This year, Affiliate Summit East is taking place in New York City on August 9-11. It promises to be another great event, and ClickBank will be attending and exhibiting. To help more affiliates attend the show, we’re giving away 5 free Gold-level passes (valued at $279 each).

To enter, simply fill out the form below. The deadline to enter is 11:59 p.m. on June 8. One entry is allowed per person, and all passes will be processed through ClickBank, so please only register if you can actually attend. Passes are non-transferable. Travel and other expenses are not included. Winners will be contacted directly.

Good luck! We hope to see you at Affiliate Summit.

ClickBank vendor Jeff Mulligan has created a very useful video showing how he increased sales for one of his ClickBank products over 22% by using a simple technique that only takes a few minutes to put in place. There are no tricks or gimmicks here: Jeff’s technique just increases customers’ willingness to buy by increasing their level of trust and making sure they know what to expect throughout the sales process.

This is especially important when you send customers to an order form that looks different from your main website. Although this video is specifically geared toward ClickBank vendors, there’s no reason affiliates who have their own website couldn’t try it too, by showing a screenshot of the landing page they’re sending customers to next. As Jeff states, you should always be testing. So if you’re an affiliate, give this technique a try and leave a comment to let us know if it helped your sales.

How to Boost ClickBank Sales Video

Broomfield, Colo. - (May 19, 2009) – After recently being cited by Entrepreneur.com as one of the companies leading the pack in affiliate marketing, ClickBank says the company has joined a list of global industry giants that will share industry insight with nearly 1,500 attendees at Affilicon Israel, June 1-2 in Airport City, Israel.

Dush Ramachandran, ClickBank’s vice president of sales, marketing and business development, will take part in a panel discussion on international affiliate marketing and will be the featured speaker at another conference session entitled “Digital Product Marketing.”

Ramachandran said a variety of global topics and trends will be addressed. “All of which will focus on helping affiliate marketers move their businesses forward,” he said.

As part of the panel on international affiliate marketing, Ramachandran will discuss opportunities available to affiliates who want to take advantage of the growing global market in Internet commerce. During “Digital Product Marketing” he will explore in detail the benefits of marketing digital products versus physical products, drawing heavily upon his experience in working with some of the largest and most successful affiliates and vendors in the industry.

Affilicon, considered the source for affiliate marketing thought leadership and industry expertise, holds several annual conferences considered to be the premier must-attend events for marketing affiliates, exhibitors and online merchants. For more information on Affilicon Israel, visit the conference web site here.

If you’re a ClickBank vendor but have no clue how to design your own Pitch Page for your product, this video from Gideon Shalwick of Become a Blogger will walk you through the steps of creating a Pitch Page using the popular free blogging software, Wordpress. It’s one of the best and easiest ways to quickly create a great-looking Pitch Page!

Some ClickBank clients have raised concerns that the traffic and clicks that they see in external analytics applications such as Google and Yahoo Analytics sometimes don’t match their ClickBank Hop analytics or sales numbers.

Affiliate-driven sales account for the vast majority of ClickBank’s sales, and we are completely committed to making Hop tracking as accurate as possible. ClickBank will soon release new functionality that will allow you to integrate Google and Yahoo Analytics into the ClickBank Hop and sales cycle. This will give our clients complete visibility into the ways in which affiliate promotions translate to Hops, order form visits, and eventually completed sales.

Since the Vendor Thank You page is the last destination for a ClickBank consumer following a purchase, it would seem as though comparing the number of completed sales to the number of visits to the Thank You page would be relatively straightforward. However, I’ll share with you a number of different ways by which traffic can reach this page, demonstrating why this comparison can sometimes be inaccurate.

1.       ClickBank Sales: The most obvious and rewarding way in which traffic lands on a Vendor Thank You page is via a successful ClickBank sale. As mentioned on our Vendor Tools page, ClickBank will always pass nine query string parameters to the Thank You page. These parameters indicate that the visitor has placed an authentic ClickBank order.

