For those of you who haven’t logged on to CJ lately, the CJ registration is up, and CJU is from 9-15 to 9-17, 2009.   

If you haven’t gone, it’s a great time.  I’ve been there twice.  My best experience was probably networking, and getting the chance to hear some of the seminars done by guys like Jeremy Palmer and Shoe Money (or some other guy that I have confused with Shoe Money…).  Anyway, I came home with a lot of book marked websites, and notes scribbled on a piece of paper. 

The networking is pretty cool. My biggest regret is that I didn’t ACT on at least one of the clients that I met when I attended as a publisher. (My first year, I was an advertiser… I made lots of phone calls, most of which no one returned..lol)  Being at CJU is a great time to work a better commission, get out there, and become a name in the industry.

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There comes a time in most affiliate businesses when you either can’t do something or you’re totally overwhelmed.  You’ll find that the best thing to do is find some one who can help you. 

I use Odesk to find programmers to help me.  You could also advertise your own skills, if you are a programmer or designer, and want to earn an extra buck. Anyway, most of these outsourcing programs work similarly.  You can post your job for free, and “interview” programmers via chat.  The ODesk software allows you to monitor the activities of the person you choose. You pay oDesk, so no need to worry about someone running off without finishing your project.

Anyway, I’ve used oDesk to find my favorite programmer and complete several projects, so I’m very pleased.  Also, if you do sign up for oDesk, be sure to check out their referral program to make $50 for every person that spends / earns $1,000.  That may sound like a lot, but a website can easily run that much. 

Regardless of which outsourcing program you use, you’ll find that it can make a project go easier and faster, as well as be a cost-efficient way to get the job done.

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Today, I’d like to post a mini-rage against the many programs out there that I’ve found that are more than happy to sell or rent you a website , or even give you a website for free. I understand that they’re designed to help people, but most of the time, what they really do is take people’s money. 

Prior to paying, renting, or even accepting one of these websites for free, take a look at them.  Most of them do nothing for you, unless you can drive traffic directly to your new, free site.  The more hands off the website is, the more useless the site is.  

I was offered an MLM “site” – really a subdomain, that was a copy of the same site everyone else had.  My only option was to edit the “who I was” site. I couldn’t move it to my domain, but I could forward the domain.  The person who was selling it (if he sold 5-10, he got his for free), didn’t understand why the site wouldn’t rank in google. 

Here are a few things you should look for if you’re buying a pre-made website. 

1. Do you get to select or purchase your own domain name? (if no, then can you assign your domain)
2. Is this site a subdomain of a larger site? If yes, then can you assign your own domain – or are you just forwarding your domain to your “new” website. For those of you who are confused, or are less tech saavy – you don’t want to put www.mywebsite.com in the web browser and have it forward or redirect to me.purchasedwebsite.com
3. What kind of content are you getting with your website?  Is it worth what you’re paying for it, even though it won’t be listed in google. 
4. Is a years worth of rental fees worth more than outsourcing the website? Use a service like Odesk will allow you to hire someone to build your website for you. You may not have to do anything but supply the affiliate links and the copy. 

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If you haven’t seen or read Butterfly Marketing, I recommend you do.  It’ll change how you think about affiliate marketing.  I know, I know, every package says that. But this one is different.  For  the price of shipping and handling, you’ll get about 10 cds and TWO printed manuals.  These step by step instructions will walk you through everything you need to know about viral traffic, launching a product (or getting in a product launch), managing your email list, and more.   But don’t just listen to me.  Now – the bad news.  The program is sold out, so he’s collecting names and hopefully going to release another 1,000 packages.  If you hurry you might be able to get one.  Butterfly Marketing. 

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Ok, this is totally off topic, but I watched an episode of The Entrepreneurs on CNBC, and I was inspired.   Toms Shoes is a shoe company that gives a pair of shoes to a kid in need for every pair of shoes sold.  That’s pretty impressive.  I don’t know many companies who are willing to give so much to charity and can make a viable business model out of it.  This isn’t a little 2% donation to charity.

Believe it or not, this company has managed to make money. Most likely because the children’s shoe is much less expensive than the adult’s shoe.  So, they’re doing a great thing for these kids that don’t even have shoes, and still making money (and feeling good about themselves).  How cool is that.

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Revenue Magazine announced that the FTC is proposing new product review guidelines that would directly affect affiliate marketers.  The FTC wants to make bloggers, social media users and others who express “false statements” liable. 

