Due to some early design considerations, AvantLink.com historically has had a “one login per affiliate account” policy. Over the years we’ve received a few requests here and there from affiliates who wanted to have additional logins for their account, but with restricted access, e.g. without the ability to configure payment information. We always understood the benefits of such an arrangement but the demand was never high enough that we considered it a top-priority project. Well, recently various events conspired to move this project into active development, and the timing couldn’t have been better. Since we started implementing these changes, we’ve had almost as many requests come through for this feature as we had seen in all the years prior! Happily, we were able to complete the re-engineering in short order.

So let’s take a look at what functionality is available. When affiliates are approved into the AvantLink network they are automatically granted one login to our web interface. This is considered to be the “primary” login for the account, and it has full access in our affiliate interface. In other words, logging in as that user allows you to configure contact and payment information for the affiliate account, view reports, and configure tool subscriptions. Additionally all email-based communication, from both merchants and AvantLink, is directed to the email address associated with this particular user.

What we’ve added now is the ability for you (the affiliate) to create additional, “secondary” logins to your account. You specify an email address and password, enter the new user’s name and voila! – another person has access to your account. There are a few built in limitations to these “secondary” logins however:

• they cannot ever access the portions of our interface that allow changing the contact or payment information for the overall affiliate account
• they cannot apply to new merchant programs or in any way change the association with existing merchant programs
• they cannot add websites or update website information that is associated with the affiliate account
• they cannot themselves create other additional logins to the affiliate account
• no email-based communication, from either merchants or AvantLink, will be automatically directed to these users

Further, by default these additional logins cannot access or view reporting data (through our web interface or through our API), nor can they configure any tool subscriptions (e.g. Raw Datafeed Files, Product Ad Widgets, etc.). However, unlike the restrictions listed above, these limitations are configurable. That is, when you create one of these additional logins you can specify whether or not to allow this type of access, as shown in the screenshot below:

I have a feeling that someone, somewhere will ask why there is a “View reports” role that allows access to reports and payment history, rather than a separate option for the latter. Well, all of the information that our affiliate payments are based on is contained in our reporting interface.  If you can view reports, you can see the commissions that have been earned over time, and thus determine the payments that have been made. So separating out an access role just for viewing payment history would be redundant.

Oh, and last but not least, if you’re interested in using this functionality, look for the “Manage Additional Logins” link from the “Account” page of your affiliate account.

As always, comments are appreciated!

-David & AvantLink

Attention Merchants: Be exceptionally prepared for Q4 and the busy holiday shopping season by signing up for one of three free sessions designed to help you take full advantage of the Affiliate management, organization and communication tools available in AvantLink. As of today, there are 15 slots open on each of the following dates & times (mountain time) over the next several weeks:

• Monday, September 28, 2009 (11am)
• Monday, Octber 5, 2009 (11am)
• Monday, October 12, 2009 (11am)

These sessions will include basic-level presentations, and Q&A format. Yours truly will cover tools like the merchant-managed coupon/deal feed, Affiliate  tagging/group administration, emailing Affiliates and more. New and experienced AvantLink program managers alike will benefit from these review sessions.

Note: Screencasts on program management tools are already available in the merchant interface by clicking “Support” on the main menu (login required). These sessions will go more into each of these topic areas, and address direct questions in a interactive setting.

If you’re interested, please drop me a line to sign up for the date of your choice. I can be reached by email (gmarcoccia/at/avantlink.com), or you can use the contact form on our site to sign-up/RSVP. We will be using GoToMeeting.com to facilitate these sessions.

Gary M

Affiliates, did you know that in addition to publishing promotional-related (dynamically updated) content on your sites, you can also promote RSS subscriptions to those feeds? Think about that for a second. If you’re site visitors subscribe to one of these RSS feeds from AvantLink that you promote, then your tracking details are embedded in all links within that feed…for the life of that feed subscription!

(Note: You can easily promote RSS subscriptions via the tools highlighted below by grabbing popular reader icons just like you would a banner, and pasting that in your site along side the feed itself with a call to action like “Subscribe to this daily deal from Patagonia!”. We also provide a standard RSS icon embedded with tracking code as well as the RSS URL itself.)

Fast forward months later, and to that RSS feed sitting in someone’s reader or live bookmarks after the 60 day cookie from the click is long expired. The shopper you enticed to subscribe sees a killer deal from one of our retailers, clicks the link directly from their RSS reader or live bookmark, and there you have it; your Affiliate cookie is set again for another 60 days (or whatever cookie life the particular merchant offers). This gives you, the Affiliate, an additional level of ownership over that customer that goes above and beyond the cookie duration defined on a standard click.

We call this Affiliate Link Syndication, and it’s  been around since we opened our Affiliate network in 2005. I talked about it previously here, but the post was a little long winded (which I’m notorious for), so I wanted to bring it up again to be sure everyone knows about this RSS promotional option.

