setting up your lead campaign you can avoid days of frustration. The bulk of lead fraud is preventable – it just takes a little planning.

Rob Wood is a professional Affiliate fraud investigator. He runs a site over at eFraudster on click fraud and general affiliate fraud prevention. http://efraudster.com

Are you an affiliate marketer who is concerned about the recent Adwords changes that have threatened to pull the rug from under you? Here is a short note about life of an affiliate marketer under the new Adwords regime.

Before the new rules were announced, many affiliate marketers were posting ads on Adwords which took the prospect directly to the merchant’s site. They completely depended on the merchant to get the sale. Now the prospect would become the customer of the merchant, if he bought something from him. However the advertiser has completely lost contact with this person except for getting the credit for the 1 sale that he referred.

The super affiliate did not operate this way. He would advertise on Adwords for sure but send the prospect to a landing page on his own site where he will pre-sell the prospect. This means that he will provide relevant information about the product, an honest review, even mention some shortcomings (if he knows about something), offer tutorials or screen-shots and like. Then he will offer some free gift in return for the prospect’s email address for further follow up. From the thank you page here, he will refer the prospect to the merchant’s sales page.

This way even if the prospect will not buy anything from the merchant, the affiliate does not lose him completely. He can regularly follow up with relevant information and send solicitations for other products for long term profits.

This is the way of the masters and if you are following this path, you will end up doing much more work. However there are rich rewards for reaping. The excellent Make Your Content Pre-sell guide (http://www.ebizindia.com/mycps.php) discusses this concept in great details and is a must-have for any serious affiliate marketer.

This type of affiliates will be absolutely untouched by the new Adwords guidelines. However if you have been sending your prospects directly to the merchant, it is high time you made a move. Shift all your campaigns to a landing page on your site and you have no worries.

As a bonus, you even get to eliminate the Aff. or affiliate identification you had to put on every ad, which was a big stumbling block in the sale process.

Best of success for your Adwords campaign in the new era!

Are you suffering from the No-traffic syndrome? Arun Agrawal is a search engine optimization specialist and offers guaranteed Top 10 Ranking services at http://www.SEOtop10.com

Copyright © 2005 Kurma Group
An alarming trend seems to be catching on with popular merchants lately. The trend is the tendency for some of these companies to begin discriminating against new or inexperienced affiliates and actually FIRE them!

Removing an unproductive affiliate is understandable; however, having a ridiculous screening process that only allows websites with thousands of visitors to squeeze through almost seems ridiculous.

Now in defense of merchants and affiliate programs: If a program finds that one of their affiliates is using their company’s banner and link on “unethical� or completely unrelated websites, then yes, that affiliate should be dropped.

However, for the everyday work-at-home man or woman hoping to make a stable income through affiliate marketing – at least give them a chance! The bottom line is that affiliate marketing is still a young, but powerful industry with MUCH room for growth. The only way we can fuel this growth is if we provide the proper training to the new members.

If we just fire the new members and use the “no experience� excuse, then how are we ever going to expand the industry?

We at The Affiliate Classroom have spent the last few weeks getting to know many affiliate managers and companies on a personal level and have asked them questions about this matter. My conclusion is that every affiliate should be given a chance. If “deleted� from the system, there should be a very good reason.

In some of our research, as we read some of the terms of service, we were surprised to find some “credible� affiliate programs who were dropping affiliates if they did not earn a certain “minimum� in a given period. In my opinion, that is simply ridiculous.

Here is our personal opinion and conclusion regarding this matter:

When to remove affiliates?
- Their actions can “hurt� your company.
- They are strictly violating company policy.
- They have inaccurate contact information.
- They have been “completely� inactive for a period of 3 months or more.

When it is wrong to remove affiliates?
- Their website does not get enough traffic.
- They did not meet a “quota� even though they were trying.
- They are new and have questions.

Do not get me wrong, most affiliate programs are still doing it right – they are treating their affiliates properly. However, I am alarmed with a growing trend of being far too selective. This trend is blocking out the “new affiliates� and is not fair to the industry.

If you are a new affiliate, contact the affiliate program first and make sure that you will receive the kind of support you need.

If you are an experienced affiliate, understand that the larger the industry gets, the better it is for you. Super affiliates will get paid more as the industry becomes more recognized.

If you are an affiliate manager, my question to you is “why does it bother you?� It hardly costs a company anything to have an affiliate in their system. So what if the affiliate referred $300 in sales rather than your minimum $500? By relying so heavily on “super affiliates� you are placing too many eggs in one basket.

Why not work with the beginners, train and help them – gain their loyalty and you will truly build a great sales force (a lesson we can learn from network marketing or MLM).

