Shopzilla’s free affiliate program - turning quality traffic into revenues

Archive for 2009

Shopzilla raffle winner at the a4uexpo

Wednesday, October 14th, 2009
shopzilla-shoes

Available at Shopzilla

Judging by the smiles on affiliates faces and the amount of business cards bulging from exhibitors pockets , there is no doubt that the a4uexpo has been a great success. A shout out to the a4u team who went all out to make sure both affiliates and exhibitors were well looked after! From the Ignite and Breakout Party which kicked off this year’s event to the networking drinks and Ice Party rounding off the 2 day exhibition, fun was had by all as well as seeing some great giveaways and competitions!

Amongst these was the Shopzilla UK special - Mizuno running shoes in the company’s orange and green brand colours. The draw was held shortly after 4pm and the lucky winner of these trainers was Chris Naughton - Digital Media Manager at Latitude! Congratulations!

Tips to successful social networking

Tuesday, October 13th, 2009

networkingpartySocial networking at affiliate events can be a daunting experience especially if you’ve never been to one before. It is, however, the perfect opportunity to  meet like minded individuals and extend your contact list, all the while building new relationships with potential partners.

For those of you who may be a little shy when it comes to networking, here are a few tips on how you can turn the event into a true success.

1. Dress comfortably but smartly - you’ll want to feel at ease when trying to mingle (no trainers though!) and looking smart will increase your confidence.

2. If you know who will be attending the event read up a little on what they do beforehand, this will help guide you in asking relevant questions when meeting new people!

3. Prepare yourself a 20-30 second introduction on what it is you actually do.

4. Have an idea in mind about the sorts of questions likely to come up from other people when describing what you do.

5. Don’t be afraid to join new circles - if you see a group chatting why not go over and introduce yourself. Remember that not everybody knows each other anyway.

6. Think about what you wish to gain from this social networking, it is new partners? new affiliates? advice and info? This will give you a clearly defined goal for the event.

7. Most of all….relax! Enjoy yourself and don’t forget that you’re there to have fun and meet interesting people!

For more tips take a look at this post How to Network at an Affiliate Event.

What to watch out for at the A4U…

Friday, October 9th, 2009

The countdown has begun. With only days to go until the start of this year’s biggest Online Marketing event, the A4Uexpo is the buzz word of the moment.

Two days of learning and networking provide the ideal opportunity for those names to become faces. Arround 60 - 70 speakers are expected to attend the event with names such as Ebay’s European Affiliate Manager Julia Nisted, Mel Kirk from White Label Dating and the a4uexpo’s own Matthew Wood holding a whole host of talks varying from social media strategies to affiliate management and SEO practices.

The exhibition opens at 9am on Wednesday 13th, don’t forget to collect your badge and brochure which details all of the conference’s activities.

Here are some of the various highlights you’ll find over the course of the two days. There’s enough going on for everyone!

Monday 12th October:

7pm onwards: Ignite Party - kick starting this year’s event is a networking party held at the Novotel opposite Excel. Get your badges here to avoid queueing the first day.

Tuesday 13th October:

09:15-10:15 SEO Strategies to Make A Splash! David Naylor will uncover some hot new and innovative SEO strategies for both on-site and off-site SEO.

12:00-13:00 The Affiliate Doctors Live! Join some leading Affiliates and Industry observers as they offer frank advice on issues within affiliate marketing, start-up strategy, conversion, bloggin and SEO.

16:00-17:00 My 12 Biggest Affiliate Marketing Mistakes in 12 Years Affiliate Marketing expert Nadeem Azam provides an in-depth, informative and sometimes humorous insight into the biggest mistake he has made each year since starting out in affiliate marketing in 1997.

17:45 Network Reception drinks and the Breakout Party - kicking off after the close of the first day, these parties give you the chance to chat with exhibitors and sponsors.

Wednesday 14th October:

9:30-10:30 Killer Link Building Strategies If you want to learn how to build high-value link targets and how to acquire them, this session is for you.

12.15pm Start Up and Launch Strategy - Kieron Donoghue gives guidance and advice on starting out in the online world.

14:30-15:30 Beyond The Banner…Advancing Your Use of Tools and Merchandising To Tap Into The Way Consumers Are Shopping Today The diversifying advertiser base, what’s driving this trend and some discussion of changing consumer behaviour. Liane Dietrech wille xplain how this is creating more opportunity for affiliates, Effective Merchandising - increase conversions, maximise revenues and build relationships.

6.30pm Hot Buffet and Ice Party - a chance to unwind and finish off the 2 day conference with a bang!

Also, don’t miss the Shopzilla UK team at stand 2. We’ll be wearing an unmissable trainers and t-shirt combo, look out for the flame! We have some unique giveaways which went down a storm recently at our exhibitions in Paris and Germany; come and grab one while they last.

