Network Reviews | Affiliate Marketing Tips from Super Affiliate Zac Johnson

Make Money with Affiliate.com Affiliate Network

The competition for affiliate networks is now bigger than ever. This doesn’t seem to be a problem for Affiliate.com (formerly CPA Empire, now part of Media Breakaway), as they have been in the game since 2001. Media Breakaway is actually a lot more than just an affiliate network, they literally have their hands in everything, whether it be domain sales, site design, managing data and even their own division for mobile media. Let’s take a look at what Affiliate.com is all about and how they are competing as one of the top affiliate networks, in such a saturated industry.

Key Points of Affiliate.com
Affiliate.com is run on the DirectTrack Network platform. Since so many of us are already familiar with the look and feel, I won’t go into details of how to use the system to check stats and pull creatives. Instead I’ll focus on a few key points, offers available and what else Affiliate.com has to offer.

As of right now, there are just under 300 offers available on the network. The offers range from zip/email submits, cell phone submits, dating, surveys and more. If you are currently making money with another network, and that same offer is on Affiliate.com, they will squeeze out any margins they have to pay top dollar to gain your business. Weekly payments are also available for affiliates earning over $1,000 a week.

Ringtones.net – Amazing Name, Amazing Offer
The recent name change to Affiliate.com wasn’t the only amazing domain name that Media Breakaway acquired. The domain name Ringtones.net was added to their arsenal and have become one of the top performing offers on the network. Not only is a top performer, but it is actually their offer, and they have been paying a very generous $20 CPA for every new lead generated.

Having Fun with Network & Marketing Videos
While more networks are catching on with video trend, it’s always important to try and stand out from the crowd. Affiliate.com takes a different approach with their videos, and have created a few videos called “2 Minutes with JK”, who is one of the affiliate managers at Affiliate.com. You can view the two videos on JK’s YouTube page. Along with JK’s fun marketing videos, Affiliate.com also threw together a site called AffiliateCubes to feature videos of each of their staff and affiliate managers. With only two episodes of JK available, and only one featured on AffiliateCubes, I’m not sure if this is a long term project or what, but it’s still putting their company out there to be more personable.

Affiliate.com Breakaway Conference
When you have a large enough company and affiliate network to host your own networking conference, you know you are doing things right. Once a year Media Breakaway holds their own conference where they share information and invite some of their top affiliates to join in on the fun. If you are currently an active affiliate with Affiliate.com, they are giving away some nice package deals, depending on the amount of commissions you earn during April and May. The requirements are pretty low, so qualifying for a reward shouldn’t be tough for a seasoned affiliate. This year will be the 4th Affiliate Breakaway conference, and will be held during August 27th and 28th, 2009 in Denver, CO.

As mentioned earlier, Affiliate.com has been in the affiliate marketing games for many years now and knows what it takes to make money. If you aren’t already an affiliate, join now and talk to their team and see what can be done to bring your earnings to the next level.

31 March, 2009 Posted by: Zac Johnson Filed Under: Affiliate Marketing, Get Reviewed, Make Money, Marketing, Network Reviews

ClearLink – Premium Brand Affiliate Offers

I was recently introduced to a new affiliate network that has the potential to stand out from the rest. Instead of directly competing with the other numerous amount of affiliates networks, and running all of the same offers, ClearLink has taken a higher path. ClearLink is focused on running their network with only high end brand names, that almost everyone already knows and use.

What Big Names are ClearLink Working with?
You won’t find one field zips, surveys or even weight loss offers on ClearLink. Instead you will find brand names you know and trust. The ClearLink network is made up of six different advertisers, which are DirectTV, Dish Network, ADT, HughesNet, GE Security and Qwest.

What’s great about advertising these types of companies, is that the branding and sales pitch is already done for you. The majority of these companies already have commercials running on TV and radio. Everyone already knows what these companies offer and represent, you just need to get the signup page in front of new consumers.

How Much Can You Make with ClearLink?
When you are working with such quality brand names, they are willing to pay a decent commission for new customers. Commission payouts range from $6, all the way up to $300 per signup. Depending on the offer and your volume, your commission rate will vary.

Payment Methods
ClearLink is very flexible on working with affiliate partners, and are willing to go the extra mile. Instead of just a traditional SALE or COST PER ACTION process, ClearLink can reward commissions on a CPA, CPL, and Cost Per Call basis. Once signed up, you can discuss what lead program works best for you.

