Here are some key reasons to participate in this affiliate research effort.

• Convenience. We know you’re busy, and don’t have time to click answer bubbles for 30minutes. Not to worry, because participating in this year’s study only takes 5 minutes.Seriously. Participants can finish the survey in less time than it takes to boil pasta. Convenient!
• New Topics. The 2011 survey touches on the topic of tax nexus, which has had an enormous effect on the affiliate industry this year and thus a vital subject to study.
• Get $3000!…worth of affiliate knowledge! Once the data is gathered, we’ll put together analysis in webinar format, available to purchase for $3,000. However, participants that answer every survey questions will get a free copy of the analysis. That’s right- we think 5 minutes of your time is worth $3k! Isn’t that nice? Participants who only answer the required questions will receive a copy of the raw data, as a token of our gratitude. All participants will receive their results within 2 weeks after the survey closes.
• Everyone is doing it! Check out these big names in the affiliate industry that support our research efforts. We greatly appreciate the support of these networks and advertisers and hope you join in, too.
  • eBay
  • Amazon.com
  • Commission Junction
  • LinkShare
  • Google
  • Pepperjam
  • Revenews
  • Affiliate Summit
  • Media Trust
  • Share A Sale
  • Performance Marketing Association.
• Internationally-friendly. Publishers, advertisers and agencies based outside the US are strongly encouraged to participate. We’ll be releasing 2 reports–one for US and one for International – in order to provide you with the most relevant data possible.
• 360° Perspective. Even though publishers, advertisers and agencies will answer different surveys, the data from all three will be merged in the end. This way, the results will provide awell-rounded look into the affiliate industry.
• Improve your business. Last year, over 10,000 participants used our research data to guide and strengthen their affiliate marketing strategies. The secret’s out that our research is a vitalbusiness tool in this industry. Reap the benefits yourself by taking our survey today!

So, to my friends in the affiliate world reading this blog post: this is a call to action! Do the right thing for your business and your industry. Click here and spend just a few more minutes online sharing your thoughts. I promise you won’t regret it.

This mammoth report is packed with juicy research nuggets that is sure to interest anyone involved (or thinking of getting involved) in affiliate marketing.

Over 10,000 respondents participated in our study which makes this the largest affiliate research study ever conducted. We beat our own record set last year with our 2009 research report.

I was lucky enough to be named an Ad-Tech “Marketing Master” for their NY show and I shared a sneak peak at this data with the audience. If you missed the show you can still get some free data by listening to this podcast interview I did with Susan Bratton of PersonalLifeMedia.com.

Hope you all enjoy the data and can make some smart decisions with it. I know our team has already been using this data to build great strategies for NETexponent’s growing affiliate client list.

Reason #10 to fill out the AffiliateBenchmarks survey = The online marketing industry values your opinion. Last year thousands of people used this research data to better understand the affiliate world. Affiliate, Advertisers, consultants, etc all downloaded the report and used the information to build stronger affiliate marketing strategies. Commission Junction, Pubcon, search engine strategies, and other events even featured the research in their annual conferences. Please participate today and share your thoughts with the industry.

Reason #9 to complete the AffiliateBenchmarks research survey = Be a part of the affiliate industry’s largest research project. Last years study made affiliate marketing history when it became the largest panel based research study ever conducted with over 3,500 participants who have completed the survey. This years study is breaking our own record and already has over way more participants than last year !!! Please take a few minutes and add your thoughts to this project and be a part of affiliate marketing history.

Reason #8 to complete the AffiliateBenchmarks survey = filling out the survey only takes 5 minutes just once a year and is a way better use of your time than the following:

- 5 minutes of commercials
- 5 minutes of spam emails
- 5 minutes of pointless conversations
- 5 minutes trying to figure out what happened to your team in the world cup
- 5 minutes walking your dog or walking your kids (whichever you walk most…just please don’t put your kids on a leash)

Reason #7 to answer the 2010 affiliatebenchmarks survey = Our survey is supported by almost every major affiliate marketing network including:

- Commission Junction
- LinkShare
- Google Affiliate Network
- ClickBank
- Pepperjam
- Share A Sale

We are grateful for the support of these great networks and hope you will join the effort too by filling out our survey.

