We’ve noticed some wonderful success with our coupons as of late; please keep up the great work in staying up to date and current with our newest coupons.  You may also want to consider what’s hot this month and write up some unique content as to what’s going to sell best on your site.  Below are out new coupons for January 2010:

• Coupon: $5.00 off $85.00 or more with coupon code PAU5G7, Expires January 31, 2010.
• Coupon: $10.00 off $200.00 or more with coupon code LUFPRS7, Expires January 31, 2010.

Please let us know if you need any help with getting some of your sites updated, we’ll be more than happy to help.  Also, if you are interested in working more closely with us and possibly getting an exclusive, please don’t hesitate to contact us so that we can maybe work an offer out.

Not in the Petscriptions.com Affiliate Program? Join now on CJ!

We hope all of you have had wonderful holiday’s!  New Years 2010 is just a few days away!  We know you’ve probably been thinking about strategies for 2010 and how to offer great products and services to your customers.  Well, here is where we can assist with your planning.  We have a new client we’re really excited about, E-Yearbook.  They offer thousands of High School and College Yearbooks, online!   A monthly subscription is $4.95, or choose a yearly subscription price at $29.95.  This is a great program to be a partner with.  Here are just a few of the highlights of this great program.

• Unlimited Access to Millions of Yearbook Pictures
• High-Resolution, Full-Color Images
• Search, Browse, and Print Pages from Web Browser
• Top College, University, High School and Military Yearbooks

As always, please reach out if you have any questions about our new client.  We want to partner with you in making both E-Yearbook a success and you as well!

Tax season will be in full swing in January, so affiliates should all be checking their program descriptions for the correct way to promote Premier Tax CFO or Expat CFO.  Premier Tax CFO is the core service, available to the general public.  Because it is Internet based, it serves certain focus-markets (such as Expats) very, very well.  Sites like ExpatCFO have been designed to reach these focus markets with the Premier Tax CFO service and provide them with additional content specific to their needs such as additional resources and articles that would not apply to the general population.

The key to marketing these services is to know your audience. In most cases, you will only want to promote one or the other. If you have a US-based tax site or coupon site, Premier Tax CFO is probably the service you want to promote. Sticking to the one program will avoid confusion.  When promoting Premier Tax CFO, here is some copy to use as a description:

“More than a tax return, Premier Tax CFO delivers peace of mind.  Through our Premier Tax CFO services package, we help make your world simple again by providing you with four core services for just one annual fee:  Your income tax return (1040) is prepared by a qualified CPA, and includes complimentary telephone consultations throughout the year.  If you can access the Internet, you can reach ALL your personalized information via a secure, on-line financial world portal that keeps your financial information current and stores digitized copies of your most important family documents.  You need an annual tax return (1040), comprehensive tax solutions, access to the best technology, and professional guidance to take good care of your financial world.  Premier Tax CFO has put all these pieces together for you to simplify your world and give you peace of mind again.”

If your site is targeted to Americans living abroad or an informational site about moving to a country outside of the US, you should be promoting Expat CFO. Here is some copy to use when promoting Expat CFO:

“Expat CFO is for Americans living and working abroad.  Just because you live around the world, that doesn’t mean that your finances have to be scattered abroad as well. We help make your finances simple again by providing you with the core services you need for just one annual fee.  Your income tax return (1040) is prepared by a qualified CPA, and includes complimentary telephone consultations throughout the year.  As long as you have internet access, you can reach ALL your personalized information via a secure, on-line vault that keeps your financial information current and stores digitized copies of your most important family documents. With Expat CFO, we have put these pieces together to help you simplify your world and have peace of mind again.”

If you have any questions about these services or need custom copy for your program, please contact us and we will be happy to work something up for you.

Still tracking down last minute gifts? Soccer.com and Lacrosse.com are making it possible to still get gifts in time! They are offering $5 Overnight Shipping on orders of $100 or more! You can barely get standard shipping for $5 on a good day! Also, they offer digital gift cards as well, so you can let them decide what they want to buy and still have a gift in time! Here are the details…

Soccer.com –

Offer: $5 Overnight Shipping on orders of $100 or more at Soccer.com!
Dates: 12/21-12/23
Code: None needed

Offer: Get gift cards by email from Soccer.com! (Available in any denomination)
Dates: Ongoing
Code: None Needed

Lacrosse.com -

Offer: $5 Overnight Shipping on orders of $100 or more at Lacrosse.com!
Dates: 12/21-12/23
Code: None needed

Offer: Get gift cards by email from Lacrosse.com! (Available in any denomination)
Dates: Ongoing
Code: None Needed

Those are the offers. Go promote! There’s not much time left!

Procrastination is paying off BIG with the Heels.com sale.  Today through tomorrow at 6pm (EST), Heels.com is offering $50 off of a $180 purchase.  But that won’t be the last you hear of Heels.com for 2009.  For the last week they have been offering daily incredible deals.  And now is the time to get your customer ready for their New Year’s Eve celebrations.

Keep up the great sales, and we look forward to 2010 and great partnerships!

