Hope you enjoy :)

Simon

As more and more people get interested in making money online, high search engines rankings are much harder to attain. In the past, some affiliates created sites with nothing other than banner ads and affiliate links to products they were promoting. To combat this, search engines (particularly Google) have gotten better at finding thin affiliate sites and weeding them out of the search results.

Say you have a resource site about snowboarding equipment. In the 1990's it was possible to rank your site with minimal content that had enough keyword-focused text. But search engines evolved and got smarter, and with the advent of "Search 2.0" they started looking at more off-page criteria - like the number of links pointing to a site. The newest major evolution is search technology, TrustRank, looks at how highly respected the sites that link to you are. So just one link from trusted authority site is possibly much more valuable than 1,000 links from low quality sites.

As Wikipedia (SaleHoo) rose up and became one of the highest ranking, most trusted general information sites, it bumped thousands of less-trusted affiliate sites off the front page.

But now there's a newer and bigger potential threat to your affiliate site's front page spot, Google's Knol:

Knol is the name for Google's upcoming user-generated content project that is similar to Wikipedia in some ways, but is different in others. Knol will feature single author-written articles on all major topics, but it will allow users to comment, rank and vote on these knowledge articles.

So in the near future, an affiliate site on a popular topic or brand will have to compete with Google's universal search (images, videos and maps in the search results), Wikipedia and also Knol - all of them will be taking up spaces in the "front row" of the search results.

Now is the time to get started on making your popular affiliate sites credible,  strong and trusted enough to compete.

This is similar to what has happened with pay-per-click ads. A couple of years ago, Google announced a "quality score" for AdWords that penalized certain business models that it disliked. Google sharply hiked the prices on some types of websites, so things like e-books, shopping comparison sites, and lead-generation squeeze pages all became difficult to affordably advertise with pay-per-click.

For eBay's own sake, it's probably a good idea to try and improve the sense of security on the site. There have been a lot of abuses of the eBay system with outrageous shipping charges, misrepresented products and fraudulent buyers – so people are increasingly wary.

It's probably a bad idea for sellers and entrepreneurs to be completely dependent on one company's score or assessment of your business practices. Ebay is still a good way to sell products online, but it might be wise to consider diversifying your marketplace. You are always better off with your own website and alternate ways to drive traffic (aside from search engines and eBay listings), rather than depend heavily on just one company's policies and approval.

You don't want to put all your business eggs into someone else's basket! :) 

In the world of online affiliate marketing, there are tons of "review" sites that rate the products with the highest paying commission as best – and they often have bad things to say about competing products that don't offer affiliate commissions.

I think that this article is true to a point, but I have also found out that having an affiliate program can cause people to say bad things about your product, too. Some affiliates will be so desperate for attention that they will make outrageous claims or say the program they are promoting is a scam (!) in order to get people to click through and take a look at their pitch. For example:

To be a successful affiliate marketer, you have to have thick skin and be prepared to let people's opinions and criticisms roll right off of you.  People are going to write, talk and blog about any product that is worth mentioning. There's no stopping that. Therefore, I think it's best to give people incentive to promote your product, sell for you, and say good things about it by offering an affiliate program. That way, you have some degree of influence - but never total control - of what affiliates and reviewers say about you.

For the past decade, eBay has dominated the market for online auctions. It is such a strong brand that the word "eBay" has became a verb that means "to sell by online auction," just like "google" means to look something up online. Traditionally, other sites have had tremendous difficulty breaking into the auction space.

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But this week's sellers' boycott on eBay gave some smaller auction sites a new window of opportunity.

Outraged over fee hikes and upset over changes to the feedback system on eBay, many of the power sellers on eBay have gone on strike this week. One of their biggest complaints is that instead of leaving negative feedback for buyers, they will have to fill out tedious complaints with eBay's Security & Resolution Center. While eBay has drawn criticism for hosting a few dodgy sellers, there are plenty of legitimate issues with buyers. I know for sure that a small segment of buyers take advantage of sellers by buying 100% genuine items and claiming they are counterfeit, demanding refunds, claiming items never arrived when they actually did, etc.

