Lammo Affiliate Marketing Blog » Website Content Writing

Ways to beat Writers Block

Lammo — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 06:36:03 +0000

It happens to us all, regardless as to whether you are a professional writer or simply someone attempting to complete any writing assignment involving a level of creativity. It is all too easy to push it down the list of priorities and to invent excuses to avoid tackling it right up to the deadline.

The exception is of course, when the subject is so familiar that it requires little thought with material that we are used to explaining without significant effort. Even then, it must be recognised that some individuals have the ability to write fluently whilst others struggle despite perhaps having excellent verbal communication skills.

Developing a structure and focus
As with any other professional undertaking, there are proven techniques to overcome the “writer’s block” problem. The first and most important is to generate a simple list of the points that need to be covered. This will, in itself, trigger some of the vital research processes which may, in turn, lead to further exploration and refinement of the scope and focus of the piece as source material identifies avenues previously not considered.

All too often, copy is written largely from the perspective of the marketer and this frequently masks the real benefits to the consumer that would ideally be the focus. The importance of an “outside looking in” perspective is hard to overstate. In other terms, what is it that the recipient of the information really wants to know? Banging on about the wonderful performance of a product or service is meaningless unless there is a tangible and relevant benefit to the user. Obvious? Perhaps. Ignored. All too often.

Getting a contemporary understanding of the issues
Research and empathy with the end consumer thus plays an important role in deciding what – and how – to communicate. Developing an understanding of the consumer’s mindset is, in itself, a mechanism by which to counter writer’s block. Looking at competitive sites and viewing them through a user’s eyes is not only revealing but can stimulate the creative spirit in the most weary of writers. From the good, the bad and the excruciatingly bad, all of the sites will have something to add to the “do’s and don’ts” list.

Newsgroups, blogs and forums are an excellent source for stimulating an understanding of and interest in the issues that may concern or motivate potential customers on any particular topic. The comments made by contributors can also provide useful expressions that, when adapted, allow a writer to speak to members of their target market in a relevant and authoritative “voice”. This is essential, because regardless as to how the writer may communicate in everyday life, when presenting solutions to customer needs, it is essential to speak in an appropriate tone that will engage and interest readers from the target audience.

As an example, colloquial expressions may be fine for music, video etc with a young audience but for drier, finance, retirement planning, and other issues directed at mature or serious audiences, a more sombre tone will be needed. Setting this tone correctly will of course greatly improve the effectiveness of the communication, without in any way reducing the relevance of the message.

Writing techniques
Although most writers today will have a natural tendency to work with a word processor, the creation of the initial information framework is often best done on paper, where discarded thoughts may be crossed out as others evolve, without actually erasing those initial ideas. Conversely, those completely at home on the keyboard will have little difficulty in “dumping” copy onto the page before rearranging it into the final version.

Some find comfort in taking existing copy, dropping it into the new unit of work, then re-working it. However, this latter technique frequently leads to more problems than solutions because of differences in thought patterns and syntax used in the previous work. There is also a real danger of replicating old (or even plagiarised) material – the latter being one of the most unacceptable practices of all.

Other un-blocking techniques
The same techniques that work in re-focusing attention on any protracted exercise should work for writing. From making a cup of tea; taking a brisk walk in the fresh air to gather your thoughts; focusing your attentions on other tasks for a period to clear your mind; or simply changing focus from writing to additional research. Any of these should help in getting you through a stumbling block. If all else fails, you may even want to revisit the focus and purpose of the piece: if you are really stuck it may simply be that you have set yourself an unworkable task!

The techniques mentioned in this article should go some way to overcoming “writer’s block.” However, realism as to your own abilities is needed and it may actually be beneficial to engage with professional writers, because the initial financial cost may be largely irrelevant compared with the optimum results of effective communication.

Originally written by Lammo.net, a blog all about Affiliate Marketing

Ways to beat Writers Block

How much should you pay for content?

Lammo — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 15:08:07 +0000

I’ve outsourced a lot of my content writing for a couple of years now, having used a number of different providers, and seen a lot of variation, both in price, and in quality – and the two are invariably linked!

