Offers on Affiliate Venture Group
Once you are accepted as an affiliate, you have full access to over 90 campaigns on network. Offer campaigns range in category, but are mainly targeted towards business, credit and health. AVG also has a few exclusive campaigns of their own, paying in the $42 range for “cash advance / loan” type offers and “trading/investing” program, which pays $395 per sale.

A Preview of Campaign Details, Payout and Creatives Available

To keep AVG in competition with other networks, you will also find offers that other networks run as well, such as “teeth whitening“, “resV” and many “biz opp” offers. Most of these offers are paying out in the $20-$30 range.

Education Offers: AVG has a decent amount of education offers too. If you had any experience in this field, you will know these offers pay out nicely. Many of these offers are paying out in the high $20 range. If you have any type of student/education mailing list, offers like Kaplan, Colorado Tech, Free College Info will do well for you.

AVG Network Platform
Networks are no longer limited to having to create their own custom platform, or simply relying on DirectTrack. AVG runs their network platform off HitPath, which offers an easy to navigate system, while offering full tracking capabilities. HitPath is the backbone for many networks, and runs off an easy to use interface, and provide quick and easy access for setting up API. One thing I’ve noticed with networks using HitPath (and a couple other platforms), is that you have to request an offer before going live with it. This can be annoying when trying to test offers, but keeps the networks and advertisers on their toes about traffic volume and quality running through the network. In most cases, offers are usually approved for promotion within a few hours… or just contact your affiliate manager, and you should be ready do go within minutes.

Above is a quick stats report pulled from the AVG / HitPath platform. As you can see, stats are easy enough to read, but the options are there for full tracking and breaking down stats.

Meet up with the Affiliate Venture Group Team
With so many networks in competition for your business now, it’s so important to have the personal contact. The AVG team is always doing what they can to be where the affiliate action is. From AdTech to LeadsCon to AffiliateSummit, someone from AVG will be in attendance. You can take a look at their events page to see where they will be next.

Affiliate Venture Group may be one of the newer networks, but they have a dedicated affiliate team that wants to work with you. Signup as an affiliate and see if there’s anything you can start making some money with.

Don’t forget to visit www.ZacJohnson.com and comment on new posts! Top Commenters are rewarded with fun prizes every month!

Anxiously, I went to see what his findings were. It wasn’t that surprising after I saw it, but I just hadn’t seen it in action, beyond the fake biz opps being advertised across Twitter on fake accounts. Now, some marketers are getting smart daring enough to try it with dating offers. We’ve all seen the ads on Facebook, and know they convert extremely well because they are shown to you in a “social networking” and “friend” envoirnment. I haven’t seen or heard anything “actualy numbers” on the profitability of offers through Twitter, but sure enough it’s being tested. Here’s what an active search of “online dating” brings up using search.twitter.com.

I pulled this search query right when I started writing this post. Five minutes later, and there are already (64) new tweets coming through on the live search results. Almost all of the urls go to the same dating site/offer, and most of the accounts look automated (api driven). Just do a general “dating” search on twitter for more detailed information.

How are people making money on Twitter?
The concept of making money with Twitter is nothing new, and the majority of marketers already how. If not, it’s quite an easy process.

1.) Create a Twitter Account
2.) Choose an Attractive Looking Avatar
3.) Post tweets with Affiliate URLS
4.) Download/Buy an Auto-Follower Program
5.) Automate the Process to Tweet every few minutes.

The process is easy enough, but how effective and convincing you can be is the question. On several forums you will come across users selling automated account with 20,000+ followers, for only a couple hundred bucks. This was seen a few years back when individuals were building up MySpace accounts and direct messaging all of their “friends”. Run a search at search.twitter.com on “add followers” and you will see the latest programs and sites being pushed around, for adding followers to account.

What are your thoughts on marketing through Twitter, and have you or others seen success promoting “affiliate type” offers?

Don’t forget to visit www.ZacJohnson.com and comment on new posts! Top Commenters are rewarded with fun prizes every month!

This last week I must have had 10 or so people contact me on AIM letting me know that their Google Adwords account was banned.

People were freaking out because all of their revenue was suddenly turned off over night. People who were making hundreds of thousands of dollars, suddenly making nothing, with little opportunity to recover.

