Affiliate Sales Programs

Web 2.0 Traffic Stampede is a new book by Chris Freville. Chris has had a fairly low profile in the Internet Marketing world, but has had considerable success using social networking and Web 2.0.

Web 2.0 marketing is an area I have been paying a lot of attention to lately, particularly on the site you are reading right now. It’s been VERY effective. For example, a review I posted on this site achieved a #1 listing on Google within 24 hours of me posting it. Try doing that on your regular, static website! Yes, I can manage to achieve good, long term rankings on my traditional sites. But you can’t deny the speed and effectiveness of blogging & social networking.

So with that in mind I was keen to delve into Web 2.0 Traffic Stampede. The main strategies examined are:

• forming friendships with influential people and gaining their trust
• tapping into those people’s contacts and their contacts
• which Web 2.0 sites to join for best results
• how to get your message across for maximim effect and minimal cost

Other topics covered are:

• creating a Web 2.0 blog
• syndication
• plugging into other Web 2.0 sites
• niche marketing and creating buzz
• advertising and promotion
• the ideal Web 2.0 site

Chris’s book is an excellent introduction to Web 2.0 marketing. If you’re never attempted this style of marketing then you’ll find plently to learn. It’s well witten and follows a logical progression from understanding social networking to putting strategies in place.

However, if you consider yourself beyond the beginners stage, and are already experimenting with social marketing, you might find yourself wanting some more detail. There are a number of Web 2.0 sites presented with info on how to use them, but I wouldn’t call it an exaustive list. I should say however that I wasn’t aware of most of the sites presented and I am now using them to great effect. So on that count, the book scores a win. I just wish there were some more sites examined. I’m really hungry for this type of info at the moment.

Actually, I’ve been on my own voyage of discovery and have found some real gems. I’ll report on those in another post, although one of them is so good I’m not sure if I should “tell”. I probably will though. I’m not very good at keeping secrets

Inclusions: 

Web 2.0 Marketer’s Bible

This is an “unadvertised bonus” included with Stampede. Chris describes it as “an insider’s guide to how my mind works when researching all aspects of Web 2.0?. It covers topics such as social networking and goes into more detail on advertising, such as how to use banner ads in the Web 2.0 world. Some good info here.

Clickbank Marketplace Report

Here’s where it gets interesting for affiliate marketers. This is a three part report which discusses 37 products, mostly from the Clickbank marketplace. Chris admits that many of the reports were written by a freelancer and he’s yet to review what they’ve written. His rationale was that he wanted to get the reports out as quickly as possible but that he will be sending an updated version. I think perhaps he should have waited because some of them are not well written.

The second part of the report examines which parts in common did well and which didn’t. The third part looks at creating your own product. A surprise inclusion was a “swipe file” which actually includes all the sales pages of the products reviewed.

Despite the slightly dodgy reviews on some of the products, what this whole Clickbank Marketplace Report represents is an excellent guide to which Clickbank affiliate products to promote. At a glance you can see if the product was successful and what percentage of the sale you will earn as an affiliate. Why waste your time promoting losers? Although, I have to say, you should ALWAYS purchase the products you are going to promote. And if YOU feel it is a dud, say so.

Summary Review

All up, I was pretty happy with Web 2.0 Traffic Stampede. I would like to see more detail on some of the Web 2.0 sites discussed and perhaps some more case studies, as well as more actual sites. I’m discovering new ones every day. But it’s a great beginners guide to the new frontier of social marketing.

Technorati Tags: Web 2.0 Traffic Stampede, Social Marketing