Site Reviews | Affiliate Marketing Tips from Super Affiliate Zac Johnson

BloggersBase, Efforts to Building a Blogging Community

Believe it or not, there are over 100,000 new blogs created every day. With so many blogs already published and nearly 3 million new blogs every month, how it anyone supposed to make sense of it all, or at least weed out the good ones. BloggersBase is trying to do just that. While there may already be sites like Technorati to automatically rank blogs based on their popularity, and sites like Digg to have users vote on the best content… BloggersBase strives to bring you the best of both worlds. In short, “BloggersBase is a citizen journalism magazine powered by YOU!”

How BloggersBase Works
To participate in the BloggerBase voting system, you will need to signup for a free account at their site. They only as for your email, name and password… so it’s a quick easy setup.

As a blogger you can write your content directly to the BloggerBase web site, or you can add your original blog content to their database. Your original blog content can be added by using an RSS feed, or simply copy and pasting your original work. The pros to duplicating your content, is that you will get more people reading your content. The cons include the possibility of getting outranked in the search engines by BloggersBase in the search engines, or Google possibly seeing the post as duplicate content.

User Feedback and Voting System
Everyone loves to see that people are reading their content, and when feedback is left, it’s that much more important. I think the biggest potential for BloggersBase lies in the future of it’s community.

Right when you visit the BloggersBase site, you aren’t overwhelmed with options or a million different categories to separate blogs into. There are four main categories which are Entertainment, Lifestyle, Technology and World Affairs. Once you select your desired category, it will further group into small categories if you want tighter search results.

Below is a screenshot on how users can rate and comment on your blog postings. Much like regular blogging, the comments and user information are listed below the post, but users also have the ability to rate of agreement, presentation, professionalism and value of the posting. I can see this being very value and effective for anyone starting out in the blogoshere and doesn’t have any money to spend on user feedback and getting people to their own sites.

Prizes and Awards on BloggerBase
One of the big incentives that will drive a lot of people to BloggersBase, is their ability to offer cash prizes and an affiliate program. Each week BloggersBase awards $50 to their top bloggers and a rewards/cash system through their affiliate program. Based on ratings and feedback from the community, the top blogger of the week would receive $40, while the second place blogger receives $10.

The Future of BloggerBase
With so many directories and voting sites out there, it is hard for any new sites to compete. One of the hardest thing to build in any niche market, is a loyal user base. If BloggerBase continues to grow, and user participation stays up, they can be one of the big players in the blog tracking area. A few areas BloggerBase may need to work on, is creating better incentives for bloggers to write or add content to their site. The cash rewards and prizes are a good addition, butare most likely not large enough to bring over any decent sized bloggers. On the other hand, the system is perfect for anyone that doesn’t want to learn wordpress or setup their own blog.

What are your thoughts on BloggerBase and how they can improve their site?

03 February, 2009 Posted by: Zac Johnson Filed Under: Blogging, Marketing, Site Reviews, Web Developement

Increasing Niche Store Profits with Store Stacker

Creating niche based web sites has been really hot lately, and the methods for doing so are also increasing. While many web sites are using programs other programs to build niche theme stores, what happens if you want to list or target more than just eBay auctions. There are so many other products and affiliate programs out there pushing actual product, how can you take advantage of them all. Scott from Store Stacker contacted me about his site at StoreStacker.com. In a nut shell, StoreStacker will build a complete affiliate site for the user, while listing and profiting from not only content on eBay, but also Amazon, ClickBank, OverStock, RegNow (Commission Junction added soon) and RSS feeds. Everything is in the user’s control; how the site is setup, how it looks, and what you are targeting.

How it Works?
Instead of relying on just eBay auctions, with Store Stacker you now have the power to build niche stores with thousands of more products, and ways to generate revenue. Not only will Store Stacker create customized product pages for everything in your store, but you can also include video content (from YouTube) and articles (from RSS). Also included in each Store Stacker site, are automatic seo and content updates. Once you setup your store, it will automatically update itself with the latest content and new products. Worried about SEO for your store? Store Stacker also has that covered, and did the work for you. “The SEO capabilities are the best in the industry – keyword infused urls, keyword tags on every page, related product listings on each page, google sitemaps are automatically created and a new site page is created for every product, video or article that is imported.” For a more thorough and detailed write up on the Store Stacker program, visit their “how it works” page.

You can Create One Big Store, with Access to Millions of Products!

