tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-254861652024-03-12T20:36:40.370-04:00Chris Kramer - Online Marketing TodayI'm the Co-Founder of NETexponent, an interactive shop specializing in Search, Affiliate, and Partnership marketing for big brand clients. I've been doing this since the good ole' days of 1998.Chris Kramerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02388983859484170876noreply@blogger.comBlogger46125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25486165.post-91782003290587529202009-07-06T09:19:00.002-04:002009-07-06T09:46:05.468-04:00New Affiliate Benchmarks Survey<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS6FRZ15swVX1vNjIeZI8IgLL__dXncEO4zmrXiBNRHj2lnGTvBNkV9lplC-NVlt6BodLD4s1eCJ8YutReVslt5eUUMOz-8L6YX433HMxM4gGBs_UAc08dwXxNvAeQ2-gjPDHKAg/s1600-h/benchmarks.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 73px; height: 73px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS6FRZ15swVX1vNjIeZI8IgLL__dXncEO4zmrXiBNRHj2lnGTvBNkV9lplC-NVlt6BodLD4s1eCJ8YutReVslt5eUUMOz-8L6YX433HMxM4gGBs_UAc08dwXxNvAeQ2-gjPDHKAg/s320/benchmarks.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355342839069530338" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.affiliatebenchmarks.com/">Affiliate Benchmarks </a>has launched the 2nd edition of their highly regarded industry report this week. Anyone completing the entire survey will receive a full copy of the report for free ($199 value). If you are an affiliate marketer this is a great chance to have your voice heard through this high profile industry report.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=PdFX1YVMidTTJrvVlNgAMw_3d_3d">Click Here to be taken to the survey</a><br /><br />you can also follow them on twitter: <a href="http://twitter.com/affbenchmarks">http://twitter.com/affbenchmarks</a>Chris Kramerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02388983859484170876noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25486165.post-65592662253345201542008-11-12T11:47:00.002-05:002008-11-12T13:47:03.853-05:00AffiliateBenchmarks.com Launches - Free Report for 30 Days<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.affiliatebenchmarks.com"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 145px; height: 154px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzW5RkboLAOBHpoSBsZ0RLE_jdyHxYADOH8pL5ycsvtzWSUiq8wPcvCiA3e6dCxU1SxC1yz9dtAX0nUKP6ia8md_aR15pCQmSmryAj8iT0uegEevkGbBOXhdpSwr8d8o_ZXnvBFQ/s400/benchmarks.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5267844362798042402" border="0" /></a><br />It's been a long time since I've posted anything here, so what better way to get back into the swing of things than to announce the launch of a brand new affiliate research project from <a href="http://www.netexponent.com/">NETexponent</a>. Our team has been hard at work over the past few months collecting and analyzing data on the affiliate marketing industry and we've put together a pretty great report. Please don't take my word for it - see for yourself.<br /><br />Head over to <a href="http://www.affiliatebenchmarks.com/">AffiliateBenchmarks.com</a> for your free report. It will only be free for 30 days and then it will be $199 so hurry.Chris Kramerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02388983859484170876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25486165.post-72376734178537167152008-06-03T12:31:00.002-04:002008-06-03T12:37:45.826-04:00Affiliate Survey Launched - Have Your Voice HeardMy company NETexponent has recently launched a publisher survey and we want to hear from you. We continually strive to deliver the best service and communication for the affiliate programs we manage and your feedback will help us.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=cUh_2bRsdYOjerE_2bEE4dfaCg_3d_3d">Please go here and take a few minutes to complete the survey:<br /></a> <br />All participants will get a copy of the results as a thank you.Chris Kramerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02388983859484170876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25486165.post-51012160950831990022008-04-17T21:21:00.003-04:002008-04-17T21:32:11.128-04:00Affiliate Summit Videos Now Live<object height="355" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/8G8FVRapl8U&hl=en"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/8G8FVRapl8U&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="355" width="425"></embed></object><br /><br />Shawn Collins has posted videos of all the sessions from Affiliate Summit West 2008 at <a href="http://affiliatesummit.tv/">AffiliateSummit.TV</a> so check out all the great content when you get a chance. The next Affiliate Summit will be held in Boston from August 10th - 12th.<br /><br />Thanks Shawn!Chris Kramerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02388983859484170876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25486165.post-38836078888155597382008-02-06T12:05:00.000-05:002008-02-06T10:03:48.129-05:00SEMPO Voting Starts TodayI'm proud to announce that I was nominated for the Board of Directors for <a href="http://www.sempo.org">SEMPO</a> and I would love your support if you are a member. Voting opens today at 12pm EST and continues through Friday February 15th. Only registered members may vote.<br /><br />Election results will be announced in late February, and the newly elected Board will begin their term in early March. In mid March, the Board will elect officers for the 2008-2009 year. <p>Here is the complete list of nominees, thanks for your support!<br /></p> <pre><span style="font-family: arial;">Damien Anderson, Blowfish Digital Limited</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Jay Berkowitz, Ten Golden Rules</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Lindsay Blankenship, Avenue A / Razorfish</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Chris Boggs, eMergent Marketing</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Jessica Bowman, Yahoo!</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Paul Bruemmer, Red Door Interactive</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Luar Buso, Getupdated</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Bruce Clay, Bruce Clay, Inc.