ClickBank Tutorial

CLICKBANK TUTORIAL

(Please note that this is not an officially authorized and legal explanation of ClickBank policies. It is only meant to be an informal and brief tutorial outlining some of the major areas of ClickBank, emphasizing the setup of a ClickBank "hoplink" If anything is unclear to you or you need further clarification of certain points, please consult the ClickBank Terms of Service on their official website at https://ClickBank.com)

[When you have completed this tutorial and have setup your hoplink (explanation below), simply close this browser window to return to Chapter 10.]

By far the most important step in becoming
involved in the Big Dogs program is
to set up what is called your
ClickBank “hoplink.”

Let's first see just what ClickBank is, and then we'll show you how to set up your own "hoplink" (Section III, below) that will take your prospects to YOUR Secrets of the Big Dogs ebook sales page.

This Tutorial consists of the following six sections:

Section I:
      What is ClickBank, and Why Do I Need It?

Section II:
     What Is A ClickBank “Hoplink,” How Does It Work, and Why Is It
      So Important?

Section III:
     How Do I Get My Own ClickBank Hoplink?

Section IV:
     How Do I Test My ClickBank Hoplink to Make Sure I Get Credited
     for My Ebook Sales?

Section V:
     How and When Do I Get Paid?

Section VI:
     Help! It Looks Like My Hoplink Is Not Working Properly! NOW
     What Do I Do?

Section I
What is ClickBank, and Why Do I Need It?

ClickBank is an online transaction agency used by thousands of web-based businesses. ClickBank’s payment technology enables the Big Dogs company to automatically pay sales commissions to our affiliates (that’s YOU!) whenever you sell a copy of the Secrets of the Big Dogs ebook to a customer. Your customers can purchase the ebook using Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express, Eurocard, Novus, bank debit cards, and PayPal – cards from virtually any country are accepted.

ClickBank is DOUBLY IMPORTANT to the Big Dogs program because it is where the sales process begins and this is how we "connect" you to your sponsor (i.e. the person from whom you originally purchased the Secrets of the Big Dogs ebook.)

For those who do not have - or prefer not to use - credit cards, ClickBank also accepts online check payments, as well as PayPal.

(Note: The ONLY way your customers may purchase the Secrets of the Big Dogs ebook is through ClickBank, using one of the above credit or debit cards, or with an online check, or with PayPal For a number of reasons we do NOT accept other online types of transaction agents. We also do not accept online checks through the Big Dogs Home Office, “phone” checks, or payment of any kind through snail-mail.)

Now, then, here’s exactly what ClickBank does:

1)    Whenever your prospect purchases a copy of the Secrets of the Big Dogs ebook from our sales site, ClickBank electronically validates your prospect's bank card or checking account. ClickBank then debits your prospect (now your customer!) the one-time cost (plus any applicable taxes) for access to the ebook.

2)    Immediately, ClickBank emails your customer a receipt for this purchase, giving him all details of the transaction, as well as a transaction number or Ticket Number.

3)    ClickBank also maintains in your private ClickBank Member's Area a database of all the important information regarding your ebook sales. This information includes your customer's first and last name, email address, receipt number, date of sale, etc.

4)     In addition to sending a notification of the sale to the purchaser, ClickBank sends a notification to the Big Dogs Home Office. Thus, a complete database of ALL sales made by all Big Dogs affiliates is maintained for us by ClickBank.

5)    ClickBank pays you your commissions for sales you make of the Secrets of the Big Dogs ebook! You receive commission payments from ClickBank (NOT the Big Dogs Home Office) every Wednesday, at approximately 5:00 AM (EST).

Section II
What Is A ClickBank “Hoplink,” How Does It Work,
and Why Is It So Important?

With the Big Dogs concept you can effectively market, not just one program, but ALL of the programs in the CHIP - SIMULTANEOUSLY! Incredibly, you only need to promote one, "special" URL. That "special" URL is what is called your ClickBank "hop-link" (Each Alpha Dog has their own, unique hop-link.)

Your ClickBank hoplink is an example of what is referred to as a "reseller link" or an "affiliate URL;" you will be an affiliate of Big Dogs.

It's an amazingly simple yet powerful concept, isn't it!?

STEP 1: You simply concentrate on selling the "Secrets of the Big Dogs" ebook (using your ClickBank hoplink).

