(Similarly, the Info Riches course, about which I have a video in a previous post, is going up dramatically in some eighteen hours or so! Ultimately, I wussed out on buying it myself, so I can only comment on the pre-launch Future of Internet Marketing interviews, which I’ve found a great way to put voices and personalities to the names.)

Anyway, maybe you’re wondering what the heck a devoted RAPateer, as we like to call ourselves, is doing thinking about Clickbank. Well, I’ve long been considering also offering products there too in order to capture a larger affiliate audience (though I believe the number of people promoting RAP products will continue to grow and may increase exponentially in the near future with new tools like my Affiliate Cookie Wordpress Plugin).

But, there’s more to Chris Freville’s Clickbank Inner Circle than his strongly advocating you become a CB publisher. It’s also about how to approach the big names for joint ventures, whether there really is an inner circle, and all the other whats and hows of affiliate marketing.

I’m still working my way through all the PDFs, but I’ve watched the videos and listened to the audios. In particular, I burned the Alex Goad interview to CD, and it’s received several playings in the car now. There are some quality gems in that one for sure.

There’s now a truly integrated add-on that finally makes Rapid Action Profits a more than viable and affordable solution for your membership site.

By adding a “ref” parameter to your blog’s URL, or any post or page therein, it sets the “aff” cookie for your domain. In the case of Rapid Action Profits (RAP), the sales system I use, the default matches, but I’ve included simple instructions on how to change it.

This enables your affiliate to simply send traffic to your blog or a favorite post, and if the reader then purchases one of your products, the affiliate gets credit for the sale. The upside is huge for both the shy affiliate (no selling) and the blog and product owner (more traffic).

To see it in action, click on Tools up top or any of the product links along the bottom of the page, signup for my affiliate program, then add http://www.netkickstart.com/blog/?ref= to your blogroll. (You’ll note it also cloaks the URL, so it doesn’t look like an affiliate link!)

When I sign up to help make a launch or giveaway successful — in whatever small way that may be — I have a reasonable expectation of only receiving news and updates about that event. Or, at most, notification of a future JV with that same individual.

What I don’t expect, nor want, is to be pitched every new product on the market. Maybe joint venture opportunities for them, but even then, don’t you think, as a supposed insider, I’d know about those from their creators? Certainly by the time it comes to being a purchaser for the next big thing, those on a JV list are going to know about it already.

Why segment your lists if you’re going to send the same damn thing to all of them?! Near as I can tell, the answer is because that way if someone unsubscribes from one, you still have them on five others. (Aweber and several other autoresponders will let you unsubscribe from all at once, but it’s a list-owner option that not everyone leaves checked.)

I could go on and on, but I think you get the picture. My humble plea, to all you “JV” and affiliate list owners, is… Please keep these lists clean, by which I mean on-topic, informative, and respectful, not salesy. We’re ostensibly partners, right? (Yeah, I know…)

I present for your educational benefit, some that are still currently available. For the cash-strapped beginner, they’re a good way to try out these programs before signing on for a more serious investment.

• Ray Edward’s Internet Marketing Mastermind
• Yanik Silver’s Maverick Business Insider
• Armand Morin’s Marketing Tutorials
• Joel Comm’s Adsense Secrets / Top One Percent
• Rich Schefren’s Cash Maps

I was going to put SureFireWealth’s Instant Video Empire in that list too, but it looks like their deal may have ended. Anyway, I hope you find a gem among these from which you’ll be happy to keep learning and profiting.

A word of warning: While I’m sure they’ve split-tested it, I’m no fan of the ‘ole autoplay video. Most, if not all, these guys use them though, so turn down your speakers until you can be sure the volume’s right.

Unfortunately, in most cases, those “efforts” are hardly deserving of the appellation; a good 80% (there’s that Pareto Principle again) are just copy-and-paste emails from the product owner. Of course, I’m not speaking only of this launch; it’s standard practice.

Meanwhile, those of us, like myself, who actually take the time to review all the materials and offer honest evaluations in our own words, suffer under the stampede. I sent a single mail yesterday before the frenzy and after viewing all the videos.

The results? Not a single sale. Reminds me of the dating scene as a young(er) adult! That’s what I get for building my list from giveaway events (I kid the frugal people on my list as I was similarly so). Anyway, enough of the sour grapes. What did I think?

Well, if you’re a beginning marketer, the first 13 videos contain a ton of valuable teachings. And, even if you’ve heard all his recommendations for building a list of buyers before, the review and implementation details are worthy of careful study. I’ve watched them through twice as of this writing.

In addition, he’s included three advanced videos that are just that — advanced. Finally, everything’s reiterated in a fairly dense 144-page, step-by-step PDF.

While I’m guessing the common abbreviations, like BRB and LOL, began their careers more as lazy shorthand than an enforced length limitation, such is not the case for links. After all, we would normally just copy and paste them from the address bar. Who cares how long? Well, except for when they get chopped up by email clients.

But now, in addition to the disguise factor, we have to shorten them. As you’d expect, this has led to the proliferation of sites providing this service, from the originals (think tinyurl and snipurl) to newcomers, like budurl and MyFavUrls with advanced features such as tracking and expiring links. Then you have the listbuilders, like the annoying ViralUrl.

The problem with these options is it’s hard to tell at a glance where they’re going to take you, and a lot of folks simply won’t click on gobbledygook (wow, the spell checker knows that word!).

I know, I know. I hear you saying, “But, I can choose an alias; I don’t have to accept their randomly generated stuff.” Of course, you’re right, many do offer that option. Thing is, you still lose your branding by having the shortened URLs originate from a site other than yours.

Sure, you can install a MySQL database application on your server and use that instead, or if that freaks you out, you can upload a new folder and/or file for every affiliate promotion. As a software developer, the first doesn’t phase me a bit, but I understand how it’s not for everyone. And the second is a PITA.

It’s for these reasons that I’ve been using a different technique. I seriously haven’t seen this anywhere else. It’s been my little secret. But it wasn’t completely intentional; I’ve been meaning to share it for some time. I just needed to sit my butt down for a few days and spill my guts! Finally, it’s ready and you’ll discover the coveted method in my new “Make It Mine” report.

Inside, you’ll also find a link to the customer-only affiliate program where I split the sales with you. So, you’ll receive the full amount, direct to your paypal account, on every other sale! That means, with only two referred sales, the report is basically free! Everything after that is just icing on the cake (not to mention the improved click-thru rates you’ll enjoy).