Putting on Your Work Boots!

“If you can find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn’t lead anywhere.”

I came across this quote recently and I love it. Life is hard, so put on your helmet and read on.
How many times have you heard these questions: What’s hot? What’s working? …and then to go even further – what exactly is working? Check out any busy forum and you’ll see these questions or variations of them over and over again. The thirst for knowledge is ENORMOUS but unfortunately the value and reliability of information in thousands of discussion threads is limited. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good forum but mainly for networking and to be quite frank, for entertainment. Who doesn’t enjoy a good Jerry Springer style spat or an Acai Jell-O fighting video? Looking back, I’m glad I stood outside of the spray zone on that one.

While there’s a lot of quality affiliates ringside and in the forums, the reality is that a super affiliate is not going to divulge their secret sauce on a campaign. You can naturally buy their e-book or sign up to a monthly membership to get access to their tools and strategies but…I regress. The reality is that the answers to almost any important question you have about affiliate marketing is available – not in a thread but by putting on your work boots, doing your own research, forming your own opinions and strategies on how to be successful. Yes the work is hard and yes it is time-consuming – but the EPC competitive advantage and profitability is worth it.

To that point on doing research, I recently skipped Vegas (ouch) and I tried the Electronic Retailers Association show in New Orleans in February – where the Grand Marshall (beads and all) was the FTC. To avoid altering the message any, I listed links below that are very important in regards to understanding the critical changes that affiliate marketing is going through and what the FTC, Credit card companies and legislators are focused on. I hope that this information about the game changers sparks your interest to find out more….and to be more successful in your efforts within the Affiliate Marketing arena.

Video of FTC Presentation:

Please note that Affiliate portion starts at 17:00 and that transparency of CPA payout question is asked and answered at 53:26. I recommend advertisers and affiliates watch the whole presentation.

The spark that started the fire on Continuity based offers

The update on what changed

Mastercard Update and Data Passing Concern:

Free Trial Offers: Recommendations

FTC Advertising Guide on Dietary Supplements

Job Offer Scams

If you have additional links to share please do. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to add me as a Facebook friend at www.facebook.com/topoffers. That’s where I normally broadcast my research.