The basics:
Online marketing service, which meets merchants (advertisers) and affiliates (publishers).
My experience:
-Commission Junction
-ClixGalore
Ok… how it works? The system is quite simple and sounds so nice that it is almost “too good to be true”. On one hand you have the merchant who needs more publicity of his business. On the other you have the web site owner who will gladly spare a banner space on his web site, in case he gets paid for it. The company that offers the affiliate marketing service is the guarantor that each side will be satisfied from the deal – the merchant (advertiser) will have the proper preview of his banner and the affiliate (publisher) will receive his commission every time this banner is clicked OR has lead to a sale. Of course according to my own experience I vote both hands up for the Commission Junction… if your business can afford it of course. But if, just for a split second, we move the focus away from our main goal (to sell more), the full picture will show us that every affiliate marketing tool boost the SEO (the natural ranking of the company upon search), the SEO boosts the traffic and the traffic boosts the sales. So even if we consider the affiliate marketing effort as a doubtful one as a direct selling tool, its secondary effect on the SEO is something to be considered upon building a marketing strategy of a company (in my humbled opinion of course).
Creativity
Graphic design and visual art have always been part of who I am. From the first crayon sun on the wall to the latest web site, banner or camera shot – they all represent my zest for versatile, colorful, vibrant life
Professionalism
Marketer by education, profession and mindset I believe the good research and analyses lead to good planning and results. And then there is the full array of communication channels to present, inform and educate - from the dynamic search engine marketing and social media optimization to the simple but mandatory business card
Precision
The web will never stop amazing me - its richness, its limitlessness, its diversity. My jealousy for the developers being part of this magic has had a fair influence on my HTML, CSS, XML and even action script skills. But being much closer to the business world my contribution has always been limited to the web content management – its accuracy, its sufficiency, its visualization and its detailed representation
"To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe"
Anatole France