VentStation.com

10 Marketing Books to Read

2012-02-08T07:03:00.001-08:00

10 marketing books for those interested in the subject:

1. Advertising Secrets of the Written Word by Joe Sugarman

2. Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini

3. Cash Copy by Dr. Jeffrey Lant

4. Cashvertising by Drew Eric Whitman

5. Tested Advertising Methods by John Caples

6. Ogilvy on Advertising by David Ogilvy

7. Scientific Advertising by Claude Hopkins

8. The Ultimate Sales Letter by Dan Kennedy

9. How to Write a Good Advertisement by Victor Schwab

10. Breakthrough Advertising by Eugene Schwartz

21 WordPress Plugins for Internet Marketing

2012-01-19T05:18:00.001-08:00

Here's a blog post giving 21 WordPress Plugins useful for internet marketing.

New Visa eWallet Service

2012-01-16T07:39:00.000-08:00

Is called V.me.

Ten Tablet Tools for Web Designers

2012-01-16T07:36:00.000-08:00

Check out this blog post on ten tablet tools for web designers.

Latest Google Search Quality Highlights

2012-01-09T04:56:00.001-08:00

Here are the latest Google Search Quality Highlights from the Google Inside Search Blog.

Image Optimisation Techniques

2012-01-09T04:51:00.000-08:00

Image optimisation can be a useful technique for getting extra traffic. Here's an article on image optimisation from Michael Gray.

S&P Eurozone Sovereign Downgrade

2011-12-09T06:42:00.000-08:00

See:

http://www.standardandpoors.com/ratings/articles/en/us/?articleType=HTML&assetID=1245325249443

Visual Explanation of the Credit Crisis

2011-11-18T15:07:00.000-08:00

If you're wondering what caused the credit crisis (or credit crunch), here's a good visual explanation.

Shoemoney Keywords to Links Wordpress Plugin

2011-11-18T06:51:00.001-08:00

This looks useful:

http://www.shoemoney.com/shoemoney-content-link-manager-wordpress-plugin/

TradeDoubler Zoo Project for Affiliate Marketing Startups

2011-11-16T09:55:00.000-08:00

The TradeDoubler Zoo Project offers help and support for affiliate marketing startups.

Developing Ad Revenue from Your Websites

2011-11-10T08:00:00.000-08:00

A guide from Web Marketing Today.

The Bond Market and the Need for an Italian Bailout

2011-11-10T06:02:00.000-08:00

An article from LoveMoney.

Most Influential People in Performance Marketing

2011-11-10T05:38:00.001-08:00

Here's a list of the 25 most influential people in performance marketing, compiled by Impact Radius.

Should there be a new Buy British Campaign?

2011-11-08T04:02:00.000-08:00

An article from BBC News asks "Why isn't there a new campaign?"

How to Get More Facebook Likes

2011-11-03T11:42:00.001-07:00

Here's some advice on how to get more Facebook Likes.

Domaining Advice from Rick Schwartz

2011-11-02T12:27:00.001-07:00

Some useful domaining advice from Rick Schwartz:

http://www.ricksblog.com/my_weblog/2011/11/ricks-top-10-bullet-points-to-being-a-successful-domainer.html

Protrada Domain Trading Platform

2011-11-02T09:08:00.000-07:00

This looks interesting:

http://domainnamewire.com/2011/10/25/protrada-is-the-domain-buyers-dashboard/

http://www.protrada.com/

Novelty Gift Guru the Next Zuckerberg?

2011-11-02T09:02:00.000-07:00

Now here's an ideas man:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/news/novelty-gift-guru-who-wants-to-be-the-next-zuckerberg-and-hes-not-joking-6255851.html

Shoemoney Affiliate Cash Tree

2011-10-28T04:29:00.000-07:00

Top affiliate Shoemoney has a new site at affiliatecashtree.com. There's currently a video on it which is well worth watching, as it explains the power of retaining the value of a visitor by building an e-mail list.