As for payment methods, ClearLink pays out by check or direct deposit. Checks are mailed out on the 15th of each month for all sales that have been installed and confirmed for the month previous. Higher volume affiliate partners can be paid weekly.

How ClearLink Tracking Works
One of the most exciting features about ClearLink, is that they are more advanced than your average affiliate network. Instead of being limited to just online advertising and lead generation, ClearLink has their own Pay Per Call program. Each affiliate offer/landing page is setup with their own dedicated toll free number for ordering, which is credited towards your affiliate account. You can also access all phone calling data through your affiliate login area.

In addition to having your own toll free number to increase sales, affiliates also receive indefinite cookies, which means they don’t expire. You are also given an unlimited supply of promotion codes, allowing you to track campaigns separately.

Ad Creative that Works
Once logged in as an affiliate, you can view and grab your ad creative for all campaigns. The different ad creatives available are Banner Ads, Email, Print Collateral (for offline advertising), Logos and Landing Pages. The great thing about all of the ad copy, is that the ad quality and landing pages are tested for max conversions. Remember, these are huge multi-million dollar company that constantly work on their ad copy and creative to make sure it works.

ClearLink is an Inc 500 Company!
It’s always great to come across a new affiliate network, but how are they really performing? ClearLink was recently listed as “Leading Performance-Based Marketing Company Ranks #51 on the 2008 Inc. 500 List” in the notable Inc. Magazine. Getting listed on the Inc 500 is no easy task. I’m looking forward to seeing the growth of ClearLink and what other big brands they can bring in over the coming months.

Final Thoughts on ClearLink
I’m very pleased to have had the opportunity to come across the ClearLink network. Not only was it exciting to see a new network thinking outside the box, and allowing for new marketing methods… but also limiting the network to only high quality brands.

As for revenue generation, I think a lot of money can be made with these name brand offers. Whether you have access to a lot of general audience traffic, or looking to start up a new dedicated blog for each offer, you know these are well known brands that always have a buying audience.

It’s very clear that the team at ClearLink are looking for new affiliate partners that can bring in growth and long term partnerships. Feel free to join ClearLink or contact them with any questions or comments you play have.

24 February, 2009 Posted by: Zac Johnson Filed Under: Affiliate Marketing, Network Reviews

T3 Leads: Pay Per Lead Affiliate Network

I’ve been keeping an eye on T3 Leads over the past couple of months, as I have seen them reviewed on many other blogs, and they requested a review of their own for this blog. Unlike other networks that have a huge collection of CPA offers, T3 Leads focuses on lead transactions. You are paid whenever you refer a user to complete a form process.

T3 Leads Offers & Commissions:
Since T3 Leads is a “pay per lead” type of network, you won’t find many offers that are already on other networks. T3 Leads has offers in the following categories; Payday Loans, Auto Insurance, Debt, Home Improvement, Auto Loans, Credit Repair, Insurance, Mortgage Loans and Renter Insurance. Based on offer type, requested information, volume and quality… leads can earn affiliates anywhere from .45 to $55 per lead generated. When logged in, you can use the menu toolbar and “Web Sites” feature to view all offers currently available on the network.

Promotional Methods:
T3 Leads has a system in place to allow their affiliates to promote offers through several different methods. Once logged in, under the “Promo” menu, you will have a choice between the following ad methods, Banners, JS or IFrame Form, Referral Banners or Popup Payday Banner. When selecting any of the desired creatives, you will be sent to a page which divides up the creative by campaign. Referral banners are also available, which in turn will offer you a 10% residual income from any referred affiliates who use the network. T3 Leads also proudly boasts that their offers convert on average between 1:6 to 1:9. Considering some of these offers pay in upwards of $30-$55, it’s definitely worth trying out.
(While all of the ad creative does look great, I would imagine affiliates would like to see more banner sizes and options available. Right now the network has a wide variety of banners, but each campaign is limited on the size of creative available.)

Acquire Signups through IFrames:
A really exciting feature that T3 Leads offers to affiliates, is the ability to pass through data and leads on their own landing pages. Instead of creating your own landing page, then having the pass the user off to the CPA landing page, you can create your own iframe and convert on your own page. I haven’t seen many other networks offer something like this, but it’s a huge opportunity for any affiliate looking to generate leads.

Payment Methods:

Networks that limit themselves to only US affiliate or payments is always a set back. T3 Leads allow affiliate payments through the following methods; WebMoney, Fethard, ePassporte, Wire Transfer, Check, PayPal and E-gold. Minimum payment threshold is $100, sent out twice monthly.