We’re not just talking about a, “Oh you can’t run that campaign” type of ban either. We’re talking, “If you create another account with that credit card, home address, ip address you will be banned again” type of banning.

Thankfully, this ban did not affect me but because it happened to a lot of good friends of mine, I wanted to take the time to write exactly what you should do in order to ensure that your account is not banned. I also want to write about some possibilities of things you should do if you are banned from Google Adwords.

Things you should avoid in order to keep your Google Adwords Account Safe!

• Downloading and re-uploading slapped campaigns. - At times, when your campaign gets google slapped (meaning your ads stop showing no matter how high you bid), it can be an easy solution to simply buy a new domain, download your campaign and reupload using a new domain. Viola, new traffic… until your campaign is slapped again. Doing this over and over can get you banned faster than spamming make money online links on wickedfire. If your campaign stops receiving traffic, it’s probably due to the way your landing page / site is structured. Try reviewing ways of fixing your landing page quality score and go from there. Once you have changed your landing page significantly, you can try uploading it again. Here is a guide on downloading and uploading an adwords campaign with changes.
• Stay away from Flogs. - Google literally will hate you if you try to promote a flog on their advertising network. If you don’t know what a flog is, it’s a fake blog testimonial site usually promoting some sort of recurring billing free trial such as a make money online type subscription program. This was one of the main sources of the banning this last week. People who promoted Flogs on Google, even after knowing they should not, were banned and asked never to return. This applied just as much to those spending MILLIONS per year as it did the Joe Schmo spending a hundred bucks a day.
• Stay away from Google Cash Offers, Google Money Tree, etc. - Google recently decided that the affiliate offers that include their name such as Google Money Tree, are no longer ok to promote on their Adwords advertising network. I suppose promoting a product that is essentially using Google’s brand trust to sell is never a good idea to promote through Google. The banning that took place this week also were due to people who promoted the “Make Money Online with Google Cash Offer.” There are about 20 different offers, mostly owned by a few companies and these things are extremely popular. They use Google’s brand recognition (they even had Google’s logo on a few of the landing pages) to sell the idea that someone could make money using a system they’re already familiar with. Stay away from these offers now.
  
• Play by Google’s Rules! - Sometimes you have to just make your methods conform to Google’s rules, even if that means less profit. Part of the make money online job description is learning to conform to the ever changing rule set while still… you know… making money.

What if Your Adwords Account was banned?
Sadly, there is not a whole lot you can do that does not require a whole lot of work.

First, you’ll need to reset your internet modem to acquire a new IP address. Next, you will need a brand new credit card. A spouse or employee card would suffice. Next, you’ll need to sign up for a new account and hope that it works. Lastly, follow the rules above - and keep watching this blog as well as Jonathan Volk’s blog for more tips on how to earn money online.

Don’t forget to visit www.ZacJohnson.com and comment on new posts! Top Commenters are rewarded with fun prizes every month!

Why you should start an affiliate network?
This post is really going to swing in importance for a lot of people… you are either looking to potentially have your own network, or not at all. A few reasons why you would want a network, is because you are currently running a few sites and offers of your own. Instead of brokering them out to affiliate networks, and having to pay a 30% increase on all leads, you could bring all of the offers in house and save money, while building up a valuable network and affiliate base. Another reason why you might want to start a network, is simply because you can do it better. It’s not just about having your own offers, but the ability to get the highest rates, treat your affiliates right and getting them to succeed. Not all networks are created equally… can you do better?

What does the HasOffers Affiliate Network Platform look like?
Honestly, the best way to see this network platform in action, is to see the major network that is using it to generate thousands of leads per month. I previously wrote up a review on Tatto Media, and how awesome everyone was at the company on getting me setup as an affiliate. This whole network is run off the HasOffers platform. Sign up as an affiliate to see full stats tracking, charts, demographics, creatives and everything else within the network. It really is a slick looking setup and the back end management options are amazing for easily running an affiliate network without having to a read through a ton of tutorials. For those interested in training and a run through on how to run the system, these options are also available.

