Affiliate marketing with expression web
For the last few months, some of our members have been working on affiliate web sites, and we have had various degrees of success and failure! However, in that time we have managed to put about a 1000 posts together relating to affiliate marketing and will continue to grow this section.
If you are trying to work from home using expression web then maybe there is something for you. Your not going to know if you don’t drop by, so i am looking forward to welcoming new users – which, until now have not had a single point of reference.
Drop by, say hello and see if we can help your endeavours.
Good luck
JIM
Gold – Expression Web Help Forum – Affiliate marketing with expression web
Expression web XML Tutorial
Extensible Mark-up Language (XML) may look like complicated stuff but broken down you can see just how easy it is to create and use. A basic understanding of how to use xml in expression web will open up your web building capabilities and have you building web sites in a way you never thought possible.
How is an xml file made up?
Apart from a couple of basic criteria, you are at liberty to create xml tags in anyway you want. Unlike html, there are no set tags in xml, you basically call a tag what you like: Lets make an example of a news headline xml file – that will display a news headline, a news description, a link to another page and an image to display with the news should we want to. All sounds a little complicated but here’s how.
http://www.expression-web-help.com/Basic-XML/expression_web_xml.aspx
How can you make product presentation video’s for free?
In my example i create a short showcase video to draw attention to a single product line, and all it cost me was 10 mins of my time. All it will cost you is the same.
How to create free promotional videos for affiliate web sites?
Once you have completed your masterpiece, get over to YouTube and upload it. Then simply get the embed code, and drop that into your web site code where you want the video to appear. It’s that simple!
You could obviously self host your video on your own server, but apart from eating up your storage and bandwidth, your missing the trick. YouTube is Google, so by dropping your video off there and utilising the titles and tags when you upload, your adding another keyword link to your web site.
Software download: Windows Movie Maker
Full showcase video : http://www.decoratingceilingtiles.com
The calamity of the lost site!
Having changed servers, got the domain live again – all seamless stuff. On upload i realised i was publishing a newer version of the site that is far from finished! Cancel publish to find correct site version. None to be seen, i deleted it doing some housekeeping, rich in the knowledge i have a rebuild in progress! So no files and an incomplete web site. Brainwave, as i had still got a week of hosting left with the old host, go and down load files from the server! No i am overwriting my new build with the old build, unintentionally i can assure you. Sometimes you just gotta take it on the jaw and today is one of those days. Of to republish my old site that has overwritten me new site, then go and redevelopment the new site again. Or maybe just go out and make the best of this unusual weather. 22 today well above the average for this time of year.
I do not want overnight riches! But thanks for the offer.
As a fledgling affiliate myself, i stand my own and make sufficient income to do this sort of stuff all day everyday. But let me tell you what a struggle it has been to get here – or has it? Personally i enjoy the challenges that affiliate marketing throws at you, i have enjoyed utilising the merchant data feeds and building them into my web sites. I have enjoyed the thrill of rowing against the tide and building my sites from scratch using expression web as my editor of choice.
Every day, no, every waking hour is spent learning and adapting, subconsciously most of the time. Picking up tips here there and everywhere and building those ideas in my web sites. Finding ways to better display my information, learning different disciplines and adapting to this social media circus i find myself in!
Having joined twitter @gooffiliate, i selected a merry band of ladies and gentlemen, whose “Tweets” I wished to follow. Many because i have enjoyed reading their input over the years. and value their opinions. And its great, i get instant update of twaddle that i don’t really understand, want to understand or have the time to even begin to understand, but none the less the information is there for me if i want it. All very helpful in its own strange way.
What i find unhelpful, yet a little amusing at the same time is i have followers. Yep, 27 followers, 2 i genuinely know, the rest follow me – for what reason? I have nothing new to say, i have said very little, i set up all this nonsense to stay in contact with my friends and those who i help into affiliate marketing.
My followers seem to think i might like a great get rich quick scheme, some overnight success plan that will make me very rich,, and no doubt it will run on auto pilot too! Each of my new friends has a different scheme. But they all promise i can make money while i sleep.
I once wrote the following as a sarcastic reply to such an idiot programs:
“I have so much money in my Nigerian bank account, i am now able to throw my penis over my shoulder and partly cover it with my own new head of golden flowing locks of hair, and can spot a scam from a mile off!”
But being honest for a bit, i am aging, going grey and bald and i don’t actually have enough money to stop the process of aging, nor sadly to get my penis extended, the hair i don’t really care that much about! But i am rich in the knowledge that HARD work sprinkled with a little more HARD work and then some, does actually pay off, put the effort in and you will reap the rewards!
So my new “Friends” perhaps instead of pedalling, regurgitated rubbish, if you actually worked for your living, you too might have a modicum of success!
Affiliate marketing is hard work, your effort will not yield overnight riches, and crass useless schemes such as those offered by my new “Friends” will do nothing more than waste your money, and leave a bad taste in your mouth!
