Two weeks ago, YTB and Carnival came to you via the World Wide Web in a special webinar to participate in CLIA’s annual World’s Largest Cruise Night.

This week ZamZuu brings ZamFest to the World Wide Web in preparation for the holiday shopping season.

If you’re thinking it’s a little early to be promoting holiday shopping, you might not be aware of what retailers are doing. Last year more than 40% of all retailers had already started their online promotions by this time last year. Another 29% started their online promotions right after after Halloween.

Just last week, the Birmingham Business Journal reported that online retailers are expecting a 15 percent increase in sales this holiday season. The report looks almost identical to last year’s early promotional models – with an even bigger increase (an 11% jump) of marketing holiday items next week.

(What ever happened to “Black Friday” as the start of the holiday shopping season?)

Truth is, the Internet has changed the way we shop. The Business Journal report quoted Fiona Swerdlow, of NRF’s Shop.org:

“Retailers continue to see the web as a bright spot in the industry and are putting the finishing touches on new site features so their customers will have good experiences when shopping online this holiday season,” said Fiona Swerdlow, head of research for the NRF’s Shop.org. “In addition to using websites to bring in sales, retailers are leveraging the Internet to encourage shoppers to head to nearby stores, featuring store locator information, product availability and store circulars on their websites.”

That’s exactly what ZamZuu does, it leverages the Internet with ZamFest beginning tonight, Tuesday October, 26th and runs through Thursday October 28th from the comfort of your own home on ZamZuuTV.com.

ZamZuu’s national webcast event is the perfect opportunity to showcase all the amazing products available on the ZamZuu Product Distribution System. From Featured Stores to specific deals in the cash back affiliate network, you can get a good start on your holiday shopping and take advantage of all these early specials.

Participating is a piece of cake. Just choose a time that’s convenient for you. ZamZuu will be broadcasting starting tonight at 8:00 p.m. Eastern, and we’ll continue to broadcast through Thursday, October 28, 2010! (ZamZuu has secured deals that are good for all three days!) Just tune in to the webcast by visiting ZamZuuTV.com and see some great ideas and deals to get your holiday shopping off to a great start.

According to the chart provided by ZippyCart.com it’s expected that almost half (49%) off all holiday shoppers plan to shop online. (Up from 42% a year ago.) And why not? It’s far more convenient being open 24/7, much easier to compare prices, over 80% off online retailers will be offering free shipping offers, along with additional savings on taxes.

Not hard to figure out that this is big business!

If you’re really smart (or business minded) you might consider getting in on this action yourself. ZamZuu has an option for that as well with a FREE shopping and travel site of your own – earning 30% of the commissions earned not just for the holiday’s – but all year long. You’ll earn commissions on sales for yourself, and be able to offer cash back to your customers. There’s really no better time to get started than right now with the massive amount of specials and attention focused on “e-commerce” this holiday season.

Seriously – you could sign up now and be in business for yourself in time to send out invitations to ZamFest yourself and start making money from your own site – no strings attached – no hidden costs – no bull.

It’s up to you – but either way you need to take advantage of the market shift from “Brick and Mortar” to “Click and Order”. (Or at least check it out to find out what all the fuss is about.)

Hope to see you online this week with ZamFest!

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One of the nice features about a blog is the ability to track how people find you. I’ve always kept a pretty close eye on search terms and referral links coming into this site because it’s one of the best ways to come up with new material and topics. It’s also a good indicator of what’s on people’s minds.

The biggest mistake I see people make when writing a blog is it’s all about them – and that’s the wrong way to look at it. If you want readership – you have to cater to topics that interest your readership. It’s not that you can’t write about what you want or have personal opinions about your topic of choice – but you really need to think from a readers perspective.

Case in point – a really hot search right now is finding an alternative to Bing’s Cash Back program. The current number of searches is alarming and plenty of people are scrambling for alternatives. When I wrote about Bing flushing their program back in June, not only did I find out that Bing wasn’t making any money, (giving 100% back to consumers who shopped there) but some of the extremely high cash back percentages were actually coming out of Bing’s pocket.

