Affiliate programs are commonly misunderstood, in order to understand affiliate programs lets start with terminology. For clarification purposes, an affiliate is defined as any “referrer” or website that promotes a product in an effort to earn revenue. A merchant is defined as someone who owns a product and is sharing revenues with an affiliate based on the affiliate’s performance. Affiliate programs can drive targeted traffic to your website.

There are 3 basic affiliate programs, though only the first two are commonly used.

Pay Per Click - this is when an affiliate is compensated for sending traffic to the merchant. (AdSense is an example of PPC affiliate program)

Pay Per Sale - this is when the affiliate is compensated by the merchant if the referral generates a sale or purchase.

Pay Per Lead - this is when the merchant agrees to pay for a qualified (or sometimes unqualified lead), which is very uncommon because it is subjective and up to the merchant.

Affiliate websites tend to provide information, entertainment, and content services to their customers. The online merchants sell products, goods and services online. These are programs permitting affiliates to earn money based on the visitors to your site who click through to another’s website. Some pay a token amount for the click through and others provide a percentage of sales when a visitor “clicks through” to your site and buys a product or service on the other party’s site. This could represent a value added service to your visitors.

Affiliate programs allow you to pay and track incentives from other websites that send web surfers, leads or paying customers to your website. Commissions based on purchases made by traffic sent from the referring website can be paid. Besides a commission, an affiliate can receive a flat fee, or other incentives for all valid transactions it refers that generate a sale or lead.

Be careful that the affiliate’s web page is not cluttered with banner ads that may crowd out your link, or that be annoying to customers. Affiliate programs enable affiliates to leverage their traffic and customer base in order to profit from e-commerce while merchants benefit from increased exposure and sales.

Commonly traffic to merchant sites is measured and affiliates can clearly see conversion rates. Meaning, they track the percentage of people they are referring, and how much of it results in earned revenue. If the affiliate finds a very low conversion, they will find a better way to monetize that traffic, quite possibly with a competing merchant product.

In order to be a successful affiliate, the affiliate site needs to either have tons of traffic or target a specific audience, frequently one untapped by the merchant. It has been my experience, the closer the affiliate site content resembles the merchant products, the higher the likelihood of a good conversion rate.

Once you are committed to the idea of affiliates, the next step is to determine the kind of tracking system you are going to use. Sales can be tracked by HTML code, which is placed in a shopping cart or on the ‘order confirmation’/'thank you’ page, and cookies, which are created after the customers click on a banner ad. Cookie killers have been a problem for the affiliate industry. Software vendors have an advantage over other merchants in that new technologies allow software developers to better control compensation. Vendors can ‘wrap’ their software insuring that their affiliates are compensated for referrals, even if the customer downloads a trial version prior to purchasing. Buy now buttons in the software have affiliate ids imbedded in the download. Combined tracking systems have more success than those that rely on a single tracking technology.

In order to develop a successful affiliate network, merchants must realize that affiliates spend ad dollars on site, and product promotion. If the affiliate is not compensated fairly they will not remain in the merchants network. The bottom line is that affiliate relationships are partnerships, when both sides feel the situation is fair and equitable the relationship will be a success.

About the Author:

Sharon Housley manages marketing for NotePage, Inc. http://www.notepage.net a company specializing in alphanumeric paging, SMS and wireless messaging software solutions. Other sites by Sharon can be found at http://www.feedforall.com, http://www.softwaremarketingresource.com and http://www.small-business-software.net

sharon@notepage.net

Recipient of ten Academy Award nominations and winner of seven, including Best Picture, The Sting is widely lauded as one of the best films ever produced. Written by David S. Ward, whose unorthodox genius has produced such Hollywood hits as Major League (1989), King Ralph (1991), and Sleepless In Seattle (1993), The Sting boasts a superbly well-written screenplay, ripe with perfectly constructed dialogue and a plotline riddled with suspense. Directed by George Roy Hill, who previously teamed with Paul Newman and Robert Redford to produce Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid (1969), it paints a colorful picture of 1930s Chicago. Complete with gangsters, card games, illegal gambling, sex, and murder, what else could a movie lover wish for?

The Sting follows the life of a two-bit grifter named Johnny Hooker (Robert Redford). Hooker runs small-time jobs with Luther Coleman (Robert Earl Jones) and Joe Erie (Jack Kehoe). Business is decent until they pull the con of a lifetime on a greedy numbers runner. Hoping for a few dollars, they end making off with several thousand. But Doyle Lonnegan (Robert Shaw), the organized crime boss whose money they stole, places a hit on all three men that results in Luther’s death. Caught in the crosshairs of dirty cop Lt. William Snyder (Charles Durning) and a mysterious hit man (Dimitra Arliss), Johnny follows the advice of his dead mentor and contacts the best conman in the world, Henry Gondorff (Paul Newman), in hopes of becoming his understudy.

