I was perusing Forbes.com and found and oldie but a goodie (speaking of articles that is).  If you’re older than 18 an reading this, you know that the little tikes out there are rapidly increasing their tech savvy even as I write this.  Look what happened to blogs! 

The article I found though discussed the decline of email (eek…that might mean people will work MORE!)  But seriously, reporter Lisa DiCarlo noted that even in 2005, only 5% of 12-17 year olds preferred email over text and instant messaging. 

What does this mean in terms of marketing purposes?  Cell phones with internet access provide access to marketing channels, however not to the same extent as email.  By 2009 it’s predicted over 270 billion emails will be transmitted.  It’s the youngster though that will drive the tech market in the next decade plus.  What they use to communicate will drive the way corporations and businesses communicate as well (and also what products they buy.)  Again, this article is a bit dated(http://www.forbes.com/technology/2005/07/29/teens-email-habits-cx_ld_0729digilife.html), almost a billion IM accounts are contributing to fresh ideas.

It’s a self-described ’affiliate marketing recipe book’.  More Rachael Ray than Julia Child though.  And that’s a good thing (young, fresh, current, and making a decent paycheck.)

The title?  High Performance Affiliate Marketing is an e-book that divulges what it takes to make a million plus in commissions every year. 

The site?  www.quityourdayjob.com/ebook.  It includes niche market strategies, secrets to achieving the highest search engine rankings, money saving tips and more. 

While there are hundreds of ebooks out there, the author of Quit Your Day Job received above average reviews, including the following AffiliateMarketingNews.com write up at: http://affiliatemarketingnews.net/2006/10/ .  The author praised the book’s ability to reveal NEW information (a rare concept in many ebooks) including ways to amp up your Google AdWords campaign.  The articles continues to sing the Palmer’s praises, claiming customers who read even half the book will reap profits in no time.

There’s always the chance you pick this book up (oh wait…it’s an ebook)  In the event you download this book and read it on your computer and find you’ve already been there and done that…you can get a full refund.  Worth a try?

It’s not too early to find a New Year’s Eve date!  It seems every Dr. (even Dr. Phil) these days has an internet dating site - on the surface designed to link like minded folks.  And for those who aren’t necessarily looking to these sites for romance and love -they can be viewed as an equally attractive cash cow.

So how do you know what dating sites are right for affiliate marketing?  Check out http://www.datingsitesreviews.com/staticpages/index.php?page=0MakeMoney.  This site lists the number of memebers, sign up costs and payouts.  Plus you’ll find reviews of every single dating site out there (didn’t know there were so many but at last count I found 66.)  If you’re just starting out in affiliate marketing and in search of a niche…the site reports FriendFinder.com pays its affiliates a million bucks a month!  In love yet? 

You may be waiting in line right now for the new Sony PSP.  Or so over sleeping on concrete for the past four nights waiting for a wristband that will allow you to come back two days later and wait in line again. 

Admittedly, I am not the first person anyone should ask about Sony PSP or the new Nintendo X-box .  Last I heard they’re all sold out anyway and gamers will have to wait till 07′. 

Bad news for those still waiting in line, but there is some good news about Sony and affiliate marketing opportunities.  A case study on Cj.com reported Sony increased affiliate sales by 39 percent once they switched to Commission Junction.  

According to the case study, online consumer electronic sales will surpass six billion by 2009.  One reason for the move to CJ - an expanded global market, top of the line partners, both which lead to Sony’s immediate increase in affiliate sales. 
Sony continues to increase the amount of publishers used - without any standing in line  

According to Ben Flux’s blog at www.revenews.com, Amazon has plans to introduce a new PPC program from Amazon and ClickRiver Ads.  I’m sure there are a couple of questions floating around out there.

 Number one…how does this work? Amazon has its A9 subsidiary (ClickrRiver) imitate a traditional auction oriented pay per click program.  Ultimately businesses will be able to puchase sponsored links that will appear on Amazon.com and on the same page featuring search results. 

The aim?  Using the A9 subsidiary basically allows Amazon to be choosy - meaning the ads that appear on Amazon will compliment the site’s own content.  It also gives control to beta users, who can now create and trail sponsored links all on Amazon.com. 

This is nothing new for major search engines like Google - but Amazon’s new process may influence other major online retailers to follow suit. 

Name a place that doesn’t have a Starbucks.  Ok, outerspace - but give it a couple of years.  By now, you may have heard of Starb’s online coupon fiasco that occurred a few months ago.  Starbucks had offered online coupons for a free grande coffee to employees and their family and friends.  Well like any good internet buzz story (think of the band Ok Go’s You-Tube video) news of free coffee turned into the shot of espresso heard around the world.  Coupons were flying around like confetti on a New Year’s Eve in Time’s Square.  As of September this year, one customer had even filed a 114$ million dollar lawsuit alledging Starbucks commited fraud. 

 Starbucks troubles spurred discussion regarding the use of online coupons.  Affiliate marketers use online coupons for everything, and are intregal to promotional campaigns.  Major search engines like Yahoo and Google use web coupons as well.  If Starbucks is any indication of future online coupon trends - they’re here to stay. 

Their strategy?   Half a million cheer passes.  Cheer passes are little cards with unique numbers that can be traced online at www.itsredagain.com.  The prize?  A warm and fuzzy feeling generated by tracking the connections of cheer passes on the site.  In addition to cheer passes, Starbucks is also randomly giving away free subway passes in New York, free cab rides in San Francisco.  We’ll have to wait and see about the free joe. 

There’s no questioning…the holiday’s are among us.  Storefronts are lit, reindeer stroll into yards, and claymation movies are on the T-Vo schedule. 

 And who better to divvy out the goods than affiliate marketers and merchants?  5 Start News Online reports a number of AMers offering holiday cash contests and prizes.  Check out http://www.5staraffiliateprograms.com/news-nov-5-star-affiliates.html for ideas and chances to win.  Whether it’s a bonus, sales contest, advice on increased commissions, or even an island vacation - holiday offers are a prime opportunity to make a little extra dough (and I’m not talking pie crust).  Or a chance to win a cool prize!

The holiday surge is felt in almost every industry.  Even if you’re not selling products that will eventually be wrapped up and thrown under the tree, it’s worth it to find out how your company can participate in this whirlwind time of year. 

Don’t hate the game!  Affiliate marketers doing business in the gaming industry (online gambling sites) are going to be affected by recent legislation that outlaws web gambling transactions (according to Kate Kaye’s online article at http://www.amwso.com/newsmain.php). 

Congress banned all US related web gambling transactions, leaving affiliate marketers with talents in the gaming industry to European markets, or entirely new online arenas. 

Surprisingly the focus is not on reversing Congress’ decision, but the impact all the transplanted affiliate marketers will have on other arguably crowded niches. 

Affiliate marketing guru Shawn Collins noted gambling affiliates may “go for markets similar in scope to what they’re doing.”  Collins was referring to financial markets including mortgages and insurance.

Competition is nothing new though, and innovative and aggressive affiliate marketers will continue to thrive.   

Yet another nod to companies that specialize in internet advertising.  Spot Runner Inc. secured $40 million from investors including CBS corp. in addition to WPP and Interpublic group - two of the world’s largest  advertising holding companies according to Richard Verrier of the Los Angeles Times.

Spot Runner was founded only ten years ago, by entrepreneur’s with enough foresight to predict the move towards internet advertising.  Their secret to success?  Basic economic principles - sell the product for less than competitors.  And internet advertisers can do this ten fold.  An ad on Spot Runner typically sells for less than $500 compared to the tens of thousands it costs for most commercial ad campaigns.  The payoff?  $40 million in the bank.