Whether you are an advertiser, blogger or small business owner there are several things to consider when purchasing a domain.

Keyword Research:
Best to brainstorm 5 keyword terms that most people would search for that best describe your domain. Then once you have those you can add prefixes an suffixes to find an good domain. So if you are looking for Flowers for one might consider the words: Flowers, Bouquet, Gift, Arrangement, Delivery..etc

Top Domain Level:
If you are at all concerned with obtaining “type-in” traffic, branding, or name recognition then it is best to use a .com domain versus .net, .biz, .info. Most people type-in .com so if you have a .net people will visit the .com version first. It is also a good idea to buy up all the other versions of your domain so that others cannot benefit from your traffic or branding - so if you choose MyBouquet.com it is smart to buy up MyBouquet.net, Mybouquet.biz…etc. Also the general rule of thumb - use .org when you want your site to be associated with non for profit.

Make it Easy:
You want your domain to be easy to remember and easy to type. If you want to get clever with play on words and creative spellings just remember people will type it as they heard it and will make it difficult for word of mouth to work. Best to avoid hyphens and numbers for this reason. For example getflowers4someone.com is long, difficult to remember and some people will type in getflowersforsomeone.com.

Use of Intuitive Names:
Domains that tell the user exactly where they are going tend to get more clicks than ones that are creative or ambiguious. For example these domains tell the user exactly what type of content to expect: AutoTrader.com, CareerBuilder.com, WebMD, Cheaptickets.com. Domains such as Monster.com, Amazon.com, Orbitz.com are all very successful examples of non-intuitive domain names, however they more reliant upon their branding.

Throughout my years in affiliate marketing the general feedback I have heard from advertisers is that email marketing delivers the highest quality overall. Free Trial continuity clients claim that the customers that signup from an email ad have a higher retention rate. Many lead gen advertisers require email only traffic sources for the piece of mind that they are getting the best quality leads to sell for top dollar, this piece of mind is essential especially when one is selling leads through a live feed without the time to verify lead quality.

With all this being said it amazes me how many big brands have not explored this traffic type or have completely opted not to do it. I can understand the concern of potential lawsuits if the mail is sent out wrong, however with being selective with the partners they run with and using compliant email copy and subj lines this can be a very lucrative form of marketing.

Household brands such as Clorox and L’Oreal spend millions of their ad budget on print, television and web banner placement - all of which are far more difficult to measure their ROI than launching a CPA email campaign. Where they can effectively reach a larger audience, knowing exactly how many of the users actually showed interest clicked and downloaded the coupon for example. It is up to them to figure out the metric of how many people who download the coupon actually buy the product. After a small bit of testing this should be easily determinable within a short period of time. Email marketing is far more cheaper and effective than old school snail mail. Think about delivering your message to 100 million people within hours in a completely trackable manner, only paying for the action you are looking for.

Specializing in email marketing AKMG has walked many well branded clients through the process of formulating a successful CPA email campaign. We understand the concern of protecting their brand image and their concern with sending the mail out properly and in line with all laws and regulation. If you are an agency representing a client that has not yet experienced the benefits of a CPA email campaign and are interested in getting more out of your ad spending then I highly suggest getting on a call with our Advertising department to learn more.

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As penetration rates of those entering the US internet market increase, the portion of the US online audience continues to diminish.  Internet users, especially in the US are so cluttered in their in-boxes, banners, and search queries that it is almost getting to the point of desensitization. 

For example if you mail 100,000 names to a US list you might get 10k opens vs mailing to a European country such as France or Poland, where one can see 60k in comparison.  Also look at PPC marketing - the ROI is higher because international key words are cheaper.  

As the US market gets saturated it might be worth the resources to find out how to start tapping into foreign markets.

One thing to keep in mind even if you are selling a product or service focused on targeting US only, your site is still be ending up in other countries, if you are not setting up an international redirect then you are essentially wasting that traffic. This can be a good source of additional revenue. One can set up a free google analytics site to see all the countries that are viewing your site. I would select the top 3 countries besides US and find other international offers that are similar to the site you are promoting and geo target those redirects.  For the rest of the international traffic a campaign that is a simple submit or download that accepts “all countries” is a good selection.

Please contact an AKMG publisher rep to find out how to best optimize your international traffic.

I recently found out there are networks out there providing supplemental content for high traffic sites. Basically if you are a blogger you sign up at a network such as Blogburst.com or PajamasMedia.com if your blog makes the cut it will be available to to site owners to syndicate your writing.

