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The Fall of the The Stock Market and Web 2.0!

Once again, the stock market has a horrific morning, crashing to new lows, then starts to show life at the end of the day, then fizzles in the negative again…. and who knows when the chaos will end. On the same day that Microsoft’s stock hits a 10 year low, I thought it would be fitting to profile a few internet stocks and some names that we work with on a daily basis.

Below is a one year chart of stock companies we work with on almost a daily basis. Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, eBay, ValueClick, InterActive Corp and Amazon.com

As you can clearly see, a year ago a few stocks were doing alright and actually positive… since then it’s been a steady course, then a massive downfall as of lately. So where does this leave us and what does it all mean? While many are predicting the end of Web 2.0… others are still flourishing and making more money than ever. Why would the crashing of the stock market and economy result in the end of Web 2.0? Sure, people/companies are losing money and it will probably be a lot harder to get funding… but the best of us are still marketers and can adapt to the changing times.

Just take a look at Twitter, people are discussing what they are working on 24/7 a day… no one is boo-hooing and talking about how they are sitting around and not spending a dime. Like many others, Jim Kukral and Ted Murphy both have exciting new projects in the works… what about you? This is not the time to sit back.. it’s the time to move forward!

What do you see for the future of Web 2.0 and is everyone over reacting too soon… or just calling in the Grim Reaper for Halloween spirit?

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10 October, 2008 Posted by: Filed Under: Affiliate Marketing, Blogging, Make Money, Marketing, Stocks

It’s Not a Slowdown… It’s an Opportunity!

While the market is crashing, mortgage companies are folding and the world is panicking… sit back for a moment and ask yourself, “How is this effecting my business?“. First offer, if you are like me and have money in the stock market… it really sucks! Watching your portfolio drop a huge chunk every day definitely hurts… but I can’t imagine the feeling if you have your life savings or retirement held up in the market! However, if you can survive without the money held up in the stock market, you can totally bank on this economy. While other companies are cutting back on costs, laying off staff and even going bankrupt… this just gives you, “the blogger” or “the affiliate“, even more reasons why you can start making money.


Just 1 Year Ago we were at a 14,000 Stock Market, We are Now Under 10k!

Though the outlook is dim, as we sit here with another triple digit loss on the DOW, but here’s a way to put everything in perspective… If you didn’t have a TV, news web sites or any money in the stock market… how would the past few months of world events really effect your life? In most cases, it wouldn’t… you still have the health (hopefully), your business. your time and family, and the sun is still shining. What matters most is what you do with the time you have set before you. While everyone is pulling back, take charge and push your business efforts forward. Don’t rely on the stock market to come back and make you rich… you have to get to work and do it yourself.

For many of us, we are making more money than ever! If you’ve been in this game long enough, you know there is always a new opportunity to make money around the corner. As online marketers, we have low overhead, minimal (if any) staff, can work out of our homes and whip out million dollar ideas with passion.

Don’t remember 2008 as the year the stock market crashed (again)… but the turning point in your business and entrepreneurial life!

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07 October, 2008 Posted by: Filed Under: Affiliate Marketing, Blogging, Make Money, Marketing, Stocks

The Super Affiliate’s Guide to Blogging Profits

While at BlogWorld it was amazing to see how many people are not making money with their blog, or at least not fully monetizing their blog for a potential revenue stream. Though some of this information may seem basic to seasoned affiliates and bloggers, the purpose is to help and increase revenue growth and awareness for bloggers of all sizes. Here are a few ways that you can start making money with your personal or business blog.

1.)    Google Adsense
What has been referred to as many as “webmaster welfare”, is sometimes the best solution for beginners. For those just starting out with a blog, or unsure how to start making money, Google Adsense is a good way to start. As a blogger, all you need to do is place a simple line of code on your blog and Google Adsense will place relevant contextual ads on your web site based on your written content. However, since Google is doing all of the work, you will be receiving a small cut for the actual amount of advertising you are given.

2.)    Direct Advertising
One of the best ways (if not the best) to monetize your blog is to create your own on site advertising and to sell these spots yourself. Not only are you in control of what advertisements are on the site, but you are receiving full payment for each spot. The majority of blogs are implementing 125×125 ad spots on their pages for direct advertising.
- An excellent management system for selling ads on your blog is OIO Publisher. Many top bloggers are using this program to generate revenue monthly.