Michael Winslow does Whole Lotta Love by Led Zeppelin

2011-10-25T15:24:00.001-07:00

Advice on Marketing Domain Names For Sale

2011-10-25T04:28:00.000-07:00

Here's a video where Nokta Domains explain how they sold ucakbileti.com, Turkish for flight ticket. There are some very useful marketing insights for anyone looking to sell a premium domain name.

http://www.domainsherpa.com/nokta-domains-interview/

6 Ways to Make Money Online

2011-10-21T12:17:00.000-07:00

Here's a video presentation from web marketing guru Shomoney on 6 Ways to Make Money Online. Worth watching as Shoemoney is a genuine expert.

Video SEO and Where to Host Your Video

2011-06-29T11:14:00.001-07:00

See this article and video which discusses the matter.

Most Important Google Ranking Factors

2011-06-29T11:10:00.000-07:00

An article about the most important Google Ranking Factors, according to SEO experts.

Mobile Barcode Scanning Taking Off

2011-06-04T15:11:00.001-07:00

Mobile barcode scanning is starting to take off, as per this video from Web Pro News.

Mobile barcodes allow a zero click experience from the real world to a digital experience.

The Growth of Mobile

2010-11-26T07:38:00.000-08:00

The YouTube video on this page about the growth of mobile should give affiliate marketers food for thought. An interesting point was that in the next five years more people will access the web on a mobile than on a PC.

Find Inspiration from Startups

2010-08-29T13:36:00.000-07:00

I find reading about startups can really help with enthusiasm and motivation levels. Here are 15 startups founded by ex-Google employees.

Finding the Most Profitable Niches

2010-03-04T17:10:00.001-08:00

Some advice here on finding the most profitable affiliate marketing niches.

BBC Virtual Revolution Programme Starts Sat 30th Jan

2010-01-25T18:45:00.000-08:00

This new series about the history and future development of the internet should be worth watching. From watching the YouTube trailer shown below, it might have some interesting commentary on the internet gaining momentum in Africa:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/digitalrevolution/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cKc_pvpuqg

Demand Media - The Algorithm for Profitable Video Content

2009-11-09T05:25:00.000-08:00

I've just enjoyed reading an article about Demand Media, a company that has developed an algorithm to identify profitable topics for video content, which it then outsources at low cost to an army of freelancers. The traditional content model of using editors to decide on content is now under threat from algorithms which can identify where the demand is and whether this demand can be capitalised upon. As someone comments in the article, content is now undergoing the same data-driven transformation as traditional advertising did with PPC etc a few years ago. The article is well worth a read.

Setting Up Your Own Ad Network

2009-09-24T05:29:00.001-07:00

Here's a slightly tongue in cheek article about setting up your own ad network.

Market Research Tips from SEO Book

2009-09-20T06:04:00.000-07:00

Some market research tips from SEO Book, there looks to be some good resources here.

Ask.com to Help SEOs More

2009-08-31T11:12:00.001-07:00

I've often looked at Ask.com to see how to submit my sites, and couldn't find any help. At last it looks as though they're going to do something about this:

http://videos.webpronews.com/2009/08/21/askcom-to-improve-relations-with-seos/

AdWords PPC Tips from Ian Howie

2009-08-28T17:11:00.000-07:00

I don't do PPC, but if I did, I'd read these AdWords PPC tips from Ian Howie carefully.

Design an Ad for Heart Internet, Win a MacBook Pro

2009-08-24T16:46:00.001-07:00

Any budding designers reading this might like to try this competition to design an ad for the Heart Internet Reseller offering, as the prize is a MacBook Pro. The closing date is 31st September 2009.

New Google Chrome OS Introduced

2009-07-09T07:24:00.000-07:00

Google have introduced the new Google Chrome OS on their blog.

Shoemoney Starts Free Internet Marketing Course

2009-07-08T07:57:00.001-07:00

In case you hadn't heard, Shoemoney has started a free internet marketing course. It's called ShoemoneyX and knowing the work of Shoemoney, it will be worth signing up to.

