Ecommerce Blog

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Original post by Robert Scoble

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Original post by Robert Scoble

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Original post by Robert Scoble

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Original post by Kevin Kelleher

2008 seems to have just flown by, I can’t believe we’re at the end of the year already. To celebrate the year though I’ve included a list of some of my highlights below. I’ll follow up in early 2009 with some guesses of what I think the new year has in store too.

Affiliate marketing is bullshit

Jason Calacanis gave the keynote speech at Affiliate Summit West last year. It was meant to provoke controversy, and it did. But it also showed that the public perception of Affiliate Marketing is far from what it should be. I agree with Jason’s take on “thin” affiliate sites btw, unfortunately there are still tons of them around.

Why I don’t remove expired discount codes

This post caused quite a bit of discussion. My position hasn’t changed since writing it either, I don’t remove old discount codes from UKOffer.com

Beginners Guide: How to get traffic to a new site

One of the most frequent questions I get asked is how to get traffic to a new site so I wrote this guide, hopefully its of use.

Invited to take part in Channel 4 TV show “The Secret Millionaire”

I respectfully declined.

A4U Awards judged entries finalists and meet the judges

I was honoured to be asked to be part of the judging panel in the A4U Awards. Likewise I was delighted to win “Best Affiliate Blog” for the second year in the row.

10 Affiliate sites that rock

Does what it says on the tin.

June 2008 - I launch ContentNow.co.uk

Back in June, my business partner and myself launched ContentNow.co.uk. We saw a demand for an ethical link building service and a quality content creation service; the two most important aspects of off-page SEO. In just a short six months or so since launch we’ve been absolutely taken aback with the level of demand that there is for our services. We’ve achieved our internal targets already, when we thought we would be at least a year away. We’ve got a great selection of clients, ranging from 1-man affiliate operations to multi national blue chip corporations. So far the feedback from our clients has been very positive and more are referring us to other new clients, always a good thing. In 2009 we’re planning to launch a couple of exciting new products, so watch this space.

WhiteCarWorld.com

To fuel my passion for white cars I launch WhiteCarWorld.com…and haven’t really touched it since

Coffee Revels RIP

Approx. 500 people voted that they prefer coffee over the disgusting strawberry that they have replaced it with. So why don’t Mars bring back coffee revels then? Well?

A4U Expo 2008

The second ever A4U Expo was brilliant, how will they better it next year? I don’t know but I’m sure they will though.

How to sell your 2 year old blog for £8.5m

Credit crunch? What credit crunch? A 2 year old finance blog in the US sells for big money.

Figleaves win my “Affiliate Marketing Numpties” award for 2008.

Sigh.

Alexandra Burke broke my server

The power of the X-Factor, and how to capitalise on it and other topical events.

Well that’s it for 2008. I would like to wish everyone who has taken the time out to read this blog the very best for 2009. I wish you all a very happy and prosperous 2009. Happy new year!

What I’m listening to right now: Ne-Yo & Fabolous – “How We Do”

Post from: Affiliate Marketing Blog Here.org.uk

My favourite bits of 2008

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Original post by Kieron

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Original post by Wagner James Au

It’s the end of an exciting year for Get Elastic. Thank you to all our readers who have subscribed, forwarded, Tweeted posts and voted for Get Elastic in various contests. Happy New Year to you all, and if you’re a new reader, here’s a recap of the best of Get Elastic, 2008!

January

Webinar:

12 Things Retailers Must Learn from Christmas ‘07 with Linda Bustos of Elastic Path Software + companion blog post

3 posts to check out:

Cross-Selling Tips for eCommerce
Hack Week Part 2 - Using Google Trends for International Search Marketing
Using Geo-IP to Tailor Content Delivery

February

Webinar:

Love Your Landing Pages with Ayat Shukairy of Invesp Consulting + blog recap

3 posts to check out:

Continue Shopping Means What?
Make Email Look Good In Gmail - 8 Design Tips for Images-Off
Social Media With a Side of SEO: Hold the Spam

March

Webinars:

Jon Stewart or Oprah: What’s Your Website Personality? with Carolyn Gardner of Sitebrand + blog recap
Effective Merchandising: What Sells? with Mike Svatek of Baynote + blog recap

3 posts to check out:

Tracking Affiliate Orders Through Telephone Sales
Tips for Tracking Offline Orders: PPC and Catalog
How to Ask for Customer Reviews - Nicely.