STEP 2: Then it's the "Secrets of the Big Dogs" ebook that "takes over" from there and "sells" all the CHIP programs FOR you, to those folks to whom you've sold the ebook!

Here's a quick overview of how the system works...

Let's say a prospect - we'll call him Joe - reads the Secrets of the Big Dogs ebook sales site, and decides to purchase the ebook. Joe clicks on the "buy now" link at the bottom of the page, and is taken to the standard ClickBank purchase page. At this point, Joe is electronically "connected" to your ClickBank account because it was your special link - your ClickBank hoplink - that got him to the ebook sales site in the first place. When Joe then goes on to complete his purchase of the ebook, YOUR ClickBank account is credited with the sale!

It's that simple... and ALL automatic!

ClickBank handles online transactions for THOUSANDS of companies, but all hop-links are in a similar basic format.

ALL ClickBank hoplinks are in the following generic form:

https://hop.clickbank.net/?affiliate=AFFILIATE&vendor=COMPANY

In the case of the Big Dogs program, “AFFILIATE” will be replaced with your personal ClickBank nickname (Don't worry! We'll be showing you how to set up your very own ClickBank nickname in just a second.)

“COMPANY” will be replaced with “bigdogs”

Let's take a look at a few examples.....

Let’s assume, for example, that your name is John Smith, so you choose for your ClickBank nickname “johnsmith” (You can use ANYTHING as your nickname, by the way – it does NOT have to be your name.) Your ClickBank hoplink that you will use to promote the Big Dogs program will then be:

https://hop.clickbank.net/?affiliate=johnsmith&vendor=bigdogs

Likewise, if you chose 98765 for your nickname. Your ClickBank hoplink (for the Big Dogs program) would be:

https://hop.clickbank.net/?affiliate=98765&vendor=bigdogs

And if you chose zzzz5739 for your nickname, your ClickBank hoplink (for the Big Dogs program) would be:

https://hop.clickbank.net/?affiliate=zzzz5739&vendor=bigdogs

Simple, huh!

Your ClickBank hoplink is the ONLY URL you will ever need to promote or advertise the entire Big Dogs program, including all of the programs in the C.H.I.P!!

So, it IS kinda important, huh!?

Section III
How Do I Get My Own ClickBank Hoplink?

It’s simple, free, and takes just five minutes to get your ClickBank nickname, and to configure your hoplink for the Big Dogs program.

IMPORTANT!!!
Please note that if you ALREADY have a ClickBank account and a Clickbank nickname under which you may have already received payments...
...we STRONGLY urge you to use that SAME account and
that SAME nickname.
This is because of what ClickBank calls their Customer Distribution Requirement, or "CDR"

The CDR works in the following manner:

ClickBank will withhold payment of any balance until an account shows a minimum of 5 sales using at least two of the following payment methods:

American Express

Carte Bleue

Diners Club

Discover

ELV (European Direct Debit)

JCB

Maestro

MasterCard

PayPal

Visa

This requirement is in place to help prevent Affiliates from abusing the ClickBank Affiliate program by using their accounts for the sole purpose of fraudulently collecting rebates and/or discounts on their own purchases.

Once you have met the Customer Distribution Requirement, your account will begin issuing payments normally.

To get YOUR ClickBank nickname just follow the
simple 11-step process below:

(Remember! If you ALREADY have a ClickBank account and nickname, we strongly urge you to use the one you currently have. This is to avoid the five-sale Customer Distribution Requirement. If you DO plan on using an existing account and nickname, then skip the rest of Section III and proceed to Section IV - "How Do I Test My ClickBank Hoplink to Make Sure I Get Credited for My Ebook Sales?"

Step 1:

Go to the main ClickBank website at.....

https://www.clickbank.com/

Step 2:

In the upper right hand corner of the main ClickBank page, click the rectangular blue "Sign Up" button. You will be on the ClickBank "Sign Up" page.....

Step 3:

Along the right side of the Sign Up page are six information fields that must be completed.....

Field 1 (Country) In the first block, using the drop down menu, choose your country of residence. (Note: ClickBank currently accepts clients from over 100 countries. Unfortunately, if YOUR country of residence is not listed, ClickBank canNOT offer you an account. There are NO exceptions).

Field 2 (First Name) Enter your legal first name.

