James Bachini

Business

  • Online Marketing Glossary | The Definitive List Of Digital Marketing Definitions

    Online Marketing Glossary | The Definitive List Of Digital Marketing Definitions

    I’ve worked in the digital marketing space for more than a decade and this online marketing glossary contains every marketing definition you could ever need. There are many online marketing glossaries out there but this one is unique because it wasn’t written by a virtual assistant 😋 James On YouTube 301 Redirect 404 Error AB…

  • 8 Working From Home Tips | After 10 Unconventional Years

    8 Working From Home Tips | After 10 Unconventional Years

    Since 2011 I’ve been self-employed and working in startups, primarily working remotely from a home office or from hotels when traveling. Here are some working from home tips that I’ve learnt along the way. Create an Isolated Space Avoid Distractions Create Boundaries KanBan > ToDo Lists Pack Meetings & Video Calls Together Stay Disciplined Disconnect…

  • Digital Marketing Overview | Beginners Guide

    Digital Marketing Overview | Beginners Guide

    In this beginners guide I provide a digital marketing overview of how to setup and run online marketing campaigns. Check out the video and there’s more detailed information below and in the digital marketing tutorials section. [Video] Digital Marketing For Beginners How Online Marketing Works Performance Marketing Process Analytics & Tracking Website, Landing Page Design…

  • Guerilla Marketing | 12 Captivating Ideas To Bootstrap Your Brand

    Guerilla Marketing | 12 Captivating Ideas To Bootstrap Your Brand

    What Is Guerilla Marketing? News Hacking Treasure Hunts Works Of Artistic License World Record Attempts Poster Plastering Event Ambushing Social Trolls Competitor Competition Swag Giveaways Flash Mobs Codes, Secrets & Easter Eggs Product Placements/Demos How To Create Your Guerilla Marketing Campaign What Is Guerilla Marketing? Guerilla marketing is a creative, unconventional and often unauthorized marketing…

  • Google Ads vs Facebook Ads

    Google Ads vs Facebook Ads

    The two largest ad networks in the world go head to head in this article. Google Ads vs Facebook Ads provides an overview of the differences between the ad networks with the aim of deciding where to allocate advertising budget for your business. At the end of this article you can find the links to…

  • Lookalike Audience | What, Why & Tips For Building Lookalike Audiences 👀

    Lookalike Audience | What, Why & Tips For Building Lookalike Audiences 👀

    This article provides everything you need to know about lookalike audiences. From the basics of how to effectively seed lookalike audiences to how lookalike audiences work and how you can profit from the technology. What Is A Lookalike Audience When To Create A Lookalike Audience Tips For Building A Lookalike Audience Facebook Lookalike Audience Google…

  • NFC Marketing | 8 NFC Marketing Examples

    NFC Marketing | 8 NFC Marketing Examples

    In this article we look at NFC Marketing opportunities and how NFC chips can be used to merge online and offline marketing campaigns. Introduction To NFC Technology How To Write A NFC Chip Using Your Phone 8 NFC Marketing Examples NFC Business Cards NFC Billboards NFC Point of Sale Data NFC Stickers & Labels NFC…

  • Direct Linking | How To Set Up Quick Affiliate Campaigns 🏹

    Direct Linking | How To Set Up Quick Affiliate Campaigns 🏹

    In this article we look at how direct linking affiliate offers works including a real world campaign setup video. What Is Direct Linking? Benefits Of Direct Linking Finding Affiliate Offers Finding A Traffic Source Testing & Initial Results Optimizing Direct Link Campaigns Scaling Up Affiliate Campaigns 3 Tips For Direct Linking Video Example Direct Linking…

  • Website Competitor Analysis | 5 Steps To Research The Competition 🕵️

    Website Competitor Analysis | 5 Steps To Research The Competition 🕵️

    This article outlines the following five steps to carry out a thorough website competitor analysis. Assessing Competitive Landscape Analyzing Website Traffic Metrics Social Media & Content Analysis Web Technology & Tracking Analysis Personnel & Corporate Structure Research First let’s look at a video example of carrying out competitor research for a Clickbank product. Website Competitor…

  • Custom QR Code Design | How To Create Custom QR Codes For Marketing

    Custom QR Code Design | How To Create Custom QR Codes For Marketing

    Here is an example of a custom QR Code which you can scan with any camera app to get a link back to this website In this article I’m going to show you how you can create these using a free tools. How Do QR Codes Work Generate QR Code Link Import QR Code To…

