Online marketing is evolving at an astronomical pace and one of the major influences in this change is Twitter, if you have any type of retail business selling absolutely anything and you don’t use Twitter to get the message out there you are seriously missing a significant audience. One of my websites is currently getting 7% of its traffic via twitter thats over 200 targeted visitors a day extra.

The most recent innovation by Twitter is Twitter Lists, and believe me Twitter Lists are awesome. Once people have added your twitter to a list your tweets may potentially appear all over the internet. They will turn up on websites and blogs and there is a great likelihood that they will send you a lot of targeted traffic.

Oh and a little tip (for anyone who could be arsed to read this far down) Twitter Lists make an outstanding addition to your research armoury whether you are a merchant or an affiliate make lists of tweeters in niches you are interested in and bingo instant ideas.

For example I’ve just started a list of UK fashion merchants and fashion bloggers http://twitter.com/#/list/KeithBond/uk-fashion and I expect it to prove to be a useful resource of ideas and another way of getting through bloggers block.

Twitter Lists yet another reason why your company should be on Twitter

I’ve always loved the way Amazon work as an online retailer – They analyse just about every possible part of the user journey, and do everything within their power to not only close a sale, but increase basket size, and leave feedback about the product to help close the sale for future shoppers.

They think of just about every possible user objection, and offer a solution, all on the one page – Wrong colour (here’s the other colours), Wrong size (here’s the other sizes), not what I’m looking for (here’s what you might be looking for based on what other people eventually bought after viewing this page), it might not work (user reviews telling you it does.. or user reviews telling you it DOESN’T, but then a link to a very similar product that has favourable reviews).

I really enjoyed the Conversion Rate Experts session at a4uexpo last month all about increasing the conversion rate of your landing page – The upshot of it was that longer pages (with the RIGHT info, and the RIGHT call to actions) converted 170% better in their example. This caused some disbelief in the room as it goes against everyone’s main thoughts – Those long “letter type” sales pitches don’t work do they? It’s much better to have everything above the fold and get a quick conversion. So as if to ram home the point, the average length of a page at Amazon was put on the big screen, and guess what – it was huuuuuge!

Sure, the main call to action and main info was above the fold, but for those people who need a little (and especially those people who need a LOT) persuasion or reassurance (or even a totally different product), all the information they need is on that one page, and they are able to make an informed buying decision. Well, if it’s good enough for Amazon, then it’s good enough for me!

It got me thinking about how we can use Easy Content Units to display product information in some very different ways on the same page, thus following the CRE and Amazon model of providing all buying options on the one page for a product like the slanket. Again, I present a nice big image of the product, price info and a “buy now” call to action at the top of the page as you would expect. Most of the sales will come from this, but if I can persuade the people who have objections to buy an alternative product, then I can make more from this page, allowing me to spend more promoting it!

So, looking at the objections.. “I don’t want to buy from “Merchant X” – no worries, we can present a list of all the merchants who sell slankets.. “I want a different colour”.. Lets display all the colours.. “I want a smaller one” – Display travel and kids versions.. “I want a bigger one” – show the double slankets!

Now with a little bit of merchant inside knowledge, you could also create an Amazon style “You might also like…” unit of totally different products that people might be interested in – Products that don’t replace the Slanket, but simply increase your basket sizes (and commissions) by complimenting the product well.

If you’re selling a fair few slankets for a merchant, ask them what people who buy slankets also tend to buy.. Then promote those products on the slanket page – Amazon are the kings of doing this as they are able to target this very well, but this is something you can fairly easily replicate yourself with a little merchant knowledge – If people who buy slankets also tend to like Romantic Comedies and slippers, then promote Moccasins and Hugh Grant films on your page – they’re not going to be your biggest sellers, but they stand a good chance of increasing your overall earnings from this one page.

How many ways should you skin the cat? Every way you possibly can! If it’s good enough for Amazon…

Originally written by Lammo.net, a blog all about Affiliate Marketing

How many ways should you skin the cat?

Related posts:

1. Why do we still have crap landing pages?
2. Which came first? The content or the design?
3. Next: More spin than a washing machine

Yesterday Google added an Advanced Filters tool to the content reports allowing users to filter using a number of different parameters. The tool even supports regular expressions.

The filter can be seen at the bottom of the keyword or content reports and allows you to drill down into the information in a much more intuitive way than the previous filtering options allowed, mainly because it’s no longer hidden away in another section.

Below is an example where I drilled down into a keywords report to find all keywords containing the word “car” with an per visit value greater than £8 and a conversion rate higher than 20%.

A top tip is to add a few different keyword sets using the | operator to mean OR. For example “cats|dogs|mice” would match all 3 keywords. If you’ve got a favourite filter post it in the comments.

Not getting the rankings you want? Hire us for Search engine optimisation

Google Analytics adds advanced filters in content reports

This is a question I answered a while ago and then forgot to publish when my parents were here (note to self, use the Wordpress scheduling tool!). Someone needed help making their cake tin site a little more sweet and I was glad to help!

Hi Kirsty,

Am an avid follower of your blog and thought I would drop you a quick message to ask for some feedback on a website that we have. www.caketins.org.uk is the website and I’m looking for your feedback on how well you feel the site works?

We are getting a steady stream of visitors now the site has been live for around 5 months.

Most days we make a sale so I’m just looking for hints and tips on where you think we could improve, especially around increasing conversion?

That is a pretty nice looking site, so well done on putting it together. A sale a day is steady progress as well.

I think there are probably a few more things you could do to polish your offering and improve the performance of the visitors that you are getting as well as attracting in more. I’ll try to create a list here for you to action!

Overall structure of pages – I think this could be better. There’s an awful lot of text floating around and not enough in the way of images that will immediately show your visitors that you have some pretty darned attractive cake tins to sell them.

Calls to action – I think these could be improved dramatically. Get some nice looking graphic buttons or include a big bold link with Shop Now >> or More Info >> If you do use a link, make it bigger and bolder than the surrounding text. People don’t read internet pages properly so you really need to hold their hand when herding them through to the merchant.

Traffic Funnelling – When I clicked on your side menu (which is quite nicely done and visual) I expected to immediately see some more cake tins. However I was instead presented with a series of hard to see text links requiring me to drill down 3 levels. I believe you’re probably still working on this section right now, however I think you’d be hard pressed to keep people’s interest after the first page, so this needs some work. I suggest no more than 2 clicks within the site before you are ushering them on to the merchant.

