"Affiliate" Marketing Help

Some of you have asked: "...what is the easiest way and most cost-effective way to have your products listed across a wide variety of sites without having to manipulate your data feeds daily or weekly and set up accounts directly with certain sites you may want to work with...", i.e. you don't have the resources to manage your data feeds and return on adspend using a tool as MerchantAdvantage, you don't have $ to spend on some pay-per-click campaigns, and you just want to experiement and "wet your feet."

In other words, you are willing to work with/pay fees to a "broker/affiliate" who is able to take your data feed, ONCE it is configured correctly for that affiliate site, and then offer you the opportunity to have that product catalog feed sent to many places for a "structured fee".

I say "structured fee" as each "broker/affiliate" has a different business model, fee structure, contract obligation etc...which I would ensure you understand clearly before working with them.

I followed up with a client recently and had a nice conversation about just this option and with whom they could work. I reminded that merchant that even an affiliate site requires you to format a data feed and send it to them daily (set-up work is required), but if you are just sending your data feed to one affiliate or even two and not updating and manipulating your prices, product descriptions, and analyzing performance on a day-to-day basis then it should be no issue to work with them directly - if they accept you into their netowork and you are willing to pay associated fees.

So here were some of the affliate sites I suggested on my call this am. Please remember that all listed have a different cost structure, some lock you in to work with them for a year, and some may not be appropriate for your stage of development.

Overview of some Affiliates - some of our clients send their product data feeds to at least one of these, some work with many of these listed -

SPECIAL NOTE: Not every affiliate will work with you if they don't think you're big enough to support their affiliate network and they all purport to do the same thing which is broker your products to other sites. Some of these are small, some are very large, and others are niche.

(listed in alphabetical order - NOT in order of importance, ease of working with them, cost, or reach):

www.Avantlink.com
www.BettyMills.com
www.ClassifiedFlyerAds.com
www.ClickXchange.com
www.ClixGalore.com
www.CommissionJunction.com
www.DigitalGoodsDelivery.com
www.GoldenCan.com
www.Google.com/ads/affiliatenetwork
www.Half.com
www.iShop.co.uk (UK-London based)
www.Kolimbo.com
www.Lemonade.com
www.Linkconnector.com
www.LinkShare.com
www.PepperJamNetwork.com
www.PriceScan.com
www.SecretPrices.com
www.Shareasale.com

I am sure there are many more affiliate sites, but this is a start if you decide this type of marketing strategy is right for you.  I hope the above proves helpful as you continue to expand your online marketing efforts.

-- Chip Arndt

FitBase Provides Valuable Information For Ecommerce Merchants

Many of our ecommerce clients at MerchantAdvantage have asked for additonal information to our white papers and client-side Webinars to make better business and online marketing decisons.  We all know that there’s a lot of information out there – google search, MSN search, Yahoo! search, blogs, industry websites, white papers, even newsletters -- which MerchantAdvantage also sends out each month. 

Okay, all of this is good. After all, knowledge IS power.  But what about too much knowledge?  Having so much information that it is all white noise?  The real question is where do we find the "right" information easily that we can act on today.  Albeit, how do we make heads or tails of the abundance of data available to anyone with an internet connection?

Well, friends of eTaildTail at FitForCommerce have pondered those questions – and have come up with a great answer: FitBase.  

In addition to their core eCommerce consultancy business, they have launched an online knowledge base of all things eCommerce. Now before you become skeptical of "another" site claiming to be the "one-stop-shop" for ecommerce related informaton -- I hear what you’re probably saying now: "...just what we need Chip – MORE information!"  

Okay, point taken. 

However, FitBase provides information in an organized, structured and intuitive manner, with apples-to-apples comparisons, benchmarking data on 1,000s of eCommerce features, and easy to follow, categorized "Best Practices" advice and resources in one place.  This even includes surveys, statistics and provider and solution details for vendors in over 30 different categories.   And, it is all presented in an easy-to-use solution finder interface that finds information and resources that most likely to fit your business ecommerce needs.

There’s only one thing to say. Phew. 

And I am glad to point you in their direction. It has been a great help to me, so check it out here and I believe it will help you too.