As eBay power sellers went on strike from February 18th to 25th, smaller online auction sites are reporting that business has never been better:

CozyBug is a local auction site that focused on selling things that are too big to ship - much like Craigslist. This week the site has boomed with a 4,400% increase in daily traffic.

MommyAuctions , a women's auction community, has seen the number of items for sale on the site boost from 2,500 to over 4,000.

New statistics show that auction listings on eBay are down 13% this week.

While I am glad to see more options for sellers and some competition for eBay, I personally think that eBay is still strong enough of a brand that it will have the upper hand in online auctions for a long time to come. Even if the current community of sellers were to leave the site entirely, there are thousands of new online sellers every week who could eventually take their place on eBay. Diversity is good. Competition is good. And only time will tell what's going to happen in the online market space.

When you write sales copy, you've got to be smooth. It's important to careful that what you write doesn't set off people's alarms and make them run -- or click -- away.

Here are three copywriting mistakes that can kill your sales:

1. Having a "False Promise" In the Headline: The headline of an article or piece of copy is a promise. Sometimes beginners will bait readers with "juicy," but false, headlines just to try and get people's attention. This almost always backfires, because it makes people feel like they were tricked. Make sure that every line of copy you write supports the statement made by your headline.
2. Telling the Reader That You Know What They're Thinking: People don't like copy that is too assuming. Don't say things like "You're probably thinking that..." or "People like you never get upset by..." or else some of your readers might subconsciously take offense and enter into a disagreeable mindset. Your goals is create a smooth flow of agreement- "Yes!" "Yes!" "Yes!" -  to your statements, and one of the quickest ways to kill that flow is to claim you can read people's minds. You really don't know what people are thinking when they read your copy, so don't proclaim that you.
3. Making things too complicated: People reading your copy are usually in a great hurry. Don't use jargon. Don't use complex sentences. Don't tell long stories. Omit needless words, sentences and paragraphs. The simpler you can make your case, the better. This doesn't mean you have to keep your copy short, as long copy often converts better - but rather, you should use a conversational tone and write as simple and "to the point" as you can.

There's a little known feature that is hidden deep within PayPal, allowing you to opt-in to get a lower (2.5%) rate if you receive more than $3,000 in payments each month.

A Thanks to Scott Wainer for his excellent post on PayPal's secret merchant rate for this information!

I've been busy planning out the new SaleHoo site and working on new features for Auction Inspector and Sky High Auctions , but I recently did a couple of articles and interviews:

• How to Tell if Your Business Idea is Any Good by Simon Slade
• Insights on Launching a New Product

I've also been exploring a lot of new blogs and social media sites. It's a bit overwhelming to keep up with everything new out there, but I have been enjoying Twitter and Bebo a lot - just for fun.

Just a quick post to give you an update on some recent media coverage we got from the Champion Canterbury Awards

We were featured as one of the main companies when The Press interviewed us and asked for our staff management tips that we use within Doubledot Media. The article also focuses on staff management and ways to keep staff happy in the workplace.

Enjoy the read.
Simon

Product Development Manager (IT)

Location: Christchurch, New Zealand
Position: Full time
Package: Negotiable
Status: Accepting Applicants

Are you a creative communicator with a background in software development? This is a fantastic opportunity for a tech-savvy person to help shape one of the fastest growing companies in New Zealand.

Doubledot Media is seeking a Product Development Manager who is obsessed with technology, ecommerce and web application development. The ideal candidate will have experience in managing the development of web based applications or software programs as well as experience in managing the end-to-end delivery of projects for start-ups or large technology companies. You will have strong technical competencies as you will be working closely with the software development team and you should also be highly strategic and capable of driving the product development and deployment of products for our websites.

What will you be doing?

You will be creating, outlining specifications and managing entire applications from proposal development through to the successful delivery and deployment onto the web. You will also be involved in:

• The creative planning of applications and tools for our users.
• Creating highly detailed and easy to understand briefs/plans for our development team to follow.
• Ensuring the correct development and implementation of all products.
• Usability design and testing of all applications.
• Conversion tracking and monitoring of all websites.
• The strategic planning of all future projects and have a large say in the overall direction of our products.
• Evaluating and exploring strategic opportunities.

