Well, I’ve just come across another example of an affiliate marketing coach who charges through the nose for training that takes people down a path leading to nothing more than a waste of time and effort.

In this case, the affiliate ‘coach’ teaches his students how to place ads for Clickbank products on Craigslist.

If you’ve come across this advice — request a refund and leave the program now!

Under Craigslist’s Terms of UseSection 7, subsection k, you must agree

… not to post, email, or otherwise make available Content that constitutes or contains “affiliate marketing,” “link referral code,” “junk mail,” “spam,” “chain letters,” “pyramid schemes,” or unsolicited commercial advertisement; …

Obviously, that includes posting ads that link directly to Clickbank products, which is exactly what he advises.

UGH!

Perhaps, that’s something that worked for him in the past — but teaching it as an affiliate marketing method to new students of the topic is just wrong… especially when the lesson is part of his “Quick Start” series.

Seriously, if he’s teaching this crap, how can you trust any of his other advice?

So, like I said before, if you see this video in your training package, just cancel that $200 per month subscription and join a REAL affiliate training program – Rosalind Gardner’s Academy – (shameless self-promotion of my own product).

I specialize in sharing REAL, honest promotional methods that work (and don’t abuse Terms of Service) — but only if YOU work.

Scarcity marketing is a strategy used by sellers to create a sense of urgency in the prospect to buy a product immediately.

This is most often accomplished by stating that the product is available for a limited time or in limited quantities, e.g. “Offer ends March 31st” or “Only 36 copies left”.

The latter tactic works especially well when the prospective buyer knows that there were only a couple hundred units originally and now there are only 36 available.

For example, take a look at the screenshot below which shows the order page for a Clickbank product that I looked at this morning.

“WOW!, that is selling like hotcakes – I’d better buy it now!” you might think.

That’s almost what I did until I stopped and thought harder for a moment.

The text under Item Description, “… WARNING: ONLY 36 COPIES LEFT…” is the description that the vendor supplies to Clickbank when they post the product in the Marketplace.

Smell a rat?

Wait, it gets stinkier still.

A seller might want to limit sales if they have a training program to which they attend to students personally (like I do at Rosalind Gardner’s Academy) and therefore more sales means more work.

But no Clickbank vendor in their right mind would limit sales of an ebook to 215 copies. It just doesn’t make sense. Maybe if they were doing a deeply discounted offer – but not for the full price of $47.

Nor would that Clickbank vendor get hundreds of affiliates to promote the product. Seriously, would YOU bother to promote a product where there were only 215 copies available and you knew that all the so-called ‘Top Guns’ were promoting it as well?

I hope not!

Don’t get me wrong.

I’m not saying that scarcity marketing is not an ethical strategy – it IS, when used in an honest and upright manner.

But I sure as heck wouldn’t even consider buying a product from someone who so blatantly lies to (tries to scam) their prospects.

Anyway, check out the sales page (it’s great copy although I wish he’d stop yelling at some point) and then click through to the order page and see if there aren’t still just 36 copies left. LOL

By the way, if you really want to buy the product – that is my affiliate link – feel free to use it.

As always, stop and think before you click “Order”.

So, you’re touring around the Clickbank Marketplace looking for a good product to promote and you find one that you like.

Before you grab the product hoplink and paste it into your full-scale review of the product, look for the Facebook “Like” button and give it a click as shown in the screenshot below.

When you hit the “Like” button, ClickBank will automatically generate a HopLink to the product and post it to your Facebook profile as shown in the next screenshot.

If any of your friends make a purchase after clicking your link, you earn the affiliate commission!

NOTE: To earn affiliate commissions, you must be logged in to your ClickBank account before clicking the Like button. ClickBank will not retroactively credit any sales resulting from links created when you are not logged in to your ClickBank account.

OK, I admit I go on a total rant in this video about how NOT to promote Clickbank products — probably because it’s my own product, but also because this is a GREAT example of bottom-of-the-barrel affiliate marketing.

On another note – don’t tell me how great my instruction is and then produce something like shown in this video — this work is the antithesis of everything I teach about becoming a successful affiliate marketer.

Ed is the guy who will spend hours researching and analyzing product listings on eBay, Amazon and other independent online merchants to get the best deals.

He proudly announces his ‘wins’ whenever he buys something on eBay for $24 that sells in town for $79.

He’s equally proud when he saves just 5 bucks.

To acknowledge his online shopping prowess, I had just posted a compliment on Ed’s blog about his ability to find great deals online when not even 15 minutes later he tells me that he’s just purchased a Clickbank product to learn how to make his own solar panels.

He then somewhat sheepishly adds “… but I forgot to use my Clickbank ID“.

Duh!

The product that he bought is GreenDIYenergy which sells for $49.97, pays a 75% commission ($32.54).

There’s also an upsell that increases the commission to $79.00.

Because Ed didn’t buy into the upsell, he only flushed $32.54 down the toilet. (I say “only” rather sarcastically, as I don’t like wasting money period — it’s better saved and then spent on shoes. )

Actually, Ed probably flushed the full $49.97, considering I would have contacted the merchant to ask for a “review copy” which is mentioned on his Affiliate Support pages.