  • SaaS Marketing Strategy

    SaaS Marketing Strategy

    An optimal SaaS marketing strategy should focus on customer acquisition. Normally a free trial is offered as a lead magnet and users then convert to paid users on a monthly subscription. SaaS platforms scale well and can grow quickly when they find product market fit and get customer acquisition costs below lifetime revenues. Contents 7…

  • Google Ads Performance Max Campaigns

    Google Ads Performance Max Campaigns

    Google Ads Performance Max campaigns are due to be released in 2021 for advertiser who request to be part of the beta test. The ads will be a “next step” in the use of machine learning throughout the Google ads system. What Are Performance Max Campaigns? James On YouTube Performance Max Campaigns Are Conversion Focused…

  • How To Make Sales | How To Sell 🤝

    How To Make Sales | How To Sell 🤝

    In this module I’ll be showing you a proven process for how to make sales. This starts by setting targets and creating a sales plan, then I’ll be discussing lead generation and outreach, sales communications and techniques. The module finishes with a section on how to close the sale. The Sales Process Set Sales Targets…

  • Brand Narrative | How To Create Narratives With Brand Storytelling 🖋️

    Brand Narrative | How To Create Narratives With Brand Storytelling 🖋️

    This module is part of a free online course where you can learn digital marketing. Brand Narrative & The Art Of Storytelling [Video] How Narratives Affect Business & Markets The Why That Drives Your Company Building A Brand With A Strong Narrative 3 Brand Narrative Examples Expressing Narratives With Brand Storytelling How To Share Your…

  • Traffic Sources | How To Get More Traffic To Your Website

    Traffic Sources | How To Get More Traffic To Your Website

    This module is part of a free online course where you can learn digital marketing. In this module we’ll be exploring the most effective traffic sources to drive more visitors and traffic to your website. Website Traffic Sources [Video] Paid vs Free Traffic – Expectations vs Reality Free Traffic Sources Content Marketing Strategy SEO –…

  • 5 Retargeting Examples| Remarketing Strategies With Facebook & Google Ads

    5 Retargeting Examples| Remarketing Strategies With Facebook & Google Ads

    This module is part of a free online course where you can learn digital marketing. Here are some retargeting examples of how to run effective remarketing campaigns on Google & Facebook Ads. As I go through the examples I will be introducing new concepts and more advanced retargeting methods. Content (Re)Marketing Bombardment URL & Event…

  • Defining Key Performance Indicators | From 34 KPI Examples

    Defining Key Performance Indicators | From 34 KPI Examples

    In this article we look at Key Performance Indicators, how to define them, review them and how you can set up a KPI dashboard for your business. KPI’s in 90 Seconds What are Key Performance Indicators? What makes a good KPI? Categories of KPI and 34 Key Performance Indicator Examples Steps To Defining KPI’s Setting…

  • Facebook Advertising Network | How To Instantly Improve Your Facebook Ads 🧩

    Facebook Advertising Network | How To Instantly Improve Your Facebook Ads 🧩

    This module is part of a free online course where you can learn digital marketing. The Facebook advertising network is the most advanced and powerful marketing platform the world has ever seen. In this module I’m going to show you ways to get the most out your Facebook ads. [Video] 7 Tips To Improve Facebook…

  • Analytics Strategy | Essential Guide To Data Driven Marketing 📈

    Analytics Strategy | Essential Guide To Data Driven Marketing 📈

    This module is part of a free online course where you can learn digital marketing. How to create an analytics strategy to track visitor metrics, provide actionable insights into performance and establish data driven marketing methodology for continuous improvement. [Video] Creating An Effective Analytics Strategy Why Analytics & Privacy Are Important Roadmap For Developing An…

  • Creating Google Ads | Tips, Tools & Strategies

    Creating Google Ads | Tips, Tools & Strategies

    This article is part of a free online course where you can learn digital marketing. In this module I’ll be showing you how to create Google Ads effectively to get the best return on ad spend. Creating Google Ads Video Where Google Displays Ads Setting Up Google Ads Campaigns PPC Keyword List Tool Tracking Conversions…

  • How To Monetise Your Website | 8 Ways To Make Money Online 💰

    How To Monetise Your Website | 8 Ways To Make Money Online 💰

    This article is part of a free online course where you can learn digital marketing. The following 8 methods are the most effective ways to monetise your website. Banner Ads Affiliate Marketing Accept Donations Consulting Merchandise Sponsored Content / Links / Shoutouts Creating Digital Products Selling The Site The Passive Income Spectrum 8 Ways To…

  • Copywriting for Websites | Marketing Psychology Secrets

    Copywriting for Websites | Marketing Psychology Secrets

    This article is part of a free online course where you can learn digital marketing. This article provides original research on how copywriting for websites converts visitors to customers and how to write better sales copy on your next website or landing page. 32 Copywriting Tricks Learned From Analysing 210 Landing Pages Marketing Psychology Concepts…

  • SEO Content | How To Rank On Google 🕵️

    SEO Content | How To Rank On Google 🕵️

    This article is part of a free online course where you can learn digital marketing. In this article we are going to go through the complete process of creating SEO content that ranks at the top of Google. SEO in 90 Seconds What Content Ranks Well On Google Keyword Research High Click Through Rate Titles…

  • Marketing Mix | What Is The Modern Marketing Mix?

