eBook & Internet Publishing News
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We have completed our price review of the products at ScriptRocket.com - our web site which offers a range of flexible PHP scripts for webmasters. Some changes have already been implemented, but others will be going through shortly:-

• Polls - Create your own web polls - is now priced at US $24.95^*
• Click/Counter Tracker - Invisibly count visitors to web pages or clicks on your advertising links - is now priced at US $24.95^*
• Feedback Form - Email form to get feedback from your visitors - is now priced at US $14.95^*
• CBRocket - our flexible search engine and text link advertising solution for ClickBank affiliates, is still available at the old price for now - US $34.95^* - but the price will be rising on approximately the 23rd January. Pleas e purchase on January 23rd if you wish to get it at the current price!
• All other prices, are unchanged for now, though of course we do reserve the right to make further changes. It’s worth pointing out that the Essential Scripts - collection of scripts which includes containing Top Site, Polls, Click/Counter Tracker and Feedback Form is now even better value than ever.

^* These prices don’t include VAT (Value Added Tax) which applies for European Union residents at their national rate.

CBRocket is our PHP script that allows webmasters to allow their visitors to search ClickBank without leaving their site. And set up targeted text ads. A new release, version 2.10, fixes the limitation that had recently appeared, and which I wrote about in a recent blog post. As well as fixing this limitation, we’ve taken the opportunity to add a neat new filter feature, which is explained below. If you want to upgrade to the new version, we’ll provide it free to existing customers - so please contact us including the receipt number of your original purchase.

CBRocket: Filtering the ClickBank marketplace

CBRocket also now includes a feature that allows you to filter out product listings from ClickBank’s results, based on keywords that you specify.

Why would you want to do that?

Although ClickBank contains many excellent products, there may be some products that you feel are inappropriate for your site.

For example:

• There might be some products that you consider unsuitable for your audience. For example, in site that is principally aimed at families,
  you might not wish to list products relating to nude photography, or improving your casino and gambling skills.

• Many affiliate programs and advertising programs have restrictions on what type of content may appear on the same site as their ads. For
  example, you may not be allowed to put gambling ads on your web site. For this reason, you wouldn’t want CBRocket to display ClickBank products
  related to gambling, betting, casinos, poker, roulette, etc.

So how does this feature work?

First you set up a list of keywords describing products that you wish to filter out. And, from then on, whenever you retrieve the last ClickBank
data (by clicking a link in the admin screen of CBRocket), any products which contain any of these keywords will be automatically removed from your copy of the ClickBank marketplace.

Example: if you set this parameter to "casino,roulette,poker,horse racing,bet,bets,betting,gambling" it would filter out any ClickBank products which contained any of these gambling terms in their title or description.

If you ever want to narrow or widen the criteria, you can simply change the list of keywords, and click the retrieval link (in the CBRocket admin
screen) to update your copy of the ClickBank marketplace. It really is that easy.

CBRocket is our PHP script that lets your web site visitors to search ClickBank without leaving their site. And set up targeted text ads. And all the links to the various ClickBank products, in both cases, are tagged with your clickbank affiliate ID, allowing you to earn commissions on sales.

A customer wrote to me recently with a limitation that has just arisen (because of recent changes at ClickBank’s site), and my testing has now confirmed it. When you log-in and ask CBRocket to retrieve the latest Clickbank marketplace data, CBRocket seems to only be retrieving the first 100 listings from each subcategory (subcategories are things like “Marketing -> Promotion”). This sounds like perhaps CBRocket may be leaving out a significant chunk of the ClickBank marketplace - but as always with computers - things are never quite as simple as they first seem.

• When I just tried CBRocket on the marketplace, it did retrieve 5729 unique items, plus a further 1916 duplicates. I don’t yet know the number that should have been retrieved, but it does not sound like a vast number of items have gone missing.
• Many subcategories contain less than 100 items - items in these subcategories won’t be affected at all.
• For those subcategories which contain over 100 items, items 101 onwards are often duplicated in other subcategories which do contain less than 100 items. So, these types of items also won’t be "lost" either.