</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Chris Copeland, Outrider</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Fionn Downhill, Elixir Systems</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Marc Engelsman, Digital Brand Expressions</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Dave Fall, DoubleClick</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Mark Fiske, Bazaar Advertising</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Duane Forrester, Microsoft</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Sara Holoubek, Free Agent</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Gordon Hotchkiss, Enquiro Search Solutions</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Bill Hunt, Global Strategies International</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Mark Jackson, Vizion Interactive</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Mike Jacobs, iMarketing LTD</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Ron Jones, Symetri Internet Marketing</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Max Kalehoff, Clickable</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">John Koehler, VML</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: arial;">Chris Kramer, <a href="http://www.NETexponent.com">NETexponent</a></span><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Kevin Lee, Didit</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Robert Murray, iProspect</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Jeffrey Pruitt, iCrossing</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Steve Riegel, Faction Media</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Farukh Shroff, Solid Cactus</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">David Szetela, Clix Marketing</span><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />Dana Todd, Newsforce</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Tanya Vaughan, Hewlett-Packard</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Lori Weiman, Click Forensics</span><br /><br /></pre>Chris Kramerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02388983859484170876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25486165.post-69100271195222260262007-11-01T15:57:00.000-04:002007-11-19T11:55:49.039-05:00WineExpress.com Affiliate Program LaunchesI'm proud to announce that <a href="http://www.netexponent.com/">NETexponent</a> has officially launched a new affiliate program today on the <a href="https://www.connectcommerce.com/secure/partner_app_alt.html?ccmid=K137376">Performics </a>platform for <a href="http://www.wineexpress.com/">WineExpress.com</a>. We're offering a $10 commission on all wine clubs and a 10% commission on all other products along with a 30 day return day policy.<br /><br />WineExpress.com is the select wine shop partner to the <a href="http://wineenthusiast.com/">Wine Enthusiast's</a> catalog and website. Customers head to Wine Express for unique and exclusive wines that they would not find elsewhere. In addition to exclusivity, WineExpress.com is known for their quality, value, simplicity, and great service. Now is the perfect time to promote this line of products with the holiday season quickly approaching.<br /><br />If you'd like to apply to become an affiliate for WineExpress.com please <a href="https://www.connectcommerce.com/secure/partner_app_alt.html?ccmid=K137376">click here</a>.Chris Kramerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02388983859484170876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25486165.post-64145376101457102572007-09-22T17:10:00.000-04:002007-09-22T18:08:41.874-04:00Facebook Is The World's Largest Poker Site<a href="http://www.casinowire.com/2007/09/18/111257-online-gamblers-head-to-facebook-and-you-tube/">According to Casino Wire</a>, more than 140,000 people a day are playing poker on Facebook.com through various applications. <a href="http://www.pokerlistings.com/best-traffic-poker">Pokerlistings.com</a> tracks the major online poker websites and ranks Pokerstars.com as the number one with a peak of 134,000 players per day.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWLkrEi0pnWK39RFOC2R8wv50OIM3SgFWqWdeK39vFJYX8cWD1CWPbyqbugslVVAaR1XMibW3lwZO050CWhxSMcBTSc4WzCHAPd5e75scT30S4iklycWcM8YiRgZEFBpiW9nDp_Q/s1600-h/img_poker_main_solo.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 173px; height: 244px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWLkrEi0pnWK39RFOC2R8wv50OIM3SgFWqWdeK39vFJYX8cWD1CWPbyqbugslVVAaR1XMibW3lwZO050CWhxSMcBTSc4WzCHAPd5e75scT30S4iklycWcM8YiRgZEFBpiW9nDp_Q/s400/img_poker_main_solo.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5113153198214234690" border="0" /></a>Chris Kramerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02388983859484170876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25486165.post-31357622262762028952007-07-05T17:05:00.000-04:002007-07-05T17:23:06.999-04:00Great Article on Affiliate SummitWith Affiliate Summit Miami just a few days away, Adotas has a great feature article on the event:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.adotas.com/2007/07/affiliate-summit-history-in-the-making/">http://www.adotas.com/2007/07/affiliate-summit-history-in-the-making/</a><br /><br />The article takes us through the short history of how this has grown into the premier event for industry in just a few short years. It serves as a reminder that the main reason we go to these events is to network and connect with folks and not just for the stuff we learn at the sessions.<br /><br />We haven't missed an Affiliate Summit since the first one, we'll continue to support this great event. We'll be giving away a Nintendo Wii at booth #7 - stop by and say hello.Chris Kramerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02388983859484170876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25486165.post-59114181381062115072007-06-28T09:51:00.000-04:002007-06-28T10:11:40.198-04:00Offensive Marketing - Somebody Thought This Was A Good Idea?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXfgh1qJjmxM5cQbDlZXtx1jn-qM5hsToedMQXdnabFvVCYuISykdlOpDU8_WbRV6UxLfnb1f-gBwawaBiwb22aLb36P0jkaKjSX4iYzxQXl4kxRa_f2H7SeduEVx2clJK4VMoyg/s1600-h/missing+person.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXfgh1qJjmxM5cQbDlZXtx1jn-qM5hsToedMQXdnabFvVCYuISykdlOpDU8_WbRV6UxLfnb1f-gBwawaBiwb22aLb36P0jkaKjSX4iYzxQXl4kxRa_f2H7SeduEVx2clJK4VMoyg/s400/missing+person.