What is going to cost to run my own network?
As mentioned earlier, with many other options, it will cost you an arm and leg to run your own network. HasOffers has an ad network platform that works for almost anyone. The most appealing version is the “Basic”, which is free… but the “Pro” version, at only $99 a month, is where you will look very professional. For anyone just starting out and thinking about starting their own network… but still hesitant, setup a free “basic” version and see how it goes. Once you are ready for the big time, move up to Pro (for your own domain name for the network, and url tracking) or Enterprise, which will cover you for some massive click volume. What’s the difference between the three options? Mainly the size of click traffic you are pushing through the network. will determine the right version and pricing for your network. A full detailed chart is shown below.

Latest Additions to HasOffers Network Platform!
In a continuing effort to make the Hasoffers platform one of the best around, just today they implemented even more improvements to the network, which include:

- New look and feel for the stat reports. Much more user friendly.
- Advertisers have the ability to manage their own offers now
- Option to allow offers to convert multiple times
- Customizable questions for affiliate sign-ups
- Lead caps can now be disabled

With the addition of these latest features, you can better manage any existing and new offers on the network. Everything about the hasoffers platform was built so it’s easily and fully customizable to your current web site and branding. You are not limited to using outside urls, or color schemes that just don’t fit. A full run down of all updates can be found on the news.hasoffers.com site.

HasOffers is Your Network Solution
With internet marketing changing every day and more people are deciding to create their own offers, Hasoffers is the right solution for many people. In the time that I have worked with Hasoffers/Tatto Media, they have been nothing but helpful and always looking for feedback and ways to improve their systems.

Take the time to look over their web site, and be sure to throughly think about if starting a network is right for you. Remember, you don’t need to compete with the big players to start your own network, start out with your own inhouse offers and expand from there. Setup a free account and be live within 10 minutes!

Don’t forget to visit www.ZacJohnson.com and comment on new posts! Top Commenters are rewarded with fun prizes every month!

As grim as the subject may be, you always need to plan for the unexpected. If you haven’t already, here are a few things to think about while planning for the future of your business and financial security of your family if you were no longer around.

Passwords, Logins and Account Details
Personally, I have hundreds of usernames, passwords and urls all stored up in my head. When I see a certain web site layout, it just triggers whatever the password was that I setup for that account. Unfortunately, this would be nearly impossible for anyone else to handle that didn’t set up these account. It’s always a good idea to have a “written” booklet or note pad tucked away somewhere safely that contains all of the useful information to access your accounts. Whether it’s your affiliate accounts, banking records or billings… you don’t want to leave all of this information lost when your time comes.

Short Term vs. Long Term Business
Is your business model changing every week, or something that will make residual income for months with little maintenance? Even if you are generating almost all of your income from ppc marketing, this is an amazing skill to have, and once you are gone… your successful business is likely to follow. On the flip side, if you have a high traffic site, established brand or recurring income… all of these can still remain in tact and providing financial security for your family later on. Whether your business plan is short term, or has the potential to last for years… you need a backup plan to either have it bundled up and sold, or a way for someone to come in an maintain what you have started.

Recurring Billing, Ad Costs and Domains
Once again, this area can fall under having a document of all accounts and passwords. There is so much to think about when looking at our businesses as a whole. When are your domains expiring, are you pre-paid on hosting or paying monthly… what recurring charges are on your credit card that you will get billed for if they are used of not. This continuing list is a huge factor in whether your business will succeed if you are gone.

Business Model: What is it?
The most important factor to the success of your business, is your business model. It’s hard enough for us to explain to the “average person” what we do and how to make money… imagine being left with everything we started, and no idea where to start! When you are no longer the business, can someone step in and continue what you started? Should you have a “foster” entrepreneur to manage the business in your absence?

This is just the tip of the iceberg on what can be a massive list for some “one man” operations. The bottom line is… is your business model ready for the unthinkable and will it live on past your life time?

Don’t forget to visit www.ZacJohnson.com and comment on new posts! Top Commenters are rewarded with fun prizes every month!

Visions of Success: Where do you fall in?

The same “vision of success” hold true when applying these principles to make money. One of the biggest frustrations for new comers to internet marketing, is to see a success story of someone making thousands of dollars per day/month. Right away you want to experience the same. We get excited and inspired in the beginning, but don’t obtain our expected goal. As time passes, many get frustrated and give up. The only reason why these success stories exist, is because every one of these stories had another story behind them… which is the massive time and dedication it took to get to that level.