I’ve now settled into using the same company, who I know I can trust to produce excellent quality content at a reasonable price (though if you’re reading this guys – a discount for the plug would be much appreciated!). I thought it would be a good idea to look at the many different types of content providers that I have tried.

Before we dig into content providers in greater depth, it is worth highlighting the fact that there are an increasing number of “low cost” content providers who will claim to hand create content but will in fact use technology to rip content from other sites and re-hash it. Automated text content creation doesn’t work and never will. Although there are now a number of content generation services using this technology, it creates patterns that are recognisable to the search engine robots. It also creates dismal content. Although we are constantly encouraged as affiliates to automate and outsource, the former is therefore not an option in content production. Outsourcing, however, remains an attractive and viable option.

Diversity of Service Providers
If you’ve spent any time online looking for content writing services you’ll quickly realise that there is huge variety in the market at the moment, and that there probably always will be. Many of you will have had the experience of writing content for your own sites in the past and will realise what a truly time consuming task it can be. With every piece written, outsourcing becomes ever more attractive! However, with the variety of services on offer and the vastly different costs you’ll be asked to pay for superficially similar content, how much should you pay and what is the associated ‘quality’ of the content you should expect?

Originality and Quality
The first thing that every affiliate marketer and site owner on the planet should realise is that content is one of the most important aspects of any well designed, profitable website. Building and maintaining your place in search engine rankings and getting repeat visitors to your site on a regular basis requires you to constantly update your site or sites with interesting, original content. The emphasis here is on interesting and original. The search engines, particularly Google, are highly sensitive to duplicate content and will potentially penalise sites seen to use it.

Your content provider must therefore warrant that any content they produce for you is original. We would strongly recommend the use of Copyscape to double check this. Copyscape has access to a Google interface which allows them to cross-index text to ensure that it (or significant proportions of it) do not already occur in the search engine results. Most reputable content providers will use Copyscape internally before releasing content to a client but a spot check here and there never does any harm.

Off Shore Content
Although there are a number of expatriate Brits living and working abroad who can easily match the quality of content produced here in the UK, most off-shore providers use writers whose first language isn’t English. Whilst their work ethic is admirable, many of us will have seen the kind of content they produce on article sites and other volume content locations. Prices may seem amazingly low (the “market rate” for content on a major freelance network for example is approximately 1 cent US per word) but this is reflected in output which is at best poorly expressed and at worst contains spelling mistakes and perhaps incorrect grammar.

This matters greatly for visitors and search engines alike – Google is sensitive to grammar and spelling. Moreover, an off-shore writer will not generally understand UK culture, slang and the finer points of modern British English. Cheap content created abroad will in all likelihood be just as plagiarised as the automatically generated variety, but will also have bad grammar, spelling mistakes and poor English all round. You’ll end up having to sort out this content to make it presentable and profitable, and so all of the ’savings’ you’ve made will disappear down the drain.

More on Pricing and Sourcing Writers
If the price of the content seems too good to be true, it probably is. You may be being quoted for UK content production but the writers may in fact be foreign nationals or – worse – an automated text creation script. So what are the more costly alternatives that you should consider over the cheap, cheerful and damaging ones? There are essentially two options: you can go to a number of the well known freelance sites, add a brief and wait for bids and responses.

If you have the time to manage this process, it will invariably be at a lower cost (perhaps from around 1 pence per word) than a fully managed content service. However, once you have accepted a bid and commissioned the work, you are pretty much duty bound to stick with it. Although a freelance writer may happily commit to any re-work requests you may have, if they don’t have the ability to meet your required quality levels you may never get there and will spend a great deal of time in managing fruitless re-work requests.

Word of mouth is of course as powerful as it is in any discipline. If you are lucky enough to have friends or colleagues who have worked with a freelance writer and will recommend them, you may be onto a winner. However, individual freelance writers will have their own subject specialities and experience so you will need to be doubly lucky! You may also be surprised as to the rates commanded by more established freelance writers (the kind that people will recommend). Some will charge by the hour rather than by the brief and with their own portfolio of clients, rates may rapidly rise to £40 per hour.

