• Jonathan Miller, CEO
• Nelson Camara, Account Manager
• Kelvin Jonck, Director of Networks

Landing in a white, snow-covered New York, after an 18 hour flight was a most pleasant surprise. The fact that this unexpected gift caused us to miss our connecting flight to Las Vegas, and turned our 24 hour trip into a 33 hour one, was not.

However, it did create a perfect scenario for us to initiate Nelson on this first US trip. The newbie was warned about all the possible scenarios which may have occurred at JFK International airport and everything from trying to check in 50kg of extra luggage, to getting through security with the speed and agility of a mongoose, went smoothly and according to plan. But the second his guard was down, and he left his passport and boarding pass on a café coffee table, we had no choice but to swipe it and stash it in our luggage… and wait.

Finally, our plane to Vegas was ready for us to board it, and Nelson suddenly realized that he had no idea where his credentials were. He ran up and down Terminal 7: searching; scratching through his bag; running his hands through his hair; and sweating, despite the winter chill.
If we weren’t forced to climb on board we would’ve let him sweat it out some more, but it was time to move on and I couldn’t wait to see the expression on his face when handing back his goods. And it was worth it… trust me. The picture below speaks volumes. Enjoy.

After that, it was on to Vegas. To the Summit. Stay tuned.

For anyone who’s ever been to Patong Beach, they would undoubtably have been harrassed by throngs of over-eager (read: “desperate”) salespeople grabbing onto your arms, trying to work out where you come from so that they can rattle off something in your country’s native tongue, or so that they can poorly try to mimic your accent. They’re selling anything from iPod’s, to pirate DVD’s, to tailor-made suits, to replica paintings of Van Gogh.

On the first day, I must admit, I fell victim to a few of them and ended up buying useless stuff which I’ll never use again. I definitely was not going to buy my iPod from a small street vendor. By day three though, I was walking down the same street, with my head down and my earphones blasting tunes into my ears, with the sole purpose of not being accosted by one of these gregarious Thai “spammers”.

The light shone through, though, one night when I was sitting in a little Bob Marley pub in a little-visited corner of the town. It was here that I sat drinking cheap Thai beer and listening to Noi playing his bongo drums. It was here that I got to know all the barmen and they listened to my stories and I their’s. It was here that I got to know the people of Thailand and what they were all about. And it was here that I bought a painting (not very good) for TWICE the price that the street-vendors would’ve sold it to me. Plus, I bought them all a round of drinks.

“You’re a poor consumer”, you might say. But, as far as I’m concerned, they were good salesmen. I knew I was paying more for the product, but I felt that they deserved my business. They worked harder, and they were sincere about it. It was an honour to give them my business. Plus, I will definitely go back there again, the next time I’m in town.

“Nice story, Kelvin, but what does this have to do with us?”

Affiliate Marketing is about sales. We all know that. But, with all the cluttered space out there, how are you going to get heard? How are you going to make contact with your consumers? Blasting them with hundreds of ads, making them louder and brighter than the rest may do wonders for branding, but it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to make a sale. Ever heard of “Banner Blindness”? For an intellectual read on this, go to http://www.internettg.org/newsletter/dec98/banner_blindness.html .

Basically, filling every spot on your site with banners (no matter how visually attractive they are) will not grab and keep their attention.

It’s all about knowing your consumers and offering them a service in an environment that they feel comfortable in.

The economist, Richard Thaler, found in his 1985 “Beer on the Beach” study that a thirsty sunbather would pay $2.65 for a beer delivered from a resort hotel, but only $1.50 for the same beer if it came from a shabby grocery.

The moral of the story here is that it hurts me to see affiliates pasting banners all over their site in a haphazard manner, hoping for a random click here and there. The guys that are really raking in the commissions are the ones who have analysed their traffic, who have provided them with a service (be it investment advice, retail comparisons or an interesting story about their trip to Thailand…). After that they “suggest” – by means of one conspicuous banner, or well-placed text links – which merchant may be able to provide you with what you want. You’ll find, more often than not, that that consumer will be more than happy to buy what you offer them, and will probably come back for more.

Conversion; increased basket size; retention.

Now that is selling.

Just wanted to let you know of an important change to the way we show you your commissions in OfferForge and BlogKits.

Essentially we now differentiate between:

PENDING COMMISSIONS – which are commissions earned but below the payment threshold (set by you).

GENERATED COMMISSIONS – which are commissions earned but not yet paid by advertisers.

CLEARD COMMISSIONS – commissions earned and paid for by the advertisers and cleared for payment with your next payment run.

Log in and check your or look at the sample below:

If you have any questions give me a call or comment away!

Ciao

Kelvin

Please note that the BuyChampagne campaign has ended and that all traffic has been redirected to Netflorist, Digital Planet or IBO bond origination.

As you are running this campaign please log in to change your banners and links if you don’t want to accept the default replacement campaign.

To find a suitable replacement campaign please log into OfferForge SA at http://za.offerforge.com to collect new campaigns.

I think that a number of our Affiliates are unaware of how we and other Networks track sales/leads and because of this they are tempted to run campaigns on other Networks for as little as 1% more in commission.

We track all referrals by means of cookies. A cookie is a small text file that is placed on the users PC when a banner/link is clicked. This cookie identifies the Affiliate so that when the action required (fill in form, make sale etc.) is performed we can allocate the sale/lead to that particular Affiliate.

All cookies have a validity period and after that they expire (read: disappear). For interest sake, in general, the validity period of all OfferForge campaign cookies is 999 days. So for 999 days (if the user still has the cookie on their PC) you will be given credit for the sale/lead.

A good example of this would be Netflorist. Other programs and networks may offer more on their commission per sale, but the cookie may only be valid for 1 day! So if the visitor doesn’t buy the product straight away, you loose that sale! Eina.

When comparing programs running on other Networks ensure you compare not only the payout percentage but also the cookie length. You know that we will always have your best interest at heart and I believe that you have grown to trust that OfferForge will always provide you with the best long term returns.

Why?

Quite simply, because we earn, when you earn. It is in our interest to get the best deal for you!