The actual menu structure you’ve created for your shopping sections makes a lot of sense, so well done there. However I’d add some more unique content to try and get in some additional traffic around these areas. Write at least a couple of hundred words for each section and team them up with the nice images and calls to action mentioned above.

The Home Page – needs to immediately offer some great product options and have a nice strong structure. Create some nice offers and buying options that visitors will immediately see. The homepage should be showing the best selling products that you know a lot of people are interested in buying, or be showcasing top site sections.

Navigation – It would be great if you are able to offer people a shop-like navigation either on your top or one of your side bars. People do look around for these and they can help make your site look a lot more polished.

This post is from: Kirsty's Affiliate Marketing Guide - Affiliate Stuff UK

Ask Kirsty – Please Review My Niche Affiliate Site

Google Local has a different algorithm to the main Google search engine and requires different optimisation methods. The main ranking factors for Google Local include elements such as citations and customer reviews as well as the usual link factors and the expected address and geographical factors.

There has been a lot of talk recently about using tracking numbers for businesses and the concerns are quite valid. If you have 2 phone numbers listed in different places then it’s the same as having 2 domain names showing the same website but a lot harder to fix. Some companies have a geographical number, an 0845 number and several tracking numbers all listed in various places which makes it very hard for Google to accurately measure citations.

Given the vast number of small businesses without a website (~50-55%), or weakly-optimized one (probably an additional 40%), Google Maps and the other local search engines need indicators of relevance and authority that are not based primarily on links. User reviews on major portals like Yelp or Citysearch are obviously key indicators, as is the information that businesses tell the engines directly at the respective Local Business Centers.

But citations are also a critical component of any Local SEO strategy—recall that Local Search Ranking Factors contributors placed them as the #2 most important factor for ranking this year.

What’s a citation? Essentially, just a mention of your business information (your name + address, your name + phone number, or both) somewhere out there on the web—even if it doesn’t contain a link—remember that most businesses don’t have anything to link to! The bottom line is that search engines’ ability to tie a particular phone number to a particular business gives them increased confidence in that business’s information, especially if that information matches what the business owner has entered into the Local Business Center—so they’re more likely to rank it.

Phone numbers may even be seen as a stronger confidence indicator than addresses, as Chris Silver Smith stated eloquently in his interview with Eric Enge last month:
“The phone number has in the past typically been considered something that doesn’t vary as much as some of the other information from all the different business sources.”

The best method we’ve found to fix the issue of multiple numbers is to find all the old phone numbers in existence and search for them on Google before contacting all the directories and websites listing them to correct the data. Time consuming but totally worthwhile.

Not getting the rankings you want? Hire us for Search engine optimisation

Dealing with multiple phone numbers in Google Local

We’ve been doing a lot of work with Google Local recently and have come across a lot of challenges. In the next few weeks we’re going to be covering some of the issues on the blog.

Google allows businesses to add new listings or claim existing listings via the web interface but for businesses with thousands of locations that’s not really possible. Luckily Google offers a bulk upload feature which allows you to upload a spreadsheet of all your locations nice and easily.

The main issue with bulk uploads is that in the past there was no way of verifying the data so it was treated with the same trust as data which Google had scraped from one of the large online business directories and often didn’t show up in the listings. In August Google announced a new feature which allowed people to fill in a form to verify their data based on a declaration and AdWords login.

Generally, the best way to verify that you own a business is by receiving a phone call or postcard with a PIN. However, this process can be difficult if you have many business locations. If you have a minimum of 10 locations, you can submit a bulk upload. Bulk uploaded data is not verified and so may not show up on Google Maps.

To verify a bulk upload, first make sure that it satisfies the following requirements:

• Accurate and up-to-date data
• Full compliance with our Local Business Center Quality Guidelines
• Submitted by the owner of all businesses listed
• All businesses have only been submitted by a single user

You must make sure to update your bulk upload whenever anything changes. We’ll review your account periodically for freshness of data, and listings will become unverified it if we find it doesn’t meet the requirements.If your bulk upload meets all of the requirements above, please fill out the form below. Please note that we will not respond to all requests.

This all sounds great in principle but after we tried the form for a business with 1400 locations we saw the message “Flagged, waiting for content check”. I naturally assumed that Google would check the content and then make the listings live but after waiting 6 weeks it turns out that there isn’t anybody monitoring these listings so it took some manual intervention to get them pushed through.

The moral of this story is that you should always do manual verification where possible but if you have to use a bulk upload it’s very likely to get flagged and require somebody from Google to manually make it live which will take some time.

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Bulk verification in Google Local

Within Mafia Wars you’re able to use “Godfather points” to level up quicker, transferring them into topping up energy or gaining additional skill points – you get a certain amount when you start the game and can buy points using Paypal.

In addition to buying the points, you can also go and complete some CPA offers (taken from Affiliate networks) and depending on the offer and payment from the network, different points are available. So basically a glorified incentive site…

So now you have the background we’ll go onto what has happened in the past few weeks. The Virtual currency community had a conference (Virtual Goods Summit) and Mike Arrington (Techcrunch Owner/Editor) went off at the now ex-ceo of Offerpal – a Virtual currency platform that work with the game developers.

His argument was that “most” of the offers available to the end users to get these points were “scammy” – using an example of a Mobile offer that charges a subscription of $9.99 per month; whilst I’ve never been a fan of mobile offers like this they tend to be heavily regulated these days and do normally display the details of the subscription in the terms and conditions, however these are typically ignored by the end user who is just signing up to get the free points.

The other point example that Arrington uses is Netflix (the US equivalent of Lovefilm) – saying that the quality of the users will be very poor and that they will look to get around their policy of one payout per user.

The Techcrunch article covers off all his points in more detail and is worth a read. You can also see a follow up post by Offerpal which covers off most of the points raised.

Personally I believe that Arrington has raised some good points – but most of them have been raised badly.

Are kids stealing their parents credit cards or mobile phones and signing up for these offers? Perhaps a small amount are, but I wouldn’t think that this is a widescope issue – the wider problem with ringtone style offers is that they are not clear enough about the costs and perhaps the developers (or the aggregators such as Offerpal) should be careful about which merchants that they work with in this sector. Typically these offers are not scams but customers are often stupid and don’t read the terms like they should.