Essential skills and abilities

• Comfort with a fast-paced, highly ambitious start-up environment.
• Strong documentation and communication skills.
• Knowledge of web software especially in the SEO and PPC industry.
• Extensive experience implementing, running and maintaining web applications.
• Experience in producing strategies and plans, especially in an IT environment.
• Management of a team and a demonstrated ability to work in a team environment and the ability to communicate at all levels.
• Creative, resourceful, detail-oriented, highly organised
• Experience in conversion tracking, web analytics and website/software usability.

This is a great opportunity to really show your skills and take charge of some major projects. You'll also get to work in a relaxed, creative environment with a young and amusing team.

While qualifications or experience in software development or project management would be valuable, we're more interested in your capabilities and experience. If you think you've got the "spark" we're after... then we want to hear from you.

Ready to Apply? Please follow these steps carefully!

1. Visit some of our websites (www.affilorama.com www.salehoo.com www.zeadoo.com).
2. Surf around and make sure we're the type of company you'd be keen to work for.
3. Create an email for jobs[at]doubledotmedia.com (Subject: Product Development Position).
4. Write a short (but not one-sentence) introduction with a description of yourself and why you are the right person for the job including prior experience and examples of your work.
5. Attach your CV as a PDF.
6. Push send!

Two biggest things people struggle with:

1. What products they should sell?
2. Where to get the products from?

Well, you guessed it - I answered these two questions on the post.

Here's the guest post by Simon Slade

It costs $30USD for a lifetime license but it is well worth the small investment

Access TuneUp here

The below video shows a demo of iPhone software running on a Mac Desktop with a touch screen monitor. Hopefully more details will break soon if this is actually real or just a real good fake!

Location: Christchurch, NZ
Position: 37.5 hours per week
Package: TBC
Status: Accepting Applicants

Do you love using Facebook and Trade Me, and enjoy buying stuff online? Then you won’t want to miss this opportunity to work for a company who uses these sites everyday as part of what they do!

Doubledot Media is a highly successful Christchurch-based internet start-up undergoing rapid expansion. We specialise in providing online business training products for budding entrepreneurs, including affiliate marketers and eBay and Trade Me sellers.

We are seeking a capable office assistant who is quick on the uptake and can turn their hand at anything from writing communications and organising meetings, to assisting with basic online marketing tasks. The office assistant will be providing team support to senior management staff and must have excellent communication skills and a positive ‘can do’ attitude.

Day-to-day responsibilities include:

• Answering the phone.
• Organising meetings and taking minutes.
• Preparing high quality documents such as reports, letters and emails.
• Assisting other staff with correspondence, data entry and some online marketing tasks.
• Keeping the office tidy and organised.
• Contributing to general operating efficiency with duties such as filing, sorting and answering mail and running errands.

To be considered for this role, you must:

• Be an accurate and fluent writer and have previous business writing experience.
• Have an excellent knowledge of Microsoft Word and/or Open Office, Outlook and Excel.
• Have exceptional verbal communication skills and the ability to work well with people at all levels of an organisation.
• Be highly organised, able to prioritise work, have a flexible attitude and be willing to rise to new challenges.
• Be a confident and experienced internet user, familiar with using social networking sites and using the search engines to find information.
• Have an interest in technology and business start-ups.
• Basic book keeping and accounting skills will also be regarded favorably.

This is a new position in the company so there will be opportunities for advancement for the right person.

Ready to Apply? Please follow these steps very carefully!

1. Visit some of our websites (Affilorama SaleHoo Zeadoo).
   
2. Surf around and make sure we're the type of company you'd be keen to work for.
3. Create an email for jobs[at]doubledotmedia.com (Subject: Office Assistant Position).
4. Write a short (but not one-sentence) introduction with a description of yourself and why we should hire you.
5. Attach your CV as a PDF.
6. Send!

So what does it take to convert a visitor? What can change them from being a passing “tire-kicker” to an interested visitor – a visitor who takes the next step and clicks your affiliate link?

I want to share 6 high impact techniques for improving your promotional page’s CTR. These techniques are used and recommended by us at Affilorama, and have been reported as having a significant, positive effect on the CTR of our students’ sites.

My 6 techniques are shared over on Clickbank's blog from when I guest posted for them a month or so ago. You can view here