What are you most looking forward to at the conference next week?

Dynamic Assets in-depth

Thursday, October 8th, 2009

Why use our content as an everyday web ad when you can truly make it an asset?!  Our color picker tool allows you to customise your assets to complement your website’s design, helping you to better attract your audience and improve traffic quality.

When you log on to your Shopzilla UK Publisher Program account go to: Get Content > Dynamic Assets > find the asset you’re looking for > Get HTML.  Select the part of the asset you would like to change, then choose the color and other options depending on the part of the asset.

colourpicker

Image Border: The border (outline) around each individual image/product inside the asset.

Background: The background color of the full asset.

Link: The links of the images/products shown inside the asset.

A-Link: The color the link turns when it is clicked.

V:Link: The color the link turns once it has been clicked.

H-Link: The color the link turns when it is scrolled over by a mouse cursor.

Text: The text (non-links) inside the asset.

New Window (_blank): This link target will open the new page in a separate browser window.

Same Frame (_self): This link target will open the new page in the same page it was clicked on.

Parent Frame (_parent)*: This link target will load the new page in the immediate parent of the frame.

Main Window (_top)*: This link target is similar to the Parent Frame, but will load the new page in the full body of the window.

Randomise: Definitely take advantage of this feature!  The products shown will randomly change every time the dynamic asset is loaded, giving your audience a different experience each time they visit your website.  If you are displaying a dynamic asset containing products from category ‘MP3 & Media Players’, rather than showing the same three iPods, your asset will cycle between various BizRate product offerings in that specific category.

*advanced

Another feature worth noting is that color preferences will be saved in your user cookie.  If you’re building multiple dynamic assets, your color preferences will be automatically applied, you’ll never have to worry about our dynamic assets clashing with your website design again!

Once you finish touching up your asset, click Get HTML and then scroll to the bottom of the page to get the new code.  Don’t forget to update your dynamic assets periodically to take advantage of our new categories and product offerings, keep your shopping content relevant to your audience.

For further information have a look at the Dynamic Banners section here on our blog, and as always, contact us if you have any questions or comments about the Shopzilla UK Publisher Program!

A4U is coming to town!

Tuesday, October 6th, 2009

londonexpoLondon is looking forward to playing host to the A4UExpo event next week for the third year running. This is being held at ExCel London on 13th/14th October and is the chance for all the greats of the affiliate marketing world to get a chance to come together and share tips and info with the rest of the AM junkies. Not only will there be live talks on affiliate marketing, you’ll also find plenty of information on SEO, SEM, Paid Search, Social Media, Affiliate Management Strategies, Start-up Advice and Conversion Rate Optimisation so there’s something for everyone. Earlier this year we saw roadshows in Edinburgh, Manchester and even Amsterdam which set the theme for this year’s big event in London.

Besides the exhibition (Shopzilla with the UK Shopzilla Publisher team will be one of the exhibitors), you have the chance to really mingle and learn heaps about the world of affiliate marketing and related channels. Make the most of your chance to attend seminars featuring industry professionals in a mix of Q&A sessions, panel debates and various presentations. With more than 30 sessions from top industry experts from across the UK and international online marketing sector and 3 networking parties, this is the event to attend!

It will be a fantastic opportunity for us to meet our current publishers as well as to reach out to potential partners interested in our great products. Come and find Shopzilla at Stand no. 2 where we’ll have giveaways and plenty of information to bestow upon you! Meet Diana, Jason and Emma from the UK team and feel free to ask any questions you may have regarding your existing account with us or about joining our program.

See you next week!

LBM - Shopzilla’s first London Bloggers Meetup

Thursday, September 10th, 2009

A great night was had by all Wednesday night at the London Bloggers Meetup. This was our first ever attendance at an LBM evening and it went down a storm. The LBM is all about being able to bring together fellow bloggers to share tips, advice and information and, of course, to do it all with a drink in hand.

London Bloggers Meetup

London Bloggers Meetup

With Ebay sponsoring the event in Farringdon, free drinks and food were aplenty and there were even giveaways including a netbook! We got to meet some really interesting people (many of whom are regulars) including website designers, bloggers and marketers, amongst others, who were simply there to network and meet others in the same field. At least this way, you get to put a face to all those Twitter names!

For us at Shopzilla, the meetup was about getting an insight into what’s going on in the blogging world and to be able to learn from those in the know. It was definitely an event to remember and one worth noting in the diary for next month!

Take a look at what other members are saying about the LBM on Twitter.

If you are a blogger and interested in these Meetups, please have a look at the London Bloggers Meetup homepage.

Do you recognise Diana and Emma from the Shopzilla Publisher team who attended on the Social September on Wednesday evening? Find out a little bit more about them and watch out for us at the next event!

