Everything You want to know about Affiliate Programs!
 Blog Results:
 nutone bath fans
Prelit Artificial Christmas Trees
Deer Antler Chandeliers
 Google Groups Results:
 Wall Niche Halo Lighting Fixtures
"Mercury Vapor Lights & Bulbs"
"Baby Grand Piano Lights"
"Picture & Art Lighting"
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 What Is Drop Shipping?
Drop shipping is simply an arrangement between you and the manufacturer or distributor of a product you wish to sell in which the manufacturer or distributor not you ships the product to your customers. 
 Affiliate Marketing: What is it? leveraging similar websites.
 What not to do: Banner ad on your site linking to another website.
 What to Do: For relationships that are like: "Furniture Website" "Carpet Website & Throw Rug WebSite" "lighting website" Associated Products, 
  
Example of associated products:
 http://www.residential-landscape-lighting-design.com/store/PPF/parameters/1648_415/more_info.asp
 http://www.residential-landscape-lighting-design.com/store/PPF/parameters/217_172/more_info.asp
 Advantages For The Manufacturer Or Distributor:
 
1.	You have salesmen working for you on commission only.
2.	Very Effective Way To Market Your Products.
3.	No Employee Taxes & Insurance, Vacations or Sick Days
4.	Expand Your Reach.
5.	Reseller Pays Advertising Fees.
6.	Powerful and effective customer acquisition tool.
7.	Promote your products to all reseller visitors.
8.	No Interviewing Potential Employees.
9.	Google has a reseller program Adsense.
 
Advantages For The Reseller:
 
1.	No Inventory.
2.	No Tracking Of Inventory.
3.	No Warehouse.
4.	No Producing New Products.
5.	No Shipping & Receiving.
6.	No Cost For Inventory.
7.	No Left Over Products.
8.	Add New Products Instantly.
9.	Increases volume of website
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Share A Sale brings together manufacturer or distributor products, with a network of affiliate partners eager to promote those products.
 http://www.shareasale.com/how.cfm
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E-Commerce Merchants
 Find companies selling products and services on the Internet.
http://www.citibay.com/citibay/subhome/company/ecommerce/ecommerce.shtml
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 Example Of Link Blocking:
 Visit my <a href="http://www.example.com/">landscape lighting</a> site. 
 That comment would be transformed to 
 Visit my <a href="http://www.example.com/"rel="nofollow">landscape lighting</a> site. 
 Meta Tag Example:
<meta name="robots" content="INDEX,NOFOLLOW">
 Preventing comment spam
If you're a blogger you're painfully familiar with people who try to raise their own websites' search engine rankings by submitting linked blog comments like "Visit my landscape lighting website." This is called comment spam. From now on, when Google sees the attribute (rel="nofollow") on hyperlinks, those links won't get any credit when we rank websites in our search results. This isn't a negative vote for the site where the comment was posted; it's just a way to make sure that spammers get no benefit from abusing public areas like blog comments, trackbacks, and referrer lists. 
What types of links should get this attribute? 
Use the rel="nofollow" attribute anywhere that users can add links by themselves, including within comments, trackbacks, and referrer lists. Comment areas receive the most attention, but securing every location where someone can add a link is the way to keep spammers at bay. 
 The best places to add this attribute are the actual links that other people can create. 
 Q: Do individual bloggers need to do anything? 
A: Probably not. Any piece of software that allows others to add links to an author's site (including guestbooks, visitor stats, or referrer lists) can use this attribute.
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 Getting Indexed not ranked quickly by Google is quite easy. The beauty is that the exact same technique that gets you indexed quickly also gives your page a decent starting PageRank as well.
 Things not to do:
 1. You don't use the "Add URL" form with Google at http://www.google.com/addurl.html. Believe it or not, using that form to let Google know about your site will actually hurt your PR and, at the same time, make Google rank you lower. In other words, you absolutely never want to use that form, or the similar form on any other search engine, to promote your website.