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5081116279621303474" border="0" /></a><br />Walking to work today I passed a series of flyers up and down the street for what I thought was a missing person alert. Upon further inspection I see that it reads:<br /><blockquote>"I am looking for my wife. She has lost 187 lbs using portionpals (this is her before picture) and now that she is skinny I cannot find her. Please help!"</blockquote>This is one of the most offensive advertising concepts one could possibly think of. Over 2300 people go missing each day in this country and this company creates a fake missing person flyer to sell a diet product?<br /><br />I called <a href="http://www.portionpals.com">PortionPals</a> for a response and they told me that a "distributor" had posted the flyers and that once alerted to these ads they began taking them down but couldn't finish because of the rain. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt since there was a pretty big storm here last night. In any case - its sunny out now and if I were them I'd get some people to finish the job.Chris Kramerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02388983859484170876noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25486165.post-78578525082018824972007-06-16T20:53:00.000-04:002007-06-16T21:01:33.228-04:00Free Affiliate Summit Passes From NETexponentAffiliate Summit is almost sold out, but we're giving away 1 full conference pass and 5 exhibit hall passes to the upcoming Affiliate Summit even in Miami.<br /><br />Click Here for your chance to win:<span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.netexponent.com/affsummitmiami07.shtml">http://www.netexponent.com/affsummitmiami07.shtml</a><br /><br />Hurry - offer ends 6/20. We'll have a booth on the exhibit hall floor and I'll be hosting a round table session, so please stop by if you're planning to attend.Chris Kramerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02388983859484170876noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25486165.post-81622758850692264212007-05-21T08:36:00.001-04:002007-05-21T09:00:32.010-04:00NETexponent Becomes First Agency To Partner with TumriI'm proud to announce that my company <a href="http://www.netexponent.com/">NETexponent</a> has become the first agency to partner with <a href="http://www.tumri.com/netexponent/">Tumri</a>, the world's first integrated merchandising and advertising network that intelligently delivers targeted products to online customers. The first 2 NETexponent clients to launch on this platform are Audible.com and WineEnthusiast.com. In case you missed all of the recent great press that they've been getting you can check it out here:<br /><br /><a href="http://news.com.com/Design+your+own+interactive+ads,+start-up+says/2100-1024_3-6181744.html">c/net</a><br /><a href="http://www.clickz.com/showPage.html?page=3625781">ClickZ</a><br /><a href="http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/05/06/attack-of-the-advertising-widgets/">TechCrunch</a><br /><br />Here is a video on how Tumri works, and you can see a cornerstore in action on the bottom right hand side of this page.<br /><br /><object height="350" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/wAstBOTcprI"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/wAstBOTcprI" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="350" width="425"></embed></object><br /><p><br />I'm very excited to work with the team over at Tumri - they've got a fantastic group of people that have really made this an exciting project to work on. The official release can be found here:</p><p> <a title="http://www.prweb.com/releases/2007/5/prweb527567.htm" href="http://www.prweb.com/releases/2007/5/prweb527567.htm">http://www.prweb.com//releases/2007/5/prweb527567.htm</a></p><p><br /></p>Chris Kramerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02388983859484170876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25486165.post-45813204492809449732007-05-02T08:21:00.000-04:002007-05-02T08:38:25.264-04:00Digg Users Revolt - Take over HomepageToday is a very interesting day for social media. As reported on <a href="http://www.cogbox.com/blogs/chris.html">CogBox.com</a>, a post came up yesterday on digg that contained a string of numbers and characters that cracked the security code on HD DVD's. After a cease and desist notification from the AACSLA (Advanced Access Content System Licensing Administrator) digg apparantly removed the posts and immediately suffered a backlash from their users. Several new posts were added, all of which made it to the homepage thanks to the user initiated voting system.<br /><br />Digg Founder Kevin Rose posted this response last night:<br /><blockquote><p>Today was an insane day. And as the founder of Digg, I just wanted to post my thoughts…</p> <p>In building and shaping the site I’ve always tried to stay as hands on as possible. We’ve always given site moderation (digging/burying) power to the community. Occasionally we step in to remove stories that violate our terms of use (eg. linking to pornography, illegal downloads, racial hate sites, etc.). So today was a difficult day for us. We had to decide whether to remove stories containing a single code based on a cease and desist declaration. We had to make a call, and in our desire to avoid a scenario where Digg would be interrupted or shut down, we decided to comply and remove the stories with the code.</p> <p>But now, after seeing hundreds of stories and reading thousands of comments, you’ve made it clear. You’d rather see Digg go down fighting than bow down to a bigger company. We hear you, and effective immediately we won’t delete stories or comments containing the code and will deal with whatever the consequences might be.</p> <p>If we lose, then what the hell, at least we died trying.</p> <p>Digg on,</p> <p>Kevin</p></blockquote><br /><br />Digg was basically caught in a no-win situation. Remove the post and face extinction by having your users revolt and leave or face a potential lawsuit from an organization with very deep pockets. Win or lose you have to admire digg's stance.