Clickbooth Provides Their Unique Exclusive Network to Elite Publishers

July 15, 2008

Sarasota, July 15, 2008: Known for years in the online community, Clickbooth’s Exclusive Network presents exclusive relationships to a small, highly selective, invitation-only group of publishers. Clickbooth was the first to fully incorporate this concept over a year ago. “We’ve seen the movement within the last few months of networks talking about being transparent and having exclusive relationships on the marketing side. We had to chuckle as we have had those same concepts in place for over a year now in the Clickbooth Network,” said Graham Gochneaur, Clickbooth’s Vice President of Marketing.

The Exclusive Network encompasses a selective, small group of publishers, the American Express Black Card Holders group so to speak of the Clickbooth Network. The benefits of being an exclusive publisher include Clickbooth taking slimmer margins than normal with the highest payout possible, and timelier payments, including bi monthly and even weekly. It also provides access to many selective and private offers, otherwise hidden to the majority of the network. On top of that it opens up the ability for this exclusive group to test out the newest offers and groundbreaking marketing techniques. Email publishers have the opportunity to prove themselves and graduate to work with the company on a list management relationship as well.

On top of all the benefits of The Exclusive Network for publishers, the Clickbooth Advertisers largely benefit by having full transparency, the highest ROI in the industry for their back-ends, and the highest volume of publishers on the network focusing on their offers. “Because of our exclusive channels on the distribution side we have been able to amass huge amounts of data and analyze trends and themes much faster than our competitors. The free flow of communication from the front lines to the back is efficient and effortless. We in turn take this data, analyze it and maximize the process of each transaction made online through the Clickbooth Network,” said Gochneaur. “Publishers love it because it guarantees that they are always running the hottest offers at the highest payouts, and advertisers love it because they are gaining access to the exclusive distribution channels that their competitors can’t. It is part of what Clickbooth refers to as The Clickbooth Ecosystem,” Gochneaur concluded.

Clickbooth publishers, please contact your Affiliate Manager today to see if you qualify!

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New Search Engine Marketing Webinar

July 11, 2008

The next installment in the Affiliate Mastery Series of Webinars has arrived! Clickbooth Director of Search Marketing, Harald Anderson, and Jonathan Van Clute of LPGEN.com discuss landing pages and what top professionals do to increase their conversions. Top Search Engine Marketing and Conversion tactics are covered as well as shared insights into how well-crafted Landing Pages assist with getting more traffic more efficiently at a lesser cost.

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What Does A Possible Microsoft-Yahoo Merger Mean To You, Search Engine Marketer?

July 11, 2008

by Harald Anderson
Clickbooth Director of Search Engine Marketing

Last year Google generated $18.12 billion in revenue while its chief pay per click rival Yahoo added $7.12 billion in revenue to its balance sheet. The majority of these revenues came from the popular and traditional pay per click advertising model. Much has been written about the possible merger between these conglomerates. What would a merger between these companies mean to you, the Search Engine Marketer?

Originally hailed as one of the best advertising creations ever, pay per click marketing has become the heart and soul of many traffic generation programs. Advocates contend that you are not paying for visibility as in traditional advertising but instead are targeting those interested individuals who “click” on your advertisement. The early adopters claimed that this made advertising accountable and allowed marketers to target their message and measure its response. What originally started out as a novelty in traffic generation has become an estimated $40 billion a year industry.

Microsoft, which currently has a market capitalization of $240 billion, has been a distant third place in the pay per click sector which has led many to speculate that its interest in Yahoo was primarily intended to make it more competitive with Google. As I write these words the news wires are reporting that Venture Capitalist Carl Icahn is in a proxy battle to deliver Yahoo to Microsoft. Meanwhile Yahoo is in talks with Time Warner while the US Department of Justice is doing an initial exploration and investigation about the legalities of Yahoo and Google merging. These are the “days of our clicks.”

Trust me, the pay per click soap opera is just warming up.

Throughout the intense drama and wild ups and downs of hearsay negotiations, I am all for a merger. Not because I’m a huge Yahoo, Google or Bill Gates fan, but because I believe the health of Internet is defined by the clear standards and practices of a sane search engine marketing marketplace. Currently, Search Engine Marketers have had to contend with “Google Slaps” where their keyword campaigns have been shut down by the Silicon Valley giant with no explanation provided.

PPC Marketers who have suffered the infamous Google slap compare it to Microsoft’s Blue Screen of Death in the PC arena. When Google “Slaps”, a pay per click marketer has no choice but to reboot their entire pay per click marketing campaign with no assurance of a different outcome in the future. Industry pundits debate whether a merger between Google and Yahoo would result in a “kinder and gentler” pay per click search engine.

