Author Archives: Andrew Wee

About Andrew Wee

My name is Andrew Wee. I'm 32 years old, live in Singapore and am happily married with a 2 month old daughter. I've gone through a list of various occupations including: * journalist (for a business newspaper) * Internet content developer (for one of Asia's largest media group's Singapore Press Holdings) * trainer in entrepreneurship, business building, life skills * photographer/photojournalist * real estate agent * consultant * entrepreneur (I think that's enough for now...more later!) This is a personal space to express my goals, dreams and aspirations.

Grabbing A Slice of the Facebook 140 Million User Pie

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Independent blog InsiderFacebook has recently mentioned that Facebook users have topped 140 million, up from an earlier 130 million at the start of the month.

facebook 140 million

With an estimated 700,000 new users joining the social network each day in recent weeks, it appears that Facebook has achieved critical mass.

Raw numbers don’t tell the entire picture though.

Anecdotal evidence from affiliates suggests that the FB Ad review team are working doubly hard to slap down new ad campaigns in response to user complaints. In particular a common refrain is that new campaigns which are similar to existing campaigns are being rejected.

This is happening while older ads which seem to violate Continue reading →

Are Your Holiday Affiliate Promotions Creating Value For Shoppers?

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Research agency Nielsen Online has released a recent survey of 1,300 online shoppers polling their reasons for shopping online:

nielsen

Some of the factors are native to operating a website like: being able to shop 24 hours a day, saving on gas, saves time.

But the smart affiliates know that a number of site-dependent factors like:

  • sales/discounts/promotions
  • available product information
  • selection
  • comparison shopping

Are dependent on the type of site you’ve developed.

I’m fortunate to be working with a Continue reading →

Friday Podcast: The State of Affiliate Marketing with Haiko De Poel

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HaikoHaiko De Poel is founder of the ABestWeb affiliate marketing forum, one of the most established, having been around for 7 years and recently surpassing it’s 50,000th member mark.

As a new internet marketer, I got a lot of value out of Haiko’s “Affiliate Marketing Today” podcast show on the Webmaster Radio network. Credited with having coined the term “Parasitware”, Haiko’s one of the senior statesmen in the industry, having been an advocate for affiliate marketers’ rights for some time.

During our discussion on the Friday Podcast, we talked about:

  • How Haiko first got involved with affiliate marketing
  • The origins of the ABestWeb forum
  • Burning issues that were prevalent about 5 years ago and still rear their head today, especially with parasiteware
  • The recent controversy with the OneCause toolbar redirect affiliate links, and it’s possible conflict of interest with holding company Rakuten also own the LinkShare affiliate network
  • The New York affiliate tax issue and its implications for the industry
  • How and why affiliates need to speak up for their rights and some of Haiko’s initiatives in that direction

Check out the Friday Podcast below:

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Resources:

Haiko will be moderating the session “Ethical Issues in Affiliate Marketing” at the Affiliate Summit next month.

Affiliate Networks: How To Talk So Affiliates Listen

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One of the keenest observations I’d heard from Sam Harrelson from an older episode of Geekcast is when he was in the process of adding Twitter to an affiliate network’s communication channels, some of the affiliate managers were happy that they had another channel to send out new offer information to.

how to talk to affiliates

If you’re an affiliate signed up to multiple networks, you’d receive a constant barrage of daily emails with subject lines like “network exclusives, promote now!”, “Highest payouts!” and “Hot new offers”.

Likewise, I’ve checked out a couple of affiliate marketing forums where networks have sponsored sections of the forums and populated these sections with “These offers are hot!” then proceed to list down payouts and offer caps.

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I don’t know how you feel, but this is pretty much tantamount to email and social network spamming by overzealous affiliate managers.

A good affiliate manager should know when to promote offers and when to back off. And emailing/hounding me when I say I’m busy is one way to get on my really bad side.

The other thing that’s disturbing is Continue reading →

Where Do You Fit In The Affiliate Marketing Value Chain?

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I had the opportunity to discuss topics shaping the affiliate marketing industry with Haiko De Poel Jr, founder and owner of the ABestWeb affiliate marketing forum for my Friday Podcast series out this week.

affiliate marketing success

During the course of our conversation, the topic of the value added to the affiliate-merchant relationship came up multiple times, and it’s certainly a point worth focusing on, especially if you’re in the affiliate marketing game for the long haul.

Let’s start off with the definition of “value” for affiliates.

As a performance-based affiliate, you’re only paid upon the successful purchase or adoption of a product or service you’re promoting. In the past and also today, value manifests itself in making your affiliate site more visible than the merchants. In some cases, this means having your site show up when someone types Continue reading →

Blogroll Update Dec 2008

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One of the best aspects of having a regular podcast like the Friday Podcast is being able to tap the brains and get ideas and inspiration for some of the brightest lights in blogging, affiliate marketing, PPC and search engine optimization.

And the inertia of business and projects has kept my intended blogroll update moving forward for a couple of months (yes, months).

If you’re headed to the Affiliate Summit next month, do drop a note in the comments below and be sure to say “hi” especially if we meet up at one of the parties or at the booths.

Here’re some of my old friends and new friends I’ve made in the last year (and recently added to the blogroll).

Miles Baker: A work-at-home dad who’s tried just about everything on the internet, Miles is a successful affiliate who’s built a healthy number of profitable sites. He’s one of the panelists at the affiliate panel on the first day of the Affiliate Summit.

Check out Miles’ appearance on my Friday Podcast.

Miles’ Twitter account

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NickyCakes: Nick calls himself a “reformed blackhat” whose main focus is on pay per click-based affiliate marketing. He’s posted a number of innovative affiliate strategies on his blog (in between pointing out perceived pretentiousness among certain affiliates). Nick will also be one of the panelists on the affiliate panel at 1230pm on the first day of the summit.

Nick’s previous appearance on the Friday Podcast.

Nick’s Twitter account

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Geordie Carswell: Geordie’s the 3rd and final member of the affiliate panel. Though he doesn’t actively blog, he’s focused on building his new outfit, Diversion Marketing. Although he’s quite accomplished at PPC, he’s since started work on a couple of different projects and I might have him on a future episode of the Friday Podcast.

In the meantime, you can check out his previous appearance on the Friday Podcast where he talked about affiliate success strategies.

Geordie’s twitter account

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Chad Frederiksen: Better known as “CDF Networks”, Chad has the distinction of being one of the top 10 Continue reading →