Reason #6 to participate in our AffiliateBenchmarks survey.

This survey effort is supported by great advertisers (and NETexponent clients) such as:

- Audible.com
- Dick’s Sporting Goods
- Total Gym Direct
- Nick Jr Boost
- Shockwave Games
- Automotive Concepts
- CengageBrain
- Hot Topic
- Torrid
- Shockhound
- Yola

These advertisers and more use our valuable survey data to help guide their affiliate marketing strategies. Your opinion matters and will surely help these folks be stronger affiliate marketers.

Reason #5 to participate in the 2010 AffiliateBenchmarks research survey =. Use this as a chance to reflect on your business growth. Our survey is designed to ask insightful questions about your business. Every year we get feedback from participants telling us they found it helpful to think about their business while answering these short questions. We all work hard but sometimes we forget to step back and examine our efforts in different ways. Take the survey and see what happens.

Reason #4 to complete our AffiliateBenchmarks survey = overwhelming industry support. We are proud to have started an affiliate marketing research effort that caters to affiliate publishers, advertisers, agencies, and consultants. Over the last 3 years our survey has been supported by some of the biggest affiliate companies in the industry such as:

- Revenews
- Performance Marketing Association (PMA)
- Shopping-Bargains.com
- AffiliateTip.com
- JEBCommerce
- CouponWinner
- AffiliateMarketersGiveBack.com
- AffSpot
- 5StarAffiliatePrograms

and many more. We are grateful for the support of these great companies and we hope you will join us by completing the survey before it closes (today at 5pm EST).

Reason #3

Because we asked nicely?

Reason #2

The second biggest reason to complete the 2010 AffiliateBenchmarks survey = you get a free copy of the report.

We know your time is valuable. In fact we know your time is worth at least $199 and that is why we plan to give you a free copy of our research study if you complete the survey. On average it takes folks no more than 5 minutes to complete the survey…that means we think an hour of your time is worth $2,388!!!!

That’s right, folks who complete every question in the survey will be emailed a completed research report at no charge ($199 value) and folks who answer just the required questions will receive a free executive summary ($99 value).

Reason #1

The #1 reason to complete the 2010 AffiliateBenchmarks survey = no regrets.

Today is the last day to complete our survey. The link provided below will cease to work at 5pm EST tonight.

If you pass up this opportunity to answer our survey and get a free copy of the data you wont get another. Of course you can always buy a copy of the report once it is ready for sale but that will cost you $199. Why not take a few minutes and answer the survey…then put that $199 to use in better ways.

Click on the link below and complete the survey before 5pm EST tonight and you wont regret it.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/netxblog

To kick off the event, several members of the LinkShare team (including CEO Yaz Iida) welcomed and thanked all of the attendees. They introduced us to some of the great developments that LinkShare has been working on:

• Deep Linking Controls (For advertisers that do not allow linking to certain pages, but would like to allow deep linking on all other pages)
• WordPress Deal Feed Plug-In (LinkShare would like to make it easier for publishers of all sizes – including bloggers – to plug & play. They’ve seen over 5,000 installations thus far!)

And…the most exciting development (in my opinion) is the ALL NEW Advertiser Dashboard! The new advertiser interface is a lot cleaner and simpler, making it easy to find everything you’re searching for:

• New Trend Chart with Year over Year Trending Reports
• It is now easier to enter dates when pulling a report
• Link Section enables you to see just how well your creative is performing
• Publishers are a lot easier to locate

After we learned about all these new developments, Sucharita Mulpuru (Vice President of Forrester Research and Symposium 2010 Keynote Speaker) talked to us about how eCommerce can succeed in every economic condition. Some key notes (ha.. no pun intended):

• Consumers shop online because it’s convenient (#1 reason: it saves time and #2 reason: deals & coupons -> Remember this important stat, advertisers!)
• Successful brands compete up or across! Instead of fighting over whose value/dollar menu was the best, McDonald’s challenged Starbucks by highlighting a new product: McCafe.
• React to people power: Get your customers involved! Social web activity is a global phenomenon. EventBrite allows customers to share information about their tickets via social media.
• Expand your IT team – new technological developments & innovation breed success.
• Multi-Channel: Many buyers are now on more than 1 device – embrace the mobility revolution.