Utilizing the Power of YouTube and RSS
No longer does your niche store have to rely on just product listings, but Store Stacker has the ability to add YouTube Video and RSS content to your sites. With access to over 10 million products from Store Stacker’s partnered affiliate networks (with many more coming over the next couple months), you will also have the ability to import thousands of on-topic videos from YouTube and relevant articles from any RSS source (blogs, news sites, etc). Depending on the size of your site, this can save you hundreds or even thousands of dollars by not having articles written to match up with your actual products, not only for a better seo aspect, but user experience as well. New products, content and video are added automatically to your store over time.

Store Stacker Video & Admin Area
I can do a write up on Store Stacker all day, but the benefits of seeing real video of what Store Stacker can do is much more exciting. Scott put together a nice intro video to show the power of his software and how easy it is to setup new stores. Once you are setup with the software, Scott has also created a whole line of video tutorials for you to learn from, along with a full members forum.

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How much does it Cost?
For the amount of functionality and power behind the Store Stacker software, you may expect it to be expensive, but it’s actually only $97 for the full version, which includes eBay, Amazon and YouTube plugins. Each software package comes with 12 fully customizable templates, user manuals, video tutorials and on-call email support. You can purchase other plug-ins such as ClickBank and OverStock for $25 each. If you are having any success with other niche store software, then it would be worth while to try Store Stacker and see what revenue you are missing out on, by not targeting Amazon.com and other merchants. There are not monthly hosting fees or hidden costs, and once you purchase the software, you can create as many stores as you like.

Final Thoughts on Store Stacker
I, like many of you, have had my share of experience in building niche theme based sites, as well as using eBay as their main source of revenue. I feel the best way to succeed with this software is to create your own site using Store Stacker, but don’t let it sit there with an out of the box template. Create your site very tight on it’s niche, then create a custom template and additional content for the site. If you’ve already made money in the past using just eBay, improve your profits by expanding your product sources out to Amazon and ClickBank.

Feel free to leave any comments or suggestions you have on the Store Stacker software and how it compares to other “niche store” programs available.

- Download Your Copy of Store Stacker

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

PPC Classroom with Amit Mehta

I’m sure most of you have already seen Amit Mehta’s blog once or twice over the past few months. If you haven’t, he’s one of the faster growing affiliate marketers in the ppc space and has increased his revenue generation to over $2.4 million dollars with only a few years of search and affiliate marketing under his belt.

So what has Amit been up to lately? In between his speaking appearances and moving from Boston to Florida and back, he’s managed to put together one of the most anticipated PPC learning tools in quite some time. To make the program even more of a success, Amit teamed up with well known marketer Anik Singal. Today is the official launch of the PPC Classroom 2.0, so please feel free to check it out.

If you’ve been fortunate enough to see Amit Mehta speak at Affiliate Summit or any of his other sessions, you already know he has a great passion for what he does and loves to help others. During his sessions he talks about how he went to school and got his fancy degrees, but in the end, he walked away from his high paying job to become a full time internet marketer. As a PPC Classroom member, Amit shares his personal stories and valuable information on how to grab a niche by the tail and replicate the process to improve your numbers across the board.

Amit Mehta & Zac Johnson by you.
I first met with Amit at Affiliate Summit East 2007

I could go on and on about what you will find in the program, which is a lot, but you can just click here and visit their home page which shows everything. I just started looking over the program and videos today and it’s setup very well and I’m sure it’s full of content that everyone will find beneficial. The cost is $77, then 30 days free access to the members area.

- Signup for PPC Classroom

14 October, 2008 Posted by: Zac Johnson Filed Under: Affiliate Marketing, Blogging, Make Money, Marketing, Pay Per Click, Site Reviews, Web Developement

ShoeMoney Tools – Save 80% Off Your 1st Month!

It was great to meet up and hang with Jeremy at BlogWorld last week, and I’m actually on my way to meet with him again at SEO Think Tank in San Diego, California this weekend. Everyone knows that Jeremy can produce big numbers and has been making big money for years now… but how does he do it, and what tools does he use? The secrets are finally out, and ShoeMoney Tools is now live for everyone to join. I’ve had the opportunity to log into the service and preview the tools for the past couple of weeks and there is some pretty cool stuff in there, let’s check it out what ShoeMoney has created!