The Domain Name Industry in 2007

2008-01-12T17:07:00.000-08:00

A review of what happened in the Domain Name Industry during 2007 from DN Journal:

http://www.dnjournal.com/cover/2008/january.htm

Marketing Advice from Gordon Ramsay

2007-12-03T13:07:00.000-08:00

Watching the excellent Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares, the one where ex IT consultant Scott bought The Priory Restaurant in Hayward's Heath, Gordon commented, "Scott now just needs to drive it, business doesn't just come and sit on your lap, you've got to go looking for it, and if you don't, you're going to fail." This is of course excellent real world business advice when it comes to running a restaurant. However, one of the beauties of internet marketing is that business will literally come looking for you via the search engines, providing of course that your search engine optimisation skills are up to scratch.

Google Android Mobile Development Platform

2007-11-15T15:55:00.000-08:00

We've always found mobile devices a bit too fiddly to want to dedicate lots of time to making our websites work on them, but Google obviously thinks it's worth some effort with their support of the open and free Android mobile development platform, and when Google thinks something is worth doing, it normally is:

http://code.google.com/android/what-is-android.html

Common APIs for Social Networking from Google

2007-11-09T06:02:00.000-08:00

OpenSocial from Google provides Common APIs for use on social networking websites. Many websites are implementing OpenSocial, including LinkedIn and MySpace. Find out more at:

http://code.google.com/apis/opensocial/

The Economics of Online Video

2007-09-20T16:14:00.000-07:00

How easy is it for a site owner to make a go of online video? Not that easy. Internet Outsider has an analysis of the economics of online video.

Housepricecrash.co.uk - Track House Prices

2007-09-19T11:11:00.000-07:00

With the trouble at Northern Rock likely to be the catalyst to a major slowdown in the UK housing market, you can track the doom and gloom at housepricecrash.co.uk. Brace yourself for financial pain ahead, and if you have high credit card borrowings, think about moving to a better card with the help of UK Credit Cards.

OpenAds for Higher Website Returns?

2007-07-26T14:03:00.000-07:00

OpenAds is comparable to Google AdSense except that it allows web publishers to display ads from a variety of ad networks. The company is the latest venture of James Bilefield, who used to run the European operations of Skype. See:

http://www.openads.org/

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2007/07/26/cnad126.xml

Video in Affiliate Marketing

2007-07-16T14:42:00.000-07:00

The next major step forward in affiliate marketing will be video. Zanox is taking an early lead with its zanox.tv service. Matthew Wood explains more.

Online Learning Resources for Web Design etc

2007-05-24T15:36:00.000-07:00

Those looking for a good online resource to help them learn web design, graphic design or web development will be interested in lynda.com. Although we haven't yet made use of the service ourselves, there is a wide variety of training videos on the latest applications and from the sample videos it looks promising.

ASP.NET 2.0 Data Tutorials

2007-04-25T16:38:00.000-07:00

As developers know, Scott Guthrie is the man when it comes to ASP.NET, so his disciples will be pleased to hear he's written some tutorials for working with data in ASP.NET 2.0:

http://www.asp.net/Learn/DataAccess/

Topics are as follows:

Introduction
Basic Reporting
Master/Detail
Custom Formatting
Editing, Inserting, and Deleting Data
Paging and Sorting
Custom Button Actions
Displaying Data with the DataList and Repeater
Filtering Scenarios with the DataList and Repeater
Editing and Deleting Data Through the DataList
Paging and Sorting with the DataList and Repeater
Custom Button Actions with the DataList and Repeater
Accessing the Database Directly from an ASP.NET Page
Enhancing the GridView
Working with Binary Files

Google adds to Search Results

2007-03-21T12:23:00.000-07:00

Google has unveiled Plus Box, which adds additional information for business in the search results, initially stock quotes and location maps, see:

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2007/03/more-than-meets-eye.html

Google Launching Pay Per Action Ads

2007-03-20T17:44:00.000-07:00

Google is launching a new service called Pay Per Action ads, currently in beta in the US. For more info see:

http://searchengineland.com/070320-120000.php

http://services.google.com/payperaction/

US Affiliate Networks

2007-03-09T11:17:00.000-08:00

We were over at the Wicked Fire forums, and we saw this useful list of US affiliate networks:

Chitika : Shopping mall banner advertising. (CPC)
AdBrite : Ad marketplace for publishers and advertisers. (CPC); 75% payout.
Advertising.com : Large network. (CPA)
24/7 RealMedia : Large network. (CPM)
Burst Media : Large network. (CPM)
Commission Junction : Large network. (CPA)
Kanoodle : Large network. (CPC); 50% payout.
LinkShare : Large network. (CPA)
ValueClick : Large network. (CPM)
Yahoo Publisher Network : Closed Beta (CPC)
MSN adCenter : Closed Beta (CPC)
Accelerator Media :
AdAgency 1 : (CPM) ; 60% payout.
AdDynamix : (CPM)
AdEngage :
Adgenta :
Adhearus :
AdKnowledge : (CPC)
AdPepper : (CPM)
ADServing Network : (CPM)
Adsmart : (CPM)
Adtegrity : (CPM)
AdZuba : (CPM)
AffiliateFuture : (CPA)
AffiliateSensor :
AllFeeds : (CPC); 60% payout.
AVNads :
AzoogleAds : (CPA)
Banner Boxes : (CPC)
BannerConnect : (CPM)
BardzoMedia : (CPM)
BidClix : (CPC)
BidVertiser : (CPC)
BlinkAds : (CPA)
BlueFN : (CPA)
BlueLithium : (CPM)
Casale Media : (CPM); 70% payout.
ClickAdsDirect :
ClickBooth : (CPA)
ClickShare :
Clicksor : (CPC); upto 85% payout.
ClickXchange : (CPA)
ContexWeb : (CPC); 50% payout.
CoverClicks :
CPX Interactive/Budsinc : (CPM)
DirectNetworks : (CPA)
Enhance Interactive :
Esource Media : (CPM)
Etype-Europe : (CPM)
EtypeUSA :
ExpoActive :
FastClick=ValueClick : (CPM); upto 65% payout.
FluxAds : (CPA)
HurricaneDigitalMedia : (CPM); 60/75% payout.
Hyperbidder : (CPC)
IncentaClick : (CPA)
Industry Brains :
Interclick :
JoeTec : (CPM)
Kontera : (CPC)
Mamma Media Solutions : (CPC); 50% payout.
MaxBounty : (CPA)
Mirago :
MIVA AdRevenue Xpress :
Nixxie :
Oridian : (CPA)
Oxado : (CPC)
Paypopup : (CPM)
PeakClick :
Popup Traffic : (CPM)
Quigo : (CPC)
RealCastMedia : (CPM)
RealTech Network : (CPM)
Revenue Pilot : (CPC); 60% payout.
RightMedia : (CPM)
Searchfeed : (CPC)
ShareAShare : (CPA)
TargetPoint : (CPC); at least 50% payout.
TextLinkAds : (CPC)
TMP Express : (CPA)
Tremor Network :
Tribal Fusion : (CPM)
Veoda : (CPC) ; 60-90% payout.
Vibrant Media IntelliTXT : (CPM)

Peter Jones from Dragon's Den

2007-03-07T14:32:00.000-08:00

Peter Jones has own website at peterjones.tv which describes his background and gives details of some of the companies he runs. There are also some video presentations describing how he overcame hardship to get where he is today.

If you're a fan of Dragon's Den, you may be interested in Peter's new programme Tycoon coming soon to ITV.

P.S. there's also news on his website that Reggae Reggae sauce, one of his investments from Dragon's Den, will be appearing on our shelves soon!

Automation is the Way Forward

2007-02-21T14:50:00.000-08:00

If you're finding it hard to keep your affiliate sites updated, you need to start automating. The most popular choice of programming language amongst UK affiliate marketers is PHP. Here are some useful links to get you started:

http://www.webref.eu/php-tutorials.php

Thoughts on PPC

2007-01-18T15:53:00.000-08:00

We don't use PPC for any of our affiliate sites at the moment. We'd like to, the reason we don't is firstly we can't contemplate the thought of losing any money - we like the fact that we can run a lot of affiliate sites without paying a huge amount in hosting, and secondly, we don't have time to watch the campaigns and monitor our site availability. It is a bit frustrating because we know that PPC works, because web marketing is all about being seen first when somebody goes onto the internet. If we were to do this, the best way would be to leverage the longtail, which means using a large number of long keyphrases where the bidding amount will be small. PPC experts that we know about include Shoemoney and Kieron.