Top Earning Bonuses:
It’s always nice when a network adds a little something extra for their top earners. This month T3 Leads will be rewarding $200 to each of their Top 20 affiliates, and in the past month they have awarded such prizes as a Sony Vaio VGN-FW139, Sony Cybershot Camera, Geek Squad 8GB and more.

T3 Leads in the Blogosphere:
Since T3 Leads is so anxious to get the word around, I thought it would be fitting to include what other blogs and affiliates are also saying about T3 Leads:
- InternetBusiness Daily T3Leads Affiliate Review
- T3 Leads, Using the Power of iFraming
- T3 Leads, Highest Paying Affiliate Program?
- Make Money with T3 Leads Affiliate Network
- Review of T3 Leads

Summary:
To sum things up, T3 Leads look like they have a solid foundation and a lot of room to grow. They already show they are a step ahead in lead generation, by offering iFrame capabilities. As for growth, if the network was to move on past big lead gen offers, they could differently bring in a few smaller or less information requested offers and see how they affiliates would do on volume. I like what I see at the network and I may end up throwing a landing page together with their iFrame and see how it performs.

- Apply for T3 Leads

30 December, 2008 Posted by: Zac Johnson Filed Under: Affiliate Marketing, Network Reviews

Make Money with Motive Interactive Advent 2.0

I’ve been using Motive Interactive for several months now and after talking with my account manager, Luke, he wanted to spread to word and have a review done on their new Advent 2.0 system. The current network setup is excellent, but they went ahead and improved it that much more. The Motive Affiliate Network is run off of an Ajax system, which means everything is running off one page. With the current setup, there was occasionally an issue with loading times, however I have not experienced any problems with their new Advent 2.0 loading times. I’m sure you’ve experienced the joy of having to click back and forth on other networks to setup ad campaigns, with Advent 2.0, everything is constantly loading on the same page… which eliminates much wasted time and headaches. Here is a look at what you can expect from the new Advent 2.0.

An Immediate Difference Between New and Old
The new platform of Motive Interactive is immediately noticeable once you login. No more are you offered with a a lot of empty space and wasted navigation time. On the new platform, your account manager information is on the top right and offer spotlights are shown on the left menu area, with the main navigation to the extreme left. Before the new design, you had to go to the “Offers” section to see what new offers were added to the network. Motive has also improved their Quick Stats and Charts on the login page.

Offers Available on Motive Interactive
Like other networks, Motive has several offers to choose from, which target many different areas… but they also just don’t dump any offers onto the network. When you search through the campaigns on Motive, you will recognize a few of them, but they also have many that aren’t everywhere else. With many offers already having a higher payout than other networks, and the option for an increase payout on volume, I’d recommend taking a look at what they have listed. Whether you are looking for high paying diet offers (Green Tea, Wu-Yo), text messaging (Secret Crush) offers or even just email submits, Motive has them.

Quick and Easy to Understand Stats
Some networks just offer the basic stats of click, leads and amount earned. Motive went a bit further with their detailed stats, which load very fast and give a full break down on all campaigns. Pull a report on any date or campaign, and see which campaigns are pulling the best conversions and effective cpc/cpm numbers. In addition to full stats, you can also setup full stats tracking for pixel placement and campaign ids.

Affiliate Commission Rewards Programs
A few months ago I wrote a post on the top affiliate rewards programs out there. It looks like I can now add Motive Interactive to the list, and they will actually be one of the higher top paying rewards programs on the list. While most networks pay around a 1% reward to affiliates based on their earnings, Motive Interactive pays up to a 2% to their larger affiliates! Their new rewards chart is below.

The Highest Affiliate Referral Commission
Motive Interactive understands the power and value of referring new affiliates to their network, and they want to be the leader in referral payouts as well! I believe the highest payout from an affiliate network is at 5%, but Motive has upped the ante by 10%, bringing their referral commissions to 5.5%! As per their network, “The referred publisher must continue to generate commissions without a lapse of twelve (12) calendar months in order for the referrer to continue receiving the 5.5% commission from that publisher each month.“. All tracking is currently done on the back end and new reports will be available on the new Advent 2.0 network.

Final Motive Advent 2.0 Run Down
I already broke down a few of the more important features of the new Motive Interactive Advent 2.0, but to really experience the difference you have to see for yourself. Motive has created this great video that walks you through their new system.

