This is a sponsored post of the popular webmaster resource Triple.com. My opinions were not influenced, as this is an honest review of the program.

Triple.com is a top-notch domain name, web hosting and webmaster resource website that has long been one of my favorite companies on the net. They have some great deals on domain names, cheap $4/month web hosting and great extras that can get your website online in hours. An official ICANN domain registrar, I’ve used these guys before and absolutely love the customer service. When they came to me asking for a review of the new affiliate program, I jumped at the chance to let you guys know about this great company in a constructive way.

With the brand new Triple.com affiliate program, marketers and blog owners like you and me can make some extra commission off of our readers and visitors. The referral system works in two different ways. The first branch is referring customers that buy the actual domains, hosting, security certificates, etc. You get a whopping 30% off of every person who makes a buy. The better leg (in my opinion) is the webmaster referral system, which nets you 15% of everything any other webmaster brings in. This means that you get 15% of all the business another webmaster refers… which can make for a nice payout each month.

Ethical Profits Made Simple
Let’s be honest, a lot of the affiliate networks out there have you pushing products on people that they shouldn’t be ordering in the first place. Those of you who own blogs already know the importance of reliable hosting and domain names. Those of you who are just into making an extra buck online can appreciate the need for reliable service that any website owner will inevitably face.

Forget these shady gambling, dieting or marketing packages that you feel unethical in promoting. Triple.com is a fantastic website with a great track record and a product that people need. Now with the Triple.com affiliate program, you can get paid off of customers buying real products and from webmasters referring interested business.

Efficient and Orderly Design and Payment Management
As a former web designer myself, I absolutely hate websites that are run on unprofessional scripts and unappealing designs. I really can’t say much against the Triple.com system. The primary website (the business end) has an awesome “Web 2.0” look to it that makes things easy to navigate and clean. In addition, the affiliate managing back end has just a few basic pages to manage your income. Sure, it would be nice to see some added analytical features, but all the options you would want are there and the payment tracking system is one of the best I’ve seen.

On top of the design itself, there are some great looking banners that will fit with almost any blog theme or website layout… so your customers will catch all your links and get you the maximum potential revenue. You get two referral links, one for your customers and one for your webmasters. Clean. Professional. Nothing else to say, Triple.com is a great looking website.

Payments and Restrictions
Now that you’ve had a chance to hear about the affiliate program and webmaster company, let’s talk about the restrictions and payment scales that are set up for you as an affiliate. First things first (and correct me if I’m wrong), Triple.com seems to be open to everyone with a PayPal account. So all of you international readers looking to make some affiliate money may have better luck with the Triple.com program than with a full-fledged marketing broker like Market Leverage or NeverBlueAds.

Payments are all processed by PayPal every month. The best part about this is that there is a super low minimum balance to reach withdrawal at $20. That’s just a few domain sales or one web hosting account. I would like to see them expand their reach out into giving checks and accepting other mediums of payment… but PayPal is definitely a solid start as a lot of people like the anonymity.

Bottom Line: Triple.com is a fantastic webmaster website with a great reputation in the industry. Their new affiliate program is an awesome way to make extra income on the side… with the potential 30% per sale and 15% per referred webmaster. A low payout threshold, quick and efficient pay processing and an awesome product you will actually enjoy promoting… Triple.com is a great new program that has my recommendation.

-Jimvesting

This is a sponsored post of the t3Leads.com network. The views expressed are my own, and have not been influenced by the promotional nature of the bid.

You all know what affiliate marketing is by now. Big advertisers pay big money for leads, and using programs like Market Leverage, NeverBlueAds and ClickBooth you can score big commissions. I know a lot of people that are affiliate marketers making $50,000+ every month just using their computers! It’s truly a lucrative business that pays well once you have your feet wet in the business.