2.       Robots: Search engines spider websites to improve search capabilities. The Thank You page should never be scanned by search engines. The Vendor should always add the META tag described in our Vendor Tools to prevent robots from adding the Thank You page to a search engine list.

3.       Customer Bookmarks: A ClickBank customer can always bookmark the Thank You page. Once bookmarked, they can visit the Thank You page as many times as they like.

4.       GOTO link in the receipt email: When a customer makes a purchase, ClickBank sends them a receipt email that includes a GOTO link to the Thank You page. This GOTO link is only valid for 14 days after the sale is made. It contains an encrypted identifier that ClickBank verifies and ties back to the original Thank You page URL given to the customer at the time of sale. A customer is allowed to visit the Thank You page via this GOTO link as many times as they want within that 14-day window.

5.       ClickBank Customer Service: In some cases, ClickBank can provide a customer with the original Thank You page URL and parameters. This is done in cases where sending the customer the Thank You page URL will keep them from requesting a refund, such as if they were unable to download the product immediately after purchase. This is typically only done within the 60-day refund period.

So how can you, the vendor, better protect your Thank You page and get more accurate traffic statistics? ClickBank provides multiple ways to protect the Thank You page in our Vendor Tools. Here are a few highlights:

1.       A Thank You page should always be a script-based page, such as PHP, ASP, Perl, etc. A scripted page can read and evaluate the parameters that ClickBank passes. The Thank You page can easily be scripted to only permit visitors that have valid ClickBank parameters, like the ClickBank receipt.

2.       A Thank You page should always be protected by the ClickBank Link Security Script and a Secret Key. ClickBank provides code examples on the Vendor Tools page that show how a scripted page can verify the ClickBank Proof of Purchase (CBPOP) value. The Thank You page can then be scripted to only permit visitors that have a valid CBPOP value. It is worth mentioning that less than 2% of registered ClickBank vendors use a Secret Key. However, for sales on any given day, over 50% of the sites that make a sale use a Secret Key. The lesson here is that the most successful ClickBank vendors protect their product using the ClickBank Secret Key and CBPOP.

3.       Check the time. ClickBank passes the time of the original sale in computer epoch time (seconds since 1970). A scripted Thank You page can easily verify that the order occurred within a given number of days. The Thank You page can then be scripted to only permit visitors within a specific number of days since the original sale. This prevents people from accessing the Thank You page URL via bookmarking or sharing.

4.       Script and log the visitor data. Once your scripted Thank You page has filtered out robots and unverified visitors, you can now accurately track unique visitors by logging the receipt number. Obviously, some consumers will download a product twice if they have problems, but a scripted Thank You page will allow you to match unique visitors with unique sales.

I hope this helps demystify the occasional inconsistencies between ClickBank sales numbers and Thank You page visits. The new ClickBank integration with third-party analytics programs should help even more. Look for it in the near future.

This is the first phase of making the ClickBank website more attractive and easier to understand for new clients.

Please note that these changes do not affect existing functionality or page locations, so you can continue to use the ClickBank system in the same way you always have.

Both advisory boards work to provide thought leadership and industry expertise to Internet and affiliate marketers. Board members leverage their connections and standing within the industry for the betterment of the business and all of those associated with it.

“I look forward to working with Affiliate Summit and Affilicon to help ensure the success of Internet and affiliate marketers worldwide,” said Ramachandran. “Working with ClickBank’s community of 100,000-plus marketing affiliates, I can offer a well-informed, global perspective of the industry and what is needed to move it forward.”

In addition to being considered the source for thought leadership and industry expertise, Affiliate Summit and Affilicon hold several annual marketing conferences that are considered to be the premier must-attend events for marketing affiliates, exhibitors and online merchants. Conferences and events are held in the U.S., Europe, the Middle East and Asia, drawing marketing affiliates, exhibitors and merchants on an annual and semi-annual basis. As an advisory board member, Ramachandran will assist with the selection of speakers and topics at upcoming Affiliate Summit and Affilicon conferences.