Enjoy.

- Chip Arndt

Blogging and Site Search – They Go Together Like Root Beer and Ice Cream

eTaildTail friends at SLI Systems weigh in on how Blogging and Site Search go hand-in-hand; we hope the following commentary helps grow your ecommerce business.

Best -

Chip Arndt

SPECIAL GUEST COMMENTARY

Blogging and Site Search – They Go Together Like Root Beer and Ice Cream

By Geoff Brash, VP of Marketing at SLI Systems, specialists in Webstore Site Navigation and Search. Geoff can be reached with any questions at geoff.brash@sli-systems.com ...and let him know that eTaildTail sent you.

"Whether or not your company already has a blog, you probably know the benefits of blogging and how it will help your business.  As explained in this recent E-Commerce Guide article, a blog linked to your online storefront can help build visibility for your brand and educate customers about what you offer. 

So if you’re going to spend the time necessary to maintain a blog, then you want to do whatever you can to get your blog noticed – and bringing the blog content into the search results on your site is one way to do that.  Just like root beer and ice cream, which taste great individually – blogging and site search are each valuable tools for getting your online business and the products and services you offer more attention.  But when you put them together, even better!  You now have a much more powerful way to get your customers excited and educated about your offerings.

Now, you might be concerned that blog articles would be a distraction to your online shoppers – after all, aren’t they using your site search to find the things you’re selling, and not to catch up on your blog?

However, if you do your blog right and create informative, interesting posts that relate to your shoppers’ needs, then they should WANT to read your posts – and you should want to make the posts easy to find. Here are some approaches you can take to make blog content searchable:

• Show the blog content in a separate section of the search results – for example, on the left, or below the regular search results.  This ensures that products have prime position on the results page.
• Create refinement options so visitors can restrict the results to just blog articles, or just product listings.
• Allow product and blog content to appear based on highest click-throughs, showing the most popular (or relevant) items first – regardless of whether it’s from the blog or a product listing.  You can adjust your settings so that products generally show higher – although if you do this, I recommend allowing the blog articles to move higher if people click on them more often.
• Put a search box on your blog so that visitors can search just blog articles – and also show product listings in your blog search, perhaps along one side of the results.

If you’re not sure how to integrate blog content into your site search, you may want to ask your customers (perhaps through a blog post), try some options, and measure the impact on your conversion rate.  And of course, feel free to email me if you’d like any tips at geoff@sli-systems.com ."

- Geoff Brash

Technology Bells and Whistles...Do You Need Them?

SPECIAL COMMENTARY

Technology Bells and Whistles

By B. Thomas Romeo, Sr. Techical Engineer at MerchantAdvantage

This month let's talk a bit about bells and whistles. For technology that which is "extra" is not necessarily the latest or greatest; rather it is what is intuitive and time saving. The adage is that technology is a tool not a genre. As hardware and software are developed, we find that many companies’ advances really are not about shifts in the paradigm of our workflow but are actually easier ways to do things. Web 2.0, which is more of a catch phrase than an exact moment in time when the World Wide Web was upgraded from 1.0 to 2.0, defines a subtle transition into Web based services.

Now that most industries are considered online and connected to the Internet (as opposed to, let's say, 15 years ago where Internet connectivity was considered itself as a bell and a whistle) not only are there new ways of using the Internet but that very connectivity creates the posibility that these new technologies can actually catch on. Early on in the Internet days, companies survived by having a critical mass of users savvy enough to figure out a dial up connection and their software. Those who made it easiest (read: most intuitive) survived. AOL. Those who drudged along, even with good technology but poor interfaces, died off. Compuserve. Prodigy. Was it the bells and whistles that AOL offered or the clean interface and intuitiveness that helped them survive.

Right now, connectivity itself is being redefined. Not only has bandwidth been mainstreamed by DSL and Cable connectivity, but cellular companies are also changing the dynamic of access. We can now be online without dependency on our "home" network via widespread hotspots, like those offered by AT&T and Starbucks, and the mainstream emergence of 3G data modems.