Content Firms
There are a number of specialist content firms in the UK who use a wide range of writers and can therefore take on work in a broad set of themes, allocating it to the most appropriate members of their writing teams. Some will have flash offices and PAYE staff which is impressive if you are the type of person that needs to meet them before commissioning the work — but will bite when it comes to unit costs. 10p to 30p a word is not unusual in these environments. Others will have large freelance writing pools whom they “brief in bulk” to secure favourable prices, low overheads and are able to provide the same quality of content without the glossy buildings. Prices here tend to start at around 4 pence per word and decrease depending on the scale of your requirements.

Professional firms can often give coverage that is unattainable for a freelancer: some understand wider SEO (and even practise it for clients) and can create keyword rich content at the right density, with the option for HTML formatting to your requirements. Some can also provide a “curated” content service where instead of you having to conjure up the titles and briefs for each month to keep your content fresh, they will take a general brief from you together with your required keywords and handle the entire briefing process for you.

Others may also provide a news service with news items specifically written for you in your industry or sector, again to your overall brief. Finally, the larger firms can cope with fluctuations in volume; absence, holidays and illness in the writing team; and even provide content in multiple ways using their own technology: for example via XML feeds, email or even immediate on-site publishing using the relevant technology.

The net of all of this is that high quality 250 word articles can be found for under £10 each, and the more you buy the lower the cost per unit. Sign up will usually be for a set period although some of the professional firms will happily work on one-off engagements or rolling agreements. At all times you should have as much creative control as you want.

In Conclusion
When you’re weighing up the cost of content don’t forget that it is an investment rather than a drain on your funds. A piece of well written content can help to increase rankings and thus the number of visitors to your site. It also increases confidence levels which, with a well designed site should increase conversion rates resulting in more commission.

Although there is inevitably going to be a constant struggle to keep your on site content up to date, you can ease the pressure by paying professionals to do it for you, but don’t just take my word for it. On affiliate forums around the world you’ll hear the same advice.

Originally written by Lammo.net, a blog all about Affiliate Marketing

How much should you pay for content?

Beating the data-feed “duplicate content” problem

Lammo — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 09:24:09 +0000

You may be concerned to hear that there is in fact a problem for affiliates using data feeds because they are on the surface such a convenient way of producing loads of information on tons of different products, and the simplicity and wealth of information is shared by the content widgets that some affiliate networks (and innovative affiliates!) create for their users. However, as most of you will know it’s not all about cold, hard information, especially when that information is necessarily replicated across the internet on other affiliate sites who share the same widget or data feed as you. The best way to attract traffic to your site and improve your ranking and indeed your attractiveness as a potential link partner is through unique content. Getting unique content that will actually help rather than hinder your cause is easier said than done, but the right content is out there waiting to be written.

You may well have read other articles online proclaiming the.shall we say regal nature of unique content, and despite the ulterior motives that may have been lurking beneath the surface, stressing the importance of unique content is always a good thing. Sadly there is a good and a bad way to go about getting unique content, and as with many things in life it ultimately comes down to a question of money, both how much you’re willing to spend and how much the ‘unique’ content is being sold for.

The Bad
There are companies out there in the pitted wilderness of the internet who will offer content to you for pennies and there is a great temptation to take up what seems like a bargain just to get your site filled with vaguely relevant text. However, this is probably an indication that you’re about to get some badly written content, either from a non-English speaking worker who cannot form whole sentences without making a grammatical error or spelling mistake, or worse from an automated content spinner that provides a terrible electronically generated rehash of a good piece of unique content from elsewhere. These are all quick fixes that ultimately have been proven to work against any SEO you’ve been attempting, as search engines can penalise sites with duplicate, badly written or poorly replicated content.

The Good
So what should you be looking for in a piece of content to determine its worth? Well, the obvious point to make is that it must be unique and well researched. Copying and pasting things from online encyclopedias is easy but it isn’t effective, so finding writers who use their own knowledge and common sense to produce content that is always unique is essential, and finding a company that pools the talents of similar, well educated and experienced writers is even better. A writer of good content shouldn’t just be able to form coherent sentences but should have the skill to fill those sentences with search engine-friendly words and phrases, tailored to the specific requirement of a brief set out by the affiliate and even formatted to your own requirements. Building relationships with writers or writing firms and keeping them informed of the basics of your business plan is also essential in good content creation as well as a great way of keeping writers that you trust on board for as long as possible.