In the end it is the decision of the affiliate manager and the company. However, The Affiliate Classroom is standing firm on our opinion that new affiliates should be giving a fair chance and never discriminated against.

This article has been authored by Anik Singal, the founder of The Affiliate Classroom. If you want to learn his system that helped him make over $10,466 in 60 days please visit the following link to enroll into a free course: http://www.AffiliateClassroom.com

If you truly want to generate sales, one great way to do so is to create separate web pages for each of your affiliate products and include reviews of each product. Pictures, of course, speak a thousand words, and a picture of each product is very important to closing the sale.

If you truly want to generate sales, one great way to do so is to create separate web pages for each of your affiliate products and include reviews of each product. Pictures, of course, speak a thousand words, and a picture of each product is very important to closing the sale.

Why does this process work so well? It’s simple; people want to see and know all about a product before the pull out their credit card! Here are some points to be sure to include in your affiliate product review pages:

* Always have an uncluttered web page with blocks of text that are easy to read and understand. If you crowd a great deal of information, few people will read all of it. It has been scientifically proven that most people read only about one-third of the information contained in any sales page or review. So, make your web page product review easy to scan and grab specific points from without reading every single word.

* Use highlights to call out specific important points. Again, this goes back to the fact that few people will read all the words. If a specific area is highlighted in yellow or another bright color, their eyes will be drawn to that specific region and that may be all that they read. If you can convince the reader with you highlighted section that they simply MUST know all about this product, then they will probably read more. If you do not grab their attention with compelling information, they will probably continue to another web page.

* Specific benefits to the reader must be described in very few words. Tell the reader exactly what the product will do for them and call them to action!

* Please graphic help attract a person to spend a moment looking at your page. A boring page, in terms of graphics, will probably not hold the reader’s attention long enough to even get them to read the highlights, much less the sales information.

* Focus on compelling, eye-catching headlines for each page. If your review begins with a bang, then people will read more of the text. A headline such as “How Product XYZ Saved My Life – And Can Save Yours, Too” will generate more readers than a headline such as “Product XYZ Works Great”.

* Never produce web page affiliate product reviews that are totally essay-style. Remember; make the page so that the reader who simply scans will pick up enough information to compel them to read more.

* Make the reader have to take an action to get more information. The more a person becomes involved with a product review page, the more likely they will follow all the way through to the payment process and complete the sale. A short poll, a signup for a free report, anything that makes the person provide input can get them involved enough to follow through. Think about Publisher’s Clearing House; they always make you participate to fill out an entry form. Use the same concept but apply it to your affiliate product review pages.

* Keep the page short! 500-600 words are enough to convey almost any concept you wish to send. No one wants to read on and on and on without gaining truly new information. Shorter is often better than longer. The European style seems to be, of late, a long, long web page, but many Americans just won’t stand for scrolling down over and over to get to the prize!

* Be sure you are providing good information that the product you are promoting will actually provide. There is no need to tell “fish tales” to make a sale. A good product, where only the facts are provided in the review, will sell itself!

These few points can make your affiliate product review pages stand out among the crowd. And there is a crowd, so you have to work hard to really stand out. It is worth the time and effort in sales you will generate!

This article was authored by Jason Gazaway. This 22 year old, ‘regular’ college kid was able to quit his 7-4 “job” because of his affiliate marketing business. He now wants to help others and show you how he did it!

Are you aware of how vitally important and valuable CONTENT is to your online business? In fact, content can do more to build your business and profits than just about any other resource or service available.

Following is a list of 5 key ways that content can help build your traffic, subscribers, and customers starting today!…

1. Boost your search engine ranking and daily visitor count by posting keyword rich articles and content on your web-site. For example, if your business involves offering products and services related to fitness, posting fitness related articles and content will attract unlimited prospective customers on a regular basis!

2. Generate double or even triple the number of newsletter subscribers you do currently, simply by offering content in the form of “special reports” or manuals as bonuses for subscribing to your publication. People love freebies, so give them what they want and watch as your results increase!

3. Create an automated cashflow by using content to formulate multi-part email training courses with related web-site or affiliate links “sprinkled” throughout each course. Use an autoresponder service to automate the delivery of your training course (such as a 5 part training course delivered over a 5 day period).

Training courses can also serve as excellent bonus offers for your prospective newsletter subscribers.