 2. Do not use "website submission software," . The ones that claim that claim they'll submit you to some incredible number of search engines with a single click.
 Software like web position gold
 Things To Do:
 1. Go to Google and enter the broadest keyword ( Lighting you can think of that's related to your website. Do a search on say lighting. Browse through each website and pay particular attention to the Google Page Rank. What you want to do is find as many websites as you can with a PageRank of 6 or higher. Essentially, PageRank is really little more than Google figuring out how many sites link to any given site. It's a little complex, but in general, the more websites that link to the "target" 
2. Once you've found several websites like this, you should check to see whether or not they have links pages. Usually you'll see links from their index page that say something like resources, links, related sites, and so forth.
 3. Search their website for their contact (Phone call is the best method) information or information about getting a link from one of their high Page Rank Web pages (Internal Page, not links page. Find a page that you have related information)
 4. Google has become fairly savvy. It is not at all unlikely that several pages on a website will have a PR of 6 while many others have a PR of 3.Once you find their contact information, you should send them an email asking whether they will link to your website in return for you linking back to their website. If you do this correctly and professionally, they will respond and will place a link on their website to yours. If you can manage to get one PR6 website to link to your website, you will be indexed by Google in under two days. If you can get one PR7 website to link to you, then you will be in Google's index in under 24 hours (typically only about six)!
 5. Purchase Text Links:
 You could try to do this by contacting each site individually, but that would take you a long time and get you very little real benefit. The easiest and fastest way to do this is to use one of the link purchasing websites. Let me caution you, there are good ones, and there are scams.
 http://www.linkadage.com (my personal favorite)
http:///www.text-link-ads.com
http://www.textlinkbrokers.com 
Many times you can purchase a link from a PR7 website for less than two hundred dollars. In fact, as of this writing you can get a PR 7 website link for only $125. For that price, they will have your text link on their website for a month.
 Understand that by doing this you will not only get indexed not ranked by Google very quickly, but because the link is coming from a "high PR" website, your own PR will be much higher.
 After the month is up you do not have to continue paying the fee, because by then you will be in Google's index. If you've continued with other link trading strategies and kept building up the content on your site, then you may not even need to pay this cost any more.
 Now, if you have other websites with decent PageRanks, you can also place links on those sites to your new one. Leave the link there for three days or so and you'll quickly see your new website in Google's listings. (DON
 Let me tell you what you do not do: 
 1. Do not buy text links with your website name. That's as bad as putting your website name in your title tag. When you buy the text links, what you want to use is the key word/phrase that you are optimizing for! You see, to Google it isn't only that you have the link pointing to your site, but also what the text of the link says. So if we are optimizing for "Landscape Lighting," then we want our text links to say "landscape lighting."
 Not only that, but Google uses a variety of factors in determining your Page Rank (and therefore the rank you get in search results). Some of those factors include:
 1. Which websites link to you.
 2. The Page Rank of the website linking to you.
 3. The anchor text used in the link linking to you.
 4.Whether or not the websites linking to you are deemed by Google as authority websites.
 It is true that precious few sites with a PR 7 or higher are not thought of as authority websites (example of a authority website http://searchenginewatch.com/), but there are some.
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 SEO forums provide a wealth of information about the search industry directly from industry leaders such as professional SEOs, programmers and webmasters, who have their own unique experiences to share. Posting to SEO forums is a great way to network with the various players in the SEO industry, and reassure your clients that you are keeping abreast of industry trends and techniques. 
 Forums are particularly helpful to website owners who do their own search engine positioning and need to keep up with the quick shifts in the industry. Questions posed by novices and non-SEOs help industry professionals stay in touch with the basics of SEO and provide them with an understanding of what types of services and education are needed. Many businesses rely on Google and other top search engines for the majority of their traffic, leads and sales. It is important to understand not only the industry best practices in terms of SEO, but major industry news and events that could have an impact on a site's traffic. 