What You Can Do
The best thing that you can do to ensure that your content from any source is both well written and unique is simple to check it thoroughly before you add it to your website, either by hand or by running it through anti-plagiarism resources such as copyscape. A reputable writing firm will do this for you before releasing content to you. Few things can hurt your search engine rankings more than content that is identical to that found elsewhere, and performing simple checks can take a matter of seconds and ensure both great content and piece of mind for you.

The Purpose
Content is not just words or images, it is the delivery of the promise that your website makes to its visitors. Say that you’re site is called ‘newcars4u.com’ and it is filled with links, ad banners and pages that are in no way linked to car articles then you’re never going to build up a base of returning visitors, and it’s always the first impressions of a website that determine whether someone is going to come back or leave forever. If you fill your site with richly written, unique, well researched and interesting pages of content then hooking customers will be so much easier and you will be able to see the money you invest in content paying dividends at the other end.

Whether you write it yourself or use a reputable firm to handle it for you (remembering that outsourcing is one of the main strategies of most successful super affiliates), content alone isn’t king . . . .but unique, relevant content is!

Originally written by Lammo.net, a blog all about Affiliate Marketing

Beating the data-feed “duplicate content” problem

How to find good content writers for your affiliate site

Lammo — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 17:19:44 +0000

Finding reliable, and genuine, UK based content writers is a challenge. Uniqueness of content is the key. Well written, original content can have a dramatic effect on the success of your affiliate site. Where content is interesting, readable and, most of all, relevant to your product or service, visitors will be encouraged to explore. A good content writer will get the message across.

Of course anyone can write, however finding and indeed retaining the right content provider or providers is a tricky business. But rest assured, the right person is out there, and the following advice should help you find them, and make them an invaluable part of your affiliate marketing activities.

It is a useful skill to be able to recognise effective content. Key characteristics of quality content writing may include, for example, the use of short, content rich sentences. These should be contained within well balanced paragraphs, which as a rule should contain no more than five sentences. In general, articles of between 300 – 1000 words work best.

The use of simple, commonly searched words and phrases, will ensure content appeals to the widest audience possible. It is a poor content writer who uses a complicated word where a simple one would suffice. In addition, the most useful information should, where possible, be concentrated in the earlier sections of the article. The ability to recognise these characteristics is a vital tool in selecting the best writers for an online business.

As ever, a positive relationship with your employees goes a long way. Good writers will deliver work on time, and within a reasonable time frame – 48 hours from delivery of brief descriptions in some cases. Guarantees on work, and voluntary rewriting of incomplete or inappropriate content, are indicators of a good writer.

So where to begin the search? First of all, establish the expectations and requirements of the business. The decision of whether your needs would be best suited by a specialist in the field, or perhaps a writer who can cover a variety of subjects, is fundamental. This rests largely on the nature of the business, and is the difference between an expert and a one-size-fits-all ghost writer who is likely to suppliment your own marketing efforts, but offer little in the way of unique insight.

Inevitably, the funds you have available for your content creation will be one deciding factor. Take the time to shop around, viewing writers’ sample content. This is a competitive market, so do not assume that the first providers you come across will be the most suitable. As ever, personal recommendations are a good place to start. An agency providing SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) services may allow you greater flexibility, particularly where tight deadlines are the norm. Many freelance writers may charge you an additional fee for high-priority work.

Once you have found the writer for your program, it makes sense to keep them with you for as long as possible. Their knowledge of your requirements will improve, as will your relationship (assuming they get results of course). Incentivise them with bonuses for successful campaigns, and make sure they feel valued as part of your team. Be realistic in what you expect to gain from freelance content writers – they are not a solution in themselves but one part of a greater marketing push.