Why do it?
Syndicating your blog will bring traffic, exposure and sales. Your posts will be seen by a larger audience, which you will gain exposure and gain some readers yourself.

Worried about rankings?
If you are concerned about your rankings being damaged by duplicate content - don’t. Google crawlers are good at figuring out where the initial post was made, as search engines generally identify duplicate results and filter out all but one. They have ways to figure out the “original” post but looking at things like when it was published first and which has most links pointing to it.

Expert Advice
Create a different version of the content to syndicate than what you write for your own site. Make your version more detailed and the one you are syndicating more summarized. Always include a back link to your site, so readers and trace back to your site. As your own blog sites gains more traffic you will want to have more control over the content and the revenue generated from it, so keep you long term goals in mind (such as developing your own ranking) when negotiating syndication partnerships and don’t give up total control over your content that you’ve worked so hard to develop. Make sure your partners are merely concerned with providing content for their readers and not on using your content for rankings themselves.

I don’t think its just us ad geeks, the ones with advertising on the brain 24/7, who will watch superbowl mainly for the commercials.  I also don’t think I stand alone when I say that each year the superbowl commercials become less and less entertaining.  I think a main reason advertising has lost it’s pure showman bravado is for 2 reasons: economy and the internet. 

The ailing economy makes theatrical commercials risky in the sense that in the end the viewer might not even be able to associate the brand with the funny commercial.  I will give you one of my favorite Superbowl commercials as an example: Terry “The Office Linebacker”  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzToNo7A-94  I was talking about it the other day and for some reason I thought it was for FedEx which would make more sense to me than Reebok.   Everyone could remember the funny commercial but not the company that spent millions of dollars in producing and airing it.  

I say the internet vaguely because in conjunction with the ailing economy ad budgets are moving online and viral!  With the booming social media craze its not difficult to create a quick and effective buzz created costing very little.  Here is my all time favorite viral video Smirnoff released to rebrand to a hipper image: http://www.spike.com/video/smirnoff-tea-partay/2765416.  This is a newer one with growing popularity: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efRGjRMwagA .  Viral videos can afford to think outside of the box and get creative because there is less risk involved.

With all this being said I am still looking forward to seeing this year’s ad spots, including the much-to-my-surprise Cash4Gold commercial. 

Which marketers online would be smart to run that offer in conjunction with the TV spot for higher converions, such as [Enter shameless plug:] AKMG’s DollarsForGold offerhttp://cashforgoldusa.com/?cid=58&aid=%5b=AFID=%5d.

OK people, at what point did the over use of exclamation points and question marks??? Seems as though once the IM/email era hit, exclamation points started popping up after every sentence! Can you see how this can be annoying?!?!

Any copywriter will tell you that the over use of the exclamation point is faux pas. There are several reasons for this: As you can see they are a bit annoying as it feels like someone is yelling at you. Also the use of it lessons the effect of it - if everything is emphasized then nothing is. The use of multiple exclamation points looks immature.

So my suggestion for effective ad copy in email or text is to limit the use of exclamation points to one per page- yes we know you are excited about your product or how you can save me money, but there is an elegance in clean simply copy. Proof read your copy and have another look at it, are there colorful adjectives that better express the urgency or illustrate the point? One should only use the exclamation point for extreme emotion or command. Remember a well written ad copy portrays a legitimate, polished and professional image, thus resulting in more creditability and higher click rate.

Last night at the local corner pub I stumbled onto a familiar debate: CPM vs CPA. The interesting spin was that the person I was talking to wasn’t a seasoned internet vet, so I had to break it down fundamentally, which ended up enlightening me to a valuable insight, which I will get to later. I honestly don’t know how the conversation led to this point, I suppose this person was genuinely interested in our industry (or was at least polite enough to sit and smile as I entertained myself).

Being the diplomatic individual that I am, I always look at both sides and try to understand where the other party may be coming from.  So yes, basically began debating with myself beginning as the ‘devil’s advocate’ by stating the main reasons the CPM model works… well #1 because the top ranking sites that have the traffic can demand it, but #2 many campaigns exist for “branding”.  I however feel that even though branding is important there is always a desired underlying action, which is more times than not, simply more sales with an overall goal of increased revenue by way of ROI.