The Netflix example in my mind shows that Arrington doesn’t really understand the Affiliate / CPA market – companies like this are fully aware of what incentive sites are and work with them to ensure that the CPAs that they are offering work for them and are typically very analytical to ensure that this provides them with a positive ROI – Arrington seems to suggest that they don’t de-dupe correctly and states:

Netflix sees an overall lowering of quality and pays less for leads.

I just don’t buy in to that statement above – whilst incentive sites in general may affect over CPA advertisers it’s more the cookies that they are potentially taking rather than lowering the overall payment from them. Whilst I don’t have much knowledge of the Netflix campaign that’s certainly the case with the Lovefilms of the world who understand incentive sites and their customers very well.

So what now?

All said and done the questions that Arrington has asked have indeed started to change the landscape – Facebook (and the game developers) have taken note of the comments and are now enforcing the FB Advertising Guidelines; meaning that a number of the offers have been removed; Gambling clients, Sweepstakes, Mobile offers, etc are no longer able to use this as an advertising channel for them.

It will now be interesting to see if these guidelines are continued to be enforced (as the guidelines have been out there since July 09) as a lot of the offers removed, such as the bingo ones, are big revenue earners for the game developers and companies such as Offerpal.

It’s fair to say that we are now surfing the crest of the first great Twitter wave. Slight tweaks to the interface (the recent introduction of lists) don’t disguise the fact that growth in US user numbers has stalled.

Multi-million dollar deals with Google and Bing, as well as translations (Spanish has just launched), will give the service a shot in the arm but its long-term future is somewhat of a mystery.

Twitter’s development so far has been fueled by users – and developers harnessing its API – not by the company itself. It is these continuing changes in the way it is used that will shape the service’s future and ensure its long-term success. But what are those changes and how will they impact?

Seesmic founder Loic La Meur gazed into his crystal ball this week and gave us some ideas:-

This is my take on the interesting bits from this:-

Mobile

• Mobile will be used more than the web – a huge number of users now tweet using client software and as an increasing number of people acquire smartphones their tiny keyboards will be the beginnings of most posts.

• Geotagging – Smartphones are already feeding this trend and the adoption rate for the latest handsets is ever increasing. Coupled with Google and Bings’ deals, this will make location-based SEO and advertising ever more important.

• Status updates will be everywhere – Hard to disagree with this one as they already part and parcel of so many social networks. Facebook has the biggest chunk of the action at the moment (45 million updates a day) and mobiles with Facebook and Twitter clients will only increase this trend.

• There will be more devices publishing updates than humans (planes, trains, cars all posting updates) – Err… not sure about this one. It would serve a real purpose for public transport but might not replace already well-established services at the moment.

Reputation management and marketing

• Live reviews of any place and product will deeply influence it – This trend will only grow in significance and those companies that don’t monitor Twitter will have no way of mitigating the fall out if a faulty gadget or bad meal is broadcast to the twittersphere.

• Promos by brands and retailers will have big success for last minute deals – Again location has a big part to play in this if we are looking at local, physical shops. It seems inevitable that online retailers will also continue to see the sort of benefits that Dell has through its promotions on twitter, although they have to be selective or will end up just seeming spammy.

• The social graph will also open up – As an open network Twitter is doing a good job of this already, analysing that data however is still a massive challenge. As users do we realise how much data we are exposing? And perhaps more importantly, do brands know what to do with it?

• Twitter as an overview of a brand or person – Twitter is an open network (unless you are one of those perverse people who makes their feed private) meaning anyone will be able to get a snapshot of a person or brand through posts, retweets and links. Consumers will use this to judge whether companies are right for them, and brands will use the data to target consumers.

Search

• Google and Bing will be the dominant ways to search Twitter – Both Google with Social Search, and MSN through a recent redesign of its home page have got the ball rolling on this.

• Google will have its own Twitter and won’t acquire Twitter – This one is interesting and Google’s recent work on Friend Connect, plus the chat features within Gmail and Google Wave could well be different attempts to steal Twitter’s thunder.

Twitter’s business model

• Twitter won’t display ads in your main feed. Other revenue opportunities such as pro accounts for businesses will be enough – Twitter’s ability to open up the social graph of its users will allow the company to continue selling real-time data about its users to search engines, marketers, application developers and social media monitoring services. Anyway Ads would become increasingly useless as fewer and fewer users choose to tweet at twitter.com

It seems these revenue streams coupled with the huge amount of money recently thrown at it by VCs will mean Twitter is here to stay. However, what it evolves into over the coming years is very much in your hands and remains the billion dollar question.

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Future Twitter trends

London Nude Tech 2010 is the idea of Milo Yiannopoulos, former TechCrunch and Telegraph writer and now “mature” Cambridge student. The idea is simple, get 12 ladies and 12 men involved in the London tech scene to pose for a calendar-girls style calendar and sell it for the charity, Take Heart India. As with most things that Milo gets involved in there has been a bit of controversy, but I have to say in this instance I just think it’s a case of some feminists getting their knickers in a knot.

So how can you help?

Well, due to increased printing costs Milo needs to find another £1000 or so just to get the calendars made. So he’s asking for anybody involved in the tech scene to put their hands in their pockets by way of sponsorship. I’ve already donated and so has Frostie. So who else is up for it? This is your ideal chance to get in front of 5000+ techies while at the same time contributing towards a very worthy cause. There has already been a fair bit of press for this project with more to come when the calendar goes on sale, a fantastic opporunity for some PR. Let’s not forget also that for every £37 we raise, we can change a disabled child’s life forever.

Contact Milo directly if you can help, but hurry! milo@yiannopoulos.net

What I’m listening to right now: Bonfire Night Playlist

Post from Kieron's Blog

Supporting London Nude Tech 2010

I don’t usually do blogging without making more than one effort to contact a company, but this time I’m making an exception and I’m making it for Tradedoubler and their dreadful support system. I’m seriously considering indulging in a bit of brand name bidding because I reckon it might well be the only way to get Tradedoubler to actually talk to me in a time period that can be described as “less than an ice age”.

I submitted a support request quite a few days ago. I know they got it because I got a “we have your support request” mail back. I can’t remember how long ago and I can no longer find the mail, but I was already annoyed about it on October 28th when I posted about it on Twitter.

So In The Spirit Of Comparison…

Here is the time it took a recent support request from another network to be responded to.