Are you heading towards your definition of  “success“, or finding yourself falling behind. If so, don’t get discouraged. If you’re already on your way… keep owning it up!

Don’t forget to visit www.ZacJohnson.com and comment on new posts! Top Commenters are rewarded with fun prizes every month!

You might be wondering how much a quality plugin like this costs? You’ll be happy to discover that it’s free! Not only is WP Touch extremely simple to setup, but it also offers a decent amount of admin and display options for your wordpress site and how it will appear on cell phone browsers. There is even an option to add Google Adsense in between posts, just add your account id in the admin area.

Images, comments, video and everything will still appear on the post pages. For anyone who likes to visit the original version of the blog, you simply scroll to the bottom of the page and click “OFF” on the “Mobile Theme” option.

If you have an iPhone or Android, take a moment and pull up ZacJohnson.com and see the plugin in action. I’m still playing around with the options, but do leave any feedback or suggestions you may have.

Whenever I come across a new training program that looks half way decent, I give it a try. I want to see what people are selling, and if they are actually teaching anything. In most cases, the program consist of a couple ebooks, a members area and maybe a case study if you are lucky. What’s cool about The Winners Circle, is you have full access to a members area, forum, interviews… and most importantly, CASE STUDIES. What separates The Winning Circle from other programs, is Gyutae’s consistency to add new information. A new case study is available to members each and every week.

The “case studies” are what I really like about this program. Think about the possible ROI you can see from being a member of The Winners Circle. Just come across one concept or case study, give it your own twist, then you could have a new source of recurring income in no time. It’s hard enough to start a new business or web site from scratch, and make it profitable, but with actual and proven case studies… it will make your time and efforts that much more successful.

Gyutae’s “ZERO RISK” Offer
This ain’t no a acai berry weight loss offer! Unlike other sites, where you NEVER hear from the company and keep getting rebilled forever, The Winning Circle really does come with a 30 day free trial. Gyutae has been making money in this internet game for a while, and he wants you enjoy his program and wants you to succeed. Give The Winning Circle a test run for only $27 a month ($20 off to first 200 members!). If you don’t enjoy the program, can’t find a way to make money… or even just to drop him a note on what you think of it, contact Gyutae now!

Join The Winners Circle

Don’t forget to visit www.ZacJohnson.com and comment on new posts! Top Commenters are rewarded with fun prizes every month!

We would like to thank Zac for addressing this ever- increasing concern within the affiliate marketing industry, that is flogs and re-bill offers. Clickbooth was the first network to release a set of guidelines addressing both blog and review style sites back in April. The fear among many affiliates is that as flogs start to disappear, so will the big commission checks that many have become accustomed to. I’m here to tell you that it doesn’t have to be this way, in fact, the large majority of top publishers have already begun testing several different methods and so far, so good. With all the bad publicity generated by flogs, these new and improved methods have been a breath of fresh air for consumers looking to purchase products online. This is a fixable problem and we are here to offer suggestions on alternative methods of promotion, all 100% compliant.

Blogs

All you ever hear is what not to include in your blog, but when is the last time you’ve heard someone say “This is the right way,” the way that will not harm conversions and will be 100% compliant?  Let’s start from the top and take a look at some subtle changes that will turn your flog into a blog.

* Tell a real story! Many networks are willing to give free trials to their publishers so they have the ability to test the product and get a better understanding of how it works.  Having a friend or family member test the product is an ideal way of evaluating how effective it really is. After all, do you really want to promote a product that you wouldn’t recommend to a friend?

* If your site’s sole purpose is to advertise affiliate products, it is a good idea to add a label at the top of the landing page identifying the site as an advertisement.  However, if the page includes added value and non-promotional material, such as factual information or the history of the product, then the advertisement label is no longer necessary.

* Disclose that the name and photos used on the blog are not you, the owner of the page.  You can add this information in the disclaimers section of your site. This is a simple change that will have no impact on conversions, but will make the page more compliant.

* Do not make outrageous claims about “losing 50 pounds in a month” or “turning your teeth 9 shades whiter in two weeks,” when chances are, that this kind of improvement (in such a short period of time) is close to impossible.  Instead, use an actual testimonial of someone who has lost x amount of weight, or turned their teeth x shades whiter.

