Tricia Meyer

Affiliate Marketer, Blogger, and Consultant

Free Shipping Day 2010 is Every Day

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Free Shipping DayOnce again I am starting to see talk about “Free Shipping Day.” “When is Free Shipping Day?” “What is Free Shipping Day?” We went through this last year, but I guess we’ll have to talk about it again this year.

Free Shipping Day is a marketing ploy. It’s pretty much like Cyber Monday and Green Monday, but with worse results. At least if something goes wrong with your order early in December you still have time to get it fixed in time for Christmas. That may not be the case if you wait until the elusive Free Shipping Day, which incidentally is supposed to be December 17 again this year (from what I am reading).

Here are, in a nutshell, the reasons that I do not like Free Shipping Day.

  • Most of the applicable merchants do free shipping year round.  At Sunshine Rewards alone we have hundreds of free shipping deals. Other coupon sites have even more than that. Take a look at the companies that are already offering free shipping of some kind. Which other ones could you be waiting for? Almost every company that I have seen that is participating in Free Shipping Day so far already has free shipping offers up now or in the next week.
  • Assuming that the store you are wanting to order from will still be shipping Christmas gifts by the 17th, do you want to a) take the chance that the items you want will be sold out, or b) take the chance that UPS or Fed Ex will be even a day late in getting them to you and your gifts will not arrive by Christmas? Is it worth the risk?
  • Free shipping usually comes with restrictions. A free shipping coupon won’t do you any good if it only applies to a minimum order and you won’t be placing that minimum order.  Or the items that you want are not a part of the special promotion. You would have been better off with a percent or dollar off coupon that applied to your minimum purchase.

Every year we hear about a new online day that is supposed to be the best deal day of the year– Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Green Monday, Free Shipping Day. Realistically, there are good deals from Thanksgiving through the end of the year. Do your homework and scope out coupon sites, cash back shopping sites, etc. rather than getting caught up in when everyone says you should be shopping. And don’t wait until the last minute unless you like taking risks with your gifts.

When Will Bloggers Embrace Affiliate Marketing?

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Each month I read hundreds of different blogs, some monetized and some not. It’s always interesting to me to look closely to see how different bloggers monetize their blogs and which ones are using affiliate marketing. I’ve attended blogging conferences (like Blog Indiana) and followed closely others through posts and tweets (like Blog World). Aside from ways to drive traffic, monetization is always one of the biggest topics. Ironically, affiliate marketing is usually not what everyone is talking about! When it is, it is often in a negative light and referred to as “MLM” or “scammy.”

Affiliate marketers are trying hard to get bloggers tuned into affiliate marketing. Affiliate Summit is even featuring a “Monetize Summit” in January as a part of the larger Affiliate Summit to draw attention to how bloggers can monetize their blogs with affiliate links.While the movement overall is growing, there is still a substantial segment of the blogger community that eschews affiliate marketing on principle.

The arguments that I hear from bloggers who are against affiliate marketing usually involve the feeling that they are somehow “selling out” when they are paid. And yet many of those same bloggers have no problem accepting merchandise from a company to blog about it. If the disclosure that you received the merchandise for free is enough to make you feel good about the blog post, why not just disclose that you are an affiliate marketer as well? If you are willing to run a banner ad for paid placement, how is that any different than running a banner ad for which you are paid on a cost per sale basis?

It’s not that I am begging for more competition in affiliate marketing; there is already quite a bit out there. But I can’t help but wonder if our industry would be even stronger if we had more voices like those of the bloggers. Bloggers are adept at building audiences and networking. They are the perfect people to have in our industry as we seek through initiatives like the PMA to unify ourselves.

Are you a blogger who embraces affiliate marketing? If not, why not? If you are, what are you doing to reach out to other bloggers?

HPE Veteran’s Day Program

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To say that politics this year have been contentious and ugly would be an understatement. No one is happy with our government and everyone is blaming everyone else. And yet, we can all be reminded by our children the importance of our democracy and the people who serve and protect our country. I had the pleasure of attending one such performance today.

Every year our elementary school puts on a Veteran’s Day program and invites family members and the community. Our music teacher does a phenomenal job and our children really take it seriously. They read letters about what freedom means to them, they sing songs about the beauty of our country, and in general they remind us why we are so fortunate.

Below are two clips I took quickly with my phone. The first is my favorite part of the program. It’s an Armed Forces medley where everyone who has served stands when their song is sung. It was hard to keep a steady camera when I was trying not to cry! The second was the closing song, America the Beautiful. The 4th graders begin it and then are joined by all of the students and eventually the whole community. The children literally sound like little angels.