3.)    Paid Reviews
Once you have an established blog or brand, you may want to start offering services for exposure on your blog, such as a sponsored or paid review/post. The best way to offer paid reviews on your blog is to setup an advertising page for sponsored reviews, or you can also join “sponsored review” networks like ReviewMe and PayPerPost, which will feature your blog in their directory and send you new customers, in exchange for a commission percentage.

4.)    Contextual Advertising
Placing advertising on your site from Google Adsense is a form of contextual advertising, but it is also still also banner advertising and not displayed directly within your written content. There are many advertising networks out there like Kontera, which will find targeted keywords in your blog content and link them to specific advertisers. You are then paid per click to these advertisements.

5.)    Self Managed Content Links
Just like using any advertising network, the less work you have to do, usually the smaller margin you will receive. Instead of using  a company like Kontera, you can purchase a word press plugin (such as WP Affiliate Pro, which I also use) and manage your own content advertising. The best way to do this would be through affiliate networks and selecting offers that best match your content and linking up related keywords in your blog content.

6.)    Referrals
Depending on your blog niche market, you can earn commissions on referring your readers to other networks or web site. A great example of this is for affiliate marketing. If you refer an affiliate to a network, you can receive a percentage from all commissions they generate for the life of their account. Another example would be to provide your visitors to a service they are billed monthly for, some programs will then pay you a commission every month as long as they remain a subscriber.

7.)    Widget Based Programs
If you currently run a blog that is focused on product reviews or about any type of item sold in stores or online, you may find that “widget based” programs perform best with your blog. Programs like Chitika, WidgetBucks, Shopzilla and TZZ Media will all display relevant advertising on your blog, matching up with your content. Most of these programs pay on a per click basis. As most of these programs are widget based, you will have actual text and picture ads displayed on your blog, rather than just text within your content.

8.)    Contests & Promotions
Though you may not get paid for running contests or promotions on your blog, if you run them correctly, you can be compensated with a prize or additional advertising. Additionally, running contests will also increase your readership, as everyone likes free stuff! (Example: If you are running a niche blog on digital cameras and Nikon or Canon were to offer you a free camera to review and one to give away to your readers, this would be a great form of compensation, while offering great information to your readers.)

9.)    Consulting
One of the best ways for you to get exposure for yourself or your brand name, is through having a well known blog. As your readership and branding grows, you may be able to offer “consulting” services if you become a prominent and very knowledgeable in your niche area. There are many very big name bloggers out there who make all of their money off public speaking or consulting, and have NO advertisements on their blogs.

10.)    Self Branding
As cliché as it may sound, the “self branding” and exposure you can receive from your blog may end up being the most power asset you can receive. Not only are you building up your brand name, and people are rushing to your blog with every new post you write, but you are also becoming an expert in your niche area and advertisers will flock to you. As you gain a bigger presence online, you will also start networking more and more, which will only continue to grow your blog and your bottom line.

The most important thing to remember when trying to make money through blogging, is that it is NOT fast and it is NOT easy. It’s actually one of the slowest ways to make money online, and as a blogger you will need to establish yourself and continue to write quality content. It’s the long term value and connections you will establish over time that can make your blogging experience priceless.

Please contribute to the list with any other advertising options I may have missed or what you have found to be most profitable.

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24 September, 2008 Posted by: Filed Under: Affiliate Marketing, Affiliate Summit, Blogging, Contests, Gambling, Make Money, Marketing, Pay Per Click, Promotions, Stocks, Web Developement, Zac's Life

The Rise and Fall of Public Internet Advertising Companies

With the excitement, disappointment and frustration surrounding the news of Yahoo teaming up with Google, and telling Microsoft to pound salt. A couple months ago, Yahoo was sitting in the dumps around $18 a share, then jumping to nearly $30 per share with the news of a possible Microsoft merger. Off the news of the merger going away, Yahoo stock has taken yet another beating, and back down to $22 a share. On the topic of the future of advertising and the BIG 3, I thought it would only be fitting to do a quick spotlight on two other internet companies and their rapidly declining stock prices, which also base their businesses around internet advertising.

