The smart folks at American Telecast are the marketing brains behind such successful products as the Total Gym, Richard Simmons Deal a Meal, and Lori Davis Hair Care. I am proud to say that they have also been a happy NETexponent client for a few years. (and a fantastic company to work with)The story is a great read for anyone dealing with direct marketing, product marketing, or customer acquisition. American Telecast has had a long history of success building large consumer demand for a few select products. While they are not the inventors of the products they are the folks who run TV, Print, and Online media to drive sales.

They are most well known for their work marketing the Total Gym home gym product. This is also the area where our two companies team up, a fact noted in the article. We were honored that the good folks at Total Gym chose to share their spotlight with NETexponent. Here is a quote from the article.

“We began working with NETexponent several years ago to help us in expanding our affiliate marketing presence.” (says Joe Crowley their VP of Marketing) “we were so pleased with the results that we asked them to assist with growing our paid search marketing program. The NETexponent team has proven they can deliver measurable and profitable results.”

Wow! A huge compliment from a great company. The team and I are deeply touched by their thoughtfulness and look forward to many more years of a successful partnership.

Thoughts of Superbowl Sunday brings several images to mind for most Americans

• Football
• Food
• Beer
• Sweatpants
• Boxes

Well this was certainly true of the NETexponent team and our clients. Building on the popularity of last years NCAA Tournament Bracket Challenge we had our first annual Superbowl Box Challenge. Only NETexponent clients could participate (not even employees since we never like competing against our clients). NETexponent employees get to participate in an employee only pool without the glamorous prizes.

So congratulations to this years winners of the NETexponent Client Super Bowl Box Challenge.

Rick Betanzos of Ice.com and Diamond.com won a $50 iTunes gift card for being our 1st quarter winner

Tom Huang of Shockwave.com, an Viacom company, won a $50 iTunes gift Card for being our 3rd quarter winner

Don Kalb of Total Gym Direct and American Telecast was our half-time winner and got a new Kindle ebook reader and is

looking to read Tom Clancy’s new novel “Dead or Alive” before anything else.

Our big winner was Joseph Porter of CengageBrain. Joe had the winning final score box and received a new Apple iPad.

The first thing Joe did was download the Netflix app and check out some movies.

Congratulations to all of our winners!

Clients who did not win will get another chance in a few days when we launch our 2nd annual NCAA Tournament Challenge for NETexponent clients.

We feel lucky to have so many cool clients and love the opportunity to do good work for them and still find time to have some fun.

Last Wednesday, Sal Conca, Noelle Huter, Regina Black (Audible’s Marketing Manager) and I flew to Vegas to represent audible.com at BlogWorld & New Media Expo. The main reason we attended was to announce our brand new Podcast Sponsorship Program, in addition to finding bloggers who’d like to promote Audible through their affiliate program!

Regina, Sal, Val, Noelle at the Audible Booth

The Audible Podcast Sponsorship Program is a separate affiliate program just for podcasters. If you have a podcast and you’d like Audible to sponsor it, all you have to do is visit www.audibletrial.com/signup. Once you sign up, we’ll set you up with copy points and your own custom URL to refer your listeners to. If your subscribers visit your URL, they will receive a FREE audiobook download and a 14-day free trial of the AudibleListener Gold Plan. Podcasters have seen success with promoting Audible because people who listen to podcasts also have an affinity for listening to audiobooks.

For more information about the sponsorship program and Audible, listen to our very own Sal Conca’s interview with BlogWorld radio. He really killed it on here.

BlogWorld was the perfect place to find podcasters because they had a ton of sessions on podcasting. For example, there was a session specifically about how to sponsor your podcast!

In addition to the podcasting stuff, overall this was definitely an interesting conference because we met so many unique individuals and learned about new social media companies and tools. For example, at the BlogWorld party on Thursday night, we met Nomadic Matt (a blogger who records his journeys all over the world) and Benny the language hacker who goes to different countries with the goal of mastering the language of each.  What fun jobs!