    Marketing Mix | What Is The Modern Marketing Mix?

    Seth Godin is one of the few remaining marketers that sees the marketing mix as an art rather than a science. While reading his book “This is Marketing” I decided to revisit some of the fundamentals of marketing that get overlooked in today’s fast moving online space. The marketing mix is a concept originally from…

  • Marketing Strategy Template

    Marketing Strategy Template

    This free marketing strategy template provides a framework from which to plan out modern marketing activities. Follow the link below to download the document in Google docs, .pdf, .doc (word) and .odt format. Marketing Strategy Template Explained in 90 seconds Download the Template Core Value Proposition Marketing Objectives Key Performance Metrics Targets (SMART) SWOT Analysis…

  • Marketing Help for Small Businesses

    Marketing Help for Small Businesses

    This article provides marketing help for small businesses that want to develop an effective digital marketing strategy. The first section is devoted to what companies can do internally and where to start. The second section is for SMEs with annual marketing budgets greater than £20,000 ($25,000) that could leverage external consultants and agencies. Internal Online…

  • Google Analytics Event Tracking | GA Events Setup, Tips & Examples

    Google Analytics Event Tracking | GA Events Setup, Tips & Examples

    In this article we will explore what you can do with Google Analytics Events, how to set them up, some example code for where they can be used and some tips for getting the most out of gtag events. Google Analytics Events in 90 Seconds What are Google Analytics Events? Breakdown of an Event Setting…

  • Brave vs Chrome | Ultimate Browser Test & Comparison Guide 🖥️

    Brave vs Chrome | Ultimate Browser Test & Comparison Guide 🖥️

    I’ve been using Brave for web browsing recently after using Chrome and Firefox for a long time. Here is a comparison of Brave vs Chrome, which is the best browser in 2020? Brave vs Chrome in 90 seconds Page Load Speed Privacy Protection Rewards Downside of using Brave Moving from Chrome/Firefox/Safari to Brave Conclusion Brave…

  • CRO | Conversion Rate Optimisation

    CRO | Conversion Rate Optimisation

    This article is part of a free online course where you can learn digital marketing. Conversion rate optimisation or CRO is the process of making a website, landing page or app convert more visitors into leads and customers. What is CRO and do I need it? What is the Average Improvement to Conversion Rate? How…

  • Deno JS | Deno vs Node.JS

    Deno JS | Deno vs Node.JS

    Deno is a Javascript and Typescript runtime from the creator of Node.js For anyone that doesn’t know Node.js is a server-side Javascript runtime. It’s used by millions of projects across the globe and powers the backends and API’s of many of the world’s leading websites. Then came Deno (aka Deno.js or Deno JS), an improved…

  • Lead Magnets, Autoresponders & Tripwires | The Modern Sales Funnel

    Lead Magnets, Autoresponders & Tripwires | The Modern Sales Funnel

    This article is part of a free online course where you can learn digital marketing. Lead magnets, autoresponders and tripwires form key components of a very popular sales funnel. Traffic is pushed into the funnel from traffic sources such as paid ads, content marketing and social media outreach. The visitor is directed to a landing…

  • Types of Business Model

    Types of Business Model

    This article explores the different types of business model as well as looking at what makes a good business model and some common online business models. The 10 Business Model Categories The 10 Types Of Business Model Explained [Video] Breakdown of a Business Model What Makes a Great Business Model? Types of Online Business Model…

  • Advertising & Marketing Statistics 2020

    Advertising & Marketing Statistics 2020

    These advertising and marketing statistics are derived from raw data on advertising and marketing trends in the UK, US and globally. Feel free to use any of the stats and/or images in 3rd party content but include a link back to this blog at https://jamesbachini.com Advertising Spend & Market Size Stats Performance Marketing Stats E-Commerce…

  • What is Online Marketing? | A Definitive Guide

    What is Online Marketing? | A Definitive Guide

    This article is part of a free online course where you can learn digital marketing. Introduction In this document I explain how online marketing works, provide online marketing tips and show how online marketers make money. There is a deep dive into building web properties, which traffic sources are being used and how to scale…

