17.5% of marketers that participated in the Marketing Sherpa survey use Pepperjam. Commission Junction still dominates the affiliate network market with over 50% of marketers surveyed using their service. But with the tremendous growth of Pepperjam, it’ll be interesting to see how those stats look in another 18 months.

Pepperjam Network already boasts over 165 top advertisers from Phat Farm, Sesame Street, Orange County Choppers, and even eBay who recently dropped Commission Junction. It’s very clear from the advertisers that Pepperjam is going to be around for the long haul and isn’t going to be another newbie network that is here today and gone tomorrow.

Currently, I’m a registered user at Commission Junction and Linkshare. I don’t normally waste time signing up for new affiliate networks. But just glancing through some of the featured advertisers over at the Pepperjam Network, I see a few deals that look like exclusives to me. I’m heading over to sign up right now.

Do you use Pepperjam Network? If so, leave me a comment and let me know what you think about their service.

Pepperjam Network Reaches Top 5 Status in 5 Short Months

James had emailed link to a video of the new features in version 3. I take my hats off to the guy for the kinda work he has done on the software. The new version is going to be released next week and sadly James has decided to increase the price from $67 to $97. He is serious about the new price. The software is worth more than that.

Last week, I setup a new website based off my research done using Micro Niche Finder. The niche I picked up with 2 keywords has a combined search volume of 48,000 every month. This niche has next to zero competition. Within four days I was in the front page of Yahoo. The terms have a combined search volume of 12600 a month in Yahoo alone. It is a matter of time before I am on the front page of Google.

Do you see what I mean? I am not this hyped up normally, but your time is running out fast. Go ahead and buy Micro Niche Finder before the price shoots up. Do it Now!

A Second Update on Micro Niche Finder

According to MSN Career, Search Engine Optimization is one of the 4 most sought after jobs today. You will agree with me, when I say that Search Engine Optimization is one of the key foundation stones for a successful business online. There is nothing like organic traffic from Search Engines. They are precise, focused and with a purpose.

A career in the Search Engine world can be very lucrative and rewarding, both financially and psychologically. The perks that come with SEO job are numerous. At a corporate level, SEOs are paid as much as $150,000 a year, no kidding, with a starting salary of at least $25,000. Are we all so-called Search marketers qualified for this type of reward? No, definitely not. Can we prepare ourselves for it? Yes, definitely.

While many of us claim to know the Search Engines and boast of our abilities to perform SEO ourselves, how many of you (including myself) have given a serious thought to the knowledge we have accumulated? Have we ever verified it? How much of the knowledge that you and I have gained is junk?

Consider a scenario, where you were to implement a certain SE strategy to boost your rankings and respect in Google, but because of a lack of complete knowledge in the field, you make a deadly error that costs you your precious rankings. What next?

Well, I guess I am asking too many questions. My point is for a successful Search Engine practice, one needs to gain verified knowledge from an authoritative source. If I want to learn English, I will not go to the Cobbler, will I?

Kalena Jordon, one of the first Search Engine professional, and a very respected SE marketer in the U.S has started the Search Engine College to answer this very need of individuals and corporates. Kalena currently lives in New Zealand, and runs Ask-Kalena.com, a Search Engine Q&A blog.

The Search Engine College teaches everything from basic SEO to Link Building to Advanced Keyword Research to Website Copywriting and more. The prices, in my humble opinion are pretty reasonable. They range from anywhere between $195 to $275 per individual course and $695 for the Search Engine Marketer package course.

In addition to the certification provided, the college also helps you get a job in your chosen field. Every student has to have at least 70% in the final assessment to be eligible for certification. Currently, SEC has students from 30 countries which speaks very well of them.

Even though, I do my own SEO and am pretty good at the game, I am personally considering taking the advanced level courses one after the other. I am positive there is something to learn there for everyone of us. Knowing Kalena and her reputation, I can tell you the quality is top notch.

I personally recommend you to take a look and enroll in one of the courses. I have nothing but good feelings about this course. As always, if there is anything negative, I will pen an update later on.

Review Thursday – Search Engine College

For many of us, basic Search Engine Optimization itself is a pain in the rear. The technicalities involved in the game can be very challenging and at times, sensitive. At a stage like that, to think of someone like Dan Thies and his SEO strategies can simply be overwhelming, if not scary.

I have some good news for you. You better believe it when I say Good news. But, before I proceed, as always, please read my Affiliate Review Policy. I do not review to make a quick buck, but to help you, my readers, make an informed decision.

The software I am reviewing today is WP SEO Sniper, an SEO Plugin that makes it easy, even for a newbie to perform SEO tasks on a Wordpress blog;or so says the author. The author, Dewald has studied Dan Thies Search Engine Optimization methodology and has expressed it in the form of the Plugin.

I had a lengthy conversation with Dewald regarding the Plugin. The important question of course “Why should I buy your Plugin?” According to Dewald, it has been a challenge to simplify and possibly automate Dan Thies SEO methodologies for Wordpress. As he was a programmer, he decided to work on Dan’s methodology for Wordpress. The result being WP SEO Sniper.

The following are the features of the Plugin at a glance:

1. Add Title, Meta Description and Keywords on a sitewide level as well as individual posts and pages.

2. Avoid Duplicate Content by applying the Noindex and Nofollow rules.

3. Decide what pages to show up in Wordpress Pages list.

4. Apply Dan Thies 3 Tier rules for Pagerank control.

5. Perform the Third Level Push theory as stated by Dan.

6. Create 301 redirect pages

7. Google Webmaster verification.

8. Add Google Analytics Code.

9. Build a custom Footer page menu with Nofollow option.

10. Advanced Internal Linking.

11. Cloak Affiliate Links

The Plugin in my opinion is a complete solution for Wordpress On-page Optimization. I mean it. Dewald has covered everything. This one Plugin can replace:

1. All in One SEO

2. Robots Meta Tags

3. Duplicate Content Cure

4. Google Analytics Plugin

5. 301 Permalink Redirect

6. Affiliate Cloaker

7. Nofollow

8. Related Post

That is a good list of Plugins and WP SEO Sniper has all of it neatly organized in the Wordpress Admin Panel. You do not have to edit any theme files, a big plus to many of us who dread programming.

