IRAQI FAIRS

Once you’ve made the decision that operating a business as an affiliate, there are several details you really need to pay attention to prior to signing on and promoting a particular vendor or merchant. Make no mistake about it – affiliate marketing can be one of the most lucrative business models, as long as you pay attention to the details and understand the terms and conditions of the merchants / vendors or affiliate networks you choose to align yourself with.

My Top Ten List Of Key Details You Must Pay Attention To:

1. Method Of Payment

The reason we are all here. You’ve got to know exactly how and when you’ll receive payment. Some merchants and networks will allow you to choose how you are to be paid. Many will offer payment by check or via PayPal. Some will simply send a check at the end of the month, others will wait for a specified period of time, and others will permit you to choose when payment is made by determining a particular threshold. For example, you may be able to say you want to be paid when earnings reach $25 or other figure.

Be sure to check on the currency commissions are paid in. You don’t want to be shocked when your payment is sent in IQD. (Iraqi Dinar)

Also – be sure to check an see if the vendor holds commission back for a period of time to cover for potential customer refunds. Most won’t do this, but it’s important to check.

2. Commission Structure

You have to know what the commission structure is in order to plan your marketing efforts accordingly. Some will pay a flat figure per sale, while others (most) will pay a percentage. You also want to find out if a particular vendor increases the percentage they will pay you if you have an increase in volume. Another thing you’ve got to be aware of is if the product(s) you are selling has a recurring commission based on a monthly fee charged to the customer. Some vendors won’t include this monthly fee as a commissionable sale. Many do, so make sure the vendor you are working with does. Having the commission information from various programs is critical when comparing the various programs you may want to join.

3. How Are Refunds Handled?

You need to know exactly how refunds will impact your commission. Is the commission lost? If the expect the commission back, when is it deducted from your account?

4. Record Keeping

Any affiliate program worth its salt will provide you with a way for you to track your clicks and sales. You should be able to view what is owed to you at any given time as well as a history of payments and adjustments made to your account. Look for programs / networks that update at least daily. Real time is even better.

5. Stats Tracking

A major frustration that many affiliates have with vendors is that some don’t provide you with a way to view your statistics for your affiliate link. Having run a major affiliate program in the past, I know how critical this is. You absolutely have to know how many times your links are being clicked on and how many of those clicks are turning into sales so that you can adjust your marketing efforts when needed. If you don’t have this information, you can and probably will be wasting marketing dollars.

6. Cookie Operations

This is another critical area that you need to understand. Cookies are used to track your affiliate link. Let’s say someone clicks on your link today, but decides not to buy. That person comes back directly to the site next month without using your link. A cookie ensures that you’ll still get credit.

You are looking for vendors that offer long term cookies – say 60 days. If your vendor only offers a 7 day cookie and the customer comes back next month – all due to your marketing efforts the previous month – you are out of luck!

Something else you want to know is if the first or last cookie is the one the vendor goes by. For example, if someone clicks on your link one day, but clicks on another affiliate link next week and makes a purchase, who gets the sale. Both first and last cookie methods are valid, but you need to understand which one is in use.

7. Limits or Exclusions

Be sure to read the affiliate agreement carefully. Some vendors won’t allow you to promote in a certain way, or to promote specific products. Failure to comply with specific limits or exclusions can result in a forfeiture of your commission.

8. Penalties

Know exactly what the penalties are for an unwitting violation of the vendors terms and conditions. Hopefully this won’t be an issue because you’ve read the terms and conditions carefully, but mistakes can be made. Just know how they will be handled.

9. Restricted Marketing Strategies

It’s fairly commonplace these days that companies restrict various methods of marketing their products. Most restrictions pertain to the use of email, but many are also limiting the keywords you can use, or even the use of Google Adwords. There may be no restrictions in play with the company you want to become an affiliate for, but you need to pay close attention to this and adhere to the restrictions, if any.

10. Creative Provided

This is an area that is often overlooked by perspective affiliates. Before you sign on with a company as an affiliate, make sure there is a wide range of quality materials to promote the product(s) you are interested in promoting. This is important because if there are no materials, your job is going to be much tougher. If there are materials, but they are not of high quality, that will present an issue as well, especially if you are restricted from producing your own materials.

