Follow These Pointers to
Make SURE You Get PAID By ClickBank for the Ebooks You Sell!
The very first step
in the Big Dogs program is, of course, the purchase by a prospect of
the “Secrets of the Big Dogs” ebook.
The prospect makes
his purchase of the ebook at our main sales site, at which he
arrived by way of your ClickBank hoplink.
Once the purchase is made, the ebook then “takes over”
the sales process and promotes all the C.H.I.P. programs FOR
you.
Obviously,
then, the most vital and important part of the Big Dogs program –
where it all starts – is your ClickBank hoplink.
Now, we've already
discussed the ClickBank hoplink pretty thoroughly in Chapter 8 of
the ebook. But, because it's SO important we want to go over
the topic again here, in this Fast-Track Tutorial...
If you'll recall, ALL ClickBank
hoplinks for the Big Dogs program are in a standard format.
That is, they ALL look like this…..
http://XXXXXX.bigdogs.hop.clickbank.net
The ONLY way YOUR
hoplink will differ from any other Big Dogs affiliate is the “XXXXXX”
This is YOUR individual ClickBank “nickname.”
For example, if, when you applied for a nickname at
ClickBank, you chose “hotdog” then your hoplink would look like
this…..
http://hotdog.bigdogs.hop.clickbank.net
Likewise, we might
have a Big Dogs affiliate in Russia (for example), who may have
chosen the nickname of “redstar”
HIS hoplink would look like this…..
http://redstar.bigdogs.hop.clickbank.net
Notice that his
hoplink and your hoplink are identical...with the exception
of the nickname toward the beginning of the URL.
To repeat.....
ALL
ClickBank hoplinks for the Big Dogs program are the same, with the exception of the nickname.
Are we all up to
speed on the basic format of the ClickBank hoplink?
Good. Now, given
the crucial importance of your hoplink, there are a few points to
keep in mind – IF you want credit for your ebook sales!
Point
Number 1:
"Before you
can begin promoting the Big Dogs program using your ClickBank
hoplink, you must formally register your selected nickname
with ClickBank!"
Since obtaining a
ClickBank nickname was Step 9 in the ebook for becoming an Alpha
Dog, most of you are
probably thinking that this is a real no-brainer - that we're being
redundant here. But every so often
we have a new affiliate who simply ASSUMES that they can pick a
nickname, just insert it into the standard format of the ClickBank
hoplink, and begin to promote the Big Dogs program.
Not so!
You must
FORMALLY register your desired nickname at the ClickBank site.
For example, we
recently had a new Big Dogs affiliate from Ohio who decided to use
his first name (Ralph) as his nickname.
He “plugged” it into the standard hoplink format, and
began promoting the program, BEFORE HE FORMALLY REGISTERED
THE NICKNAME AT THE CLICKBANK SITE!
Unfortunately, his first few ebook sales were credited to
a person in Australia who HAD formally registered the nickname of
“Ralph” years ago. In
fact, this Australian marketer was not even a Big Dogs affiliate!
Don’t let this
happen to you!
BEFORE you start to
promote, make sure you formally register your desired
nickname at the ClickBank site, as per our instructions in Chapter
8, Step 9 of the “Secrets of the Big Dogs” ebook!
Point
Number 2:
"Before you
begin promoting, you should verify that your ClickBank hoplink is
working properly!"
This is a very
simple procedure, and once again, we've covered it pretty thoroughly
back in the ebook. But before you do any promotion, you MUST verify
that your hoplink is taking your prospects to the proper sales page
– YOUR sales page. For
example, if you have chosen – AND REGISTERED – the nickname of
“wildman” your hoplink would look like this…..
http://wildman.bigdogs.hop.clickbank.net
Copy and paste your
hoplink into your browser and hit enter.
You will be taken to the main sales page for the “Secrets
of the Big Dogs” ebook, which has the headline of, “You Are
About to Become a Thoroughbred of Internet Marketing.”
Near the bottom of
this main sales page is the hotlink, “Click HERE to Purchase
YOUR Copy of Secrets of the Big Dogs!”
When you click on this hotlink, you (or your prospect!) will
be taken to the ClickBank "Secure Order Form" page.
Scroll down to
the very bottom of the page. Assuming once again that your nickname is “wildman,”
you will see...
So…if in brackets
you see "affiliate=" followed by your registered
ClickBank nickname then your hoplink is functioning as it should, and you WILL get
credit for your ebook sales.
Follow the simple procedure
below if
your hoplink is not taking you to YOUR ClickBank purchase page:
a. Delete
all temporary Internet files, "cookies," and the history
files from your browser.
b. Shut down your computer and let it "rest" for
three or four minutes.
c. Reboot your computer (in other words, turn it on again).
d. NOW re-test your hoplink. You should find that it is
working perfectly.