By "lost", I mean that CBRocket is not retrieving these items from the ClickBank marketplace to its database, and hence these items won’t be displayed in ads or search results (although of course other items would be). At this exact moment, I can’t say that no items are being "lost", but neither can I yet say that any items are actually being "lost". I simply don’t know yet - although my gut tells me that the chances are, a few items are being "lost".

Anyway, I’ve examined the problem, and it should be fairly straightforward to fix. We expect to have an update to CBRocket within a week or so. Check here for updates, and don’t be afraid to email us if you have any questions.

Update:

I’ve done some more testing. It does seem a fair number of lower ranked items are affected - I guess the ClickBank marketplace had grown even faster than I realized. According to my data, there are now 8365 unique items in the marketplace, plus a further 3641 duplicates - which means that 2636 lower ranked items are currently not being retrieved. This would correspond to items which rank below 100 in all the subcategories in which they are listed.

Anyway, the good news, is the planned fix appears to work fine - so we should hopefully (fingers crossed) being able to release a fix within 1 week, and perhaps a bit sooner.

A new version of CBRocket - our script for displaying ClickBank search results, and ClickBank ads on your site, has been released. The new release works with the latest version of the ClickBank site.

The new version is 2.02 (not 2.01 as previously mentioned), and is available free to customers who previously purchased CBRocket. Please contact us if you need download instructions.

ClickBank have changed (in the last day or so) something in their site which has broken CBRocket 2.00 - our script for displaying ClickBank search results, and ClickBank ads on your site. The good news is that we already have a fix.

The symptom of the problem is:

1. You log into the Admin screen
2. You click the link "Grab Data from MarketingRocket + ClickBank"
3. The MarketingRocket items are retrieved, but you get 0 items back from ClickBank.

We will release a new version of CBRocket (2.01) that incorporates the fix ASAP, but as the fix is trivial (if you edited a PHP file before), more advanced users can implement the fix themselves.

Here are the instructions.

1. Open cfutil.inc.php in a plain text editor (Notepad, EDIT or similar)
2. Scroll down to line 1774.
3. Lines 1774 to 1775 read :-

   /* New URLs for redesigned clickbank site */
        $url = ‘http://www.clickbank.com/marketplace.html?method=Sort&s= [..etc.. - sorry I left out the end of line from the blog, because there is no space to fit it all in]

4. Change line 1775 to read (what I have done is removed the lower case L from the word html. In other words, the bit that read marketplace.html?method=, is edited into marketplace.htm?method=)

        $url = ‘http://www.clickbank.com/marketplace.htm?method=Sort&s= [..etc.. - sorry I left out the end of line from the blog, because there is no space to fit it all in]

5. Save the file, close your text editor, and upload the new version of cfutil.inc.php to your web host.

That’s it - really - I’m not kidding - the fix involves deleting a single character.

ClickBank have recently revamped their web site… and I have to say it’s a big improvement on the old version. Unfortunately the changes to ClickBank’s site meant that the old version of CBRocket, our script for displaying ClickBank products on your web site, stopped working. We’ve just released a new version, 2.00, that resolves this problem.

Previous customers with the previous 1.02 version, can download the new version by going to the admin screen in their copy of CBRocket and following the instructions. If you’re a customer but have the 1.00 version, or don’t the script installed on your server at the moment, then email us at webmaster@ebookcompiler.com, including giving us your name and receipt number in the email, and we’ll email you back ASAP with the ZIP of 2.00 version attached.

The latest few days have been pretty hectic, so I must apologize for getting slightly behind with email. If you have sent us email, we will reply - but feel free to send it again if you do have concerns. I intend to finish catching up with the remaining email by the close of business tomorrow, Thursday October 5th. Thanks again for your patience.

CBRocket is our PHP script that allows users to search ClickBank from your site, and also display targeted ClickBank text ads (all tagged with your ClickBank "nickname" - which is their word for Affiliate ID). We’ve just released version 1.02.