Marketers online are interested primarily in four factors:
1) Price of a Click
2) Volume of Traffic Available per keyword
3) Number of Conversions Occurring Per Offer
4) Overall Quality of Traffic

However with all of the speculation surrounding the possibility of a merger between these companies, marketers now will have to evaluate the educational learning curves associated with understanding and mastering the distinctive delivery platforms, search marketing algorithms and placement possibilities of each company. I know that sounds like a mouthful but compare for a second how Google and Yahoo define quality as far as your pay per click marketing campaigns are concerned.

Twenty Four Months ago Google launched something they refer to as their “Quality Score” for marketers to determine the effectiveness of a keyword pay per click campaign. Google claims that a high quality score will result in lesser costs for your keyword terms. Apparently a high quality score is determined by having a high click through rate on a keyword, the quality of your landing page, your accounts historical performance and “other” relevant factors. Okay, sounds pretty straightforward, no problems thus far! But I must admit that “other” word sure is a doozy in the real world. (Must’ve been drafted by paralegals!) A few months later Yahoo paraphrased the adwords playbook and released their “quality index.”

The overriding concern most search engine marketers have is one of seeing too much power in one platform. When Google implemented its quality score guidelines, pay per click costs actually increased for affiliates whose livelihoods are completely dictated by their abilities to drive traffic cost effectively. My experience has shown that keyword costs on Google average 25% higher than on Yahoo or Microsoft. A merger of Yahoo and Microsoft would certainly offer a more cost effective alternative for search engine marketers who are focused on the price they pay for each click. The combined search market share of Yahoo and Microsoft is estimated at 31.5%. Meanwhile the search market share of Google by itself is 56.3%. A merger of the Yahoo and Microsoft platforms would certainly create a better distribution of “power” and lower cost per click for search engine marketers. Pay per click costs have been in a perpetual bull market for over ten years. Anything that slows down the price that I have to pay for a click or offers a potent alternative is something I will completely support.

The second major issue search engine marketers have arises from not understanding why identical keyword campaigns running on both Google and Yahoo often receive mixed “quality score” or “quality index” signals? My experience has been that these identical campaigns will often receive the blessing from one search company while simultaneously receiving the wrath of the other. I have asked pay per click experts as well as employees of Google and Yahoo to elaborate on this dilemma and, to be honest with you, understanding their responses is harder than Chinese Differential Calculus. I have more success playing with my Rubiks Cube in the dark!

How can the two leaders in the pay per click marketing industry hold arbitrary, mysterious standards in their sacred pay per click algorithms and be expected to play well together after a merger has occurred?

This issue begs the question that if Google and Yahoo do not see eye to eye with regards to defining “quality” as far as keyword campaigns are concerned what makes anyone think that a merger between these two giants is going to bode well for search engine marketers? Search Engine marketers are focused on cost, volume and conversions. That is how they define quality. And as far as I can tell that is a thousand times better of a definition than Google, Yahoo or MSN will ever come up with.

In Part Two of this series I will explore the specific pay per click ramifications of a Google–Yahoo merger for a Search Engine Marketer who primarily uses Yahoo! Search Marketing in their pay per click campaigns. Quoting Bob Dylan, “the times they are a changing.”

Questions or Comments? Contact Harald@clickbooth.com

Sign up for a publisher account at www.clickbooth.com

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Opt-In E-Mail Industry Now Closed to Outsiders?

July 10, 2008

by Bryant Valentine
Clickbooth Director of Email Marketing

Many e-mail marketers will remember a time not so long ago, when one could do very minimal work and reap huge rewards. Three years ago an aspiring entrepreneur with some opt-in lists, a mailing platform and minimal technical knowledge could load a campaign, send to their list and just sit back and watch the sales and leads roll in. While today the industry is thriving more than ever and the sales are still coming in, the barrier to entry has definitely been raised.

What has changed for these aspiring individuals and companies? So many are coming and going with just a small percentage actually making it. Some even barely surviving. Some key factors contribute to this. While I would never claim that the following is the be all end all, there are undeniable facts that exist.

When looking at the mechanism of email marketing, it can be broken down into key components. Without all of these components in place, there will be failure, or a success so moderate that some will throw in the towel just to be done with the headache.

Email marketing requires opt-in lists. As simple as it may sound, without a list of opted-in addresses, your future business will be done before it ever really began. When email marketing started, opt-in lists were not a hurdle into the industry. Now lists are a prized possession that is given out to those that are able to produce maximum deliverability, with a high ROI, and little to no complaints. List managers are now an elite group that scrutinizes the details of every applicant.

After you’ve received your opt-in list, there is another hurdle. Unlike the days of ole, one cannot load up a list and just hit send. Careful preparation of data has to be taken on many different levels. Knowing who to send to in your list and who to avoid is a critical aspect that some have overlooked and paid for dearly. With the proper connections and due diligence an email marketer will be able to attain DNE and history lists that will assure they are delivering to the right people.

