Automated social bookmarking software – for many webmasters and Internet marketers (myself included) this has been a pipe dream for a very long time. Nowadays though, some of those dreams have become a reality.

Note: From time to time you are going to see some shameless plugs for software and services on this blog. And, YES … Kev and I do get some small commissions if you click through our links and buy, or subscribe. BUT … you are not going to see any software or services that Kev and I are not actually already using ourselves. Which we both believe is the only way we can give you honest reviews or recommendations.

This post for Traffic Bug is one of these shameless plugs :-)

As an Internet marketer you will have realized by now that the key to your online success is TRAFFIC. A rubbish web site that gets lots of traffic will be more successful than the best designed site in the world that gets no traffic.

Plain and simple … TRAFFIC = SUCCESS.

A couple of years ago traffic was easy. It was mostly about “on-site optimization”, i.e. the things that you can do to the HTML code on your own page/site. Basically the process was to bang up a page, sprinkle it to death with your keywords, and the search engines of the time would give you good rankings.

Nowadays, it’s not so easy. Read the rest of this entry

eBay Partner Network (or EPN) is eBay’s affiliate program.

EPN is an affiliate marketers dream because it has a constant, varied and never ending stream of inventory that you can list on your site. It is also a very well known brand name and most people have fewer problems spending money on sites that they know and trust. Massive competition amongst eBay sellers ensures that there are always bargains to be had by your visitors.

Nowadays, it is not so easy to get accepted into the EPN. However, it is well worth your time and effort in achieving membership.

A few common-sense tips regarding applying for EPN membership -

• Have a good looking site. Nice, professional looking, clean design.
• Make sure your site is “complete”, with some decent content. NO under-construction signs. The focus nowadays at EPN is very definitely on quality.
• Don’t make the focus of your pages the eBay ads. A page of just 20 eBay listings is just not going to cut it.
• Make sure that you have read and complied with all of EPN’s terms of use. All the information is at the eBay Partner Network site.
• Most importantly – you must make sure that your domain name does not contain any registered trademark, etc.

When it comes time to make your application to EPN it will not hurt if you have some eBay listings on your site. This will allow them to see exactly what you site looks like with the ads on the pages. There are some free tools that allow you to easily put the listings on your site, like the Wordbay plugin for WordPress.

It is our strong suggestion that you do not stay with the free tool, as there is a very comprehensive tool that does a way better job called phpBay – and you are going to hear a lot more about the incredible phpBay Pro plugin from both Kevin and myself. We are both avid and successful users.

Perseverance will be the name of the game when getting into EPN. If you get rejected then do not lose heart. Beef up your site even more and then reapply. If you are in a country that isn’t supported by eBay, make sure you go through a proxy server when applying because EPN has certain auto-reject features.

To sum up – as an Internet Marketer this  is one of  THE  affiliate programs that you simply HAVE to belong to. It is a source of money that you simply cannot overlook. And you need to do whatever is necessary to be accepted into the eBay Partner Network.