Field 3 (Last Name) Enter your legal last name.

Field 4 (Phone Number) Enter your main phone number, INCLUDING the country number. (Use the drop down menu to the left for YOUR "country number" For example: the United States is always "1")

Field 5 (Email Address) Enter your most used email address. Do NOT use email addresses that receive HUGE amounts of marketing-related emails. (for example, your primary or secondary gmail addresses for the Big Dogs program)

Field 6 (Password) Please choose an Account Password that contains ALL of the following:

At least 2 lower case characters

At least 2 upper case characters

At least 2 numbers

At least 2 "special" characters, for example: !@#$%^&*/

Password cannot exceed 32 characters

Password cannot contain spaces

Password cannot contain spaces

Finally, click the rectangular blue "Continue to Terms and Conditions" button at the bottom.

You will be on the "Client Contract" page.....

Step 4:

Now, you CAN spend the rest of the day reading the entire terms and conditions. OR you can simply scroll to the bottom of the page and click the rectangular blue "Accept Terms and Conditions" button.

You will be taken BACK to the previous page - the "Sign Up" page.

Step 5:

Go to the bottom of the "Sign Up" page, and you will notice that the tiny, square "I have read and agree to the Terms and Conditions" button has now been checked FOR you. Click the rectangular orange button labeled "Join ClickBank"

Step 6:

You MAY be taken to a "Want a Head Start?" page, which states, "We'll send you training on how to be successful with ClickBank." IF you are taken to this page, IGNORE the rectangular green "Yes. I'm interested in..." button and just click the rectangular white "No, I got this on my own" button to the right.

Step 7:

You will be taken to a "Hello, (your name)" page, which states.....

"Thank you for your interest in joining ClickBank."

"The start of your ClickBank digital marketing journey begins now by completing your account profile. Once your profile is complete, our instant account verification check will review your information for approval."

Begin the process of completing your account profile by clicking the rectangular orange "Complete My Profile" button.

Step 8:

You will be on the "Let's Complete Your Profile" page.

On this profile page are sixteen fields of information, MOST of which are required to be completed.....

Field 1 (First Name) Should ALREADY be completed for you.

Field 2 (Last Name) Should ALREADY be completed for you.

Field 3 (Email Address) Should ALREADY be completed for you.

Field 4 (Recovery Email - Optional) This field is optional; just bypass.

Field 5 (Country) Should ALREADY be completed for you.

Field 6 (Phone Number) Should ALREADY be completed for you.

Field 7 (Street Address) Enter your legal street address.

Field 8 (Apt / Suite / Other) IF you have any additional street identifying information (i.e. apartment number, suite number, etc.), enter it here, otherwise just bypass.

Field 9 (State, Province, Region) Using the dropdown menu, enter your state, province, or region of legal residence.

Field 10 (City) Enter your city of legal residence.

Field 11 (Zip Code / Postal Code) Enter the zip code or postal code of your legal residence.

Field 12 (Preferred Language) Using the drop down menu, indicate your language of choice.

"How Would You Like to Be Paid?"

Field 13 (Payee Name) The payee name is the business or person that payments will be issued to. You can change the payee name at any time. Ordinarily the "Payee" is YOU - your first and last name.

Field 14 (Tax ID) ClickBank sends 1099 forms to US based affiliates who generate more than $600 in commissions. There are some instances when a 1099 is not sent to an affiliate based in the US.

U.S.-based affiliates making more than $600 a year must provide a Taxpayer ID. This can be your social security number, or a government-issued Employer Identification Number (EIN). See the IRS website to obtain a free EIN.

Your taxpayer ID number must match the payee name on your account.

"Let's optimize your performance."

Field 15 (I want to...) Using the drop down menu, choose "Promote products as an affiliate"

Field 16 (My company's annual revenue is...) Using the drop down menu, choose your (estimated) annual revenue.

Finally, click the rectangular orange "Save" button.

Step 9:

(After clicking the "Save" button, IF you are presented with a pop-up ad, just ignore it and "Continue to Dashboard")

Step 10:

You will be on the "Hello, (your name). Create an account" page. (NOTE! You MAY have to scroll down the page to observe this.)

Assuming that you ARE, in fact, setting up a brand new ClickBank account, under the "I'm new here" area, click the rectangular blue "Sign up" button.