No matter all of our religious and political differences, it is hard not to be inspired by these kids and their innocence and hope in our country.

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Excited to Be Joining Suze Orman’s Money Minded Moms

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Every now and again an opportunity comes along that just screams “Jump on it!!” For me, it was the chance to be a Featured Writer on Suze Orman’s new Money Minded Moms site. From the first conversation about it that I had with Missy Ward until the green light that we got this morning to start spreading the word, I have been like a kid at Christmas trying not to spill the beans on a huge secret. Now that I can finally share what is going on, I hope that you will check it out.

Money Minded Moms is a community where women can share their ideas, hopes, fears, questions, concerns, etc. about how we can all better tackle our financial issues. The site is broken down into topics like “Feeding Your Family” and “Erasing and Managing Debt.” In addition to articles written by the Featured Contributors, there is also a forum where anyone can become a member and be a part of the discussions.

I am truly honored to be among an AMAZING group of women. As if the chance to work with Suze Orman and Missy Ward were not enough, I’m getting to finally work with other women whom I have admired but never had a chance to work with before (Kim Rowley, Jen Goode, Vicky Collins, Sabrina Malone, Doreen Kukral, and Julie Vazquez). Hopefully I will get to know them all better as well as the other contributors.

Hop over to MoneyMindedMoms.com and check it out. My first post entitled “Is Free Shipping a Good Idea?” has been up for awhile but I have lots of other posts loaded up to be published in the coming weeks and months. I’ll be talking about everything from saving money online to how to stretch your budget at home.

I haven’t been as excited about anything as I am about this in a very long time and I hope that you all will support me!!

The Six People You Meet on Facebook

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I spend a lot of time on Facebook for both business and personal reasons. I like that I can interact with my customers and my friends in the same place in different ways. I’m also just a social person that wants to be involved in conversations and see what is going on with everyone. Through the time that I have spent on Facebook I have come to characterize people into 6 different groups. Groups are not mutually exclusive. I know some people who actually fit into a few of them (scary!).

1) Business Blah: These are the people that only post on Facebook for business purposes, for better or for worse. If they are only friends with business associates, it works great. If they are friends with family and neighbors, those people are probably hiding their status updates because they are so tired of reading nothing but business updates. Mix it up a little, people. Tell us your company is having a great month but then show us a picture of your kid or something.

2) Attention Addicts/Sympathy Seekers: All of us follow at least a couple of these people on Facebook. I’m lumping them into the same category because their means are different but their goal is the same. Attention Addicts post seemingly innocent questions (often full of innuendo) that are calculated to get responses. “I’m feeling like such a naughty girl but am too embarrassed to say why.” Sympathy Seekers are constantly whining about their latest problems and when you share your good news, they can only top it with more bad news of their own. You consider hiding their updates but it’s like a train wreck–you have to keep watching.

3) Serial Posters: “Just woke up.” “Getting ready for breakfast.” “Easting breakfast at my desk.” “Breakfast today was great!” And on, and on, and on. Eventually you do hide their status updates because you don’t want your life to be as boring as theirs. The irony of the Serial Poster is that they also often post about how busy they are and how much work they have to get done. Chances are good that they would get more done if they didn’t post everything they were doing while they were doing it.

4) Lost in Timers. Catching up with old friends on Facebook is great until you realize that the Lost in Timer is still stuck in high school or college. Every day they are posting their favorite memory of you on your page or tagging you in pictures from 1987 that they have scanned in and uploaded. Every other post of theirs is an 80s movie trivia score or a link to a hair band video on Youtube. Memories are great but the failure to move on just isn’t healthy.

5) Players. I don’t mean in the “Playa” sense where they are dating and seeing a lot of action. I mean the game “Player.” The ones who are constantly asking you to send them chickens or kill a mob boss. We all get pulled into the games at some point. But if your status updates are 80% game notifications, you need to spend more time playing the game of life.

6) You: Clearly, you are none of the people above. They are annoying and you are not. You do your best to only post pertinent information and never to the point of overkill. You are sensitive to others and politically correct. Your posts are an equal mix of wit, social commentary, and family life. Everyone loves to read your updates and look at your pictures. Wouldn’t it be great if everyone on Facebook were like you?

(Thanks to my Lunch Friends for their thoughts on this post as I was drafting!)