ADVERTISING

AFFILIATE PROGRAM
What affiliate platforms do you use?
Wil you join my affiliate program?

BANNER EXCHANGE

GRAPHICS
Who drew these graphics?
Do you give away or sell the graphics on these pages?
Who thought of making the pages look like this?
Are you looking for new artists?
Do you need any custom graphic work done?

MISCELLANEOUS ISSUES
Who built this site?
Will you sponsor us or donate to our cause?

TEXT LINK POLICIES
How much does a text link cost?
Who chooses the links and what is the criteria?
How will my link read?
Where will my link be placed?
Do I have to reciprocate the link?
How soon will my link be posted?
How do I suggest a link?

AFFILIATE PROGRAM

What affiliate platforms do you use?

You can view links to all the major affiliate platforms that we use, as well as a few others that we don't use, here.
Our favorite platforms are Commission Junction, Linkshare, My Affiliate Program (Kowabunga), and Performics. We also use Clickbank, Direct Track, Link Connector, Mal's E-Commerce, Share A Sale, and Share Results. We are NOT accepting any new merchants that use Clix Galore or Dark Blue.

Will you join my affiliate program?

Please send an email to the webmaster. Include a direct link to your affiliate program sign-up page. Independent affiliate programs are welcome. Currently we are affiliates to over 3000 merchants. After acceptance please expect a delay of at least TWO MONTHS before your affiliate link is posted. Early Childhood Links continues to experience phenomenal growth and popularity, so much so that the founder/siteowner/webmaster has developed a steady backlog of work. Please be patient, we are worth the wait!

GRAPHICS

Who drew these graphics?

We use many different graphic artists. Towards the bottom of every page there is a credits logo for the graphics found on that page, and if the site is still operable there will be a link so that you can visit the site and purchase the graphics for your own use. You can view a complete synopsis of all the graphic artists that are currently online, that we use and don't use here. This section of the site also includes an exhaustive list of closed graphic sites and graphic artist webrings.

Do you give away or sell the graphics on these pages?

No. We paid commercial licensing fees to use these graphics and/or promised to not give away the graphics in exchange for their use. Frankly most of the artists that we use are no longer in business due to graphic abuse. We keep a list of both open and closed graphical sites here.

Who thought of making the pages look like this?

The decision to make each one of our pages uniquely decorated with mouse-drawn country graphics was made while the site was still in the research phase. After visiting thousands of websites in the fields of education and parenting that for the most part looked exactly the same on every subpage of the site, the webmaster became inspired to build a very unique site in which the graphical design on a page matched the subject of the page. The trick was then to find the graphics to fulfill the vision.

Are you looking for new artists?

Yes. If you are a graphic artist and would like the webmaster to visit your site, please email.

Do you need any custom graphic work done?

Yes. We need custom-made, mouse-drawn, matching banner sets (120x90, 130x130, and 468x60) made for a multitude of topics. Over time a couple of different artists were doing this as a regular gig for us at the rate of about 5-10 sets per month, but all had to stop due to time constraints. I have at least 50 topics left to make ad sets for! You can view examples of these matching custom sets here. We use these sets for two purposes: a) to direct traffic internally to other pages of interest (b) for external graphical ad exchanges.

MISCELLANEOUS ISSUES

Who built this site?

Early Childhood Links was designed, created, and is maintained by Denise Farmer, a Michigan USA stay-at-home mom of five children of ages 14, 9, 7, 4, and 6 months. Denise is a self-taught webmaster and is currently pursuing an Associate of Applied Science degree in Web Design at Baker College Online. She holds a Master of Elementary Education with an emphasis on curriculum, and is dual-certified preK-8 all subjects and 6-12 physical science and math. Denise has taught at the preschool, elementary, and high school levels in both public and private school settings. She ran a family/group daycare home for seven years, and has over 75 hours of specialized training in early childhood/daycare management. Being a student of webmastering, the siteowner/webmaster of Early Childhood Links, and a chaffeur/chef/maid/mommy/wife to the Farmer Family are now her full-time jobs.

Will you sponsor us or donate to our cause?

TEXT LINK POLICIES

How much does a text link cost?

Normally text links are FREE. However there are two circumstances in which you must pay for a text link.

1) independent representatives - text links tracked to the individual websites of representatives for networking companies like Discovery Toys and Tupperware

2) closed pages - text links on pages that are now 'closed' to free text links due to a wealth of affiliate links for that topic. Most of these pages are in the shopping sections, primarily in the household section; a few are in the parenting section. For a complete list of closed pages, please read here.

Who chooses the links and what is the criteria?

The webmaster/siteowner of Early Childhood Links. The link must have significant, quality content in that category. The site must be easy to navigate, have legible font, be free of dead links and/or error pages, and not be under construction.

Regarding links within our shopping indexes, we accept only links from sites that manufacture and sell their own products or act as distributors of multiple product lines direct from the manufacturer. Malls consisting of lots of affiliate links and sites that are merely a front for affiliate links are rejected. We have worked very hard to establish and maintain our bank of affiliate merchants and have no intention of giving our hard-earned traffic to others.

How will my link read?

Text links are listed by the site title/company name, as shown on your home page/URL. Descriptive text is offered for a nominal fee AFTER your link request is approved.

Where will my link be placed?

We do not accept off-target links, meaning there must be an existing page to place you. The webmaster will decide on which page(s) you qualify for a link. You can view a site map here.

Do I have to reciprocate the link?

If you are accepted for a free text link you will be asked to reciprocate. Early Childhood Links is highly favored by all the major engines especially Google, so linking to us will definately boost your page rank. Reciprocation is not mandatory, however if you do not reciprocate then you run the risk of being deleted in the future should a page require maintenance or become too cumbersome and require thinning. When a page is thinned out, sites with affiliate programs or reciprocal links to us are kept. All others are deleted. Make sure the reciprocation is easy to find and alphabetically placed, for the webmaster does not have time to dig around through many pages looking for the reciprocation.

Regarding reciprocation, we do not like single content sites that accumulate massive reciprocal link directories of sites that have no relation to themselves. This does not bring one favor with the search engines and in fact can harm your ranking. If at any time in the future while thinning out a page and thus looking for our reciprocal link, we note that your site has resorted to this practice, you will be deleted.

How soon will my link be posted?

Please allow at least TWO MONTHS for a positive email response, if accepted. In general, link requests are processed in bulk about every six to eight weeks. These pages with new links get a complete overhaul including links check, graphics update, and search engine optimization, if needed.

Link requests for the current application period that are APPROVED are posted here.

How do I suggest a link?

Visit our suggest a link page to nominate your site for a link.