Now instead of seeing more and more laptops show up in coffee shops and airports, we're starting to see more and more laptops showing up with little black or white 3G modems sticking out of the side of them. And let me tell you - these things are great! You can be anywhere and be connected. The obvious travel situations, in the car (stopped not driving), on a boat, in a doctor's office - any type of "waiting" situation - including if you are moving and are waiting for your DSL line to be installed. (This one I know about!)

Also a cool thing that is coming is for these little 3G modems to work with routers. This means you can stick the gadget in a router and build a network around them. Imagine having a house wireless network based on a 3G modem - multiple machines running wirelessly from a single cellular connection. Imagine having a little network in your car where your passenger carrying a wireless laptop or smartphone has a good solid Internet connection. This is definitely a bell and a whistle.

Many technologies like this have existed and have simply sat idle waiting for mainstream acceptance. A little analogous history for example might be when Apple released iTunes in January of 2001 setting the stage for their iPod. Later that year when the iPod was initially introduced, mainstream use of iTunes expanded. A few years later the iTunes store existed, then the AppleTV, and now if you talk about renting a movie you might be doing it from Blockbuster, Netflix or iTunes.

This is not even to mention the fact that iPods are considered the equivalent of microwaves in just a few years of existence. Other examples can include how we manage photos or videos. Let's forget about iPhoto and iMovie for a second and talk about Picasa and YouTube. It took awhile for digital cameras and videocameras to become mainstream but now that many people have access to them, Google has created some of the most intuitive ways to get those photos and videos onto the web. Now it's common to refer to YouTube videos or share a Picasa library, or even upload photos to a Flickr site using Picasa. There are even some cameras like the Flip that have "YouTube" built right in.

Now of course in regards to online marketing - our industry has also had it's “critical mass points” historically. In 1990 the first web browser was released, yet the Internet prohibited commercial transactions until 1991. In 1992 the first book was sold online and the protocols to buy and sell were being developed and deployed. In 1995, Amazon.com was born along with AuctionWeb (later to become eBay).

Ten years later we've seen the stability of shopping cart technologies, online transaction capabilities and order management components. It would be accurate to say, at this point, that Shopping 2.0 is emerging. What more can online merchants deliver? Social components like those at Ciao, mobile apps like those from Amazon, theFind and Like, and video reviews like those on Smarter all speak to the bells and whistles that our industry is beginning to offer. We are seeing blogs and wikis and audio visual interactivity at a level of sleek implementation replacing the previously spotty, browser-crashing options we had before. Realplayer has been replaced with YouTube. Blogging is an occupation and merchants are bloggers on their own storefronts talking directly to their consumers. Craigslist, Facebook and Wikipedia are mainstream words that we'll use as as a noun or even as a verb in sentences.

This is exciting stuff, and for me it's fascinating to look at both a little of history and a little of the future of technology and think about its implications not only for the media enjoyment we get out of the gadgets we have access to, but for the workflow implications that allow us to work faster and more efficiently. Even inside our industry we have the bells and whistles that allow our storefronts and channels to be more exciting and more robust, e.g Web and Shopping 2.0. We also have bells and whistles like the fancy ways to be connected wherever we are, faster than ever before - and with more critical mass to come, which always leads to greater stability and intuitiveness.

- B. Thomas Romeo

Shopping Cart Technologies That Work for You

Last week a new friend of MerchantAdvantage called me to ask about shopping cart technologies. He was having issues with an in-house shopping-cart technology that he had been using for over five years and was inquiring about other solutions in the market place because he felt he was falling behind the competition. His main issues revolved around:

1. The outside vendor he is using could not keep up with new programming needs to make his online storefront "cutting edge" – this includes design issues, adding new features such as coupons and reviews, and customer relationship email follow up
2. The ease of integrating with various marketing channels and Internet applications and solutions that help drive revenue or increase customer satisfaction
3. The costs of programming to keep up were burdensome and he was not satisfied with the programmers he was working with, and
4. The solution he is using was not as flexible as other shopping cart solutions in the marketplace

MerchantAdvantage is not a shopping-cart technology solution, so why are we writing about them? Well, we work with 50+ shopping-cart technology companies, helping to pull and push product catalog data to 200+ marketing channels, and thus, we know a little bit about our new friend’s questions. We also know that our friend asked questions that have many answers with numerous associated opinions and that the debate about the best shopping-cart technology has been going on for years and will never end, because there is no single perfect solution.