One innovative social media company is Paper.li, which is great for Twitter users (like me) who have trouble keeping up with all of the links that their friends share.  Now you can turn your twitter  into a daily newspaper that makes content easily digestible by categorizing your articles. Additionally, we were happy to be “booth neighbors” with Plixi (formerly TweetPhoto), which is a photo sharing network that integrates with Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn and FourSquare!

Val, Sal, Noelle & Regina at the BlogWorld party at Liquid

Finally, the closing keynote made me really consider the “New Media” industry as a whole.  As Penn Jillette put it, “there is no new media.. it’s people.” He believes that, despite what critics may say, Twitter and social media actually INCREASE intimacy. They give people an outlet to talk about the things that matter the most to them and share their own opinions. His thoughts definitely made me reflect on how some businesses solely use social media to promote themselves or participate just because “everyone is doing it.” Instead, they should really learn to love New Media since it’s the closest they’ll ever get to their customers. A word of advice: embrace your followers, listen to their requests, and most of all: be honest.

BlogWorld Expo 2010 in my opinion was a great success and I hope to get the opportunity to attend next year. Thanks, Audible!

PS: Congrats to JohnnyJet for winning our booth giveaway – a brand new Amazon Kindle 3G!

NutraOrigin offers an array of premium nutritional supplements & vitamins, specializing in Omega-3 fish oil supplements. When shopping at The Omega Store by NutraOrigin, you will find a variety of options to get your fish oils:

• Great-tasting shakes, which come in several flavors
• Gummies made especially for kids
• Enteric-coated soft gels (to eliminate fishy taste!)
• Flax oil, which is ideal for pets
• Highly potent krill oil

In addition to their unique product offering (and working with us!), another large benefit their affiliate program is their competitive commission structure. Affiliates will receive 15% revenue share per single product sold, and 50% for each auto-ship order! The auto-ship option is great because consumers receive 3 bottles for the price of one + free shipping.

To celebrate the launch of our new client’s program, NETexponent co-founders Pete & Chris treated the whole office to smoothies!

NutraOrigin Teammates Jessie (Account) & Val (Affiliate).

Nir & Pete are happy about smoothies.

We are extremely optimistic about this new affiliate program. Affiliates who are interested in joining can visit http://www.nutraorigin.com/affiliate-page.aspx to sign up. If you already have a Pepperjam account, just search for “The Omega Store by NutraOrigin” and apply. If you have any questions, please feel free to shoot me an email at TheOmegaStore@NETexponent.com. I am always welcome to questions and feedback!

Thanks everyone who helped get this program up and running!

Eileen Ciravolo, Audible’s audacious Traffic Coordinator, is the winner of our First Annual NCAA Tournament Client Pool! Moving ahead of 28 other hopefuls, we recently presented Eileen with a silver plated basketball trophy to share with her office, friends, and family. She also got to take home a little something extra – a brand new iPad! What’s the first thing she’ll be doing with her new gadget? “There’s a the Kindle app, so I’ll definitely be using that. And, of course, the Twitter app, too!”

When asked how she came up with her winning round up, blind luck was attributed. “It took me about two second to pick my teams,” she claims. “I think Duke is good.’ So I picked them. ‘I think Texas is good.’ So, I’ll pick them! That was it. I got very lucky.”

Eileen shares a little more about herself with us:

Audible's Eileen Ciravolo Wins!

Audible has been a part of the NETexponent crew for just over 5 years and we hear it’s a great place to be. Tell us more about your life over there: “I’ve been here for almost 2 years and it truly is a great place to work. I’m the traffic coordinator for the creative department. I’m in charge of making sure all the projects that need copy and design work are scheduled with designers and track the progress from kick-off through to completion. My day to day can be a bit hectic since I’m usually chasing someone down for more information or giving them status updates on things. I’m a very organized planner, so I’m able to stay on top of all the moving parts of various projects while keeping things on track.”