I agreed to do this promotional review of the T3Leads network primarily because they are the running specialists for the finance niche of the market. They claim, as everyone else does, the highest pay per lead rates in the business… but being a niche focused marketing company they do have their advantages over more popular solutions such as those listed above. Truly a business dedicated to forming lasting business relationships, let’s have a look at the t3leads pay per lead program!

The T3Leads Website Design and Functionality
First things first, you know that I am a sucker for good looks… so let’s see how t3leads matches up with the best. On first glance, things look pretty decent. A nice flash banner, a few top products on the sidebar and a good description of what the website is. The only problem here is that the website really falls apart when you navigate away from the homepage.

Signing up is easy enough, and while they send you an email confirmation… I had a strange suspicion that me confirming the reception did absolutely nothing. The one good thing about the main portion of the website is that they have only a few places to go so as not to confuse anyone. There is a great contact page that can put you in touch with a representative from the get-go (before even registering), and a clear-cut FAQ. The primary website (non-members) gets a passing grade for good functionality, though it didn’t blow me away.

T3Leads clearly didn’t put a lot of effort into the members area. This thing is really all over the place, and everything is written twice… once in English and once in Russian, a trend that continues over to the forum board as well. Perhaps they are fixing this, as we company is new, but it’s a bit awkward right now. The member’s section as a whole takes some getting used to, and the functionality isn’t up to par. However, I think that the payment area is really nice… and you can organize it all pretty easily.

The T3Leads Offer Selection and Schematics
What I think is cool about t3leads that really sets them apart is that they give you a virtual army of websites to use in marketing. Here are a few examples: example 1, example 2, example 3. Point taken, the websites that they give you to market are very professional looking (save the ugly numbers on the end), and used correctly you could make a lot of money. Not only that, but all of the websites come with a list of keywords already included… so you know exactly what needs to be done with no research. These sites range from debt consolidation to home loans and everything in between. A nice addition is that they also offer the option for you to custom-make your own websites to pull in some revenue with an API of sorts to work the system a bit more effectively.

The system is a bit odd at first, but t3leads actually doesn’t operate like a standard affiliate marketing company. Instead of giving you the ads and everything where you just need to use a link to give business, t3leads gives you the entire website and let’s you market it as if it were your own with banners and creatives. This is a cool concept, but I think that it burns out a bit by the fact that you really have no clue what you are making, as the reporting system as a whole is pretty darn weak at this point in time. There is a nice way to track all your clicks each day, but it’s impossible to discern what is coming from where.

The T3Leads Support Line and Help
As I said in the opening remarks, they go ahead and give you all the contact information from the get-go. This is definitely not the place you want to go for good support, as you don’t get a personalized representative like you do with a mid or large size marketing firm. However, if you need support they seem readily available in a relatively bare (but new) forum and ticketing system.

My personal experience in talking with them has been pretty average, and that’s exactly what I would expect from a company the size of t3. However, it’s nothing to scoff at, as they will help you in the long run (maybe just not as fast as their competitors).

Jimvesting’s Final Call
Alright, after exploring the system at t3leads, my recommendation is to approach with caution as I give the network a 5/10 ranking. They have a pretty good system in place with giving you your own websites to market, but it is all pretty loosely assorted with an awkward members area and not a very good revenue reporting area. In addition, I’m a bit concerned about payment frequency. While they claim bi-weekly payments… which would be amazing… I have personally seen delays in my little time here.

This may be a solid option for those of you who are international and can’t seem to find a network to work with. There are 6 methods of payment, including popular methods like PayPal, Check and Bank wire, but the threshold is a high $100. My final call is that this might be a fun network to experiment with, but they are just too young to put any serious money into at this point in development. A nice start for a new company.

-Jimvesting

This is a sponsored post that I am doing for a good friend of mine, Michael Dunlop. Therefore, my views are going to be completely biased… just kidding of course.

There’s a new webmaster resource website in town for anyone who owns a blog or website and wants to kick things up a notch. You could be a complete amateur trying to figure out how to start up a website or a seasoned professional looking to add some nice design touches, either way you are going to find the tips at Web Design Development to be quite helpful.