ZacJohnson.com Blog Readers Save 80% Off!
First off, before going over each of the tools available in the system, I wanted to give you the opportunity to save an awesome 80% off in your first month. Instead of having to pay the normal fee of $99 a month, you can try out the program for only $19.80 during your first month! – Just use the code “zacjohnson” when you sign up. If you aren’t happy with the tools available, just cancel your account before the end of the month.

What Can ShoeMoney Tools do for You?
Right now there are 19 tools in the system, and the ability to request more tools and run the ShoeMoney Tools affiliate program… without being a member, you can’t access any of them.

The PPC Tools are my favorite, as they can really speed up your campaign building and group together keywords and generate ad copies for you, while showing how your competition is advertising! The “SEO Tools” and “Link Building Tools” are also pretty cool, especially if you like spying on your competition to see their link building strategies, rankings or to compare rankings.

The Future of ShoeMoney Tools
Once you are a member, you can log into the system and access all of the tools. However, what I am really looking forward too, is what tools will be added over time. As more members join ShoeMoney Tools and more requests are sent in, I can only see this resource getting better and better.

ShoeMoney Tools Video Tutorial
To finish off the review of ShoeMoney Tools, I’ll let Jeremy do the rest. Please watch the video below as each of the tools and the admin area are explained. (Once you are a member, there are a lot more video tutorials to walk you through several of the tools in the site.)

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Please feel free to join ShoeMoney Tools and save 80% off (use coupon code: ZACJOHNSON), and also leave any comments on what tools you think would improve the ShoeMoney Tools service.

26 September, 2008 Posted by: Zac Johnson Filed Under: Affiliate Marketing, Site Reviews

The Emergence of PepperJam Network

It was no surprise when MarketingSherpa released their latest reporting, basically stating “Pepperjam Network Explodes onto the Affiliate Marketing Scene with Unprecedented Growth and Industry Support“. In the report from MarketingSherpa, they break down some heavy numbers on the largest affiliate networks in the game today, and it’s no surprise to see PepperJam Network giving the big players a run for their money. Here are just a few of the big numbers we are seeing from PepperJam Network after just 5 months from their network launch date. (Results from Partnercentric surveyed top partners)

Networks with Active Affiliates
In the first chart, we clearly see all of the big players in the game which have had networks for years, and it’s really no surprise to see these names listed. However, in the fifth position, PepperJam Network is quickly gathering market share and soon enough, may even pass some of these well known affiliate networks.

Where Affiliates Make Money
The next chart shows which of the top networks affiliates are also working with. All of the same affiliate networks listed in the first chart appear again, but not in the same order. Shareasale affiliate activity crushes Linkshare, even though they have a larger following… and the same can almost be seen with Performics and PepperJam. Performics has a higher following in the top chart, but nearly tied with PepperJam Network in affiliate activity.

Why Affiliates Choose Some Networks Over Others
We are all members of different affiliates networks, but the majority of us only make money with a couple of the many we are affiliates with… why is that? As part of the survey, affiliates were asked the same question and their response was the following:

For more details and the full report, be sure to head over to MarketingSherpa. I’m sure in the followup report, we will see even more promising numbers from PepperJam Network.

What’s New at PepperJam Network?
Based off the report from MarketingSherpa, PepperJam Network is showing some very promising numbers. In addition to their growth in the affiliate space, I also wanted to keep you updated with some news surrounding their network.

- Make Money with eBay: If you ever made money with the eBay affiliate program, you were probably making it through Commission Junction. On April 1st, the eBay Partner Network launched as they removed themselves from Commission Junction. Just recently, eBay and PepperJam Network teamed up to offer affiliates another alternative for advertising their network. Now you can run eBay directly through PepperJam Network. (For all affiliates running Build a Niche Software, the ability to run and track through PepperJam is now available)

- Tons of New Offers: Since going live, PepperJam Network has added an amazing amount of new advertisers to the network. Now with over 250 offers, they are quickly becoming the prominent network to make serious money with. Keep in mind, the 250 offers I mentioned are each their own web site and brand name!

- $10 Signup Bonus to New Affiliates: With the explosion of growth PepperJam Network is seeing, they are only pushing harder to make this growth continue. If you aren’t currently an affiliate with PepperJam Network, join now and you will receive $10 in your account once you are approved as an affiliate. It doesn’t get much easier than that!

If you haven’t already, I highly recommend you join the PepperJam Network. If you’re already an affiliate, be sure to login and see what offers were recently added to the network.

As an affiliate, what makes you choose certain networks over each other and what would make PepperJam Network or any of the other networks mentioned, be your network of choice?