With the presidential election a mere thirty days away, an economy in crisis, and personal finance woes, international engagement fades in the background. The Iraq war, still a huge portion of the U.S. budget, takes a backseat to financial woes and the economy in current polls. Still, inquiring minds wonder, how much are we spending on the war in Iraq?

Answering a question such as how much are we spending on the war in Iraq requires sifting through dozens of supplemental funding bills passed over the past five years. Most of the money used to fund the wary comes from U.S. taxpayers. U.S. citizens contributed approximately $600 billion to the war effort as of June 2008. This breaks down to $12 billion dollars a month and a whopping $5,000 per second.

Deployment of one U.S. soldier for one year costs taxpayers near $390,000. The average U.S. soldier earns a salary of $54,000 per year. Although we are entering the sixth year of the Iraq war, costs continue to rise, with a $12.5 billion per month cost in 2008 as compared to a $4.4 billion per month cost in 2003. This gap may prove staggering, but the Washington continues to state a need for further spending, with President Bush requesting an additional $200 billion in supplemental funding to cover the war through the rest of this year.

Some may want further answers, such as how much are we spending on the war in Iraq for weapons, parts, and security? Much of the spending in Iraq, especially in 2008, is allocated to private security contractors. Once the U.S. removes its soldiers from the area, these contractors move in to support diplomats and agencies continuing the rebuilding effort. As the combat portion of the war drew to a close, the amount of funding to these organizations increased dramatically, to a total of $85 billion from 2003 to 2007, with the majority funded by the State Department.

Those that cite the Iraqi surplus now approaching $79 billion question the amount that the U.S. is spending for rebuilding and security in the country, especially when Iraq allocates a fraction of its budget to redevelopment.

Not all of taxpayer money is actually accounted for in the results of the war. Many machine parts, weapons, and other equipment never find their way to battle, grossing to about $1 billion in 2007. According to the Pentagon Inspector General, the majority of this loss is attributed to mismanagement of funds allocated to Iraqi security forces. Similarly, the Pentagon also reported that Haliburton overcharged the government approximately $1.4 billion during the same year, after receiving a total of $20 billion.

Asking responsible questions like how much are we spending on the war in Iraq is essential during an election year. As the contest for the presidency draws to a close, we must remember to demand answers to the tough questions.

At first glance, buying Iraqi dinars online looks easy. Almost too easy. There are a lot of dealers trying to sell them nowadays. So all you have to do is pick one. Right?

Wrong! As with any “hot” merchandise, scams are common and you should know how to spot them, well before you hand out your hard earned money.

Here are 5 critical signs that you should know before buying Iraqi dinars online.

Does the dealers’ website look credible enough?

A couple pages thrown together, with nothing else than a bit or two of text often copied from other web sites are often not a good sign. Take your time. Look at a couple other sellers. Compare them. If something looks fishy, it probably is. Don’t rush and buy Iraqi dinars from the first online dealer you happen to come across.

Are any testimonials, preferably not on the seller’s own web site, from satisfied users that bought Iraqi Dinars from them?

Satisfied customers sometimes leave testimonials to show their appreciation. But beware! It is quite easy to fake pretty much anything on the Internet. And testimonials make no exception. Again, take your time; contact the ones who wrote them if you can. An extra hour you put into this research, before you decide where to buy Iraqi dinars, may make the difference between a successful purchase and a failed investment.

Does the seller show his physical location somewhere on the site?

It’ll be quite hard to track an individual or company when all you have is an email address or web site URL. A physical address can help you quickly locate them in time of need.

Is there a phone number you can call and talk to a real person?

Verify the phone number on their contacts page. Call them. Ask them a couple questions to see if they really know their business. For instance you could ask them to tell you the Iraqi dinar security features. Or what denominations do they sell. Ask them anything you can think of that can help you make a decision.

Are they registered with an organization such as the Better Business Bureau?

Odds of getting scammed are pretty thin if the company you’re considering doing business with is a member of BBB or another organization that tracks customer satisfaction and records complaints. But beware! Simply displaying the BBB logo isn’t enough to earn your trust. Take your time and verify they’re actually who they say they are.

Buying Iraqi dinars is considered by some to be a great investment. The safety tips shown here should help you when selecting your dealer.