We’ve witnessed your basketball prowess. Are you a big into sports? “I’m a hardcore baseball fan – the Mets are my team. I even play fantasy baseball! The MLB app is one that I’ll surely be using on my new iPad to keep track of the Mets and my fantasy players!”

We can’t help but think that being a part of Audible.com would be a dream for any book lover. “Sure is!”

Give us your top 3 Aubible audio books recommendations: “There are so many great books it’s hard to choose just 3! My first listen was President Obama’s Dreams of My Father, which he narrated himself.  Dave Cullen’s Columbine was a harrowing look into the Columbine Massacre. It was a scary but interesting listen.  And to be a bit lighthearted, Waiter Rant by The Waiter was very funny – you’ll learn the secrets of what really goes on in the kitchen and what your waiters really think of you when you’re out to eat!”

Eileen talks about discovering her big win!

NETexponent would also like to send a shout out of Honorable Mention to Joe Crowley of Total Gym. It was close!

Before forming a client relationship with the Search Marketing Expo, we at NETexponent had been attendees of the leading search conference for years.  This convention, produced by Third Door Media, always attracts highly distinguished speakers, and SMX West-Santa Clara will not disappoint.  This year’s keynote speaker, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, will bring his jovial personality and exceptional brand of technology leadership to set the stage for a highly educational and network-enriching three day experience.

In addition to Mr. Ballmer, team members from Google, Yahoo!, and Youtube (amongst others) will speak on behalf of the most knowledgeable leaders in the industry.  Fear not, however, sessions are clearly labeled and expertly tailored to fit any experience level so that all visitors leave feeling educated and inspired, not bored or overwhelmed.

The NETexponent team has always found that SMX offers sessions to match any interest and an exhibition hall to generate quality leads- not just visitors looking for free stuff (although you won’t leave empty handed).  Meet us at the preshow meet-and-greet or during one of the more structured networking events.

All in all, we would love to catch up with you there, so take advantage of the early bird pricing to save up to $350.  To get more conference details and information about signing up for an attendance pass, visit http://tiny.cc/Meet_NETex_at_SMX.

And if you are as passionate about SMX as we are, click here to join the affiliate program.

See you in Santa Clara!

New Clients
To start, we’ve signed quite a few new clients this year, and some of these relationships grew even further after their initial inception. Early this year, we began working with Total Gym Direct by managing their relatively mature affiliate program. After several successful months, we extended our partnership into managing their search engine marketing efforts, as well.

Shortly after beginning our relationship with Total Gym Direct, we began working with Pingo, a pre-paid calling card service of iBasis, which is a leading carrier of international and long distance phone calls. With this new partnership, NETexponent was able to improve Pingo’s SEM program and enhance their online sales presence. Also early in 2009, we began managing SMX’s affiliate program; having attended the bi-annual search conference in the past, our team had a comfortable understanding of the events and the improvements we could make to the program.

In the fall, we greatly increased the size and diversity of our list of clients, and subsequently our team grew as well! Simultaneously, our affiliate program management grew to include Hot Topic and its subsidiaries Torrid and Shockhound. NETexponent took on managing Automotive Concepts’ (an online auto parts retailer) and Yola’s (website building tools) affiliate programs, too.

SEO Service

Recently, after bringing an industry executive onto our team, we launched our SEO services. These are quickly gaining prominence in our portfolio of search marketing services alongside our long-established paid search programs. We are implementing these services for one of our newest clients, American Listed, a free online classified listings website.

New team members

As mentioned, with the growth of our client roster, we have been excited to expand our team with a number of new positions filled by professionals with impressive, diverse backgrounds. We welcomed the following individuals to the team during 2009:

Wei Zhang- IT Analyst Valerie Russo – Affiliate Media Coordinator
Alex Watson- Marketing Coordinator

Estefanie Duque- Office Manager Nir Shemesh- Senior Search Media Manager Lindsey Murphy- Search Media Coordinator

Noelle Huter- Affiliate Media Manager Julianne Bohl- Search Media Manager Jessica Baier- Account Coordinator

Under the tutelage of our experienced staff, these folks hit the ground running and have become integral parts of our award-winning team.