The plan behind stacking the percentages of cash back was to drive more user traffic. In a roundabout way, Bing was paying for more traffic in cash back in the hope that it would eventually lead to more advertising dollars. When you look at Google earning revenue of $22.8 BILLION in 2009 just in advertising revenue – you’d want a piece of that pie too. But Google also dominates 71% of all search queries in the United States, while Bing captures only 9%.

Microsoft in their infinite wisdom had a better plan. When Microsoft bought Jellyfish.com back in 2007 to get into the online shopping game they eventually stripped away the “refer a friend” percentages and the revenue split that Jellyfish.com made to continue to build and develop and gave it all away to the shopper – betting they could make it up in ad revenue.

The beginning of the end came in August of 2009 when Bing doubled their cash back percentages – costing them even more money without the sufficient ad revenue to compensate. They were betting that it would drive considerably more traffic and it did – for shoppers – but it never turned into loyal search users or more advertising dollars.

When Microsoft bought Jellyfish.com back in 2007; this small little company was profitable. The cash back splits were sufficient, and word of mouth or referrals were working like a charm. Although I had no idea who they were at the time, they were by far the fastest growing cash back option on the internet at the time. Dozens of startups tried to copy them or add their own little twist to get in on this growing trend of e-commerce.

But Bing had a better plan – while going head-to-head with traditional cashback programs firmly entrenched in the market for a decade or more: Ebates, MrRebates, Upromise, MyPoints, and Memolink.

While Bing was great for shoppers and garnered a number of loyal fans it was the wrong model for business. You can’t give away more than you make and stay in business for very long.

So loyal Bing shoppers are off searching for new alternatives. Some have already found them, while others appear to be somewhat disappointed that some of their favorite cash back stores have been cut in half.

If you’re a follower of this blog (or YTB and ZamZuu) you’re well aware of the illusions some people have about MLM and Network Marketing. How MLM is the only model who takes huge cuts out of their price to pay all the people at the top. It’s a myth and illusion I find fascinating. If you look at business as whole – every company has a pyramid structure to it. (So does government and your family tree for that matter.) Why MLM is singled out as being the only pyramid that’s wrong, immoral or a scam makes me question the intelligence of those who rant and rave with their harsh and bitter commentary.

When it comes to these shopping sites, most all out there keep about half the commission for themselves to stay in business. They need to pay for employees, local management, area management, and regional management, VP’s, Senior VP’s, Partners, Presidents and CEO’s. The higher up the pyramid (excuse me – make the “ladder”), the bigger your cut of the revenue earned.

How some miss that – makes me question their intelligence.

That being said, let’s look at ZamZuu simply from the consumer experience and compare it to other “traditional models” that have been around for a while.

When you take a look at this document which lists a side by side comparison of other leading cash back programs, you’ll clearly see that ZamZuu stacks up really well. While some may be a percentage or two higher or lower, nobody really comes out as a clear winner in this chart from a consumer point of view. It’s interesting to note that all the programs listed are “traditional models” and not MLM or Network Marketing companies.

From this perspective, ZamZuu is no different from a traditional model or cash back program.

The key difference for me and why I promote ZamZuu is the “refer a friend” percentage – which clearly trumps the others by a long shot. There is a distinct difference in model and mindset in this instance however. I look at ZamZuu as a business model – not a hobby. The ability to refer friends, family, neighbors, and co-worker and earn 60% of what they earn in cash back is the game changer for someone who understands business. Instead of that 60% going to the President or CEO of Fatwallet or Extrabux it comes to me as an Independent Business Owner.

Clearly, these “friends” will be hard pressed to find a better all-around cash back alternative for themselves in this growing market of online shopping. It’s free for them to sing up, and they have the added benefit of finding comparable travel deals through a 10 year old Travel Agency that also ranks with other power houses in the industry.