Doing this will not only make your page and story more legit, but it will also give the consumer an better idea of what to expect.

Review Site

* Another method of promotion is the review site.  The idea here is to compare several similar products and offer the consumer a look into the pros and cons of each.  Many of the same principles that apply for blogs, also apply for review sites.

* Again, contact your affiliate strategist to get samples of the products you are reviewing, so that you can conduct a real review.

* Be sure to place asterisks next to product names directing the consumers back to the proper disclaimer.

* Make legitimate, realistic claims about the results a prospective buyer can expect to see.

* Steer clear of claims saying you have done scientific research or are an expert in the field, unless you are. Instead, give an honest review of your experience with the product.

* Be sure to disclose relevant details of the review and testing process, thus giving the consumer the confidence that each product was tested under the same conditions.

Informational Site

* This is a concept that has gained considerable momentum over the past few weeks.  In an ever-changing industry, it’s extremely important to stay on top of the new trends and this is definitely one of them.

* Informational sites are purely factual, which means they should only contain solid facts that can be backed up.

* With informational sites, you want to increase the customers understanding of the product. Giving all relevant information, such as where the product came from, the ingredients, and a description of the effects, are all great ways of doing this.

* Give as much background info on the product as possible.  When did it come to the market?  What are it’s origins?  What else can it be used for?  Any additional information will help to differentiate you from the crowd.

* With so many consumers losing confidence in the flog style of marketing, it will be a site like this (full of facts and honest information) that will help restore that confidence.

Making these changes will not only make your page and story more legit, but it will also give the consumer an honest idea of what to expect.  Affiliates who are quick to make the necessary adjustments will be the ones who walk away with a smile on their face and huge commission checks in their pockets.

Please contact us if you would like us to review your site, or if you have any questions regarding the best compliance standards. We can be reached via email at publishers@clickbooth.com and would be happy to offer advice on how to make your page 100% complaint.

Don’t forget to visit www.ZacJohnson.com and comment on new posts! Top Commenters are rewarded with fun prizes every month!

1.) You Can Get Away with Murder… but for how long?
Who would have thought you could promote a product endorsed by Oprah, Rachel Ray and Dr. Oz, without them ever knowing, granting permission or even having to pay for their picture use? It’s amazing, but it’s been going on strong for well over a year now on the flog scene. It all started with Oprah and Dr. Oz talking about the benefits of Acai on the Oprah show. Now clips and snippets from the show appear on blogs, making it look like these mentions actually endorse the products. To bring things to an even higher extreme, celebrities have actually been used in the ad copy for pushing these products. The result? Killer click through rates and conversions! The question is, how long will this last, and will action ever be taken? The value behind using these celebrities pictures and “fake” endorsements is priceless, and has played a big part in the massive growth and conversions on these offers.

2.) CPM & CPV Gets a Boost
Buying advertisement space on a pay per view basis has been around forever, but now that affiliates have created flogs which target to almost everyone, traffic can be purchased on a mass scale and will actually convert. There is a reason why you are seeing a million banner ads across nearly every ad serving site, they are making money! The media company is selling a massive amount of traffic/views, and the affiliates are cashing in. With the high conversions ans ROI affiliates are seeing from flogs, they can continually pay for a lot of traffic in advance, and in most cases, pay more than other advertisers.

3.) Everyone Loves a Success Story
You may ask why flogs are doing as well as they are. Simply put, everyone loves a success story and wishes they could experience the same. Flogs are mainly for weight loss and biz opp offers. Everyone wants to lose weight and make more money. Once a visitor comes across a convincing blog which tells how a single mom with 4 kids was able to lose 30 lbs in just a few months, just by taking some magic acai pills… who wouldn’t want that same success. Once everyone realized the weight loss flogs worked, the change to biz opp offers took place, and with perfect timing as well. Biz opp flogs are doing better than ever because we are in a tough economic time and everyone is looking to make some new money.

4.) Credit Card Rebills & Trust
With thousands of people signing up for grants, weight loss and biz opp offers daily, it’s just a reminder of how much people want to attain their dream (whatever the landing page is pushing). Even more though, is how willing customers are to use their credit cards online as well. There are two sides to customers now using a credit card online for a flog targeted purchase. First, with all of the news now covering flogs and the rebills, it’s potentially scaring people to use their CC online again (though I think it’s a very small amount). On a positive note, this has also taught us how willingly customers will purchase (or try) your product by submitting their credit card. If you can create a legitimate and wanted business product/model, you know the system works.

