The study, “Key Trends and Best Practices Selling Globally Via the Affiliate Channel,” is based on surveys of 2,574 online shoppers across eight countries: Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States

Forrester also conducted interviews with advertisers and publishers who currently manage affiliate programs in several countries or are in the process of preparing to expand internationally.

Some findings from the research…

• Over the last 12 months, 68 percent of affiliate channel shoppers made an online purchase from a company outside of their home country.
• The affiliate channel is ideally suited for global advertisers to capture new-to-file customers in both mature and nascent markets.
• Logistical issues are impeding some growth for advertisers expanding overseas yet the issues are solvable.

The findings were unveiled at the Rakuten LinkShare Symposium New York event today in New York City.

Download the study for free: Key Trends and Best Practices Selling Globally Via the Affiliate Channel

The post Rakuten LinkShare Study: Online Advertisers Expanding Overseas appeared first on Affiliate Marketing Blog.

Austin-based company WhaleShark Media acquired RetailMeNot in 2010.

WhaleShark Media changed their corporate name to RetailMeNot, Inc. in March 2013.

The RetailMeNot, Inc. portfolio of coupon and deal websites includes RetailMeNot.com (United States), VoucherCodes.co.uk (United Kingdom), Deals.com (Germany), Actiepagina.nl (Netherlands), Bons-de-Reduction.com and Poulpeo.com (France), and Deals2Buy.com (North America).

Press release: RetailMeNot, Inc. Files Registration Statement for Initial Public Offering

The post RetailMeNot Files for IPO appeared first on Affiliate Marketing Blog.

On the June 17, 2013 episode of 7 Minutes in Affiliate Heaven podcast (listen to 7 Minutes in Affiliate Heaven), I talked about getting Extra Money Answer published in paperback, a new job for affiliate marketing veteran Rachel Honoway, and a new link optimizer technology from VigLink.

I also mentioned a gender shift in affiliate marketing, a big increase in commissions for Affiliate Summit speakers who promote the conference, and the difference between web hosting and domain registrars.

Please review 7 Minutes in Affiliate Heaven on iTunes.

Show Links

• Extra Money Answer is Now Available in Paperback
• For Me To Coupon Hires Rachel Honoway as CEO
• New Link Optimizer Technology from VigLink
• Gender Shift in Affiliate Marketing?
• The Difference Between Web Hosting and Domain Registration
• Big Increase in Affiliate Commissions for Affiliate Summit Speakers
• Map of Hotels Near the Pennsylvania Convention Center
• Get a Digital Marketing Education in 3 Days for Just $549

Subscribe to 7 Minutes in Affiliate Heaven on iTunes.

The post Super Sized Commissions for Affiliate Summit Speakers, VigLink Link Optimizer, and Extra Money Answer in Paperback appeared first on Affiliate Marketing Blog.

That got me thinking about the state of digital marketing and higher education.

Tools and techniques evolve rapidly, and the things we learned just a year ago can be woefully obsolete now.

Now don’t get me wrong. I don’t think there is a real argument of conferences vs. college.

After all, when you get a Networking Plus pass for Affiliate Summit East 2013, you’re only paying $549 to sit in on a number of classes, as well as dozens of hours of educational sessions on video, as well as access to the nearly 100 strong speaker faculty and thousands of affiliate marketers who are working on this stuff day in and day out.

Plus, the latest information at Affiliate Summit is delivered in three days. Not a semester.

On the other hand, college tuition is a crazy, big expense with access to a handful of instructors who have one foot in the classroom and one foot in real business (at best).

And it’s pretty rare for a lot of the people around you on campus to have 5, 10, or 15 years of experience in the stuff you’re learning about.

But college does provide a valuable learning foundation and the parties are better.

The post Get a Digital Marketing Education in 3 Days for Just $549 appeared first on Affiliate Marketing Blog.

Extra Money Answer, which became an international best seller earlier this year, provides a real and honest picture of the opportunities in affiliate marketing.

In the book I explain how most people don’t make much at all in affiliate marketing, and that it requires lots of time, testing, and patience.

But you can make extra money if you do it right.

Extra Money Answer spells it out in plain terms on how to come up with ideas for affiliate sites, create content, drive traffic, and make money with your site.