Ramachandran joined ClickBank in 2005. He is responsible for ClickBank’s sales and marketing activities and alliances with affiliate and vendor organizations worldwide. Ramachandran has held executive leadership positions with domestic and international firms such as Requisite Technology, Conceptual Technologies, Computervision Corp., Prime Computer, Inc. and Datapoint Corp. He holds a bachelor’s degree in physics from St. Joseph’s College, Bangalore University, and an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management.

Last month, we told you about HopAd Builder, our powerful new tool that affiliates can use to promote ClickBank products through targeted text ads on their sites, and get the full affiliate commission for sales made to visitors who click on the ads and buy.

The response to HopAd Builder has been great, and several third-party developers have started creating free tools that extend the functionality of HopAd Builder and make it easy to use on certain types of websites.

One example of a HopAd tool is a plugin for the popular Wordpress blogging software, called the HopAd Plugin. It is available for free at www.hopadplugin.com and it allows owners of self-hosted Wordpress blogs to integrate HopAds into a blog in a simple and seamless way.

If you’re a Wordpress blog owner and you’d like an easy new way to make extra affiliate commissions by displaying ads for ClickBank products related to your blog’s content, be sure to check out the HopAd Plugin!

Do you have any experience using the HopAd Plugin? Know of any other great free tools out there? Leave a comment and let us know.

Do you know the most important marketing strategy in your business?

In a world filled with marketing experts extolling the virtues of duplicating proven practices, I have a bit of a contrarian view. That’s because relying too much on copying others can actually work against you in your quest for long-term success.

Whether you are marketing your own products or services or promoting other people’s products as an affiliate, positioning is key in determining your long-term success.

By developing an intimate understanding of positioning and applying it to your writing for your own marketing materials and to those of your clients, you’ll build stronger and more persuasive campaigns.

What is Positioning?

Positioning is the process of placing your firm or product above your competition in the prospects’ mind in a way that pulls prospects to you.

Marketing pioneers Jack Trout and Al Ries wrote the definitive work on the concept, entitled: “Positioning: The Battle For Your Mind.” Even though this book was written several years ago, it is still vital in business today.

In every business or product category there are thousands of competitors fighting for the same market. The goal of positioning is to be the top choice to do business with and buy from.

Positioning is not about competing, but differentiating. To be specific, the goal is to differentiate yourself (or the product you are promoting) to the degree that you become the only viable choice in the customer’s mind.

Many companies try to outperform their competitiors by offering discounts and lowering their prices. Positioning, on the other hand, eliminates the need for price-based promotions and focuses on creating a consumer mentality where you are considered the most desirable option, no matter what the cost.

Pretty powerful stuff!

Of course, understanding what positioning is does nothing in and of itself. You need to learn and apply the tools of positioning in order to gain any benefit at all. It’s the application of these strategies that will put you in the favorable position of being that top-of-mind choice within your target market.

Vive la Difference?

Loosely translated from French, the phrase “Vive la Difference” simply means “celebrate the difference.” The first step towards the effective use of positioning within your marketing is to define how you are different from your competition.

Without differentiation, there can be no hope of achieving a strong positioning edge. As I often say in my work: don’t duplicate, differentiate. Be different so that you gain, and maintain, a top position in the mind of your market.

It’s quite common to receive marketing advice telling you to research your competition, but without care, this can be a deadly practice. It’s all well and good to know what your competitors are doing; after all, no business exists within a vacuum. You should absolutely keep tabs on and know what your competition is doing.

What you must avoid, however, is the trap of assuming that in order to be successful you should be replicating what the leaders are doing.

All this accomplishes is the creation of a series of copycats that remind the consumer who the leader is, and reinforces the message that they should buy from the leader. When you engage in such practices, you’re effectively paying for the advertising edge of your competition.

In other words, copy what others do and you’ll only remind people of them and not you.