It can be tough to get your feet wet in an industry where people often expect you to know this or that. Michael’s new web design site will teach you everything from how to create a blog, to cool photoshop techniques, to manipulating the images for your website. Coming from the author of RetireAt21.com, you know that you’ll be getting quality information at a pace you can understand. With a great webmaster forum in place to learn from the best and a brand new web directory that can give your websites some added exposure, there are ton’s of tools made available for your use absolutely free. This might be the start of something big!

Web Design & Development Homepage
Perhaps the focal point of this webmaster resource is the main website where all of the tutorials are stored. This is a lot like a blog format, but everything is written as a tutorial. Because of this, things seem to be really clear-cut and every post has something new to offer. One of my favorite articles is about creating and monetizing your first blog. You are basically getting everything instructional that you would in a blog, but sparing the formalities so you really just get what you want without any playful distractions, which can be very nice.

I feel like the bulk of this website is devoted to Photoshop tutorials, which is honestly a bit of a poor choice in my view. With all of the Photoshop tutorial websites around the internet, it’s going to be hard for Michael to compete unless he starts to shift focus back to creating and developing websites. However, the tutorials are colorful and well explained. If you are a beginner/intermediate Photoshop user, you’ll love all of the creative tips that are there for your to use. Great Photoshop tutorials that have been selected especially for websites in our niche.

The Web Design Dev Forums
If there is one thing that I believe Michael can do well, it is making forums that encourage participation among users. With over 100 members already, the webmaster forums are decently populated as is, and are only going to grow outward into the future. If you are a beginner in designing websites or blogs and you need some help with what you are doing, why not register on the forums and post your problem? The people here are very knowledgeable and will answer your questions in a heartbeat.

I guess I might be a sucker for a well run forum, but this is definitely a promising start. Sure, there isn’t a whole lot of discussion like on a more popular website like Digital Point of Bloggeries, but if you can get in on a newer forum from the get-go… being an original member of a popular forum has its perks, so check it out!

Web Directory at Web Design Dev
If you know about website optimization, you probably realize how beneficial it can be to submit your blog or websites URL address and information to lots of web directories. This one just happens to be brand new and is accepting all free links for a limited time. As an established Pagerank 4 website, you are going to get a valued PR 4 link back to your website just by submitting… it takes only a few seconds! Heck, I’ve done it.

I know that a lot of you were upset about the recent Google Pagerank update, well Michael has organized a brand new web directory that could be an essential step one to boosting your numbers. This is a pretty elite directory, so get in before the rates are raised. Simply click here to submit a link for approval now!

Sign Up To Their Free Newsletter!
The best way to keep in touch with any website is to subscribe to their RSS feed or newsletter to get updates in your inbox every morning. This is an especially valuable tool for the new WebDesignDev.com, and on each of Michael’s past blogs he has been generous in giving out prizes left and right to active readers. Because of this and the valuable (& simple) tips, it’s going to be a big benefit for any aspiring web developers looking to jazz things up. Why not sign up for the free newsletter or RSS feed and try things out for yourself?

Bottom Line: Web Design Development is a brand new webmaster website that has a lot of tips so far that can help you advance your web presence and learn some neat tricks. Granted, this blog/website is very new so it’s going to take awhile before there is a sizable amount of information on the blog or forum… but there has already been a solid amount of information published that can really help you out. Check it out today!

-Jimvesting

This is a sponsored review of the Publicity Wheel that is based fully on my opinion and is not biased in any way for or against the service provided.

With all of the traffic-exchange programs out there on the internet, it’s refreshing to see an idea that puts a fun “spin” on the free traffic services industry. There’s been a major backlash against popular services like Entrecard and SiteHoppin in recent weeks. While I still stick with the EntreCard system, I want to suggest a brand new platform that could soon compete with the leaders. It’s a fun way to increase your traffic just like hitting the front page of Digg or getting a massive StumbleUpon bump, and it’s called the Publicity Wheel.