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How can Motive Interactive Improve?
The goal for Motive on their Advent 2.0 affiliate network, is to provide affiliates with everything they need to success and to stay ahead of the competition. What’s awesome about Advent 2.0, is that it was built to be highly scalable and adaptable for future enhancements. What more would you like to see from Motive? I’m sure Luke or another contact from Motive will answer any questions or advice you have for the network on this post.

13 October, 2008 Posted by: Zac Johnson Filed Under: Affiliate Marketing, Blogging, Get Reviewed, Make Money, Marketing, Network Reviews, Pay Per Click, Web Developement

Make Money with Hydra Network

It’s always nice to do a review on a network that isn’t run off the DirectTrack system, just for the case that the whole setup is different and there are usually more features. Today we are going to look at Hydra Network. I’ve been an affiliate with Hydra Network all the way back to 2003, and since their network went live in 2003, they have shown massive growth and continue to be a prominent player in the affiliate network game. Hydra Network is run by Hyrda LLC, and was named 10th in Inc. magazine’s 2007 “The Fastest Growing Private Companies in America“.

Welcome to Hydra Network
Once you log into your Hydra Network account, you are welcomed with full stats for your account, along with the latest offers and updates added to the network. On the right side of the page you are shown a rotation of “News & Events”, along with “Featured Campaigns”, and a quick break down of each.

The main content area of the main log in page features a full list of “News & Updates”, which goes into detail on new campaigns, payout increases and how to promote hot campaigns. Below the main news and updates sections, you have a section for “New Campaigns”, then four recommended “Hot” campaigns currently featured on the network.

Hydra Network Campaigns
There are currently over 600 campaigns available on Hydra Network. Usually when a network had several hundreds of offers, it’s kind of a turn off, just because they seem to take on as many as they can, and don’t focus on quality and pricing. However, this isn’t the case with Hydra Network, because of the 614 offers currently on the network, 302 of them are EXCLUSIVE campaigns. With over 600 ad campaigns, you should not have any problems finding a success campaign to work with. Campaigns on the network range from $1.00 CPA, all the way up to $122.50.

When hovering over the “Campaigns” menu tab, you have the option to search all campaigns on the same page, or you can segregate your search by New Campaigns or Exclusives Only. For any incentive or form based web sites, the option to choose “Incentivized” and “Pre-Populated” campaigns is also just as easy. For an even more choices, use the “Advanced Campaign Search” for a list of campaigns base don their Attributes, Region or Categories.

Several affiliate networks have their own list of exclusive campaigns, but the majority of them are usually ZIP and EMAIL submit campaigns. Hydra Network has their share of these offer types, but also have an awesome amount of exclusive offers targeted towards health, biz opps, diet, financial services and products.

Hydra Network Stats Tracking
The stats area page is very simple and convenient to pull stats reports. Simply select your date range and click the “Go!” button. You also have the option to show stats based on Sub IDs, Actions and any date range. Some networks limit your stats to only 12-24 months of stats, with Hydra Network there is no limitation on pulling up stats all the way back to 2003.

After pulling setting up your requested stats, you will be sent to a stats page that looks something like the one below.

For anyone interested in setting up tracking urls with a sub id, all you need to do is visit your campaign creative page and scroll down til you are at the Sub ID field. Insert your sub id text and it will automatically create your sub id url for tracking. You can easily create hundreds of sub ids, by replacing your original sub id in the url, since Hydra Network does not over write your sub id name with a new code.

Hydra Network Rewards Program
As you continually earn commissions with Hydra Network, you will also be rewarded for your business and partnership. On top of your monthly commissions, you are eligible to receive a 1% monthly reward. Rewards start at $50, which means you will need to earn $5,000 in monthly commissions before seeing a reward.

Hydra Network Payment Options
Affiliates can opt to receive payments by check, ACH, Paypal or Wire Transfer. Payments are sent out on a Net 15 basis and there is a minimum payment amount of $50.

Summary
Hydra Network has been around for several years now and know how to remain a dominant player in internet advertising. If you aren’t currently working with Hydra Network, I recommend you join their network and see what campaigns they have for you to work with. With over 600 campaigns on the network, it would be smart to join them just to make sure you are getting the highest payouts on your current ad campaigns. I’ve been an affiliate with Hydra Network for many years now and have met with them at several conferences and never had problems with receiving payment.

T-SHIRT BONUS: I still have nearly 400 MoneyReign Shirts, bumper stickers, pens and buttons sitting around. If you join Hydra Network through this blog post, send me an email through the contact page, along with your name, address and tshirt size, I’ll be sure to send a gift package your way. (Due to shipping costs, this offer is limited to US signups only)