I thought now would be a good time to do some updating around here. My first update is this post, and a new page with long overdue video demonstrations of the software I’ve been using to do the link cloaking and redirection job.

It’s quite amazing, really, and very simple to use. Yet it does so much:

• Five types of redirects
• Categorization for easy filing of links
• Hit counter so you can see which links are performing
• URL Shortening (based on domain name you own)
• Branding of your business or site
• And more

You can see the demo videos I set up here:

Link Cloaking – EasyRedirect Demo Videos

Please watch, and if you enjoy what you see, please leave a comment.

It’s important in affiliate marketing because affiliate ID’s and actual destination pages can be left wide open. This leads to theft of potential commissions, leading to potentially massive loss of hard-earned commission profits. I’ve talked about this before, and recommended products that can help solve the problem.

Now, I’ve released a product that I think can help, too – using WordPress. I’d like to offer it to you for free, so you can try it out and see how it can help you.

Just go to:

http://wplinkhyde.com

and sign up. You’ll get your download immediately. It includes complete written and video instructions. You have nothing to lose – it’s free.

Please comment here if you have any problems or ideas about the plugin.

Microsoft, in its infinite wisdom, has never provided a quick and simple way to do the job of backing up your e-mail program. I might suggest (ahem!) that they do this on purpose – they’d rather you use their online mail service. You see, they don’t make money once you’ve bought your Windows OS. It’s a one-time fee. It includes the e-mail program from which you can retrieve all your e-mail from servers around the internet.

But, if they can convince you to use Hotmail or Windows Live Mail (which is Hotmail), they can make money on advertising from companies who pay for that space in Hotmail or Windows Live Mail (which is Hotmail).

You have an e-mail program built in to whatever version of Windows you’re using. It might be Outlook Express or Windows Mail. If you bought Microsoft Office, then you probably have Outlook.

But e-mail backup is still the same problem. There is no built-in way to do a fast backup of your e-mails, folders, accounts and various settings. Just search YouTube for all the “tutorials” on how to back up Windows e-mails. You’ll find a couple of mine there

One video you won’t find on YouTube is the one below. It’s exclusively for my readers here. Watch it:

The link in the video takes you directly to the order link. I’ve been told that’s the way you do things. But here are a couple of other links you might find useful:

Feature List: See The Full Feature List

Free Trial Download: Download Backup EMail Free Trial

Note: The system is set up so that if you opt for the free trial, you’ll get an e-mail with the download link. The page you’re taken to has a LARGE button that says “Buy…” Click it and you’re free trial download will begin. You don’t have to buy the software unless you want or need to Restore.

I really can’t convey how important this simple software has become. It’s restored my entire Outlook Express e-mail settings three times since I first stumbled on it almost three years ago. I  wouldn’t be caught dead without it!

Most marketers use link cloaking to hide their ugly affiliate links and protect their commissions from thieves, who substitute their own affiliate ID’s into the links and steal the commissions.

Both are strong reasons to use link cloaking or redirection scripts or utilities.

If you use the right kind of script, or software, URL redirects and link cloaking methods can also serve as an excellent way to brand your links, using your own domain name(s) and product description(s). Beyond that, if you use a script or software that resides on your own domain, you can also control the destination URL. This is critical when promoting products through an affiliate network that decides to change link structures.

Think about this.

You promote a product through Commission Junction, Share-A-Sale, Digital River or LinkShare, for example, and they upgrade their system, changing all of the link structures, or perhaps they drop one or more merchants from their program. Suddenly, all of your links don’t work. You’ll have to track down each site where you’ve put your links, and either change or delete them. That could be an impossible task if you have hundreds, or thousands, of those links out there. Do you remember every site you’ve placed links?

Another example might be if you found a better product than the one you’re promoting. Now you have a new link, and you have to replace all the old links with the new one. Same problem as above.

URL Shorteners?

A popular solution that many marketers have taken to is the third-party URL shorteners, such as bit.ly, tinyurl, goo.gl and many others. I’ve used some of them myself in the past. My opinion of these services is summed up in four words: Just Don’t Do It! There are some good reasons why that’s good advice.