Joost Internet TV from the makers of Skype

2007-01-17T04:04:00.000-08:00

The guys behind Skype are now set on bringing us internet TV in the form of Joost.com. You can sign up to be a beta tester although there have already been a lot of applications. It should be pretty cool.

Advice for Getting Started in Affiliate Marketing

2007-01-15T10:38:00.000-08:00

If you are just starting out in affiliate marketing, our advice would be to pick one of the high value areas, e.g. finance, high value electronics, travel, gambling, then pick a high value product, and then go very niche with your site.

Examples might be:
- A really good guide to a particular city that is far away so you can sell expensive flights.
- A focus on a high value electronic product, such as tablet pcs.
- A very specialised site on a high value finance product, e.g. equity release mortgages.

Going niche will help you become an "authority" site and that will bring traffic, you can't be the same as millions of other sites out there if you are just starting out.

It also helps if what you are going to promote is a relatively new product, as this will usually mean more demand and less competition. Taking advantage of the latest consumer trends is always a good idea.

Ask yourself the questions:
- Do people buy this product online.
- Are people searching for this product online. See keyword suggestion tools.
- What is the competition like from other sites, do I stand a reasonable chance of getting onto the first page of a search engine?

Good luck!

Cisco Responds to Apple infringing their iPhone Trademark

2007-01-14T16:22:00.000-08:00

Cisco owns the trademark to iPhone, but Apple went ahead with their iPhone without obtaining permission, despite numerous negotiations. Cisco has made their feelings clear on their blog, saying that they wanted to share the name and they aren't pleased about Apple's actions.

It will also be interesting to see whether Apple makes any attempt to get the iphone.co.uk domain name considering the case with itunes.co.uk which Apple went to court for and managed to win.

Antispam Mods for phpBB

2007-01-14T04:25:00.000-08:00

One of the things we'd really like to do better on our sites is get more user contributed content. However, we always find it hard to find the time for application development, so we normally look around at open source solutions first. Forum wise, there's phpBB, and the main problem with this is that it attracts spammers. Our first foray into running a forum has been the Flat Screen Forum UK. We don't have many real users yet, but we certainly attract a lot of spammers. If you have this problem, a couple of easy things you can do are:

- Switch on Admin approval for all registrations. This way people can't post anything until Admin has approved them.

- Start adding given domains to the e-mail ban list.

We have a post on a4uforum that is yielding some useful advice.

Redirecting and cloaking affiliate links

2007-01-12T11:08:00.000-08:00

We don't do any redirecting or cloaking of affiliate links on our sites. Perhaps we should, because we have seen some dramatic drops in our Google rankings on certain terms and wonder whether this has been from being identified as an affiliate site. If you want to protect yourself, here are some simple techniques you can use.

ShoeMoney thinks 95% of SEO is simple

2007-01-11T12:31:00.000-08:00

ShoeMoney has posted on his blog that he thinks 95% of SEO is super simple, and we are inclined to agree. Simple things like buying a decent domain and using good dash separated file names will get you a long way. ShoeMoney has a background of developing content sites, and those looking to develop super successful websites should have content at the forefront of their minds. Any web developer should focus hard on the question "What are people really interested in?" and then work out how to give it to them. Rich content sites are certainly a good way to go, but boy do they take a lot of effort. Smart people will just create the framework and let users generate the content, a la Blogger, MySpace and YouTube.

Mobile Phones and Africa

2007-01-08T15:12:00.000-08:00

An interesting investigation on Newsnight today of the impact of mobile phones on Africa (part of "Geek Week"). They are having a revolutionary effect, and helping to break down corruption as people are now less reliant on people in positions of authority. There's also the case of organised flash mobbing in Nairobi shanty towns to protect against eviction by bulldozer. What's more Africa is at the cutting edge of mobile payment technology, and large sums of money are now being routed into Kenya via mobile phone from relatives abroad.