Next up: Panel Discussion! This year’s panel included: Siva V. Kumar (TheFind.com), Diana Gee (The North Face), Jeff Nobbs (ExtraBux), David Lonczak (Drugstore.com) and Kenneth Dayley III (crocs). This discussion was interesting because it allowed us to get perspectives from both advertisers and affiliates! It was great to hear their thoughts on these topics:

• Conversion Rates: Some affiliates (including ExtraBux) are going to have dynamic featured ads that will change to fit the customer. It’s also important to make sure there are clear Call to Actions. Additionally, don’t include too much info! We wouldn’t want to overwhelm visitors.
• Data Feeds: What’s missing? Unique identifiers: Sku #s, Bar Codes, Brand & Model #. Tax and Shipping information is also a plus for TheFind.com!
• Coupons & Discounts: crocs found that product-specific coupons performed much better! Siva from TheFind pointed out that virtual discounts (e.g. Facebook Credits) are great for those advertisers who are brand sensitive and prefer not to offer coupons.
• Mobile Commerce: TheFind also found that their peak mobile day was Black Friday due to customers comparing online deals to in-store.
• Global Plans: Try to develop sites that are accessible to those around the world.
• Getting Ready for Q4: Prepare ahead of time and make sure you keep your affiliates posted on your deals. Ideally, letting affiliates know when a product is out of stock would be great too (especially to help conversion rates)!

After all this great learning, it was lunch & Golden Link Award time! The Golden Link Awards were hosted by the Upright Citizens Brigade who certainly kept things fun.  I especially liked their piece on the creator of the Pop-Up Ad – “Mr. Popup.” The Golden Link Awards were really nice because they rewarded all of the innovative and successful players in the affiliate marketing space. Congrats everyone!

Next came “DealMaker,” a place for affiliates and advertisers to walk around and chat. Some had booths with great giveaways (Erica won a hat from KarmaLoop.com) and some just had great information.  This was one of the most successful parts of the Symposium because I was able to meet a lot of our clients’ awesome partners in person!

Lastly, the after party at the Biergarten at the Standard Hotel – who doesn’t love free beer & pretzels? The photobooth also made things really interesting.

This concludes my successful trip to LinkShare Symposium. I learned a lot, and got to connect with all kinds of people – merchants, agencies and affiliates alike! Thanks everyone for this great experience.

Valerie Russo

Media Coordinator – Affiliate

The NETexponent and AffiliateBenchmarks teams are so excited to announce the official launch of the AffiliateBenchmarks Survey 2010!

Last year, 3500 experts and insiders took part in the largest research effort this industry has ever seen. We plan on making this year even bigger!

Whats new for the 2010 AffiliateBenchmarks Study?

• Our affiliate/publisher study is now simpler. We removed some questions and streamlined others to ease the burden on busy affiliates/publishers.
• We added a short survey for advertisers/merchants to collect some information on their challenges and views of affiliate marketing.
• We added a short survey for agencies/OPMs/consultants to collect information on their view of the industry.
• We have even more partners who have agreed to distribute the survey and ensure that 2010 will be the largest affiliate research study ever produced. (a title currently held by our 2009 report)
• We are prepared to provide even more data analysis when we issue the 2010 report.

Special note: Participant who answers every question (not just the required ones) will receive a free copy of the the full survey results. Participants who answer all of the required questions will receive a copy of the Executive summary.