Just our way of separating fact from the fiction. More like illusions if you ask me – but that’s another article for another day.

So if someones looking for an alternative to Bing Cash back – feel free to save this document and show them a side by side comparison. I can promise you, they won’t have any better relationship with anyone from these other companies. But they do have one with you.

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Ronda came down stairs last night all excited. You’d think she won the lottery from the way she was acting. In reality, she purchased a $50 gift certificate on Restaurant.com for $4 through our ZamZuu site for our Anniversary Dinner at Prime Park tonight. We’re celebrating 13 years of marriage today and to this day, she still spoils me rotten. She knows it’s my favorite restaurant and after our visit there on our last year’s anniversary, she’s thrilled because we’re going to save a bundle on a very romantic dinner out for her.

Flowers will also be delivered today thanks to a great deal from FLORA2000 found on ZamZuu, and another “special gift” was delivered last week that will remain quiet for now.

And we’ll get cash back for all of it.

The ZamZuu shopping portal just got a brand new upgrade over the weekend that not only makes the shopping experience more convenient, but streamlines the registration process to qualify for cash back.

When clicking on a store within the Cash Back Affiliate Network, the customer is presented with three options. If they are an existing customer, they can simply log in to their account. If they just want to shop, they simply click “No, thanks.”

A new customer can start earning cash back by simply supplying their email address, confirm it by typing it in again, and click “Go Shopping.” That’s all that’s required now to track the purchase to the customer. When it’s convenient, they’ll have an email waiting in their inbox to complete their registration with information with who’s name belongs on the check and where to send their cash back.

In this day and age of instant gratification and speed, that’s a big deal.

I recall a marketing report I read from InfusionSoft (an e-mail and marketing software program) a short time ago that stated that over 80% of sales are lost during the registration process. The vast majority of people don’t even take the time register during the buying process, it takes too much time when the impulse hits them to buy. Most of the top dogs who market on the internet use this program for this very reason.

With ZamZuu’s quick registration process on the front end – it enables the customer to quickly purchase the product or item their after while an e-mail is sent reminding them that cash back is waiting on that purchase after the sale is complete.

The company also eliminated the options page which gave them a choice of booking travel or shopping. I never liked this additional step and have always supplied direct links to either travel or shopping, depending on the customer need and interest. BandBVacations.com has always been used for travel through YTB Travel Network, and now MyShoppingPaysMe.com can be used for retail shopping.

While I’ve not seen or heard of any stats about this old entry page, it’s my guess that business owners never really used this “option page” to begin with. It was an unnecessary step or click that wasn’t needed. Again, it has to do with speed and the instant access we’ve all come to expect in this day and age.

I also like the new media center found on the shopping portal with the ZamZuu featured stores. Not only are the prominently displayed down the center of the page, both a written description and video are within easy access. While everyone is familiar with Wal-Mart and Best Buy, shoppers may not know the features, advantages and benefits of NeutraCeutrics. By clicking the “more info” link below the store banner, the ZamZuu media center goes into action with a streaming video about the company and its products.

Every bit of this upgrade is quicker, easier, and cleaner with this new features which will translate into more sales through ZamZuu and more cash back for those who use this free service. It’s a win for the business owner and a win for the customer.

Cash back just got a whole lot easier with ZamZuu.

Now if you’ll excuse me…I have a special day planned with my bride.

See you later this week!

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We’ve talked about the shopping experience with ZamZuu several times over the last several weeks. It’s become such a simple process to Google a particular product and have a listing of all the suppliers who offer that product show up in a search complete with prices. Find a price you like? Chances are, it’s offered through the ZamZuu shopping portal – and you’ve got yourself an even better deal than Google can offer in the form of cash back.

It’s quick – it’s easy – and you get cash back for doing it. I can’t think of anyone who doesn’t like to save money, and that’s exactly what ZamZuu does for the average shopper with a free account.