Hard work, dedication and tenacity will reward you, maybe not tomorrow next week in the first few months, but perseverance will be rewarded.
Good luck my new “Friends” sorry we wont be chatting anytime soon. But rest assured i do consider you as “Twits” or should that be “Twats”
Model Railway Merchants
Every town and city has a modeller shop, some specialise, others are all rounder’s.
Every boy has “played” with model trains, haven’t they? Many grow into men and still pursue the hobby of model railways, and are prepared to spend money, to get the most from their hobby. Which is why it is beggars belief that there is not serious merchant player in the model train markets!
Almost makes me want to raid my own Fathers collection die casts and put together my own feed. I don’t suspect for a minute that he would appreciate me flogging a life time collection but heyho needs must! hehehehe
All said and done i did manage to find a small feed that i have built into the site as the screen shots below show.
Below is a screen shot of the feed showing the menu items and the product/s available.
Below is a product display page showing the chosen item (after clicking, more information)
Expression web .net menu controls
I have had issues with the menu control rendering the sub/fly out menus in certain browsers when the control was created with expression web 2. It has come to light, that, expression web version 2 and v4 give different codes for the menu controls. Subtle but different.
Below is the code generated by expression web.
Further the code below comes from expression web version 4.
From what i can see based on the following menu set up.
Drag menu onto aspx page. EWv2 names the control “Menu” whereas EW4 names it “Menu1” However – This could simply be a sequential thing, and not an issue
Also notice that v2 offers
“<asp:Menu runat="server" id="Menu1">”
Whilst v4 gives…
“<asp:Menu id="Menu1" runat="server">”
As you can see a reversed string.
The only other discernable difference is the capitalisation of the actual menu items, V2 being lowercase and V4 capitalised.
So i made these changes to a menu i have that i know renders incorrectly, uploaded to the server and no difference at all.
So where to look next?
I noticed as i flick about between the 2 versions and various screens that in fact there is a major difference between the 2 versions.
Version 2 rendered the control in split view
Version 4 or the same control split view
As you can see version 4 includes some styles! They are .net system styles and you can’t do a whole lot with them really but interestingly, flicking around i notice a Z Index setting on one of these styles BINGO!
Unfortunately i can’t get a screen shot of the style but it is enough to know that V2 menu controls can be used with a simple class style.
Create a class style in expression web something like
.menuforward {
z-index: 1;
background-color: #E9E9E9;
border-right-style: solid;
border-width: 3px;
border-color: #CCCCCC;
padding-bottom: 8px;
padding-right: 5px;
NOTE* The Z Index
Then simply apply this class style to the menu control dynamic menu style in the tag properties Styles.
So what on the face of it seemed a bit of a nightmare, does actually have quite a simple solution.
Have Fun
Railway Modellers Guide – The comprehensive directory for modellers
About to roll out of the station is the latest powered by gooffiliate.com web site. Nothing more than a simple directory type web site which acts as a base for future development.
In this case the owner wanted some time to become familiar with the workings of the web, and to be able to add some unique content, prior to publishing.
The modelling world is not overly affiliate friendly. No merchant i can find has really puts the effort into what i can only imagine would be a very lucrative market.
However the client has access to a merchant feed that is not publically available and an agreement from the merchant to use it, so together we are working on a data feed that hopefully will add the final income stream, however the feed has yet to be built, and will need to be built into a payment provider, but once done it can be quickly incorporated into the site making a truly bespoke affiliate web site.
A typical Article Page
Directory Pages
Article Previews
A clean simple fresh looking web site, that will evolve over the next few weeks/months
http://www.expression-web-designer-help.com/
want to get into affiliate marketing?
Find us in the forum – JIM
New web site release
I have just put the finishing touches to our latest build, adding to the growing list of powered by gooffiliate web sites.
Credit to the clients who chose the template and merchant very wisely.
This is probably one of the best feeds i have worked with for a long time. Plenty of products and good descriptions.
The web site is chock full of useful articles and information, the image below shows a typical article page.
Below is a shopping page and the excellent template choice really stands out here giving the whole site a real edge.
Every product in a shopping page has a more info link, when clicked the use will see more details on the product. Links direct to the merchant and one click to return to the previous page
A typical directory page is shown below, containing information on related web sites.
The site makes extensive use of xml and a bit of Db work thrown in as well. The shopping department is huge so the dot net menu control has been used to condense the menus, again offering a very modern feel to the whole site.
If you own expression web and want a site like this why not join our forum and make yourself known?
Expression web menus using the asp.net menu control–gooffiliate gold tutorial
I have published a tutorial explaining how to use the menu control in expression web. A very useful control for those that have lots of pages and want a coherent way to navigate around the web site.
The control is easy to use – and i will look at some way of automating an xml file to utilise with the control, making it much easier to implement.
The tutorial uses an ascx file extension which is called a user control. Once created the user control can be dragged onto any page in your site.
Then when you add new pages, you can just update the single control and all pages holding that control will be updated.
Especially useful with master pages and big web sites.
