Earlier this year I was doing a very involved project integrating Post Affiliate Pro and Modern Bill when I came across a problem…

Cookies were disappearing.

And if affiliates aren’t making sales… they’re going to move on to a competitor that has the services and the tracking systems in place to monetize that traffic.

Luckily, I’d come across this before when writing my own PHP apps. You see, if you don’t know what you’re doing when you’re setting a cookie, chances are that you’re not going to get your desired end result.

Unless you take necessary steps… most cookies will not work across these three kinds of urls:

• http://yoursite.com
• http://www.yoursite.com
• http://subdomain.yoursite.com

Here’s a 6 minute video that explains this phenomenon and shows you a quick demonstration.

My client was using a subdomain for promotion and their root domain for taking the orders via Modern Bill.

I had to go into the Post Affiliate Pro code, find where the cookie was being set, and rewrite some of the code.

How I Solve This for My Own Post Affiliate Pro Installs

I like to keep things as easy and simple as possible. Hacking the internal code of Post Affiliate Pro has a major drawback in that updating a server with a newer version will overwrite the change… and then you’re back in the same spot, often without realizing what you’ve undone.

So what I like to do is to force the server to serve up only web pages with www in the url. This means I don’t have to tamper with the cookies… they’ll always be set for the correct domain… the only one that’s possible.

It’s very rare that one of my clients sets up their install on a subdomain. So this technique is really handy.

But it requires that your web hosting company run Linux on the server with mod_rewrite turned on. I’ve created a push button tool and step by step video in my members only section for folks that purchase Post Affiliate Pro through my affiliate link:

Affiliate Link for Bonuses

But let me go ahead and show you how to do this. Here’s what you need to add to your .htaccess file:


# force www.
RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !^www.yoursite.com$
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://www.yoursite.com/$1 [R=301]


Just replace yoursite.com with your actual domain.

A word of warning… backup your site and your existing .htaccess file if you have one. Tinkering with .htaccess is a bit like doing brain surgery on your website. One little goof can have far reaching effects.

That’s A Lot More About Post Affiliate Pro

It seems like more and more I’m doing custom installs for clients that would rather pay me to do it “right” than give them 2 hours worth of information on how I do it.

But if you’re keeping costs down, here’s something you should see.

Click the picture graphic above and you’ll get a larger image of my Post Affiliate Pro members only section where I have over 2 hours of video, 8 downloads, and more.

If you decide to purchase Post Affiliate Pro, you should strongly consider buying through my link:

Use this link to get the bonuses

And then you can send your purchase information to me here:

Post Affiliate Pro Bonuses

After I verify the order you get an email from me with your own login for the members only section where you’ll find the movies tutorials and downloads.

Over the past week or so I’ve received plenty of emails wondering if I’m changing my mind all of a sudden and now recommending Idev Affiliate.

[the post that sparked the emails is here]

The answer is no.

I haven’t done the review yet. I haven’t even installed the software.

My plan is to install the software, take notes, make slides, record videos and give my analysis as I move through the process… and then sum it all up at the end.

Here’s what I expect to find:

1. For some marketers, Idev Affiliate is the way to go
2. For others it will be Post Affiliate Pro

If you’re looking for a clear road map to make the decision easy… to help you decide which solution is right for you… then stay tuned.

That’s what you’re going to get.

For example, I already know from my discussion with Jim, the maker of Idev Affiliate, that there are some features that Post Affiliate Pro has that Idev doesn’t… and probably never will. Jim doesn’t want to go that route.

And I respect that.

But Jim and his team aren’t selling broken glass in a paper bag… Idev Affiliate is mature and it’s well supported.

So once I install the software and go through my notes, I’ll distill it all down and take the guesswork out of making your decision.

A few months back I got a voice mail message from the creator of Idev Affiliate, Jim Webster. He believed that some of my comments about Post Affiliate Pro versus Idev Affiliate didn’t add up and he wanted to know where I got some of my information.

[here's my review of Post Affiliate Pro]

So we played phone tag and email tag for a bit until we could finally talk on the phone for an hour or two. And I learned a lot…

Did I get it wrong?

The simple fact of the matter is that when I first decided to set up an affiliate system many years ago, the first company that stood out in my research was Idev Affiliate. I did my research, and purchased the software.

But at the time I had a specific need that even Jim himself told me (by support ticket) that Idev couldn’t fulfill.

At that point I then purchased Post Affiliate Pro and haven’t looked back…

Until now.

Jim gave me a clear picture of who his target merchant is and where his product shines. And honestly, I think Idev Affiliate is the most well known name in the category for two reasons:

1. His product was the first (or one of the first)
2. It’s high quality

Flip Flop?

Before you call me John “Flip Flop” Kerry, let me say that I asked Jim some very specific questions and there are some key places where Idev Affiliate does not shine. And from what Jim tells me, he’s okay with that. His product is for a certain type of vendor… and I may not be one of them.

But there are some very high profile merchants using Idev Affiliate so it’s worth a second look. Plus, I’ve come across some things about Post Affiliate Pro that I don’t like, and I think it’s time to give them both a fresh look.

During the phone we agreed that I’d take a look at the very latest and greatest version of Idev Affiliate and see where things stand… and that I’d update my site with my revised thoughts on Idev vs. Post Affiliate Pro.

That’s exactly what I’m going to do.

Why You Should Pay Attention

If you’re a merchant then the thought of only paying for successful sales (and paying 30 days after you bank the money) has always been attractive. But with click costs of Adwords, Yahoo and MSN going up with no end in sight, it’s getting more attractive as traffic costs rise.