So folks… don’t make the same mistake that Ed made.

If you’re buying something from a Clickbank merchant in order to do a product review, save yourself some money and request a review copy (if they are offered) or at very least, buy the product through your affiliate link.

Hey, even if you’re NOT planning to do a product review and are just purchasing it for your own use – use your Clickbank ID and save some money! (Assuming you’re a good Clickbank affiliate, one who makes sales).

With the launch of Affiliate Blogger Pro today, I’ve been getting a number of questions about eligibility to become an affiliate — particularly for Clickbank.

So with that, here is the list of countries from which Clickbank accepts affiliates.

• UNITED STATES
• CANADA
• BRITAIN
• AUSTRALIA
• FRANCE
• GERMANY
• SPAIN
• MEXICO
• APO/FPO
• Aland Is
• Albania
• Andorra
• Anguilla
• Antarctica
• Antigua & Barbuda
• Argentina
• Armenia
• Aruba
• Australia
• Austria
• Bahamas
• Bahrain
• Barbados
• Belgium
• Belize
• Bermuda
• Bhutan
• Bolivia
• Botswana
• Bouvet Is
• Brazil
• Brunei
• Bulgaria
• Cambodia
• Canada
• Cape Verde
• Cayman Is
• Chile
• China
• Christmas Is
• Cocos Is
• Colombia
• Comoros
• Cook Is
• Costa Rica
• Croatia
• Cyprus
• Czech Republic
• Denmark
• Diego Garcia
• Dominica
• Egypt
• El Salvador
• Estonia
• Falkland Is
• Faroe Is
• Fiji
• Finland
• France
• French Guiana
• French Polynesia
• French Southern Terr
• Gambia
• Georgian Republic
• Germany
• Ghana
• Gibraltar
• Greece
• Greenland
• Grenada
• Guadeloupe
• Guam
• Guatemala
• Guernsey Is
• Haiti
• Heard & McDonald Is
• Honduras
• Hong Kong
• Hungary
• Iceland
• India
• Indonesia
• Ireland
• Isle Of Man
• Israel
• Italy
• Jamaica
• Japan
• Jersey Is
• Jordan
• Kiribati
• Korea, South
• Kuwait
• Kyrgyzstan
• Latvia
• Lebanon
• Lesotho
• Liechtenstein
• Lithuania
• Luxembourg
• Macao
• Macedonia
• Malaysia
• Maldives
• Mali
• Malta
• Marshall Is
• Martinique
• Mauritius
• Mayotte
• Mexico
• Micronesia
• Monaco
• Montenegro
• Montserrat
• Morocco
• Namibia
• Nauru
• Netherlands
• Netherlands Antilles
• New Caledonia
• New Zealand
• Nicaragua
• Niue
• Norfolk Is
• Northern Mariana Is
• Norway
• Oman
• Pakistan
• Palau
• Panama
• Paraguay
• Peru
• Philippines
• Pitcairn Is
• Poland
• Portugal
• Puerto Rico
• Qatar
• Reunion Is
• Romania
• Russian Federation
• Samoa, East
• Samoa, West
• San Marino
• Sandwich Is
• Sao Tome & Principe
• Saudi Arabia
• Seychelles
• Singapore
• Slovak Republic
• Slovenia
• Solomon Is
• South Africa
• Spain
• Sri Lanka
• St Helena
• St Kitts & Nevis
• St Lucia
• St Pierre & Miquelon
• St Vincent & Grenadines
• Suriname
• Svalbard & Jan Mayen Is
• Swaziland
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• Taiwan
• Thailand
• Tokelau
• Tonga
• Trinidad & Tobago
• Tunisia
• Turkey
• Turks & Caicos Is
• Tuvalu
• Ukraine
• United Arab Emirates
• United Kingdom
• United States
• Uruguay
• USA Minor Outlying IS
• Uzbekistan
• Vanuatu
• Vatican
• Venezuela
• Vietnam
• Virgin Is, UK
• Virgin Is, US
• Wallis & Futuna Is
• Western Sahara
• Yemen

Well, halle-flippin’-lu-ya, Clickbanks new marketplace categories and search functionality have been in place for the past couple of weeks now and the improvement is phenomenal.

For example, affiliates who want to promote my book can actually FIND the product through a keyword search (see pic below), unlike before when they’d have to contact me to get their affiliate links, because they couldn’t find me on Clickbank, despite the fact that the book has been on Page 1 of its category since 2003.

Speaking of categories, the category search now makes sense. Vendors aren’t permitted to place their products in multiple categories, so those deserving of higher rankings within their appropriate category now receive them.

For example, I was surprised to see German, French and Spanish products show up on page 1 under Male Dating guides – the latter 2 of which are translations of “How to be an Alpha Male“. For a dating affiliate, that’s great information to be sure, that I would otherwise not have known using the previous system.

Thanks Clickbank, for making a good system even better!

When I logged into Clickbank this morning, I read about improvements that ClickBank is making to it’s Marketplace this month. The primary goal is to make it easier for affiliates to find products to promote.