For one thing, the shortened URL is not your domain. There goes your branding. Which do you think would do you the most good, tinyurl.com/37u09uf, or yourdomain.com/bestproduct? The second, of course. Then think about the benefits of someone clicking on someone else’s domain name. While you might get the click as far as the affiliate product is concerned, tinyurl, not yourdomain, gets the click as far as the search engines are concerned. Not cool!

While some URL shorteners allow you to log in and change your destination URL’s when called for, many don’t. So once your shortened link, and destination URL are out there, they’re permanent. If the destination URL changes, you’re out of luck.

To add to the problem, many of the best advertising resources on the internet have taken to simply blocking URLs from shortening services. They have too many viruses, dead links, porn and other illegal destination URLs. The major sites for promoting and marketing simply block them entirely. Your links never show up. Period. Even Twitter, which pretty much made bit.ly famous is changing bit.ly links to their own internal shortener, which reveals the destination URL in the browser status bar, so everyone will know where they’re going right off the bat.

All this and I haven’t even mentioned that shortened links from such services LOOK like affiliate links these days. They’ve become so commonly used, they’re a dead giveaway now. You might as well post that long, ugly affiliate link in the first place and save yourself the trouble of using a shortener.

If you’ve guessed that this is all leading up to something, you’re right. You know me by now, and you know that when I find something I believe in, I’ll tell you about it. What I’ve found is a software called Easy Redirect Script. It’s only been available for a few days, and I already think it is the answer to a lot of prayers out there.

Just look at this:

• Installs in seconds on your website. Upload one simple folder.
• Uses yourdomain.com for all redirects. Instant branding and SEO friendliness.
• Several types of redirects and cloaks: Simple, Standard, SEO, Stealth, Prommotion and more.
• Set up categories to save and quickly find links.
• Creates QRCodes for each link – Essential to capture mobile and other non-computer markets.
• Counts clicks so you can compare your clicks with affiliate programs’ stats.
• Keeps affiliate programs honest.
• Control all your links centrally at your own domain.
• Avoid blocking common to other link cloaking services.
• No monthly fees or forced continuity.
• Use on as many domains as you need – further enhances branding.
• Requisite phrase: And much, much more!

You don’t have to buy this software. I’m telling you that because there are other ways to achieve SOME of the above. The link I’m giving you here actually sends you to a replay of a webinar I attended a few days ago, in which these other methods were revealed. I have to tell you, though, that I’ve used those methods too and, while they work, they can end up cluttering your webhosting files with subdomains, subdirectories and dedicated link pages. Yes, they work, but are far less efficient and ultimately unwieldy. I’ve got so many subdirectories and subdomains in my public_html folder, it’s atrocious. I don’t believe that’s the right way to do it anymore.

If you watch the webinar (73 minutes) you’ll learn a few methods and some things I’ve talked about here. The marketer, Jason Fladlien, is crazy, but he knows what he’s talking about. You’ll be entertained and informed, I promise. The redirect codes you might want to use are on the page for you to copy & paste, if you want to use them. But I think you should stick around for the deal. There are no pop-ups, no “One Time Offers,” upsells, downsells or other annoyances. That’s the way I like it.

Here are a couple of link choices for you:

The Webinar Replay

The Sales Page

The link above to the webinar demonstrates some of the features of Easy Redirect that I haven’t had time to make videos about. I highly recommend that you watch it in its entirety. You will be amazed.

Free Viral Twitter Traffic

I don’t do this kind of thing often. I still believe in the old adage, “you get what you pay for.” But once in a while, something is just too good to pass up. If you Twitter, you might find this useful. In keeping with my personal philosophy of Truth In Advertising, I need you to know that there are upgrade options available, each of which will give you more options. But they’re presented up-front, and you don’t have to choose them. It’s up to you.

The video is really cute, actually. It shouldn’t affect your decision, though. Just watch it, or sign up and see what you get.

Just so you’ll know, it’s called ViralTweetBuilder and it can actually work if you use it correctly.