  • Essentialism Notes | Less But Better

    Essentialism Notes | Less But Better

    The following are my notes on the Book Essentialism – the disciplined pursuit of less. The underlying principle of this book is “less but better”. The author Greg Mckeown starts with a personal story of how he left his wife and new born baby in hospital to attend a client meeting to try and keep…

  • CoronaVirus | The Most Socially & Economically Disruptive Event Of The Century

    CoronaVirus | The Most Socially & Economically Disruptive Event Of The Century

    The coronavirus pandemic is the most socially and economically disruptive event of the 21st century. What will the world look like once we come out of lockdown and can we return to some level of normality? The lockdown period is expected to last 2-6 months in western economies. There is going to be political pressure…

  • How To Calculate EV (Expected Value) By Analysing Risk & Reward

    How To Calculate EV (Expected Value) By Analysing Risk & Reward

    Expected value or EV is a term used in finance and gambling to define the estimated return of a given situation based on enough iterations. James On YouTube For example if you bet $1 on a coin toss your EV would be 0 because you would win/lose 50% of the time and your loss would…

  • Micro Conversions | Complete Guide To Optimising & Scaling With Micro Conversions

    Micro Conversions | Complete Guide To Optimising & Scaling With Micro Conversions

    What are micro conversions? Micro conversions are minor events such as clicks and scrolls that we can use to track visitor behaviour and optimise advertising and landing pages faster. They are generally not directly linked to key performance indicators for an advertising campaign but can be used to scale (increase traffic volumes) more effectively. James…

  • 8 Tips For The Perfect Blog Post

    8 Tips For The Perfect Blog Post

    This is the revised 2020 complete guide to the best practices when creating content for your blog. You can use this framework to create a “perfect blog post” and move your site up the search engine rankings. James On YouTube The Title The title or headline of a blog post should be a close match…

  • What does Affiliate Marketing mean?

    What does Affiliate Marketing mean?

    Affiliate marketing is when an “advertiser”, normally a brand or company, offers a 3rd party “affiliate” a financial incentive to promote their products and services.

  • Search For Satoshi

    Search For Satoshi

    In 2008 an anonymous user with the alias Satoshi Nakamoto posted the original Bitcoin whitepaper to the Cryptography mailing list. Satoshi mined a lot of the early Bitcoin blocks and the rewards that are held in bitcoin wallets associated are estimated to be around 1 million BTC or 10 Billion USD. If Bitcoin eventually reaches…

  • Setting up HTTPS (SSL) with Cloudflare and WordPress

    Setting up HTTPS (SSL) with Cloudflare and WordPress

    If you are just running a wordpress blog or simple website you can setup Cloudflare to manage SSL for you. Cloudflare acts as a proxy between your website and the user. I recently setup Cloudflare which provides a SSL certificate with their free account plan. Step 1. Setup Cloudflare Register for an account. Then select…

  • Cryptocurrency During The Next Recession

    Cryptocurrency During The Next Recession

    I learnt the hard (and expensive way) not to try and predict stock market timings so I wont guess when the next recession will occur. Like a knock on the door from someone wanting to talk about Jehovah, you know it’s going to happen but it’s normally at the most inopportune time when you don’t…

  • Book Review: It doesn’t have to be crazy at work – Jason Fried and David Hansson

    Book Review: It doesn’t have to be crazy at work – Jason Fried and David Hansson

    Amazon Link: It doesn’t have to be crazy at work This is a short book about efficiency and calm in the workplace. I read it six months or so ago and some of the concepts are really useful if you are used to working in high pressure environments. Chapter Breakdown Curb your ambition – don’t…

  • Progressive Optimisation

    Progressive Optimisation

    When looking at conversion rate statistics for a new traffic source it is important to use progressive optimisation to block non-converting sources as early and efficiently as possible. The first step is to work out what conversion rate is required and then put a progressive funnel in place to build up to it. So if…

  • Book: Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance review

    Book: Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance review

    Amazon Link: Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance This is a modern classic. To be honest I only found out it was written 40 odd years ago when I got to the end. It is a brilliantly written piece by Robert Pirsig that tells the story of a father and son on a journey…

  • Example Media Buy Letter

    Example Media Buy Letter

    Here is an example media buy proposal letter that can be used as a cold email, contact form or social media message. Response rates for media buy proposals are low so anything you can do to connect with the person responsible for monetising a website first is going to be beneficial. Check the whois information,…

  • Book: How to Be an Imperfectionist Review

    Book: How to Be an Imperfectionist Review

    Link: How to be an imperfectionist review I think there must be quite a few affiliates, digital marketers and high performers who are on the OCD scale. This book is about perfectionism which is very closely related or part of that scale. OCD is obsessive compulsive disorder. I’m terrible for it. I can’t sit at…