Affiliate Window:

Ticket Submitted: 27 Oct 2009 23:53
Response: 28 Oct 2009 11:18

Within 3 hours of office hours resuming. Nice one Awin.

But Of Course, Tradedoubler Know All This….

Because people never cease talking about it on forums and blogs, and they have been talking about it for some time. To be fair there has been one time this year (June I think) where a support ticket was answered within 72 hours, which I consider to be adequate. I remember being distinctly surprised by this. I’ll also be honest, this ongoing issue means I only ever contact Tradedoubler when its absolutely unavoidable.

Do I Need To Know The Secret Handshake?

I don’t have any contacts in there I can use (which is the first thing anyone suggests I need) but why should I need a direct line to one of their staff to get a simple request sorted? In this case I need my payment details altering before the next run else I’ll miss out, so I’m feeling moderately aggravated about the whole thing. 

Lets Try This One More Time…

I am now off to re-submit my request. Perhaps they did reply and it got lost somewhere in cyber space, or perhaps my request vanished into the ether quite at random. But is it absolutely out of the question that a multi million pound company might have a communications system that works? Or am I being foolish? Tradedoubler have beautiful offices in the centre of London, a massive client base, and an internation operation. But do they have a support ticket system that works?

Lets leave that one for Tradedoublers newest member of staff to answer….

Computer Says No…..

P.S. Read This Post About Their 2007 Same Day Response Promise.

**edit – I had contact from TD and it transpires that they did respond to my original support ticket (on the first working day they got it) it’s just that I didn’t get it. So they did do what they should have – but alas because they don’t have a support section for me to log into and check on these things, I didn’t know. This is a bit of a shame as the network are probably copping bad PR for “ignored” support queries that they answered promptly and efficiently. I feel TD need to invest in one of these as I think people would see a marked improvement overnight in what is often seen as a poor support service.

This post is from: Kirsty's Affiliate Marketing Guide - Affiliate Stuff UK

Tradedoubler Support? Computer Says No…

And the reason for that is it’s good to be grumpy. According to scientists “being grumpy makes us better at decision-making and less gullible”. So if the scientists are right (and who’d argue with a scientist eh) a grumpy affiliate should be better at picking the right merchants to promote and not be taken in by a boatload of flannel.

So that explains why I wrote planning for affiliate Christmas!

Hmmm…

Talking of grumpy affiliates, Clarke Duncan has helped explain the mysteries of the benefits of Twitter Lists to me in his latest blog – Twitter Lists to Discover Affiliate People. I’m not a listy person and quite like the anarchy Twitter brings, but Clarke’s made a pretty good case for creating them. All I need now is to sit down and start listing.

Doing lists is the in thing this year – next year it’ll be mobile!

There are Twitter Lists, Kieron’s Share My Play Lists (coming next year sharemylistlists) and the inaugural Top 100 Affiliate Marketing Companies List. This interesting survey from the guys behind A4U aims to “provide the industry with an unbiased view on the top Affiliate businesses working across the entire channel”.

If you want to get involved then sign yourself up and let them know how well you’re doing. You can also nominate a “most respected company within the Affiliate Marketing Industry” and “most respected individual within the Affiliate Marketing Industry”. Note the 100AMC is only for affiliates.

I can guarantee you’ll be above us because we’re opting out, at least for the first year. This isn’t a reflection on the concept, I’m sure a lot of people want to know where they rank or more importantly where their peers rank in such list. We did check up with Matt and Chris on a couple of issues first, to get some points qualified, and then discussed things after that. So it’s not a knee jerk reaction but a business decision.

All said and done, our personal reasons for not being on such a list far outweighed those for being on it (had we actually qualified). A bit of grumpy decision making if you like because of a few “what if…” type worries, but sometimes you have to go with those instincts.

Now that last statement may set off a few fireworks – hopefully not – or at least hopefully not as many as those sent to us by the lovely St Minver. Thanks for the prize for being a good affiliate last month – all we need do now is figure out what to safely do with The Armoury (perhaps a cash bonus next time might be good eh? LOL).

Duncan Bannatyne OBE was born in Clydebank, Scotland on the 2nd February 1949. He had a relatively poor upbringing as the 2nd of seven children. At a young age his mother told him she couldn’t afford to buy him a bike, so Duncan asked around the local newsagents to see if he could start a paper round. He was told that to get the job he would need a list of 100 potential customers. He then spent time knocking on doors in the surrounding area, and through his determination, managed to produce the list. He got the job and was able to purchase a bike.

At the age of 15, Duncan decided to leave home to create a new life for himself and so he could see something different. He signed up for 12 years with the Royal Navy to work in a ship’s engine room at RNTE Shotley near Ipswich. Duncan served in the Navy for several years before he threatened to throw an officer off a boat landing jetty in Scotland and received a dishonourable discharge. He says he did this in part as a reaction to this particular officer’s abuse of his position, in part as he was dared by others on the ship to do it, and in part as a way for him to try and get out of the Navy. After this he spent nine months in the Colchester military detention centre before being discharged at the age of 20.

Back in Glasgow at the age of 20, Duncan was penniless and without references or qualifications. At 23, tragedy struck when he lost his sister, Helen, to a suspected brain tumour. The death of his sister saw Duncan go slightly off the rails. He was arrested for being drunk and disorderly and jailed for several days. He still believes to this day that her death was a catalyst in his decision as to how live his life from then on. At that point he became the oldest child in the family overnight and he believes her death made him realise he wanted to make something of himself. After this, he still had no references or qualifications and now had a criminal record. He therefore decided that he wanted to become an entrepreneur.

At the age of 29, Duncan and his first wife moved to Stockton-on-Tees in the north of England from the island of Jersey, as the island represented a difficult business climate for non-locals. At 30 Duncan worked in a bakery when he spotted an opportunity that would change his life forever. To supplement his income whilst he worked in the bakery, Duncan would buy cars from auctions, do them up, and then sell them on. One day he noticed an ice cream van for sale and decided to buy it and start up his own business. He purchased the van for £450, and within 3 years was running a business that used over six vans and was generating annual revenue of approximately £250,000. This roughly worked out at between £30,000 and £60,000 profit each year. After 3 years he sold the business for £28,000.