Gondorff promises to pull “the big con” (the ultimate score for con artists), and to sweeten the pot, he promises to make the mark Doyle Lonnegan himself. Gathering a star-studded team of con artists, pick-pockets, and grifters, Gondorff and Hooker set out to take Lonnegan for millions. Together, they set up a rival gambling operation in Chicago under the names of Shaw and Kelley. Hooker (a.k.a. Kelley) endears himself to Lonnegan so as to win over the gangster’s trust. Convincing Lonnegan he has friend at the Western Union who can telegraph winning horses moments before a race is reported, Hooker gets Lonnegan to place a series of winning bets at Gondorff’s gambling parlor. Under the impression Kelley’s goal is to break Shaw (a.k.a. Gondorff) and take over his establishment, the two agree to one last bet, with Lonnegan set to place a million dollars of his own money on the line. It’s a bet Gondorff and Hooker intend for Lonnegan to lose… But one problem remains. The FBI is hot on the trail of Gondorff, and they’re determined to break his operation at any cost…

Far ahead of its time, The Sting redefined the Hollywood plot twist with its ingenious organization of multiple subplots. Newman is masterful as the veteran cheat Henry Gondorff, and it’s well worth watching the entire film just to see the scene where he out-cheats the ultimate cheat at cards. With a parade of eccentric characters, well-developed sinister figures, and clever exchanges of dialogue, The Sting isn’t your typical sensationalistic Hollywood potboiler. Like a great novel, the film takes some time to establish its characters and develop its plotline. Patient viewers will be well-rewarded…

About the Author

Britt Gillette is author of The DVD Report, a blog where you can find more reviews like this one of The Sting (DVD).

In sales, there’s a fine line between persistence and stalking. In my experience, with the exception of prospects who are already in the sales cycle, that line is usually drawn at about once every 6 weeks. So given that you only have once every 6 weeks to make a direct impression on your “B” and “C” list prospects, how can you make sure those follow-up calls have the greatest possible impact?

Let’s go back to the science of sales, and dissect a typical opening call that I hear 80% of the time when I’m coaching sales people:

“Hi Mary, this is Colleen from Engage Selling. How are you today? Great. I’m just calling to check in and see if anything has changed since the last time we spoke?”

Did you spot what’s wrong with this opener - and why? I see at least three big mistakes, any one of which could cost you a potential sale.

Mistake #1: “How are you today?”

Please, please, please never use an opening statement that starts with “how are you today!” Why? Because all it does is remind your customers of all those dinnertime calls they receive from telemarketers. Are you a telemarketer? I didn’t think so. So don’t act like one!

Besides, do you really believe that your customers actually think that you are even listening to the answer? Are you listening to the answer? Of course not. So remember: your prospects see through this opening question just as easily as you do whenever a telemarketer (or less professional salesperson) calls you.

Instead, try this rapport-winning phrase: “Did I catch you at a bad time?” This works well because it points out the obvious, and that makes the customer laugh. Of course it’s a bad time! Any non-scheduled call is an interruption, and no interruption ever comes at a “good” time. After all, if all your customers spent their days just waiting at their desk for you to call, then sales would be too easy!

Mistake #2: “I’m just calling to check in and…”

Are you their mother, or their sales rep? Seriously, are you really calling just to check in or check up? If so, either you’ve got a lot more time on your hands than I do, or else it’s time to seriously consider a career change!

First, start by removing the word “just” - it makes you sound unimportant, and your call seem like an afterthought. Instead, replace it with something like: “The last time we spoke, you….” By taking the customer back to the last time you spoke, you remind them of your relationship, and prove that you are carrying through on what you were asked or promised to do. Nothing builds rapport better than a promise kept. And as we know, rapport leads to trust, and trust leads to loyal customers.

Mistake #3: “…to see if anything has changed since the last time we spoke.”

Don’t be vague. These days, your prospects don’t have the time to try to decipher why you’re calling - and neither do you.

According to a study conducted by the American Association of Professional Organizers, the average executive has over 52 hours of unfinished work on their desk every day. Our experience in today’s market shows that if a prospect doesn’t understand the purpose of your call within the first 30 seconds, 99 times out of 100, they will simply lose interest, stop listening and start looking for a way to get you off the phone. (Does the phrase, “Please send me some information,” sound familiar?)

State up front exactly why you are calling, and your prospects will appreciate your openness. To complete what we started in the response to Mistake #2, try tying your opening statement back to something specific the client requested on your last interaction, like: “The last time we spoke, you mentioned that you wanted me to call before we had a price increase…” or, “The last time we spoke, you mentioned you were looking for consultants with experience in the banking industry.”

Breaking the rules

By the way - there are ways you can stay in touch with your prospects more often than once every 6 weeks, and still not be considered a stalker. Just use a combination of direct contacts (the phone) with indirect contacts (email or mail).

In fact, I’ve found that using the phone exclusively is generally not the best way to stay in touch with prospects. Instead, I recommend that sales reps use a variety of means to reach their prospects.