What is Publicity Wheel?
I got a pleasant surprise after checking out this website and signing up. With an awesome web 2.0 design, the Publicity Wheel is a brand new traffic-exchange program that promises huge results if used effectively. Instead of relying on a direct exchange of traffic like the typical systems, you essentially rack up “publicity points” which are entered into a raffle that takes place every week. Once they “spin the Publicity Wheel,” the randomly selected websites (more points, better odds) from each niche are promoted excessively for a full week. This means that if you hit it rich, you are going to get an insane amount of traffic that could bring you from zero to hero in just a week.

How to Collect “Publicity Points”
Obviously, to increase the odds that your website gets randomly selected to be featured you need as many points as possible. The great thing about this system is that you can keep building your number of points week after week until you get featured, at which point you go back to 0. This means that if you work hard, you are nearly guaranteed to hit it big sooner or later.

I really like the system used to collect points. There are basically two ways to rack up as many entries as possible. The first way is a simple referral system. Every member that you invite to join will score you a quick 20 publicity points… which puts you in prime position to win already. The second method of accumulating points is to insert a code on your website to feature the winner from your niche. Every time someone clicks on your ad, that’s an instant 5 credits to your account. Last week, two users won with just 5 points, and a few with just 10 or 15… so you really don’t even need to participate a whole lot to get a win.

Different from the “Standard” Traffic Exchange?
Yes, there is in fact a difference between the normal traffic exchange programs and publicity wheel. While they sound much the same at first glance, you need to remember that in a traffic exchange, websites with more traffic are going to receive more referred traffic from the system based on the way things are laid out. Publicity Wheel is based on one site receiving all of the traffic at once. In this way, there is no playing favorites and you can receive an out-sized ratio of traffic from the amount that you actually referred over. This is a beautiful thing for smaller blogs, but a bad idea for blogs that are already popular.

The Best Way to Win the Publicity Wheel
Unless you are starved for traffic, it is actually a lot better for your time and effort if you just register and snag 5-20 entries (a few clicks). Why? Well this is working back to the time-tested lottery theorem. I don’t want to get too mathematician on you guys… but the basic theory follows that if there is a lottery and you buy just one ticket, you are better off just owning one chance than trying to rack up multiple entries to “increase your odds” in a lottery format.

Let’s use an example: say I’m in a lottery (like Publicity Wheel) and I own just one ticket. Now as an example, let’s also figure that there are 25,000 other entries worldwide. My odds of winning at this point are 1-in-25,000 or 0.004%. If I were to try hard to win and got four more tickets, my odds would improve only slightly to 5-in-25,000 or 0.02%. Sure, the odds have “improved,” but in reality you are really not much more likely to win than by just owning one ticket. This obviously has more of a factor the larger the pool of entries is, and you can dramatically increase your odds of winning in a small pool of 50, but it is something to keep in mind.

The Downside to Publicity Wheel
In all honesty, I personally wouldn’t consider using this system for Jimvesting.com. Why? Well my blog is already semi-popular… so a system like this would not benefit me. In the grand scheme of things, bigger blogs will only benefit from a traffic-exchange if things are weighted such that more referrals = more traffic. In addition to this disadvantage for bigger names, it is a bit hard to predict just how large the effect will be of getting a featured weekly spot on the publicity wheel since things are still new.

The Advantages of Publicity Wheel
If you own a small or even mid-size blog, you are going to be at an advantage over anyone that has more traffic than you and is registered to win. Because it is a lottery, having bigger names in the mix with you is a good thing if you have less traffic. Again, it’s a bit hard to predict how much traffic you will actually get because of the “newness” of the system; however, this could actually play out in your favor since it is going to be easier to win while still in a beta stage.