The survey is open from now until 5pm EST on July 16, 2010. Go now! http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/netxblog

“Your phone should be a personal assistant. That’s clearly where we’re going,” says Chris Cox of Facebook. ‘Ambient awareness’ was used multiple times to describe device relationships (rather, the necessity thereof) in our near future. But when quizzed on specifics for what phones of the future will look like and how consumer interaction will differ in the coming years of innovation, Cox had this to say:

“People overestimate what’s possible in a year, and underestimate [what's possible in ] 5 years. These devices are going to be magical in 5 years.”

Some even speculate that ‘mobile’ will be come a meaningless word soon because we are inherently always connected. “The real frontier is what’s local,” speculates one commentator, citing the popularity of groundbreaking platforms like FourSquare. “I think Foursquare has done some amazing work with check-ins, but it’s early,” says Gundotra when asked if there is a clear winner in the location game.

“I think we’re building great stuff — there is no winner,” pipes FourSquare’s Crowley. “Think of where we are now to where we were 2 years ago. We’ve made the space more interesting. We’ve pushed things in a different direction. It’s experimenting in the space.”

Speaking of experimentation, Gundotra was asked what he thought Google TV will do what for mobile apps and his answer reads a bit like an upsell, stating that “the most exciting thing about it is that the same Android apps you use will work on the TV. Like Pandora, play it on the TV.”

Facebook’s Chris Cox got a little heat regarding the ever changing privacy controls pleging the platform. He was happy to report, though, that this week, Facebook will be rolling out “drastically simplified” privacy controls in an attempt to remedy what Facebook CEO Zuckerman has publicly called “missed marks.” Facebooks next challenge? “It’s hard to know what to invest in — a better Android app or Facebook Zero.” Facebook Zero is their new, “fast, free, global and mobile” data service.

I wanted to highlight two key data points for our blog readers.

First, I thought it was important to show how the pricing models used in online advertising have changed from 2008 to 2009. As you can see from the chart below, performance based pricing models (led by search marketing of course) continue to lead the way for online advertising growth while CPM based pricing models continue their slow decline.

Data like this makes me proud that NETexponent has been a leader in the Performance Marketing arena since 2001.

Another interesting component of this research shows the growth of online advertising from infancy until now compared to the same first few years of TV Broadcast and TV Cable advertising. This chart is pretty amazing and really puts into perspective the aggressive gains in online advertising.

Download the report and check out all the other great data points available for free.

The 2009 AffiliateBenchmarks report is also the only one of its kind to collect data for the benefit of affiliates rather than strictly for advertisers.  The digital advertising industry is evolving and changing by the moment.  Because many affiliates are getting into the space on a part-time or hobby basis, it’s important they have an up to date resource of information to turn to for maximum return on their time and resources in the channel.  That’s not to say, however, that advertisers can not also benefit from the report.  In fact, the insights into the preferences and practices of affiliates today are invaluable for advertisers looking to forge the most lucrative relationships.

One thing that is clearly evidence by the report is that the affiliate industry is growing at an incredible pace.  In fact, nearly half of all survey respondents joined the industry in the past two years alone.  The growth and momentum in this industry further speaks to the importance of research and education as a foundation for new affiliates to come quickly up to speed on the best practices and leading techniques that are driving success for more established affiliates.  This report contains data on which merchant categories will likely produce the greatest revenue for affiliates and the best of all the tried-and-true methods of driving traffic to your site.

What this report provides affiliates is a one-stop shop resource and a wealth of insight on how to grow their businesses and become more successful in their techniques and practices.  Affiliates will learn what networks are getting high marks from their peers, what advertising channels are returning high profits, what types of programs (and how many) successful affiliates belong to and why- and much more!  More established affiliates can turn to the report as a watermark to learn how their practices compare to those of their competitors.

Response from the overall affiliate and advertising industry has been extremely positive, and we are already looking forward to expanding on the report in the next year.  To download the full AffiliateBenchmarks 2009 report, visit: http://affiliatebenchmarks.com/products-page/.

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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