About

Merchant ABCs is here to help merchants learn how to run successful affiliate programs. Training for merchants and affiliate managers on how to run a profitable affiliate program, starting with the basics and going up through the advanced management. Topics we cover:

What Is an Affiliate Program and How Does it Work?
Are You Ready for an Affiliate Program?
Choosing and Implementing a Tracking Solution (on a Network or Inhouse)
Setting Up Your Program
Managing Your Program

Your Instructors:

Deborah Carney
Deborah started as an affiliate in the mid 90’s when affiliate marketing began. The single mom of three children, two with physical disabilities, Deborah needed to supplement her part time work income. She developed websites early on that were resources for other parents of disabled children and made general shopping sites, mostly selling books. Also a professional photographer she started shops on CafePress.com starting in 1999, and started promoting her own products, looking at affiliate marketing as a way to get more sales. CafePress at that time didn’t have an affiliate program, so Deborah started looking at shopping carts to sell her own merchandise and prints. Starting with osCommerce and moving on to Zen Cart, Deborah explored a number of methods of online sales. In 2004 she found ABestWeb affiliate marketing forum and started making connections and learning more about being an affiliate. In June 2005 Deborah attended her first Affiliate Summit conference and made even more connections.

In late 2005 she became the affiliate manager for CafePress.com, an inhouse affiliate program that she grew to more than 20,000 affiliates. In late 2006 Deborah founded Team Loxly outsourced affiliate management firm and started consulting with merchants and managing programs. Through the years she has repeatedly been told that she should share her vast knowledge of affiliate marketing and managing affiliates through live or online classes.

Vinny O’Hare
Vinny O’Hare started online as an eBay power seller in 1999, and moved on to affiliate marketing in 2001, then into affiliate managing as part of Vincent O’Hare consulting.

Vinny came from the outdoor display advertising space having worked for 23 years for Gannett, Outdoor Systems, and CBS Outdoor. He has the unique ability of knowing what will work and more importantly what will not work when it comes to evaluating ad copy and website navigation. Vinny enjoys critiquing websites for both affiliates and merchants and giving them tips on how to improve their SEO and conversions.

Vinny is a master at driving traffic using social media and organic rankings which he teaches on his site VinnyOHare.com He also consults with businesses on setting up and running affiliate programs properly.