We are pleased to announce that Blue Phoenix Media Inc. will be in full effect at this year’s Ad Tech New York City event!  This action packed conference will be taking place from November 4th-6th at the Jacob Javits Center.  Some presenters include Jimmy Wales who is the founder of Wikipedia, WPP’s Chief Executive Sir Martin Sorrell and Jonathan Miller who is the Chief Digital Officer of News Corporation.  Other speakers will be coming from companies such as MTV Networks, Walmart.com, Google, and Hyundai to name a few.  The conference will include over 200 speakers, more than 60 value driven panels and the expo will feature 250+ exhibitors, including ourselves. 

Aside from Blue Phoenix Media being known for its affiliate network which is comprised of over 200 advertisers and 3,000 active publishers, we also boast 20+ exclusive web properties to maximize brand awareness that we’ve built and own as well as various Education Portals that generate quality leads.  Although our most successful verticals are Education, Consumer Products and Health and Pharmaceuticals, we offer campaigns in over 20 other verticals.  Alongside our proprietary lead generation technology, we have a Coreg platform to serve into registration pages to monetize websites.

Other than some remarkable and well experienced speakers, you’ll find our staff of affiliate managers at the upcoming Ad Tech NYC event.  Talk about another great reason to go, right?  Our CEO Amy Sheridan and COO Malaika Schmidt, founders of Blue Phoenix Media, Inc. will be present as well.   If you would like to set up a meeting in advance, please email meetings@bluephoenixmedia.com.  So, if you haven’t been hiding under a rock, you know better than to not miss this event.  Stop by booth #2118.  See you there!

If you’re a publisher starting out in affiliate marketing, more often than not, you will face the daunting task of figuring out which networks you should work with. Here are a few, hopefully helpful tips to navigate you through picking the right network partner for you.

The first question that every affiliate should ask themselves when considering a network partner is to ask, what does this network have to offer me? One of the great keys to finding success in affiliate marketing is running offers that not everyone is running, so you’re not faced with a ton of competition. This means working with networks that have campaigns direct with the advertiser and, even better, working with networks that create their own exclusive offers. For example, Blue Phoenix carries its own exclusive education offers that you cannot grab anywhere else.

Next is figuring out what payouts your potential network partner is offering for the campaigns that you are interested in. The general rule with payouts are that the bigger number is most of the time better. However, this might not always be the case though. One example is if you are considering a campaign that pays at $40 in one network and $33 in another network. Be sure to ask your account managers how long a campaign has been up. You don’t want to put time and effort into a campaign at a $40 payout and then have that same campaign go down in two days. Your better bet would be to run a slightly lower paying campaign but have that campaign run it for a longer period of time.

Another important factor are payment terms. Net 30 payment is standard, however, be sure to ask your affiliate manager for campaigns that pay earlier so that you have funds ready on hand to continue promoting the offers and maybe even pick up new ones to run in the process.

Perhaps the more important aspect that affiliates sometimes forget to take into consideration when choosing a network is how great is the customer service of your network partners. Are your account managers calling you and making sure that you have everything you need to promote their network’s offers? Are they sending you emails in regards to the newest campaigns to arrive on the network or the latest payout increases? Is your network taking a proactive approach to combating fraud so that publishers who are legitimately promoting do not lose out on quality campaigns due to fraudulent activity?

With the number of networks that are out there, you can never be too picky with the networks you choose to work with. After all, these networks do sign your checks at the end of the day.

Blue Phoenix Media

Economic downturn has caused employed and unemployed consumers to voluntarily purchase benefits and insurance such as Health, Life, Long Term Care and 401K plans from other vendors. Online Insurance campaigns have increased in the Performance Marketing space this year and have been profitable for Affiliate Marketers due to this high demand. The demographics of these consumers include 40+, Diabetics, AARP Members and Wheelchair consumers.

Thanks to the recession there have been increases in benefit costs to employers, which in turn affect employees. Employers either cut back on the benefits or require employers to pay higher premiums. According to Guardian Life Insurance, “nearly one-third of workers think it is more expensive to obtain healthcare coverage at work than it is to buy coverage on their own. ¹ The people most affected by benefit changes-Blue-collar employees- “value disability, life insurance and retirement benefits more than do professional/managerial and clerical employees. ” ²This explains the increase search for outside sources in the insurance/benefit market.