So, how does this affect you?  Well, you could say it doesn’t.  Your product review site or product review blog prints honest information and comparisons.  But what if someone makes a purchase and doesn’t like the item, or says that you promised that an ipod would hold 3,000 songs and it holds 2,000?  Under these new laws, you may find yourself in a court case or class action lawsuit. 

What can you do? Well, first you can make sure that if you are using an affiliate site model of product reviews or comparisons that they are as accurate as possible, and that you aren’t making false claims. You can attempt to only restate only what is said on the website, the item packaging itself or the insert.  Make sure you actually physically have  the product before you review it. Don’t state discounts that don’t exist, etc. In many cases, such as banking and loan websites, these are already requirements. 

Of course one problem with all of this is that the web is huge and the FTC can’t possibly patrol it, nor will the FTC patrol it most likely.  So my guess is that unless there are class action lawsuits taken out against the largest infringers, I’m not sure how they can possibly hope to make something like that stick. 

Here are some places where the FTC could crack down. The FTC prohibits “ deceptive pricing” in print media.   This means that the use of phrases like a $499 value for 39.95 may come under some scrutiny, as the item has never sold or priced for $499.  Also, comparisons that are biased (this is the better product because it has an affiliate program), could come under higher scrutiny, as well as standard product review sites.  

It’s important to remember that this type of regulation is already in place for tv and print media. So, it shouldn’t be too hard to follow. For more information, you can read more about FTC advertising guidelines. 

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If you’ve ever tried to build a landing page or squeeze page, you know that you’re always in need of stock photos. 

Stock photos can range from free to several hundred dollars a photo. However, most stock photos that are used for landing and squeeze pages can be used for just a few dollars.  The few dollars you spend on a stock photo can assure you that first and foremost you have the rights to use the photo, and secondly, it’ll take a lot less time to complete the webpage.  Also, $5 on a webpage that gets scrapped or makes $3,000 a day is a small investment, compared to the time and energy that you’ll spend hunting down your own photographs. 

Btw, I also like free stock photography, as long as the site says you have the rights to use it. 

Here are some of my favorite stock photography websites: 

stock.xchng - both free and paid stocks.. Here I usually am going for free stock photos. 

istockphoto.com – this is probably my favorite source. I’ve used the illustrator files as well as the images. 

pdphoto.org – I haven’t found anything here I love, but it’s another free source. 

StockVault – more free photos

Getty Images - want an image of your favorite hollywood icon or sports hero? the cost is a bit pricy for Getty – $49 an image, but they have a selection that Iphoto isn’t going to get you, unless you’re going to the game.

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Need help creating a landing page?  Checkout Template Monster.  

Template Monster is probably the best place for professional looking html templates.  You can buy a funky header, insert your product and copy, and go.   For the price tag, it’s a great way to get a great looking end product. 

I’ve personally used Template Monster for a number of products (for myself of course – my web design clients get totally custom designs – i only wish i had that kind of time myself!).  

One suggestion is to look at changing the theme or stock photography for a totally different feel to the design. Something that’s themed, say for construction, may also work for architecture or real estate with a different lead photo. 

Want more tips on landing pages?  Check out   IM Myth.  It’s free, and it’ll change the way you think about affiliate marketing

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For those of you who use linkshare, you may have gotten your Linkshare Symposium East registration in your email.  If not, keep a look out, or check www.linkshare.com for more details.  LinkShare’s Symposium is their version of CJU.  This year, it’s located in NYC. The only bad news is, it costs $495 per person to attend. 

Why go? Well, first of all, it’s a good place to meet with your affiliate advertisers, as well as potential advertisers, other publishers, and rub shoulders with the guys who are already making big $$$ in the industry.  The second reason is that if you’re serious about affiliate marketing, you can pick up a few tips and tricks (more than a few actually), and stay ahead of the game.  I learned about myspace and facebook at my first CJU, for example, and how social networking was poised to take over the world.

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If you aren’t a reader of ShoeMoney’s website,  he’s one of the original affiliate marketing gurus.  Anyway, according to tech crunch, it turns out that he’s suing a google employee for steeling his keyword list and running competing ads for the copyrighted term “ShoeMoney”.   Click here for the full article. 

I had no idea that you could get Google to allow you to “own” your own copyright on their adwords network. That’s kinda cool.  On the flip side, I’m going to be a lot more careful in the future about what I say in my adword ads.

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