<br /></p>Chris Kramerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02388983859484170876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25486165.post-60983914821526701442007-04-03T21:03:00.000-04:002007-04-04T07:26:42.484-04:00No Joke - Incubeta Buys Revenews and CostPerNews.comThe ultimate April Fool's Day prank - Do something for real on April 1st that is big enough to make people think its a prank when it's really true. For 2 days now I just assumed the various posts about <a href="http://www.incubeta.com/"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Incubeta</span></a> buying both <a href="http://www.revenews.com/"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Revenews</span>.com</a> and <a href="http://www.costpernews.com/"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">CostPerNews</span>.com</a> were part of an elaborate hoax until I finally had to ask Revenews founder Wayne Porter what was up. To quote Wayne: <span style="font-style: italic;">"it is very, very real. You can confirm that publicly my friend, blog it, whatever- 100% truth- swear by a holy scallop" </span>Those of you that know my scallop saga with Wayne know you can trust him when he swears on a scallop.<br /><br />I have tremendous respect for all the parties involved in this deal. Vinny <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Lingham's</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Incubeta</span> is one of the biggest and most professional search affiliate companies out there, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Revenews</span> has been an industry staple for nearly 10 years and Sam <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Harrelson's</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">CostperNews</span>.com was one of the best new sources for online and affiliate information.<br /><br />I think we can expect some really great things from this <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">brain trust</span> - I can't wait to see what develops. For the full release <a href="http://affiliatetip.com/news/article001092.php">click here</a>, additional coverage <a href="http://www.revenews.com/wayneporter/archives/online-publishing/are_ufos_real_planet_beta_is_real/">here</a> and <a href="http://www.costpernews.com/2007/04/01/planetbeta-incubeta-revenews-and-costpernews/">here</a>.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"></span>Chris Kramerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02388983859484170876noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25486165.post-81444106470276979452007-03-21T09:48:00.000-04:002007-03-21T10:05:59.589-04:00What's Going on with UK Affiliate Programs?<blockquote></blockquote>First the whole ASOS "Grubby little affiliates" thing (<a href="http://www.bumpzee.com/affiliatemarketing/tags/view/asos/">click here if you missed this one</a>) and now UK travel site <a href="http://news.flightmapping.com/07/03/20/flightmapping-pulls-flybe-ads_1225.html">FlightMapping.com publicly blasts</a> one of their merchant relationships for pulling the plug on their affiliate program:<br /><blockquote style="font-style: italic;">"Flightmapping director, James Avery, said Flybe’s decision to cut its affiliate campaigns was unacceptable, adding: “It costs them virtually nothing to advertise through affiliates, and at just 1%, Flybe’s commission rate is one of the lowest in the business. How on earth can the airline have used up its budget?”<br /><br />"Flybe has not played ball, and we find this particularly disappointing considering our tremendous respect for them as an airline. We hope our stance acts as a wake up call."</blockquote>Finally some excellent advice:<br /><blockquote style="font-style: italic;">“Learn to respect your affiliates, and they will continue to reward you with bookings at a considerably lower cost (up to 75% lower) than all of your other marketing channels,” he said."</blockquote>I really have to wonder if Flybe or ASOS have any long term strategy in place as both seem extremely short sighted and misguided if they think they can treat affiliates this way and expect them to come back for more. Flybe should have considered themselves extremely lucky to have a site like FlightMapping.com promoting them for only 1% revenue share, instead they burned a bridge that seems unlikely to be repaired.Chris Kramerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02388983859484170876noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25486165.post-1170475606452517612007-02-02T22:07:00.000-05:002007-02-02T23:08:29.780-05:00Not all Search Affiliates are Bad GuysKevin Lee would have you believe in his recent <a href="http://www.clickz.com/showPage.html?page=3624822">ClickZ article</a> that affiliates engaging in search marketing are cheaters or only go after the "low hanging fruit" of search. I'd like to set a few things straight:<br /><br />1. There are also numerous search firms that only go after the "low hanging fruit" and would not be able to run a profitable search campaign without trademarks.<br /><br />2. He complains that PPC programs have budget caps while affiliate programs have unlimited budgets. This is typically true as affiliate programs only incur a media cost when a sale takes place - search programs have a media cost regardless of how many sales occur. I have never had one of our search clients run out of "budget" if we were reaching their desired efficiency. Remember that search agencies are typically paid on how much they spend, not per sale.<br /><br />3. Do some affiliates break the rules? Of course there are always rogue sites out there but if you have the dedicated resources to running an affiliate program and you're aware of how affiliates are promoting your brand you typically run into very few problems. There are many honest affiliates that are making 6 and 7 figures a month and will not risk losing that by breaking the rules.<br /><br />4. Kevin Lee talks about how more affiliate programs are becoming restrictive and only allow a few "power" affiliates to run search (in his words, "fewer cats to herd"). This is true in many cases, but these "power" sites and the advertiser both benefit from this scenario. By working in partnership and sharing information with a few top sites the advertiser is able to gain greater coverage on more keywords and block competition from valuable keywords. Talk to any affiliate about this strategy and they will agree its best even if they are not one of the sites allowed to perform search.