BUT!...
Computers WILL be computers! And there ARE rare instances when, even after you have "cleaned" your browser as directed
above, when testing your hoplink it STILL shows the incorrect affiliate ID. This is due to some computers storing cookies even after they have been deleted from your browser.
So...
e.
...once again, this is EXTREMELY rare, but if it occurs, simply go to a
different computer and test your hoplink again. It the correct affiliate ID now appears, that means that your hoplink DOES work when used on other computers.
Simply put, that means you are "good to go!"
Point
Number 3:
"In order
for your prospects to be taken to YOUR sales page, you must use the
UN-RESOLVED form of your hoplink, and NOT the RESOLVED form!"
Whoa!
Wazzat mean!?
Well, in Point
Number 2, above, we told you to verify that your hoplink is working
properly by inserting it into your browser window and using it to go
to the ebook sales site. Let’s
assume that your hoplink is…..
http://ezmoney.bigdogs.hop.clickbank.net
This is an example
of what is called an “unresolved” hoplink.
This is the CORRECT from of your hoplink that you should promote.
Let's further assume that you have carefully copied and pasted it
into your browser window. Now when you hit enter to go
to the ebook sales site, if you look in your browser window you will
find that your “unresolved”
hoplink of…..
http://ezmoney.bigdogs.hop.clickbank.net
…..has been “resolved”
into the following form…..
http://bigdogsecrets.com/?hop=ezmoney
These two forms of
the hoplink don't look anything alike, do they? And they do
NOT work the same! Now, when verifying
their hoplinks, most affiliates don’t even notice this change, but
SOME do. They then
assume that it is the SECOND form (the resolved form) that they
should use in promoting the Big Dogs program.
THIS IS NOT CORRECT AND IF YOU USE THE “RESOLVED” FORM OF
YOUR HOPLINK YOU WILL NOT RECEIVE CREDIT FOR YOUR SALES!
Now you don’t
have to understand the technical aspects of all this.
You don’t even have to know what a “cookie” is.
Suffice it to say that if you use the PROPER form of your
hoplink, then you WILL receive proper credit for your ebook sales.
If you use the “resolved” form of the hoplink, then it
will not "set" the ClickBank cookie, and that ebook sale
will be credited to the PREVIOUS affiliate whose hoplink was used to
access the ebook sales site! So
make SURE that the ClickBank hoplink you are using looks like
this…..
http://nickname.bigdogs.hop.clickbank.net
and NOT…..
http://bigdogsecrets.com/?hop=nickname
Point
Number 4:
"You
must NEVER use your actual ClickBank hoplink in an ad. What
you WILL be using is something called a "Target
URL"
Are you a little
confused?
I know, I know, I
know. Throughout the "Secrets of the Big Dogs" ebook
we mentioned several times that it is your ClickBank hoplink that
takes your prospects to the ebook sales website. That IS true,
but it's just a little more complex than that, and at the
time we didn't want to complicate your basic understanding of the
program.
(For now, though,
don't worry about what a "Target URL" is. We'll be
covering that in a later Fast-Track Tutorial. Just be
patient - everything will "snap into focus" very
shortly.)
There are three
reasons why you must never use your actual ClickBank hoplink in an
ad.
The first
reason is that ClickBank's Terms of Service simply do not permit placing
their hoplinks in any form of email advertising. Their concern
is that improperly used hoplinks will result in spam
complaints against their company.
The second
reason is that ClickBank tracks only your sales- it does NOT track
your total clicks. Your "total clicks" are the total
number of people who went to your website, whether or not they
actually made a purchase. You need your total clicks to
determine exactly how effective your advertising is. Tracking
total clicks is the responsibility of the AdMinder program, which is
the subject of the next Fast-Track Tutorial.
The third reason is to prevent what is called
"commission hijacking."
To understand what
we’re talking about, we need to go back once again to Point Number
2, and look again at the standard format of the ALL ClickBank
hoplinks. Here we are
assuming that the nickname you registered is “joker” Then when promoting the Big Dogs program, your hoplink would
look like…..
http://joker.bigdogs.hop.clickbank.net
In the above
hoplink, “joker” of course is your nickname (the nickname
of the individual AFFILIATE). “bigdogs” is the
nickname of the COMPANY (in this case, the Big Dogs Home Office).
ClickBank has been around a long time and they process
credit cards for THOUSANDS of different merchants (i.e. companies)
and HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of individual affiliates.
Now
here's the important point: Once you have your nickname registered you can use it for ANY
ClickBank merchant.
Let’s take a few
hypothetical examples…..
Assume there is a
company that is a registered ClickBank merchant that sells an ebook
on paper-training your puppy. This
company’s merchant nickname is “puppy.”
