Your Link Just Got MORE Valuable!
Two new posts on DennisEdell.com, an EASY $300 contest on EasyCashContests.com and I’m still looking for contest sponsors here 
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You may recall back in mid-October, I wrote about how I was finally and slowly beginning to Blog Monetize, with the Scratch Back widget. When I first installed it, I had the “awesome idea” of charging $5 per week instead of the “auto bump” method which I HATE (read first link to see why).
Things have been pretty emotional (for lack of a better word) for me since then…
I had my first link sale in ONLY two weeks, and I was ECSTATIC! Trust me, when you don’t have Lynn Terry type traffic, two weeks is really good. (I’ve never seen her widget with an empty spot.)
Then a couple weeks later (with no more link sales) I had a good back & forth with both John Dilbeck & Mitch on Johns blog; or was it Mitch’s blog. Perhaps both, I don’t remember.
Anyway, John had mentioned that he never received a sale from his widget and it was time to test other things…any good affiliate marketer knows testing different methods and tactics is #1. I mentioned that I was going to stick it out a little while longer; after all, I had scored a link in ONLY TWO WEEKS, right?
A couple more weeks go by…..nothing. I had pretty much decided that was that and I too would test and try other things; still slowly as I am new to the affiliate scene…..flash forward another day or two…..
BAM! Another link sale! (Thanks to Garry Conn.) I almost cried. Not just because I scored another sale (we all do love that proverbial “ding” in the mail) but also because now I was totally confused. WTF? Do I give it up? Do I now keep it even longer? Was this just another fluke?
Enter…Peter, with a thought that made me wanna kick myself in the nose for not thinking of originally. You see, my thought of $5 per week giving more bang to your buck IS a solid idea IF you have HIGH TARGETED TRAFFIC volumes. With my widget being empty for weeks on end, I was actually offering LESS value.
A thank you to Peter for pointing out what somehow escaped my view (almost embaressing) and for the time being, the fact that I don’t have 10,000 unique visitors per minute (LOL) is your gain!
Until further notice (read:consistently full widget) I have switched it to auto-bump, which means your link is there until the widget is full and people keep buying…which in turn means your link could be in full view (site wide) for quite some time!
If/when it does become consistently full, I WILL switch it back to $5 per week. After all, it’s about the best bang for your buck, not greed on my part 
(again, see original post ).
Now, I realize it took a while to get to the original point here, but as it turns out there is a method to my madness! After you purchase your link hehe, think for a moment…there’s a moral (maybe two) to this post, can you tell me what it is?
Happy Linking!
Dennis
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Tags: affiliate marketing, Blog Monetize, Contests Sponsors, Easy Cash Contests, Garry Conn, Lynn Terry, Scratch-back
Jaq @ Net Age Web Design
Kev
Latief@AnotherBlogger
sherry
December 6th, 2008 at 3:42 pm
For me the moral is: We as bloggers must build with other bloggers
This is how ideas get turned into that proverbial “email ding” you mentioned
Caleb´s last blog post..Being Part Of A Group
December 6th, 2008 at 5:44 pm
Try and test, if it dosent work out try another angle, 10,000 uniques!!!! NICE if you can get it
December 6th, 2008 at 6:50 pm
Hi Dennis,
I wonder whether you’d be better off moving the scratchback widget to the top of the sidebar, it provides better value to link buyers if it’s above the fold.
BTW I followed your twitter link above, ready to start following you, and there’s nothing there - I reckon if you’re going to link to it in your blog, you should post to it once in a while
Stu´s last blog post..How to spam my Wordpress blog PROPERLY
December 6th, 2008 at 7:24 pm
Dennis,
Thanks for the mention and you’re welcome my friend.
For me the moral is :show more what they can benefit….(you said it here Dennis “…your link could be in full view (site wide) for quite some time!”)
Peter Lee
work at home ideas´s last blog post..Link Love No.15-Make Money Blogging On Internet
December 6th, 2008 at 9:20 pm
Ahh Caleb, the ding! is at least half the fun ain’t it? LOL
December 6th, 2008 at 9:21 pm
Indeed Bill! And we shall.
December 6th, 2008 at 9:23 pm
Hey Stu, welcome!
Actually I found out a short time ago, the above the fold on this blog, shows to just under the top 3 boxes on most computers…not really a good place or a widget like that.
Plus, I could be wrong, but I don’t see many people buying a link before they actually read anything…although it would be nice.
LOL
December 6th, 2008 at 9:28 pm
Peter, right on my man.
There’s an email headed your way.
