1. GoTo raises the bar
2. The unfortunate reality of being an affiliate
3. Affiliate Network alternative
4. REALLY cheap domain names!
5. Pass me around!
6. Subscribe/Unsubscribe information

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PopUpSponsor pays you to display pop up ads either when
a visitor first enters your website or when the visitors
leaves. A 10% webmaster referral program is also available.

Click on the link below to join.

http://www.popupsponsor.com/tracker/ref.phtml?ref_id=58&s=1

GoTo announced some changes this week that have many advertisers looking elsewhere to spend their money.

They are setting a minimum monthly amount and raising the minimum bid amount for every search term.

You must now spend at least $20 a month with GoTo, and if your click thrus don't amount to that much you still have to pay the $20.

But that probably won't be a hard number to reach as they have increased the bid from 1 cent to 5 cents. All those marginal search terms that you have been paying a penny for now become quite expensive at 5 times the amount!

Personally, I haven't used GoTo in awhile due to a bad experience with them. I went to their competitors, a few of them I mentioned in this article:

http://affiliatematch.com/free_reports/search_engines.htm

I've seen several debates as to GoTo's future due to this change, and have seen good arguments for each side.

It will force many to drop a ton of keywords, but most serious Internet marketers spend much more than $20 a month anyway, so that part shouldn't hurt much.

The FREE NextCard Affiliate Program is an easy way to
earn money! Earn AT LEAST a $25 referral commission
for each new NextCard Visa account when you become a
NextCard Affiliate.

Pay yourself $25 right now by opening a NextCard account
through your own new Affiliate link:

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If you are a BabyCenter affiliate, or have been a victim of company closings, bankruptcies, discontinued or scaled back affiliate programs, I'm sure you know where this is headed.

BabyCenter announced that their affiliate program and all payments are caught up in the eToys bankruptcy proceedings.

Basically they're telling you to forget any chance of getting paid any commissions that they owe you.

I've had a couple of these happen to me over the past 6 months or so, and it isn't much fun.

Unfortunately for us this is the reality that we face as affiliates of other companies. If they shut down, or need to cut back, our commissions many times go up on the chopping block.

I've already had about a dozen programs either lower their payout rate, or completely discontinue their program all together, that I've been promoting on my FindSticky site.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but chances are it will only get worse before it gets better. With decreased advertising budgets, a slowing economy, failing dot-coms, this is going to happen.

Just a few random thoughts on how you can protect your business from going under because of these companies stiffing you:

Diversify
Don't depend totally on one or two companies for your website income. Pick several products and services to sell and promote to your visitors. This way if you lose one, you still have the others to fall back on.

Get picky
Get pickier when deciding to join and promote a program. Obviously you can't just look for larger companies, but look for those that have the following in their affiliate agreement:

Low payment check amount - The higher the amount before they pay you your commissions is just that much more you risk losing. Lower check amounts means they are writing you checks more often which can lessen your losses.

Frequent payments - Quarterly payments can really be big amounts if you are doing well with a program. Look for those that pay monthly or more frequently, or even ask if they will make special arrangements with you to pay you more often.

Act quickly
The minute that you suspect there might be a problem with a company you are doing business with, stop sending them traffic right away. The warning signs appear to be similar with many of the failing companies, and the longer you wait to pull your links the more you risk losing.

Create your own product
When you own the product that you are promoting and selling you have far more control of your destiny. When a company pulls their product out from under you, you have to scramble to find something else to take up the slack. When you own the product, you don't have to worry about this happening to you.

If you want to create an information product, you REALLY need to get a copy of "Make Your Knowledge Sell!" from http://www.affiliatematch.com/myks

There is no guaranteed protection, but hopefully this list will give you a chance to lessen your losses.

Looking for an alternative to Linkshare, BeFree, or Commission Junction?

There is a great new company that is just getting started called QuinStreet that is already making headlines for its high-quality merchants and excellent customer service.

They are paying up to 25% on sales, and offering generous payment for leads. You have the opportunity to double your commissions through performance bonuses, and when you refer other webmasters, you earn up to 33% of their commissions!

They currently have about 22 great merchants, and have plans to add more in the near future.

This one is a new comer and is moving fast, and I definitely feel you should pay them a visit and see how they can help you make more money!

http://www.affiliatematch.com/quin

I found another place today that has awesome prices on domain name registration.

I haven't tried them yet, but it looks like a decent service:

http://www.godaddy.com/

If you enjoyed this issue please forward it to a friend or co-worker.

I'm working to make AffiliateMatch.com one of the best affiliate program resources on the Net. If you know of any quality programs that should be listed, please let me know!

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