So, keeping all of this in mind, here is an overview of what we told him; we hope the following information helps other ecommerce merchants who might be facing the same issues.

Overview

First, ecommerce merchants have hundreds of shopping-cart technology solutions to pick from in the marketplace = good news.

Second, no shopping-cart technology is perfect = bad news.

Third, there are many excellent shopping cart technologies in the marketplace and the one that is right for you is the one that works with you and for you = best news! I don’t want to list all of the shopping-cart technology solutions in the marketplace because I am sure that I will leave many off of that list that might be the right solution for you and I don’t know all of them.

So instead, let’s talk about how an ecommerce merchant should approach the process of identifying the right shopping-cart technology solution for you.

Identifying the “Right” Shopping-Cart Technology Solution

I find this part relatively easy because the answer is dictated by price and need. We all would love to have a site like ProFlowers, REI or LL Bean – some of my favorites – but:

1. Can we afford to build a robust site like these examples?
2. Does your business require you to have a site like these to be successful?, and
3. Do you have the staff and time to support the many features offered by these sites?

MerchantAdvantage works with many small to mid-sized merchants who have $250,000+ in annual sales and most of them are very content with the functionality of their Web storefront, although they realize that they could have a “sexier” site. In these cases, the ecommerce merchant understands the value proposition between what shopping-cart technology they can afford that “still” makes them money versus what they desire. And remember, even the best and largest ecommerce merchants started out small with ecommerce Websites that were basic.

Therefore, it is essential that ecommerce merchants understand the tradeoffs between various shopping-cart technologies, the price point to work with them, the functionality they offer as it relates to the revenues you can generate by using that shopping-cart technology, and what is really necessary.

What is right for ProFlowers or Moose Jaw, two of MerchantAdvantage’s clients with many millions of dollars in sales and complex transactions, may not be right or necessary for Carols Candy Corner, a smaller but effective MerchantAdvantage etailer. And remember, it is okay to start small and work your way up.

However, it is also important to note that every shopping-cart technology should have the following basics in common; even though some companies may perform each function better than another:

1. Clear pricing structure for what you are getting and understanding of how much it will cost to “upgrade” and add new functions when needed. NOTE: This is where most shopping-cart technology companies make most of their money and this is fine, as they are running a business
2. It is easy for you to access your data for many future needs, even the possible one of switching to a new shopping-cart technology company
3. Excellent Webhosting
4. Robust Data backup and recovery applications
5. Analytics
6. Shipping applications
7. Accounting applications
8. Billing and receipt applications that integrate with an easy–to-use accounting package such as QuickBooks
9. Order Management applications within the system that properly track and monitor orders when working with marketing channels that sell your product for you
10. Various secure payment options for clients
11. The ability to work with third-party solutions that may enhance your Webstore functionality faster, better, and more economically than what they offer today. This includes such things as:
    • Site design
    • Site navigations
    • Marketing applications
    • Email integrations
    • Coupon integration, and
    • Reviews
      (Although remember that many shopping-cart technology companies will try and keep some of these things in-house, per point #1 above = making money).
12. AND….the ability to grow and accommodate new business needs as they come up. Nothing is worse than having an out-of-the-box solution that can’t grow with you. 

So here are some quick questions to ask yourself before looking into shopping-cart technology solutions, whether you are new ecommerce merchant or looking to switch to a new shopping-cart technology solution.

