Conducted by BevWalton-Porter

Academy of Web Specialists

valentijnb:Hi Mark, do I know you from the Get High SE-Forums?

Mark Nulty:nope, not sure what those are

valentijnb: http://searchengineforums.com/bin/Ultimate.cgi

valentijnb:I will give you a better link, wait...

BevWP:everyone here for the ecomm chat?

valentijnb:At the top-Left you can scroll between the different URLS http://gethighforums.com/Forum17/HTML/000071.html

BevWP:Well, I guess we can get started if everyone is ready

BevWP:My name is Bev and I'm the facilitator for the basic ecommerce course

valentijnb:Are only students participating from the ecommerce course? (p.s. sorry for my bad englich--->Amsterdam)

BevWP:this is a general ecommerce chat

BevWP:you can participate if you'd like =)

Mark Nulty:im from the advanced se course

BevWP:okay - do any of you have specific topics you'd like to discuss?

BevWP:whether it be pmt options, marketing, competitive intelligence, etc.

BevWP:I've met Mark before...but I don't think I've met sucram or valentijnb yet

BevWP:Mark, are you the one who has the wrestling site?

BevWP:trying to remember...

Mark Nulty:i'd like to find out more about affiliate programs (yes, i'm the one with the wrestling site)

sucram:My name is marcus and I am teaching the swedish courses

valentijnb:You can call me Val for the ease

Mark Nulty:I use the Miva Shopping Cart and they offer a module which would allow me to set up an affiliate program where other sites could direct traffic to my shopping cart for a commission

sucram:could you give me the URL to your site so I can check it out

BevWP:Thanks, and nice to meet val and marcus

Mark Nulty:sure.... http://www.wrestlingclassics.com

BevWP:okay - so you want to set up your own AND participate in other programs, too?

Mark Nulty:no. i want to set up on my own and encourage other sites to participate.

valentijnb:Ok I get it. you get comissions for those links from products?

BevWP:what would you like to know, in particular, about affiliate programs?

BevWP:and you want to know how to get them to do that?

Mark Nulty:i guess, if anyone has a successful experience organizing one and what pitfalls i may encounter

valentijnb:I have read there is soft ware which fully automates the affiliate procces.

Mark Nulty:i'm having this nightmare of dozens of sites hating me because we disagree on stats and i spend an inordinate amount of time writing $5 checks every monthj

BevWP:Tadd Winslow just wrote a wonderful article re: affiliate programs and what to look for

Mark Nulty:terrific

BevWP:do you have a way they can track stats themselves?

BevWP:how does the program work through Miva?

Mark Nulty:the Miva Module says that it has that capability.

BevWP:That's what I'd recommend because it could save you lots of hassles

BevWP:in the long run, it would be worth it - cut down on the disagreements

BevWP:perhaps you could set a limit on the checks, too

BevWP:I know many programs won't issue a check until your credit has met $20 or more

Mark Nulty:Basically, I add the Miva Module to my existing shopping cart and then everyone would be assigned a unique ID number that they would add to the coding on their hyperlink from their web site

BevWP:I mean, why drive yourself crazy writing those $5 checks?

BevWP:ok, I see...

Mark Nulty:that may be the answer. checks are written once a month on all balances of $20 or over

valentijnb:Mark check out this one: http://www.superscripts.com/scripts/agentsmlm.html

Mark Nulty:thanks

BevWP:another good link for info on affiliate programs is www.affiliatezone.com

BevWP:That's probably the best way to go on the checks, mark

sucram:here is another good one: http://www.theaffiliateprogram.com/

BevWP:most of the ones I've seen don't bother to send out checks unless they're OVER a certain amount

Mark Nulty:thanks, again. also, where can i find the article that you mentioned?

BevWP:try www.cybertrakker.com, too

BevWP:hold on, I'll get the URL

BevWP:What's your email, Mark, I've saved it in text and can email to you now

Mark Nulty:mark

BevWP:okay - sending now

valentijnb:Sorry; computer crashed on me, what were you sending?

Mark Nulty:you guys are the best

BevWP:I'm sending him an article

BevWP:on points to consider re: affiliate programs - would you like a copy?

valentijnb:yes please TX

BevWP:Also check out http://www.associateprograms.com

BevWP:what's your email addy, Val?

valentijnb:valentijnb

BevWP:okay - hold on I'll send =)

Mark Nulty:bev, do you have any personal experience with associates programs or have any students that have?

BevWP:Val, it's on its way

BevWP:Mark, I have not designed my own, but I participate in the Academy's program and in others

BevWP:I also participate in Directleads.com

BevWP:and the goto.com program, plus a couple others

BevWP:the main thing is to participate with others who are moving in similar circles as your business does

BevWP:for instance, poetry.com is popular on my site because it's a site for writers

BevWP:so that's going to get more clicks than, say, a shoe seller

Mark Nulty:that's what i'm thinking. there are a ton of pro wrestling Web sites out there.

valentijnb:Once I participated sixfigureincome.com. It cost me a lot of money and nothing in return

BevWP:have you approached other sites, Mark?