Once you become an affiliate for that company, your hoplink
would look like….
http://joker.puppy.hop.clickbank.net
You see that it is
EXACTLY the same as your hoplink for Big Dogs.
The only difference is that the merchant nickname is “puppy” and NOT
“bigdogs”
Now assume that you
are an affiliate for a company that sells videos on the Civil War,
and that their merchant nickname is “videoman”
Your hoplink for this company would be…..
http://joker.videoman.hop.clickbank.net
And on, and on…
So you see, once you have registered your nickname with
ClickBank, you can be an affiliate for ANY of the thousands of
merchants that ClickBank processes credit cards for.
This is great for you as an individual marketer because, if
you sell several different products through ClickBank, all your
commissions would come to just one account, simplifying your
bookkeeping enormously.
But this presents a
minor technical flaw in the system as well!
Let’s take a look
once more at your hoplink for promoting Big Dogs…..
http://joker.bigdogs.hop.clickbank.net
Now let’s say
that a person reads your ad, has previously heard about the Big Dogs program,
and knows he wants to purchase the book.
Ordinarily he would click on your link (your ClickBank
hoplink), arrive at the Big Dogs sales page, click on the purchase
button, and YOU would get the commission.
Ah, but let’s say
that that prospect ALREADY has a registered ClickBank nickname!
He can insert HIS nickname into YOUR hoplink, and NOW,
when he makes his purchase, it will be HE, and not YOU, who receives
the commission!
For example, your
ClickBank hoplink is…..
http://joker.bigdogs.hop.clickbank.net
…..where your
nickname is “joker.” The nickname of this other marketer is, let’s say, “pirate.”
He can replace YOUR nickname in the standard hoplink format
with HIS nickname….
http://pirate.bigdogs.hop.clickbank.net
…..before
he goes to the sales site. NOW…when
he buys the “Secrets of the Big Dogs” ebook, he will get the
commission and NOT you! In other words, he will receive a commission on his own
purchase – a commission that is essentially a “discount” on
his own purchase!
This process is
called “commission hijacking.”
Is it unethical? Is it immoral? Is
it STEALING? Well,
CERTAINLY – to all three! It
was YOU who placed that ad that attracted “pirate” to purchase
the ebook. It was YOU
who perhaps paid good money for an ezine ad. It was YOU who, as a member of the C.H.I.P. programs,
certainly has a FINANCIAL stake in the matter.
It was YOU who spent the time and energy to get your ad out
in front of the prospect. So
you CERTAINLY deserve to be compensated for your troubles.
“Commission
hijacking” is unethical, immoral, and yes, it IS stealing!
Now I’m sure I
don’t have to tell you that there are a lot of unscrupulous people
on the Internet who delight in PURPOSELY screwing other people out
of their hard-earned money. I
have no sympathy for these bottom-feeders, and I don’t think
anyone would shed a tear if they were hung from the nearest tree.
But, believe it or
not, there are also a lot of people that are guilty of commission
hijacking who are honest, sincere, god-fearing people.
They are folks who quite simply don’t understand what
they’re doing is wrong. For
example, good ‘ol Joe may see your ad, and think to himself,
“Well, I already have a ClickBank nickname, so if I plug it into
that hoplink, I’ll get a 'rebate' on my purchase.”
Joe doesn’t analyze the situation enough to realize that
he‘s actually taking money out of YOUR pocket.
He just sees it as getting a “rebate!”
Joe is not out to intentionally rob you, but that is EXACTLY
what he’s doing!
Recently I received
an email from a new Big Dog (we’ll call him Larry) who wanted his
sponsor’s signup module. But Larry had a problem.
He wrote.....
“Dear Stan.
I would like to have my sponsor’s signup module so I can
signup for the C.H.I.P. programs, but I don’t know who my
sponsor is since I PURCHASED YOUR EBOOK DIRECTLY FROM
CLICKBANK.”
See what I mean!?
Larry was certainly not out to rob anyone of their money.
He simply saw what he did as “purchasing the ebook directly
from ClickBank!” He
obviously felt that since he thought he was purchasing the ebook
from the “source” that he DESERVED a "discount."
But whatever the
motivation of these commission hijackers – whether they are
actually disreputable scumbags who KNOW they are robbing you, or
whether they are just misguided folks who think they are getting a
“rebate” or a “discount” – the effect is the same.
YOU LOSE MONEY! You
lose your initial commission on the purchase of the ebook and you
lose RESIDUAL income should that purchaser decide to upgrade to
Alpha Dog and join the C.H.I.P. programs!
What can you do
about it? How can you
protect your hard-earned commission dollars from the unscrupulous
and misguided, track your total clicks, AND fulfill ClickBank's
Terms of Service all at the same time?
The answer is
simple and is the subject of our next Tutorial, "On the
Fast-Track with AdMinder"
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