Cyberlink Internet News and Views

We frequently look at ways of generating revenue from the Internet. Although not something we’d normally condone, but by way of giving an unbiased view of all things ‘income related’ we’ve also spent time looking at the concept of gambling.

There are 2 reasons for saying this:

1. The most obvious being – if you’re good at card games, gambling etc, you stand the potential of earning a lot of money (of course you also stand to lose a lot so be warned!)

2. Secondly and in my opinion, more important – casinos will pay a good commission for those people that send users to their websites. Yes, good old fashioned affiliate programs. The difference is with Casinos there are some big payouts.

One tool or website you might like to use is www.topcasinodirectory.com – Although linking to this won’t help you, it does provide a valuable list of all the top casino sites online in particular US online casinos.

The site and online casino directory is in effect a portal of gambling sites, but at least you have a trusted site which lists the reputable online casinos. I don’t know about you – but I don’t like referring people to things which don’t work even if I do make money out of it.

The site is also a very good resource for casino news which may help you. It does review each of the casinos it promotes and in turn this can help guide you to your preferred casino site.

Check it out at www.topcasinodirectory.com

Used Van Stats

Many companies approach me and ask….”Does PPC really work?”…or they might say “I sell van to builders…it wont work for me”. Well to all of you, I say “rubbish!”.

Here’s a great example of a traditional business seeing great times using modern technology. Wheels Van Centres based near Heathrow have been in business 25 years selling used vans. Traditionally they relied on press advertising to create their business.

However we convinced them to trial PPC and they haven’t looked back.

Why has it worked for them?

Their industry has been slow to respond to the success of PPC. Therefore the cost per click is quite low. Less than £0.50 per click. Terms such as ‘used vans‘ has a very high search volume so there is plenty of opportunity for lots of companies to get good traffic (because only those with deep pockets could expose themselves to all of the clicks).

Also the internet allows them to drill down and be incredibly specific in relation to what people are searching for. For example, Wheels can target those people searching just for ‘used transit vans‘ which will take them to information about their used transit stock.  You obviously can’t do this with traditional media.

Remember that with PPC users are highly targetted so you’re not wasting money advertising to people who don’t want to know about it.

Many people ask me to recommend affiliate networks within the UK It’s surprising hard to find UK specific ones so I thought I’d list the top 5 that I would recommend.

Affiliate Networks are the companies which bring together all of the merchants (advertisers) who are willing to pay a commission for sales generated by the affiliates (publishers). The networks take a small fee for bringing the 2 parties together and administering everything.

If you own a website affiliate Networks are good sources of revenue. They will bring together companies willing to pay quite  a lot of money to in effect advertise on your website.

Here are my top 5:

1. Affiliate Window http://www.affiliatewindow.com
I’ve used these guys for years. Possibly not the widest spread of merchants to work with but the quality is very good. The merchants they have seem to work harder to support the affiliates and the result is much better payouts (which at the end of the day is what you are looking for!

2. Affiliate Future http://www.affiliatefuture.co.uk
Started as the underdog but over the last few years Affiliate Future has taken off. Particularly good if you want to promote travel services on your website, or if you’d like to create your own shopping comparison website. 300+ merchants to chose from.

3. Commission Junction http://www.cj.com
Probably the largest network. USA focused although you’ll find there are more and more UK companies now using them. Excellent range of tools to show you your income earning potential, which merchants are generating the most commission for affiliates and which adverts work the best. Use it wisely and earn loads!

4. Tradedoubler http://www.tradedoubler.com
Another large player. Not the widest range of merchants, but definitely some big names on board, companies such as Dell. UK and European focused.

5. ClixGalor http://www.clixgalore.co.uk
The lower end of the market. Entry level service for merchants but a great range of alternative companies to chose from.  You’ll find advertisers you’d never have considered using before. Work checking out.

If you know of other great affiliate networks please let me know as I’d like to expand my list.

I’m not  one for reviewing websites, but I did come across a site which shows some potential. I say shows potential…it’s still got some way to go but I liked the concept!

ToshibaLife is a new site that Toshiba have just launched. I only happened upon it after looking at the Toshiba website having just bought by Dad a new Toshiba laptop.

Why is it good?
My dad definitily isn’t a geek and he’s for ever asking me questions about computers. Not so much the ‘how do I install a driver’ type of question, but questions about using Google, or cleaning or doing things I’ve never thought of.

That’s where Toshiba Life comes in. It’s all about making better use of your laptop. Not the geeky things but the every day life things. Websites to go to, things to do, how to clean it.

Anyway, worth a look if you’ve got parents or friends who are forever asking ….”how do I…?”

URL: www.toshibalife.com

Controversial it may be - a good income source, definitely! Sponsored blogging gives you the ability to earn from posting blogs on your own website. Now don’t get too excited too quickly, you can’t simply just turn on the flood gates.

So what is Sponsored blogging?
The basic concept is very sound. Advertisers want you to talk about their product, service or website. In return for you ‘blogging’ about them, they will pay you an agreed fee. They will expect at least one link back to their website and possibly a few other caveats included.

Why would someone pay for me to blog?
There are a number of very simple reasons a company will be willing to pay you to promote their website / product.

• Creates awareness
• Generates targeted traffic
• Generates relevant links for search engines

How much can I earn?
Most sponsored blog ‘networks’ operate a bidding principle where you bid to write a blog. The advertiser will then either accept or reject your bid depending upon whether or not they feel it is worth it. Typically bids start from $5 and will go up to in excess of $500 per blog! Yes $500 per blog if you’re lucky.

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