You will be taken to the "Manage Account Nicknames" page.

Click the rectangular white "Create An Account" button.

Step 11:

You will be on the "Create An Account" area, where you (finally!) create your all-important "NICKNAME!"

What is a nickname?

Your Account Nickname is the ID for your account. It allows us to accurately track all the transactions related to your account, and will be displayed in the Memo of all payments you receive from ClickBank. Please note that because it will be used in all of your referral payment links, it will also be visible to purchasing customers during the order process.

Please note that Account Nicknames cannot be changed.

In the "Account Type" block, using the drop down menu, choose "Affiliate (Promote Products)"

In the "Nickname" block, enter a unique "nickname" for your account.....

5-10 characters

Alphanumeric

No spaces or punctuation

Lowercase

Click the rectangular "Sign Up" button, and you're DONE!

IMPORTANT!
You must confirm your email address in order for it to be fully associated with your ClickBank account.

You have now completed registering a new account and nickname with ClickBank and may close the ClickBank site.

IMMEDIATELY enter YOUR ClickBank "nickname" and Account Password onto your Big Dogs Info Sheet. Also enter your nickname into the standard Big Dogs "hoplink" on the Big Dogs Info Sheet.

Section IV
How Do I Test My ClickBank Hoplink to Make Sure
I Get Credited for My Ebook Sales?

If you don't use the correct ClickBank hoplink you will NOT make any sales!   Plain and simple.

We have found that the main reason a new affiliate is not making any sales is because they are using their hoplink improperly. So we are now going to test your hoplink to make SURE that your prospects are going to the correct page - YOUR purchase page.

1. Copy and paste your ClickBank hoplink into the address bar of your browser, and click to go to the initial sales page for the Secrets of the Big Dogs ebook.

2. You should now be on the sales page for the ebook.

3. WAIT! HOLD IT! STOP! Before we proceed, take just a moment to look in the address bar of your browser again. You will notice that a strange thing has happened. When you first entered your hoplink into your browser window, it looked like THIS.....

https://hop.clickbank.net/?affiliate=your-nickname&vendor=bigdogs

.....but now it has mysteriously changed to this form.....

https://bigdogsecrets.com/?hop=your-nickname&vendor=bigdogs

Huh!? What gives!? Where's THAT come from!?

Not to worry. It's SUPPOSED to do that. This second form is called the "resolved" form of the hoplink. We are not going to go into a lengthy technical discussion of why this happens, but you must understand one very, VERY important thing. A lot of beginning affiliates see that hoplink change and they assume that it's the second, "resolved" form that they are supposed to promote. This is not the case!

It's OK for your hoplink to change to the "resolved" form AFTER a prospect gets to the site - it's supposed to do that - and you WILL be credited with the sale. However, if a prospect gets to the site initially by way of the "resolved" form, you will NOT be credited with the sale.

So the bottom line is this: Do NOT use the resolved form of your hoplink in your advertising! Use the UN-RESOLVED form!!!

In other words:

Use THIS...
          https://hop.clickbank.net/?affiliate=your-nickname&vendor=bigdogs

And never, EVER this!...
          https://bigdogsecrets.com/?hop=your-nickname&vendor=bigdogs

4. Now, then...scroll down to the very bottom of the ebooksales page until you see the purchase link area stating, "Click HERE to purchase Secrets of the Big Dogs!"

5. Click on this purchase link and you will be taken to the "ClickBank Secure Payment Form"

6. Now, there is no need to fill in any of the purchase information, of course - just scroll to the very bottom of the page. You will see the text...

[affiliate="your-nickname"]

If it is YOUR nickname that appears after "affiliate=", you are using your hoplink correctly.
In other words, let's assume you are using the nickname of "mary1234" Then, when you get to the "ClickBank Marketplace Secure Payment Form" page, you should see...

[affiliate=mary1234]

If it is NOT your nickname that appears in those brackets you MAY have done something wrong - go through Section VI, below, for a fix and then test your hoplink again.

IMPORTANT NOTE!

As of 3/28/23, when an affiliate has been attributed with a referral on the order form, the affiliate information that is shown in the footer is now encrypted for your privacy and protection.

In other words, instead of displaying your actual nickname, you’ll see an encoded value, or unique set of characters, rather than the nickname itself.

So.....

