Thursday, July 10th, 2008 Affiliate Stuff, C'est Moi 6 Comments »

It comes as no surprise that there has been a lot of debate about discount codes to the point where merchants themselves are coming up with more rules for their promotion on code sites. There are so many issues, some of which I discussed here, such as the all important click to reveal vs displaying the code for everyone to copy and bugger off, the issue of such sites being difficult to maintain, etc etc.

So, it got me thinking. What would the perfect discount code site be like? Perfect for both the visitor, and the site owner?

The biggest issue is the offer itself. The discount code would not be hidden behind a ‘click to reveal’, in fact, it would be extremely visible  in a box differentiated from the rest of the page. It’s not even hidden behind an image, you can put your mouse across it and copy it. In fact, it would just copy the code automatically to your clipboard. After all, those Dell codes are pretty tricky. For the site owner to get commission, the retailer would open when the discount is copied for the user to simply switch windows and paste the code.

If the company has a great offer, freebie or sale that doesn’t have a code but is useful for the visitor, these will be published too. They, too, won’t have a ‘click to reveal’ and the links will be deeplinked and clearly visible.

Users can rate the code or offer without registering with a simple, AJAX powered star rating system.

Every single offer on the page would be valid. This would be achievable by automatically expiring old codes on the day it officially expires (or at least switching it to a different style, retain a little text and be absolutely clear that it has officially expired) and perhaps, instead of an expiry date, there’s a statement telling you how long there is until it expires.

The domain name is short, quirky, easy to remember and doesn’t include stuffed keywords like discount-voucher-offer-code-site.co.uk. The design is simple, clean and easy on the eye with offers given focus and reasonable on-page search engine optimisation.

The CMS is extremely simple to use with a few dropdown boxes, a content box if the site owner fancies adding extra text for Google love and then the pages are built dynamically depending on the options selected via the CMS.

The perfect discount code site? Hmmm….

Tags: Discount codes
Posted in Affiliate Stuff, C'est Moi | 6 Comments »

Friday, July 4th, 2008 Affiliate Stuff, C'est Moi 3 Comments »

I’m sorry. Lee McCoy - I love your blog, I really do. I rate it in my top 5. But what the hell is this new Affiliate Bitch thing? Moose (?) describes it as a “no holds barred approach to blogging & posting anonymously. dedicated to telling it how it is in affiliate marketing”. If that’s really “how it is” in affiliate marketing, I’m out of here. I know there are problems, and bitching is just a way of life, but there’s something about Affiliate Bitch that really grates me.

It’s like one of those e-book millionaire “You’re shit, I’m brilliant” types mixed with an 11 year old’s MySpace blog. Add the grammatical and spelling errors, the structurelessness (that’s a word, honest) of the rants, lack of proof/research/discussion/etc and so on that whenever I read a new post it makes me hope in sheer desperation that it isn’t Lee McCoy or another blogger that I respect behind the scenes.

Here are some of my favourite quotes from particular posts:

“So someone copied your site that you put time and effort into. Who cares, you should be flattered, when they get half a brain cell and do their own design, copy it. Revenge is sweet.” (Get Over Yourself - It’s Only Money)

Do you hear that Kieron and Matthew? You should be flattered about your content theft, then copy their design that they are supposedly going to come up with one day, which will be professional enough for you to use on one of your sites.

Just because they are making money they think it gives them the right to flaunt it in peoples faces. Who gives them the right to make the smaller newer people in the industry feel like crap because they are not acheiving the same results. (Look at me, Look at me)

Actually, affiliates like Max, Ray, Kieron and Chris inspire me, not make me “feel like crap”. If I’m not making as much money as them, it’s not their fault by “flaunting” cheques in my face. It’s mine for not reading and learning from their advice which they so generously give away for nothing.

To be honest, you probably don’t deserve it. Are you working until your faces bleeds and you no longer know your name, nor where th past few months of your life went? No? Then work harder. These things take time, and alot of hard work. you have to be the best at what you do, and google isnt going to give you high page rankings for moaning! If your product or website is niche, has the best prices and has lots of content, you should be onto a winner. If it isnt working, you are a dumb ass. That or you are spending too much money on PPC or staff and cant handle your accounts, again - you are a dumn ass. Quit spending time moaning and do something about it! (Boo hoo I’m not making any money)

Yeah, because this isn’t making newer, smaller affiliates feel like crap is it? Oh, and I’ve highlighted in bold a few mistakes that make me wonder if this anonymous writer “deserves” to be making any money.

And that’s why the latest post, Get Over Yourself - It’s Only Money, made me pluck up courage and slap the bitch. What a complete and utter load of tosh. If I want to read a rant, I’ll head over to someone who can write with structure, passion and persuasion like Lammo, Kieron, Jason or even Lee.

I look forward to the bitch’s next post!

P.S. I fully understand the irony of bitching about Affiliate Bitch’s bitching!

P.S.S. Sorry if I just sent pings flying left, right and centre!

Tags: Affiliate Bitch
Posted in Affiliate Stuff, C'est Moi | 3 Comments »