Adam Jewell – Search & Affiliate Marketing

It is easy to cruise along, following the same old path, working the same old job, going through the same old motions, letting opportunities pass by because even though things aren’t going great they aren’t that bad. You wake up one day and realize that the birthday you couldn’t wait to get to – #21 was close to fifteen years ago. After a while you go through life feeling that the world around you just exists and there isn’t much you can do about it because of this excuse or that excuse. The movie What the *&*#$$# Do We Know? provides a great perspective on this:

Does the world around you control you or do you shape the world around you? It’s up to you to decide and the annual tradition of New Years resolutions are the perfect opportunity for you to take control of your life, to decide what direction you are going to go in, to decide what you are going to achieve this year and what you are going to actually accomplish this year.

The first thing to do is lay out some goals for 2009. I’ve got lost that have been in various stages for years across multiple different categories. Some have been accomplished to one degree or another, others have been languishing for years.

Lifestyle Goals:

Stay in great physical shape by going to the gym and exercising 3-7 days per week.
Get out and ski at least 20 days per year.
Do more networking and expand the social circle of friends, partners and associates while doing a better job of staying in touch with them.
Engage in more continuous learning and soak up more new skills and knowledge.
Move to or create an environment that facilitates continuous learning and growth.
Eat more healthy, get rid of unhealthy habits and do whatever it takes to get a good night sleep almost every night.
Read at least one new book per month.
Use the [relatively] new windsurfing setup and get at least 15 days on the water in 2009.
Build a CMS from scratch that can be used across multiple websites.

Professional Goals:

Learn the technology skills that are so desparately needed to leverage years of online marketing experience – PhP/MySQL to start and then go from there.
Find an environment that facilitates learning and growth each and every day – could be the current situation, could be on my own, could be at a new job.
Learn one new skill or software program every quarter.
Get up to speed on Google Analytics
Develop the skills necesary to utilize the APIs from various technology companies – the most likely would be Google and CJ.com.
Learn testing tools including Google Optimizer & not only the tools but the proper testing methodologies to conduct tests that mean something, improve performance and create a better experience for the end user.

Personal/Professional Goals:

Utilize the mix of personal and professional goals above to build out one or more websites that facilitate learning how to build a business from the ground up.
Build out SeasonSkiPasses.com to be a complete directory of ski resort season passes by next ski season so it is the number one site on the web for which to find a great deal on a season ski pass.

Get either EnjoyFreeShiping.com, SavingsIQ.com or ApplyOnlineForACreditCard.Net setup with a basic home grown CMS that can be integrated/connected to various data sources to push (Digg, StumbledUpon) and pull data (from APIs).
Develop an understanding of the WordPress platform to be able to make this blog look better and be more functional.

The biggest goal for 2009 is simply learning.

Whatever I do, wherever I go, it has to be determined by where the opportunity lies to learn the most (and maybe ski and windsurf too).

As the end of the year approaches, it is time to look into the crystal ball and make predictions about what will happen in the industry in the upcoming year in 2009. Given the state of the economy it is going to be a wild year with lots of opportunity for those who choose to take advantage of and a grim year for those that choose to ignore the Internet and the way it has fundamentally changed commerce.

Predictions for 2009:

1) Many companies will go bust because a recession/depression and the associated decrease in consumer demand, the credit crunch and other economic forces will separate the smart, focused, efficient businesses that have adapted to the web from those that simply refuse to see what is right in front of their own noses.

2) Pay for performance (aka affiliate marekting models) will continue to thrive and maybe, just maybe, the corporate folks will take off their blinders, stop “branding” and start listening.

3) Big global media agencies and the media properties they spend a lot of money with will struggle. Agencies and media properties will lay off tens of thousands of people because they are unable to adapt to the new consumer driven marketplace.

4) There will be little if any growth in most online advertising including search and online display media and there will be huge opportunities to stock up on the stocks of the likes of Google, Yahoo!, Amazon and other online pure plays that will be the future of the economy. That lack of online advertising spending growth will not be due to lack of opportunity but the lack of companies to figure out how to effectively use the medium in front of them.