Tonight, we’re going to offer up something for the business minds out there – people who are smart enough to look at ZamZuu as an income opportunity, not just a shopping opportunity.

Think about it. If you could offer up a free shopping portal to your friends, family, co-workers, and neighbors that enables them to save money when they shop online would you tell them? What if they told some friends? What if you could create a customer base of shoppers all shopping through ZamZuu and getting cash back for using your site? Would you be interested?

If you are – you can find out more about it tonight, February 16th, as ZamZuu offers up a live webcast at 8 pm Eastern, 7 pm Central, 6 pm Mountain, 6 pm Pacific to explain this growing trend in e-commerce and how you can benefit as a ZamZuu site owner.

This 30-minute webcast is designed to share the ZamZuu Income Opportunity and what it can offer you as a viable home based business. If you like what you see, you can get started with your own e-commerce website that’s ready to go the second you hit submit to start shopping and show others where to shop to receive cash back when they shop with you.

You owe it to yourself to take a look at this growing trend in e-commerce and how people are cashing in.

There’s no need to register, and if you miss the live webcast, it will rebroadcast at the top of each hour. If you like what you see, and need some more information on how to get started, just drop me a note or pick up the phone and call.

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I don’t have much time this morning, but wanted to share with you another great experience with ZamZuu.

Over the weekend, my laptop power supply went on the fritz. The power would cut in and out and the cord had to be just right in order to get power to the laptop. Power cords have been a constant problem over the years because it is a mobile device and I take the laptop with me where ever I go.

Kind of like my right arm. ;-P

Have you ever tried to shop around for a power supply? Did it a couple of years ago and ended up getting one of the all-in-one type supplies that cost about $120. Sure I could hook it up to multiple devices, but that’s hard to do when you need it for your laptop all the time. The next time it went on the fritz, I ordered one off the internet from somebody off of e-bay. Worst mistake I ever made. Sure it was cheap – I think something like $20 but that also meant it was cheap manufacturing. The stupid thing was so noisy you could see static on the television set – and that’s with a conditioner attached to the set! (Something used to clean up the power to the television.)

So the last time I needed to replace the power supply, I was a little more careful and bought from a reputable supplier that specialized in power supplies for around $40. Still cheaper than getting it direct from the computer manufacturer, but not so cheap that it wreaks havoc on all your other appliances.

What I didn’t realize at the time was the manufacturer who makes these power supplies also OEM’s them for other retailers, and depending on who you purchase it from, it could save you some money. Once I found the right price from a retailer I knew and trusted – I decided to log into my ZamZuu site to see if the retailer was one of the hundreds offered in my shopping portal. All I had to do was type the name in the search box and up it came.

So get this – not only did I find the cheapest price on the internet, I got it even cheaper because I was smart enough to check out ZamZuu before I decided to buy. And the time it took to log into ZamZuu to check? Less than 60 seconds to find the exact same item, for the exact same price through ZamZuu to get cash back.

As it turns out – the problem wasn’t the power cord, but the power supply connection inside the computer. After a little investigation, it was found that this tiny little item is attached to the mother board of the computer. (Meaning that in order to replace the power supply, you need to replace the main guts of the computer.)

More research showed that a new board for an outdated computer would cost around $400 to buy and repair. I can do a lot with computers – but a motherboard in a laptop isn’t one of them.

So what do we do now?

Do another search on the internet silly to find a new computer with the right features and the right price.

Not only did I find one, I found it locally from one of the big box retailers – who as you might have guessed is available through ZamZuu. (It’s one we have listed as our “Favorites”) Like the desktop that bit the dust before Christmas, this was another customer pickup that had a new laptop in my hands within 20 minutes of ordering a smashing new Dell laptop with most of the bells and whistles I wanted.

So from the comfort of an office chair I not only find the best deal in town, but get it for less because I went through ZamZuu.