 The Basics of Online Forums 
 Online forums, sometimes called message boards, are group discussions that take place on an online platform and enable people to start and maintain threads about various topics. Forum users enter into these online discussions with the knowledge that this is an open exchange of ideas shared among users as publicly-displayed text messages. Most forums have one main overarching topic (e.g., Online Marketing) with a series of subtopics (e.g., SEO, PPC, Banner advertising, etc.). Forums are moderated by industry experts and/or knowledgeable parties who are given the difficult task of making sure posts stay on topic and people abide by the forum guidelines. Moderators have a wealth of knowledge to bestow and hands on experience with niche topics in the industry. Their contribution is what makes these forums work.  
Most forums enable you to view messages without registering, but require you to be a registered member before you can post. This generally avoids forum abuses such as posting spam or other offensive material.  
SEO forums serve the industry in a few different ways. They enable SEO professionals to stay connected to industry trends, help website owners learn how to optimize their websites, and serve as a focal point for industry experts and novices alike to network and share each other's experiences. Forums can also contain rumors, speculation and just plain false information about what's happening in the SEO universe. Take what you read in a forum with a grain of salt, and always research theories thoroughly before implementing them. It's a good idea to test SEO tips and strategies on a page by page basis, then monitor the results closely. 
 It can certainly be overwhelming to enter a forum and encounter a wide range of topics and threads. My advice is to lurk a while, get a feel for where you want to be in terms of subject matter, and then begin posting as you are more comfortable. 
Always read the pinned threads at the top of the subcategories. They contain tips and information for newbies, and will help you avoid the embarrassment of asking basic questions that have been asked and answered a dozen times before. 
 Let's take a look at some of the phenomenal SEO forums that are available. 
 Jill Whalen has been an SEO professional for ten years, which is forever in this business. Jill's HighRankings.com forum attracts the most knowledgeable people in the SEO industry and is moderated by many experienced industry professionals, including Jill herself, who volunteer their time to interact with other industry pros and help newbies understand the details of SEO. Overseeing all activity on the forum are the administrators, who make sure the forums run smoothly and that everyone plays nice. Scottie Claiborne, a High Rankings forum administrator, says, "We set the tone and do the actual work in maintaining the forum as well as the final decision-making." The High Rankings Administrators are Jill Whalen, Scottie Claiborne, and Alan Perkins; they form a strong team with similar beliefs and viewpoints.  
The moderators' presence can be felt throughout the forum, with solid, down-to-earth responses that guide newbies and experienced SEOs in the right direction. The HighRankings.com philosophy focuses on marketing-based, site-enhancing natural search optimization with an emphasis on providing great content to site visitors. Says Claiborne, "Moderators are selected from the members when the need arises and when a person seems to be a really good fit. For High Rankings, usually that means a sense of humor! We like to have original thinkers and smart, entertaining people as moderators... because it's just more fun that way. We don't take things too seriously." 
 The forum is broken out into six main topics with a collection of subtopics assigned to each. Topics include the expected SEO areas such as SEM and PPC, but you'll also find advice on Running your Business, Branding Yourself and Becoming an Expert, and The Pub, among others. The latter area is a great place for SEOs to meet, greet and even find some business. There are over 6,000 registered users of HighRankings.com's SEO forum, and over 130,000 total posts. If you really want to get a feel for the forum, try reading The Thread that Wouldn't Die, a 160-page tribute to nothing in particular. 
The High Rankings folks dish out lots of great advice while having a lot of fun! 
 SearchEngineWatch.com (SEW) has been around forever, and was owned independently by Danny Sullivan (one of the leading pioneers of SEO) before being swept into Mecklermedia's Internet.com network of sites back in November 1997. The SEW forums are frequented by some of the best SEO minds in the business. 