5) 2009 will be the “baby boom” for Internet companies. With potentially millions of layoffs in all sectors and tens or hundreds of thousands in the tech & Internet sector, there will be lots of fresh fertile minds with no mindless job sucking the life out of them who will stop looking for a job and instead create their own opportunities and build new companies.

6) Lots more companies will test the waters of social media only to be able to track little to no ROI from social media. Since social media is still considered “experimental” and it is hard to quantify the value, enthusiasm for it will wane even though tracking the value of billions spent on traditional media is something most companies are unable to do.

7) Companies that utilize the search data in front of them, rebuild their sites (and maybe their businesses) based on search data and personas and deliver sites, products and services demanded by the marketplace will thrive and may grow exponentially.

8) YouTube and other video sites will start to have some real live shows and “channels” that can attract real advertising revenue that may deliver an ROI for the advertisers.

9) This will be the make or break year for smaller online agencies. A tight economy will force them to get their shit together or go out of business unless they purposely choose to stay small and focused on core services that are demanded by the marketplace.

10) Omniture and to a lesser degree other analytics vendors will be acquisition targets simply because of all the data they have and will be able to command a nice premium over their current stock or estimated private values.

11) Microsoft will continue to struggle on the web but may be able to buy other companies that will being in fresh thinking, new minds and new perspectives that can help them be less dependent on packaged software sales.

12) The X-Box may become Microsofts strongest foray into the online world and enable Microsoft to finally get a foothold in the Internet even though their search business will continue to flounder.

13) CPG, financial and other large companies with huge brand budgets will continue to struggle online. When the top management is either replaced or becomes willing to listen to the up and coming Internet savvy junior level employees or consultants, there will be a HUGE demand for quality site design, development and marketing services that actually help sell cases and financial services products.

14) The number of research and analytics tools available in the marketplace will continue to explode. Some will be very useful but only a select few people and companies will be able to figure out how to use the data in front of them.

15) The basics of the Internet won’t change and the companies that embrace them will thrive. The basics include: fast download times, relevant ad and website copy, creating sites and businesses based on consmer demand and not on “branding” push, simple, easy to use navigation and site design and adopting a conversational approach to marketing (instead of just talking about it).

If you want to thrive in 2009, just get back to basics. Remember that your Internet marketing should start with your site, not with your marketing. Make things fast, easy and intuitive for those people you are trying to reach or sell to. Re-read the ClueTrain Manifesto and pay attention. It is more accurate now than ever.

When you want to give a great gift to someone who really doesn’t need or want anything, give the gift of education at www.donorschoose.org Along with the downturn in the economy, funding for public schools is generally on the decline and students are not getting some very basic materials they need to make the most of their K-12 educational years. It’s been a problem for years and will only get worse as budget cuts continue to chip away at budgets for public education.

YOU can make a big difference and a donation (of any size) that will help public school teachers help public school students learn more in school. DonorsChoose.org is a new kind of charitable organization that focuses exclusively on helping public schools fund projects that will supply the necessary materials to provide teachers and students with the supplied to complete specific lessons designed by their teachers.

Donations of any size are accepted and can be given in your name or the name of anyone you choose. Every donor is thanked and every donor who gives more than $100 or makes a donation that provides enough to complete the funding necessary to complete a project will receive a thank-you package from the teacher and students that benefit from the donation.

While on the site you can browse projects by geographical location, amount needed to complete funding of the project, type of project or subject, and those for which “Double Your Impact” is available.

What is Double Your Impact? Double Your Impact is where another organization such as the Gates Foundation will match your donation and get the project funded more quickly. If you give $50, the project will receive $100 after your donation is matched! It’s a great way to give even more!

All donations to DonorsChoose.org are fully tax deductable so if you give $100, after the tax deduction it may only actually cost you $70.00 or so after the tax deduction.

So, head on over to www.DonorsChoose.org and give the gift of education to a deserving classroom today. Give annonymously, give and take credit for the donation yourself or give in the name of someone else. The teachers and students will greatly appreciate whatever you can give!

As if the “sub-prime” meltdown hasn’t already caused enough damage in the housing market and the economy, there is another wave that is going to hit. This wave will be larger than the sub-prime meltdown. It should have been reported by the mainstream media years ago but just now seems to be percolating up to the surface. The chart below from Credit Suisse shows the tidal wave of junk loans set to reset in the next few years.