The print edition of Extra Money Answer is 144 pages in a large 11″ x 8.5″ format with color images to help with the step-by-step instructions.

The Kindle edition of Extra Money Answer is also still available.

The post Extra Money Answer is Now Available in Paperback appeared first on Affiliate Marketing Blog.

Affiliate coupon datafeed provider For Me To Coupon has announced that Rachel Honoway will be their new CEO.

Rachel Honoway is an affiliate marketing veteran who got her start at former affiliate network/software provider KowaBunga! in the late 90′s.

She spent 10 years with KowaBunga! in a variety of roles, and more recently worked with Affiliate Classroom/Lurn.

Additionally, Karen Hoxmeier has been promoted to COO.

Video: Rachel Honoway’s session at Affiliate Summit East 2011

The post For Me To Coupon Hires Rachel Honoway as CEO appeared first on Affiliate Marketing Blog.

The VigLink optimizer technology modifies organic product links to point to a different retailer when there is higher earning potential with an alternative advertiser.

Affiliates can opt-in to the optimizer by signing into their account and enabling link optimization under their account settings.

VigLink has started with a select group of beta testers, and they’re accepting new beta testers as capacity allows.

Get more details on the VigLink optimizer technology.

The post New Link Optimizer Technology from VigLink appeared first on Affiliate Marketing Blog.

The results broke out as 51.2% male and 48.8% female.

When the same question was asked last year for the AffStat report, the results were 66% male and 34% female.

More than sixteen-hundred affiliates were surveyed on their methods, preferences, and strategies for the 2013 Affiliate Summit AffStat Report.

More details on AffStat at AffStat.com.

The post Gender Shift in Affiliate Marketing? appeared first on Affiliate Marketing Blog.

But that deal just got a whole lot sweeter for Affiliate Summit speakers – we will be bumping their commissions up to 50%.

The Affiliate Summit affiliate program is on ShareASale with a 30-day cookie and set for auto-deposit (there is never a $0 balance on the account).

The current rates for passes to Affiliate Summit East 2013 range from $249 to $2,249.

The average sale for affiliates over the past 7 days has been $1,318.40.

If you are an Affiliate Summit speaker, please contact us with your ShareASale affiliate ID and we will adjust your commission rate.

The increase is not just for the nearly 100 speakers who will be in Philadelphia in August, but for all Affiliate Summit speakers over the ten year history of the conference.

This increase applies to transactions moving forward, after we’ve made the change to the affiliate accounts of speakers.

The post Big Increase in Affiliate Commissions for Affiliate Summit Speakers appeared first on Affiliate Marketing Blog.

Q: I still consider myself a newbie, but am gaining knowledge! I went to Affiliate Summit East 2012, and recently to Affiliate Summit West 2013. I’m signing up for James Martell’s new school, and am psyched! I’ve had a few bumps along the way, getting sucked into schemes that teach me nothing, so it’s great to be hooked-up with you and Affiliate Summit. My question: I joined HostGator for web hosting. Do I still need to register with GoDaddy, even though I’m signed up with HostGator? I guess I’m not clear on what the difference is between web hosting and registering a domain name. Once I sign up for any web hosting site, does that automatically register my domain as well? What’s the purpose for registering?

A: Web hosting companies and domain registrars are two separate things, and you’ll need to pay for both to have a website.

In the case of HostGator, they are a hosting company that also provide domain registration services.

And with GoDaddy, they are a domain registrar that also sells web hosting, as well as many other services.

I personally use GoDaddy strictly for domains, and then I use other web hosting companies for my sites: 1and1, BlueHost, Liquid Web, RackSpace, and WP Engine.

You can certainly keep it all in the HostGator environment for convenience, but you will still have to pay for the web hosting and domain registration.

If you are struggling with the process, I cover how to go about getting the hosting and domain setup in my book, Extra Money Answer. My examples are with BlueHost and GoDaddy, but many of the hosts and domain registrars have similar interfaces.

Video: The Difference Between Web Hosting and Domain Registration video

Ask Shawn Collins your affiliate marketing question and it will be added on the affiliate blog.

The post The Difference Between Web Hosting and Domain Registration appeared first on Affiliate Marketing Blog.