So here stands your future email marketer, armed with an opt-in list that has been cleaned and ready to send. All that is left is to send to the addresses in the list and simply watch the leads pour in. However, this is where many find the next barrier awaiting them.

Email delivery is not as simple as loading your data and campaigns into a mailing platform and just hitting send. To be quite honest, the technical know-how that your top email marketers possess is a skill that will elude most. We could talk about IP’s, Hosting, ISP relations, etc. for hours on end, because each contains their own set of hurdles and barriers. It needs to be simply stated in the facts. Your top email marketers are ones that can deliver to addresses that some of our top Fortune 500 companies cannot even reach.. The constant tweaking of their skill has made email marketing an art form.

There is not a one size fits all, or simple method, that will guarantee the email marketer hits their target. Delivering to the inbox is a systematic process that requires years of practice and understanding of each ISP. You’re welcome to one ISP is a simple rejection to another, none of which touches on the constant flux and changing requirements that are taking place on a daily and sometimes even hourly basis.

A novice email marketer today has been able to garner data that is clean and ready to send through wonderful connections, hard work, and a technical know-how that exists in less than half. They have acquired enough knowledge through trial and error and are able to achieve a deliverability rate that, while not great, is acceptable and profitable.

So here come the sales and leads. Actually not so fast! Our new found email marketer has accomplished more than most, but he/she still has the most critical barrier to overcome. While they are using double opted-n lists, and following all CAN SPAM laws, there is so much more that exists to ensure safety and legitimacy. Our fresh email marketer is after all not the “vijaggra” or replica “rollexx” emailer that has plagued many inboxes and junk folders around the world. Our newly born marketer now has to use all resources available to ensure that everything they send out is compliant, and within the boundaries that the advertiser, network, federal, state, and local laws have set fourth. An oversight here could not only forfeit any and all of their revenue, but also carry legal consequences. Case in point being that a majority of email marketers now have legal advisors on staff.

The simple fact remains that for an aspiring entrepreneur, there is much more involved than what meets the eye. While not all has been covered, some may also say that this is not even the tip of the iceberg for new email marketers. Connections to the right people in the industry, technical know-how and comprehension of compliance and federal laws, are all barriers that a new email marketer must face. The days of the Wild West where anyone and everyone could get in and make a name for themselves are gone. We are now in an industry that is becoming harder, and more regulated by the day.

Your new email marketer faces challenges and barriers of entries that did not exist a mere three years ago. While all these challenges can be met with the right information, we are still moving forward at a blazing speed. One which some will enter and keep up with, while others currently marketing will not be able to and will simply fall by the wayside. Some may argue that this is not a fair system. While the challenges that one faces are large and sometimes seem insurmountable, it is also a system that has helped clean up our industry. It is a systematic set of barriers that have allowed true email marketers success, while weeding out the simple churn and burn marketer that is in it for a quick buck. Outsiders here are accepted and come through the doors on a daily basis. The only difference on our end is that email marketing no longer accepts all applicants. This is an elite group that is in it for the long haul. The real question then posed is: Do you have what it takes to enter the world of email marketing?

Questions or Comments? Contact Bryant@clickbooth.com

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FOLLOW CLICKBOOTH TWEETS, EARN MORE MONEY AND EVEN WIN PRIZES!

July 03, 2008

Are you interested in getting fast, daily updates on our endeavors at Clickbooth? Check out our tweets on Twitter.com. You can now get all of our HOT offer updates for your business sent to your email or mobile phone in 140 characters or less when you follow our tweets!

In addition to using this social networking tool to keep followers up-to-date on our latest news, hot offers and event happenings we are also randomly awarding prizes to our publishers who respond to our exciting new tweets!

There will be great opportunities to win every week when you respond to our tweets. Sign up today and follow our tweets at http://twitter.com/clickbooth for details on how to increase your affiliate earnings and win great prizes from Clickbooth!

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Tips to get your pub account approval in record speed!

June 27, 2008

At Clickbooth we process a few thousand applications for publisher accounts on our network every month. It takes about 3 minutes to fill out our application and up to 72-hours for us to review and approve. Today I thought I would give everyone some tips on how you can make sure you have completed your application correctly because one of the first things that can slow down your approval is incomplete information on your application. We don’t want that and neither do you so let’s take a look at the 3 step application process.

Step 1 of the publisher application process is pretty straightforward. We want to know all of your contact information. You name, address and email are required fields. If you have a company name and fax # please list that too.

TIP: One thing that many people miss completing is their AIM handle. It is not a required field but if you have questions AIM is such any easy way for us both to stay connected. If you have not signed up for an AIM account you should. It is free and your affiliate manager (once you are approved) can stay in constant contact with you using this service.

