John Hasson

Here is what I mean by this.

Say you are promoting a product.  You need to stop thinking like the person trying to sell it.  “dog training” is a nice general keyword, but really your keyword should solve a problem.  “stop dog peeing on carpet” is a person looking for a solution.  The people looking for solutions are going to be much more interested in your dog training guide.  This concept can apply to just about any niche.

Here is another one

auto insurance quotes vs i need insurance vs i hate geico
look, “i hate geico” has zero ads right now.  Bet you get some killer CTR and conversions with links to someone who isn’t geico

But how do you know which will work and which don’t?  Easy.  Do all of them.  Yes *all* of them.  (caveman speak:Turn off bad. Leave on good)

Tags: Advice, PPC, Pay Per Click // Add Comment »

Yesterday afternoon I got a call from my father asking if I could take him to an emergency dentist to get one of his teeth pulled. He was still waiting for the office to call him back.  I figured I’d call my dentist office, Stonehaven Dental to see if they had something sooner (especially since I had a plane to catch in a few hours).

They were awesome.  The owner (or one of the owners) of the place came down and met us there after hours; he did everything, the paperwork, xrays and consultation as well as pulling the tooth (when my Dad decided that was what he wanted to do.)  It was kinda funny watching them be certain which tooth to pull…  “Does this hurt?” followed by screams and involuntary spasms or a nope (depending on which tooth).  We were in and out in a little over an hour.

I kept the tooth.

Tags: Personal // Add Comment »

Driving around this morning I saw a sign for a “free” carwash being held by some cheerleaders at a local High School.  My car was kinda dirty I figured, why not.

Turns out it wasn’t free… but hey, I am already in line a $5 “donation” seemed like a worthy cause

How this relates to online marketing.

• “Free” or cheap offer that isn’t really free
• Pretty people to promote your product/service

What do you care, pics below:

Tags: Affiliate Marketing, Personal // 2 Comments »

Ever wonder what links from top bloggers will get you?

Shoemoney - 80 Visits (1 page) ~ 80 visits per post
John Chow - 69 Visits (1 page) ~ 69 visits per post    [ed note: 69 DUDE!!!!]
45n5 - 131 Visits (4 pages) ~ 32.75 visits per post
Ian Fernando - 75 Visits (3 pages) ~ 25 visits per post

This data is all from a 2ish month period from the first link.  You can even see which pages the link came from.  John Chow’s readers seem to stick around longer then Shoemoney’s though.  However Ian’s readers definately stuck around the longest.  Yet another data post

Edit: None of these were “GO HERE NOW” links.  They were just hotlinked text.  I would imagine a “go here now” link would get more traffic

Tags: Data // Add Comment »

Day 1 started out with me talking about PPC engines for an hour.  Lots of people were there and there were some really good questions asked.  I had a blast speaking on PPC.  Then I went to the meet market and walked around doing the “networking thing.”

I ran into a bunch of friends while there.  Lots of good times.

Ian Fernando put together a great networking event that about 20 or so of us attended just before the Share A Sale party.  John Chow was there filming everything.  Not sure if everyone there wants their name mentioned so I’ll leave it at that.  (Was a blast)

The Share-A-Sale party was pretty good, although the consensus was that their party in Vegas was a lot better.  It could be that the boat was so much bigger or that it was kind of rainy and wet.  All in all lots of fun meeting new and old friends.  I even found a bunch of people right in my backyard (Salt Lake City) that I’ll probably be talking to later this week.

Day 2 - The morning was spend in the exhibit hall doing more of the same.  I got a cool skate board but then lost it somewhere :(  I’ll try to go and pick one up later if they have any left.  I am here now in the Anatomy of a Great Affiliate Program learning from Ian and a few other people.  (Mostly I am here to see what Ian will do :))

So if you are looking for me, that is where I am.

