Last night as I was reading through my Facebook news feed I came across a video from Shawn Collins, the founder of Affiliate Summit:

The above video got me thinking…. Is Shawn leaving a lot of money on the table? So I was thinking and then a moment of enlightenment came- if Shawn does not want to do paid reviews I will. Heck, I have done them in the past (more about that in the future)!

So I am extremely excited to announce

Now I know some of you maybe thinking that I’ve lost my mind. But do not jump to conclusions yet! Did you notice my secret weapon??? Yep. The newest innovation in the SEO industry- once you get a link with that attribute (“tripplefollow”), your site will appear not in the first, second or third place in the search results of all major search engines but above their Logos!!! No one attempted this ever before, and while I am still in beta with this new attribute I can tell you prospects are incredible!

I am also thinking of implementing an affiliate program. I am still working out details, but I am pretty sure to have one of the highest commission in the industry starting at 99% (or $14,850.00) per review sold. How about that for an affiliate program?

In the upcoming days I will be revealing more details- so keep an eye on my blog! But if you have an idea of how I can make this even better, go ahead leave a comment.

There are still many things I do not understand about affiliate marketing. One of such things is the way many merchants choose to handle commissions that need to be reversed. Depending on the products or services you choose to promote, 5 or 6 reversals can very easily amount to over $1,000 in commissions. This may not be a huge deal for affiliates earning 5 figure a month, but it certainly is from me.

So if you are an affiliate manger I ask you these questions. How do you handle reversed commissions? Do you explain to your affiliates why?

I am a big man, I can handle bad news. I understand my referral could have canceled the service or returned the product. It does not take that much effort or time to explain why you are reversing my commission. But it can also can help me to improve my campaigns, which in the end is a good thing for you as well.

I imagine that all the legal mambo jumbo in the agreement between you and me may not require you to provide any explanation. If this is your approach, I don’t want to work with you.

Before I start this post, I would like to wish every one who may read it a Happy and Healthy 2010. I hope you are trying to accomplish something new in 2010. I expect to accomplish following things:

1. To Quit Smoking. This will probably be the most difficult thing to accomplish. I have been smoking since my early teenage years and have failed miserably every time I attempted to quit. I will be documenting my quitting struggle on a blog I have created recently called 72 Hours Quest. My previous attempts to quit were always accompanied with a lot of frustration. I plan to use the above mentioned blog as an outlet for my frustration associated with quitting smoking, I know people close to me will like that. If you have a solid advise for me in this area please do not hesitate to voice it at 72 Hours Quest. My intention is to usher in the 2010 being semi “nicotine” fee. I say semi-free because it takes 72 hours, or so they say, for the nicotine to leave your body. I had not smoked since last night.
2. Taking my affiliate business to the next level. For the last 5 years I was able to explore different business possibilities. The truth is, without my wife I could have never done that. So now it is time for her to take a brake. My intention this year as far as my affiliate business go is very simple – I will attempt to take it to solid 6 figures.
3. Blogging. Making every effort to write a blog post every day. Last year, as far as blogging goes, was nothing short of a failure. I have not posted on regular basis, and spent most of my time building websites, landing pages, and “babysitting” my PPC campaigns. I know I can do much better job in this respect. There are certainly enough people out there to inspire me. Take for example Geno Prussakov who writes Affiliate Marketing Blog or Chris Brogan – I believe these two gentlemen have not gone without writing a blog posts every day. I am not sure I have in me to post something every day- so I will be less ambitious. I will attempt two or three posts per week from now on.
4. Going DoFollow again. If you know me for some times now, you probably realize I am highly influenced by bloggers like Andy Beard, Matt Brown, Dane Morgan. All three of them have influenced me in the past to remove nofollow attribute from the links in the comment. Unfortunately during the course of last year I have reinstated the use of nofollow attribute in the comments on all of my blogs. Main reason comment spam being lazy, but also maybe the use of Dofollow plugins had a wrong motive behid, otherwise it is hard to believe I gave up so easily. I tried to convince myself that increasing amount of spam justifies the use of nofollw. The truth is that the only justifiable use of nofollow attribute is. as some SEO experts may claim, to redistribute the flow of “juices” on your websites. So from January 1st, 2010 most, if not all, of my blogs should be nofollow free again. While it can prove useful otherwise, in the comments nofollow attribute makes absolutely no sense.
5. Selling some of my blogs/websites. Yes I have more than few of those. If you want to stay in the loop you must subscribe to my blog .
6. Going back to Apple. No offense intended for Bill Gates, but I have developed certain disgust towards all that is Microsoft. Well, maybe not all. Microsoft Ad Center is the only product I use- but use it because I need it not because I like it. Anyway… About two year ago I went with Linux (Ubutnu to be exact) as an operating system on all my computers. It has been great experience! I know that on my new Apple computers I will continue to run a version of Linux. I have moved away from using Apple computers but never fell out of love with them. It is time come back. If I only had a chance to explain to Steve how much I love Aplle, he would most certainly send me a new MacBook or iMac (the two machines I plan to buy in 2010 for my home and office). Steve???
7. Meeting with at least one local business owner every week. For the last two years I have been blessed to work with Ann Shortt, the owner of Chocolate Belles in Brick, NJ. I advised her (and continue to do so) about her website and Internet marketing. Following is from the Christmas card Ann sent me this year:

   Hi Vlad,

   I just wanted to wish you a very Merry Christmas. Thank you so much for being so kind and helping me throughout the year with my web. Our store has made it through this horrible economy with your help. I can’t thank you enough!

   May you and your family have a wonderful Christmas and a very Happy Healthy New Year!

   Love,
   Ann

   Needless to say that nothing makes you feel more fulfilled and satisfied than helping others. So I need your help to fulfill this resolution. If you leave within 2 hours driving time from Jackson, NJ own a business and think you can use some advise about your website or your Internet marketing strategy please use this page to get in touch with me. There is no catch to this besides that I want to meet you. There is only one condition I have is that we must never have met in the past.

So do you think I have to expect too much of myself? What about you did you make any resolutions? I would love to hear/read them.

Photo Credit: Bartek Ambrozik

For the last few weeks (or maybe months) every affiliate logging into their Commission Junction account was greeted with the announcement about FTC Guideline which will take effect just a few days from today:

I find it interesting that one of the videos on FTC website aimed to answer this question – “Is the FTC planning to sue bloggers?”:

I tend to react emotionally whenever word “blogger” and “lawsuit” are mentioned in the same sentence. If I were to advise anyone from my personal experience- I would say try to avoid lawsuits at all cost. There are of course situations you can’t avoid them….

Much of the fear that is being spread about the new FTC guidelines is likely as emotional as my comment on Andy’s latest post. Some fear that bloggers might get in trouble for promoting products and services. There is one simple solution not to get in trouble- disclosure and transparency. All five of the videos put together by FTC in one way or another address the issue of disclosure and transparency.

I think the bigger issue missed by most pundits is whether or not FTC will enforce their guidelines evenly and justly?

Personally I believe there is a greater danger for a blogger to get sued by many other parties before you get in trouble with FTC. Just think about it- if you disclose and are transparent about possible conflict of interest you should not have anything to worry about.

Runing a business from home has it’s advantages. You may enjoy working in your pajamas and make your own schedule.

I on the other hand have always struggled with working from home. Not only managing my own time was an issue. But the comfort of working in my pajamas resulted int he fact that many days I had no idea what was the weather like outside.

Since the launch of my Interpreting and Translating business over a year ago other factors began to influence my desire to move my home based business outside of my home. And while my primary focus will be my interpreting business, I plan to continue to share my experience in affiliate marketing as well.

Today I am writing my first blog post in my new office. I feel very fortunate because I realize that not every blogger and affiliate marketer can afford to have an actual office, not to say that many are not enjoying working from home. I am double fortunate because my office expenses are next to nothing- besides the cost of my internet connection I really have no other expenses.

Originally I did not anticipate to move into this office until December 1st, things went much batter and faster then I thought or planned.

If you are ever in the area feel free to look me up and stop by.

Finally I would like to thank all of my friends for the support and advice that made this move an absolute pleasure.