The improved Marketplace uses completely new categories and subcategories, which are more specific and descriptive. We have attempted to categorize your site based on information in your account and on your HopLink Target URL page.

All clients are limited to one category and subcategory.

Well hallelujah!

For those affiliates who were tired of finding the same product listed in every category under the sun, this is a massive improvement.

Likewise, the changes will be beneficial to Clickbank merchants who before had their products unnecessarily pushed ‘down the list’ by other merchants who placed their products in irrelevant categories.

For example, there’s actually an Affiliate Marketing category now, under ‘Ebusiness’. Here’s the full list of eBusiness categories.

E-business & E-marketing

* Affiliate Marketing
* Article Marketing
* Auctions
* Banners
* Blog Marketing
* Classified Advertising
* Consulting
* Copywriting
* Domains
* E-commerce Operations
* E-zine Strategies
* Email Marketing
* General
* Market Research
* Marketing
* Niche Marketing
* Paid Surveys
* Pay Per Click Advertising
* Promotion
* SEM & SEO
* Social Media Marketing
* Submitters
* Video Marketing

You can see the full list of categories here.

Are you as thrilled about these improvements as I am? Yes, no, why?

I’ll be speaking at the Affiliate Convention being held at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in Los Angeles, December 3rd-4th.

The panel on which I’m participating is called “Super-Affiliate To Affiliate: Best Advice for Growth” and includes the following speakers:

Our panel is being held in Super Affiliate Room II from 1:30 until 2:30 on the 4th of December.

• Jim Lillig (moderator): Director of Networks at DotComSecrets
• Dush Ramachandran: Vice President of ClickBank
• Brian Norgard: Vice President of Fox Advertising Network
• Mark Roth: Founder of Offer Vault

Please Note: In light of ongoing family health concerns, I will likely only be in L.A. on the 4th of December, and not for the full conference. Please let me know if you plan to attend by dropping a comment below.

Visit the official Affiliate Convention website… and remember, registration for affiliates is FREE!

When I saw the salescopy for Michael Jones’ Clickbank Code, uh well, let’s just say that I was dubious – despite seeing the video of his Clickbank account which shows earnings of anywhere between $700, $1200 and upwards per day.

Michael was claiming to have made $11,516.45 in his first week as a Clickbank affiliate and then went on to make over $48k in his first month — with no list.

One point that he makes in the salescopy that I DID like however was about choosing Clickbank products and more specifically, he says, “I’m not talking about just picking the same old high gravity crap that everyone else jumps on…I’m going to show you my simple mathematical formula for picking the highest converting product every time“.

Anyway, you know me… THAT I had to see, so I bought the Clickbank Code to find out what techniques Michael was using and determine whether or not they worked.

In addition to 5 hours worth of video tutorials from very basic “What is Clickbank” and “Marketing Terms” to more advanced landing page creation and free traffic tactics along with a bunch of bonuses; the Clickbank Code includes a “Clickbank Product Evaluator” spreadsheet that I think is worth the price of the product on its own.

There’s a video tutorial on how to use the spreadsheet properly in which Michael cautions you to cull your keyword list and cull it some more until the list fits into the space available in the “Potential” workbook – just one of 4 sheets on that spreadsheet – but the one that shows you whether or not you should “Go for it!” or “Bail” according to the keywords you choose, their daily volume and estimated PPC cost.

Note the word “Bail” on the screenshot below? I plugged in keywords with an average Adwords cost per day of $213.78 but with only 4 anticipated sales on a product paying only $9.99 commissions… the spreadsheet advised me to bail.

The spreadsheet will even determine your “Break Even CPC” (cost per click).

When I found a few more keywords with lower CPC’S and higher volumes and plugged in a product that offered double the commissions (showing a daily profit of $230.00 per day), the spreadsheet told me to Go for it!

Those factors combined with the conversion and refund rates will give you a fairly accurate assessment of whether you stand to lose or gain on an Adwords campaign before you ever set it in motion.

Once you’ve found a market with good potential, Michael shows you how to scale up your campaign, i.e. if 100 clicks make money, 1,000 or 10,000 clicks will make you a lot MORE money.

The Clickbank Code videos are well done – they’re actually big enough to see exactly what Michael is doing. Furthermore, the audio is clear as a bell and free from speech impediments or a hard-to-decipher thick accent.

Michael shows you some good Google Adwords tricks that will increase both the relevancy of your ads, and therefore the quality score. Actually, Michael shared one tip that had me running to my Google Adwords account to make some serious changes immediately… ugh, never heard THAT one before, not even in those $1,000 courses!

Michael also shares a black hat tactic – but at least he warns you right off the bat that you will lose the relevant account if you get caught using it.

Seriously, the biggest complaint I had about the Clickbank Code happened after I bought it – page after page of upsells – just when I wanted to get see the product. Moreover, all of those products are available to buy from within the membership system.

Overall, I can heartily recommend the Clickbank Code as an excellent video tutorial series on how to profit by selling Clickbank products as an affiliate. That spreadsheet, along with just a few of his tips are worth a whole lot more than $77.