  • Capitalisation of Links (www.MySite.com) CRO Test

    Capitalisation of Links (www.MySite.com) CRO Test

    I thought an interesting split test would be to test if text links on a landing page that are capitalised get more clicks than ones that don’t. For example: https://www.jamesbachini.com/ – standard (control) https://www.JamesBachini.com/ – Capitalised This was for a site that wasn’t a personal name and contained a full directory and page like http://www.MyGreatWebSite.com/example/page.htm…

  • PHP Redirect with Parameters | Passing GET variables in a Redirect

    PHP Redirect with Parameters | Passing GET variables in a Redirect

    Update March 2023 To do a 301 PHP redirect with parameters to another page we can use the following code: The entire query parameter string is stored in the following variable. Everything after the question mark. So for the URL: server.com/index.php?test=123&hi=hellothe $_SERVER[‘QUERY_STRING’] will contain this string “test=123&hi=hello” We can then pass this out when redirecting…

  • Publisher Side Ad Platform Statistics

    Publisher Side Ad Platform Statistics

    This really shows the dominance of Google for display advertising, especially for smaller sites with their Adsense platform. I’ve thought for a while that Facebook should be able to enter this market and using their vast amount of user data increase CPM’s for small publishers. As of yet this hasn’t been widely adopted and Adsense…

  • Instagram Add Call To Action Button

    Instagram Add Call To Action Button

    Instagram call to action buttons can be found on profile pages and advertisements. This article will show you how to Add a call to action button to your Instagram Profile Add a call to action button to your Instagram Ad Add a call to action button to your Instagram Profile Follow these steps to add…

  • Wasabi AB Testing Platform

    Wasabi AB Testing Platform

    Update July 2020 – Wasabi is no longer maintained or supported. Check this article for more information on conversion rate optimisation. Wasabi AB Testing Platform Intuit have opensourced a enterprise grade A/B testing platform called Wasabi. This runs as an API on a separate server from your site/landers. It isn’t the easiest thing to setup…

  • Book Review: How To Get Rich – Felix Dennis

    Book Review: How To Get Rich – Felix Dennis

    Amazon Link: How To Get Rich This book was recommended on someones most life changing books list. Despite the guru title “How To Get Rich” it’s actually quite a bit different to the standard Tony Robbins spin-offs. The writer Felix Dennis isn’t selling anything, there’s no upsells or hidden agenda. He’s an older guy that…

  • Online Marketing Predictions For 2017

    Online Marketing Predictions For 2017

    Here are my online marketing predictions for 2017. I reviewed this in 2020 (ticks/crosses) to see what I got right. 1. Native will go mainstream and start attracting big brand spenders Native advertising has been affiliate marketers little secret for a couple of years now. The volume is now at a stage where brand advertisers…

  • robots.txt Disallow All | Block Bots

    robots.txt Disallow All | Block Bots

    In this article we are going to look at how to block bot traffic using the robots.txt disallow all feature, then some of the more advanced uses of the robots.txt file. How To Disallow All in robots.txt Custom robots.txt for Specific Bots and Directories Complete List of Bots – robots.txt How To Disallow All in…

  • Ben Horowitz Hard things about hard things review

    Ben Horowitz Hard things about hard things review

    Andreeson Horowitz is Silicon Valleys leading venture capital firm. Their portfolio itself is worth a flick through at: http://a16z.com/portfolio/ It’s incredible how many of the tech startup success stories they have been involved in. Ben Horowitz is one of the cofounders and in his book the Hard things about hard things he talks about his…

  • Node.js client for Moz API (MozScape)

    Node.js client for Moz API (MozScape)

    Update 2020: This is outdated now and not maintained. I’d recommend using one of these packages: https://www.npmjs.com/package/moz-api https://www.npmjs.com/package/moz-api-wrapper Original Post: I was doing some work with SEO domains and realised there wasn’t a node.js client for the MozScape API… so after Googling and not finding what I was looking for I built one. What this…

  • All the Facebook ads targeting options [infographic]

    All the Facebook ads targeting options [infographic]

  • Book Review: Delivering Happiness – Tony Hsieh

    Book Review: Delivering Happiness – Tony Hsieh

    To get through this you are going to need to read a hundred or so pages of why Zappos is such an amazing company how how they are changing the world. That said Tony does make some interesting points throughout the book. His story of how he got started in the tech industry first with…