BevWP:Groan - nothing in return, Val? Never been to the site you mentioned...going there now

BevWP:www.affiliateguide.com is a good site to look at, as well

Mark Nulty:not yet. i want to make sure i have my act together from a technology standpoint first. i don't want to advertise something and then look foolish for taking it down in six weeks because i didn't do my due diligence

Mark Nulty:we've developed a good rep. i want to protect it

BevWP:You said Miva will give them the ability to track stats themselves?

BevWP:That's understandable.

BevWP:You should give them that ability, as well as set forth the guidelines re: payment

Mark Nulty:yes. and i've been happy with other miva modules i've purchased, so i have a level of confidence in them

BevWP:how often, how much, etc.

Mark Nulty:right. it seems like a key is to make sure everything is spelled out as plainly as possible

BevWP:yes, because otherwise you're going to have headaches

BevWP:you might also look at the top 1,000 programs at www.internet.com and just kind of scope out how they're running their programs

BevWP:that kind of leads into the competitive intelligence issue which means that before you launch, you know the people/sites you'll be approaching

BevWP:and you'll have a handle on what are some successful programs and what guidelines they use

Mark Nulty:got it. thanks

BevWP:Val, was that the only program you've participated in?

valentijnb:yes it was. I dont feel comfortable in affiliate programs. But the intelligence systems sound interrestign

BevWP:Mark, another thing to consider is the time investment of running your own program

BevWP:Do you have someone in your organization who will monitor for you or are you doing this all yourself?

Mark Nulty:that's another concern i have

BevWP:The first option -doing it yourself - does give you control

BevWP:but then you have to look at the time investment, too

Mark Nulty:we have a person in charge of advanced programming (building cgi scripts, adding modules, etc)

BevWP:and that person will handle those details, then...good

valentijnb:Is a person like that expensive?

BevWP:it all comes down to personal preference and what business model you have

Mark Nulty:and the estimated a gazzillion emails for tech support LOL

BevWP:for me, I don't have the extra time to set up and maintain my own program

BevWP:EXACTLY!

BevWP:I'm just a one-person business and I want to focus more on my main concerns -

Mark Nulty:val, i pay the guy i use $20 an hour. it's part-time money for him.

BevWP:writing, editing, consulting, facilitating

BevWP:so I opted to have someone else handle those details. Each business is different -

valentijnb:not much I think. Can he build you cloaking scripts also? Or personalized tracking scripts?

Mark Nulty:im sure he could if he researched it, but we've never thought about that.

Mark Nulty:my industry doesn't do a lot of code jacking

BevWP:personalized tracking scripts would definitely be helpful, I would think

BevWP:Val, what are you interested in..?

BevWP:okay - any more ??s regarding affiliate programs?

BevWP:I don't get into the search engine positioning or coding, etc

BevWP:Next week's chat will be on competitive intelligence, or CI

BevWP:we will also have a chat shopping carts coming up, too

BevWP:to get a feel for what you want to discuss, what other topics would be helpful in future chats?

BevWP:related to ecommerce, that is

sucram:I dont have any questions, but It have been interesting to chat with you all

BevWP:you might be interested to know we're developing a global ecomm course, too for release this year

sucram:thanks for this time, Im leaving you for now

Mark Nulty:do you consider generating revenue by running paid banners on your site as part of e-commerce?

BevWP:yes, I do

BevWP:anything that helps you do business better over the 'Net is what I consider e-commerce

BevWP:so we could have a chat on banners for an upcoming week

BevWP:A lot of people are down on banners - or have been lately

Mark Nulty:thanks, i'd love to find some alternatives

BevWP:but I believe they are still a viable means

BevWP:do you have banners?

Mark Nulty:yes, we go through Flycast. It's "okay." I'd like to see what the alternatives are

BevWP:If you want, I can schedule next week's chat for banners instead of CI

BevWP:competitive intelligence

BevWP:what other ecomm issues interest you?

Mark Nulty:both would be beneficial. if the other students wouldn't mine, i would prefer banners first

Mark Nulty:those topics pretty much cover it. ci, banners, shopping carts and payment options

BevWP:and customer service/marketing

BevWP:they all integrate with one another

Mark Nulty:that would be great

BevWP:do you read Business 2.0?

BevWP:Some great articles in the last issue regarding e-commerce

Mark Nulty:no, how do i get it?

BevWP:HUGE magazine...go to

BevWP:www.business2.com

BevWP:you can get a free trial issue there

BevWP:thanks for coming today

BevWP:=)

BevWP:I'll tell Robin we'll do banners/CI next week

BevWP:what's a good day/time for you?Same time/day allright?

Mark Nulty:same time./day is fine

BevWP:Let me know what you decide to do re: the affiliate program

BevWP:BevP

Mark Nulty:thanks bev, see you next week. i'll keep you posted on the affiliate program progress

E-Commerce -- Affiliate Programs

Chat Transcript

February 23, 2000

Chat led by Bev Walton-Porter

Academy of Web Specialists