What Consumers Really Want from the Internet

2007-01-05T14:33:00.000-08:00

In case you haven't realised it yet, what surfers really want on the internet is cheap prices. Cheap prices are a key driver behind the increasing growth of internet shopping against the High Street. Businesses that bring cheap prices to consumers can experience rapid growth, as evidenced by the glassesdirect.co.uk story.

Free Games for your Mobile

2007-01-01T12:23:00.000-08:00

Are available from gamejump.com. The games are totally free but are supported by adverts at the beginning and end of the game.

Magazines on your Mobile

2007-01-01T12:10:00.000-08:00

Tocmag.com is a service that allows you to download 6 page magazines to your mobile, and also to create your own mobile magazines.

Google Code Search

2006-12-11T16:40:00.000-08:00

Google takes pity on geeks and gives them their own code search engine:

http://www.google.com/codesearch

Don't Build Your Own Sandbox

2006-12-11T10:16:00.000-08:00

A quote from Mike Grehan at SES Chicago 06 (found on Bruce Clay's blog):

"Sit down, look at your site. Write down 10 reasons why people would want to link to your Web site. If you can’t get past 5, you’ve created your own sandbox."

Wise words.

Value Click buys Shopping.net in a 6.7m Deal

2006-12-05T11:10:00.000-08:00

ValueClick is building its web portfolio. This deal just shows the potential in generic domain names and the importance of price comparison functionality on the internet:

http://www.e-consultancy.com/news-blog/362284/valueclick-buys-shopping-net.html

Don't Bet Against the Internet

2006-12-03T16:19:00.000-08:00

Google CEO Eric Schmidt says companies should not bet against the internet:

http://www.economist.com/theworldin/business/displayStory.cfm?story_id=8133511&d=2007

The Ten Worst Internet Acquisitions Ever

2006-12-03T16:02:00.000-08:00

Seeking Alpha has the Ten Worst Internet Acquisitions Ever, including a few from the last bubble.

Hollywood Photo Agencies set to sue PerezHilton.com

2006-12-03T15:49:00.000-08:00

Hollywood photo agencies are considering suing the popular celeb site PerezHilton.com for using their images without permission. More from the Web Publishing Blog.

Social Media and Technology Podcast

2006-11-30T16:55:00.000-08:00

Nick Wilson has a social media and technology podcast at Communicontent.com. We're going to have a listen to see what we think.

Heatmaps from crazyegg.com

2006-11-30T11:30:00.000-08:00

Ad placement can make a lot of difference to site conversions, so if you want to get heatmaps showing where your site visitors are clicking, try crazyegg.com.

Elite Retreat

2006-11-23T12:58:00.000-08:00

There has been much discussion in the SEO communities about the value of the Elite Retreat organised by Shoemoney and co. We checked out the site, and found the biogs an interesting read, and you get a useful insight into the techniques people use to make money online, like for instance, Shoemoney's "Coke Theory" (if you sell coke, you can make money out of Cherry Coke, Diet Coke etc). From this we found Lee Dodd's EarnersForum.com and his blog www.forumtrends.com, which we will be taking a closer look at.

The Big Boys of Affiliate Marketing

2006-11-04T04:38:00.000-08:00

If you are interested in knowing how much money the big boys of affiliate marketing are earning, then StrayGeek tells us what he knows. If you are interested in becoming an affiliate yourself, then try our UK Affiliate Marketing resources page to get you started and consider signing up with Google AdSense.

e2save now has an affiliate blog

2006-11-03T12:31:00.000-08:00

Mobile phone merchant e2save now has a blog to keep affiliates up to date at:

http://www.e2affiliateblog.com/

This should prove really useful, thanks guys :)

Web Directories Worth Bothering With

2006-11-03T09:44:00.000-08:00

We've just been listening to the latest episode of Net Income, where Rand Fishkin from SEOMoz.org joined Shoemoney and Andrea. In this, Shoemoney recounted how Matt Cutts once said the only web directories worth bothering with are:

dmoz
Best of the Web
Yahoo Directory

A bit like Shoemoney, we can never get into dmoz *sigh*.

