Dear AzoogleAds,

You are a sexy network with brains to boot, but lately I've been craving something more. You see, while your affiliate managers, lead tracking and offers in general are second to none, there is something that is lacking: your interface.

I know, I know ... I said you were perfect just the way you are and asked you to never change, but I lied. I was just trying to get into your pants ... offers. Now that we've grown closer, I feel we can be more honest with each other. So here it is.

For starters, let's talk about your offer interface. I can sort by everything I don't care about, but what about the things I do care about?

Look, if I'm mistaken, I'll gladly apologize but I don't think I'm out of line asking for three measly sorts on the things that matter most to me.

Next? Reports. You have so many amazing reports but to see them, I have to wait until they show up in my email-

And what about your beautiful Toolbar? Once you started giving me the money, I was able to buy a fancy new Mac. Look at where that got me:

Requirements? Windows XP? Where's the love?

Look, no one is perfect. Not me. Not you. But let's get past this little bump. Relationships are about compromise. I'm ready, are you?

Sincerely yours,

Scott

Popularity: 13% [?]

How are those fads treating you, anyway?

Lately, I've been hearing people complaining about the saturated markets for the hot sellers, the latest of which is the Acai Berry. The list is long and includes things like Ringtones, Acne cures, the Dating niche and any other fad market you can think of.

What's funny about this complaining is that there's nothing special about the Acai fad; it's really just another weight loss solution on a long list of "solutions." There will be another fad and another fad will come after that. Affiliates like you and I will flock to it and try to get a piece of the pie before the fad dries up and people will complain that the market is much too saturated.

To all you complainers, here's a little secret: no market is ever saturated, angles are.

What that means is that the only thing that gets too expensive to compete in is the actual advertising method used to sell product X. If that means PPC, that doesn't mean trying organic won't work. If that means organic is saturated, what about e-mail marketing? If e-mail is saturated, try Craigslist. If Craigslist is saturated, try classified ads in your local newspaper. If that's saturated, get creative. Not even I'm above taking my bike out at 2AM to post flyers. But then, that's the difference between wankers and the people actually making money: action.

Popularity: 13% [?]

I've had over 500 RSS subscribers for quite some time now. While that might seem like a big number to some, I have a feeling most of it's fluff because if it's true, only a few of you visit regularly and fewer still ever comment.

So if you're out there, I'm interested to hear what you have to say.

As an affiliate, what tools do you use to make your life easier?

Popularity: 13% [?]

Just wanted to wish all of you a merry Xmas and happy holidays. Also, this dog is awesome.

Popularity: 12% [?]

Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

Has anyone said something so obvious to you that you'd just overlooked and took for granted? Every chapter in Outliers felt that way for me, and in a good way. The stories of success from people like Bill Gates to Gladwell himself are quite obviously not just stories of amazing genius just by themselves. In our world, success is smarts, persistence and who you know.

In the book, Gladwell points out that you've heard of people like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and even the CEO of Google but do you know the name of the smartest man in the world? Not many people do and that's because genius alone does not make someone a true success.

The stories alone are worth reading, so I won't ruin those for you but I will say this: I'm giving this out to several people this Christmas as a gift because I think the book is just that good. If nothing else, it's an amazing look at how people can use their situations to their advantage and tip fate to their advantage.

Here's a recent interview of Gladwell on the book-

Popularity: 9% [?]

NOM!!!

You are a marketer, a salesman. In the world of sales, those who know their product best usually know why other people want to buy it. They can easily relate to their customer base. It's a simple matter of sympathy that goes deeper than - I think this is how they might feel.

Chubs the hamster can probably whip up a pretty kick-ass sales page for dieting hamsters because he's been through the ups, the downs, the binges and crash diets. Now Christmas is in the air and Chubs can't help but indulge in some delicious holiday treats, but he can also use that shameful indulgence as fuel for the fire.

Put simply, in deference to you, Kent, it's like lasing a stick of dynamite¹. Okay, maybe not like lasing a stick of dynamite but the point is that knowing is half the battle. Here's why:

1. As previously stated, if you've been through it, you know it
2. The emotions that go with it fuel your ambition to tell other people

As you might have guessed by now, I'm not targeting this directly at fat people. It applies to any person who has a characteristic that society deems "bad." People who have gone through the trauma of teenage acne, profuse sweating, hair loss, STDs, etc. have the kind of experience that goes a long way in selling other people. It's sad, but it's true.

However, what I've found to be even more valuable is actually having your own story -- preferably photo documented. You are the best person you could hire for this type of thing. For one thing, it's free and for another, you have no reason to lie. So if you're a little over weight (or even tremendously overweight), do yourself a favor and get yourself on the track to health and document the entire process. If you've got acne, stretch marks, baldness, whatever -- take some before, during and after pictures.

