To defend their way of ranking content. I didnt know it was wrong to run your business the way you want to … long as it is within the law. I guess some people believe Google ranking content the way they want.

Read about it here.

Keep on.

I first saw this on the news last night and today we received more information directly from Google. Google Checkout will process credit card transactions for site owners. Whats even more amazing is that it can be free for advertisers that spend money via Google Adwords. More specifically, you can process $10 of sales for free for every $1 you spend on Google Adwords.

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One of the fun aspects of my position here is that I get to talk to a lot of people in the affiliate marketing world. From the well known to the brand new, I have spoken to every type of affiliate you can imagine.

One of the big steps in an affiliate marketers (or online marketers) career is quitting your day job to pursue the affiliate life. I know there are people who are reading this right now who might be thinking about quitting their day job to go 100% into the affiliate business - and I encourage them to really think long and hard about it.

There is actually someone over at Search Engine Watch who is going through this right now. It is great to see the support that other online marketers are giving the guy.

The post got me thinking and I figured I would give my take on professional affiliates. One thing I have learned from hanging with some of the most talented affiliates in the business is what being a full time affiliate marketer is and is not. So here is a quick list of things that I have learned:

1. Affiliate marketing is not about working two hours a day, four days a week - most affiliates who are successful work long hours and almost seven days a week.
2. Affiliate marketing is not for people who need to be surrounded by people - I think it is fair to say that no matter how you do it, affiliate marketing can be a lonely profession. You really have to be OK with sitting in front of a computer for ten hours a day.
3. Affiliate marketing is not for people who cannot take a financial hit - I dont think there is a single successful affiliate out there who hasnt had a day where they lost money…a lot of money.
4. Affiliate marketing is not for the apathetic - it takes a lot of passion to be successful at affiliate marketing, if you are not excited about it, you should not be doing it.
5. Affiliate marketing is not for people who dont like learning - the best affiliate marketers are those that proactively search for new information. They read, go to conferences, talk to other affiliates, and arent afraid to ask for help when they need it.

I am sure there is something that I left out? Can you think of a trait of an affiliate to add to the list?

I am happy to announce that starting today we have a new member of the InsureMe Affiliate Team - April Hartmeister!

We managed to steal April from our customer service department (sorry guys) and she will be our frontline affiliate manager. Basically, that means she is our dedicated person to help all of our affiliates succeed. If you have questions, are looking for some help, or just want to chat, April is there for you! You can call her at 1-800-467-8736 ext. 6120.

Here is a little more info about April:

April is a Colorado native. She graduated from UCONN and has lived in every time zone in the continental US. She enjoys outdoor activities, good Mexican food and photography. Her favorite movie is Rubin and Ed. And luckily for all of us, April loves where she lives and works.

Help us in welcoming April to the department. Also, please know that if you want to still speak to Jeannine or me, we are here and able to answer your questions.

Would you like to see whats on the drawing board of new Google offerings? Better still, would you like to share your opinion on the strengths and weaknesses of each? Google is actually asking for your feedback on some new features theyre considering through Google Labs. Some success stories that have emerged from this process include Google Maps and Google News Alerts. My favorite of the new stuff is Google Mars with detailed maps of the red planet. Google Ride Finder could be pretty useful when traveling. Whats your favorite?

Alright, this post is going to contain a little bit of InsureMe business, so as I have said before, if you arent interested in InsureMes affiliate program you can skip this post…

As I think all of our affiliates know, we are currently in the process of testing/rolling out a new version of our lead site - which is a really big deal. There are too many features that are associated with the new lead site to really get into here, but needless to say, the new site should be awesome from a front-facing and backend perspective. Also, the new site will allow easy, instant automated cobranding and the ability to use any number of conversion tracking scripts. All great features - but enough self promotion.

What I wanted to write about is you guys and gals who are currently sending traffic to us through our affiliate programs. You guys are AWESOME. Throughout the entire process of testing all of you have hung in there, let us know where there were issues, and allowed us to fix them. No one has really freaked out, no one has gotten upset, and everyone has been extremely helpful in the troubleshooting/debugging phase.

We really appreciate all of your help in the process, and I am glad that you all know that what we do, we do it with your well being in mind. It is our goal to treat you all right, and I hope you are feeling that through the testing process.

Holler at us if you see problems with your site so we can troubleshoot. And if you havent already, check your sites (and your quote boxes) to make sure things are working right.