Google Buys JotSpot for Wiki Product

2006-10-31T12:52:00.000-08:00

Google has bought JotSpot, who aimed to bring Wikis to the masses. Google will make the JotSpot Wiki part of its online software suite offering. Wikis should see increasing uptake, and they will probably eventually have a big impact on the way people work. Up until now they have been geek-only because of the difficulty involved in installing them. See:

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2006/10/spot-on.html

Yahoo! Search Site Explorer

2006-10-29T15:10:00.000-08:00

Yahoo! Search Site Explorer gives you stats for the indexing of your site by Yahoo!, see:

http://siteexplorer.search.yahoo.com/

We've only just tried it, and are currently authenticating our UK Shopping site. The site isn't doing so well on Google lately, so needless to say we're taking a greater interest in Yahoo! and the new MSN Live.

Google Blog Search Ping Service

2006-10-29T09:55:00.000-08:00

Google has now launched a Blog Search Ping Service, for details, see:

http://www.google.com/help/blogsearch/about_pinging.html

and to ping the service, visit:

http://blogsearch.google.com/ping

In case you didn't know, pinging is the process by which you notify the various blog search services that you have updated your blog. It's a good idea to ping after every post.

Wicked Fire Forums

2006-10-20T14:34:00.000-07:00

If you're looking for an affiliate marketing forum with, shall we say, a little more edge, you can try the wickedfire.com US affiliate marketing forums. Be warned though, it's really not for the easily offended. Whilst we haven't had a lot of time to evaluate it, we sense that there will be some people there that really know their stuff. If you are looking to make money online, you will probably pick up some useful tips.

Affiliate Guru Shawn Collins on Net Income Show

2006-10-14T07:56:00.000-07:00

If you need some podcast listening, then affiliate guru Shawn Collins was on Net Income show 17 with host Shoemoney. Head over to webmasterradio.fm and click on the archives to find it.

Affiliate Marketing Blogs - A List Of

2006-10-01T11:26:00.000-07:00

Super Aff has a list of affiliate marketing blogs which should prove useful to the newbie and expert alike:

http://superaff.com/affiliate-marketing-blogs-list/

77 Ways to Get Traffic - Free pdf

2006-09-13T16:32:00.000-07:00

Allan Gardyne, CEO of AssociatePrograms.com, offers a free pdf detailing 77 ways to get traffic to your sites:

http://www.associateprograms.com/free-downloads/77ways.pdf

Certainly useful food for thought.

APIs for Mashups

2006-09-13T14:18:00.000-07:00

If you are keen on building that super new Ajax powered Web 2.0 site, you'll want to visit programmableweb.com, which keeps tracks on all the various web APIs available for you to do your thing with. The site focuses on mashups and the web as a platform.

Windows Vista Customer Preview Available

2006-09-09T15:10:00.000-07:00

Register in the Windows Vista Customer Preview Program and you can try out the very latest Windows Vista RC1 release, as being used by the Microsoft build testers. Neowin.net has the details:

http://www.neowin.net/index.php?act=view&id=34946

Top 10 Ways to Make Money Online

2006-09-08T11:10:00.000-07:00

A podcast in which ShoeMoney discusses the Top 10 Ways to Make Money Online. Shoemoney dissects an article from a UK web design magazine and gives his feelings on their suggestions. There are plenty of useful comments for novices and experts alike:

http://www.shoemoney.com/2006/09/06/
net-income-season-1-episode-12-podcast-posted/

Technorati Tag: Make Money Online

del.icio.us is Tasty

2006-09-07T17:44:00.000-07:00

We recently got around to using del.icio.us, the social bookmarking site, and have to say we think it's pretty cool. We still haven't discovered all its cool features, but now we can just read David Brunelle's blog post because he gives a great summary of them.

Spookily enough, just as we were doing this, up popped a message telling us our Google toolbar had been updated with a Google Bookmarks button ... so del.icio.us obviously has obviously been on the Googlers' minds too.