  • New Page Level Ads – Adsense

    New Page Level Ads – Adsense

    These new ads are now available in the Adsense platform: They can be added to your adsense site and will only pop on mobile when Google thinks it’s a good time to launch an overlay. I’m not sure how they calculate this but it is described as displaying at “optimal times”. Most importantly you can…

  • Book Review: Will it fly – Pat Flynn

    Book Review: Will it fly – Pat Flynn

    This book is about testing an idea before you go all out and build a business around it. Pat goes through some interesting thought experiments based on what you want personally and how your business idea will fit in to that. There is some good information about market research in there. I particularly like the…

  • CTA Conf 2016 Notes (PDF Download )

    CTA Conf 2016 Notes (PDF Download )

    The CTA Conference was put on by Unbounce in June and they also produced this really good notes PDF which is worth reading for anyone in the digital marketing space. You can download it here: http://calltoactionconference.unbounce.com/docs/CTAConf%202016%20Notes.pdf

  • Setting Up Facebook & Google Adwords Conversion & Retargeting Pixels

    Setting Up Facebook & Google Adwords Conversion & Retargeting Pixels

    Conversion tracking is important because it will show you how much each lead or purchase is costing you in advertising costs. For most marketers this is their key performance indicator as it has a direct influence on their profits. Retargeting (or remarketing) tracking is important because by building an audience we can launch cost-effective marketing…

  • Jim.am has moved to JamesBachini.com

    Jim.am has moved to JamesBachini.com

    Welcome to the new blog. I have updated the design with a new theme and some pretty pictures. I changed the domain name too as I wasn’t doing anything with the last one and wanted to keep a personal blog anyway so this will suit me more. I still plan to talk, rant and go…

  • Microsoft to buy Linkedin

    Microsoft to buy Linkedin

    News this morning is that Microsoft is going to buy Linkedin for $26 Billion USD. Now I’m not saying we are in a new .com tech bubble but… Linkedin has 433 million users. That would give a cost per user of $60usd. Now my first thought is that if Microsoft spent that money on advertising…

  • Facebook changes ad text guidelines

    Facebook changes ad text guidelines

    Facebook has changed it’s policy on disallowing ads with more than 20% text. There are now 4 bands in which your ad will be placed. OK, Low Text, Medium Text, High Text. The higher band your ad comes in the lower your quality score and less traffic you will get or higher you will have…

  • A simple iOS / Android traffic splitter in PHP

    A simple iOS / Android traffic splitter in PHP

    The following basic PHP code will split traffic by device with iOS traffic going to the first out link, Android to the second and leftovers to the third. TIP: This uses a 301 redirect however you can do any type of programmatic variation based on the user agent. You can copy and paste this into…

  • No More Forced Tablet Traffic On Adwords

    No More Forced Tablet Traffic On Adwords

    At last Google has put an end to the way it was allowing bid adjustments for mobile and desktop but not tablets. For years this has meant that Adwords advertisers were forced into getting unwanted tablet traffic and paying the same rate for it as desktop. Here is the blog announcement from Google: http://adwords.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/ads-and-analytics-innovations-for-a-mobile-first-world.html If…

  • Splitting traffic to different offers on mobile

    Splitting traffic to different offers on mobile

    If you are buying bulk traffic to a mobile offer the chances are that you can split some of your traffic off to different offers. For example if  you have a pin submit that only accepts android but has a much higher payout then you can separate your android traffic and increase your bottom line.…

  • Option to Disable Adsense Ads

    Option to Disable Adsense Ads

    In some cases it is beneficial to provide a link or option for visitors to a site not to see the adsense ads the first time they visit a page. Ads can sometimes be viewed negatively and for the first visit or under certain circumstances it is best to temporarily disable them. Here is the…

  • Leading Ad Networks

    Leading Ad Networks

    Here is a list of the leading ad networks @ Dec 2015: Search PPC Google Adwords MSN Adcenter Social Networks Facebook Twitter Plenty of Fish Reddit LinkedIn In-text Ad Networks 50onRed Infolinks Clicksor Pay per view PPV Traffic Vance Lead Impact Media Traffic Clicksor Pop Unders Wiget Media Adcash AdsTerra Banner Display Networks / Exchanges…

  • The truth about online advertising agencies and consultants

    I see a lot of companies promoting online marketing services to small and medium sized businesses. The engineering company I am involved with gets emails every day from companies offering adwords optimisation or SEO (search engine optimisation) services. How many of these companies actually know what they are doing though? I would hazard a guess…

  • Tuesday Morning Funny

    Tuesday Morning Funny

    What’s not smart? Not testing your dynamic tokens when email marketing: Like a pro!