Step 2 is phone verification. To prevent fraud, your phone number must be verified to complete the publisher application. Get ready when you submit that number to get a call almost immediately from our third party verification system. When you answer you will be given a pin number to enter on the site to continue with your application process.

TIP: If you are not at able to answer the call, or miss the call for some reason, the pin number will be left on your voice mail. You will need to enter this pin number so you can proceed with the next step in the application process.

Step 3 is where we want information about your website. If you have a web site select what type of site it is, where the majority of your traffic is coming from and be sure to include the website address.

TIP: If you do not have a web site you can still sign up for an account. Many of our publishers are opt-in email marketers. Let us know by making a note of it in the comments box.

TIP: Please do not put someone else’s website address (like Google or Yahoo) on your application. This could potentially get your account denied and it definitely will slow down your approval.

TIP: If another publisher has referred you to Clickbooth let us know. Be sure to enter their CD# when completing step 3.

Once you hit submit you will see a note telling you that it can take up to 72-hours for approval of your publisher account.

That’s it! These tips are pretty simple stuff that hopefully will get you on your way to getting an approved account today!

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Sign Up for Clickbooth Affiliate Mastery Webinar June 24th!

June 24, 2008

Clickbooth would like to invite you to an in depth look at LANDING PAGES and what top professionals do to increase their conversions.

Our guest will be Jonathan Van Clute of LPGEN.com a Landing Page Generator that is currently being used by top performance based marketers.

We will be discussing top Search Engine Marketing and Conversion tactics.

Jonathan will share his insights to affiliate marketing. We will look at the current challenges and opportunities and how well crafted Landing Pages can assist with getting more traffic, more efficiently at a lesser cost.

Be There!
Clickbooth Affiliate Mastery Webinar Series
Hosted by Harald Anderson,Clickbooth Director of Search Engine Marketing
When: Tuesday, June 24th
Time: 8:30 PM Eastern Time
Click Here to Register:
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/600798223

We look forward to seeing you on the webinar!

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Reelpoint Selects Clickbooth as its Agency of Record

June 24, 2008

Sarasota, June 24, 2008: Clickbooth announced today that they have been selected as the Agency of Record representing Reelpoint. Clickbooth.com and Reelpoint.com will be working together closely to optimize campaigns to create the highest converting health and beauty campaigns in the market place today for Reelpoint.

Clickbooth will also be advising Reelpoint on current market trending to assist with future product development within their extensive Health and Beauty vertical. This is truly is exciting news for both companies involved.

Kimberly Auvil, Vice President of Reelpoint had this to say about this new dynamic relationship. “We are excited to partner with Clickbooth and build our relationship in a way that will significantly strengthen our online advertising power. This strategic alliance leverages industry secrets, technologies, and the business expertise of both companies. Reelpoint’s success in the health and beauty product industry combined with Clickbooth’s expertise in online marketing will create a unique partnership. Together, we now have the ability to change the industry and generate higher revenue streams for ourselves and our affiliates by capturing a far greater audience.”

Large and small brands wanting to grow their business have selected Clickbooth as their partner of choice. This growing trend represents Clickbooth’s continued recognition as the leading performance based CPA Network.

“We take great pride in building long-term strategic partnerships with our Advertisers.” commented Laura Paff, Director of Advertising of Clickbooth. “We are very excited about this partnership. Between Reelpoint’s ability to develop valuable products and Clickbooth’s resources to develop high converting campaigns, we believe that this will be a very successful long-term partnership.”

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Clickbooth’s Blood Drive for Suncoast Communities Blood Bank

June 23, 2008

June 24th is Clickbooth’s day to give back to the local medical community. The Suncoast Communities Blood Bank will be here at the Clickbooth offices from 10am to 2pm here in Sarasota, FL.

Did you know that Blood drives account for 60% of the blood collected to help meet the needs of our hospitals and patients?

The Clickbooth blood drive was started by employee Adam Vachon. When Adam was asked why he organized this event he said he has “been donating at the blood bank for years, but (he) thought that this time it would be great to have them come out to the office so more people could get involved in donating.”

He was right! Clickbooth has had 23 employees sign up to donate blood when the blood mobile arrives tomorrow. So in addition to helping to potentially save someone’s life, everyone is also saving gas and money.

If you want to set up a blood drive in Sarasota County, please contact the Suncoast Communities Blood Bank at 941-485-4800 or visit their web site for more details at www.scbb.org.

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Want to Meet Clickbooth?

June 19, 2008

We have a very busy Summer and Fall Schedule of events. So if you are a publisher or advertiser or want to talk to us about becoming one within the Clickbooth Network, mark your calendars to save-the-date to come see us at one of these exciting events!

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