VigLink

Future of Publishing: Affiliate Networks, Tracking, and Optimization

April 13, 2012

Thanks to Ad:Tech SF — and having lots of familiar faces in town — we were able to squeeze in a few additional episodes of Future of Publishing this month. Below is one of the “bonus” episodes that touches on affiliate marketing and how networks operate.

Check out the 3 part series below, and then read on to meet the guests!

Part 1: What is Affiliate Marketing and How Can I Make Money?

Part 2: What’s the Relationship Between SEO & Affiliate Marketing?

Part 3: What Lies Ahead for Affiliate Marketing?

Meet the Guests

Bret Grow | President & Co-Founder | LinkTrust Systems

Bret Grow is a co-founder and the president of LinkTrust Systems. Bret’s interest in creating an affiliate management and tracking platform began with his own need when Bret was working to build an ad network with Frank Ouimette in 2002. As their network evolved, the requirements for tracking also changed. In his search for a platform, Bret realized that he and Frank had the understanding and skill set to build their own tracking software that was more robust than any of the options on the market.

LinkTrust is widely recognized by affiliates, networks and merchants as the most reliable, accurate platform with the best customer service. This reputation has been built over time through Bret’s tenacity in creating collaborative relationships with customers and building a team of employees that shares Bret’s vision of going the extra mile to take care of LinkTrust clients.

Gary Warnes | Director of Client Services | Rakuten LinkShare

Gary has several years of experience in account management and team leadership roles at agencies covering retail, technology and entertainment.  At Rakuten LinkShare he currently manages a team of account managers who run some of the largest, most successful affiliate programs in the industry.  He also spent some time working at Yahoo and was the Director of Marketing at Ebates.

Phillip Kidwell | Director, Business Development | eHealth

Phillip Kidwell is Director of Business Development for Mountain View, CA based eHealthInsurance, the leading online source for individual and family health insurance. He built the affiliate program for the company in 2001. Phillip is an active member in the affiliate marketing community and co-founder of the Bay Area Affiliate Managers Coalition (baamc.org). In 2004 he was recognized with the Commission Junction Horizon Award for People / Relationship Building. Phillip has also been mentioned as an expert in his field in publications such as Inc. Magazine and Harper Business Book, “Go It Alone” By Yale Faculty Fellow Bruce Judson. Prior to eHealthInsurance, Kidwell managed a partner marketing campaign between World Championship Wrestling, Capital One Bank and MasterCard. He holds a B.A. in Marketing from the University of Houston.

Posted in Building Communities & Forums, Publisher Best Practices, Re-Inventing Affiliate Marketing

[You're Invited] April SF Blog Club Meetup

April 11, 2012

Next week on Tuesday 4/17 is our April San Francisco Blog Club Meetup!  This month Murray Newlands, professional blogger and owner of Influence People, will be talking about video and YouTube for businesses and bloggers. We touched on video on a broad level in our February meetup, but didn’t have a lot of time to dig deep into the details. Murray will be walking us through:

  • The reasons video can enhance your blog content, and why they can be an important component of your content creation / content marketing strategy
  • Different types of video content
  • How to drive traffic from a video to your site
  • How to optimize videos for YouTube to get additional views and traffic
  • How to get other sites to post your videos
  • How bigger video channels work including Justin.Tv, Mevio.com, and cable TV

As always, there will be free drinks, pizza — and lots of time for networking and sharing tips. Space will be limited, but you can reserve a spot for FREE here.

Welcome | 7:00pm – 7:05pm 

Talk by Murray | 7:05pm – 7:30pm

Drinks & Networking | 7:30pm – 8:30pm 

For those of you that haven’t met Murray, here’s a bit on his background…

Murray Newlands is an author, journalist, speaker and online TV host. He runs an international media agency, Influence People, based in downtown San Francisco, and has a proven track record of consistently delivering desired results to his clients.

You can see some of his videos here, here, and here.

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Posted in News and Updates

VigLink Dashboard Gets Supercharged

April 6, 2012

VigLink rolls out a couple different kinds of updates. Some are entirely new features, others are targeted improvements to the core product. This past week our development team rolled out an update in the latter category that includes a set of cool updates to the dashboard and our outbound analytics package.