His next venture was to set up a private care home business, his first development being one of the first brand new purpose built nursing homes in the country. He needed £360,000 to finance this first care home, but at that stage Duncan did not have a financial track record and banks thus refused to lend him any money. He managed to pay the first bill for the new care home from the money he had made by selling the ice cream business. He paid off the second bill by selling his car and loading £30,000 onto three credit cards. To be able to afford to pay the third bill he had to sell his house. Even after he had sold every major asset that he had owned, Duncan still had outstanding debts for the building work of the care home and required extra finance to fund the payments. However, the value placed on this care home was already £600,000, so he returned to the banks. He then decided to remortgage the nursing home, paid off the debts, bought another plot of land, and began building a second care home.

The business then began to expand rapidly, with Duncan not afraid of borrowing money to finance the developments. As soon as one care home was built, he re-mortgaged it and moved on to build the next one. Within three years he owned 9. In 1997, Duncan sold the care home business for over £45 million.

Since then, Duncan has branched into Health Clubs and is now the owner of the popular Bannatyne’s Health Clubs chain. He is the director of Bannatyne Enterprises and oversees an exclusive hotel, bar and casino and, more recently, new housing developments, as well as the Health Clubs chain. In 2006, he acquired 26 Health Club’s from Hilton Hotels, which made Bannatyne’s the largest independent chain of Health Clubs in the UK.

In October 2008, he opened the £12 million Bannatyne Spa Hotel in Hastings. In the 2009 Sunday Times Rich List, his current wealth is estimated to be £320 million. He is also by far the wealthiest of the Dragons in the BBC TV series “Dragon’s Den”.

Originally written by Lammo.net, a blog all about Affiliate Marketing

How Duncan Bannatyne made his fortune

Related posts:

1. How Sir Philip Green made his fortune
2. How Sir Tom Farmer made his fortune
3. How Sir Alan Sugar made his fortune

Well, the parents have left the building and have all returned home safely. We had a fab time and it really was all over way too quick.

As always after a few weeks off, re-starting work will be a completely mammoth task. This time it should be relatively easy for me, I’ve got some accounts stuff I need to catch up on, need to prepare a brief for the guy who writes my content (a great way to feel like you’re getting back in the saddle without really having to do much!!), and need to finalise moving my business here to Australia under a new company name.

Did I say It’d Be Easy?!

Nobody with an aversion to swearing should ask me about the last point on my affiliate to do list. I had to open a GBP account here and was staggered to discover that none of the staff in my local NAB branch had a clue how to pay my cheques in for me. I first had the audacity to try and pay in my cheques on Thursday, but after a seemingly endless wait whilst the teller checked with any staff member she could grab to see if anyone knew what one of these accounts was, called a helpline, printed a form, read the Ts & Cs, etc - I was informed that as I had no ID I couldn’t give them any money. This took us 30 minutes on my parents last day in the country. I think the teller was glad there was some glass separating us because I could have melted it quite easily with the 1000 megawatt glare which I treated her to.

Upon returning today clutching my form (which as an aside would make any beaureaucrat beam with pride), and no less than two forms of idenfication I enjoyed another hour stood in the bank whilst (the same lady as her bad luck would have it) made phone calls and generally admitted she had no clue what the form was on about.

“Oh, it must be a new product.” My poor teller twittered.

“No, NAB have been doing these accounts for at least 2 years. The terms and conditions are dated 1997″ I managed to say (very nearly politely)

“Oh. You’d think they’d have told us”

At this stage the teller beside her leans in with “Nobody here knows how to do that you know. It’s new.”

“Yes, I can tell” I said, winning several awards for diplomacy.

After 2 or 3 more eternities, another call to a helpline, a debate with some other tellers about one or two of the options on the form and what they might mean, she trooped off to the managers office to get him to countersign my application to give them some of my money. After 20 minutes she returned and declared,

“Manger’s never seen one of those forms either. He didn’t have a clue what it was about.”

“Oh how super, you must feel so much better!” I enthused (winning 3 baftas)

So Webgains and Affiliate Window I may well be asking you to reissue some cheques. They’ve probably been sent to Outer Mongolia for all I know. The only silver lining in todays sterling customer service experience was seeing the look on the tellers’ faces when I remarked,

“I’ll be in every month doing this you know.”

“Can’t you get paid electronically?” They gasped.

“NOPE!” I beamed. “See you again later in the month!”

Hopefully that will be the most of the switchover sorted now, it took them no less than a month to even open my account so it’s something I’ll be really glad to see the back of.

I should be firing on all cylinders by the end of the week and getting back into a nice bit of Christmas type fun. Now I (allegedly) have somewhere to store my money, this will actually be worthwhile again!

This post is from: Kirsty's Affiliate Marketing Guide - Affiliate Stuff UK

The Trials and Tribulations Of Returning to Work!

HNHQ Newsletter!

In our Hen Night HQ newsletter we have all the latest news and offers for you, with terrific hen night products at great prices - with everything you could possibly need for a fantastic Hen Party! Have your goodies delivered by special delivery and make sure you beat the current crisis with the Royal Mail strike, receiving your parcels on time - plus it’s free if you spend just £30!

There are lots to choose from, why not take a look at our fabulous selection of Hen night Party Costumes, Hats and Headgear, Badges, Sashes and L-plates, Hen night Accessories, T-shirts and Wedding gifts, not forgetting our gorgeous selection of sexy bridal lingerie - Bridal lingerie!

Express Courier Delivery!

If you are worried about not getting your parcels in time because of the Royal Mail strike, why not use our Express Courier Delivery for £2.95. Better still spend just £30 and we will deliver your parcels by express courier absolutely free! See Delivery!

What’s New!

It’s also worth keeping an eye on our new products; these include hen party costumes, accessories and novelties! Have a look for yourself - What’s New section!