April

Webinar:

Web Analytics for Online Retailers with Eric T. Peterson from Web Analytics Demystified + blog recap

3 posts to check out:

Optimizing for Product Colors: Long Tail Gold or Duplicate Content?
Why Innocent Emails Get Flagged As Spam
Email Marketing Trend: Animated GIFs

May

Webinar:

The Key to PPC for Online Retailers with Ryan Gibson from the Rimm-Kaufman Group
+ blog recap

3 posts to check out:

Top Online Retailers Not Showing Up on Google!
PPC Advertising: Are You Selling Yourself In Your Ads?
404 Not Found Pages: The Good, The Bad & The Funny

Free White Paper:

How to Write an Ecommerce RFP

June

Webinar:

9 Ecommerce Innovations: What’s Now & What’s Next with Jason Billingsley of Elastic Path Software + blog recap

3 posts to check out:

Asking Customers to Go Steady: Tips for Repeat Orders
Using Product Images to Reduce Size and Color Fears
Improving Product Descriptions Using Competitor Customer Reviews

July

Webinar:

3 Things to Die For: Web Analytics Unleashed with Avinash Kaushik from Google Analytics + blog recap

3 posts to check out:

Can Product Images Improve Conversion? Showing Products in Context
Stop Google Analytics From Stealing Your Valuable AdWords Keyword Data
Should You Remove Keywords With Low Click Through Rates?

August

Webinar:

The Art and Science of Choosing Ecommerce Technology with Bernardine Wu of FitForCommerce + blog recap

3 posts to check out:

Yes Virginia There Is a Santa Claus & He Searches for Free Shipping
Holiday SEO: Using Amazon Bestsellers for Keyword Research
The Psychology of Numbers in PPC Ads

September

Webinar:

I Know I Should Be Testing, But with Bryan Eisenberg of Future Now Inc. + blog recap

3 posts to check out:

Optimizing Product Reviews for Different Buyer Personalities
Do Hacker Safe / McAfee Secure Badges Increase Sales?
Uncovering the Hidden Profit Treasures of Your Company

October

Webinar:

Holiday Wishlist for Mobile Commerce with Bill Mirabito of B2C Parnters + blog recap

Delivering an Integrated Ecommerce Experience for Empowered Customers with Josh Lannin of Oracle and Peter Sheldon of Elastic Path Software + blog recap

3 posts to check out:

Free Shipping: Got It? 10 Ways to Flaunt It
How to Find an Online Reputation Manager
Crutchfield Email Covers 4 Buyer Personalities

November

Webinar:

Multi-Store Retailing: Perks and Pitfalls with Jason Billingsley of Elastic Path Software + blog recap

3 posts to check out:

Should Retail Email Sell or Inform? An A/B Split Test Case Study
Tapping Twitter to Understand Customers and Develop Personas
CSN Stores Eases Howsers Last Minute FUDDs

December

Webinar:

Dangerous Marketing Ahead: How to Break Bad Habits and Survive a Deep Recession with Jeff Molander of Molander & Associates and Jonathan Salem Baskin, author of Branding Only Works on Cattle
+ blog recap

3 posts to check out:

Reducing Friction in the Sales Process
Where Will MAP Pricing Lead Online Retail?
Are Cash Discounts the Worst Incentives?

Once again, thank you for reading, subscribing to, commenting on, blogging about, Tweeting and forwarding Get Elastic with others in 2008, and we look forward to carry on the ecommerce marketing conversation with you full bore into 2009.

Next Free Ecommerce Webinar…

Selecting the Right Ecommerce Software in Six Weeks or Less

When: January 21st, 2009 @ 9am PT/12pm ET
Panelists:
Bill Mirabito, Founder and Principal Analyst, B2C Partners
Jason Billingsley, VP Innovation, Elastic Path Software
Register to Attend…

You may also like these similar posts:

• Bloggers Digest 11/07/08
• Bloggers Digest 12/26/08
• Bloggers Digest - 7/11/08
• Bloggers Digest 10/3/08
• Internet Retailer Announces Elastic Path One Page

Original post by Linda Bustos

Ecommerce or ‘electronic commerce’ is one of the most successful business strategies being followed by companies world wide today to sell, share and promote their business online. Evidently, in due co…

Original post by default@goarticles.com (Anirban)

Get Elastic reader and ecommerce blogger Scott Wilson (aka That Software Guy, The Cart Blog and @thatsoftwareguy) informed me today of a new merchandising tactic on Amazon. It appears Amazon has replaced its “Better Together” cross-sells with bundling. Of course, this could be a split test, but Scott and I both can see this technique in action when we visit Amazon.

Before - Better Together

Screenshot credit: Register Hardware

After - Frequently Bought Together

The customer now has the option to add all 3 to the cart, or pick of the 3. Giving the customer some choice but not too much choice is key here. I imagine the uptake would be far lower if the customer was presented 5 or more choices, simply because it requires too much thinking and could cause a “paradox of choice.”