<br /><br />5. Search affiliates can add significant revenue - as far as I know Mr. Lee has never managed an affiliate program, but those of us that do know that search affiliates can add 10% - 30% or more to an affiliate program<br /><br />6. Search and affiliate can co-exist. The reason why the search firms battle the affiliate guys is because they rarely are managed from the same cost center. If you have smart affiliates doing search, of course your search campaign may have lower volume, but the <span style="font-weight: bold;">COMBINED</span> volume from both channels will be greater. We've demonstrated this across several search and affiliate programs we've managed. The goal of every advertiser should be to get the greatest number of quality orders at the best efficiency regardless of channel.<br /><br />7. Affiliates have the ability to do some things that no search agency can. Many search affiliates build landing pages and entire sites dedicated to a specific vertical. By building comparison sites they provide value to the users seeking information on the topic. For the advertiser they provide the opportunity to gain traffic from multiple ads on the search engine. For clients in a competitive category this can mean substantial incremental revenue.<br /><br />Bottom line - don't assume that affiliates can't augment your search strategy. Know who your partners are and communicate with them. Share your learnings with them when you can and treat them as a partner, not a suspect.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Disclaimer - In case you didn't already know it, my firm <a href="http://www.NETexponent.com">NETexponent</a> manages both search and affiliate programs for <a href="http://www.netexponent.com/selectclients.shtml">our clients</a>. We believe in an integrated, holistic approach to marketing and that affiliates and search can co-exist in the marketplace.</span>Chris Kramerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02388983859484170876noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25486165.post-1170197585380147532007-01-30T17:51:00.000-05:002007-01-30T22:58:53.396-05:00BUMPzee is HotScott Jangro's <a href="http://www.bumpzee.com/affiliatemarketing">Bumpzee</a> is really catching on, and I'm a big fan. It's been around for about a month now, and its a great blog community that is part digg, part linkedin, and part MySpace. When I joined about 3 weeks ago there were only about 25 other members and that number has already grown to more than 150. The coolest part for me is when 2 people add each other as friends you can view each other's contact information - in an industry that is built on relationships, being able to stay in touch with the important folks in our industry is key.<br /><br />Check out the latest entries here - <a href="http://www.bumpzee.com/affiliatemarketing/entries/">http://www.bumpzee.com/affiliatemarketing/entries/</a>Chris Kramerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02388983859484170876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25486165.post-1168272985285026602007-01-08T10:19:00.000-05:002007-01-08T11:16:25.373-05:00Affiliate Summit Sold Out<a href="http://www.affiliatetip.com/blog/archives/affiliate_summit_is_sold_out.html">AffiliateTip.com</a> announced yesterday that the upcoming Affiliate Summit in Las Vegas has officially sold out. The event continues to grow each year and even with the added capacity it has sold out once again.<br /><br />I'm really looking forward to this year's Vegas event for a number of reasons. The first is that <a href="http://www.NETexponent.com">NETexponent</a> will have a booth on the exhibit hall floor (<a href="http://affiliatesummit.com/Exhibitor_List.pdf">Booth #104</a> - please stop by). We'll also be running two of the vendor showcase tables - one dedicated to our client <a href="http://www.shockwave.com">Shockwave.com</a>, and another representing all of <a href="http://www.netexponent.com/selectclients.shtml">our client's affiliate programs</a>. The Summit kicks off Sunday afternoon with some serious networking from 2pm - 6pm at the showcase tables. On Monday morning NETexponent Co-Founder and CEO <a href="http://www.netexponent.com/management.shtml">Peter Figueredo</a> will be speaking on an all-star panel featuring several of the top search affiliates in the industry. Joining Peter will be <a href="http://www.incubeta.com">Vinny Lingham</a>, <a href="http://imwave.com/aboutus.htm">Adam Viener</a>, <a href="http://www.affiliatesummit.com/steve_schaffer.php">Steve Schaffer</a>, and <a href="http://ravenwoodmarketing.com/search-company.html">Dan Murray</a>. Something new I'm also looking forward to is the Affiliate Summit Awards that will be given out Monday night. I'm proud to say I've been part of the Affiliate Summit Advisory Board that helped nominate the very deserving candidates. As always the most important aspect of the event is meeting face to face with the folks we do business with all year. Affiliate Summit along with the network events (CJU, Linkshare Symposium, etc) give us the best opportunity to sit down and connect with our partners.<br /><br />Hope to see you there - if you missed the boat on Vegas, there is always <a href="http://affiliatesummit.com/07e_conference.php">Miami this summe</a><a href="http://affiliatesummit.com/07e_conference.php">r</a>.Chris Kramerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02388983859484170876noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25486165.post-1162906554813536262006-11-07T08:29:00.000-05:002006-11-07T08:40:52.863-05:00Hybrid CPA Network "Turn" Launches<a href="http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/11/06/turn-to-launch-hybrid-cpa-ad-network/">TechCrunch reports today</a>:<br /><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><blockquote><span style="font-style: italic;">"San Mateo startup </span><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://turn.com/">Turn</a><span style="font-style: italic;"> will unveil an interesting new advertising platform tomorrow at the Web 2.0 conference. It combines Cost Per Action bidding with a wide range of user, site and ad performance analytics. The company calls itself the world’s first automatic targeting, bidded CPA ad network."