The South Bedfordshire branch of the RSPCA is an independent animal welfare charity. They already had a website which I rebuilt in August last year.
They are always looking for ways to increase donations to the branch and with my experience in affiliate marketing I suggested they serve banner ads for a relevant advertiser. I belong to a few affiliate networks and Affiliate Window (AW) already had some pet supplies companies on-board. I picked Monster Pet Supplies for their nice commission, 30-day cookie and the fact that they supply Waitrose with Pet products.
Unfortunately their creative selection was a bit lacking, in terms of target audience, they all targeted dog owners. So I set to with the GIMP to create some new banners which are more relevant for South Beds RSPCA audience – predominately cats, rabbits and guinea pigs.
A few hours later and I had a range of in-content squares, 468×60 and half banners for use on the site, a few days later they made their first commission from a click. To expand on this monetisation I plan to pull the AW XML product feed to create more opportunities for commissions by placing product links selectively and more creatively.
In the interim, here are some banner ads!