Word choice: Frequently Bought Together vs. Better Together

Though Better Together sounds more smooth, it could be that there is a higher degree of social trust with “Frequently Bought Together” — it’s more clear on why the cross-sell is presented (rather than head scratchers like marmite and .Mac software. Of course, this could be a short-term test.

I also spotted some product pages pitching “Best Value” cross-sells rather than “Better Together” which may be more appropriate in this economy:

Personally I think this is a great idea, and it’s another reason I’d love to be a fly on the wall in the Amazon web analytics war room.

Next Free Ecommerce Webinar…

Selecting the Right Ecommerce Software in Six Weeks or Less

When: January 21st, 2009 @ 9am PT/12pm ET
Panelists:
Bill Mirabito, Founder and Principal Analyst, B2C Partners
Jason Billingsley, VP Innovation, Elastic Path Software
Register to Attend…

You may also like these similar posts:

• Jason Billingsley Raps With The Cart Blog
• Continue Shopping Means What?
• What do you Recommend? A Guide to Ecommerce Cross-sells
• User Generated Cross-Sells? Why Is Nobody Doing It?
• Amazon Checkout: Do You Really Wanna Get In Bed With Amazon?

Original post by Linda Bustos

When Hershel Yousef launched his first online store www.LightingByLux.com in June of 2008 he had a basic goal: “Offer a level of customer service that’s akin to walking into a store and being waited on rather than being told to take a number and get in line.” That sounds simple enough, but accomplishing that while […]

Original post by Kate

Offering a chance to win a shopping spree is a great way to attract customer reviews without paying-for-production. Often this is done through email or on a post-purchase thank you page — but this is the first time I’ve spotted the incentive on a product page:

This screen shot is from Macy’s.

Next Free Ecommerce Webinar…

Selecting the Right Ecommerce Software in Six Weeks or Less

When: January 21st, 2009 @ 9am PT/12pm ET
Panelists:
Bill Mirabito, Founder and Principal Analyst, B2C Partners
Jason Billingsley, VP Innovation, Elastic Path Software
Register to Attend…

You may also like these similar posts:

• How To Ask For Customer Reviews - Nicely.
• Trigger Email: Asking for Customer Reviews & Video Reviews
• Turn Customer Reviews Into Word-Of-Mouth Marketing
• Do Customer Submitted Photos Add Value?
• How To Attract Customer Reviews

Original post by Linda Bustos

Value of Ecommerce

The pace at which the businesses around the world are moving in the technologically driven economy is growing as the days pass by. This has led to the growing trend of business h…

Original post by default@goarticles.com (Sparsh)

Internet Santa says “Ho! Ho! Ho!!” It’s the holiday season; everyone is busy buying presents, selecting the best bargain. And, shoppers get best of price, with double convenience of saving commuting t…

Original post by default@goarticles.com (Charu Lata)

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Original post by Stacey Higginbotham

The Think Visibility conference in Leeds on March 7th 2009 is aimed at webmasters and site owners who have built a site or application and want to know what to do next.

“While many conferences focus on producing and designing the website, we will be discussing and talking about what comes next; how to get traffic and how to convert it, as well as and looking at revenue streams for your website or app.”

I will be giving a talk about Affiliate Marketing, including a brief introduction to this method of monetisation (many of the attendees are affiliate virgins) along with some hints and tricks of the trade I’ve gained over my 9 or so years in this field.

Along with myself, the rest of the supercar lads will be there, namely Dave Naylor, Patrick Altoft and Al Carlton. Other speakers include Tim Nash, Tom Critchlow and Katie Lips.

So what makes this conference better than the usual ones we see happening “down South” all the time?

Well for one, it’s “up North” in sunny Leeds to be precise so no more getting your passport out to head down to the smog. It’s also full of really cool people speaking, and not just some figure heads from various “New Media Digital Agencies” who are guaranteed to bore you rigid. It’s also on a Saturday so anyone with a “real” job doesn’t have to pull a sicky to attend. Plus you can have a lie in the next day nursing your hangover from the after-party. Oh, and also, it’s only a couple of days before my birthday on the 9th, so there’s another excuse reason to party in Leeds.

But best of all it’s only £30 to attend! The Hodge must have been in a particularly generous mood when setting the ticket prices, what a bargain. The bad news is that it is only limited to 100 places and at the time of writing there are only 32 tickets left. So head on over now and grab a ticket before it’s too late.

What I’m listening to right now: Maxwell - “Whenever Wherever Whatever”

Post from: Affiliate Marketing Blog Here.org.uk

Think Visibility Conference - March 7th 2009

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Original post by Kieron