Screen Glare

When Did People Stop Digging Stories?

I have noticed an inverse relationship over the last two years that I have been using blogs on my affiliate sites. As time has gone I (and those that write for me) have consistently gotten better at writing excellent posts and headlines Brian Clark would be proud of, but have seen less and less of our posts get “digged.”

Now, this is not a “why isn’t anyone Digging my stories?” post. After all, getting Digged does not do much for generating affiliate sales, and while getting your site exposed to thousands of new potential users in a short amount of time is great, it is not something I bank my affiliate revenues on. This is a post that comments on the changing nature of the digg community, getting Dugg, and how affiliates might want to look elsewhere for short term traffic boosts.

Dig is Reducing the Influence of Top Diggers

Digg has recently given less exposure to the top diggers, by removing their top users list from the home page, and also the number of stories promoted to the front page that was visible next to a users name, digg has made it clear that they are looking to control the social media popularity contest that is digging anything and everything, just to be one of their top users. But will this move truly effect the habits of Digg’s top users or will they simply continue on?

Getting Dugg is Becoming Harder - Here’s Why

In giving less exposure to the top digg users, top digg users will change their habits. After all why would anyone want to be a top digg user if it wasn’t for the recognition that comes with being a top digg user? Therefore, with little reason to digg every story they can find, many publishers will (like me) gradually see less and less of their stories getting dugg. Why? Because with a de-emphasis on being a top digg user, there will be a shift in the total amount “diggs” to towards those sites that are larger, more popular, and have a larger readership. This will occur because posts will no longer get dugg just because a digg users wants to be a top user.

In giving less exposure to top digg users, they have made it difficult for smaller publishers to have their stories dugg and given larger publishers an advantage due to their size and popularity. Not that these larger publishers have bad content, but the true power of digg was the little guy could compete with the big, and with less motivation given to users to go out and find content on the far reaches of the Internet, that power is lessoning.

How Can An Affiliate or Blogger Combat The Changing Nature of Digg?

There is no way to directly stop the changing nature of digg. The best one can hope for is the occassional spike from getting a story dugg. As I said before no one should bank their business on the traffic they can/could receive from digg. Affiliates and Bloggers alike should get back to the basics of build traffic and readership; quality content, building a peer network, linking to other sites in their niche, on-page search engine optimization, and whatever little hints, tips, and tricks that you pick-up along the way.

What is AGLOCO?

For those of you who have been living under a rock and do not know what AGLOCO is, AGLOCO is the new company from the folks behind AllAdvantage.com. The purpose behind ALGOCO is to build an economic network that enables individuals on the Web to share in the profits that their data and their actions help create. AGLOCO is more than a Web site and it is more than a Viewbar company. It is a network that links people, their information and their friends together to form something bigger.

Originally I was skeptical, but back in college I made a great deal of money gaming systems like AllAdvantage.com through the use of dynamic page loading scripts that basically turned one of my computers into a 24/7 random web page viewing machine. So, I decided to join-up!

Myspace Was Built to Market AGLOCO

The best way for an affiliate to start making money from AGLOCO is to refer friends, family members, and colleagues to sign-up for AGLOCO, and have them sign-up their friends, family members, and colleagues. Some would consider this to be nothing more then another Viewbar MLM scheme, but it’s not. Heck these guy’s even got on Robert Scoble’s PodTech. Now I REALLY wanted to get in this action and I knew just the place to find all of my friends, family members, and colleagues; Myspace!

The great thing about Myspace, in addition to having all of my immediate revenue generators, is the fact that the heavy Myspace users are easy to market too with “get rich schemes.” I mean what 17 year old can resist making easy money through a simple sign-up and download?

How to Promote AGLOCO Through Myspace

Well the first thing you need to do is go to ALGOCO and sign-up. Once you have signed-up, you will receive a confirmation email that requires you to click through to activate your account. Now that you have set-up your account, you will be given an reference code that can be used for on and offline promotion of AGLOCO.

Now the easiest thing you can do is go to your Myspace profile and edit your profile to include a quick pitch about AGLOCO. Here is a simple example of some text you can use:

• Get Paid To Search The Web Just Like I Do, Sign-up For AGLOCO Today!

You could always get more creative, but honestly, why do that when the real ways to drive traffic are through bulletins, comments, and of course MAP’s (Myspace Affiliate Profiles).

Promoting AGLOCO Through Myspace Bulletins

This is method requires the least amount of work, but is also less effect then the other direct, more aggressive methods. Essentially, all you do is log-in to you existing Myspace account, click “Post Bulletin” and enter text similar to this:

Get Paid to Search the Web Just Like I Do

Hey everyone, no this is not some automated MYSPACE spam. It is really me, insert name, writing this.