Tsunami of Upcoming Mortgage Resets Through 2012

The first round of mortgage troubles consisted of loans made to people who has less than perfect credit. Thee people often had incomes, took out adjustable rate loans that made payments affordable with teaser rates. The next batch of loans was often given to people with good to excellent credit. These were known as Alt-A and option ARM loans. These were the “investors” who “bought” multiple homes, often had no experience in real estate and no business investing in it.

Alt-A loans are loans that were given to people who never had to show or prove their income or ability to pay for the loan. These were also known as liar loans.

Option ARMs are home loans where the consumer gets a rate on the loan that starts out low and can also choose how much they want to pay on the loan each month. Over time, the balance of the loan goes up even though a person is making payments on the loan. This is known as negative amortization.

CBS News 60 minutes program finally did a story on this situation. The video is below:

There are so many people at fault for this whole mess. The banks and mortgage brokers should have verified that people would have a good chance of paying back the loans they made by verifying income. Just because someone has great credit doesn’t mean they have the means to pay back a loan. The people interviewed for this story obviously took no responsibility for anything they bought or signed. These home owners don’t even seem to care or seem to feel that they should take responsibility for their actions. They deserve to lose their homes and the US Treasury, the American tax payer should let the majority of these people who “invested” lose their homes and go into foreclosure. The banking regulators never should have let this situation get out of control in the first place. If people can’t read contracts, can’t take responsibility for contracts they sign and somehow think they deserve to live in a home that costs half a million dollars when they make $50,000 a year, then they deserve to lose.

On the version that aired on TV, there was an acupuncturist interviewed for the story. She bought at least 5 properties, didn’t read any of the docs when buying or financing her “investment” properties and doesn’t really seem to be too concerned about it. Poor woman has or will have to sell them all at a loss. Whatever the US govt decides to do about this to prevent a total meltdown, they need to let irresponsible behavior like this get punished and these “investors” pay for their mistakes, negligence and the fraud in which many participated.

It is probably rooted in the world of traditional marketing. A company creates a product after doing some market research and then looks for an agency to “handle the marketing”. There is a little song and dance, some wining and dining a little negotiation and eventually an agency is chosen to get a 15% cut of whatever the media budget will be.

This same process happens when it comes to Internet marketing as well. A company decides they need to “do search”. We need someone to “do our search” for us. The same process often ensues. The merchant looks around, they talk to some different people, they look at different proposals and find someone who makes them feel comfortable. The search company talks about wonderful technology they have, how long they have been in business and lands the business. The good and bad thing about marketing on the Internet & search in particular is that it is so trackable. Big traditional agencies generally give their clients a sheet with clicks and impressions as if just putting any information in front of a consumer is valuable even if it is irrelevant.

What very, very few merchants, traditional and online (even search) agencies realize is that the success of a pay per click search campaign (or most any other online marketing campaign that is supposed to drive sales) is only fractionally dependent on the search campaign.

Internet marketing & search in particular is a conversation. Ads don’t convert people. They never have. A sales person, a trusted friend, sales material or product packaging convinces someone to make a purchase. A search ad that is generally limited to about 100 characters cannot sell someone something by itself. This is why click to call PPC ads have always failed in search engines and why they will always continue to fail. If the consumer just wanted to call, they would pick up the yellow pages, find a number and make a call. When they are on the Internet, they are searching because they want more information. A phone call is generally something that happens after a bit of consideration and research.

All marketing [should] start with search because that is what people do. People identify a need or want which may sometimes be spurred by an ad (but not a search ad) and they go search for information. The search may take place on a search engine, a blog, a store, in a conversation among friends, on Twitter or a combination of things. The search happens because the person has one or more questions they want to answer so they look to start a conversation. Once the person is engaged in a conversation the information presented to them needs to answer their questions.

The search ad serves as the bridge to get the attention of the person and then the site needs to sell them by presenting information the way they want to see it and the way they will be influenced by it to make a purchase or further engage with the merchant or organization with products or services to offer.