December 7th, 2008 at 1:06 am
Interesting stuff, Dennis. It was on both mine and John’s blogs we were discussing this, but more on his. I keep forgetting about this widget, but I’m going to add it as soon as I do some maintenance and searching on my blog; something’s up that I don’t like.
Mitch´s last blog post..Is Social Media Hurting Your Online Business?
December 7th, 2008 at 1:22 am
I tried it before and recently am trying it again.
Dominique´s last blog post..Learning to read with RIF
December 7th, 2008 at 9:24 am
Mitch - I figured it was both. At this point it’s just a merge in my head. LOL
What’s up with the blog? Email me if you need any help with anything.
December 7th, 2008 at 9:24 am
Dominique - what made you stop using it, and now rethink it?
December 7th, 2008 at 9:35 am
I found your site in google when I was looking up blogs. I realy like what you have done and just wanted to leave a comment saying so. Cheers
December 7th, 2008 at 10:19 am
Thanks Jenny! I hope to see you around more often.
December 7th, 2008 at 12:08 pm
I would love to sponsor your contest.
And about Scratchback, I used to use it on my blog and sold 4 links in 1 week without promotion. So, yeah it’s kind of cool but after 2 months of using it, no one else bought any links.
I was using the bump feature so yeah.
Desmond - DesmondBlog.com´s last blog post..Superman Joe at PostBlogger.com
December 7th, 2008 at 2:48 pm
Hey Desmond, thanks for the sponsor offer! You can either put it in the comments on the post below (get some link luv) or email me direct…offer + value.
LOL yea the auto bump is the best way when you’re not full; it’s just my personal opinion that it’s a little greedy, and definitely not in the buyers best interest, when you get bumped within the hour.
December 8th, 2008 at 8:02 am
Nice blog you holding dude,got to take some tips from you..how to manage.
Cheers.
December 8th, 2008 at 9:13 am
Thanks smart, I hope to see you again!
December 9th, 2008 at 6:23 am
LOL… looks like you have another customer
… although now I am not sure about your submission policy and whether you allow affiliate links …. shoot, should´ve checked that before
Mirjam´s last blog post..Is Your Own Mind Making You Poor?
December 9th, 2008 at 10:01 am
$5. a week sounds pretty cheap. I’ll give it a shot.
Gerald Weber´s last blog post..10 Rules the Best Online Copywriters Follow
December 9th, 2008 at 10:21 am
Mirjam - Normally I do not, and that will be on the advertising page when i create it…..no worries this time, I know you wouldn’t promote crap.
December 9th, 2008 at 10:25 am
Gerald - As stated I switched from weekly to auto-bump until it fills up…..this way, your link is there for however long it takes to fill up, which could be weekS.
Once it is consistently filled, I will switch back to weekly….I always try to do what’s in the best interest of the buyer.
December 9th, 2008 at 1:46 pm
with all the promotion you are giving the widget I am sure I´ll be off the scratchback soon anyways LOL but yeah, I have been using them myself on and off with good results
December 9th, 2008 at 2:05 pm
Mirjam - that’s when I switch it back to per week.
December 12th, 2008 at 6:20 am
Sometimes a link has more value than the information it links. A link is more than an instruction to jump from a piece of text to another document, it is the identification of a relationship between two or more pieces of information.
December 12th, 2008 at 9:58 am
Cheap - true enough, although I’m not really seeing the connection. Did you read the whole post or just the title?
December 24th, 2008 at 3:42 pm
I finally installed my top spots widget…thanx for talking about this
Caleb´s last blog post..Enter This Contest And Win A NEW Corvette!
December 24th, 2008 at 3:59 pm
Congrats, I hope it works well for ya.
December 26th, 2008 at 10:07 am
Dennis,
I can see that the tips are growing steadily huh.Good for you, its yours for the taking as you’re providing really good stuff here on this blog.
Peter Lee
work at home ideas´s last blog post..How Good Content, Blog Marketing Drives Massive Traffic
December 26th, 2008 at 10:09 am
Dennis,
Oh BYW what happened to your Top Commentators list. It seems to be gone. Another strategy of yours?
Peter Lee
work at home ideas´s last blog post..How Good Content, Blog Marketing Drives Massive Traffic
December 26th, 2008 at 10:16 am
Hey Peter thanks man, I really appreciate that.
I never had a top commenters list up (yet anyways, shhh
) where did you see one?
December 26th, 2008 at 10:28 am
Oh that figures. I guess it must be because I always thought every blog should have one.Maybe one day I will see it here.
Peter
work at home ideas´s last blog post..How Good Content, Blog Marketing Drives Massive Traffic
December 26th, 2008 at 11:25 am
Hey Peter, I see subtlety was never your strong suit. LOL
It’s comin’ my man, but it’s a secret. Shhh