It took an afternoon of work, but my latest site is finally live! Gift Observer is a site dedicated to talking about gifts and gift giving. Obviously, there is a lot of marketing I can do with the site concept, but I have even bigger goals than just reviewing things that I am promoting via affiliate links.

The world has enough “quick links to small gifts” sites, so that I not where I’ll be focusing my energy. Instead, I’m focusing on actually being of service to my readers, by finding interesting stuff and creative ideas, and by providing them some real value-added services. Not just same-old-same-old, the site will be growing within a month or so to include a great application I am writing. This app is going to make a big splash in the niche. I’ve never seen a real competitor, though I am sure there will be some in this space sometime this year.

Basically, I’ve launched the blog part of the site before the application part, to make sure that I am well and truly out of the Google Sandbox before next fall. Every little bit of juice will help me hit critical mass with this site!

Technorati Tags: Gift Observer, Gifts

Recently, several of my applications to affiliate programs have been turned down. One of the AMs was kind enough to let me know it was because my site didn’t have a privacy policy. That was a good point, so I quickly slapped one together using the BBB Online recommended Privacy Generator Tool.

Still, I’ve been rejected by a few more since then. I was wondering why, when I came across a great thread at ABestWeb on this very topic. Reading it was fairly painful, actually, since the reasons are so obvious. Affiliate Managers are looking for people who make money, who aren’t sleazy, and who aren’t a giant pain to work with. D’oh! Of course.

I’m not a pain, I think, but I don’t have enough history on CJ to meet some merchants’ standards. They don’t want affiliates who are going to drag down their EPC rates. Of course they don’t, since that is one of the key criteria many affiliates use when selecting programs. My EPC averages $25. That isn’t shabby by any means, but if I am trying to join a program which has an EPC over $100, then my much lower average might be worrisome. I might reasonably be considered to be at risk of bringing down their lofty payout rates.

Solution? Longevity, performance, and a history with good AMs. I’m workin’ on it.

Technorati Tags: Affiliate, Affiliate Manager, CJ, Commision Junction

Making a storefront is usually a time consuming, fiddly process. I like to roll my own with Zen Cart, but many will find this too much work and too prone to consuming entire days and weekends. If you have an Amazon Associate relationship (very easy to set up), you may find that the associate-o-matic software hits the sweet spot for you.

Use it to set up a niche store

You simply install the software on a site, and then use it to create a full-fledged store in your niche. It pulls all data from Amazon, so you just need to pick your sections and do some look-and-feel customization. You don’t have to enter descriptions and prices at all, which saves loads of time. All sales are fulfilled through Amazon, and you get your affiliate cut of all those transactions. Pretty nice for just a bit of configuration work, and a $99 license fee.

Technorati Tags: Amazon, Amazon associate