Awards

Topseos publishes monthly rankings of the top companies in various online marketing fields. In October, topseos ranked NETexponent the 5th best Affiliate Marketing Agency, and we have since stayed in the top five. To see the most recently published list, visit topseos.

In early September, NETexponent was featured on Inc. Magazine’s 500│5000 list of the 5000 fastest growing independent companies.  We are extremely proud of our fast-paced growth and for the recognition by Inc. Magazine. Because our revenue is primarily performance-based, we issued a press release heralding this acknowledgment as a recognition of our clients’ success over the past four years.

Speaking engagements

This year, many NETexponent team members demonstrated our industry expertise by speaking at a number of leading conferences in search and affiliate marketing.

First, at the Search Engine Strategies Conference and Exposition, Peter Figueredo joined a panel of industry experts for a session called ‘Dealing With Affiliates: A Roadmap to Success.’  Here, Peter shared with the audience the ‘Good, the Bad, and the Ugly’ of affiliate marketing. He described some of the ways affiliate marketing can be successfully married with search engine marketing practices for a synergistic effect on sales for the client.  However, Peter also outlined some of the negative ways that affiliate marketers can abuse SEM and create added competition for advertiser’s search campaigns.

In August, Senior Affiliate Media Manager Sal Conca spoke at Affiliate Summit East during a session discussing affiliate websites’ dynamic shopping features.  This panel covered all subjects including website creative, optimization, merchant relationships and analytics/reporting.

At Commission Junction University (CJU), during the “Affiliate Marketing: The Whole Truth” workshop, Peter presented some results from the AffiliateBenchmarks report. These teaser facts gave a broad overview of some of the recently analyzed data points to spark interest in the report that was due to be completed and released shortly after.

On November 10^th, at PubCon Las Vegas, Chris Kramer presented data from the newly completed 2009 AffiliateBenchmarks report.  This data supported the theme of the session which addressed the varying quality of available market research.  Chris cited research applicable to both search and affiliate marketing, and the whole event was promoted in a press release sent out a week before the session.

2009 AffiliateBenchmarks Report

In November, we began a hard release process of the 2009 AffiliateBenchmarks report, following a soft release period in which we sent out the completed report to everyone who filled out the survey in its entirety back in July.  Each wave of promotion garnered attention from industry publications and leaders, which we expedited by working with an external agency to assist in the promotion.

In the end, the report and slices of its data were featured on EasyAffiliateMarketing.biz, TJantunen.com, the Performance Marketing Alliance, Website Magazine, digiday: DAILY, Internet Vibes, Visibility Magazine, Biz Report, Marketing Charts, Marketing Vox, Market Scan, MediaTrust. These forums, organizations and blogs all took interest in the report because of its previously unheard of sample size of 3,500 respondent and the depth of its analysis.

About Nick Jr. Boost

Nick Jr. Boost is an online educational service designed for preschoolers through first graders. Nick Jr. Boost helps children learn through exciting, adventure-based games based on core curriculum subjects like literacy, math, art, and Spanish. Kids will have the opportunity to team up and learn with their favorite Nick Jr. characters, including Blue, Diego, and Dora, in a totally personalized environment.

Product Offerings and Commissions:

• Nick Jr. Boost Subscription Product

– Features:

• Includes a 7 Day Free Trial

• Free Gift with a paid subscription

• Kids earn virtual rewards that they can exchange for digital prizes

• Nick Jr. Boost is a safe, secure, advertising-free environment

- 2 subscription pricing models to choose from:

• $5.95 per month / 12-month commitment

• $9.95 per month monthly

- Commission: $7.00 / subscription

• Action Referral Period: 30 Days

Everyone here at NETexponent is delighted about this launch. If you are interested in promoting Nick Jr. Boost via LinkShare, you can apply here.  Or, in the Search Advertiser Box in the LinkShare interface, type “Nick Jr. Boost” or “MTV Networks Inc.”