Is SEO for affiliate sites dead?

2006-09-07T06:21:00.000-07:00

Super Aff asks the question:

http://superaff.com/archives/2006/09/05/
is-seo-for-affiliate-product-sites-dead/

The article has a useful overview of what types of affiliate sites are still managing to rank in the search engines.

Understand Google Crawl Dates

2006-09-06T15:54:00.000-07:00

Matt Cutts has a video explaining the meaning of the crawl dates shown in the Google cache:

http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/
video-crawl-dates-in-the-google-cache/

Marketing Morality Discussed by Seth Godin

2006-09-06T15:51:00.000-07:00

Seth Godin says that marketers must take responsibility for the effects of their marketing efforts:

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/
2006/08/marketing_moral.html

Technorati Tag: marketing

Local Video Ads from Everyone?

2006-09-06T03:00:00.000-07:00

US start up turnhere.com hopes that in future everyone will have their own video ad. It's slogan is "Short Films, Cool Places", and it's busy making them, with the hope that it can syndicate them out. In our view, video is the way the web will eventually go, where everyone can have their own "TV station". The Mercury news has an article on the company:

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/15441702.htm

Article Writing Works

2006-09-05T16:59:00.000-07:00

Says Matt DeAngelis of affiliateblog.com, who gives a good overview of the techniques at:

http://www.affiliateblog.com/2006/04/
how-i-quadrupled-my-daily-visitor-count-
in-one-month-total-cost-twenty-bucks/

Will Big Retailers Squeeze Out PPC Affiliates

2006-09-05T16:46:00.000-07:00

Matt DeAngelis discusses it at affiliateblog.com:

http://www.affiliateblog.com/2006/05/
are-the-big-retailers-using-search-marketing-
to-squeeze-out-affiliates/

Site for Web Entrepreneurs

2006-09-05T15:10:00.000-07:00

thinkvitamin.com should be of interest to any web entrepreneurs out there.

We found it through social bookmarking site del.icio.us, which we've just started using and have to say are finding very useful for finding cool stuff.

What is Link Bait?

2006-09-05T12:54:00.000-07:00

Link bait is the term used to describe web content that will make people link to you and Search Engine Watch has a nice overview. If you are a site owner, think about the link bait content you can create in your area - link bait will be a good friend. Simple lists of high quality information work particularly well, an example of this being our search engine optimisation page at WebRef.eu.

Technorati Tag: Link Bait

Sources of Free Reusable Media for Your Sites

2006-09-03T15:26:00.000-07:00

Lifehacker has a round up of sources of free stock photos, music and video etc made available through the Creative Commons licence:

http://www.lifehacker.com/software/creative-commons/
geek-to-live-6-ways-to-find-reusable-media-197538.php

Thoughts on YouTube

2006-09-03T08:59:00.000-07:00

SEO specialist Bruce Clay airs his thoughts on YouTube, and whether it could transform itself into a social networking site and knock Myspace off the top:

http://www.bruceclay.com/blog/
archives/2006/08/will_youtube_cr.html

Should TV Execs Be Worried About Google

2006-09-03T08:37:00.000-07:00

When it comes to the migration of TV to the web, Google is set fair as a content connector rather than a content provider. Should TV execs regard Google as a threat, or should they be more worried about the democratization of content creation as evidenced by YouTube? Out Of My Gord airs his views on this.

Keywords in File Names and urls Do Help

2006-09-03T05:13:00.000-07:00

Matt Cutts has advised on his blog that having keywords in file names and urls does help Google judge the quality of a page. The Search Engine Roundtable blog has the quotes:

http://www.seroundtable.com/archives/006049.html

We always use keywords in our file names, currently using dash separation as follows:

keyword1-keyword2-keyword3.htm

With domain names, we usually think about buying the non-dash-separated domain name first, and then think about the dash separated version as a "nice to have" afterwards.

Blogging Jobs

2006-09-02T16:51:00.000-07:00

Blogging jobs are now becoming increasingly common, and the blog at performancing.com regularly covers blogging job opportunities and gives advice on blogging as a career.