iTechSpeak :::...

by Bruce Newman

Affiliate marketing is usually defined as the reward for each customer brought to a target website; in short, an Internet-based marketing method of driving traffic to a particular site. To clarify this further, let’s say I’m an affiliate for a website that sells pet products. For each customer who I bring to that website, I will receive some reward – usually money. (This may also require that they purchase at least one item.)

Is it worth my while?
The answer is both yes and no. It depends on the terms of the affiliate agreement and the amount of effort you are willing to expend. If it was so easy for these companies to just bring in business, they wouldn’t need an affiliate program. However, every company knows that generating new business is hard; it’s expensive, time consuming, exhausting and a slow process. They have calculated that it helps to have an unpaid (or minimally paid) sales force providing them with leads (and customers). The question for you to determine is, “Are the rewards worth my effort?”.

What is required from me?
Sometimes being an affiliate can initially be very easy and profitable. If you have a network of friends with a need for the affiliate product or service that you represent – such as pet supplies, you can easily make a few dollars. But what happens then? What is required for you to continue to provide new customers? And, how will you do it? These are questions you must be able to answer before becoming an affiliate of any program.

How much money can I make?
You can make a lot of money as an affiliate, particularly if you are an affiliate member for several websites and have an effective operating strategy. Having a solid networking tree is also quite helpful. Unfortunately, few affiliates fall into this category. Some affiliates enjoy a solid secondary income stream. However, most affiliates make little to no money, usually because of a lack of effort or difficulties with the company they are an affiliate for. We will discuss this further in another article.

Why become an affiliate?
Being an affiliate can supply you with a secondary source of income. Even if you are employed in a job, an affiliate income can make a significant difference in your total income. Possibly, as you continue to refine your strategies and affiliate agreements, it can even become a primary source of income. In any case, it requires work on your part. Just remember, money won’t come rolling in once you sign up as an affiliate without your effort.

Next week, we will discuss how to select an affiliate program(s) from the many programs currently available.

Bruce Newman is a long-term ETP Network member and Vice President at The Productivity Institute, LLC which matches the specific software products and services needs of companies to rated outstanding consultants who can meet those needs. It has an extensive and well-supported affiliate program that offers up to $225 for each company that registered by an affiliate which signs a contract with one of its referred consultants. Additional product and service information is available at: http://www.prodinst.com

Video Affiliate Marketing Part 1

By now you may have read John Markoff's article in the yesterday's New York Times "Larger Prey Are Targets of Phishing". Over 2,000 executives received phony, but very official looking, subpoenas to appear in court. From the email they were fooled into thinking they could download a copy of the subpoena. Instead different variants of keylogger programs were installed on each computer. Keylogger programs intercept personal or sensitive corporate information typed on the computer keyboard.

John goes on to explain "The tactic of aiming at the rich and powerful with an online scam is referred to by computer security experts as whaling. The term is a play on phishing, an approach that usually involves tricking e-mail users — in this case the big fish — into divulging personal information like credit card numbers. Phishing attacks that are directed at a particular person, rather than blasted out to millions, are also known as spear phishing."

When are these phishing and whaling horror stories going to end? Never, but there proactive steps people can take. Consider making a small investment in an excellent keylogger prevention program called GuardedID by Strikeforce Technologies. Think of it as buying insurance to protect your sensitive information and prevent identity theft.

GuardedID provides a preemptive approach to protecting your information. GuardedID works by encrypting each and every keystroke the instant that you type it. It then delivers those encrypted keystrokes directly to the browser through its own Patent Pending secure channel, circumventing all the hooks keyloggers use to steal data. This prevents any chance for key loggers to intercept the users information over the keyboard. Read more . . .

I'd rather have 1% of the effort of 100 men than 100% of my own effort. - J. Paul Getty

Having $1.00 come from 3 different sources (CEO, Me Inc.) is far better than having $3 come from 1single source (employee). If 1 source stops paying (no job), at least 1 or 2 other sources of income still maintains basic living solvency. Our board of directors (family) still have a roof over their head, food on the table and the lights stay on and there's gas in the car. We just can't have all the extras 3 sources of income provided.