Version 1.02 is mainly about fixing some minor bugs and issues with the software, but there a few important additions/improvements too, including:

1. A new feature allows you to configure the script to use any of 4 different methods to retrieve data from ClickBank. For most people this will make no difference - but if you have a web host who runs a hobbled version of PHP which doesn’t allow fopen on remote sites (and there seem to be some around, particularly towards the cheaper end of the market) - then this offers a work round.
2. The script now works if you have PHP’s register_globals turned off. Again, for most people, this isn’t an issue, but again it makes the script compatible with more web hosting companies.
3. The synonymizing (is that a word?) - basically the method the software uses to find matching items in the search results which contain similar (but not identical) keywords has been improved.
4. There are some new options for configuring the ordering of results (like whether to prioritize MarketingRocket products which include images).
5. The Mini-Links and Auto Mini-Links system (targeted text ads) has been considerably improved. You can set-up a series of "default" keywords which are used to find extra text ads, if not enough can be found using the keywords that you set-up for your page (Mini-Links) or have in your page title (Auto Mini-Links). What’s more, you can provide a list of default keywords for the software to select from a random, so the ads tend to vary ("rotate") each time your web page is loaded.
6. The log-in screen for administrators includes the latest news headlines from our company (of course your site visitors would never see these - but it could be useful to you as the operator/administrator of the script)

If you haven’t bought CBRocket before, you’ll get the new version automatically, when you buy the script.

If you bought CBRocket 1.00 (if you’ve bought it prior to 1st December 2005), then we’ll upgrade you to version 1.02 free of charge. To get the upgrade, please email us at webmaster@ebookcompiler.com. To get the upgrade, you must quote your ClickBank receipt number for the CBRocket purchase in the body of your message.

Imagine, you’re selling your eBook or downloadable product using ClickBank. You think you can improve your sales letter (and thus convert more of your visitors into customers), but you’re not really sure whether your changes will be improvements or not. So you need to test. Now you can find all sorts of complicated software for split testing, but if your web host supports PHP, I can show you a dead easy way to do it, that doesn’t cost a penny.

1. Imagine your existing sales letter is called index.html, first rename it to index1.html
2. Next make the variants of your sales letter. called index2.html, index3.html, etc. (at least one, but as many as you want)
3. In each of these variants, include a sales link to sell a different ClickBank product. For example, index1.html sells ClickBank product 1, index2.html sells ClickBank product 2, etc.
4. In your account, you can set the thankyou pages for each of your ClickBank products to the exact same URL (after all the customer will get the same product regardless of which particular sales letter they see). You can set the price of the products to all be the same, or if you’re split testing different prices, vary the prices between the products.
5. And now the clever bit…. you create a PHP script that displays each of the different sales pages at random.

Start Notepad, and enter the following:
<?php
$npages = 2 ; // change 2 to the number of sales pages you have
$n = ( time() % $npages ) ;
include ( ‘index’ . ($n+1) . ‘.html’ ) ;
?>

Now save the file as index.php (if you are using a version of Windows prior to Windows XP, you will need to type the name in the Save As dialog as “index.php” including the quotes, or else your file will be named index.php.txt).

Now upload your index.php to your site.

If you visit your site’s main URL, you should now see one of your sales pages loaded at random. If you click Refresh in your browser, different pages, should randomly rotate in (sometimes you’ll get the same page, sometimes you’ll get a different page). But the chance of any of the page being loaded is the equal.

And the result? As you run it, you’ll be able to see which version of the sales letter performs better, because its corresponding product number will occur more often in your ClickBank stats.

What should/could you test?

• Different headlines
• Different colors
• Different sales letters
• Different prices
• Different guarantees

Vary one thing at a time, and eventually you’ll find the sales letter which converts best, and therefore makes the most money for you.

If you’re a ClickBank affiliate (and if you’ve got a web site that contains advertising, I think you should be - see why here), you may have noticed in the Promote Products section of their site, that there are 4 mysterious looking numbers (labelled “PAYOUT STATS”) under each vendor’s listing.

These are:

• $earned/sale
• %earned/sale
• %referred
• gravity

What do they mean?