.....let's assume your nickname is "johnsmith."
In the footer at the bottom of the Clickbank order page, now, instead of seeing:
          "Affiliate ID = johnsmith"
you'll see something similar to:
          "Affiliate ID = 22e8c8t2gdvnwwl5r0seir9m3n "

This value can be decoded through the Decode tool found in the HopLink Tools in the left navigation bar of your primary account.

For a demo on how this is done please click the following link:
          https://clickbank.navattic.com/5y30k5u

After you are done testing your hoplink you may then close the ClickBank purchase page.

Section V
How and When Do I Get Paid?

The standard payment procedure is for you to have a paper check mailed to you on Wednesday, every two weeks, for all sales occurring in the previous payment period, subject to the "Payment Threshold" The "Payment Threshold" is a predetermined minimum amount of money you must have in your account before ClickBank cuts you a check. You may select an amount from $10 to $1,000,000 as your Payment Threshold amount. The default setting is $100. ClickBank holds your payment until your payable balance reaches this amount. A $2.50 pay period processing charge is deducted from each payment issued.

(Note: We recommend entering your ClickBank account and lowering your payment threshold to $10.00)

However, for your convenience, ClickBank offers direct deposit of your ClickBank account payment to U.S. bank accounts at no extra charge. Direct deposits may take 1-2 business days to reach your account, although many direct deposits are received on the same day sent.

ClickBank also offers International Direct Deposit (XACH) for direct deposit of your ClickBank account payments into certain international bank accounts, at no extra charge. XACH offers a fast and reliable method for direct deposit of your account payments in your local currency.

Direct deposits may also be placed into your account on a weekly basis, rather than every two weeks. (Note: I, personally, have been dealing with ClickBank since 2001. In all that time I have ALWAYS received my payment into my bank account by 4:30 AM, Eastern time, every Wednesday, like clockwork!)

Section VI
Help! It Looks Like My Hoplink Is Not Working Properly!
NOW What Do I Do?

1. Did you make sure to formally register your desired nickname with ClickBank, and receive verification from them that it was accepted? Some beginning affiliates, overly enthusiastic and anxious to get started, don't read our instructions carefully. They assume that they can pick any nickname and just plug it into the standard hoplink format, WITHOUT first registering it at the ClickBank site. (As we explained in PART III, "How Do I Get A ClickBank Hoplink?")

2. Recall that when YOU first purchased the ebook, like any other purchaser you received an email receipt from ClickBank. Your receipt contains an eight character “Ticket Number” and looks something like this: "A1B2C3D4" Amazingly, a significant number of new Alpha Dog affiliates assume that this “Ticket Number” is their nickname and plug it into their hop-link. If you do this you will not be credited with any sales!

3. Did you copy and paste your hoplink into your browser and NOT type it in manually? Y'know it's very easy to misplace a period or a colon or a slash when you're typing long, complex URL's. It's also very easy to type "cilckbank" instead of "clickbank," or "gibdogs" instead of "bigdogs" And so on. So always verify your hoplink and copy and paste it.

5. Did you make the mistake of using the "resolved" form of your hoplink instead of the initial, "UN-resolved" form? (This seems to ALWAYS be the most prevalent mistake affiliates make!)

As a reminder, the wrong form (the "resolved" form) of your hoplink looks like this...

https://bigdogsecrets.com/?hop=your-nickname&vendor=bigdogs

The correct form (the "unresolved" form) of your hoplink looks like this...

https://hop.clickbank.net/?affiliate=your-nickname&vendor=bigdogs

6. Finally, it may simply be a case of your browser "remembering" the PREVIOUS hoplink you used to get to the Secrets of the Big Dogs sales site. (Generally this would be your sponsor's hoplink.) To fix this, all you need to do is to "clean" your browser. First, delete all temporary Internet files, cookies, and the history files from your browser. Then shut down your computer and let it "rest" for three or four minutes. Reboot your computer (in other words, turn it on again) and test your hoplink once more. It should now work just fine.

7. There ARE rare instances when, even after you have "cleaned" your browser as directed in # 6 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. 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!"

Enter YOUR ClickBank username (your "nickname") and password onto your Big Dogs Info Sheet. Also enter your nickname into the standard "hoplink."

Finally, close your browser's window which shows this "ClickBank Tutorial"
to return to Chapter 10.