Next time you login to your VigLink account be on the lookout for these newest features.

Why Go Slow, When you Can Go Fast

VigLink is growing quickly (exciting!), but as we’ve added publishers to the network (read: lots more clicks and pageviews) it’s been important that the product scales with them. To that end, we’ve migrated dashboard data from mySQL to Cassandra.  The change allows us to handle billions of page views and hundreds of millions of clicks on a weekly basis with ease, accommodating even our largest publishers.

What it means for you: when you log in next you’ll notice quicker load times all around!

Affiliation Status on Out-Clicks

In the “Out-Clicks” section of the weekly dashboard we’ve added two new sections that indicate the affiliation “status” of outbound traffic to a particular domain, and outbound traffic overall.  Where you’ll notice it: a new column for affiliation “status” in the Destination Sites by Outbound Traffic table and a new section on Clicks by Affiliation Status next to the Most Clicked Links table (screenshots of both below).

Together, these two areas will make it easier to understand if traffic to a particular domain is being monetized, and as a whole, what percentage of your outbound traffic VigLink monetizes.

A quick guide to the three Status options you’ll see:

  1. A green semi-circle: This icon means links to that site were affiliated by VigLink.
  2. A green circle: This icon means that some links to this site were already affiliated; the rest were affiliated by VigLink.
  3. An empty circle: This icon means links to the site couldn’t be monetized.

Screenshot of the Destination Sites by Outbound Traffic table, found in the Out-Clicks section of the weekly dashboard. New Status column highlighted.

Screenshot of the Clicks by Affiliation Status summary table, found next to the Most Clicked links table in the Out-Clicks section of the weekly dashboard.  Highlighted portion new.

Origin Sites by Outbound Traffic

Last but not least we’ve also introduced a new table in the Out-Clicks section of the weekly dashboard that details which domains are seeing the most views and outclicks – particularly interesting if you are using the same API key on multiple sites.

Questions? We’d love to hear from you.

Posted in Feature Announcements

Ad:Tech, Cocktails, The Affiliate Marketing Awards, Oh My!

April 5, 2012

It’s been a busy week in San Francisco! With Ad:Tech winding down, I thought I’d share a few highlights from our Ad:Tech cocktail hour Tuesday evening this week. Thank you to all who made it out — and of course a big thanks to Murray Newlands for allowing us to be a part of The Affiliate Marketing Awards that immediately followed — we’re all looking forward to next year!

Anna Cunningham | Social Media Manager | VigLink


photos courtesy ZatPhoto

Posted in News and Updates

April Spotlight on the Merchants: Spring has Sprung

April 2, 2012

Each month, we take a look at a few of our favorite VigLink merchants as part of our Spotlight on the Merchants series. In our April edition, we share a few of our favorite merchants for sprucing up your garden and home for spring, as well as the best suppliers for outdoor gear for hiking, camping, and biking as the weather warms. 

Each of these merchants is an eligible VigLink merchant, which means if you are a VigLink user and send traffic to any of these sites that results in a sale, you’ll get paid!  When you are creating content centered around themes like home & garden, outdoor gear, and basketball season, consider linking to these merchants when you reference products and services.

Garden.com

Garden.com “celebrates outdoor living” — and helps your readers get their yards, patios, and other outdoor living areas ready for summer barbecues, new gardens and warm spring nights.

HomeDepot.com

HomeDepot.com features great deals on patio furniture and other outdoor gear, but also everything your readers need to spruce up the house for springtime — building materials, flooring, lighting, paint and more. Help your readers get their homes ready for spring with HomeDepot.

Moosejaw.com

Moosejaw.com carries high-quality outdoor wear from brands like The North Face, Patagonia, Marmot and Black Diamond — all at great prices. If your site discusses clothing in some capacity, this site will be a great resource to link to.

BackCountry.com

BackCountry.com is a one-stop-shop for both men’s and women’s outdoor gear — and many of the products can be found at outlet prices here.  The site is another great resource to link to when building spring-themed content centered around outdoor gear.

