Internet Marketing Tycoon

**andrewteman** · 08-11-2005, 12:32 PM

Just curious how the average webmaster is going about monetizing his or her traffic these days? With paid search, turnkey affiliate programs, tell-a-friend, co-registration, email and everything else under the sun, what works best and why? What stinks and why?

In the interest of full disclosure, I work for Intermix Media and among other things, we develop tools and affiliate programs that help webmasters monetize their traffic. Beyond working there, I am a publisher/webmaster myself, and I have some personal interest AND business interest in this area.

I really want to talk to some webmasters and get some ideas and see what people use and why so that I can bring this info back to my team, and we can hopefully develop some cool products around what webmasters really want and need.

Feedback and info is appreciated!

**Harvey** · 08-11-2005, 02:41 PM

Hi Andrew,

On smaller sites, I use cost per click programs, or if I'm trying to reach a really large number of people (or creating a network of sites) I use CPM - i.e. popuptraffic.com.

I havn't had much success with CPA schemes, but my favourite is tradedoubler as it's easy to use and provides good tracking and customer support.

I havn't yet tried email (i.e. opt-in email marketing), and like many webmasters am quite shy to do so, due to legal risks and bad press, and all the other demons associated with spamming.

Hope that helps.

By the way, you might want to make your signature a line shorter

**andrewteman** · 08-11-2005, 03:02 PM

Harvey,

Thanks for the reply. I am actually familiar with Tradedoubler a bit. They are (for lack of a better comparison), kind of like a UK version of Commission Junction from what I understand. On a personal level, I have always had a hard time making any money from CPA offers via banners and the like. Unless you have A LOT of traffic and very targeted offers, it is hard to make them work. The %'s are just working against you.

As far as email goes, I hear ya. It has become a very tough space to make money in, but there are some companies out there that can still make it work. It can be tough and costly to do though, and as a result, many smaller guys just don't bother.

I am just really trying to brainstorm a bit, and see what webmasters are after. With a lot of the products we put out there, we *try* and offer things that create value for the users as well as make them money. I want to try and continue that trend with our upcoming products and offer something beyond just some banner code and a crappy payout.

Thanks again for the input.

**manatee123** · 08-12-2005, 09:26 AM

There are some reputable providers of permission-based email marketing services out there. We are talking about double opt in, not spam. You can have an e-newsletter which has articles and so on of interest to your visitors. You can have a sign-up form right on your website.

See http://www.streamsend.com

**Harvey** · 08-12-2005, 09:36 AM

Thanks, manatee.

Look's interesting, but I was referring to purchasing "opt-in" lists, and sending out related emails and the problems associated with that.

**manatee123** · 08-12-2005, 09:41 AM

ah, don't do it! That is bad news.

I thought you wanted to build your own opt in list...

**manatee123** · 08-12-2005, 09:44 AM

Which begs the question, why not build your own opt in list? Sure, it will take some time but it could really pay off for you. You describe a lot of traffic you are getting. Presumably those people are coming to your site because you have something that people want, so a list would be a great way to promote your site, special features, etc. The information comes to them.

I personally subscribe to an email at a bookstore because I enjoy books and want to learn about the latest books, receive special offers (up to a 25% off coupon), and other useful and interesting content.

**manatee123** · 08-12-2005, 09:47 AM

And one more thing, some email e-newsletters that actually have advertisements within their opt in emails as well. That can be quite lucrative because the audience is very targeted.

**andrewteman** · 08-12-2005, 02:12 PM

Never heard of StreamSend, looks neat. Are they kind of like a Topica or Constant Contact? As in, a list manager and mailing tool?

As far as email stuff, it is definitely a mine-field out there. I have spent a lot of time in the data/media buying world, and there are some sketchy characters out there. You CAN however, build a solid opt-in list using co-registration placement on other sites - IE, putting a checkbox ad on other sites that collect user information. Not to state the obvious, but you always want to do your homework on whomever you are buying from and get a real solid understanding on how the data is being collected. In addition, it is always important to have your privacy policies in check, and to avoid doing data buys or purchasing bulk data where someone is just selling you general signup data that was collected god knows how.

If you are careful, and remain on the up and up, there is still a lot of money to be made from email, and building/managing email list(s).

**manatee123** · 08-12-2005, 02:42 PM

Yeah, but StreamSend has pretty good prices for what you get. I recommend taking a look and maybe doing a free trial to see if fits your needs.