  • How to choose offers from an affiliate network

    How to choose offers from an affiliate network

    The most useful bit of information you can get from your affiliate manager is what offers are running the most volume. This is the only data I ever ask AM’s for because it tells me in no uncertain terms what is competitive on the network at the moment. AM’s are notorious for bombarding us with…

  • Automatic Redirect for Mobile Landing Page

    Want a mobile lander with a 90%+ “CTR”? Simply add the following javasript: <script> function go() { location.href = ‘http://www.jamesbachini.com’; } function init() { setTimeout(function() { confirm(‘You have two friends who recommended this app’); },3000); setTimeout(function() { go(); },5000); } </script> Then run the init function on body load like so: <body onload=”init();”> This does…

  • Dynamic Tracking Tokens For Major Ad Networks

    Dynamic Tracking Tokens For Major Ad Networks

    Google Adwords Search term insertion {keyword=”leather couches”} {Keyword=”Leather couches”} {KeyWord=”Leather Couches”} {KEYWORD= “LEATHER COUCHES”} {device} {devicemodel} {placement} {creative} {adposition} {target} {network} {matchtype} Facebook No tokens 🙁 Plenty of Fish pof.com {age:} {state:} {gender:} TrafficVance %KEYWORD% MSN Adcenter {KeyWord} = Order Fresh Fruit today {keyword} = Order fresh fruit today {Keyword} = Order Fresh fruit today…

  • Problems with running traffic to CPA affiliate networks

    Problems with running traffic to CPA affiliate networks

    OK this might be a bit of an eye opener for anyone running traffic to CPA networks. This is obviously a negative post about some pet hates but there is a place for networks in the industry and they have their uses for sure which I’ll go through at the end. CPA networks have “internal…

  • Setting Up Retargeting Pixels for Adwords and Facebook

    Setting Up Retargeting Pixels for Adwords and Facebook

    Retargeting works by placing a image pixel or code snippet on your website. You can then launch advertising campaigns targeted at those specific users that have visited the page and “seen” the hidden pixel. This is how to set it up… Facebook Go to Ads Manager > Audiences > Create Audience > Custom Audience >…

  • Setting up Maxmind GEOIP2 Legacy Database with PHP or Javascript

    This is the php code I use to access geoip data from Maxmind’s geoip database: <?php $gpath = getcwd() . “/GeoIPCity.dat”; if (isset($_SERVER[‘HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR’])) { $myip = $_SERVER[‘HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR’]; } if (isset($_SERVER[‘REMOTE_ADDR’])) { $myip = $_SERVER[‘REMOTE_ADDR’]; } include(“./geoipcity.inc”); $gi = geoip_open($gpath,GEOIP_STANDARD); $record = geoip_record_by_addr($gi,$myip); $city = $record->city; $countrycode = $record->country_code; geoip_close($gi); echo ‘countrycode = “‘.$countrycode.’”; city =…

  • Dealing With Googles Mobile Friendly Algorithm

    From the 21st April Google will be penalising sites for mobile search which don’t appear mobile friendly. You can test your site here: https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/mobile-friendly/ If you haven’t done any mobile design you’ll probably get some warnings like this: Text too small to read Links too close together Mobile viewport not set Content wider than screen…

  • SEO for Fun and Profit

    SEO for Fun and Profit

    SEO Summary Search engine optimisation can be broken down into onsite and offsite factors. Onsite Factors Domain age Domain relevance (Topics throughout site) Domain name relevance (keyword.com) Domain registration factors such as renewal date and private whois Site speed, page load times Site freshness, new daily content Title relevancy Keywords in meta description H1 tag…

  • The intelligent investor – April’s Book of the Month

    The intelligent investor is to fund managers what cashvertising is to marketers. First published in the mid twentieth century it now comes with an updated commentary which is as good as the book itself. Graham inspired a host of famous investors including Warren Buffett and this book mirrors my own opinions about going against the…

  • Tool to generate a guest blog post request

    Tool to generate a guest blog post request

    This tool can be used to generate a guest blog post request for SEO purposes. This is a great way to not only build SEO juice but it also gets your name out there and helps interact with the community surrounding your niche. http://www.jamesbachini.com/misc/guestpostrequest.php Simply enter your name,site,niche and theirs and it will generate a…

  • Stack That Money Meetup STM London 2015

    Stack That Money Meetup STM London 2015

    Stack that money has been a great meetup. I was surprised at the turnout which topped over 700 members. The talks were good, particularly some of the ones on the second day. Highlights included: Tim Tetra’s tricky little presentation where he sold a magic bullet to a crowd that should know better. Lars Kroijer one…

  • Funniest video I’ve seen in years

    Damn those spammers!