• How about this terrific Sweet Streak Sexy Police Girl Costume - Soft and sexy, this police girl dress comes complete with padded cups, decorative buttons, matching satin belt, cop hat and even a pair of plastic cuffs! A fun and flattering look, great for either out on the town or in the bedroom and only £26.99!
• Who wouldn’t love this stylish Super Sprinkler Heart Table Confetti to decorate their tables with, or even sprinkled in envelopes or gift wrap. Gorgeous gold confetti made up of small, medium and large hearts for just £2.99!
• Ideal for bridal showers or Hen Nights Bridal Shower Large Foil Balloon (18 Inch) - a beautiful pink foil balloon with a wedding dress design on both sides! An extra large balloon that once filled with helium will be sure to impress guests and the bride-to-be, and it’s only £2.99!
• The Doc Johnson White Nights Waterproof Vibrating Pleasure Kit includes 4 of Doc Johnson’s best selling products in one unique kit - classic vibe, a wired egg vibe, pocket rocket and a bottle of massage oil - an ideal sexy gift for blushing sex toy beginners, priced at just £29.99!
• Willy Strobe Light - this will certainly get you noticed! A fun flashing willy strobe light clip that attaches to any item of clothing and can even be used as a bike reflector, but you might get some funny looks - only £4.00!

Hen Party Balloons!

Our best selling Hen Party balloons include Girls Night Out Pink Balloons! - pack of 6 pink Latex Balloons with ‘Girls Night Out’ printed in white on two sides surrounded by girly hearts, lips and martini glasses. At a reduced price of just £2.49!

Hold your balloons in place with a stylish Double Heart Weight - great for a Hen Night but also simple and elegant enough for the Wedding Day! The weight comes in a choice of colours (silver, red and gold) and this best selling product is only £0.99!

Fun Hen Party Helium Latex Balloons - 6 pack of Hen Party L Plate Helium Latex Balloons in dark pink and white with contrasting print design for £2.49! Buy more packs of these best sellers and save on costs with our multibuy savings!

Don’t forget our special delivery service is usually £2.95 - but by spending just £30 you can beat the postal strike and have your parcels delivered free and on time by express courier!

Fab Hen Party T-Shirts!

Our terrific selection of best selling T-shirts are just right for that fun evening out!

Our Best Selling Hen Night T-Shirts are terrific and ideal for a fun evening! We have a great selection to choose from including this stylish cotton T-Shirt Danger! Hen Night In Progress! Bride To Be T-Shirt with a ‘Danger Hen Night In Progress!’ slogan emblazoned on the front as well as a ‘Bride To Be’ graphic across the figure on the danger sign, that lets everyone know you’re on the best Hen Night ever - priced at just £9.99!

Like this No Cocks Allowed T-Shirt which lets ‘em know who’s in charge! Top quality Fruit of the Loom cotton T-Shirt with cheeky ‘No Cocks Allowed’ slogan, just need to decide on style - girl-fit style crew neck or girl-fit round scoop neck, both priced at just £9.99 each!

Why not take a look at the rest of our fab Hen Party T-Shirts - T-shirts!

Drinking Games!

Make sure you don’t miss out on a round with this fun Shot Glass Necklace to drape around the bride-to-be’s neck! Pink plastic beaded necklace with plastic shot glass that reads “Bride to Be on the Loose” and is only £1.59!

Ladies Night Mixed Shot Glass Necklace - a plastic shot glass on a pink beaded necklace. A random design will be chosen for you out of the 6 designs; your design will come from one of the following: funky diva, foxy chick, wild child, boozy floozie, on the prowl and hot stuff! It costs just £1.99!

Deluxe Willy Straws (12 Pack) are fun, use them at home or take them with you on your hen night - 12 straws for £4.99!

Take a look at our video on Hen Night drinking accessories for some great ideas - Hen Night Drinking Accessories

Don’t forget about multibuy savings, available on lots of products, so if you would like to buy more than one item check out our - Multibuy Savings section!

All Time Best Selling Hen Night Products!

These great hen night products are our best sellers, and with such low prices you can see why they are so popular - ideal products to promote!

• Hen Party Warning Bopper - a pink fluffy Hen Party Bopper, these are great as all the world can see you’re out and about with the lucky Bride to be! Plus it’s only £2.49!
• Hen Party Flashing Sash - you’ll be all ready to party when you slip on this great Sash! 6 flashing lights give it an eye-catching effect - just £3.99!
• Red Glitter Heart Boppers - Show your Love is in the Air with these terrific bouncy Heart Boppers - for only £1.99!
• Hen Night Pink Party Whistle - just give a quick blast on this smart Pink Whistle to get the party going - only £1.09!
• Bride To Be Flashing Sash - wear your Bride to be sash with pride! Resplendent with 6 flashing lights - but not a flashy price as this is only £3.99!
• Cowboy Glitter Hat - sure to get heads-a-turnin, a super-spangly glitter Cowboy Hat in a great range of colours - a must have bargain at just £2.29!
• L Plate Table Confetti - super-spangly Confetti, with a mixture of mini L-plates, shiny silver squares and shiny red circles. Just scatter a liberal sprinkling on the tables - a great look for just £1.49!
• Pink Devil Horns with White Fur Trim - go on be a devil in this perfect Hen Party accessory - a devilishly good price at £2.99!

Don’t forget if you would like to make sure you receive your parcels in time and not be affected by the Royal Mail strike, use our Express Courier delivery service. Just spend £30 and we will deliver your parcels by express courier absolutely free!

Other Great Offers!

Multibuy Savings Section!

Check out our Multibuy Savings section! on hen night costumes, accessories and novelties! Helps bring down the price even further, where great savings can be made by just buying more products, so the more products you buy the better the savings! Take advantage of these great offers on and spread your Hen Party budget even further!

Hen Night Dares On Your Mobile Phone!

Receive 10 exciting, embarrassing and naughty-but-nice dares via text message instantly, or schedule your dares for the big night out! - the 21st Century way to embarrass the Bride to Be! You’ll receive 10 dares that cost 25p each - great value! Hen Night Dares On Your Mobile Phone!

Hen Night HQ Party Planner!

Our Party Planner gives you the option of planning a hen party, not only is it absolutely FREE but it’s an easy way to organise a party. So why not go ahead and Plan the party of a lifetime! - Hen Night HQ Party Planner!

If there’s anything at all we can help you with in regards to promoting Hen Night HQ, please don’t hesitate to get in touch as we are here to help: Chrissie at AffiliateProgramAdvice.com

Google has this week been granted a patent for adjusting search rankings based on click data for related queries.

The patent, entitled Rank-adjusted content items, talks about the same types of query refinements we discussed earlier this month in the satisfaction rates post and in previous brand update analysis.

In plain English the patent explains that Google may be counting the number of people who search for “insurance” and then search for “confused.com”. Google can then analyse the queries and determine whether they are statistically significant enough for confused.com to be displayed in the rankings for “insurance”.