UK Shopzilla Publisher program

Tuesday, September 1st, 2009
Start making money with the UK Shopzilla Publisher program

Start making money with the UK Shopzilla Publisher program

The UK Shopzilla Publisher program has now been on the go for 5 whole months and we’re enjoying every minute with heaps of Publishers now on-board! Since the US version of the Shopzilla Publisher program was launched back in 2006, we have acquired several thousand affiliates in total and are looking forward to contributing to that figure with our UK counterpart.  Why not join the rest of them and start making money with the Shopzilla Publisher Program?

What does the Shopzilla Publisher Program mean for you?

Well, for starters “it’s a very effective way to generate more money from a website” Joel Comm of WorldVillage.com

We offer:

  • A quick and easy way for affiliates to integrate online ads onto their website and generate earnings through visitor clicks.
  • Literally tons of ad units for you to choose from. Our UK program enables you to place content-relevant custom built dynamic banners, stock assets, text links and product pods amongst other features onto your site. For those more experienced affiliate marketers we also offer FTP Data Feeds which allow you to either partly or wholly download the BizRate inventory.
  • A CPC-based model which means you get paid for every click that redirects to a merchant.
  • Placement IDs - assign ID names to your banners in order to track and analyse them; view your earnings reporting in the Publisher portal to see how well they’re doing and which space on your site is doing best.

And, if that doesn’t get your taste buds watering, it’s completely free to join!

Sign up now

Feedback on Shopzilla’s Dynamic Content

Friday, August 28th, 2009

As you all know, we released our long-awaited Dynamic Content a couple of weeks ago and encouraged you to try it out for yourselves. Thanks to all those who have already integrated it!  If you haven’t got around to having a look just yet, now’s the time to see what the new feature can offer you. Read more about our Dynamic Content*.

And if that doesn’t inspire you, we had some great initial feedback from some of our Publishers about the adaptability and efficacy of implementing these customisable assets:

Shopzilla's Dynamic Content - something to shout about

Shopzilla's Dynamic Content - something to shout about


“Great chance of getting more revenue…customer service is great”
britishbay.co.uk

“very useful and could be used instead of data feed related to the page content” shopire.com

“easy to integrate, looks fantastic and I was able to create a dynamic banner with exactly the content I wanted” dutchovenmonkey.blogspot.com

“very pleased with the result” drmventurestrading.co.uk

“love being able to colour the ads” herfashioneye.buy.co.uk

“I was able to find the matching products for my blog post and  add shopping experience” love-handbags-for-life.co.uk

“the cutomisable aspect is great, you can integrate it seamlessly into your website” Skylia.com


Your opinions are highly valued by us here in the UK Shopzilla Publisher team so if you have any questions or comments whatsoever regarding our Dynamic Assets please do not hesitate to get in touch. We are continually striving to improve our program so that you as Publishers get the best experience possible!

Try it for yourself; we’re sure you’ll give it raving reviews!

*Find it under the Get Content tab when you log in to your account on the portal.

Shopzilla’s cricket banners

Tuesday, August 25th, 2009

We all know the results from the weekend after a dramatic 7 weeks during which England managed to make a triumphant come back and take The Ashes by storm. We’re sure many of you out there were holding your breath for a good part of the weekend! Here at Shopzilla we like to keep up-to-date with the latest news and events and take pride in being able to provide our Publishers with great ideas for banners. So, to join in the celebrations for one of the most talked about current events, why not show your support for the boys by implementing one of our cricket banners? With our dynamic content you can customise the asset to really create your own. To design your cricket banners simply go to the Get Content tab in our Publisher portal and click on the Dynamic Assets option. ‘Howzat’ for an idea?! Advertise Shopzilla's cricket banners

A4U Forum - C U There!

Monday, August 24th, 2009

The A4U expo website is a social networking site designed to keep you up-to-date first hand with all the news and events happening in the Affiliate Marketing world.

Affiliates 4U - THE place to network

With hundreds of members already on board, the forum reunites affiliates and merchants alike and provides a gateway to the current hot AM debates.

This forum has long been established and we here at the Shopzilla Publisher team have been a member since earlier this year when our affiliate program launched.

On the main page you’ll see some of the most recent Forum and Blog posts.  To begin, create your own profile and then click on the “Forum” tab at the top. This will bring you to the buzz of the site -  there are many different threads and posts going on here at the same time, it’s just a case of browsing and selecting the threads which interest you.

The best way to get yourself seen and heard on this social networking site is to read the various articles in your chosen field and contribute to posts which have been insightful/offered an interesting slant to the way affiliate marketing works. Of course, you’re also allowed to express your opinions, whether you agree or not with an author’s article.

The UK Shopzilla Publisher program regularly surfs and contributes to these online discussions and would encourage all of our Publishers to do the same.

You can find us under Shopzilla Ltd in the “Users” search category.

Keep up with our threads and use it as an alternative tool to reach us if you have any questions regarding the Publisher program!

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