Bottom Line: At the very least, I definitely recommend checking out the Publicity Wheel and what they have to offer. Other systems like Entrecard and SiteHoppin have gotten bloated and distorted, but the pure idea behind the Publicity Wheel is such that can never really be abused and will always give you a favorable spread in winning a good amount of traffic if you end up being chosen to win. So give it a try, and give that publicity wheel a spin!

-Jimvesting

If you’ve ever been interested in making money online, chances are you know of the affiliate marketing programs out there serving aspiring entrepreneurs worldwide. Fact: a slim 5% of marketers gain 95% of the revenue there is to make in this business. Harnessing the power of marketing is the biggest potential source of web revenue, bottom line.

It’s a shame that the industry has dominated for years by four players: Commission Junction (the “Google” of internet marketing), Shareasale, Linkshare and Performics. However, looking back on first quarter 2008 results shows that there is now a fifth player… snagging a whopping 17.5% of top marketers according to  a recent study done by MarketingSherpa.com. Who is it? Pepperjam. And when the CEO of this company, Kris Jones, contacted me personally about a review… I knew this high-flier was for real.

How Pepperjam Stole The Show
How exactly is it that a 5-month old internet marketing wannabe steals 17.5% of the total internet marketing industry away from the likes of Commission Junction and ShareASale? When I read this recent MarketingSherpa report on the first quarter, I was stunned. What’s more impressive is the customers that Pepperjam services. They’ve got big-name contracts with companies like Pet Meds, Roca Wear, Playboy, Countrywide Financial (bless their hearts) and even the Washington Redskins.

Even with these big names in hand, it’s tough to make the case that Pepperjam is actually going to be able to compete with these big dogs long-term. They are still a long way out, but growth has been impressive knowing they’ve only been around half a year. Biggest driver for second quarter earnings? Ebay has now signed on with Pepperjam, switching out of a relationship with Commission Junction. Will this boost them up over a 20% market share usage among the pros? We’ll have to wait to see.

Safety In Numbers
Pepperjam was one of the first affiliate networks that I ever used, mostly due to their very proactive marketing campaigns early on. I have since switched over to Market Leverage because of their awesome support, but looking back on PepperJam’s website I can see that they have made quite the face-lift. Their old website featured a dark color scheme, which wasn’t too welcoming. Along with a new look to their website, They’ve got a more active campaigning approach that I really enjoy. Considered an authority by Forbes, CNN Money, Business 2.0 & more, and now established as “one of the top 5 major affiliate networks in the United States,” you should check Pepperjam out.

Personally, I like sticking to my numbers… as you are much less likely to get burned on payment by a major company. This fact is a major part of why I am re-recommending that you sign up with Pepperjam. There’s nothing wrong with joining multiple networks… heck, the best in the business do it! In the first quarter of 2008 alone, Pepperjam launched an astonishing 175 new advertisers… making it the fastest growing network in the United States.

But How Are Internet Marketing Company’s Compared?
MarketingSherpa.com broke rankings down into four categories for judging: merchants/advertisers in network, customer service, technology and payment. What was very interesting is how little the best affiliate marketers seem to care about customer service. Apparently, most of the biggest marketing companies have been rated “average” by the clients. This leaves a lot of room for smaller “infant” networks like Market Leverage and Pepperjam to break into the rankings by providing over-the-top customer support to those that want it… and I gotta say I like the attention.

One thing that you can get from Pepperjam that you can’t get from a bloated market authority is a personal touch. PepperJam assigns each account with a unique associate to guide you through your campaigning. But you can really talk to anyone you need, as I’ve even talked with the CEO of the business. I like the personal touch. I might not be the most advanced internet marketer, but I think that everyone appreciates being treated like one.

Bottom Line: The growth Pepperjam has experienced over the short 5-months since their creation is quite impressive. By signing on with some big names like eBay and NetQuote, it’s clear that they might pose a threat to the traditional industry heavyweights. I want to encourage all of you to sign up with the fastest growing affiliate network in the U.S., there’s a lot of upside from a quick registration.

-Jimvesting