Mix up a phone call with an email, and then later maybe send them an individualized hard copy mail piece - not a generic corporate brochure, but something that’s relevant to them, like an article you clipped from a magazine with a personal note, a celebration card recognizing their company anniversary or an invitation to your open house.

To get you started, try the following schedule:

- Week 1: Follow-up call with action items noted for the next direct contact.
 - Week 3: Company email newsletter, announcement or article. It doesn't really matter what, provided it is content-rich and NOT an advertisement. After all, this contact is intended to increase your credibility, not weaken it.
 - Week 4-5: Another indirect contact such as a birthday or anniversary card, a note in the mail with a newspaper clipping they might be interested in, or an email with a newsworthy article about their industry. This contact is designed to strengthen your personal relationship, and help you build rapport.
 - Week 6-7: Follow up again with another direct phone call.

Finally, a last piece of advice: when making a follow-up call, make sure you’re never in a position where you’re still thinking about what you’re going to say while the phone is ringing. Even if you’re a veteran salesperson, pick up a pen and script the first 45-second “opener” of your next call right now. Then, look in a mirror and say it out loud.

Would you listen to you? If not, hang up, and try something else!

Colleen Francis is the Founder and President of Engage Selling Solutions, which delivers sales solutions that realize immediate results, achieve lasting success and permanently raise the client’s bottom line. Reach her at http://www.engageselling.com

The harp that once through Tara’s halls the soul of music shed,
now hangs as mute on Tara’s walls, as if that soul were fled.
So sleeps the pride of former days, so glory’s thrill is o’er,
and hearts that once beat high for praise,
now feel that pulse no more

To tell the history of the Irish harp is to tell the history of the Irish people. This ancient folk instrument with its beautiful, delicate sound is played today despite being ignored, derided and proscribed for centuries. Harpers, who in earlier days would have been hanged for their art, now flourish throughout the world, as do the Irish themselves

Legend tell us the first harp was owned by Dagda, a chief among the Tuatha De Danaan. At one time during a war with the Fomorians, the gods of cold and darkness, his harp was stolen but later recovered by Lugh and Ogma. When it was returned it had aquired two secret names and the ability to call forth summer and winter. From then on, when Dagda played, he could produce a melody so poignant, it would make his audience weep, he could play an air so jubilant it would make everyone smile, or bring forth a sound so tranquil, it would lull all who listened to sleep. So thus did the harp became the dispenser of Sorrow, Gladness and Rest.

Harps are played throughout much of the world. From ancient artworks, epic tales and poetry, we learn of harps in Babylonia and Mesopotamia. We see them in the tomb of Pharaoh Ramses III , votive carvings from Iraq and sculptures of ancient Greece. From Africa, which has more than 100 harp traditions, the instrument travelled north to Spain and soon spread throughout Europe. Strung with sinew, silk or wire, harps vary in size, structure and decoration according to the physical and technological environments of their origins. African harps have been made from wood and gourd covered with cowhide, the Burmese sang auk has an arched soundbox similar to the Turkish ceng while European harps feature a triangular frame, There is one feature that all harps share: the strings run vertical (rather than parallel) to the sound box.

Griffith of Wales employed harpists in his court at the end of the 11th century and the monk-historian Geraldus Cambrensis admired the great skill of the Irish harpers and remarked that some even considered the Scots to be better players. For Irish and Scottish harpers commonly visited each other’s countries to study, to learn and exchange tunes and their music was admired throughout Europe. Another twelfth century archivist, John of Salisbury, wrote that ” … had it not been for the Irish harp, there would have been no music at all on the Crusades.”

These harps were quite different from the large pedal harps we see in modern symphony orchestras. They were much smaller, originally held on the harper’s lap, leaning against the left shoulder, had no pedals, and usually were carved in one piece from bog wood. The Trinity College Harp and Queen Mary’s Harp are the oldest surviving Celtic harps and both date from the 15th or 16th centuries and illustrate the similarity between the Irish and Scottish harps. A distinguishing characteristic of these Gaelic harps was that they were wire-strung, rather than gut strung. The word “harp” has its roots in the Anglo-Saxon, Old German and Old Norse words which mean “to pluck.” In Gaelic they were known first as cruit and later as clarsach or clirseach.

The harp isn’t peculiar to Ireland but subsequently became its national emblem. (Nowadays you can even see it on the Guiness label) Harpers were highly trained professionals who performed for the nobility and enjoyed political power - so much so that during the 16th century, Queen Elizabeth I issued a proclamation to hang Irish harpists and destroy their instruments to prevent insurrection.

Sadly, while this oldest emblem of Ireland is still with us today most of the ancient airs and melodies it once produced are long gone, but younger harpers are taking up the challenge to reawaken the pride of former days.

Susanna Duffy is a Civil Celebrant, grief counsellor and mythologist. She creates ceremonies and Rites of Passage for individual and civic functions, and specialises in Croning and other celebrations for women. http://celebrant.yarralink.com