Recently a friend of mine told me about the return of a program that I used in college to make some decent cash for doing something I day everyday - surf the web.

AGLOCO is building a new form of online community that they call an Economic Network. They are not only paying Members their fair share, but they’re building a community that will generate the kind of fortune that YouTube made. But instead of that wealth making only a few people rich, the entire community will get its share.

What’s the catch? No catch - no spyware, no pop-ups and no spam - membership and software are free and AGLOCO is 100% member owned. Privacy is a core value and AGLOCO never sells or rents member information.

I have been using it for over a week now and I am already making money from it. What’s better is that you can also make money from getting others to participate in the program.

I would not be writing this if I did not think it was a great idea, so do yourself a favor and sign-up for ALCO today!

Thanks,

insert name

Hit submit, and watch the sign-up’s pour in.

Promoting AGLOCO Through Myspace Comments

This is an excellent way to directly market the program to your friends who ignore bulletins, and to expose the program to individuals who are not in your direct network. Now, there are a number of scripts that can automate this for you, but that is beyond the scope of this post, so let’s just say you have to do this manually. Again, log-in to your Myspace account, go to your friends section and begin posting comments on all of your friends pages. Due to the nature of Myspace, I suggest using an linked image and a brief one line message.

Here is an example:

• Get Paid to Search The Web Just Like I Do!

This is very time consuming, but hey, nothing worth getting is ever easy…

Promoting AGLOCO Through Fake Myspace Profiles

This is my favorite. This is also pretty easy, and honestly, if done right, like any other Myspace Affiliate Profile, takes on a life of it’s own. The basis of all of my MAP’s is a lovely young lady. I usually make them appear to be a little more professional and sophisticated, so they are seem capable of pulling of a pitch of a product, service, or promotion. Once i have the images (use Google images) and content build I put the final touches on the site. Now that the site is live, I go and find guys, any guys, and start adding them as friends. I do this everyday, for a couple of weeks (not all day). After that, you will start to see more and more requests to add your profile as a friend….the true “viral” effect.

Sign-up and Start Marketing!

Now that I have given you the business plans to make a ton of cash, all I ask is that you use my refferal code BBBT3500 or this use this Sign-up Link to get started with AGLOCO. That’s not too much to ask is it?

Does Your Affiliate Program Have a Blog?

It better.

Blogs were built to be personal. Blogs were built to be social. People being social is what we call networking. Networking builds contacts. Contacts build business. So in a nutshell, Blogs are the online equivalent of a networking receiption for potential business partners. If your affiliate program does not have a blog, you are missing out on one of the easiest and most cost effective ways to build your affiliate program.

How To Build Your Affiliate Program Through a Blog

Building your affiliate program through a blog is really quite easy, here are some tips to get you started.

• Do Not “Hype” Your Program - There is a time and a place for everything. Your affiliate program blog is not the time or place to hype your program. The top notch affiliates, the ones you who are the true revenue generators, will see through this and move on. Save the hype…spend your time promoting your blog, not your program.
• Show How to Best Promote Your Program - It’s your program, so you should be the expert on how best promote the program as an affiliate. Show potential affiliates specific examples of how they can promote your program through their site.
• Give Affiliate Best Practices - It’s not enough to just show people how to use your affiliate program, give them the knowledge of how to become a better affiliate for any program. You will not only attract more affiliates writing about best practices, you will also be branding you and your program as an expert in affiliate marketing. Being a respected authority will build trust with perspective affiliates.
• Leverage Third Party Content - Do not be afraid to link to, discuss, or build upon content that is not your own, even if it is from a competitor. You can’t be expected to know everything and come up with every new idea, but part of having the best affiliate program and being the best affiliate manager possible is educating your affiliates on the lastest in affiliate marketing. Leverage other’s content to improve the performnce of your affiliate base.
• Bait Potential Affiliates - I have said it before that linking is the best way to get someone’s attention online. Want to land some large affiliate marketers? Start linking to and discussing what they are talking about. They might not notice the first time, but eventually they will.
• Avoid Reporting on Industry News - That is what Google News and dozens of other sites are for. Don’t waste your time. Write some more affiliate best practices.
• Be Creative, Original, Open, and Honest- This is the toughest one, but the most important one. I like to think that being open and honest will lead to being original. Original companies, people, and blogs are almost aways creative. Start with being open and honest, the rest will follow.

Are You Building an Affiliate Program Through A Blog?

If so, add your thoughts, ideas, experiences in the comments section about what has worked best for you in building your affiliate program through your affiliate program blog!