Glossary
Above The Fold - It refers to that part of a web document (be it email, web page, pdf file) which the reader sees without having to scroll down the page. Everything bellow this area is refered to as “bellow the fold”. It is recommended that the elements intended to catch the readers’ attention (such as headlines, ads, content etc.) be placed above the fold.
Advertise - To make a business, product, service known to the public through paid announcements in media (newspapers, TV, radio and Internet)
Affiliate - Someone who is affiliated with a business and who is paid commissions based on that person’s sales. In some cases the affiliate is given the option to refer (recruit and bring in the business) other affiliates; in this case he or she is paid a commission based on those referrals’ sales as well. There is usually no cost to be an affiliate.
Affiliate Marketing - Can be identified in the case of affiliate programs and is that part of the marketing process involving the advertising and selling of products conducted by affiliates. Lately it has become known as the actual method of selling goods and services through the use of affiliates.
Affiliate Program - A merchant (usually online business) that uses affiliates to sell its products. The affiliate sends customers over to the merchant’s website (the affiliate program). If a sale is made, the affiliate gets a percentage of the value of the sale. In some instances it is not necessary for an actual sale to be made. The affiliate gets paid just for sending a visitor over to the merchant’s web site. These are, however, somewhat questionable programs. Make sure you do your due diligence before joining such an affiliate program.
N.B. Do not confuse the affiliate program that pays affiliates for visitors with advertising selling programs such as Google AdSense. In the latter case a sale actually takes place. When the visitor clicks on the link, the affiliate program - Google AdSense - gets paid by the owner of the link, and the referring website (affiliated with Google AdSense) - the one that hosts the ad - gets paid a percentage of whatever Google cashes in.
Ezine (E-zine) - Electronic Magazine (the term is also used for electronic newsletter); a collection of works distributed (in most cases for free) in digital form on web sites or via e-mail. Creating and distributing your own ezine has become a very popular advertising and marketing technique. On the other hand subscribing to a few ezines can keep you up to date on what is happening in your niche as well as give you helpful ideas.
Internet Marketing - The marketing process (researching, promoting and selling) conducted on the Internet through the use of email lists, banner ads, newsletters, ezines, articles, link exchanges, participating in forum discussions etc.
Marketing - The commercial process involved in researching, promoting and selling a product or service. It covers a wide range of activities, such as advertising, pricing, packaging and distribution of the products, etc.
Online Store - A web site (or a section of a web site) that sells goods and/or services without the direct, face to face, contact between the vendor and the customer. Payment is made by credit card, online checks or third party payment processors (such as PayPal). Once the payment has been processed, the vendor delivers the goods/services.
SEO - Search Engine Optimization; the collection of strategies and actions meant to improve a web site’s relevance, visibility and rank with the search engines.
SERP - Search Engine Results Page; a page listing (in order of relevance) the web sites returned by a search engine for a certain search query.
WAHM - Work at Home Mom(s); moms who earn money by working at home mostly full-time; they do so through a number of ways such as direct or multilevel marketing, affiliate marketing, e-bay stores etc. Following the same principle there are also WAHD (dads) and, including both moms and dads, WAHP (parents).
Web 2.0 - here’s a definition from Wikipedia: “the business revolution in the computer industry caused by the move to the internet as platform, and an attempt to understand the rules for success on that new platform. Chief among those rules is this: Build applications that harness network effects to get better the more people use them.” Since the term is relatively new, there’s a lot of misconception and misunderstanding surrounding it. Many people refer to it as a new marketing trend that is based on user/customer/visitor interaction. (For a detailed explanation on how the term was born and what it was meant by its “parents”, visit O’Reilly’s “What Is Web 2.0″)