My newly published article appeared in Issue 9 (January 2010) of FeedFront Magazine.  This magazine will be distributed to attendees of Affiliate Summit West 2010, taking place in Las Vegas next month.  You can view the newest FeedFront magazine online.  My article is titled “How Trust Leads to Success” and is on page 12.  It appears in its entirety here:

As an affiliate manager, your job is to drive sales for your company or client via the various affiliate partnerships you develop. Too often, affiliate managers (or more aptly, merchants) take the “if you build it, they will come” approach to affiliate management. This is a recipe for disaster. Proper management of any affiliate program requires time, attention, effort, and most importantly, relationships built on trust.

The affiliates who participate in the affiliate program you manage must be viewed as partners, not as a faceless entity looking to make a dollar through your program. Each affiliate is important and has the potential to significantly contribute to your bottom line. Of course, it would be impossible to personally know each and every affiliate who has been approved to your program. You must work to develop relationships and work as closely as possible with as many affiliates as possible.

In developing relationships with affiliates, you are developing trust. Developing trust can lead to amazing results. Once you have developed trust and learned how a particular affiliate does what it is that they do, you have an opportunity to expand the working relationship. But remember, trust is a two way street. If an affiliate trusts you with their business model, you have to trust them with items like your brand name, VIP commission rates, and special privileges.

Let’s look at an example.

My company manages affiliate programs for our clients. One of our clients had historically used Yahoo! Paid Inclusion (RIP at the end of 2009) with moderate, but consistent success. One particular affiliate which mgecom had worked with significantly over the years approached us about also using Yahoo! PI as one of their promotional methods. Since we knew and trusted this affiliate, we were able to vouch for the idea and strongly recommend the opportunity to our client. The client agreed to a limited test with the affiliate. The test went so well that the client turned off their in-house PI campaign and allowed this affiliate to fully represent their brand via Yahoo! PI. The result? The affiliate was able to increase sales via this channel by a staggering weekly average of 349%. The lowest weekly increase was 82% and the highest to date is 1,176%. This is an increase above and beyond what the client had been able to achieve via their own in-house efforts.

Why was this level of success achievable in this particular partnership?

• We knew the affiliate well
• We had worked with the affiliate closely in the past
• We trusted the affiliate
• We were able to communicate all of this to the client and demonstrate the value

To summarize, if you are an affiliate manager, get to know your affiliates as more than just a name in a report. Learn what they do, earn their trust, and in turn trust them. Greater results are possible when relationships are nurtured and expanded.

We hope you are having a wonderful and successful holiday season so far!  A reminder for those of you who are not yet familiar with the indi Brand.

We’ve mentioned it before, but it’s definitely worth mentioning again…and again…Gift Cards are the gift that fits every style (and they have great commissions too!)…indi is offering beautiful holiday gift cards that can be customized with a message and shipped by either first class mail, priority mail, or express mail.

We want your success to really shine through during this season. If there is anything we can do to assist please do not hesitate to contact us. We are here to troubleshoot, bounce ideas, anything you have a question on. And as always, happy selling!

It’s getting close to Christmas and everyone is trying to make sure their gifts make it in time to get under the tree. Soccer.com and Lacrosse.com are making it a little easier and giving you the peace of mind you need during this busy season. Today begins a new shipping offer giving you discounted rates on 2nd Day and Overnight Shipping! This way you can make sure those gifts get there in time without have to spend a fortune just for delivery. Here are the details:

Offer: $5 2nd Day and $10 Overnight Shipping at Soccer.com on orders of $100 or more!
Dates: December 18 – 20
Code: None Needed

Offer: $5 2nd Day and $10 Overnight Shipping at Lacrosse.com on orders of $100 or more!
Dates: December 18 – 20
Code: None Needed

This offer started TODAY and is not being advertised on the homepages of these sites. The shipping rates have already been adjusted in the shopping cart and will be seen once the customer is ready to check out. Start promoting today!

January through April is the prime time to make conversions with Premier Tax CFO and Expat CFO. These services are tax-based, so you can make up slowing retail sales with the tax solution. Premier Tax CFO is the core service, available to the general public.  Because it is Internet based, it serves certain focus-markets (such as Expats) very, very well.  Sites like Expat CFO have been designed to reach these focus markets with the Premier Tax CFO service, and provide them with additional content specific to their needs such as additional resources and articles that would not apply to the general population.

January will be a big month for all those who like to get their taxes done early. February will slow a bit, and March will be huge with last-minute consumers.

Want to do an article or review on Premier Tax CFO or Expat CFO? That’s great! Having related content will be the key to making conversions. Contact us and we will be happy to supply you with any information you might need.

Great job to everyone who has been converting with these promotions! By popular request, the promotions have been extended again to keep everybody excited about Paper Culture.

Here are the details with the new extended dates:

Offer: $15 off and FREE Shipping on Orders $100 or More! Use Code: JOY
Dates: NOW through January 16, 2010
Code: JOY

Offer: FREE Priority Shipping on Orders of $75 or More
Dates: NOW through January 16, 2010
Code: None Needed

This is the LAST extension of this promo, so make sure you take advantage of the offer while it lasts! As always, please contact us if you have any questions.