As go on and on I begin to get a glassed-over look on the eyes of the pub patron that seems to be losing interest as I ramble on.  So at this point I feel an example would be the best way to break it down. I used Toyota for example – Toyota  which has to have the best brand image of reflecting the coveted combination of value and quality.  I am sure they pay a premium CPM for the sites they run on and this is a formula that has worked for some time, so why shake it up?  Because as outside forces evolve such as the economic climate your marketing strategy too will be effected  and ad budgets will tighten.  I feel that by running a banner and paying upon its display, in my opinion, is difficult to immediately guage your return on investment.  [Enter CPA model] Remember the end goal? = more sales less spending.  They can easily calculate the conversion of how many interested individuals who fill out the “have a local dealer contact me” form that actually convert into a sale.  Then you know the worth of that lead and are essentially not wasting advertising spend because you are not spending money until you know you will be making money. 

Seems an easy pitch right? So how about thinking ouside of the “Acai” and “Debt” boxes and open the eyes of these large forces of BRANDED advertisers to a new model that makes sense.

As I drifted back to the present I realized my bar mate’s expression went from a vacant, less than enthused look to one of genuine interest and agreement.  I then decided I had won my own debate and thought best to leave on a high note.  I signed my tab and walked out the door with a slight swagger in my step, not because of the cocktail or 2 that I had just consumed but because I was thinking… I love my job.

The end. Godspeed.

If you walk down the street in Miami, you can’t help but notice “SALE” signs screaming at you from store windows or even worse “GOING OUT OF BUSINESS” signs. They are everywhere and it seems as if they are growing like weeds. I’m sure it’s like this across the U.S. but between the real estate market & foreclosures in Miami and now restaurants and stores going out of business, it seems like we are living in the twilight zone. The ones that are still in business are struggling and are desperate for business, hence the SALE signs everywhere. So some of us are in luck as Black Friday has come early this year.

I think that e-tailers and performance based marketing can benefit from the tough times that brick and mortar stores are facing right now. As stores offer more sales & discounts, more people flock to the store which makes the shopping experience a nightmare. For those that want to avoid the hassle and unruly crowds, internet based deals will be a welcome option to purchase gifts for the holiday. I would advise offering deep discounts that can only be used online, from the comfort of people’s homes. Take advantage of the fact that people are busy and have a ton of discount options thrown at them daily. Offer them relief and a discount that can be had in the click of a mouse.

Everyone involved will be happier…the e-tailer, the performance based marketer and the consumer…this way we all make money!

This week’s news has been full of talk and opinions about the proposed automotive bail out. Democrats in Congress have gone ahead with proposals to bail out automakers; Republicans are opposed to the bail out. Some are of the opinion that letting the automotive industry collapse would completely devastate an already fragile and faltering US economy.

So who will win this battle? I don’t have a clue but I can tell you that Internet Marketing is affected by all of the changes going on in our country right now. By being affected, I don’t necessarily mean that in a negative way. Some advertisers will be hurt by the decline in the automotive industry while others will thrive. It depends on how agile they are and how quickly they can adjust. On one hand, I just had a conversation last week at ad:tech NY with one advertiser who said his automotive business is really hurting. Luckily he has a great brand name so it’s a matter of changing around their business model to keep up with the changing times. Others won’t be as lucky. On the other hand, I met with another automotive advertiser whose business is at record levels because they generate leads for extended auto warranties. With the recession, people are holding onto their cars for longer, hence they need an extended auto warranty as opposed to information on purchasing a new car.

Luckily AKMG is able to roll with the punches of the tumultuous automotive industry by promoting the types of campaigns that are relevant to consumers. Now if you want my personal opinion…just buy a Mini Cooper S and you won’t have to worry about ever buying another car again! Ok I may biased since I own a Mini…but they really are the best!

Hello all!  This is my very first blog here as I am the newest edition to akmg, I recently joined on board as the Director of Affiliate Marketing.  My first day on the job was a one way flight from LA to NYC, btw… for all those who have not flown this route via Virgin - I highly recommend.  The show at Adtech will be a memorable one, not only was this my initiation into AKMG, but it also marked the historic 08 election.

When Obama was announced to be the 44th president of the United States we were just finishing a client dinner in an upscale (and very republican) steakhouse, which appeared to clear out almost immediately after the announcement.  Because we were a bit worn out from the 3 days of non stop meetings, networking and yes of course a little partying… we decided to head back to our hotel.  As we rounded closer to Times Square we could immediately feel the electricity in the air. 

Crowds were swarming, cheering and celebrating the victory of Obama.  I saw hope and optimism on the faces in the crowd, a spirit that has been amiss in this vibrant city since the tragedy of 9/11.  As I looked in the packed bars and shops on this busy street I realized maybe a little hope and optimism was what we needed to help jump start our ailing economy.  So for all us online marketers I am looking forward to closing out Q4 in a strong and profitable manner!

Cheers!

Shanti