Take a look at your LinkedIn.com profile. Scroll down a little. No, not there. Right there; where LinkedIn allows you to add three (3) web site links. Those 3 web links are 3 checks with your name on it. All you have to do is "set it and forget it". This is an opportunity to create passive income. It may not be major money, but it could still be a dollar more than you had yesterday. It's still way better than adding cutsie web links that just go to favorite web sites we like. Are those sites paying you for the referral? Probably not, but they are still making money from the referral.

People are Googling you to get to your LinkedIn profile. If the searcher still does not hire you or continue a conversation, there is still a potential to make a $1 either way. If searchers trace out your links that take them to useful web sites, that works in your favor as an enterprising solution provider. Thats way better than linking to Twitter, MySpace or Facebook. The searchers will find you on those sites anyway.

There is a plethora of affiliate programs that pay for referrals to their web site. Upon registering you are provided a customized web link with a unique identifier. Every purchase from your referral web link(s) is a commission check paid directly to you.

We can provide you with some affiliate program recommendations. We are continuously developing agreements with strategic business partners that provide affiliate programs. Send an email to SavvyIntrapreneur@gmail.com for further information.

Outside of MySpace, YouTube, Linkedin, Bebo, social networks and blogs are also being used by schools, stock traders, non-profit organizations, event planning companies and professional/trade associations.

There is a list you can scroll down to view more videos. Enjoy!!

What does Subscribe mean? has been previously covered in 2 articles posted on iTechSpeak; "RSS is a Double Edge Sword" and "Make Jobs or Clients Come to You using a RSS Reader".

Installing a RSS reader saves you much time by making information and business opportunities come to you. RSS epitomizes working smarter, not harder.

Video: RSS in Plain English by Common Craft

It is now a given that Google and other search engines are used more often to check out people and companies. Work that to your advantage. The Internet provides an awesome fertile platform for growing your business or career. The internet allows you to always be marketing.

Become an Internet farmer. Like growing a crop, your Internet web presence must be nurtured, watered and maintained. So you have a profile on LinkedIn, Monster, Career Builder etc.. Or your business web site is featured in a couple of Internet articles and it has some reciprocal links from other web sets. As far as search engines are concerned you're still only as good as your last home run.

Search engines work against you, if no new content is added. Your name or company name slowly gets pushed down on search engine results, unless you're continuously fertilizing the Internet with your presence.

Here's 5 ways to grow and maintain your web presence:

1. If you have a resume posted on any job boards, make Sunday night your time to feed your web presence. Open your resume in "edit" mode. Press the space bar any where in your resume. Then press the back space key. Now save Your resume. The search engine spiders will sense the change and push your resume up for higher visibility to recruiters and hiring managers. Successful Project Manager, Terry Opalka, provided this brilliant technique at a recent ETP Network event "Sunday night I would update my resume on the job boards, by pressing the space bar and saving it. By Monday my inbox would contain emails from people contacting me about my resume."
   
2. Participate in group forums that cover topics of interest. When replying to a topic thread, insert your full name, company name, web site and contact email address, in your signature. This is referred to as your tagline.
3. Maximize your reading of news articles. At the bottom of each article is usually a comment section. If you agree with the reporter or have something "positive" feedback, go for it. Add your tagline.
   
4. Add "key words" to your Linked profile, resume and web site. This seeding process should include the names of companies or clients where you previously worked. Add your skill set, services or products as key words. Add the names of high profile people related to your industry in your key words.
   
5. Start a blog or comment on blog articles, with your tagline. Search engines love blogs more than web sites. Content on blogs is updated more often. This provides exponentially better results when people are searching for you or your company. Google has a dedicated search engine just for blogs http://blogsearch.google.com .
   

The video above explains the steps you can take to protect yourself from identity theft.

