Gary Killops

Choosing the right products to promote is the hardest decision to make when starting up an affiliate marketing program. You need to find a product that sells, that is wanted and popular. When trying to make a choice keep those facts in mind. Now, also think about how competitive the market is.  If you choose something that is highly popular, you will need to create a buzz, or come up with a new way to promote that product. Weight loss, health, computer software and spyware removal tools are all big sellers. Most of these have been around for awhile and unless you have a way to promote them a different light, it will be hard to get traffic to your site.

When thinking of a program to get started with, choosing something you have a passion for helps, you will need to promote and market, and enjoyment in what your trying to sell shows through in the words you use, and the time you’ll put in to your new business.

There are more than just product sites to think about when choosing. Survey sites have become a rage on the internet. You will need to research this and have some financial backing to get started.  Most of these type of sites offer rewards to new sign ups and also for each survey completed by customers. If your waiting to receive your money from affiliate programs, you will need the money to pay the customer before you get paid.

Another good option is a reward only based site. When your customer completes an offer, reads an on-line ad, or buys something off an advertisement on your site. These type of sites require large marketing campaigns, and financial backing till they get off the ground.

Another good tool to use is picking a product you get paid for if they just register their info. This is called a lead and you make a little off this initially, then more if they purchase the product down the line. This allows a customer to try before they buy and you can get feedback to post on your site.

When choosing a program, make sure your site is equipped to handle the traffic, host the ads and have a data base able to handle all your needs. Most of this will require you to have a professional website build. Keep everything simple and clutter free. Products will need to be displayed in an easy to find manner. Content on the site should be fresh and relevant to the product.

Follow these helpful hints and suggestions and with a little research of your own, find what will be profitable for you to market.

A strong RFP (request for proposal) is the first step you have to take before engaging a marketing firm in order to get a social media marketing campaign started. The marketing team you want to engage needs some information about your company and your needs before they can actually present you with a proposal. By putting together a strong RFP, you can avoid confusion early on, and get the ball rolling quickly.

First and foremost, you should provide a clear overview of your company. In order to craft a marketing strategy that suits your needs, the  firm you’re thinking about hiring will need to know about your company’s organizational history, products, business objectives, and any previous work your company has done with social marketing.

Next, you’ll need to provide an overview of the project. Describe in as much detail as possible which social media channels you’d like to tap into, how social marketing fits into your overall marketing strategy, and what sort of measurable outcome you’re looking for. It’s also very important to provide a timeline in which you’d like to start seeing results. If you’re unclear about social marketing in any way, don’t be surprised if the proposal they return to you includes different time tables than the ones you provided. If you’re unfamiliar with social marketing, it’s possible that things can take longer than you’re expecting.

Be sure to identify your target audience in your RFP. Include any relevant demographic or psychographic information that the marketing firm might need. If you need some market research, be sure to point that out in your RFP.

Be clear about what sort of response you’re expecting from the firm. Make sure they know whether you’re expecting a hypothetical response, or a clear step by step break down of the marketing campaign they’ll create for you.

By including all of the important information you can in your RFP, you can ensure the firm you’re dealing with will respond with a strong proposal. That way, you can spend less time negotiating terms, and more time getting down to business, and getting your marketing campaign up and running. Remember to be clear about your company and its needs. Be sure to clearly state your desired results, and what sort of response you’re looking for from the firm, and you’ll get the proposal you’re looking for.

Disney is taking a big leap into social network games. They have purchased social network game developer Playdom for 563.2 million dollars, with an additional performance-linked earn-out of $200 million. Disney has been working hard to expand their digital content library, and purchasing Playdom will allow them to do just that.

You may know Playdom as the developer of the hit Myspace game, Mobsters. Mobsters, along with the rest of Playdom’s product catalog will now be owned by Disney as a part of this deal. Disney has acquired a large catalog of social network games, as Playdom has been buying up smaller developers over the course of the past year. Playdom is currently the number one social game developer on Myspace, and the number four developer on Facebook.

This deal represents a significant pay out for all of Playdom’s investors. Their investors have spent just $73 million on the company so far, which makes the total possible price paid by Disney over ten times the amount that investors have spent on Playdom so far.

Disney is expected to begin releasing games for social networks featuring their beloved characters. No official word has been given on what titles to expect, or which characters will be included in them, but it’s probably a safe bet that Disney will be releasing games to coincide with all of their major movie releases over the course of the next few years. It would definitely be interesting to see a Tron light cycle game hit Facebook alongside the release of Tron Legacy.

Disney has long been one of the pillars of the entertainment industry. With their recent move into the digital content space, Disney has only strengthened their position as an industry leader. By providing social networking users with Disney branded games, Disney will be able to strengthen their brand, and generate a great deal of hype for their products, as well as their upcoming films. It will be interesting to see exactly what sort of games Playdom will be producing for Disney as time goes on. It’ll also be interesting to see how other film studios and entertainment companies react to this news. It’s only a matter of time before more studios start diving into social network gaming.