By now, you’ve probably heard of IMReportCard.com, a site that provides reviews of popular internet marketing related products and then encourages visitors to share their own experiences with them.

On the surface, IMReportCard.com seems like it fills a pretty good niche. Who doesn’t want a impartial resource to check in with when you’re considering purchasing a new Internet Marketing related product? Who doesn’t want to read feedback and comments from everyday folks who have purchased and used the products?

The thing is, I’m a skeptical S.O.B.

That, and my main online businesses are in the body building and weight loss supplement industry, where it’s common for both retailers and affiliates to create “unbiased review sites” (which are nothing of the sort, of course) as a means to generate sales or referral income.

These affiliates frequently gloss over inconvenient truths and fail to question or investigate the retailer’s claims, instead parroting them and passing them on as “gospel” truth. I’ve made a good living over the past decade doing the opposite, because it’s both the ethical thing to do, and the only way to build long term business success.

So when I encountered IMReportCard.com, red flags started going up almost immediately…

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Let’s face it, affiliate marketing is one of the most popular- not to mention the cheapest and easiest – money making options for anyone looking to the Internet to supplement their income. And yet, most affiliates fail spectacularly, the vast majority failing to ever earn a commission check or even refer a sale.

If you’re an affiliate marketer struggling to eke out a living on the Net, no doubt you’re doubly frustrated by the near daily bombardment of affiliate money making “opportunities” – all seemingly sent by some recently penniless college drop out who now earns millions working a couple of hours a day from an idyllic beachfront mansion.

Truth is, if you’re not making money in affiliate marketing, there’s probably a good reason for it.

Back when I started promoting affiliate products, I failed miserably too.

And I continued to do so until I discovered the key to earning referral income on a regular basis, as well as the trick to a high conversion ratio.

Before I continue, let me put one thing into perspective; while earning income – even making a living from referral programs – is well within your powers, only a select few marketers are going to get to enjoy those huge 4 and 5 figure Clickbank checks featured so prominently on the sales pages of the affiliate marketing gurus.

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A few weeks ago, I put together a post on the growing popularity of online video. In it, I discuss how online video is exploding in popularity and why this surge of popularity has got me so excited. However, the majority of this article covers the logistics of video creation; what you need in the way of software and tools, and so on.

It doesn’t really address some of the really cool ways you can use video to leverage your web site, and its existing content. Since this discussion of video is near and dear to my own heart (I’m eager to find the best – and most efficient – ways to use it on my own site – UltimateFatBurner.com and Real-Customer-Comments.com), I’d like to share with you some of the more exciting avenues I’ve investigated, or am currently investigating.

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