It is important to check content on a regular basis before it is put into place. Plagiarised material is ineffective, and clearly raises moral questions which do not reflect well on your business. The responsibility for content featured does not lie ultimately with the writer, but ensuring your content provider is reliable and genuine will minimise the risk. Copyscape, an online tool for identifying plagiarism, is a great way of checking your content. Provided by Indigo Stream Technologies, and built on top of the Google Search API, the service has been used in a number of high profile plagiarism cases. Using algorithms to highlight plagiarised content, Copyscape can identify content even after it has been modified.

There are a wealth of resources available to those starting up affiliate marketing businesses, and many are free so do not feel that you must pay for advice and software in the early stages. Choose content writers carefully and with relatively little investment, of either time or money, the increase in both quality and quantity of traffic visiting an online business can be immediate.

Originally written by Lammo.net, a blog all about Affiliate Marketing

How to find good content writers for your affiliate site

How Writing Content for the Web can help Your Affiliate Business

Lammo — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 11:03:24 +0000

When it comes to affiliate websites, "content is king", is an overused, but nonetheless appropriate, maxim. "Content", though, does not mean any old content. Like content destined for "in print" publications, content for the Web should be well written – that is, free from spelling, punctuation, grammatical and semantic errors (Yes, I know!) – clear, concise and easy to read, but, as importantly, it should also be unique, relevant and rich in the keywords that a particular website is targeting. The content of a website creates a first impression – good, bad, or indifferent – of your affiliate business, and may be instrumental in selling your affiliate products and services to potential customers. Furthermore, carefully crafted, keyword rich, content can increase the visibility of your website to search engine crawlers, in turn, increasing the size of your target audience.

Content Writing for the Web

Content for the Web covers just about anything that is intended to be read on the Web, including copywriting for SEO (”Search Engine Optimisation”), press releases, blogging, etc.. The uniqueness and relevance of content are, however, of paramount importance, if a website is to achieve, and maintain, a high search engine ranking.

So, while it may be tempting to acquire content from a website offering purportedly “free” reprints of articles, do bear in mind that such articles may not have been solicited – or, indeed, checked for copyright violations – entirely scrupulously. You may find, therefore, that the integrity of your website is compromised, both in terms of search engine ranking, and in the eyes of the law. Search engines typically employ a “duplicate content” filter, which detects the presence of the same content on more than one website, and penalises both sites accordingly. Similarly, you may find that if you do post plagiarised content on your site – whether you acquire it from an on-line reprint service, or simply cut and paste it from elsewhere on the Web – that the owner of the content may simply ask you to remove it, or pursue the violation of copyright more vigorously. Either way, the inclusion of content that is not unique to your website achieves very little.

Another approach is to take existing content from other websites and use an automated software tool to “spin”, or reword, it, so that unique content is created. This process typically involves switching words, at random, with synonyms found in a thesaurus, throughout an entire article. The end product can only ever be as good as the software tool employed – many, unfortunately, are not very sophisticated – and is, at best, mediocre, and, at worst, comical. Not only may you end up with indecipherable gobbledegook, but search engine spiders are intelligent enough to detect the “footprint” left by spinning tools, such that websites containing such content are ignored, or penalised, in terms of page ranking.

Writing content manually is therefore really the only way to ensure that it is unique, but this, in turn, presents its own challenges to your affiliate business. You can, of course, write the content yourself. Given multi-faceted nature of an affiliate business, however, it is unlikely that you have the time and resources to devote to the task, so you will probably looking to outsource the writing of proper content, in one way or another. There are any number of Internet sites on which you can post content writing projects, for prospective writers to bid on, and it may be possible to generate content in this way for a few dollars per article. However, as you might anticipate, this level of remuneration is unlikely to attract writers of the highest quality – many writers who are prepared to work for a pittance are, in fact, offshore writers, whose first language is not English – and you are likely to receive exactly what you pay for.

Researching, and writing, effective copy for the Web requires time, and no little skill, so you should be prepared to pay a little extra for it. Information should, for example, be presented coherently, in short, structured sentences, which everyone can understand quickly, regardless of their background. Web content writers should also be familiar with the subtle ‘do’s’ and ‘don’ts’ of SEO, so that they can “hit the ground running”, and produce effective, human readable content – rather than simply cramming the content with keywords – with minimum supervision.

