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MarketingSherpa is seeking nominations for its second annual Email Marketing Awards.

Ten entry categories include: best email newsletter, best email solo blast promotion, best triggered campaign, best opt-in (list growth) campaign, and best business-to-business email marketing.

The deadline for entries is February 16. Get $50 off the regular entry fee with codeEA33.

More info and entry forms are at: http://EmailAwards.MarketingSherpa.com

Winners will be announced at the…

As a writer for Affiliate Classroom, sometimes I get to do those dreaded “other duties as assigned” that you see at the end of most job descriptions. And, I wasn’t too thrilled when I was asked to test some new software.

But I decided to be a trooper and give it a try.

The software was developed by IntelliResponse and has the power to dynamically optimize the return you receive from your AdWords advertising. Hence the name “Dynamic ROI Optimizer.”

AdWords gurus will tell you that when you’re advertising in AdWords, you need to use hundreds of keywords in order to get any results. And, you need to sort all of these keywords into the proper “Campaigns,” and then separate all the keywords into various “Ad Groups.”

After that’s all done, you have a LOT of groups to track, and the keywords can go on for pages and pages. This becomes a problem because it takes a lot of time to click through those pages twice a day (or more), and see what keywords are performing, and whether you have been outbid since the last time you checked in.

Well, it’s not a problem anymore with the Dynamic ROI Optimizer.

This software makes managing even the largest Adwords account quite fun - in fact, you don’t have to manage it at all!

You just automatically import your keywords (no manual re-entry) and then tell the software how much you want to make. You can set it for Pofit Otimization, or to optimize CPA, Profit Margin, or ROI.

Then, the software AUTOMATICALLY raises or lowers your bids to make sure your goals are met.

You don’t have to constantly check in - though you will probably want to at first because it will teach you what you have been doing wrong, if you watch its actions.

Anyway, that’s only one thing the software can do. And, I know some people are paying accountants big money to do this management for them. But now they don’t have to, it can all be done with just a few clicks.

The software has another valuable feature. It will track visitors through your site so you can see EXACTLY - at what step of your process, your visitors either purchase from you, or go elsewhere.

In my test, I found out that a lot of people were signing up for my free newsletter, but very few of them were taking advantage of the ebook offer on the Thank You page (you DO have a offer on your Thank You page, don’t you?). So, I re-wrote this page to make sure people at least moved on to the sales letter for the book.

I could go on and on with my review, but I’ll stop by saying that I’ve never used a software product that was so easy to set up, and gave me such powerful information and profits. You can take a look at a report and screen shots here:

P.S. AC blog readers get a special price plus two EXCLUSIVE bonuses (You can check out the link, but one of them is a Google Slap Friendly Site Builder, and the other has something to do with a Secret Stealth Affiliate Profit Finding Tool.)

Check it out, and see what you think!

Remember the Telephone Game from when you were a kid? Somebody would say a phrase or sentence to one person and that person would pass it on to the next person. The farther it goes, the more the message is distorted. Cute on the playground, not so cute in news reporting.

You see, I published the annual AffStat report on affiliate marketing benchmarks last week. This was followed up by a summary from Internet Retailer.

Everything was fine so far. Then MarketingVOX excerpted and interpreted…

One late night at Affiliate Summit 2007 West, I stopped by the convenience store in Bally’s Las Vegas to pick up some munchies. I picked Fig Newtons and the cashier asked if I was part of the “marketing conference.”

I answered yes and asked why? It seems the folks from the marketing conference were buying Fig Newtons at an unprecedented rate.

Are affiliate marketers more likely than other citizens of the world to eat Fig Newtons? Who cares? But there are a lot of other interesting factoids…

There are lots of facts and figures with respect to affiliate marketing out there this month.

Internet Retailer covered the recently released AffStat 2007 Report of affiliate marketing benchmarks.

The article, “Online marketers using fewer affiliates, report says,” touches on the trend of smaller affiliate programs, as the title suggests.

Lots of other industry numbers are highlighted in the Internet Retailer piece.

Also, Performics commissioned and released some unique comScore…

How do I get started in affiliate marketing without any money?

I don’t mean to dash your dreams, but that’s almost like asking how do I start my car with an empty gas tank. The answer, unfortunately, is that you don’t.

Just like a car, your affiliate business needs some money to fuel it.

You can get started with minimal investment by getting a domain name and shared hosting for your new Web site.

Start up a site on a topic that interests you. Generate unique content with reviews,…

Affiliate posted a photo:

Affiliate Summit co-founders Shawn Collins and MIssy Ward flank keynote speaker Michael Sanchez.

LinkShare has announced the release of some enhancements to their affiliate interface.

Interface Alerts

To keep you updated on the latest news, enhancements, and system alerts, LinkShare has added a new section to the home page of the affiliate interface in the upper left corner. This new section will enable you to quickly see information important to your program. Alerts will be posted by level of importance with red being the most urgent message and yellow being the lowest…

How much does an affiliate marketing agency normally charge to run an affiliate program for a merchant: 15% or 20% of revenue, plus a flat fee?

The rates vary wildly depending on which company and/or affiliate manager is managing the affiliate program.

Outsourced affiliate program managers (OPMs) general charge a flat fee per month, and some also require a percent of the transactions referred by affiliates.

According to the latest data I collected for the AffStat 2007 Report, about 30% of…

I just flew back from the Affiliate Summit and boy are my arms tired! (Sorry, I just had to say that.). Actually my feet are really tired. The Affiliate Classroom had a booth at the event, and I’ve never seen so many people! I overheard one person say that this was the best attendance they had ever seen.

There was a Meet and Greet (cleverly called the Meet Market) late Friday, which was the first networking opportunity of the event. A lot of people attended, and were given a preview of some of the companies that would be exhibiting the next day. Again, I heard people say that at the last Affiliate Summit, this was not a popular event. I guess it pays to try again – even if there is a football game going on!

The Event Hall opened on Monday and lasted through Wednesday. There were a LOT of exhibits to look at – three long rows, with exhibitors on each side. Everyone had something to give away, or something to attract people into their space. I enjoyed the little person dressed up like Elvis, and was more than a little annoyed when I missed the fresh Pretzels that were given away while I was at a seminar

I was surprised to see some very big names staffing their own booths. It’s hard to believe the President of the company would want to stand and talk to people all day, but that’s what I found in some places.

It was a great opportunity to meet some of the people who are making big money in this business, and sneak in a few questions during a discussion.

It was nice that everyone was available and eager to tell you what he or she knew. Even though we had a booth at the event, we were openly greeted by other vendors and freely given their cards, toys and food. I’ve been to some events where the exhibitors think other vendors are just the competition; this was a nice change.

Everyone made the best of the networking opportunities and I’m sure there were a lot of connections made.

There were seminars throughout the entire day. The only thing I didn’t like about them was that there were several going on at the same time, so I had to choose between them. The nice thing though, was that it was very clear whom the seminar was targeted to (Merchants or Affiliates), so I could at least narrow it down to the ones that would be of most benefit. Unfortunately, the big-wigs were not speaking at the seminars, but I guess you can’t have everything.

There were also networking events planned after the exhibits closed. This is nice because it provides something for everyone. If you aren’t an exhibitor, you can go to one of these events and meet other people in a relaxed setting. There are games to play and mixers that require everyone to shuffle around and make the best of the time available.

Overall, I would have to say that the Summit was a success! As an affiliate, I now have a lot of new ideas to add to my web sites. And, as an exhibitor, there are a lot of new merchants and business partner connections that will definitely be useful in future projects.

I can’t wait until the next one in July!