And if you take this one step further, think about the possibilities in terms of syndication to other sites. Of course, you should check the terms of use for content syndication to any site you don’t own. But for the purpose of this article I’ll use Squidoo.com as an example (their TOS allows the syndication of any content to their site). Squidoo offers an RSS module for use. So take one of the RSS URLs we provide with various campaign subscriptions, paste that into your Squidoo RSS module, and you’ll have content that’s not only dynamic but parsed to static HTML. Gourmet Google food indeed…

Check out the following tool offerings for Affiliate Link Syndication using RSS available from AvantLink.com (note you can find any of these by clicking “Tools” on the main menu once you login):

• Dynamic Coupon/Deal Tools
  • Dynamic Coupon/Deal Feeds (RSS integration option)
  • Coupon/Deal Syndication Links
  • Deal Of The Day Sign-up (RSS integration options)
• Datafeed Manager
  • RSS Product Feeds

Thanks for reading and as always comments, questions or suggestions encouraged. Gary M

In early March 2009 we released a tool called the Additional Product Content Widget (PCW): a JavaScript library that makes it easy for affiliates to retrieve useful information (and lots of it!) for a given product.  Quite some time prior to that we created the Affiliate Link Encoder (ALE): similarly a JavaScript library, but in this case one to encode direct links and keywords as affiliate-enabled links.  It was a long-term goal of ours to combine those two projects and produce a new tool that could automatically mark up an existing web page with product-specific links and content.

Well, we’ve finally achieved that goal with the most recent updates to the PCW.

The functionality we’ve added allows you to specify particular tags (e.g. <h1>, <span class=”prodName”>, etc.) that you use in your web pages to identify product names or keywords.  The PCW can then scan through your pages and automatically convert any text within those tags to a link that will pop up pricing/availability information (using our ProductSearch API).  If you’ve ever seen the ALE in action then this will probably seem pretty familiar, but an example or two is always helpful.

Suppose you had a blog where you wrote about some products, say the Venture Storm Snowboards and Wedding Napkin Rings. Maybe it’s an outdoor-themed wedding . Those of you reading this post should see those product keywords (“Venture Storm Snowboards” and “Wedding Napkin Rings”) underlined as links, even though if you view the source of this page you’ll see they’re just plain text within <span> tags, e.g.:

<span class="productKeyphrase">Venture Storm Snowboards</span>
<span class="productKeyphrase">Wedding Napkin Rings</span>

If you click on the links you should see the results of searching through AvantLink.com’s product databases for each of those products. Not bad for a single line of JavaScript – which is all that is required to use the PCW in a page. You can confirm that for yourself if you view the source of this page. The only reference you’ll find for the PCW is the following call to include the library:

<script src="http://www.avantlink.com/apcw.php?ti=1317" type="text/javascript"></script>

Aside from this automatic linking of product names/keywords, you can also use this functionality of the PCW for more targeted content. Perhaps you want to show pricing/availability information for your products in the body of your pages rather than as separate pop-ups. You can achieve that by creating a div, and then using a custom call to the PCW library to populate the div as in:

<div style="width: 414px;" id="pcwContent"></div>
<script type="text/javascript">
avPcwShowInlineFromSearch('pcwContent', 'Baby Jogger Elite Strollers', '');
</script>

As with all of the content in the PCW tool, what you show and how you show it is customizable at the subscription level. So you can decide for yourself if you want to show merchant logos or product imagery, product names, prices, etc. along with all of the formatting and layout that you want to apply to each element.

If you’re interested and want to get your hands on your own copy of the PCW, log into your affiliate account, go to the “Tools” page and see the section for the “Additional Product Content Widget”. And if you have any questions or comments, let us know!

-David & AvantLink

AvantLink Newsletter May 26, 2009 Vol 1, Issue 3

Affiliate Newsletter

Our Affiliate newsletters feature technology news, promotional opportunities, new merchants, industry insight and more.

We have a lot of new technology to highlight this Spring, which is the emphasis of this newsletter. To help facilitate the use of these new tools, and to get the word out there, Scott Kalbach has done a great job producing v2.0 of our Screencast Series for Affiliates. These screencasts do an incredible job of detailing the powerful tools and scripts you have access to free of charge. We also have a lot of outstanding new merchants since the last Affiliate newsletter, and you’ll find those listed below.

Table of Contents:

1. Affiliate Screencast Series v2.0
2. Inactive Merchant Link Handling
3. RSS Product Feeds
4. Web Service Datafeed Client Improvements
5. Welcome New Merchants

Affiliate Screencast Series v2.0

We started producing v2.0 Affiliate (and merchant) tutorials/screencasts for the large selection free Affiliate tools we offer. In time we plan to have a dedicated section of the Affiliate account interface where we will list documentation files and tutorials. But for now, please click the links below to see the first four v2.0 screencasts for Affiliates:

• Product Ad Widget Screencast – Product Comparison Widget
• Product Ad Widget Screencast – Content Match
• Screencast: Web Service Datafeed Client – Configuration and Installation
• Screencast: Web Service Datafeed Client – Customizing Your HTML Template

Inactive Merchant Link Handling

Introducing brand new functionality for handling inactive merchant links that result from merchants deactivating Affiliates, or leaving the AvantLink network altogether. Affiliates have always had the option of sorting to, and browsing “My Inactive Merchants”, but now there is an option on that page to “Configure inactive link handling” as well.