I remember the old days of store hoping and think how chaotic and time consuming that process is – only to run into a cheaper price somewhere else a week later because I was too tired to take the time to check.

Well, I do have something that will take some time. Getting all my information on this computer from the weekly backups I make. I should be good as new by this afternoon with everything in its place.

Just wanted to share another reason and a personal experience that continues to cement my belief and faith that YTB is heading in the right direction. Without YTB’s foresight to diversify, it probably would have cost me a lot more time and money because I’m used to doing things a certain way. (Aren’t we all.)

Now that I know how easy and quick this is, you’d be hard pressed to ever get me to go back to doing things the old way.

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The internet is a real beast. I’m absolutely amazed at how this virtual world, with its bits and bytes of information, zoom all over the world at a moments notice. On Friday I wrote about watching the Emmy Award-winning ‘America’s Game’ and “The Story of the 2008 Pittsburgh Steelers”. During the program Ben Roethlisberger talked about a poem called “Don’t Quit”. Wanting to find out more, what do you think I did?

A.) Pick up the phone and call Ben cause we’re pretty tight.
B.) Access the huge library of poems and literature I have here at the house.
C.) Write a letter to NFL Films requesting a copy of the poem.
D.) Slide the laptop over and Google “Ben Roethlisberger Poem “Don’t Quit”

Of course the easiest and most logical answer here is the Google search, and while I’m not claiming any type of scientific data to back this up, it appeared to me at least, that this was the most logical answer for the vast majority of people who also watched the program wanting to read this poem. I typically have a slower readership on the weekends, but due to Google, Yahoo, and Bing searches, (and a first page ranking of my article) I saw a huge increase in traffic over the weekend.

While this is just one example, I see it all the time for all kinds of topics. When the Amended Class Action was thrown out, it created a huge frenzy of hits and activity. Same thing with the Travel Weekly Power List. Even the Expedia Settlement and the legal fiasco that Mann Bracken got themselves into has created traffic to this very site.

Fact is, the internet is ingrained into our culture and a very common tool for information and research.

We also use the Internet for buying the products and services we are researching. Back in 2001 three guys saw a paradigm shift from “Brick and Mortar” to “Click and Order” for the purchase of vacations and travel needs. Today, 4 of the Top 10 travel agencies are internet based, combining for $45 billion in travel services and vacation product sold. (Expedia, Travelocity, Priceline, and Orbitz.)

Because of this shift, YTB has expanded their product offering via a partnership with Asile19, and the development of shopYTB. The shopYTB program enables you, the online shopper, to access the “click and order” internet sites of hundreds of stores. (Sears.com, BestBuy.com, Walmart.com, Target.com) through a special portal that not only enables you to buy directly from the stores themselves, but provides cash back to you for shopping online.

While actual numbers concerning the amount of products and services sold on the internet are difficult to obtain, (or at least difficult to figure out who has the right number) we are seeing clear signs that the internet is a viable choice for purchasing product and services.

Over the weekend, I saw a very funny commercial that once again, prompted me to do a internet search to watch it again. After I was done laughing, I began to wonder why a company like Visa would even create a commercial promoting online buying? Could it be because there is a large enough segment of the buying public who are now looking to the Internet to make thier online purchases?

Nah, that’s just silly talk.

Speaking of silly, here’s the commercial. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did and that it not only puts a smile on your face, but makes you think…why did they create a commercial about purchasing product online?

Think about it.

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I’ve written about a company called PhoCusWright here before which measures online travel sales. I’ve also written about BurstMedia as recently as a few weeks ago, which looked at consumer research for travel related spending. Another company that measures on-line spending is a company called eMarketer who came out with a report last week which forecasts some significant growth once we get past this recession.

The Retail E-Commerce Forecast reports and tracks current online sales and then forecasts what will happen in the future based on the data collected. The current forecast indicates that online sales will begin to rebound in 2010 and hit full stride in 2011. A trend in greater spending by online buyers is the key to eMarketers forecast of continued e-commerce growth. Currently some 152 million individuals will shop online in 2009.