SportsMemorabilia.com

Basketball season will be in full swing all through April — help your readers stock up on their favorite NBA teams’ jerseys and other gear at SportsMemorabilia.com.

Golfsmith.com

April not only features several major PGA tournaments, it’s also the time of the year that many casual golfers hit the green again. If your readers will be tuning into the tournament, or taking their clubs out during April, consider leveraging Golfsmith.com as a resource for golf apparel, accessories, and gear.  The online store features, clubs, shoes, balls, bags and more.

Posted in Merchant Spotlight

VigLink Wins Harvard Business School’s 2012 Growth Startup Award

March 29, 2012

I had the pleasure of attending Harvard Business School’s annual Northern California Entrepreneurs Event this past Tuesday.  It was a fun opportunity to catch up with old colleagues and hear from some of the latest alumni that have gone on to found new ventures in the Bay Area.

But the highlight of the evening was being named 2012 Growth Startup Business by the event’s panel of judges.  It was a proud moment — and one that even came with a cool trophy (couldn’t resist including a picture below)!

A big thank you to all that have contributed to our growth this year and last! Very excited for what is ahead.

Oliver Roup | CEO & Founder | VigLink

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Posted in Company Milestones, News and Updates

How Do You Increase your Personal Value Online? [Blog Club Recap]

March 21, 2012

At this month’s San Francisco Blog Club we heard from Vincent Ha, CEO & Co-Founder of Gushcloud, on how to increase your personal brand online and where the future of blogging is heading.

While many of the data points and examples he walked the group through were centered around Asia (where his company’s focus was the bulk of last year), the take-aways apply internationally:

  1. Bloggers and other online publishers can drive real value online (popular personalities online can garner hundreds of “likes,” “shares,” and clicks — all in a matter of minutes after posting.
  2. But, it’s important that you crystallize what that value is (Vincent suggested gathering data on your site or other online profiles to package for potential sponsors/advertisers: think page views, followers, likes, etc.)
  3. And of course, capitalize on their value (Gushcloud is one way, but there are an abundance of online monetization options out there that can help you leverage your brand).

For the full story, as well as a few of Vincent’s insights on where he sees the blogging space moving in the coming years, check out his slides below.

And as always, thanks to those that could make it — I’m looking forward to next time!

Anna Cunningham | Social Media Manager | VigLink

View more presentations from VigLink

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Posted in Publisher Best Practices, Relevant Reading

VigLink is Hiring! Join Us.

March 20, 2012

VigLink is hiring! We’re looking for energetic, enthusiastic entry-level sales professionals for our role of Publisher Account Manager in San Francisco. Industry experience in online advertising sales a plus, but not required. Generally someone who is web savvy, loves surfing internet blogs and message boards, with prior inside sales experience would make a good candidate.  Check out the full description below, and then let us know if you or a friend fits the profile by visiting our website or emailing jerri@viglink.com!

(And be sure to check out our full list of open positions here)

Publisher Account Manager Responsibilities

  • Recruit online publishers clients to use VigLink’s industry-leading link monetization platform
  • Develop assigned prospects and develop new prospects so that sales pipeline is consistently at or above target
  • Cultivate positive business relationships with publisher personnel
  • Bring passion for internet, web publishing and any specialist assignment to all discussions with publishers
  • Understand publisher’s business, website(s) and monetization objectives completely
  • Bring publisher from initial contact through to solution implementation
  • Follow-up on all opportunities in a timely, professional and cordial fashion
  • Work collaboratively with internal marketing and customer satisfaction teams to ensure the publisher experience is exemplar.
  • Use sales management tools fastidiously to document account planning and progress

You will be like a new member of the publisher’s team – helping the publisher assess and implement VigLink’s best-in-class site monetization solutions.