Tags: Affiliate Summit 2008 // 1 Comment »

View of Boston in the morning

Tags: Personal // Add Comment »

So I am here loading data… My 8 year old wants me to watch her play the wii.  Sure.  I am not really watching, I am sitting in the same room working on my laptop.  Every now and then I’ll glance over and be a good dad.

This gives you an idea of what she wants me to watch her play.  Yeah I am an awesome dad But… I noticed something…

Yeah, that is right.  She is cleaning Horse poop in the stables as part of the game.  Seriously.. WTF?  What kind of game makes you clean Horse crap.  (Let alone any type of fecal matter)  I was busting out laughing and I still don’t think she gets why it is funny (to me).

So kids.  If you are really good, maybe one day your mom or dad will buy you a video game where you too can clean horse crap.

Tags: Advice, Personal // 3 Comments »

Ok, I have a question for you all. I have had products I have created in the past cracked and stolen via piracy (Encrypted Messenger) which is one of the biggest reasons I stopped updating the software and just gave it away for free.  Since I moved into affiliate marketing I have had entire websites copied and ripped off.  I figured that was just the way it went.  Am I wrong?

So I did some digging and research and found keywordspy and spyfu and even shoemoney tools as well as some clickbank products and others which all copy keywords and ads more or less.  Some people use this information for inspiration, some just copy the ads directly and test which ads work.  I have done both.

I got an email from a super affiliate (who apparently makes a ton more money than I do) getting mad at me for copying one of his ads. Is he right? Did I copy him? Not him personally.. no.  I really don’t know who he is. I would guess his ad came from one of those places I linked to above.

Is it bad/evil to use the tools above to test different existing ads out there? Feel free to comment, I am really curious what people think about this one.

Tags: Advice, PPC, Pay Per Click // 5 Comments »

I like looking @ data.  If you read this then this may interest you.  All over the internet, you will see the reports of Click Through Rates per ad position: #1 is twice as much as #2 and so on.  I figured I’d to a quick SQL query of my data and see where I stood.  Here you see the CTR for Yahoo and MSN #1’s are 4% and 3.5% (I guess I fail at google :)).  The numbers speak for themselves. I included the impressions so you would get an idea of the statistical accuracy (more impressions = more accurate)

WTF is up with Google you may ask? The past few months I have pretty much ignored google and have been focusing on everyone but them.  (Yahoo, MSN, and bunches of other 2nd tier networks — I would like to say that this was mostly so I would be better prepared for my speaking topic (PPC engines that work) at Affiliate Summit East — and that is partially true, but really I just haven’t been working Google over much.  Apparently I need to get on the ball.  Don’t worry though,  Amit will be giving a great presentation on working Google so that topic is going to be covered.

Some interesting things about this data.  Some of the really low ranks have a higher CTR then you would think. (See position 25 and 30 on yahoo)  Yahoo seems to give you a higher CTR them MSN in general.  But to be fair I don’t have the exact same ads in all three ad networks.

CTR Data For A Few Months

Tags: Affiliate Summit 2008, PPC, Pay Per Click // 3 Comments »

Want me to wear your shirt/cap/pants/whatever when I am speaking at affiliate summit east in a few weeks?  Contact me and let me know what you have in mind.  As long as it is not too ridiculous and you can get it to me fast enough I’ll be sure to wear it that Sunday.  In fact, if you like I can wear something every day.

I’ll be there 8/10 -> 8/12 (but I do have to leave early to catch my flight home — babysitter starts school 8/13)

I am 6′6″ 230 lbs and stick out in a crowd pretty bad (in a good way).  People will definitely see your swag.  I’d go for golf shirts over t-shirts but I can be flexible. Blinking LED’s are acceptable as well.

Contact me for shipping details and what you would like.

Shirt Size: XXL (XL in T-Shirts will do)
Pant Size: 36 38 waist and 36 length

Am I charging for this? Not this year. If it is really successful I would consider donating to a worthy cause in return.

Edit: I changed my waist size.  Aparently I am getting fat.

Tags: Uncategorized // 1 Comment »