5.) Are Affiliate Protected by Networks
The flog business is a sleazy one, and every one knows that. It’s not just about the flogs being fake, but it’s also because of the nasty re-bills and how hard it is to cancel these payment subscriptions from your cards. With the nasty taste these offers leave in the customer’s mouth, it leads to complaints and more attention by the FTC and state attorney generals. But who is to blame? Is it the advertiser’s fault, the affiliate network, or the affiliate? In almost all cases, the testimonials, content and pictures are fake…. which are usually put together by the affiliate. On the other side, you have many networks turning their heads and not looking at how leads are being generated (but they really know). As long as the affiliates are protected by the affiliate network, the flog game will be around for a while. Affiliates use affiliate networks not only as a middle man, but also a security blanket for payments and direct contact.

6.) State Attorney Generals & the FTC
The FTC and attorney generals from multiple states are starting to crack down on flogs and going after the people who are running them. In most cases, the affiliate network will protect their affiliates, until it becomes a legal matter or are subpoenaed. However, in recent news, a few affiliates that were promoting acai related offers through flogs have been subpoenaed. With the FTC and state attorney generals coming into the pictures, and affiliates directly being contacted… it’s getting quite serious.

7.) Obama Grants
Action can be taken fast, when it’s important enough. Remember how a billion “Obama / Stimulus / Government Grants” offers quickly flooded the internet and were shown everywhere (especially on Facebook). These were the most convincing and attention grabbing of all. Obama was just placed into office, and everyone wanted part of their stimulus check. Unfortunately for them, it was just another flog/re-bill offer. The White House quickly got involved and we no longer see the Obama creatives and offers that we did. Will we ever see the same type of enforcement for Oprah and Rachel Ray?

8.) The Nasty Side of ReBill Offers
I’m sure there is are only a handful of affiliates that run flogs, that have actually went through the signup process, and tried to cancel their billing subscription. Luckily for us, we don’t have to. We have enough customer complaint stories to see how customers are billed just after a few days of requesting their free trials, and the complexity (impossible?) of canceling these re-occurring charges. If these re-bills weren’t so hard to cancel, we might not be seeing the extreme action which is starting to take place against these types of offers… but, if that was the case, they would also not be paying $40+ per signup. The advertiser knows they can make money on almost every signup after the $1.95 shipping charge for the free trial payment.

9.) Flog Monetization
Probably one of the most beneficial aspects of the flogging craze, is to see how everyone has been marketing them and how they evolve. The first few flogs were simple pages with a short story and a picture. Now flogs are loaded up with fake testimonials, comments with more fake pictures, fake endorsements from Oprah and Dr. Oz, and now some even with the person talking when you get to the site, telling you their full story. The transition is being made again from personal flogs, to news flogs. The more convincing the flog, the better the conversions. If you continually visit the flogs being advertised all over, you will be amazed at how much they are continually being monetized and improved. Weight loss blogs focus on weight loss stories and pictures, while biz opp flogs focus on check photos, and how the program has worked for other and show their checks in the comments section. (screenshots by DM)

10.) Are Flogs Ethical?
The last lessons learned isn’t so much a lesson, but how you look at the whole flog situation. The majority of people don’t like the idea behind flogs, and think they are misleading the buyer and giving affiliate marketing a bad name. Of course they are misleading, but on the same note, it falls upon the customer to do their research on what they are ordering (t&c). Are flogs any more misleading and unethical than late night infomercials that push get rich quick schemes, weight loss pills and government money programs? The internet is still the wild west, and no matter how legit or unethical a process is, people are still going to find new ways to make money. Ethical or not, the flog and rebill business is the latest web explosion.

Whar are your thoughts on the flogging scene? Will there ever be regulation, how many affiliates will be subpoened, and will any networks release their affiliates information on this matter? Only time will tell… but that time seems to be getting closer daily.

Don’t forget to visit www.ZacJohnson.com and comment on new posts! Top Commenters are rewarded with fun prizes every month!