Qualifications

  • 1-4 years of work experience in inside sales and/or online advertising
  • Experience in quota-carrying inside sales position required
  • Demonstrated ability in customer-facing sales or business development role
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills – takes pride in quality of email communication
  • Thorough understanding of online advertising world
  • Experience in developing online publisher relationships highly preferred
  • Preferably maintains own blog or website
  • Dedicated to partner success and maintaining very positive relations
  • Energetic, motivated and determined team contributor
  • Enjoys their work environment and brings a real passion to the job

 

Posted in News and Updates

Tune in 3/27: Future of Publishing Talks Commenting Platforms & Communities

March 20, 2012

On March 27th we’ll be chatting with some of the biggest names in the commenting platforms and communities space as part of our latest episode of Future of Publishing. We’ll be covering everything from whether peer feedback is a positive or negative to how to avoid flame wars within a commenting community and how to monetize those communities as well.

Meet our panelists below, and then be sure to tune in here at 12pm pacific time on Tuesday March 27th to catch the broadcast.

Meet the Panelists

Daniel Ha | CEO & Founder | Disqus

Daniel Ha is the CEO and cofounder of Disqus. Daniel studied computer science engineering at UC Davis and interned at big companies before deciding to drop out of school to pursue the startup world. Disqus is the web’s discussion network, reaching over 700 million unique visitors every month and spanning nearly any topic or type of community imaginable. Disqus is funded by Y Combinator, Union Square Ventures, North Bridge Venture Partners, as well as many great angel investors.

Dan Gill | CEO & Founder | Huddler

Huddler is the next step in the evolution of online forums. As CEO, Dan and his team seek out and partner with the most knowledgeable and passionate forums online providing conversion to the Huddler Platform, as well as collaboration with seasoned monetization, marketing, community management, development, and other resources to facilitate site growth. Dan is a graduate of Stanford University where he was a 9 time All-American gymnast and international competitor for the United States National Team.

Jordan Kretchmer | CEO & Founder | Livefyre

Jordan is the Founder and CEO of Livefyre, the 50th largest site network on the web. Livefyre powers real-time communities across the web by replacing outdated static comment sections with live streams of conversation from the social web. In addition to working with tens of thousands of blogs, Livefyre works with some of the largest publishers in the world, including The New York Times, FOX Entertainment, National Geographic, and MTV. Prior to Livefyre, Jordan was the VP of Brand and Product at Current TV, and he ran digital product at two top 20 ad agencies.

Posted in News and Updates

Publisher Spotlight: PCMech

March 20, 2012

About PCMech

PCMech was founded in the late 1990’s with a singular goal: to make technology understandable to the every-day user.  Its owner, technology enthusiast and professional blogger David Risley, launched the site initially as more of a hobby than anything else. “I enjoyed writing and creating the content,” said David. “But, slowly the site grew and I built out a larger team of writers to manage it.”

Today, the site’s blog and forum receive a combined 300,000 unique visitors and 479,000 page views each month. The site’s forum boasts nearly 55,000 members.

The Challenge: What Else is There?

David tested a multitude of monetization options before settling on a combo of direct advertising deals, AdSense, select affiliate relationships, and paid membership (which provides access to additional content, advanced forum privileges and premium newsletters).

But, like many publishers, he continued to wonder what else he could be doing to maximize the value of his content and community.

The Solution: Content Monetization

In May of 2010 David heard about VigLink and decided to test it. He added VigLink to his site and immediately began to see results.  By the end of the year the site was earning several hundred dollars each month via VigLink.

“What is great about VigLink is two-fold: 1) the solution doesn’t require any time on my team’s side to work as it should, and 2) it opens up opportunities for us to optimize our content and earn even more,” said David. “For a site that is all about making technology easy-to-use and understand, it’s been an ideal approach to monetizing content. VigLink does the heavy lifting and we get to focus on content and audience.”

VigLink gets PCMech paid for clicks from it’s content by automatically affiliating links to eligible online merchants on the site.

“Before VigLink, we had to make a special point of adding affiliate links to the site, so it just didn’t happen on a regular basis,” said David.  “Now, it’s not even something we have to think about. We focus on creating content that attracts readers that are in a buyer’s mindset and VigLink does the rest. It’s opened up a lot of possibilities for the site, in addition to a new revenue stream.”

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Posted in Publisher Spotlight, Re-Inventing Affiliate Marketing

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