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Knee Deep in Datafeeds
August 01, 2006
I mentioned in my last post that I didn't have Internet access the whole time I was away on holidays. But I did have my trusty laptop, and what's a holiday for an affiliate marketer that doesn't involve some thinking/doing/planning for her sites?
So I downloaded a bunch of datafeeds from Shareasale and I was good to go. I've been cleaning datafeeds, and adding original content (I like to insert a new column to do this).
I'm all set now to start uploading the feeds, and with the magic of Teli's amazing Wordpress DataFeed Import, I'll be adding more content to some of those sites I have out there that have been just sitting pretty, getting indexed and not doing too much more.
Since these particular sites are all blogs, I've given some thought to how to handle the changes in the datafeeds. I found a program called Excel Compare and I'm thinking of buying it. It will compare two Excel spreadsheets and spit out a new spreadsheet that shows everything that's been changed, whether the data's been changed, or added or deleted. That way, I'm thinking I can stay on top of new products that are added, and eventually get around to deleting ones that no longer exist.
It's August already, and yes, I am starting to get very excited about the upcoming shopping season!
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Posted by BJ at 02:02 PM in 50 Affiliate Sites Challenge, Affiliate Marketing | Permalink
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Comments
Isn't 'Excel Compare' slight overkill for your needs? A simple PHP script could probably do the exact same thing (and would probably be used to use as well).
Posted by: Dennis Pallett | Aug 1, 2006 4:34:50 PM
Dennis, I'm hoping this is an offer on your part ... :) I have no clue how to put together a simple PHP script that will do this for me. I've been thinking that for $29.95, I was getting a bargain.
Posted by: BJ | Aug 1, 2006 4:51:40 PM
Hi,
I can help you with php scripts and anything related to programming. If you have questions you can contact me. I am always looking to find some new friends that we can help each other.
Posted by: Ivan | Aug 6, 2006 5:42:23 AM
Thank you, Ivan! That is very generous of you. I will probably just go ahead and buy Excel Compare but it's nice to know you're there to help if I need it. (And vice versa, I hope!)
Posted by: BJ | Aug 6, 2006 1:52:19 PM
Hey BJ,
I've created a really simple demonstration at http://www.phpit.net/demo/datafeed%20diff/diff.php
Did you mean something like that? Or are you talking about something else?
(The demo takes two datafeeds from ShareASale, and requires every item to be on a new line, with parts seperated with a pipe: |).
Posted by: Dennis Pallett | Aug 7, 2006 7:58:22 AM
Hi, Dennis,
Wow, Dennis. That definitely looks like it would do the trick. I checked a bunch of my datafeeds, but none of them look like they've been updated, so I wasn't able to try it out.
I've just sent you a PM about it. :)
Thanks!
Posted by: BJ | Aug 7, 2006 11:12:18 AM
Hi Ivan,
I was looking actually for a means on how to compare datafeeds. Could you explain how your program works so that I could program a similar one?. thx.
Posted by: Mark | Aug 11, 2006 4:06:12 AM
