The Syndicated Affiliate #3

[2HousePlague]

Part 3: The principles of Advantage for Affiliates using Blogs and RSS

Because I am now an affiliate to many programs, myself, and because I have seen hardworking affiliates get the short end of the stick too many times, it is with great pleasure that I can declare: TRAFFIC IS KING. It's all about YOU -

I have already written enough about why that is (but, here in nutshell...):

1. The gap between affiliates and consumers is getting very narrow on the Web. Online, buying a widget from ABC Corp. and selling ABC Corp. widgets on your site both reduce down to approval -- a VOTE of approval, as I've been insisting we think of it.

The idea of "voting" -- for someone or for something -- is appropriate here, because it suggests the decision is complex, reflecting ideological, politcal, and cultural as well as economic factors.

The importance of blogs is that they are the vehicles of Individual Power on the Web, collectively making a framework that has given the previously anonymous and powerless masses ENORMOUS POWER TO DO ANYTHING. They're not likely to give it back, especially since some of the most powerful corporate and ideological influencers on earth are behind it. More about that imminent scenario.

What this means for affiliates is you have the power to demand pretty much whatever you want from a sponsor program. Bloggers who get lots of other bloggers to agree on the same thing will move mountains. The desire to blog is bringing people to the Web from all walks of life. They are coming to express themselves, to participate, to have effect. And, most especially, they are coming to get paid. But because greed and dishonesty are uncool in the New Way of Things, affiliates are sending their traffic to sponsors they trust and like. Sponsors, you’d better pray they trust and like you

HERE'S WHAT TO DO WITH BLOGS AND RSS:

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