You have basically three choices:

1. Do nothing and look for other ways to grow your profits
2. Join a third party network (CJ, Clickbank, Linkshare, etc)
3. Get your own affiliate network

Option 1 is not for you if you want to grow your business and keep a handle on costs.

Option 2 has limitations and problems, especially the high price of CJ and other high profile networks.

If you go with option 3, as I did, then you’ll likely realize that there are two main players: Idev Affiliate and Post Affiliate Pro.

At the end of this, I probably won’t be able to say there’s one clear winner for everyone. It’s probably going to depend on your business model and what you value most (service, ease of use, etc).

Update: I’m launching a new site in 2nd quarter of 2009 dedicated to answering questions for online merchants looking for guidance on a spectrum of topics, including “What affiliate software is best for me.”

I’m finalizing the password protected section of my site and uploading the videos to my server. Over the past several months I’ve discovered even better ways to install Post Affiliate Pro to make it easier to attract your own affiliates.

Here’s a very small taste of what my clients get when they purchase Post Affiliate Pro through my affiliate link:

More videos will be coming soon. I’ll upload the short clips to YouTube and then post longer ones here.

Right now I offer

• 20 online videos each about 6 minutes long
• Custom PHP code as shown in the videos
• Custom HTML templates I created (two of them)
• Custom email templates for use with Post Affiliate Pro
• Full PDF of my slide presentation seen in the videos
• Discount off my video review of your website (optional, separate service costs extra)

It doesn’t cost anything extra…

Post Affiliate Pro Bonuses

Step 1: Click this link

Step 2: Buy Post Affiliate Pro

Step 3: Send me your information here and once I verify your order I’ll give you a login for all the good stuff

This is just one of 5 videos I’ve recently uploaded. Here’s where you can get the 5 video tutorials.

Get the rest of the website video tutorials.

Even though the release was promised a few days back it looks like it will be worth the wait.

I’ve been reading up on a few of the new features and it sounds like a mixed bag.

Pros:

Less clutter
Blogroll now named ‘Links’ (WP moving towards a cms app)
Media Manager
Easier to see how many comments in moderation waiting to be approved

Cons:

New navigation will take some getting used to
Widgets no longer drag and drop
Lots of scrolling required in page and post editing to change options
User management a bit more cumbersome

But I know from experience that getting a subscriber to double opt in is no guarantee that they’ll get to see my email messages. Aggressive anti spam filters often give off false positives and automatically junk emails that should be considered safe.

There’s no silver bullet, but what I’ll do is provide my subscribers with instructions on how to “whitelist” my address so they’ll be more likely to receive my messages. I found a resource on the web that I want to share.

http://www.cleanmymailbox.com/whitelist.html

This simple tool makes it very easy to create instructions for some very popular email services and spam screeners.

So, this short post is to put it in proper perspective, slap a more effective headline on the topic, and hopefully generate additional interest.

The Problem

Like any good blogger/webmaster you’ve been building up your backlinks. You’ve examined your internal linking. But looking at your server logs, you notice something odd:

Not all your backlinks are pointing to the same version of your home page.

For example:

• http://yoursite.com/
• http://www.yoursite.com/
• http://www.yoursite.com/index.php
• http://yoursite.com/index.php

You’re looking for every possible edge when it comes to search engine optimization and you’ve read that stupid Mr. Googlebot gets confused and doesn’t give you as much credit for those backlinks as if they all pointed to the exact same url.

The 30 Second Search Engine Optimization Tweak

Go over to my Canoncial URL Tool

Type in the url of your website (http://www.yoursite.com)

You’ll get some “mod_rewrite” code that you copy and paste into a file in your root directory called .htaccess

Before you do, make sure you back up your .htaccess file or your whole site if you haven’t done so in a while

This tool I’ve created makes it easy to set it up so that

1. Your website url will always have “www” in front of it
2. Links with index.php or index.html will be rewritten so that the index is removed and the trailing slash is used

Some SEO gurus believe that this gives yours site an extra little bump by not being penalized for duplicate content. In short, you want all of your incoming links to a certain page on your site to appear to all target the same page.

There’s evidence to indicate that Google sees the following urls differently:

• http://yoursite.com
• http://www.yoursite.com
• http://www.yoursite.com/index.php

This tool requires you to have a web server running Apache and access to mod_rewrite.

All you do is enter your domain, hit the button, and you get some code you can copy and paste into your .htaccess directory (at the end) and you’re good to go.

As with any changes to your .htaccess file, make sure you do a backup before you upload the changes.

Canonical URL Tool

Basically, the problem was/is that the new affiliate tracking system 1shoppingcart.com switched to is losing track of some of the affiliate information, and as a result, affiliates are losing money they should be entitled to.

Nothing angers an affiliate marketer more than pulling off a successful promotion only to have problems getting credit for the sales.

If you use 1shoppingcart.com, you’re not going to like my solution, but here it is:

1. Research several commercially available software packages
2. Pick the best one
3. Install it on your own server
4. Configure it to work across multiple websites, for multiple products
5. That’s it.

As simple as I made that sound, it’s actually much more difficult – but the rewards can be huge.

The difficult part about the process is:

• Researching the products takes time
• Most software available to run your affiliate system will limit your options, not increase them
• Most software won’t work for multiple products across multiple websites
• Configuring the software correctly can be confusing

I’ve put together a video program that will soon be available on DVD that shortcuts the entire process, eliminates the time consuming research, makes installation a breeze, and shows you exactly how to configure the software to work across multiple domains and products.

I’m currently compiling the avi’s so I can create the DVD’s. Once I get the first DVD printed and I review it, I’ll run a 48 hour sale. Right now, I’m thinking $10 or so plus shipping. That could change, but it’s going to be a steep discount off the full price.

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