Further Website content writing Information

Improve Your CV – CV advice and interview help. Find samples of CVs and get advice on how to write a cover letter. Sample interview questions and other job search details are also available…
improveyourcv.co.uk

Keyword Cruncher – The keyword analysis tool for analysing keyword data from Wordtracker. Sort or combine keyword lists and print your own Wordtracker data….
keywordcruncher.com

Web Development Company – Professional Offshore Web Development and Web Application Development Company. The firm also specialises in online media streaming and broadcasting, social networking, widget creation, custom web applications development and facebook application development….
moveyourweb.net

Search Engine Optimisation for Global Campaigns – Israel Search Engine Optimisation and Internet Marketing since 1998. The firm specialises in SEO, PPC, Conversion Optimisation and Web Analytics…..
aims.co.il

Professional Writing Services – Word-Mart offers professional writing services to individuals, corporations, institutions and students at a cost effective rate. Writing tips are also available…
word-mart.com

EBA Printing – A wide range of printing services including post card printing, restaurant menu printing, commercial printing, envelope printing, brochure printing, catalog printing, flyer printing and manuals…..
ebaprinting.com

St. Louis Web Design – Web design, web development and SEO. Named one of the top 20 small businesses in St. Louis by Small Business Monthly….
insiteadvice.com

SEO Software – Software designed to bring in free one way links from `secret` sites and automatically exchange links…
outranksmart.com

Blogging Marketing Web 2.0 – Latest technology in blogging and marketing….
webringnet.com

Originally written by Lammo.net, a blog all about Affiliate Marketing

How Writing Content for the Web can help Your Affiliate Business

Maintaining a sensible weight is the key to a healthy affiliate lifestyle

Lammo — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 17:22:13 +0000

Can you hear me now? – First of all, my apologies for the silence over the last two weeks. Things have been so manically busy as we approached the end of some major projects that it’s been very difficult to find even 5 minutes to post to the blog. Normal service will be resumed from here on.

Proud to be Fat More and More - No, I’m not talking about my ever-expanding “affiliate belly”, although I do believe there’s a link between the size of your stomach and the size of your commission cheques – All that time sat at your computer writing content and blog posts means both get a little bigger each day.

I’m not going to pretend that I’m a 100% fat affiliate, as over the years I’ve had around 50 “thin” affiliate websites that offer nothing whatsoever of value to the end user, all of which made varying amounts of money. I’ve still got a couple of “thin” sites now, and I do partake in Brand Bidding where allowed (I know, boo! hiss!), but I also know that those are not sustainable revenue streams that I will be able to live off in 5 or 10 years time. And for that reason, I’m also slowly building a couple of “brand” sites and publishing somewhere in the region of 100,000 words of unique content every single month.

The “thin” stuff pays the bills today, and enables me to concentrate my time on the “fat” stuff that will pay the bills for the rest of my life. It’s naive to assume that people will ignore the easy low-hanging fruit that brings in shedloads of short-term money, but it’s also foolish to ignore the benefits of building long-term, sustainable revenue streams. Maintaining a sensible weight is the key to a healthy affiliate lifestyle.

Call me Mr. Chairman More – Two weeks ago, I was a humble affiliate. Now, however I am co-owner of a football club, having invested quite heavily (£35) into Ebbsfleet United Football Club. I’m so pleased to have been asked to form part of the small consortium, and I’m sure I speak for the other 28,249 co-owners in saying that we’re sure this is the start of a very bright era for the football club, and we have complete faith in Head Coach Liam Daish (until we lose a few games, and then we’ll be ready and waiting with the dreaded “poll of confidence”)

Does AM need its own UK Magazine? More – It’s a tough one this – I subscribed to Revenue magazine, but soon found I wasn’t actually reading each issue as it was too US-centric. I’d certainly support anyone who took the risk and published a UK Affiliate Marketing magazine. I’ve known so many publications go bust due to lack of advertising/low circulation/high publishing costs that it’s a hell of a risk. But there hasn’t been a decent read for the UK Affiliate since Internet Works went pop, and the Industry is much bigger now, so perhaps the time is right? I certainly won’t be risking my own money to bring out a publication, but will happily support anyone who does.