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.

About the Total Gym
The Total Gym provides an entire gym full of equipment in ONE machine.  It takes just 10-20 minutes a day to reshape your body into the one you want.  With Total Gym, resistance training, cardio, and stretching can all be achieved in just one workout!  Individuals from 8 to 80, beginner to advanced, can benefit from a Total Gym!

You also may have noticed that Chuck Norris and Christie Brinkley have been endorsing Total Gym on television for over 10 years.  Total Gym units can now be found in over 3 million homes!

Product Offerings and Commissions
We kindly ask that any affiliate who is currently promoting the brand in Commission Junction or pepperjamNETWORK continue to do so! All of the programs promote the same great products – the Total Gym 2000, 3000, and the XLS.  In addition, all programs offer a 10% baseline commission and a 45-day cookie duration.

Everyone here at NETexponent is delighted about this launch. If you are interested in promoting Total Gym Direct via the Google Affiliate Network, you can apply here.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.

A. NETexponent manages paid search and affiliate marketing programs for leading companies in the audio book and ebook markets. Kindle is an ebook reader and can play audio books. I strongly believe that we cannot effectively market our clients products and services unless we fully understand their market. Kindle has small market share but plenty of buzz and opportunity for fast growth.

B. Kindle has Wispernet, Amazons 3G wireless network that allows Kindle users to connect to Amazon anywhere they go. This technology is a new way for users to shop and the fact that Amazon provides it for free is very interesting. Could this be used for email? web browsing? general e-commerce?

C. Kindle users can read books, blogs, newspapers, and listen to audio books. Ads are stripped out of blogs and newspapers but they could come back and i wanted to see what the experience was like.

D. Finally, I just plain love gadgets and new tech

So…Here are my first impressions

Pre-Kindle 2

I did not own a Kindle 1 so I am not sure how Amazon handled the launch of that product. The first thing Amazon did really well was send an email to me a few days before my Kindle shipped welcoming me to the Kindle family and telling me to get ready for my new Kindle’s arrival by building my library at Amazon.com. It was a nice email, not salesy.

Arrival

My Kindle 2 shipped early and arrived via 2-day shipping when I only ordered via regular 5-day. All in all I got my Kindle 8 days early! Great management of expectations here. Amazon clearly under promised and over delivered. (this is a trick well known to Dell and Zappos customers)

My First Time

The Kindle came pre-charged so I didnt need to wait a while to charge it. (nothing worse than getting a new toy and having to wait to use it) There is NO set-up necessary. Amazon pre-programmed my Kindle with the email and one click account settings associated with the account I used to make the purchase originally. Brilliant! The Wispernet (wireless 3G) service was already enabled and connected out of the box. Pre-loaded on the Kindle was instructions (no need to waste paper on these) and a nice welcome note from belly laughing Bezos

The screen resolution is very clear and it reminded me of an old black and white palm pilot. Nothing sexy about the resolution but it is easy on the eyes so reading long hours would not be an issue. The Kindle itself is really small…it is actually THINNER THAN MY IPHONE. The dimensions are about 1.75 IPhones long and 1.2 IPhones wide.

I quickly figured out how to download a book and bought an issue of The Financial Times, another great NETexponent client. (we love supporting our clients) The purchase only took a few seconds and the download only a few more. I had my first Kindle purchase all set in less than a minute. This speaks volumes about the Wispernet speed. (which I could easily see being used for reading text email)

Speaking volumes is a great transition to another functionality the text to speech option on Kindle, where the device will convert any text into spoken word. You can listen via the internal speaker or through headphones. Our audio book client team was especially interested in this function. I was surprised how good it sounded. It sounded no worse than any GPS device on the market and certainly way better than the Speak-And-Spell voice I imagined.

I was disappointed because I could not find any way to download audio books and play them on the Kindle. I know it is possible but I could not figure out how to do it on my first attempts. If anyone knows how to do this please tell me via comments.

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