When a merchant terminates their association with your affiliate account, or leaves the AvantLink.com network altogether, any affiliate links you have to that merchant will cease functioning. For large sites with many deep links to relevant content, it can be a time consuming operation to fully target a new merchant, and while this conversion is in progress your site visitors experience will be less than ideal. This page can help you control how those links behave while you update your site to advertise for other merchants…

Read more…

RSS Product Feeds

We recently added an “RSS Product Feeds” configuration page to your affiliate login (accessible from the “Tools” page, under the “Datafeed Manager” section). When you click the option to “Create an RSS product feed” you will be able to choose a particular merchant datafeed, restrict to a department/category/subcategory, and set various product-level filters. You can also customize whether or not to include product images, abbreviated/short descriptive text, and merchant names in the RSS item content. The end result is a fully tracking-enabled RSS feed URL that points to our Affiliate marketing API.

Read more…

Web Service Datafeed Client Improvements

We’re proud to say that we have recently rolled out a massive list of improvements to one of our flagship Affiliate tools: the Web Service Datafeed Client. Before getting into the exact details it should be noted that all existing deployments of this tool will work perfectly with the new improvements.

Highlights of the changes:

• Improved the built-in searching functionality.
• Better construction of page keywords (normally used in meta tags).
• Improved/simplified the use of local template files.
• Revamped the communication between your local server and our web service.
• Added support for XML-based sitemap functionality.

Read more…

Welcome New Merchants

Latest merchants to open their Affiliate programs on the AvantLink network (April/May 2009). Click here to browse all merchants.

• Vargo Outdoors (Outdoor/Recreation), 10% commission
• Opedix (Apparel), 12% commission
• TrekLightGear.com (Outdoor/Recreation), 8% commission
• BerenShoes.com (Footwear), 3% commission
• Junonia (Apparel), 8% commission
• Play Outdoors (Outdoor/Recreation), 10%-12% commission
• TopoRanch.com (Apparel), 8% commission
• Backstage Gallery (Photographic Art), 8% commission
• Nantucket Brand (Apparel), 20% commission
• FontanaSports.com (Outdoor/Recreation), 10%-12% commission
• Makai Bikes (Cycling), commission
• InlineSkates.net (Outdoor/Recreation), 8% commission
• WaterOutfitters.com (Outdoor/Recreation), 8% commission
• HucknRoll.com (Cycling), 5% commission
• RealCyclist.com (Cycling), 5% commission

This is the second in a series of screencasts to cover the functionality of our new Product Ad Widget tool. In this screencast we cover the content match option. We also show you how you can add a Product Ad Widget to your WordPress blog sidebar.

Scott & AvantLink

Introducing a new AvantLink merchant:

Laguna Tools

Outstanding addition to our Tools category! Laguna Tools has been leading the industry in woodworking innovations for over a decade, and continues to challenge the industry with new advancements. With a full range of products such as saws, sanders, workbenches, and more, you’ll be partnering with one of the most complete online stores for the high-end craftsmen tools and hobbyist alike.

Here are some highlights of the Laguna Toools Affiliate program:

• 4% commission for every sale you refer
• Special offers and significant discounts for your visitors
• Dedicated Affiliate Management
• Search affiliates welcome!
• Regularly updated creative

Read the program launch announcement on ABestWeb.

Let us know what we can do to help you get started promoting Laguna Tools. Contact anyone at AvantLink or the program manager Andrew Morales, andrew.morales/at/affiliatetraction.com.

The goal of the AvantLink screencasts are to help current (or prospective) Affiliates and Merchants learn more about our network, and the technology we offer.

This screencast focuses on our exclusive Affiliate Link Encoder (ALE) tool. The ALE is now on v2.0 which allows Affiliates to convert keywords to merchant tracking links, as well as direct links to merchants that exist in the document. More info & articles on the ALE…

Take a look at the Affiliate Link Encoder screencast below, or CLICK HERE to view the full sized version.

The goal of the AvantLink screencasts are to help current (or prospective) Affiliates and Merchants learn more about our network, and the technology we offer.

This screencast focuses on our Feed Syndication options, and how Affiliates can syndicate promotional feeds through embedded RSS Affiliate links. Link syndication options are available through our Dynamic Coupon Feed and Deal of the Day tool as well.

Take a look at the Coupon Feed Syndication screencast below, or CLICK HERE to view the full sized version.