Affiliate marketers may not expect baby boomers to be a target audience online but according to MetLife Mature Market Institute, baby boomers have invested in accessing information on the web and using social media to build support systems for their current needs and interests in such areas as politics, health care and employment opportunities. ³This is why there are now a number of Life Insurance, Long Term Care and Disability campaigns infiltrating the Internet Marketing space.

In light of this new demand from consumers, Blue Phoenix Media recently launched some exclusive campaigns in the insurance/benefit vertical for our CPA network. These offers are Find Me Life Insurance, Long Term Care for All, Your Disability Quote and Top 401K Plan. The sites are built and owned by us and since we manage the data we are able to provide quick feedback on the quality. These offers are available for Email, Banner and Search and all convert on the first page. Affiliate Marketers who want to tap into this market should consider the demographics previously mentioned to provide rich content and optimize your campaign strategy to be profitable.

Contact your Account Manager today to learn more about generating revenue from this high demand market!

¹ http://www.guardianlife.com/company_info/Spotlight_on_Benefits_and_the_Economy.pdf

² http://www.guardianlife.com/company_info/Spotlight_on_Benefits_and_the_Economy.pdf

³ http://www.metlife.com/assets/cao/mmi/publications/studies/BoomersTheNext20YearsEcologiesofRisk.pdf

Dear Mr/Ms. Affiliate,

I find it puzzling that once you have been approved to be a part of our network, you all of a sudden mysteriously become unreachable. My emails go unanswered and my calls are almost guaranteed to go straight to voicemail. I understand that for the most part networks are self-service and that you don’t really need anyone to tell you how to pick up offers for the umpteenth time. But believe it or not, I am not calling you to tell you something you already know.

The reason I call is because I want to work with you in figuring out how I can make it easy for you to generate substantial revenue with our network. I can tell you details about an offer that’s not written in the campaign description – like how one offer performs when promoted via search versus email or which creative is performing the best. I can tell you the brand newest offers on the network before they even go out on the affiliate newsletter, where everyone will see them and will want to pick them up.

Heck, I’ll even go so far as to cater our calls so that if you tell me you only want to hear about diet offers, you won’t hear anything but diet offers. Every now and then though, I will be brazen and tip you off that an education or financial offer or some other vertical is performing extremely well and worth looking into. Rest assured, I only do this with your best interest in mind.

I wish I could say that one phone call translates into dollars, but sometimes it takes several phone calls and even more phone calls and a few emails back and forth to get you paired with the right offer. This is why I call you more than once – not to annoy you, but to figure out which offer you can work your skills on (within compliance guidelines, of course!)  to take you into super affiliate status.

So the next time you see my number pop up on your caller ID, give me a chance and pick up the phone. It could be the 5 minute conversation that changes where the commas fall on your affiliate check when affiliate pay day rolls around.

Sincerely,
Your Affiliate Manager

Blue Phoenix Media

Economic downturn has caused employed and unemployed consumers to voluntarily purchase benefits and insurance such as Health, Life, Long Term Care and 401K plans from other vendors.  Online Insurance campaigns have increased in the Performance Marketing space this year and have been profitable for Affiliate Marketers due to this high demand.  The demographics of these consumers include 40+, Diabetics, AARP Members and Wheelchair consumers.

Thanks to the recession there have been increases in benefit costs to employers, which in turn affect employees.  Employers either cut back on the benefits or require employers to pay higher premiums.  According to Guardian Life Insurance, “nearly one-third of workers think it is more expensive to obtain healthcare coverage at work than it is to buy coverage on their own.[i]”    The people most affected by benefit changes-Blue-collar employees- “value disability, life insurance and retirement benefits more than do professional/managerial and clerical employees.[ii]”  This explains the increase search for outside sources in the insurance/benefit market.

Affiliate marketers may not expect baby boomers to be a target audience online but according to MetLife Mature Market Institute, baby boomers have invested in accessing information on the web and using social media to build support systems for their current needs and interests in such areas as politics, health care and employment opportunities.[iii] This is why there are now a number of Life Insurance, Long Term Care and Disability campaigns infiltrating the Internet Marketing space.