</span></blockquote><span style="font-style: italic;"></span>I'm thrilled that CPA advertising is finally starting to hit a little more "mainstream" with guys like this and <a href="http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/11/06/jellyfish-smack-hold-low-can-you-watch-prices-fall/">Jellyfish</a>. For so many years I've felt that innovation has only been coming from inside our industry with very few new players taking a shot at making cost per action work.Chris Kramerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02388983859484170876noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25486165.post-1161816803717531602006-10-25T18:51:00.000-04:002006-10-25T21:18:02.143-04:00Affiliate Search Engine LaunchesAnik Singal over at <a href="http://www.affiliateclassroom.com">Affiliate Classroom</a> has utilized the new <a href="http://www.google.com/coop/">Google co-op</a> search engine technology to build an affiliate industry specific search engine. You can check it out at<span style="text-decoration: underline;"> </span><a href="http://www.affoogle.com">Affoogle.com</a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.affoogle.com/results/?cx=008479079463415966102%3Ahkpo0sltxqu&q=netexponent&sa=Search&cof=FORID%3A10"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2167/280/320/NETx_Placement_001.0.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />You can see a full list of sites it pulls from here: <a href="http://www.affoogle.com/listed_sites.html"> http://www.affoogle.com/listed_sites.html</a> and<br />it allows you to make suggestions as well. This execution reminds me a lot of <a href="http://www.rollyo.com">Rollyo</a> - a technology that lets you create your own search engine by combining several sites together.Chris Kramerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02388983859484170876noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25486165.post-1161803811711544162006-10-25T14:52:00.000-04:002006-10-25T15:46:56.343-04:00John Battelle and Chris Anderson Discuss "The Long Tail"About 185 people connected online at today's session of <a href="http://www.ecomxpo.com">ecomXpo</a> to hear <a href="http://battellemedia.com/">John Battelle</a> and <a href="http://www.thelongtail.com/">Chris Anderson</a> discuss the long tail of marketing.<br /><br />Battelle is an excellent speaker and host and walked through the history of the book with Anderson and the impact the internet has had on how our behavior and shopping habits are changing. If you're not familiar with the book, I encourage you to check it out here:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1401302378?tag2=thelongtail-20">http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1401302378?tag2=thelongtail-20</a><br /><br />I plan to post more about my thoughts on <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1401302378?tag2=thelongtail-20">The Long Tale</a> in the coming days.Chris Kramerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02388983859484170876noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25486165.post-1161016746752234502006-10-16T11:47:00.000-04:002006-10-16T12:39:06.886-04:00I've launched a New BlogI've decided to keep this blog focused on the online marketing space and move my <a href="http://www.salesforce.com">salesforce.com</a> related posts to a new site called <a href="http://www.salesforcecollective.com">SaleforceCollective.com</a>. <br /><br />The 4 days I spent out at Dreamforce were motivating and sparked numerous ideas. I realized that most of what I've learned to date about Salesforce has been through blogs like <a href="http://www.salesforcewatch.com">SalesforceWatch.com</a> and <a href="http://sfdc.arrowpointe.com/">Perspectives on Salesforce</a> and I hope to contribute back to the community.<br /><br />-ChrisChris Kramerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02388983859484170876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25486165.post-1160796857296694982006-10-13T22:56:00.000-04:002006-10-15T22:33:40.636-04:00What the Heck is a Flog?MediaPost recently posted <a href="http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.san&s=49505&Nid=24192&p=354327">an article</a> about Walmart and their attempt to create a fake blog or "flog". The actual site is <a href="http://walmartingacrossamerica.com/">WalmartingAcrossAmerica</a>, and the authors have already owned up to the situation, although they defend themselves by stating:<br /><blockquote></blockquote><p></p><blockquote style="font-style: italic;"><p>"We had heard that Wal-Mart's critics could be vicious in their attacks. Now we know those concerns were valid. And we kept our professional lives out of it, where we work and what we do for a living, because this was not about the organizations we work for, I did this blog because I thought it would make a great story. Jim did this because we live together. We took vacation time in order to make this trip. We weren't out there as representatives of our employers, or anybody at all but ourselves.</p> <p>So now we're being attacked. Why? Because we dared to write positive things about Wal-Mart. The people who hate Wal-Mart couldn't argue with anything we said, we were writing about real people and telling true stories."</p></blockquote><p></p><p>This isn't the first case of a fake blog, I found several interesting ones:</p><p>The Lincoln Fry - outed by: <a href="http://prblog.typepad.com/strategic_public_relation/2005/02/mcdonalds_fake_.html">Strategic Public Relations</a><br />Gourmet Station - outed by: <a href="http://www.micropersuasion.com/2005/04/here_comes_anot.html">micropersuasion</a><br />Coke's Zero Movement - outed by <a href="http://www.adrants.com/2006/01/coke-lies-misleads-with-fake-zero.php">Adrants.com</a></p>Amazingly someone at Walmart thought it would be a good idea, or maybe they just didn't think they would be caught. <span class="articleText">Debbie Weil, author of "The Corporate Blogging Book" said it best:<br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;" class="articleText"><blockquote> "This is so foolish on so many levels, it makes me scratch my head, everyone involved violated the basic rule: Be transparent. If you're found out, it comes back as a slap in the face."