In closing - we love you guys (and gals). Thanks for sticking with us. More great things to come…

The same affiliate who suggested the Keyword Tumbler suggested a tool called Rapid Keyword, so today I got some time to download Rapid Keyword and give it a spin.

First thing to know, this is not a free tool - a one seat license is about $70.00 and a two seat license is about $100.00. So if you are the type of person who does not want to pay for a keyword tool, this isnt for you. If you are willing to drop a Benjamin Franklin on a tool, keep reading.

First impressions of the tool were OK. It is fairly clean looking, and while I would not call the interface “intuitive,” it is fairly easy to figure out.

[Please note - the most important part of this post is after the jump, so make sure you keep reading (yes, I am tricky like that)]

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you are wearing a USB Powered Shirt Fan. From TechEBlog, this hot shirt is being produced in Japan to keep the nerdiest of nerds cool.

Just a word to the wise, if your clothing plugs into a USB port, you might be a nerd. Not that there is anything wrong with that.

[Thanks to the Mighty Megan Mahan for the link]

The Google AdWords ad scheduling features we discussed a few days back are now live. We have yet to use them, but when (or if) we do, we will let you know what we think.

In the mean time, here are some links on the subject:

The Inside AdWords Announcement
The AdWords Ad Scheduling Help Center
The Search Engine Watch Discussion on Ad Scheduling

Read up, experiment, and have a great weekend!

I have been doing search engine optimization (SEO) for about two and a half years now and I am always amazed by the complexity of Googles search algorithm. At the same time, I am always happy to see the reason why some of the most popular sites rank well - because they are good sites that people like to visit and people link to.

Funny thing is, building a great site that people want to visit again and again (especially in the insurance market) is VERY challenging. So to rank well in the insurance market (or other “dry” but competitive markets like mortgages) you have to get technical and try to figure out what makes Googles search algorithm tick.

It looks like people are trying to do just that at Search Engine Watch right now. In the thread “What Are The 200 Signals Google Uses To Rank Pages? ” Shor points to Rands list of Search Engine Ranking Factors. The list really shows how complex the Google algorithm really is (and why it is not easy to fool.)

So if you are new to SEO and you are wondering what it takes to rank well in Google, take some time and read the list. Then go open a PPC account; because the list is guarantee to overwhelm you.

But seriously, SEO is overwhelming but not impossible. I wouldnt say dont do it - I would just recommend that you realize that SEO is a long process that requires patience, experience and a willingness to learn.

A few years ago, when I was an insurance agent, I bought a book called “The Guerilla Marketing Handbook” by Jay Levinson and Seth Godin. For me as an insurance agent, it was all about guerilla marketing, because I was looking for high impact, low cost ways to promote my business.

As an affiliate, I am sure you are looking for high impact, low cost ways to promote your website. Heck, as a company we are looking for high impact, low cost ways to market too. Cheap + Effective = Good.

Today I was reminded of the Guerilla Marketing Book by one of our talented IT people, Big Don L., who emailed me an article about Guerilla Marketing that was in Wired. It seems like Guerilla Marketing is in the spotlight still after all these years, as it should be.

Take some time to read the article here - if anything, it might get you thinking of the next great way to make money as an affiliate.

And if you are looking for some more inspiration, or are just wondering what marketing books I love, make sure to read anything by Seth Godin. That guy is the business.

Normally I shy away from talking directly about InsureMe affiliate program issues here at the blog - so if you are not an insurance affiliate and you never want to be one, it is OK to skip this post. Seriously, I wont be mad.

For all of you who are InsureMe affiliates, or if you are an affiliate who has been eyeballing our program from a distance, this post is for you.

Here at InsureMe, we have been busy, busy, busy trying to get everything up and running for our new cobranding and conversion tracking features for affiliates. Right now we are in the testing phase and, let me tell ya, things are looking really cool.

In the end, all of our affiliates should be able to cobrand their pages with their sites logo through their affiliate account (no emailing, phone calls, etc.), and you should all be able to track your conversions with Yahoo and Googles conversion counter pixels. You can also add custom pixels to the conversion page if you are using some kind of third party program.

Everything should be rolled out by the end of the month and I have a feeling when it is, you will be as excited as I am about it.