• $earned/sale

  This is the average amount of commission that affiliates earn from each sale that the vendor makes. If the vendor only sells one product, I guess you could work it out yourself (or use Harvey Segal’s ClickBank Calculator), but the extra information this gives you is really useful for vendors that sell multiple items - it gives you an idea whether they are selling more low-ticket or big-ticket items.

• %earned/sale

  This indicates the percentage commission that affiliates have earned through recent sales. If a vendor were never to change their commission rate, it would match that exactly. However, when a vendor raises or lowers their commission rate it may not match (it tends to track the current commission with a timelag).

  For example, if the vendor currently offers 75% commission, and the %earned/sale if 60%, it indicates that the vendor has recently raised the commission rate. And if a vendor currently offers 50% commission, and %earned/sale is 60%, it indicates the vendor has recently lowered the commission rate.

• %referred - indicates what percentage of the vendor’s recent ClickBank sales came through affiliates.

  There is a common misunderstanding that a low %referred somehow indicates payment processing leaks (remember ClickBank only gives affiliates credit for sales made through ClickBank - and the affiliate does not get credit if the vendor receives payment through another payment system like PayPal or 2Checkout, etc.). That is NOT the case. Remember ClickBank can only track ClickBank sales.

  So what this number is really telling you is how good the vendor is at marketing themselves, as compared to all their affiliates combined. If it’s high, it means the vendor relies on affiliates to make most sales. If it’s low, it tells you the vendor is getting most sales by their own marketing efforts.

  This number can actually give some important clues to find vendors that you’ll want to affiliate link to - because if you find a vendor with a relatively low %referred, it may mean that you will have little affiliate competition - and could have a relatively clear run at promoting this vendor. This will probably work best if you can find marketing/promotion channels that the vendor themselves isn’t using. For example, if the vendor’s relying on SEO - you could use AdWords, or Pay Per Click Search Engines, or Ezines.

• Gravity

  I’ve never seen a precise explanation of what this number means, but in broad terms it is known to reflect the number of active affiliates who have made recent sales. A higher number means more affiliates.

  Again, this can give you a clue as to which vendors to promote. If you see a vendor with a low gravity, it could mean their is little affiliate competition to promoting this particular vendor.

So how do you choose which vendors to promote?

First, the obvious stuff:

• Good Commission Rates

  ClickBank vendor’s can offer up to 75% commission rates. Obviously not all do, and there are many excellent vendors (who can be profitable to promote) who offer lower rates - but personally I tend to look for at least 25%, and preferably 50%.

• Target

  Find vendors who tie in with your site’s theme, and your audience’s interest.

• Product and Sales Page

  Check out the vendor’s sales page, and see if you think that it’s a product that can sell. Is the sales letter professional? Do they have their own domain name? Does the product look good?

• Watch Out for Obvious Leaks - Especially Payment Processing Leaks

  Check the vendor’s sale page for obvious leaks: Is the vendor focused on making the sale through ClickBank?

  Remember you don’t get commission on any AdSense, banner ads, etc., on the vendor’s page. I’m not saying the vendor’s page should contain nothing but the sales pitch (sometimes vendors actually sell better by providing additional information on their site) - but rather there should be at least some kind of sales pitch, and the sales pitch should be the main focus of their page.

  Additionally, the biggie: you want to look out whether the vendor accepts other methods of payment than ClickBank. If you see a PayPal or 2Checkout or StormPay (etc.) link - remember you won’t get ClickBank affiliate commissions for any sales the vendor makes those ways (and a little side note: since ClickBank itself now processes PayPal, I really don’t see why any ClickBank vendor should put a PayPal Buy Now button on their site).

And then the information from the PAYOUT STATS:

• More Competiton = Bad, Less Competition = Good

  The underlying principle should be obvious, but I’m always surprised how many affiliates seem to ignore it - that’s why (for example) you’ll see 5 or 10 or more competing AdWords ads on Google for some search terms related to some ClickBank products - and none for many others which could be just as, if not more, lucrative, per sale.

  Always be on the look out for stuff that you can promote and help sell, which other affiliates are not effectively marketing - remember, the combination of a low %referred and low Gravity can help you find good candidates