</blockquote></span>I'm kind of puzzled myself that so many big companies would think this is a good idea. Trust is a tough thing for anyone to earn, especially in the consumer - corporation relationship. I guess the best we can hope for is that others just might learn from all of these mistakes.Chris Kramerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02388983859484170876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25486165.post-1160600345728109512006-10-11T16:56:00.000-04:002006-10-11T17:57:54.336-04:00Dreamforce 2006 Day 4This morning's 3 breakout sessions wrapped up this year's Saleforce.com conference, and these 3 that I attended were actually 3 of the better breakouts I saw all week.<br /><br />First up was the business mash-ups session on the developer track. While I'm not a developer, I'm really interested in API's and webservices functionality, especially as it related to Salesforce. There was a great presentation from <a href="http://www.infopia.com/">infopia</a>, and examples of how they've gone out to dozens of API's and integrated them into Salesforce for their clients. <a href="http://www.spanningpartners.com/">Spanning Partners</a> also talked about integrating Google Calendar functionality within SF.<br /><br />The next session was the community building session that featured 2 of the best Salesforce bloggers Mark from <a href="www.salesforcewatch.com">Salesforcewatch.com</a> and Scott from <a href="http://sfdc.arrowpointe.com/">Perspectives On Salesforce</a> and <a href="http://www.arrowpointe.com">ArrowPointe Consulting</a>. Also on the panel was Joseph from <a href="http://leveragesoftware.com/">LeverageSoftware</a>. I really think the folks at Salesforce have done a great job to embrace community, especially on through the <a href="http://blogs.salesforce.com/blogs/">Successforce blog</a> and on the <a href="http://ideas.salesforce.com/">Idea Exchange</a>.<br /><br />The last session of the conference for me was the professional edition roadmap presentation. At this point we've already seen most of these ideas in previous presentations and through the idea exchange, but a couple of ideas / future rollouts grabbed my interest: marketing tracking enhancements including click tracking - for an ROI focused marketer like me, this is a big development. SF loves their Google adwords tracking product and I think they want to expand this into new areas. Yahoo search tracking, organic search tracking and more are being considered. Salesforce wants to enable users to understand the context in which customers are interacting with us and this is definitely a good thing. Other cool ideas include saved search history and tagging features, both of which would make it easier to find our key data.<br /><br />A couple of more photos, all of which and more can be found on <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/chriskramerblog/">Flickr</a>.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2167/280/1600/dreamforce%20day%204%20mashup%20session%202.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2167/280/320/dreamforce%20day%204%20mashup%20session%202.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2167/280/1600/dreamforce%20day%204%20communities%20session%20-%20arrowpointe.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2167/280/320/dreamforce%20day%204%20communities%20session%20-%20arrowpointe.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2167/280/1600/dreamforce%20day%204%20roadmap%20session%20-%20visit%20tracking.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2167/280/320/dreamforce%20day%204%20roadmap%20session%20-%20visit%20tracking.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Chris Kramerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02388983859484170876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25486165.post-1160527642640138822006-10-10T20:22:00.000-04:002006-10-11T02:22:44.396-04:00Dreamforce 2006 Day 3<a href="http://www.salesforce.com/company/board.jsp#Benioff">Marc Benioff</a> got us started again this morning with an interesting introduction to the featured keynote <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_Powell">General Colin Powell</a>. General Powell got a standing ovation and was an excellent speaker. He talked for a long time and held the audience for most of that time with interesting anecdotes and the importance of corporate philanthropy, a topic that Mr. Benioff likes to remind us is covered in his <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Business-Changing-World-Marc-Benioff/dp/0071481516">new book</a>. Powell took us through some examples of how he uses technology, and I was impressed to know that he actually understands Salesforce and its implications on the business world and government and has a great grasp on how the internet is making things move and change at a pace that humanity has never seen before. I really enjoyed his speech, but I think Powell lost most of the audience's attention when he began to explain the current political situations with various regions around the globe. At this point we had been listening to Benioff and Powell for more than 90 minutes. After Powell left the stage, various product demonstrations by executives from Symantec, Deutsche Bank, F5 Networks, Corporate Express, and Skype. Since Benioff and Powell ran so long, the general session went over by 45 minutes and people were walking out. Most of these "demonstrations" felt like sales pitches, but I liked seeing the real-world examples.<br /><br />I headed back down to the exhibit hall to catch up with some vendors and ask some Salesforce staff some questions, and I thought I'd take a moment here to point out some booth "good guys" I met:<ol><li><a href="http://www.modelmetrics.com">ModelMetrics</a> - Thanks Adam for referring me to another vendor when I described the Salesforce customization I was looking for.</li><li><a href="http://www.beforethecall.com/">Before the Call</a> - Really good bunch of folks offering instant access to a free version of their product. They also gave away a pair of tickets to the Oakland game that sadly I did not win.</li><li><a href="http://www.convenos.com/">Convenos</a> - thanks for the Skype headset, and for clearly and concisely explaining your product without being pushy or salesy.