Rank-adjusted content items

Abstract
Click logs and query logs are processed to identify statistical search patterns. A search session is compared to the statistical search patterns. Content items responsive to a query of the search session are identified, and a ranking of the content items is adjusted based on the comparison.

Inventors: Datar; Mayur (Santa Clara, CA), Dhamdhere; Kedar (Sunnyvale, CA), Garg; Ashutosh (Sunnyvale, CA)
Assignee: Google Inc. (Mountain View, CA)
Appl. No.: 11/694,268
Filed: March 30, 2007

Content items, e.g., video and/or audio files, web pages for particular subjects, news articles, etc., can be identified by a search engine in response to a query. The query can include one or more search terms, and the search engine can identify and rank the content items based on the search terms in the query. Typically the content items are displayed according to the rank.

The content items, however, are often identified only in response to a particular query, i.e., the search engine may identify and rank content items to independently for each query. For example, for three different queries, the search, engine may return a particular identification and rank of content items for each particular query, regardless of the other queries. In such implementations, a particular content item that may be highly relevant to a user’s current interests may not be identified and/or highly ranked and presented to the user until the user has conducted multiple searches. Additionally, other users may experience similar challenges when searching for content.

SUMMARY

Disclosed herein are systems and methods of identifying content items. In one implementation, click logs and query logs are processed to identify statistical search patterns based on the click logs and query logs. A search session is compared to the statistical search patterns. Content items responsive to a query of the search session are identified, and a ranking of the content items is adjusted based on the comparison.

In another implementation, query paths and content terminuses associated with query paths are identified. Additionally, a context of a search session is identified and a determination of whether the context is related, to one or more of the query paths is made. Content items responsive to a query of the search session are identified based on the determination.

In another implementation, a system includes a mining engine and an adjusting engine. The mining engine mines click logs and query logs to identify query paths and content terminuses associated with the query paths. The adjusting engine adjusts a ranking of content items responsive to a search session query based on the identified query paths and content terminuses.

In one implementation, identification of a context of a search session facilitates the adjusting of a ranking of one or more content items in response to a search session query. The adjustment can, for example, be based on the likelihood that a current user is searching for the rank-adjusted content items because a statistically significant number of prior users that exhibited a similar behavior to the current user selected the rank-adjusted content items.

Not getting the rankings you want? Hire us for Search engine optimisation

Google patent granted: Rank adjustments via click data

For anyone who doesn’t know, Twitter Lists are gradually being rolled out to all Twitter users as we speak - currently about 50% of all Twitter users can see the Lists feature, eventually everybody will after the full roll out. Anyway, Twitter Lists are really simple (like all good ideas), it’s a feature that enables you to keep track of people’s Twitter feeds by splitting out the people you follow into…you guessed it…lists. So lets say you want to keep track of everybody on Twitter involved in Affiliate Marketing then simply create a List called “Affiliate Marketing” or whatever, and add some nice affiliate people into that list. Simple. For some more in-depth explanations click here and here.

For example, when you have the List function enabled this is what you will see:

What this basically means is that 7 people have put me into their Lists. So if we click on the number 7 then it shows you just who and what the lists are called:

From this page you can follow other people’s lists and generally keep tabs on what lists you feature in. As you can imagine this is very interesting. BTW @Cmoz has me in her “onehb” list which I obviously thought meant “one hot boy” but disappointingly the name comes from a lecture at TED, 5000 days of the Web by Kevin Kelly, its 1 Human Brain, meaning the Internet is and ultimate thinking machine. This is where CMoz puts all her brainy, innovators & “smarties”. Clearly I don’t fit in that group but I won’t tell her.

Anyway, the point of my post is that while Twitter Lists is cool I think there is a potential for a community site to be built around it. In the same way that Spotify is a fantastic music app it’s not designed to help you discover new music and playlists, hence I built ShareMyPlaylists.com. The same thing applies here, Twitter Lists can be fantastic resources but the only way you can discover them at the moment is if you are featured in one. So instead of building ShareMyTwitterLists.com (available to register right now btw) I’m writing this blog post to see if anybody else wants a go at it.

Why do I think Twitter Lists will be big? Here’s why…a few Tweets I’ve noticed today:

What does everybody else think? Are we all going to be measured by how many Twitter Lists we are errm listed on?

UPDATE: Literally 20 seconds after I published this post someone tweeted me to show me Listorious.com. Just goes to show how fast things move. Anyway, it looks good, can anybody better it?

What I’m listening to right now: “Kieron’s Electro Vol. 1“

Post from Kieron's Blog

Twitter Lists - big opportunity - ShareMyTwitterLists.com anyone?

PR industry bible PR Week caught up with the debate about Sidewiki this week.

While it isn’t the best idea Google has come up with (the company needs to balance user experience with its business relationships) and is a serious headache for pharmaceutical companies, it isn’t all that bad and some reactions have been over the top.

Sidewiki is a toolbar plug-in that users will have to download to see wiki content on pages. The question remains as to how many will actually bother installing it.

Social Search

You may well have noticed Google Social Search pop into Google Labs this week, or read Patrick’s post highlighting what it means for SEO.

At the moment it is an opt in option that presents relevant search results from social networks you subscribe to in universal search results. Google says:-

With Social Search, you’ll be able to more easily find relevant public content from your social circle, such as the following:

• Websites, blogs, public profiles, and other content linked from your friends’ Google profiles.
• Web content, such as status updates, tweets, and reviews, from social services that your friends have listed in their Google profiles.
• Relevant articles from your Google Reader subscriptions.

For now it is opt in and for those who don’t have a Google account, or aren’t always signed into theirs, it will remain so if it stays in its current form. Even those with a Google account will have to add profiles from other networks to make full use of it.

So although this feature will likely prove more popular than Sidewiki, the user still has to make a conscious effort to activate it.

The Google effect

As Patrick said in his post now is the time for SEOs to look at Social Search’s data points and increase users, subscribers and friends in relevant networks.

One of the best ways of doing that as a company or brand is to look at what you can offer as a whole – now more than ever before is the time to seriously think about creating a social media marketing strategy that will engage a new audience with your brand. SEO is a major reason for you to get involved in social media, but shouldn’t be the only one.

While Social Search and Sidewiki are interesting developments users have to decide to download or configure them, with immediate and universal adoption highly unlikely. In that sense there is still breathing space, but brands now seriously need to think about whether they want to opt in as Google starts to throw its weight behind social media.