In light of this new demand from consumers, Blue Phoenix Media recently launched some exclusive campaigns in the insurance/benefit vertical for our CPA network.  These offers are Find Me Life Insurance, Long Term Care for All, Your Disability Quote and Top 401K Plan.  The sites are built and owned by us and since we manage the data we are able to provide quick feedback on the quality.  These offers are available for Email, Banner and Search and all convert on the first page.   Affiliate Marketers who want to tap into this market should consider the demographics previously mentioned to provide rich content and optimize your campaign strategy to be profitable.

Contact your Account Manager today to learn more about generating revenue from this high demand market!

Blue Phoenix Media

[ii] http://www.guardianlife.com/company_info/Spotlight_on_Benefits_and_the_Economy.pdf

[iii] http://www.metlife.com/assets/cao/mmi/publications/studies/BoomersTheNext20YearsEcologiesofRisk.pdf

I was reading an article by Cheryl Kellond titled “Shining A Light on Performance Display Advertising.” In it, she breaks down the components of what makes a successful advertising campaign – that it’s a two-part system, where it’s not all about creative size, better positioning, and smart campaigns, but that it’s also making each ad relevant to the customer. She asks the question, “What good is a perfectly branded, perfectly placed, creative ad if it’s for a product the consumer doesn’t need or want?”

I agree with her wholeheartedly, but my spin on successful advertising campaigns focuses not on the need and rather on the want. According to Maslow’s theory of basic needs, the two most basic needs that must be met are deficiency and physiological needs. These two needs must be met in order for any other higher need to come into focus.

So how does this hierarchy of need fit into a good advertising campaign you may ask? Well, I’d like to think a good marketer is a marketer that can turn any consumer want into a need. Now some of you might think that this is exactly why performance marketing has come under heavy fire, because of deceptive marketing tactics. However, there is a huge difference between using Oprah’s face to market a product when she has not endorsed it versus using a customer testimonial who praises a product.

Put together a campaign that focuses on your product as an aid, a facilitator (not as a panacea) to helping customers fulfill whatever need they are looking to fill and you’ve got yourself a happy customer as well as money coming in.

Blue Phoenix Media

I stumbled on to a poll on Adotas.com the other day that asked, “Is a permanent decline in affiliate marketing imminent?” The choices were

1. “Yes – New state taxes, increased government restrictions and shady marketers have doomed the industry. “
2. “No – Affiliate marketing is changing not declining.”

I voted “no.” Change, as in any industry, is inevitable. In fact, it is to be expected. From having been in the industry for a good number of years now, I saw the internet go from the” wild wild west” to a carved territory that even my mom has a stake on, a la myspace and facebook.

New state taxes and increased government restrictions are all signs of a growing industry as it shifts towards establishment and organization. And yes, it is at this period of time where shady marketers will be weeded out, a beneficial change for other honest marketers, advertisers and consumers alike. The marketers who survive this shakeout period stand to become the legacy companies who need to set an example to any newcomers.

Blue Phoenix Media

With Oprah Winfrey and celebrity surgeon, Dr. Mehmet Oz, filing lawsuits against makers and marketers of dietary supplement products recently, online marketing practices in regards to products like Acai and Resveratrol are currently under heavy fire. And with good reason. Dr. Oz praising the anti-aging properties of acai berries on the Oprah Winfrey show is being translated into ads by some internet marketers as these two celebrities endorsing the products when they have not.

What happens when people find out they have been misled? According to an article by the Chicago Tribune, Oprah’s web site has fielded more than 2,000 complaints related to acai-berry products. In addition to the complaints, I imagine this resulted in many charge backs for those marketers who chose the misleading route and a damaged reputation.

Rather than using celebrity names and gimmicks, makers and marketers need to go back to the basics of honest salesmanship – using scientific studies, statistics and testimonials from actual users as the driving force as to why a customer should be purchasing a product. Just as brick and mortar shops need to establish a name and reputation, marketers need to look at their online marketing practices the same way – perhaps even more so, as all you do have on the internet is your name and reputation.

Blue Phoenix Media