Shoot, you can even make a blog about it and people will eat it up (heh). Once you hit your goal, you've got a product with photos, a testimony and results. Now you're happy, more confident and you can better relate to your target audience.

And once you've got your product, if you want, you can go back to your old ways just like Chubs did. Poor bastard.

1. If you got this reference, you are bad ass.

Popularity: 8% [?]

Anyone who was browsing the site earlier today was rudely interrupted by an unfortunate upgrade error on Wordpress.

See, I was trying to upgrade to the hot new Wordpress 2.7 but the account didn't have the quota, so everything got botched in the process. So I just wanted to let you know that it's fixed, I apologize for the wait but everything is back and functioning better than ever.

Best,

Scott

Popularity: 7% [?]

[Video Removed]

This is Joel from JoelComm.com giving all the n00bs a decent beginner's explanation of what Affiliate Marketing is. I randomly came across it and liked what he had to say, so I thought I'd show all you fine people.

--- Edit --

Sorry guys, this DB took the video down.

Popularity: 7% [?]

Ever since I got Netflix, I've been watching a lot of movies while I work. Hands down, my favorite so far is American Gangster. I'm going to watch it one more time before I send it back.

American Gangster

The movie is based on a true story where, basically, the premise is that Frank Lucas figures out how to cut out all the middle men (that would be us in an analogy) in his drug-pushing business and a team of detectives is trying to take down the drug bosses. Great premise, even better execution by the actors (if you don't want to bother with Netflix, click the image to buy it on Amazon).

Now as for how I thought it applied to you and me -- a few parts in the movie stuck out for me. Number one was this little dialogue:

Frank Lucas: What is that you got on?
Huey Lucas: What? This?
Frank Lucas: Yeah, that.
Huey Lucas: This is a very, very, very nice suit.
Frank Lucas: That's a very, very, very nice suit, huh?
Huey Lucas: Yeah.
Frank Lucas: That's a clown suit. That's a costume, with a big sign on it that says "Arrest me". You understand? You're too loud, you're making too much noise. Listen to me, the loudest one in the room is the weakest one in the room.

If there's one thing you'll learn as you make more and more money, it's that Frank was exactly right. The more money you make, and the more powerful you become, the quieter you'll be. You can always tell new money and the big fish apart, just by the way they advertise themselves. I know because I'm guilty of that very sin but I am deliberately quiet now.

For one thing, no one really cares much beyond "wow, that's a lot of money" before they go on about their day and for another thing, flashy people attract leeches and nosy people. Two words: lotto winners. These days, the smart lotto winners pay millions just to keep their name private. Stupid lotto winners end up broke again.

I think you get the point. Besides, there are better ways to garner publicity.

The second line in the movie that I liked was this one:

Chinese General: It's not in my best interest to say this Frank, but quitting while you're ahead, is not the same as quitting.

If only we were smart enough at all times to live by those words. I've been there countless times. I'm sure you have as well. Many a dollar in profit has been lost to prideful ad spending. In other words, if you observing trends in your clicks-per-lead (CPL) and adjusting your advertising accordingly, you are losing money. Affiliate marketing is an art and you must develop it just like a skill.

Part of that skill is knowing when to hold and when to fold.

Aside from that, if you haven't seen American Gangster, go rent or buy the DVD and watch it right now. You won't be sorry.

Popularity: 5% [?]

Click the image to Download Ringtones

Have you ever noticed the odd things your sites get ranked for? I sure have.

Most oddly, my most common have to do with Marla Singer from Fight Club, Ringaza, Sales Speeches and random things related to Incentaclick. Sure, they get indexed for numerous reasons -- people like them, no one else cares to dominate for the terms, etc. -- but part of the beauty of this sort of thing is that it's almost transparent.

If I watch from A (posting) to Z (referring clicks from the related search), I can analyze the patterns that led from one to the other. In fact, this post itself is a test in doing just that. I'm trying to see if I can get the post ranked for any related terms -- Verizon Ringtones, Download Ringtones, Sprint Ringtones, Cingular Ringtones -- you name it.

Then, and only then, will this phenomenon become useful to both you and I. That's partly why I want to do it publicly, to see once and for all whether a simple link here and there will generate not just traffic, but targeted traffic on an authoritative blog.

It's taken some time, but I am finally beginning to rank for organic terms and have them convert into actual leads/sales. It's about three (3) per week but I'm not paying for them, so it's all gravy at that point. This post is an extension of that experiment.

Popularity: 6% [?]