Not getting the rankings you want? Hire us for Search engine optimisation

Social search and Sidewiki – not game changing, but the game is changing

LoveHoney Newsletter!

We have all the latest news and some terrific offers for you, including some fab offers ending in October and a terrific affiliate competition with 2 chances to win £100! Plus of course there is free delivery on everything at LoveHoney, including free returns as well! But if you are worried about the postal strike delaying your purchases, make sure your delivery is on time by using our Express Courier!

Beat the Postal Strike - Special Delivery!

To beat the Royal Mail Postal Strike have your order delivered by Express courier for £2.95! Or spend just £30 and receive express delivery free - Delivery!

Christmas Banners and Landing Page!

With Christmas fast approaching we just wanted to let you know that our new Xmas banners have been uploaded and can be found under Christmas 2009! Also the Xmas landing page is up, but it’s still in the process of being tweaked for a more glam look for the oncoming festive season!

Sqweel - Now back in Stock!

Not only is the Sqweel a terrific new product that’s only available at LoveHoney, but it’s a world exclusive too! A sensational new patent-pending sex toy for women (and their partners!) totally unlike any other toy you’ve ever tried! In fact reviewers are raving about the Sqweel! This revolutionary new product is limited stock, and available at an amazingly low special launch price of just £34.99! So don’t miss out on this limited time special offer - but hurry as the special launch offer with free Durex Sensations lube worth £3.99 only lasts until the end of November, so order now!

Plus don’t forget to check out all the new banners for the Sqweel to help promote this great product!

Sqweel Affiliate Competition!

Don’t forget to enter our 2 terrific competitions celebrating the launch of the amazing new Sqweel, which means you’ve got 2 chances to win £100! So from now until 30th November:

• We’ve got a prize draw to win £100 - any affiliate who gets their banners/links up to the new Sqweel product will be eligible to win - just send us a link to the web page where you’re promoting the Sqweel to enter!
• The affiliate with the best overall landing page/link to the Sqweel will win £100 - so go ahead and be creative! But just remember to send us a link to your web page to enter!

Just send your entries for the competitions to Chrissie at AffiliateProgramAdvice.com. The lucky winners will be announced on 1st December - just don’t forget to enter as you have to be in it, to win it!

Halloween - Last Chance!

It’s not too late to order for Halloween, and if you spend just £30 you will receive free Express Courier Delivery! Plus we have some great products for Halloween at LoveHoney, from sexy Halloween costumes to the terrific new Death by Orgasm - a vibe in its very own coffin!

Sexy Halloween Costumes! - from witches and vampires to pirate costumes we have it all - sexy Halloween costumes to fulfil your every fantasy and a lot more you hadn’t even dreamt of! So check out all the great costumes at LoveHoney in our terrific Halloween & Fantasy Costumes section. Like this Fever Horny Devil Costume - A sinfully sexy devil costume from Fever! Smooth to the touch and made of contrasting red and black materials, this sensual set is sure to get you some attention at Halloween, with all its cute little details for just £29.99! Why not take a look at some of our favourite Halloween costumes, as demonstrated by LoveHoney’s Carly Drew in this great Video! We have a terrific selection of scarily sexy costumes that will make this your sexiest ever Halloween!

Death by Orgasm!- our terrific Death by Orgasm mini vibe is brand new for Halloween and it’s our very own invention! This has to be the perfect sexy Halloween gift and a great sexy surprise for you (or your partner). Priced at just £9.99, it’s bound to be a huge Halloween hit! Don’t forget to check out our terrific new Halloween banners because we’ve got everything you need to promote Halloween at LoveHoney!

Offers ending in October - Don’t miss out!

5 Sex Toys For Just £5 Each! - but just for October, so grab them as quickly as you can before the price goes up again - 5 Sex Toys For Just £5 Each!

Philips Warm Sensual Massager! - £20 off in October for the Philips Warm Sensual Massager - but you must be quick to take advantage of this great offer! Soft and subtle, sensual and seductive, the Sensual Massager will get you both in the mood! Plus if you buy the new Philips Warm Sensual Massager during October you get £20 off at LoveHoney, but hurry as there’s not much time left!

Free Supersex gel worth £9.99 when you buy a Tracey Cox Supersex Rabbit Vibrator for just £29.99 in October! A great offer from TV sexpert Tracey Cox and a world exclusive so don’t miss out!

Don’t forget, everything is delivered free, but if you want to make sure of delivery and beat the postal strike go for the Express Courier Delivery for £2.95 or free when you spend just £30!

What’s New!

Sexy Stockings from Leg Avenue! - the perfect way to complete your sexy outfit, and a great selection from Leg Avenue - with prices starting from just £3.99! Sexy Stockings from Leg Avenue!

TENGA Black Flip Hole! - the sensational TENGA Black Flip Hole for men is new to the UK, and even more thrilling than the original - a steal at just £79.99!

Free Supersex Pleasure Wand worth £12.99 when you buy a Supersex Mini Rabbit! - an extra-special offer from TV sexpert Tracey Cox. Get a free Supersex Pleasure Wand worth £12.99 when you buy the Supersex Mini Rabbit for just £15.99! Plus don’t forget, everything is delivered free, but if you want to make sure of delivery and beat the postal strike go for the Express Courier Delivery for £2.95 or free when you spend just £30!

More great offers!

Buy a Sex Toy and get a Free Gift section - Check out the rest of our great offers in this terrific section!

Clearance Sale - It’s worth taking a look at the ongoing LoveHoney sale - Clearance Sale!
Other offers & bargains, include What’s New, Best Sellers, 3 for 2, Deal of the Day - with big savings for one day only and lastly our Multibuy Savings!

Don’t forget, if you need any assistance or there’s anything we can do to help you promote LoveHoney, just let us know at: Chrissie at AffiliateProgramAdvice.com

If you search for “argos voucher codes” or some other combination like “argos promotion code” within Google, my ShopCodes Argos page is either bottom of page one or mid page two but what is striking is that the search engine has chosen to display an Argos video clip integrated into my results listing.

So even on page two, it stands out from the crowd. And if the result were say fourth on page one, those below would probably get ignored as your eye is drawn towards the image.

So merchants start making those videos available as I’ve a feeling a few more affiliates shall take my lead and display them.

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