</li><li><a href="http://www.salesforce.com">Salesforce</a> - I had a specific question about Apex that nobody seemed to be able to answer but within minutes of leaving the booth I was on an email chain that had multiple people trying to track down an answer for me.<br /></li></ol>The booth poor conduct award goes to Eloqua: their team of hyper-aggressive salespeople wouldn't let you past their booth without several calls of "can I scan you?" from multiple people. Sure you got my contact information and already sent me an email, but you left me with a poor first impression.<br /><br />A couple of pictures from today, <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/chriskramerblog/">all photos can be found on Flickr</a>, tagged as Dreamforce2006. Other folks have added pictures to the <a href="http://flickr.com/groups/dreamforce2006/pool/">dreamforce pool</a>.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2167/280/1600/dreamforce%20day%202%20colin%20powell%202.0.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2167/280/320/dreamforce%20day%202%20colin%20powell%202.0.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2167/280/1600/Dreamforce%20day%203%20Appy%20Awards%202.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2167/280/320/Dreamforce%20day%203%20Appy%20Awards%202.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Finally, a special thanks to Kingsley Joseph of <a href="http://blogs.salesforce.com/blogs/">The Successforce Blog</a> for reaching out to me and inviting me to a have a beer with some other Salesforce Bloggers.Chris Kramerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02388983859484170876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25486165.post-1160461256587714982006-10-10T01:31:00.000-04:002006-10-11T02:23:36.556-04:00Dreamforce 2006 Day 2Marc Benioff certainly has a flair for the dramatic.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2167/280/1600/dreamforce%20benioff.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2167/280/320/dreamforce%20benioff.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Just before 9am this morning thousands of attendees were anxiously awaiting the gates to lift so they could enter the keynote speech and opening remarks. As the gates lifted we were greeted by a live band playing <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyyVlUfy19c">"crazy"</a> and signs warning us that strobe lights would be used during the presentation. Sure enough, Benioff didn't disappoint and he had our full attention. After a presentation on The Business Web and some recycled material from the roadshow presentation I attended a couple of months back in NYC, Benioff brought up former eBay COO <a href="http://blogs.cio.com/node/432">Maynard Webb</a>. Nothing too exciting here, and the real fun began when Chief Marketing Officer George Hu came up to present highlights of the Winter 07' release. Although George looked like he was 12 years old, he was very funny and charismatic and had the crowd on his side with numerous jokes. <a href="http://sfdc.arrowpointe.com/2006/10/09/dreamforce-keynote/">Perspectives On Salesforce</a> does a good job wrapping up this session and the rest of the keynote, but the highlights were:<ol><li>Pop-up reminders</li><li>The Console</li><li>Calendar Remodel</li><li>collapsible sidebar </li><li>Related list "hovers" (roll-overs to you and me)</li><li>Inline S-Controls (mashups, widgets, and Ajax oh my)<br /></li><li>Business logic and workflow approvals</li></ol><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2167/280/1600/dreamforce%20winter%2007.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2167/280/320/dreamforce%20winter%2007.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Next up was a brief and difficult to understand presentation by Cisco VP Laurent Philonenko, followed by Benioff back on stage to make a suprise introduction of Michael Dell. Dell came up on the video screen remotely and began congratulating Salesforce on the launch of Apex a tad prematurely. I know I hadn't heard anything about Apex yet and was puzzled. After some slides on <a href="http://blogs.salesforce.com/features/2006/03/salesforce_prm.html">PRM</a>, Benioff and Co-Founder <a href="http://www.salesforce.com/company/management.jsp#Harris">Parker Harris</a> made the big announcement that Dell alluded to earlier - <a href="http://www.salesforce.com/apex">Salesforce Apex</a>.<br /><br />Apex has the potential to be even bigger than the appexchange, giving developers and users the power to build completely custom code and applications on the Salesforce platform. Salesforce hosts it and provides the infrastructure, allowing customers to focus on creativity.<br /><br />One final note on the keynotes - I thought it was very cool that <a href="http://www.costar.com/News/Article.aspx?id=4F4525957AC9AE9EBAC567246DAB1DE2">Salesforce leased the old Siebel building</a> ("We got a good deal, quipped Benioff") in San Mateo and is converting it into an AppExchange incubator. For $2k per month you get a cube and access to help, resources, and potential VC interest and develop a business to plug into SalesForce.<br /><br />That concludes the Keynotes, the rest of the day was spent at breakout sessions, the best of which was the live workshop that walked through a hands on demo of the new winter 07 features. For more coverage of the keynotes check out <a href="http://sfdc.arrowpointe.com/2006/10/09/dreamforce-keynote/">PerspectivesOnSalesforce</a><a href="http://sfdc.arrowpointe.com/2006/10/09/dreamforce-keynote/"> </a>and <a href="http://www.salesforcewatch.com/2006/10/dreamforce_disp_1.html#more">SalesforceWatch</a>.<br /><br />I headed back to the Moscone center around 8pm for the "Global Gala" with the band <a href="http://www.trainline.com/">Train</a>. I'll admit, I'm actually a fan so this was a nice surprise. I assume corporate events are just about the last thing a serious musician wants to do but they were really good and the crowd was actually really into them.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2167/280/1600/dreamforce%20train.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2167/280/320/dreamforce%20train.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/chriskramerblog/">More photos on Flickr<br /></a>Chris Kramerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02388983859484170876noreply@blogger.com0