4. One of the most important keys to a successful online business is not JUST having a list of mailing list or newsletter subscribers… It’s about building a trusting relationship with your subscribers (ie, “cultivating” your list)…

By sending informative articles (content) to your list on a regular basis you will establish yourself as an expert on your topic of business, as well as gain the trust of your subscribers over time. As a result, your subscribers will be EAGER to take advantage of your “paid” product and service offers. (Just make
sure that you NEVER take advantage of the relationship you develop with your list by offering products or services of poor quality just to make a quick buck!)

If there is one “constant” in Internet marketing, it’s this: A cultivated list of subscribers is as good as money in the bank. Write that down and never forget it!

5. Another excellent way to generate no cost traffic is by submitting ready-made articles to “content hungry” web-site and newsletter publishers with your “resource box” attached. A resource box is nothing more than a little 3-6 line “bio” about you and/or your web-site – including a link to your site (or even instructions on how to subscribe to your newsletter)…

When submitting or offering your article(s) for reprint purposes, just make sure to specify that each article is to be reprinted “as is” with your resource box attached.

…Even one article can go a LONG way towards generating no cost traffic and visitors for you. Just imagine your article being sent out to a newsletter subscriber base of 100,000 individuals – many of whom will be reading YOUR included resource box and clicking on your URL to learn more about what you have to offer!

Well there you have it, 5 sure ways to build your online business exponentially with the help of articles and content…

With the declining effectiveness of many of the online advertising methods that we’ve relied on in past years, content is only strengthening its position as the ultimate KEY to generating unlimited traffic, subscribers, and customers!

* You have permission to reprint what you just read. Use it in your ezine, at your website or in your newsletter. The only requirement is including the following footer with it…

Article by Roger Fong, visit www.1stopaffiliatebiz.com for more original content like this. Reprinting this article is permitted with this footer included.

p.s. Ordinary people are making EXTRAORDINARY money WORKING FROM HOME on the Internet! Get FREE info by email. Send your request to:
mailto:1stopaffiliatebiz@A1eBiz.com

Roger Fong is an affiliate marketer who runs the newsletter, 1StopAffiliateBiz. It shows you the many ways that you can cash in on being an affiliate of affiliate programs. To sign up:
mailto:1stopaffiliatebiz@A1eBiz.com

One of the questions that is asked the most by both the beginning and experienced Internet Marketer is “What are the best affiliate programs?”

With literally thousands of affiliate programs on the Internet to choose from it is no surprise that people have problems deciding on the best ones to join and promote.

Today I am going to focus on things you need to take into consideration when trying to tell the difference between an outstanding affiliate program and the ones you should avoid like the plague.

Target Markets That You Have Some Knowledge In

When you know something about the market you are entering into it will save you time and money because you will reduce the amount of research that will need to be done in finding products that target customers in that market need.

If you already know the market you won’t be spending a lot of time researching what the market needs because you will recognize these products when you find them.

Focus Your Efforts on Programs in “HOT� Markets

The best programs to promote are not only in hot markets but they also offer products that are needed by the target customers in that particular market but also are unique products as well so your competition is at a minimum.

Look For Affiliate Programs with High Pay Outs

The best ways to promote affiliate programs will be the same no matter what the price of the product. When you sell “High Ticket� items you will be using the same marketing strategies that you would use for products with small price tags.

So the question you need to ask yourself is “Why am I wasting my time and advertising dollars promoting products that will take me double or triple the effort to make good money?�

It is not only common sense but it is simple math as well. If one affiliate program pays $20 dollar per sale and another pays you $40 dollars per sale it is going to take you twice as many sales to generate the same profits from the first program as it will the second.

Seek Out Income Streams

If it cost you $1 dollar in advertising to gain one paying customer which would you choose:

1. A one time sale customer that you will have to continually promote other similar products to on a month to month basis so they spend additional money to increase your profits. –or-
2. A customer that pays a reoccurring membership fee every month that you automatically receive a percentage from.

You don’t even have to bother answering the question for me. I already know your answer. If at all possible you want to focus your promotional efforts on the programs that are going to offer you the highest return (your commissions) for the lowest investment (your advertising dollars).

Some businesses that offer multiple products will offer their affiliates life-time commissions. So if you were the first affiliate to get a customer to buy a product from them you will receive commissions on every product they buy in the future from them no matter how they ended up being referred back to the site. These are also very nice programs to put your efforts into.

Start Your Own Mini-Affiliate Program

Some affiliate programs setup what is called a “Two-Tier� commission schedule. With these programs you not only receive commissions on sales that you have referred to the program but you can recruit other affiliates to the program and receive commissions on their referred sales as well.

The bottom-line is the more of these principles an affiliate program follows the more deserving of your time and effort they are.

For more amazing affiliate marketing techniques and strategies visit The SuperAffiliate Blog at http://superaffiliateblog.com