Yes, WP SEO Sniper comes with a price. Some may consider it steep. Every business comes with a cost, an investment; and we all know how important an investment like SEO is. Fortunately Dewald provides unlimited personal licenses per purchase. One purchase and you can use it on all your blogs plus free upgrades, bug fixes etc. Dewald is pretty fast in his response time.

Try the Plugin today. Dewald covers you with a money back guarantee, but I don’t see a reason for it, unless you really have no idea what SEO is. Then you shouldn’t buy it.

If I find any shortcoming in the tool, I will definitely update you. So far, I haven’t seen anything except good. Did I sound like a salesman? Read my Affiliate Review policy again. Go Buy WP SEO Sniper.

Review Thursday – Wordpress SEO Plugin

I have owned this software for the past 6 months. Before we go ahead, please take a moment to read my Affiliate Review policy. Let’s move forward.

Web2Submitter allows you to submit to about 9 different Social sites from various niches plus Onlywire.com, a one click social submission site. The owners Brandon and Jack claim that this tool saves several hours in a week by reducing the time taken for submission. Everything basically is done from a single interface. All you have to do is click the button once to login and click again to fill in the info and click a third time to submit. As easy as 1,2,3.

While I agree with the 1,2,3 theory, I do not really believe it saves minimum 7 hours every week. Why? Because, I have done both manual and semi-auto submission and it took me just an extra 10 minutes to while submitting manually. I keep a notepad handy and then it is just a matter of copy and paste for each site.

So, Lesson # 1 – They are lying. Sounds rude?

Next, you have this guy called Sam Beatson who claims this software saves him 5 hours everyday. I am not sure if this guy is smart or stupid. What in the world is taking him 5 hours a day for? I have submitted multiple articles in a day and it has never taken more than an hour for me at the most. This guy Sam, as well as the other testimonies, are giving the false impression that it is Web2submitter that is getting them all the “Traffic Overload”.

It is not true. This software only reduces your submission time by a few minutes. You can get the exact same “Traffic Overload” without this software. Period.

So, Lesson # 2 – They are lying. Sounds rude again?

The only useful part of this deal is the Buzz group. It is a private membership based group where you can send your post every week, and if they like your content, they will vote for you, thus helping you get better exposure. I still use them and will continue to. Is this worth $47? I don’t know, but since I bought the deal, I am a part of them.

They have another bonus for you. Oh actually, a “promotion in disguise” bonus. They give you a free 1 week test drive of “Authority Site Center” so that you can tour the product and buy if you are convinced. I wasn’t convinced, so I signed out. This really isn’t a bonus but a stupid marketing gimmick.

Am I using this software now? No. I am not. I have all my social sites in my toolbar and I do the same one click submissions without the software. Moreover, nowadays, I only submit to Sphinn, Shoutwire and StumbleUpon. Takes me less than 10 minutes, unlike Sam Beatson’s “5 sweaty hours”. Sam Beatson, you indeed beat me!

After all the explanation above, if you still plan to buy it and try it, by all means go ahead. It costs $47 only. Click one of the links in this article to visit their page and buy Web2Submitter. Now you are wondering why the affiliate link eh? Go ahead and read my affiliate policy once again.

Review Thursday – Web2Submitter

Last week, I picked up a software called Micro Niche Finder. It is owned and marketed by James.J.Jason. That’s JJJ, pretty cool. The website has the usual marketing hype and B.S, sadly. I picked up the software because of the 30 days refund it came with. I literally had nothing to lose.

I seriously don’t understand why James had to create a hyped up marketing letter, because the software works pretty well. It actually helps you find smaller profitable niches within your main niche, so you can make real money while everyone else is behind the main niche.

I started a Adsense based site for testing purposes. I will discuss this more in the coming edition of Sunday Blogbits. For now, let me tell you, I have found about 12 niches out of which at least 7 are clearly profitable and have pretty low competition.

Here are some of the features of the software:

1. It shows you the Search count, Broad and exact match for the keyword that you are researching.

2. It shows you the strength of the competition. Personally I am not convinced about this feature.

3. Once you find your hidden niche, it shows you related products from Clickbank to sell.

4. It also links the hidden niche phrases to royalty free articles so you can setup an Adsense page in 5 minutes.

The drawback is, it works off Google’s search database only. You have to rely only queries made on Google and not other Search engines. It is not a worrying concern, but it would have been nice if the options were extended to other keyword databases too. It helps in a better research oriented results.

Overall, I am happy with the performance. I am using this software extensively for the Adsense project. So far, I really haven’t seen a need to look elsewhere, even though I would love to. Plus, there are certain services I came who claim to find the hidden goldmine, but charge 3-4 times of the cost of the software.

My advice to you is go ahead and pick up the software, install it, use it. You have about 30 days to play your will on it without losing a dime. Let me know here in the comments section, how you faired with it, how many niches you were able to find and whatever you can share. Our discussions can definitely benefit the online business community.

So, go ahead, pick up your copy of Micro Niche Finder and do not forget to keep me updated. Oh, by the way if you are thinking about the affiliate link, please read my affiliate policy here. That should make you comfortable.

How to Make Money in Saturated Markets – Part 2

Stay tuned to this section next week. You will definitely benefit from the readings.

Launching Affiliate Review Section