1. What are the most important functionalities that you need to run YOUR online business? (see above for help)
2. What special integrations and offers does a shopping-cart technology solution provide? For instance:
   • ProStores WebStores (an eBay company) offers integration with PayPal Payment solution, Google Checkout Payment solution, marketing channels as Shopping.com and others
   • Yahoo! Stores offers discounts when buying Yahoo! Adwords on their search engine
   • Go Daddy Quick Cart offers special offers from numerous helpful, add-on applications and easy integration to the new Go Daddy Marketplace
   • A myriad of shopping-cart technology solutions provide integration to robust email applications and Google and Yahoo!Adwords…you get the point.
   • Don’t be too shy to ask: What else do I get besides just a shopping-cart technology solution to help drive revenues to my Web Storefront?
3. What is your monthly budget to run your online Webstore now AND what can you afford? [A quick way to find out is to ask the following questions then decide what percentage of revenues you can afford to allocate to your shopping-cart technology – 10%, 25%, 50%].
   • What are your revenues today or expected revenues?
   • What are your “ALL-IN” margins related to revenues and what percentage, if any, does the shopping-cart technology company you are working with require.
   • What is your expected net income after ALL costs?
4. Can you afford to work with a shopping-cart technology company that provides more than you need? Do you need to at this stage of your company’s growth?
5. Do you need to work with a sophisticated shopping-cart technology company to run your business, as the smaller ones may not be sufficient, and
6. What do you expect your shopping-cart technology company to do for you and what do you expect to do for yourself?

The above questions are mostly business/finance related and, while not exciting, nor the only questions you should ask, they are essential to ask yourself as you are running a business to make money. So keep these questions handy when calling on shopping-cart technology companies as they will help guide your conversations and make it a lot easier to identify the right company for you.

What Next? Make the Call…There is No Magic Solution   

Probably what most ecommerce merchants want to hear is that there is the perfect shopping-cart technology solution for them and here it is ____________________________.

The point of this newsletter is to guide ecommerce merchants to “possible” solutions because there are many shopping-cart technology solutions from which to choose and not all of them are right for you. In order to make the selection process a little easier, MerchantAdvantage breaks down possible choices in the table below and encourages all ecommerce merchants to do the same.

And, once an ecommerce merchant embraces the methodology below and asks the questions above to choose an appropriate shopping-cart technology solution, may we suggest searching online under the general search term “shopping-cart technology solutions”. You will find hundreds of solutions to investigate and many wonderful commentaries from industry experts that speak to the same topic of this newsletter.

Or alternatively, give us a shout at MerchantAdvantage and we would be glad to assist you as we can.

Shopping-Cart Technology Solutions Overview Analysis

This chart depicts how MerchantAdvantage sees the shopping-cart technology landscape in order to assist ecommerce merchants to make intelligent, cost-effective decisions in identifying the shopping-cart technology that is right for them.

We realize that there are hundreds of other shopping-cart technology solutions in the marketplace, but I did not have enough room for their logos! If you are a shopping-cart technology provider and are reading this newsletter, but have been excluded from the chart below, please excuse us for the omission and call us at MerchantAdvantage, we would love to work with you.

 Analysis:

1. If you are just starting out in ecommerce, have fewer than 2,500 SKUs, or are looking for a more inexpensive shopping-cart technology solution, check out quadrant 1 (lower left).
2. If you are a more experienced etailer that might need some more features and you are really dedicated to planning your future growth as an etailer, check out companies in quadrant 2 (upper left) and top of quadrant 1.
3. If you are a really experienced etailer and run a very robust online business with over $5 million in annual sales, you probably know more than we do. We are glad you are reading this newsletter and have many suggestions of excellent shopping-cart technology companies that can help you really scale your business, see quadrant 3 (upper right).
4. If you like “high cost” with “low functionality”, quadrant 4 (lower right), you are not running a business! No one ever should be working with these companies and frankly I don’t know of any that fit totally in this quadrant. (see “Special Note #2” below).

Special Notes to Chart above:

1. The chart serves as a guide to the landscape of shopping-cart technology solutions and is not meant to “compartmentalize” companies into precise areas. MerchantAdvantage recognizes that each company markets to certain sectors of the ecommerce space: large etailers, small etailers, mid-sized etailers, and new etailers - and, as such, provide products and offerings that cater to the specific needs of those various sectors at varying pricing levels.
2. MerchantAdvantage recognizes that no shopping-cart technology solution strives to provide “limited functionality” for a “high-cost” and thus did not intend to list any shopping-cart technology solution in that “quadrant 4” in its entirety.

