HOW TO MAKE THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS IN TWO DAYS

Using affiliate programs to generate fast cash without selling a thing

An Armchair Webmaster™ report by Ty Belknap

This version of the ebook How To Make Thousands of Dollars In Two Days is free to read and study. Copying the information is, of course, illegal without written permission. You can purchase a downloadable Adobe Acrobat version of this ebook so you can read it at your leisure, without having to be connected to the Internet and without ads by clicking here.
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Page 3 - Your Worst Fears May Be True

Table of Contents

Not All Programs Are Equal
Not All Programs Work
Not All Programs Pay
Watch Out For Bacteria

It is possible to write something out, have it spell checked, make it look good, get it on the Internet, and nobody goes to it. Even worse, you might set up affiliations, see hundreds of people going to you referrals, but nobody buys.

The ultimate could even happen. You may have earned hundreds, even thousands, from a company you refer a lot of people to, only to see the company disappear before they pay you. It happens too much. The anonymity of the Internet allows for the formation and vanishing of companies in days. There are even some companies out there that will simply ignore you when they owe you money. It’s happened to me several times, and it’s very frustrating. Choosing the right company, and the right program, is the cornerstone of effective referrals.

The greater the risk, the greater the possible rewards, and the greater the possibility of not getting paid. There are several tried-and-true programs out there, and I will show those to you. There are also several programs that you may, or may not, be able to successfully integrate into your plan, and I will help you see how those programs work.

Not all programs are equal

Every program out there is different, and each one has different pay-outs. One program may pay you a set amount as soon as the sale is complete (although this is very rare). Most programs pay a percentage of the item purchased within 4-6 months of the purchase

Some programs even have different payment structures depending on the purchase. For instance, Amazon.com has an affiliate program that is simple to set up, and terribly difficult to understand. You get paid a percentage of sales shipped based upon:

• The fee structure you choose
• The item purchased
• Was it sold directly by Amazon.com?
• Was it sold by a 3rd party?
• The type of item purchased (A book? Software? Music?).
• How many items you sold in the quarter.

Read on. I’ll show you how to rate the different programs out there, which programs you MUST have (yes, there are some that are worth having no matter what), and which programs to stay away from.

Not all programs work

Every program offers something different, and not all programs work for every Web site.
Windows Galore (www.windowsgalore.com) is a large Web site with information on:

• Troubleshooting Microsoft Windows
• Windows tips and tricks
• Certification tips and tricks

It is a hugely popular site, with up to 10,000 visitors (and sometimes beyond that) every day. But, there have been several affiliate programs that simply did not work on that site. In fact, one affiliate program in particular did not make one single dollar in six months.

Why?

So why would an affiliate program on a Web site with thousands of people going to it every day fail? How can you not make money? Let’s find out.
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Case Study: Windows Galore –

Windows Galore (www.windowsgalore.com) has been around for over 10 years. As I said before, the Web site brings in around 10,000 visitors (NOT hits) per day. It was the perfect site to set up affiliate programs, or so I thought. Some affiliate programs worked well, while other programs failed miserably.

The problem wasn’t the site, the problem was the designer (me), and it was the oldest delusion in the book; the Get Rich Quick Scheme.

Affiliate programs have been around for quite some time, and one type of program or another has been on Windows Galore since 1994. Most programs failed, but one of the first programs I put onto the site was hugely successful (in my mind). See “Reap what you sow” later on.

One affiliate program in particular did terrible, and it was a lesson hard-learned. Commission Junction is a largely-accepted affiliate program that pays per sale instead of per click (see “picking the right type of program” below), and many people seem to make a lot of money using it. The program is set up so you, as an affiliate, have many (several hundred) advertisers, and several types of ads (text, graphic, different sized banners, etc) to choose from.  They also have several ways of showing the advertising. You can set up “smart settings”, meaning you have a group of ads that will rotate on your site. The setup is actually very simple also.

I joined Commission Junction, and set up smart settings. I had about 10 different types of ad groups, and scattered them around 200 pages. Then I sat back and waited for the money to come in, but it didn’t. In fact, after eight months and several hundred thousand clicks, I made a total of $11.96, and that was two sales to myself the first month! On top of that, even though I was sending something like 20,000 clicks to them every month, since there were no sales for six months, the company charged me $10 for under-performing!

You can guess my reaction. No, Commission Junction is not part of my affiliation program anymore. But, the best lessons are the hardest learned. Was it really the fault of Commission Junction? Looking back, I would say no, it was not their fault. They have a good program, and I know of one person at least that gets 5 figures a year from them.