The only way to avoid becoming a victim of copycat syndrome is to develop your core identity based on how you are different from your competition, and create a unique identity on which to hang your promotional hat.

Anything else is bound to come across as less than genuine in the minds of your target market and certainly won’t help you rise above the crowd.

Determining Your Positioning

Determining your positioning can seem like a daunting task, especially in a highly competitive market. Fortunately, it often isn’t as difficult as it initially seems.

For one thing, most businesses don’t spend much time at all developing their competitive edge through positioning. This means that as someone aware of positioning, it’s usually fairly easy to spot an opportunity.

For another, even if a strong, marketing savvy competitor exists, as a copywriter or marketer you likely already have the creativity you need to make the breakthrough you are looking for.

Before you begin brainstorming ways to help your audience come to a favorable impression, it’s important to note that differentiation need not be drastic. This is where your research skills and any experience you have within the industry is priceless.

In some cases there may be no difference at all other than the fact that no one else in the industry is actually stating it. For example, several years ago there was a car campaign that used the statement that seven out of 10 drivers who test-drove their car, bought one.

What the campaign didn’t say is that the statistic was true for everyone else in the industry, too. It was just that no one else had used this little-known fact before in their promotional efforts.

The best part is, it would be impossible for anyone else to successfully come in after the fact and not sound like a “me too” copycat. If they do they will only remind your market of you.

This brings about another factor that is essential to positioning. In order to gain the most traction from your efforts, you must be first. Or, at least, be perceived to be the first in some way, shape or form.

The difference you choose to exploit needs to work towards the building of a perception of originality. Granted, differentiation is only the beginning. Being different than or superior to the competition is one thing, but to consistently maintain that position is another story altogether. But that is a story for another day.

Until next time, practice unveiling the differences that can set you apart from the competition to develop a strong foundation and create top-of-mind-awareness. As a result, you will have a stronger marketing edge in your copywriting efforts.

Michel Fortin is a marketer, copywriter, and author of many books and courses. For more information about Michel, including how to get your hands on several free ebooks, visit his blog at http://www.michelfortin.com.

When I was a kid, my brother and I used to look forward to report cards coming out each quarter. If we did well, my parents would recognize and reward us for our efforts. We would get dressed up, go out to a fancy restaurant, and spend a leisurely 2-3 hour dinner as a family. Even today, I still have great memories of those reward dinners. While they weren’t the reason I worked hard in school, they sure were a nice bonus, and I appreciated the recognition of my efforts.

Being recognized and rewarded for loyalty, hard work, and success is a universal desire that manifests itself in several different forms throughout our society. Whether it’s a family celebration, a frequent flyer program, a punch card for your favorite coffee shop, or an invitation to join an elite club, we all like to feel valued by the people with whom we associate most. It is in that spirit that ClickBank’s business development department created the Premier and Apex programs.

We started the ClickBank Premier program in 2008 as a way to recognize our top vendors and reward them for their loyalty, ingenuity, and hard work. The program was so successful that we extended the idea to ClickBank affiliates and started the Apex program in 2009. We also increased the number of benefits awarded, and we’re in the process of dedicating more resources to each program.

The programs have also delivered huge benefits to us, as we’ve been able to build closer relationships with our top clients and work with them to make sure ClickBank remains the best solution for selling and promoting digital goods. In fact, we’ve got some exciting new features and enhancements coming out this year that are a direct result of our communications with Premier and Apex clients!

As with status levels in frequent flyer programs, members of the Premier and Apex programs must requalify each year. Every fall, we look at our sales for the previous 12 months and invite the top 100 vendors and the top 100 affiliates to participate in the programs. Current members who did not requalify are notified of this fact, while new qualifiers are invited to join.

If you’re reading this post and you’re not a current member of either program, I hope this inspires you grow your business with us and achieve Premier or Apex status. ClickBank will reward you for your loyalty, your hard work, and your ultimate success!