So if you are currently waiting to sign up as an InsureMe affiliate, the next couple of weeks would be a good time to do it. And if you are a current affiliate, and you have questions about any of this stuff, leave a comment below.

Alright! End of InsureMe news (shameless plug) for today!

WOW! We got an email from the CEO of Google, Eric Schmidt! Oh wait…everyone kinda did.

It looks like Eric Schmidt is not a fan of the bill that is in the House of Representatives that would charge for heavy use of internet bandwidth. Cant imagine why not…oh yeah, because it would make things like Google Video very expensive to do. And we all know that Google is a little strapped for cash and all.

Here is a copy of the email:

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Building links for search engine optimization is not fun. I have never spoken to an affiliate who enjoys it, and I can tell you that I do not enjoy it either.

Unfortunately, fun does not always equal big bucks, and successful SEOs are willing to sit down and build dozens (or hundreds) of inbound links to their sites day after day.

But how do you build links in the first place? A new guide from Jim Westergren tells us just that. From the purest of tactics, like “link baiting” to the ultra-dangerous ones, like Link-Vault, Jim goes through the different ways to build links to your website.

Also, make sure you pay close attention to the first section, “Guidelines for a Natural Simulation,” which explains ways to make your link development seem natural - because if you build links too fast, you are going to get in trouble. Trust me, I know.

Go and check out the guide here - and make sure you read the comments after the guide.

Happy linking!

(Yes, I know this blog posts title is cheesy.)

Yesterday I was speaking with one of our great affiliates named Mike. We were talking about keyword generation and he was kind enough to point me to one of his favorite keyword generation tools - the Keyword Tumbler.

If you have ever talked to me about increasing your effectiveness on Google AdWords, the first question I always ask is “how many keywords are you bidding on?” The answer I usually get is much lower than it needs to be.

If you are an affiliate in a competitive vertical (like insurance, mortgages, etc.) you are going to want to bid on as many relevant variations of keywords as possible. We are not talking hundreds of keywords folks - we are talking THOUSANDS.

And that is where the Keyword Tumbler comes in.

The Keyword Tumbler will take a list of keywords and come up with as many variations of those keywords as possible. Using Tumbler, a 7 word keyword phrase can become 5,040 different keywords! That, my friends, is loco.

Now you might not want to use all of the variations (having a billion keywords might be too much) but the tool will give you a great start on your keyword list.

So head on over and get the Keyword Tumbler. Let me know what you think of it by leaving a comment!

So you want to create a spreadsheet but ya dont have $400 bucks for Microsoft Office? Who cares! Just use Google.

Read about it here.

Google is very close to having all the moving parts to replace, for free, one of Microsofts biggest money makers; Office.

Yes, Google wants to rule the world. Are you lining up for the upcoming Google implant?

Keep On.

I know, I know - I have done a lot of criticizing when it comes to MSNs search results. And I think it was well deserved - with hundreds of spam sites rising to the top of their rankings and all.

But I am changing my tune today. I love the MSN search results. They seem to be finding the highest quality sites on the Web and putting them into the top spots. Actually, I think they are SO GOOD at this point that they shouldnt change them again for a long time.

Of course, my opinion may be a bit biased at this point.

Jennifer Slegg at Search Engine Watch reports that new dayparting features will soon be available on Google AdWords. This is big news for anyone who uses AdWords but wishes they could turn off their ads at certain times that are not profitable for them.

The dayparting features will allow advertisers to:

• Run their ads only on weekdays, weekends, or certain days
• Run their ads only at certain times of day (lunch time, evenings, only during business hours, etc.)
• Increase ROI by only advertising at profitable times of day

I think this is going to be a very useful feature and, from an industry standpoint, it is well timed. Chances are Yahoo!s new ad platform, due out in the coming months, will have some type of dayparting controls. And as we know, MSN is getting a lot of positive feedback for features like demographic targeting.

For a company like ours, this will hopefully give us the chance to slow down traffic at times when conversions and ROI are lower without having to manually change bids - manually changing bids is so 1998.

Good work AdWords Team. Cant wait to see what the dayparting looks like when it comes out next month.

Looks like the latest cool tech is coming from across the pond … the Atlantic that is. The Jack PC is a thin client computer which literally fits in a wall socket. This is cool stuff, especially in the corporate environment.

Read about it here.

It is my opinion you will be able to select something like this as an upgrade option on your next house. Time will tell.

Keep on.