Dragons Den looking for Entrepreneurs - If you’re unable to handle constructive criticism and think that your business that earned you £20.79 last year must be worth “about a million”, then why not apply for Series 7 of Dragons Den? The BBC are currently looking for entrepreneurs, and have specifically targeted Internet entrepreneurs this year as some of the biggest investments from last series went to online companies such as Hungry House and Gaming Alerts.

If you’d like to take part, then please email dragonsden@bbc.co.uk call 0870 200 3003 or visit their website for an application form. Will I be taking part? No chance – I’d be far too nervous!

Buy.at coming to Plymouth More – After mucho campaigning, the buy.at team are coming to Plymouth this Friday afternoon for a day of networking and fun. So if you fancy a day on the Sunny south coast, taking in some Clay Pigeon Shooting and an evening of fun with the guys and girls from buy.at (as well as the chance to talk turkey with them of course!), then make sure you email events@buy.at to register (it’s free) before Wednesday to grab your place at this top event.

Originally written by Lammo.net, a blog all about Affiliate Marketing

Maintaining a sensible weight is the key to a healthy affiliate lifestyle

Affiliate Marketing is going full circle

Lammo — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 22:43:01 +0000

Content is King again More – It looks like Affiliate Marketing is going full circle, and as a content affiliate that publishes in excess of 100,000 words of highly-researched unique content every month, I certainly hope it is! As more and more affiliates are being squeezed out of PPC by Search agencies and merchant’s in-house campaigns, affiliates are realising that good unique content is the way forward.

At a4uexpo last year, I spent the entire week talking to merchants, agencies and networks and asking for regular unique content that we could publish, or shared content that we could re-write. The initial responses were very positive, with pretty much everyone promising the earth. Just one merchant/agency didn’t deliver anything at all despite their promises (Shame on you Stream:20/Sky), so I had quite a lot of great content that I could use over the first few weeks. Three months later though, and the only people I’m still getting unique content from are… DGM…. Yup, *that* DGM – They of the broken promises and false dawns. Perhaps they really have turned the corner?

I also still get non-unique content that I can re-write from Oxygen and Jackpot Joy. As with so many things, the gambling sector tends to adapt a little quicker than other sectors, which is why the likes of Oxygen and JPJ, as well as Betfred Gaming and Bingo.com have provided me with one-off unique content articles, as well as a huge amount of shared content in their login areas that I can re-write to my hearts content.

Webgains pay CD WOW’s bills More – This shows that there are still some good guys in Affiliate Marketing. I had missed this news until Jason pointed it out, and you really have to applaud Webgains for doing this. Many networks would have said “tough luck” and wiped out the commissions, but by doing this (and you would imagine at some considerable cost), I will be sure to remember their actions when given the choice of working with Webgains or A.N.Other network.

That’s compliments for two networks now – I’m turning into a network-lover! Better slag some off next week so normal service is resumed!

Rogue Trader loses bank £7bn More - You have to question why the Bank’s system allows any trader, rogue or not, to rack up losses anywhere near this sort of scale – Surely alarms bells should be ringing as soon as they’re approaching £100m of losses, and systems should automatically suspend trading authority once they’re above £500m. To allow one man to lose £7billion is just crazy, especially when you consider that Nick Leeson only managed to lose £860m.

Argyle sunk by Portsmouth More – Yet another heartbreaking cup exit from Argyle, where we threw everything we had at a Premiership team, only to be foiled by a top keeper. Last year it was Watford and Ben Foster, this year it was Portsmouth and David James. It could have been so different however had blind referee Andre Mariner awarded Argyle a penalty in the latter stages for the most blatent handball you’re ever likely to see. Even Les Ferdinand on MOTD called it a “nailed-on pen”.

So heartbreak for Argyle, but a great day out. Everyone we met from Pompey, from Police Officers, Stewards and fans were incredibly friendly, and whilst the old stand at Fratton Park is a bit antiquated and creaking, I think the ground looks fantastic when full – A proper football ground, not one of the plastic bowls you see being build these days. Not a prawn sandwich in sight, and all the better for it!

Originally written by Lammo.net, a blog all about Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate Marketing is going full circle