 Elisabeth Osmeloski is the Forum Editor and oversees the many moderators who volunteer their time to make the SEW forums a great online resource. Moderators include industry leaders such as Danny Sullivan and Chris Sherman. When asked about the value of SEW's forums, Ms. Osmeloski said, "The SEW forums really are a natural extension of Search Engine Strategies (SES) conferences, where people can network with other SEM professionals, discuss specific issues and get official answers from Search Engine reps. At SEW, we're certainly lucky to have many of the industry's thought leaders and experts participating on a daily basis." 
 The SEW forums are structured differently from HighRankings.com. The most popular main category is simply titled "Search Engines & Directories" and subcategories focus on individual search engines with Google naturally being the top-visited subcategory. The structure of the forum topics is a great way to gauge the current structure of the SEO industry. Google is the number one name in search, and holds a hallowed position at the top of the page. Subsequent topics include Yahoo, MSN Search, AskJeeves & Teoma and "Other SEs and Directories." 
 There are special topic areas for search engine marketing, general search issues such as trends, technology and current events, and a miscellaneous "lounge" area where you can post complaints and look for jobs, among other things. Advice is straightforward and favors a no-nonsense approach to SEO and SEM questions.  
SEW knows the value of their forum, and is introducing their first live forum event on June 28th in Atlanta. Osmeloski describes the event as follows. "We're bringing the casual environment of forum discussion to an organized networking breakfast seminar. We'll be looking to have these in cities that SES isn't normally held, so people can get a taste of what happens at the conferences and the forums." Registration information is not currently available, but we will post more information in the Discussion section of this article when it is. 
If you post on the SEW forums, you'll be in good company. Says Osmeloski, "While no forum can guarantee the accuracy of claims and comments made by members, we feel we make a concerted effort to allow a balanced view of the industry and discuss all aspects of SEM, including techniques labeled both 'good' and 'bad.' We've already hit the 4,000 member mark, and will likely hit 5,000 by the time [our one year anniversary] comes around, and we consider that successful." 
 WebMasterWorld.com is more than an SEO forum. Its topics include all facets of website design and development, and it is an industry-leading resource about how to create, maintain and promote your website. Their mission states, "design, coding, maintenance, promotion, marketing, and management of a website is almost an impossible task for one person alone without extensive training. We are here as a forum for the members to share and gain knowledge in operating and promoting a website." 
WebMasterWorld.com is one of the few forums that is not free to join. It costs $89 for a six-month membership and $149 for a year. Most industry professionals would agree that membership is well worth it. Some discussion threads are free and some are only accessible to members. You'll get the most benefit from this (or any) forum by submitting your own posts and becoming part of the community.  
SEOChat.com's forum is heavily moderated and rife with industry expertise and advice. Full privileges such as posting signatures, rating another user's post, uploading an avatar and other perks are suspended until you've been an active member for 90 days and made 100 posts. The layout of the forums is similar to SEW, with particular attention paid to Google, which has four topics devoted to it. The other top engines all get a piece of the action, with sections on optimization in Yahoo, MSN and AskJeeves. SEOChat.com is an extremely active forum with over 15,000 members, 26,000 threads and nearly 200,000 posts. 
 Conclusion 
 SEO forums have enabled the search industry to grow exponentially since the time Danny Sullivan launched SearchEngineWatch.com back in 1996. SEO professionals, novices and webmasters can all coalesce in one place and freely exchange ideas and information. This has helped create standards of practice throughout the industry and raised the bar in terms of the quality of service expected by clients, and delivered by professional SEOs. Elisabeth Osmeloski, Forums Editor for SearchEngineWatch.com, says it best. 
 "SEO is largely a self-taught skill, and particularly before SEM conferences and seminars came along, you relied on the experience of others and knowledge sharing that happened within these outlets to learn how to maximize site performance on the SEs. Now, forums are the day to day venue for discussion between conference dates."

Jay Mock
Residential Landscape Lighting & Design
4912 Blossom Street
Houston, Texas 77007-5312
Phone 713-550-1146
Fax 877-272-0577
Toll Free 1-800-239-2939
jmock@rlldesign.com