- Chip Arndt

eTaildTail Named A Top Resource For Ecommerce News

 eTaildTail stives to be your source for and gateway to ecommerce and mcommerce news, information, resources, companies, and people to help grow your online business. 

We also know that we are not your only gateway to that information and that other resources provide you with excellent and pertinent information that you need right now.  If you are in involved in ecommerce or mcommerce in any way, I found a great site that lists many of those "top resources" in one place. 

May I recommend book marking this site for for future reference - and yes, it is free and they don't ask for you to sign up for anything.

The site is called "AllTop" and I happy that eTaildTail was named one of their top resources!  eTaildTail looks forward to continuing to educate and thanks you all for making our job fun by providing us with questions and insights from around the globe everyday.

Check AllTop out <<<HERE>>>; it will prove useful to you all as you grow your online business into the future.

- Chip Arndt

Better Webstore Site Navigation Methods Increase Sales

eTaildTail friends at SLI Systems weigh in on Site Search and methodologies therein with some hepful commentary below.

And, if you want to supplement the commentary below and learn more about the importance of Site Search navigation to the success of your ecommerce storefront/Webstore, don't forget to join Michael Lambert, CEO of MerchantAdvantage, and Dr. Shaun Ryan, CEO of SLI Systems, today at 2:00 pm EST for a free Webinar.  

If you missed this Webinar today it is archived for free download at MerchantAdvantage.

This is what will be covered in the Webinar:

Industry Experts Reveal Benefits of Channel Management and Smarter Site Search

You know the "diet and exercise" drill: fewer wasted calories (marketing dollars) and a targeted program to build the body you want (optimal sales and customer retention). You are invited to join our special 30-minute webinar to explore how simple but sophisticated technologies can help your online business accomplish these exact goals: drive sales, reduce wasted spending.

By participating in this webinar, you will learn:

1. How Comparison Shopping Engines (CSE’s) can bring you new customers – without bringing you tech hassles.
2. How to select the most effective CSE’s for YOUR business out of the hundreds out there.
3. How to accurately evaluate the effectiveness of your CSE choices and make changes in real time.
4. How to improve customer satisfaction by reducing the time it takes a site visitor to find what they’re looking for.
5. How to implement a system that learns from your visitors’ behavior over time so that you can better meet (and anticipate) their needs.
6. How to list products in their predicted order of popularity and automatically optimize pages for search engine spiders.
7. We will be reviewing website internal search performance during this webinar. If you would like us to consider yours, please submit your website in the registration form.

Full information abut and free registration for today's Webinar can be found here.

I hope all of this helps! ... and don't forget to continue reading below.

-- Chip Arndt

SPECIAL GUEST COMMENTARY

 

By Geoff Brash, VP of Marketing at SLI Systems, specialists in Webstore Site Navigation and Search.

Geoff can be reached with any questions at geoff.brash@sli-systems.com ...and let him know that eTaildTail sent you.

 

"Here at SLI, we’re evaluating whether it’s a good idea for companies to place the focus on their search box, meaning, when a visitor opens any page of their site the cursor is automatically placed in the search box. This can be achieved using a simple JavaScript command. Visitors can then start typing without having to look for the search box or clicking on it. What do you think of this idea?

 

The main advantage of this shift in focus is that it’s easier for Web visitors to start searching – usability experts argue that shorter navigation paths are usually better. This saves a click and the (fairly trivial) effort of finding the search box. By making it easier, you might increase the amount of searching that happens on your site. Studies have shown that people who search buy more.

 

The main disadvantage of this feature is that some navigational keys won’t work when the focus is on a form – in particular, the backspace key (which takes you to the previous page) and the arrow keys for scrolling. It may be possible to code around these issues.

 

If done carefully, we think having the focus on the search box is a good thing. Google does this – but then again, searching is all you do on Google. One of our customers, Dick Smith Electronics also places the focus on the search box – and from what they tell us, it seems to work well. What do you think?

 

If you have a few seconds, please take our one question poll to let us know your thoughts (you’ll see the results immediately).

 

Please also feel free to drop me an email at geoff@sli-systems.com ." Geoff Brash