The report also goes on to state that many consumers opt to buy online for convenience, price and broad product selection. It also states that over 80% of online shoppers are also online buyers. According to PriceGrabber.com, the tough economy is driving consumers online to compare prices, look for retailers that do not charge sales tax or shipping fees, seek discounts and avoid impulse buying.

It should be noted that PhoCusWright and eMarketer specialize in two separate segments of online sales. Online travel sales are so large and significant in this day and age that it’s broken out into its own category of B2C e-commerce. The remaining group of sales, whatever that may be, is left in the hands of eMarketer.

We’ve heard Coach, Scott and Kim this year quote that $0.42 out of every dollar spent online is spent on travel.  YTB brought Aisle 19 on board at the beginning of the year to capture the other $0.58 of that dollar. If you have ever wondered where that statistic comes from you now know it comes from PhoCusWright and eMarketer who work together to bring you and me a complete picture of the online shopping market. In 2008 $95.3 billion of the total sales volume spend online ($227.6 billion) was spent on travel.

Yes, I know that traditional travel agents want to stake a claim to the $95.3 billion in travel that’s spent online in an attempt that they are changing with the times. The claim; they too book online. Mind you, Expedia, Orbitz, Travelocity and Priceline take up more than half of the $95.3 billion with $50.1 billion on their own. (As documented in last weeks 2009 Power List rankings.) If you’re wondering if this is nothing more than a desperate attempt to keep traditional agents in this changing and evolving game you can bet on it.

A few weeks ago I documented BurstMedia’s findings with how consumers are using the internet for travel research and spending. That article got a considerable amount of attention from various massage boards, forums, and blogs. (As noted in stat reports I read that document not only what people are reading, but where they are coming from.) The findings from the BurstMedia research upset many traditional agents, and the excuses started to mount. One traditionalist went as far as personally attacking YTB and myself in some feable price match to show that booking with him would prove to be a better value. I’m not sure how that one example will change the entire scope of consumer research and spending, but I will tell you that the traditionalist who spent days ranting over the issue has successfully relieved himself from any anxiety he once had.

If someone wants to point out that people still value traditional travel agents, they are free to do so. I’m fairly certain that there are independent reports out there that they can use. I’d certainly find an independent source far more credible than some self generated price match consisting of one obscure flight to prove my point however. Yet a simple copy and paste price match appears to be all some need to keep their dream alive that they’re still wanted or needed. Or even better, that they use an age old excuse that they too use the internet to purchase travel for thier customers which factors into the large online booking numbers we’re now seeing in the reports that are documented here.

I’ve yet to generate enough interest in proving this point, but I’m fairly certain from past reports that PhoCusWright puts out that it’s not calculating B2B as it would be in the case of a travel agent booking with suppliers, but B2C with suppliers booking directly with consumers online. B2C after all is what this and many other reports document rather than the other way around.

I’ve been shopping online for years because of it’s convenience and ability to search for the best price I can find. Three years ago I was in the market for a brand new digital camera and went to the internet for a match of what I was looking for. I already knew the specs I desired, already had a budget in mind, and was already willing to purchase the camera online. What I found was the Fuji FinePix S9000 and it’s been one of my most enjoyable investments I’ve ever made.

When I do get a call from a client (as opposed to a booking just showing up in my back office) these clients already know the dates, times, and have a budget in mind because of the research they’ve done online. Some still refrain from buying online due to security and privacy concerns or the inability to touch and feel products. Others will go ahead and book or purchase themselves because they’re comfortable with the medium.

With almost nine out of 10 Internet users browsing and researching to compare products online this year as documented in this report, it’s yet another example via independent research of the bright future of online retail.

And YTB appears to be right in the thick of it. In more ways than one. ;-P

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