So, if the failure isn’t the fault of Commission Junction, who’s fault is it? Mine, of course. I made the first big mistake of marketing; I didn’t know my market. I put out ads on pet food, roller skates, success ideas, airline travel, hotel rental, and car rental. Don’t get me wrong, these can be fantastic marketing venues, but the question is… how effective are these ads to a bunch of computer geeks? I should have had ads about the latest software games, new techie manuals, and such.

Know your market. Not all programs work, but it’s not always the program either.

Not all programs pay

Do research on every company you work with. There is nothing more frustrating than sending a bunch of people to an advertiser that won’t pay, so make sure you are dealing with a reputable company. There are quite a few BBS’s (bulletin board systems) out there to check on affiliate companies, so it should be easy to determine who to work with.

Beware the million dollar offer

Beware the deal that looks too good. A program offering 45% commissions might be as good as buying a bridge in Brooklyn. There are also many books and e-books out there that “guarantee” fast money. I won’t say fast money is impossible, but remember, fast isn’t necessarily easy! If you never sleep, and want to work 14-18 hours per day on this, yes, you could get fast money.
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Watch out for bacteria!

I can’t help but smile at the similarities as I sit here bundled up and my cold medicine nearby.
Viruses, parasites, worms, and more are becoming common-place words for computer diseases as much as human diseases. There are two particular types of gutter-slime to be aware of with affiliate programs:
Parasites and Scumware.

Parasites

The dictionary describes a parasite as:
An organism that grows, feeds, and is sheltered on or in a different organism while contributing nothing to the survival of its host.
This definition is perfect for our purposes also.

Some affiliate companies attach a secondary program that either pops up automatically, or tries to download something to your computer.

Basically, you might see a program you want to join, so you put their advertising on your Web site, and suddenly all sorts of ads jump out at your clients that you knew nothing about. Or, worse, stealth programs start getting downloaded to your clients computers so subversive companies can start tracking what they, and you, are doing.

The most popular type of parasite is scumware.

Scumware, spyware and adware

Pirates abound, but you find more of them surfing the Internet these days than sailing the seven seas. They have new weapons, also.

Scumware

Your browser may have scumware or spyware attached without you knowing it.

Scumware is designed to steal from Web site affiliate programs. Web site owners who set up affiliate programs may be frustrated that they are not receiving any referral fees, only to find out that their income has gone into the pockets of thieves who put such software on the browsers of computer owners. Unfortunately, there is no way to verify this is happening.

Example: Let’s say you go to Windows Galore (www.windowsgalore.com) and click on one of the Google or Amazon.com links, but your browser has been infected by scumware that automatically enters the code of whoever put the scumware on your computer. The scumware would enter the code for the scumware source to receive the referral fee, whereas we would not receive any fee at all for that sale.

This software may be installed on your computer when you install freeware, shareware, or even programs purchased through normal channels. In some cases such software is installed on your computer when you simply visit a site.
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Spyware

The dictionary defines spyware as:
Any software that covertly gathers information about a user while he/she navigates the Internet and transmits the information to an individual or company that uses it for marketing or other purposes
Does your computer seem to be running slower than it used to? Does it seem to take forever to download now? Do several people use your computer? Do you seem to be getting very weird messages that pop up on your computer, even when you don’t do anything?

Spyware generally uses cookies (see the definition in resources) that it downloads to your computer so it can track where you go on the Internet and what you do. Spyware companies then sell this information to other companies who send you Spam (see the definition in resources) and other marketing materials you never asked for.

Even if you’re just paranoid that there might be something on your computer you don’t want there, you need a spyware removal program. Luckily, the best one I’ve used is free! See the resource section at the bottom for full information on Lavasoft Ad-Aware.

Adware

Adware can be good. As a publisher of affiliate marketing, you show others adware (the banners and text you put on your site to make money). Unscrupulous advertisers will hide scumware and spyware inside programs that look like normal adware programs.

One such company is Value Click. I do not recommend them, even though I published their ads for years myself. One company they advertise for, in particular, is called Gator (although I believe they changed their name). Gator seems to be the biggest spyware company in the business.

It actually got to the point that I told Value Click I would be forced to stop publishing for them if they didn’t get rid of their spyware programs. Well, they didn’t, so I stopped it. I may be losing $50-$170 per month, but I received complaints from Internet surfers saying they would not go back to my sites because of the spyware, so I dropped it. Note: statistics show a greater number of visitors to the sites since I dropped the spyware

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