  • Designing Banners in Place

    Designing Banners in Place

    Something I don’t hear a lot of affiliates talk about is taking the placement in to consideration when designing banners. Sometimes if you are targeting multiple sites/positions this isn’t possible but for traffic sources like Facebook this is something every affiliate should consider. Simply take a screenshot of the page where you intend to advertise…

  • Pics From Affiliate Summit West 2015

    Pics From Affiliate Summit West 2015

    Some snapshots from ASW15 Meet market, people doing the rounds. The Charles Ngo Seminar Benjamin Yong doing his thing While I’m all for using public transport I’m pretty sure this isn’t how Ryan Eagle does it. Arriving into the strip on the Deuce with a blazer attached to a backpack. You walk a lot in…

  • How To Optimise Online Affiliate Marketing Campaigns

    How To Optimise Online Affiliate Marketing Campaigns

    This is going to be another long post about a seemingly boring topic of optimisation. If you ask a hundred affiliates how they optimise a campaign 90% of them will tell you they just get a feel for it. Very few affiliates actually have a set process or mathematical formula they use when optimising. Whether…

  • Daily Calcs Profit And Loss Spreadsheet Download For Affiliate Marketers

    Daily Calcs Profit And Loss Spreadsheet Download For Affiliate Marketers

    Here is the spreadsheet I use to monitor my profit and loss accounts on a daily basis. It’s provided here as a downloadable spreadsheet but I would recommend setting it up how you want and then uploading to Google Docs so it can be worked on from anywhere by anyone. This document works by inputting…

  • How Groupon’s landing page has evolved in two years

    In 2012 Groupon was at the cutting edge of performance marketing. They had big budgets and were doing big business with affiliates. I thought it would be interesting to analyse a landing page from back then and then one they use today. The lander actually reminds me a bit of some of the dating landing…

  • Forgetting to spin spun text in comment spam

    This made me laugh today:  

  • Disproportionate Tablet Traffc On Google Adwords

    Have you checked your Adwords campaigns by device recently? If not you should definitely take a look because there is a huge amount of tablet traffic and no way to block it for desktop campaigns. You can set bid adjustments at -100% to block mobile traffic but Google have disabled this feature for tablets. This…

  • Boost Software (PC Cleaner) Shutdown

    The FTC has taken another swipe at the darker side of the affiliate industry by closing down Boost Software. Assets frozen and business practices suspended! There CPI offers were pretty big but the business model was scammy at best. The FTC paid particular attention to the telemarketing “scare tactics” used on the backend of the…

  • Mobile eCPM’s still not competing with desktop

    Here’s some stats I ran off today from a Google Adsense account I have for some old seo based domains with various sites and “general” mainstream traffic. It’s interesting to see that the eCPM’s for desktop traffic are still way above that of high end mobile devices: Platform Page views Clicks Page CTR CPC Page…

  • Matomy Media Group

    So you think you’ve made it in the performance marketing space? Check out the figures in Matomy’s interim report for a humbling come back down to earth: http://otp.investis.com/clients/uk/matomy/rns/regulatory-story.aspx?cid=813&newsid=441656 Overview of results ($ millions) H1 2014 GAAP H1 2013 GAAP Change GAAP Revenue 107.6 97.3 11% Gross profit 28.8 25.6 13% Operating profit 6.5 4.6 42%…

  • Affiliate Summit West 2015

    Affiliate Summit West 2015

    I missed it last year so am really looking forward to getting back to Vegas for some blackjack, craps and roulette. No meetings before midday this time, live and learn! I first went to affiliate summit in 2012 and in my opinion it’s the best show of the year. The  location, the parties, the sheer…

  • Why postback pixels aren’t good enough

    What is it with the increase in use with global postbacks? This is where you send the network an id and they send it back to you if it converts. It seems that some affiliates are actually using this type of tracking and optimising on a single tracking system. For the love of god can…

  • Facebook taking on Google Adwords

    UPDATE: 29th September 2014 – More details coming in about this. Facebook is expected to make an announcement tonight about the new ad platform. Early reports suggest it is a reworked version of Atlas which they acquired from Microsoft. The key principle is laser targeting across multiple devices. So you can target the same user…

  • Passing Through Landing Page Variables

    This was inspired by another post which is well worth a read at: http://affplaybook.com/blog/affiliate-marketing/the-ultimate-guide-to-landing-page-tricks/ So many traffic sources provide you with tags such as {keyword} {countrycode} {device} etc. You can add these variables to your url so it would look something like: http://www.myserver.com/landingpage.htm?kw={keyword}&device={device} Then in the code to your landing page you can access these…