8 Tips for Choosing a Domain Name
If you're just starting out on the Internet, choosing a domain name is one of the first major decisions you will have to make. I won't say that choosing a name for your site will determine the overall success or failure of your online...
Domain Name Registration and Privacy
Copyright 2005 Richard Keir The internet is a wonderful thing, except for a few small details. When you register your first domain name, you get your introduction to one of them. There's a lot of information they want. Your name, your email...
Five Ways To Profit From Public Domain Information
Ever wondered why Walt Disney never got sued for intellectual
property theft? C’mon, the guy ripped off so many Hans Christian Anderson and Grimm Brothers’ fairy tales! And he never paid the said authors any royalty fees! Granted that...
How To Create A Profitable Affiliate Program In 72 Hours--OR LESS
Associate Program (APs--also called Affiliate Programs and Reseller Programs) are among the hottest moneymaking opportunities available on the Internet today. Easy to join, you can be up and running within an hour. Success in the AP marketplace is...
Measuring & Evaluating a public relations presence online
You've done everything right. You helped increased sales, people recognize your business name and you are considered an expert on what you are selling by millions of people around the globe. Then, your boss asks you to prove the worth of your online...
How to Research Before Joining a Rewards Program
We've all seen the ads, for the greatest site of the month, promising high paying emails an equally high payout and selling ads for next to nothing.
We've also all heard the adage, "If it sounds to good to be true, it usually is."
The key to joining a winning program is research. So here are some tips to assist you in making informative choices about the programs you join and hopefully save you some fustration in the long end.
1. Read the terms of service (TOS) and frequently asked questions (FAQs) pages of the program so you have a definitive understanding of the requirements prior to joining. As Pete Seeger once said, "Education is when you read the fine print. Experience is what you get if you don't."
2. Take a good look at the advertising page most notably the pricing. Are they making a profit or grossly underselling ads? An ad special is one thing but a constant flow of 10-cent emails to all at the selling price of $1, for example, is a recipie for disaster. The bottom line is undersold ads kill a site. For more in sustainability visit: http://cashcrusader.info/cms/index.php
3. If the site runs on CashCrusader scripts, take a look at the runner.php page (which can be found at http://www.Insert_Program_URL_Here/scripts/runner.php or for example http://www.emailsforads.com/scripts/runner.php) to verify that the commission settings match what is on the index page of the program. Also take a look at the program's activity requirements. You'll see something like, "Must login every XX days and be at least XX% as active as your downline to get commission from downline clicks." In layman's terms what this means is you need to either login or click on a link every XX days to earn from your referrals AND you'll need to be able to click on XX% of links to earn from your downline. Links include paid links; search links; paid to click; top, middle, bottom sponsor links; site support links, contest links, limited links, targetted links, point emails, etc, etc.). The trouble is there's no
way of knowing how often click counters are reset or how active referrals are or when they're clicking. A reasonable setting for this is 25%. Anything higher and you'll need to judge for yourself especially if you are from a country that isn't search engine friendly; or if the program sends out lots of limited clicks that are expired by the time you are able to click them; or you have your account on vacation mode.
4. Get to know where you are submitting your personal information to. Do a WHOIS via http://www.whois.sc to see who the webmaster is, when the domain is set to expire, where the host is from, etc.
5. Use forums to your advantage. Ask other members what their experience is, do a search through BeenPaid's forums and the popular forums like: GetPaidForum.com and GPTBoyCott.com read the information on the programs both on the bad and good side and decide if that is something that you want for you.
6. Finally use your common sense. The damage that has been done to this industry by the influx of programs with dishonorable intentions is on the rise. Sustainable programs cannot compete with their ad pricing; advertisers are spending their dollars wherever they can find low rates; sustainable programs aren't getting advertisers for these reasons; members are joining these lemons and promoting them all the while forgetting about the tried but true.
You can end this vicious circle but it starts with you making better choices. And if you've joined one of these programs, it's never too late to quit ;)
(c) 2005 Patricia Taylor. All rights reserved. This article can be reprinted freely as long as the author bylines are included.
About the Author
Patricia is the webmaster of http://www.BeenPaid.com a community of over 5000 members that share information on how to earn from free to join programs and of http://www.LookJunction.com a Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Search Engine offering low cost targeted traffic for advertisers and generous Cost-Per-Click (CPC) Feed Revenue for publishers.