Identity theft is a serious crime. It occurs when your personal information is stolen and used without your knowledge to commit fraud or other crimes. Identity theft can cost you time and money. It can destroy your credit and ruin your good name.

Deter identity thieves by safeguarding your information.

• Shred financial documents and paperwork with personal information before you discard them.
• Protect your Social Security number. Don't carry your Social Security card in your wallet or write your Social Security number on a check. Give it out only if absolutely necessary or ask to use another identifier.
• Don't give out personal information on the phone, through the mail, or over the Internet unless you know who you are dealing with.
• Never click on links sent in unsolicited emails. Instead, type in a web address you know. Use firewalls, anti-spyware, and anti-virus software to protect your home computer; keep them up-to-date. Visit OnGuardOnline.gov for more information.
• Don't use an obvious password like your birth date, your mother's maiden name, or the last four digits of your Social Security number.
• Keep your personal information in a secure place
  at home, especially if you have roommates, employ outside help, or are having work done in your house. Defend against ID theft as soon as you suspect it.
• Place a "Fraud Alert" on your credit reports, and review the reports carefully. The alert tells creditors to follow certain procedures before they open new accounts in your name or make changes to your existing accounts. The three nationwide consumer reporting companies have toll-free numbers for placing an initial 90-day fraud alert; a call to one company is sufficient:
  Equifax: 1-800-525-6285
  Experian: 1-888-EXPERIAN (397-3742)
  TransUnion: 1-800-680-7289

The telephone has been and always be the best "high tech high touch" way of developing human relationship rapport. So how can a person effectively communicate using Email? Instant messaging? or the Telephone?

The Finishing Academy and Microsoft teamed up to develop "The Business and Communications Etiquette Guide". Mark Deakin, Unified Communications Manager, Microsoft said: “Our research and anecdotal evidence suggests that Instant Messaging is now rife amongst information workers, yet often people are using it poorly. Combined with the widespread misuse of email and an increasing aversion to the phone, it seems there is confusion over when to use which method of communication. The technology is there to help people communicate and collaborate better, and done right it can be a real boon.” Read more . . .

Carl Tyler also provides an excellent technology communication etiquette article slide show published on Forbes.

No your eyes are not playing tricks on you. March 11, 2007 starts daylights savings time a few weeks early.

On Monday August 8, 2005 President Bush signed into law a broad energy bill (Energy Policy Act of 2005) that will extend Daylight Saving Time by four weeks in 2007.

So turn your clocks ahead on Saturday March 10, 2007. Now you will be on time for Church.

Calm down. No reason to get all Year 2000 (Y2K) crazy, with anxiety attacks.

Edge Blog comes to the rescue with all the patches required to take care of internal clock settings for our technolgy tools, such as your Windows mobile phone. Edge Blog suggests making a list of time-dependant systems (copiers, fax machines ets.), applications, databases and devices. Prioritize the list based upon importance and impact if the device isn’t patched.

Below are some computer patches. Edge Blog has a more extensive list with a people adding more in the comments section of the same article.

• Microsoft Overview - microsoft.com
• Microsoft Windows Registry Hack - microsoft.com
• Microsoft Windows Mobile Hack - microsoft.com
• Microsoft Windows XP & 2003 - microsoft.com
• Microsoft Exchange - microsoft.com
• IBM Lotus Notes & Domino - ibm.com

Create a folder in your email system called "Waiting Room". Create a reverse spam filter which only allows email addresses in your Inbox from people you know. The same email filter should move all other email into the "Waiting room" folder. This will streamline being able to work smarter with responding to important emails. Later in the day, you can sift through the Waiting Room folder. If you spot an email from someone you know, place them in the reverse spam filter.

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You just met someone, but you're not sure if you should give them your actual email address. No problem. Give them a disposable email address. Check it online, later. You can give your real email address, only after checking what a person has to offer at the disposable email address. This eliminates spam, in case you do not want to communicate further.

An associate I recently met, named Tim Wilson of The Savvy Technologist , provides a very cool article on Disposable E~mail Addresses

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