HandHeld Entertainment
I’ve talked about Handheld Entertainment (ZVUE) several times in the past, mainly because I have worked in the humor and entertainment niche area for years… and this company came along and purchased a ton of high traffic entertainment sites, for what many saw as “inflated premium prices“. Handheld Entertainment went on to buy the extremely popular and controversial site, EbaumsWorld.com. At the time of the purchase, ZVUE stock was hovering around $1.78 per share. The terms of the deal were that Handheld Entertainment (ZVUE) will pay $17.5 million, including $15.0 million in cash and $5.0 million in common stock for the site. Today ZVUE is sitting at a low 27 per share.


The Business Model of Acquire, Acquire, Acquire… Isn’t Working for ZVUE
HandHeld Entertainment Stock – 52 Wk. Range: 0.20-3.73

ThinkPartnership, Inc (KowaBunga!)
The next stock I’d like to point out is, ThinkPartnership, Inc (THK). Like Handheld Entertainment, ThinkPartnership (now known as Kowabunga!), went on a bit of a buying spree of their own… picking up affiliate network PrimaryAds, creating ValidClick and now the core of their business KowaBunga! To make a long story short, before there were a million affiliate networks out there, the two main platforms were to go with DirectTrack or KowaBunga. In many cases, Kowabunga was the cheaper and better solution for smaller companies to run their own affiliate programs, and later through ther MyAP network… but ThinkPartnership would later increase Kowabunga prices through the roof… leaving many current users to shy away from using the network. So in short, that brings us to where we are today… the one year chart below shows the story, THK stock is now sitting at a low of .55 a share.


Where would KowaBunga be today if ThinkPartnership didn’t get in the way?
ThinkPartnership, Inc Stock – 52 Wk. Range: 0.45-3.43

So what is the end story and why are these companies failing? With both of the examples above, the core strategy of the parent company was to acquire other properties. Even when trying to look at a success story like InterActiveCorp (IAC) and their formerly popular Ask.com & AskJeeves.com… Barry Diller now plans to break apart the company intro five separate companies. Once again, we are seeing the same potential fall of Yahoo’s main business model (advertising) falling into the hands of Google.

How much further can these company’s stocks fall and what’s the future of advertising online?

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13 June, 2008 Posted by: Filed Under: Affiliate Marketing, Blogging, Make Money, Marketing, Stocks

The Rise and Fall of HandHeld Entertainment

Several months ago I reported on eBaumsWorld.com being acquired for several millions of dollars. A month after that post, I made another one about how the company that was purchasing eBaumsWorld.com, saw a huge increase in their ComScore figures. The company that acquired eBaumsWorld.com and multiple other high traffic entertainment sites is HandHeld Entertainment and their stock symbol is ZVUE. Why is this relevant to affiliate marketing? It’s completely relevant, because all of the acquired web sites made their money from affiliate programs and CPM based advertising. Let’s take a look at the RISE and FALL of ZVUE.

The two year high for ZVUE, was back when they first announced they were acquiring Dorks.com for a million dollars. ZVUE went on to acquire several other sites such as FunMansion.com, YourDailyMedia.com and PutFile.com. In my previous post I did a break down of how much each site was acquired for, but based off their earnings and traffic levels, I would say ZVUE overpaid on all of them. Unfortunately for many of the site owners, their deal included a large portion of STOCK, instead of complete cash deals. Now their million dollar deals have dwindled in size to multi-hundred thousand dollar deals. (Yet another deciding factor to think about when deciding if you should Sell or Not to Sell.)


Before YouTube & 2.0 Sites, EBaumWorld.com was King.

Today ZVUE stock is at a miserable .39 per share and down 71.59% on the year. To make matters worse, ZVUE was issued a Delisting Warning Letter from NASDAQ today. I can’t imagine there is much hope for this company should they get pushed down to the pink sheets. It’s amazing how badly their numbers and stock price has dropped since the acquisition of eBaumsWorld.com, which is still a powerhouse in the entertainment area. With the stock price now as low as it is, an acquisition from another company could make sense, even just for the amount of volume of traffic it’s network of sites produce.

What do you think of ZVUE’s performance with it’s network of web sites and have you ever attempted to make money in the video/entertainment niche area?

 

(Disclaimer: I do not recommend buying or selling this stock. This is simply a write up based on a company that deals with web sites and affiliate marketing. This post is in no way intended for action on your part based on making money or stock trading. You are responsible for any actions you take, whether it is affiliate marketing or through the stock market.)

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23 April, 2008 Posted by: Filed Under: Affiliate Marketing, Blogging, Marketing, Stocks