Affiliate Marketing Secrets

I have a web business with about a half dozen monthly customers who pay an average of about $20 a month for retail sites I set up for them. They could have signed up online and used the online tools I made a vailable to create the sites themselves, but chose for me to do it instead. I want to attract people to sign up for my web hosting business online, and create their own sites without my direct help, which would save them money, but I question whether people are reluctant to do this, considering there are other tools out there that are cheaper. I have a niche market I want to target, and this market is typically not technical-savvy.
How can you achieve a scalable operation without spamming your friends and family into thinking you are a crude self-promoter?
Do people really want to pay to host their own websites when there are free tools out there?
How much of a market is out there, and in what niches?
Do Google adwords really get results you can measure or do you just have to accept that they have to be part of your marketing matrix, a part you can’t measure results from?
Are there other tools out there – technical or other?

Which story/plot do you feel fits my characters the best?
Characters:
Nathan Age: 20
Physical: 5’9″ lean, sculpted with a tattoo on his left arm/shoulder, dark brown hair, dark brown eyes, tanned
Info about him/back story: He was the bassist for a semi-successful metal band. They toured for 12 months after putting out an album. Their label dropped them due to lackluster sales. They finished their concert dates and then called it quits. He doesn’t know what to do with himself now, because that is all he ever wanted to do.
Joan Age: 18 (Nathan’s love interest in all of the stories)
Physical: 5’5″, sun streaked long brown hair, exotic brown eyes, curvy but toned build, golden complexion
Info about her: Dad was in a very successful band but he was killed in a car crash when she was 5. She inherited his love of music and plays both drums and guitar. She started an online clothing business with her two best friends a year ago, and it has been a modest success. They make their own designs and print them on everything – clothes, hats, bags, purses, etc. Very independent and doesn’t want her dad’s old friends to be the reason why she’s successful.
All story/plots take place after his band’s last concert.
Story/Plot #1
Nathan moves to town to stay with his aunt. Meets Joan at his new job working at a music store. He was always obsessed with making his music better, now he has learned just to enjoy music for it’s own sake. Plot: When his band gets back together, he has to make a decision. Does he give up the new life he has built for himself (which includes his relationship with Joan) or does he try to reach stardom one more time?
Story/Plot 2
Nathan comes back home – feels like a failure. His dad was very mad at him for going in the first place, and will not let up on him. He pressures Nathan to take more responsibility in the family business and go back to school. Plot: He reunites with his band, but this time Joan is their manager. Her online company designs and markets band merchandise and her connections to the music world from dead dad’s friends give them a much needed boost. His dad is really mad that he’s back to the same old loser lifestyle and not helping out with the family business like he should. They have a huge fight. The next day his dad has a massive heart attack and might not live. He feels a massive amount of guilt and feels like he has to choose between two paths. Does he go ahead and go through with the band, or does he give it all up to be there for his family?
Story/Plot 3
Nathan is looking for a new direction in his life. But while he figures that out he moves in with his best friend and band mate Caleb. While they were on the road, Caleb’s uncle died and left Caleb his house in his will. They finally go check it out (his family took care of it while he was on the road). Joan lives next door. Plot: They find a huge stash of money in a secret compartment in the bathroom cabinet. They don’t tell anyone and spend a chunk of it. The FBI shows up because the money was “marked” money from a bank robbery and think they stole it. They have to clear their name.
Story/Plot 4
Nathan’s mom has been in a coma for the last two years as a result of a car accident. Shortly after he gets back home, she dies. He was going through her papers to try and figure out what to do when he comes across a letter from his dad (who has never met). In the letter his dad was begging his mom to let him come to visit, before it was too late. Late for what? He tossed the letter aside – his dad never took an interest in him before, and he felt like it was too late for them to have a relationship now. As he gets closer to his 21 birthday, he starts having weird pains and cravings for meat.
Plot: He is a werepanther. Werepanthers don’t shift for the first time until the guys are 21 and the females are 18 (when they reach their maturity). His dad arrives before his shift and takes Nathan to his home. There are different clans and different types of weres. His dad’s clan is going through an uproar because the old clan leader died, and now the most powerful were is an 18 year old girl – Joan. Their culture dictates the most powerful were is the leader of the clan, but they rarely have clan leaders that are women. The culture also dictates when the clan leader is not mated, they have to have one or all of the unattached weres of the opposite sex will compete for them. And the next powerful were is a real bad guy, so she must pick someone before the clan erupts in violence.
Which do you think is best? Or if you didn’t like any of them, what changes do you suggest?

Scene:
Marshal Corporation – a sports cars manufacturer is in the field of manufacturing racing car for the last 120 years. 6 years back, it introduced a very expensive new sports car – CX09. The target market of this car was determined as very rich non-professional racers who want to enjoy speed and thrill on city roads. The distinctive feature of this car was that it could also be used for normal drives. Due to this feature, with the passage of time, CX09 has become a successful brand in the local market. Now, CX09 has successfully entered into the growth stage of its life cycle. Owing to rapid growth in the sales and its popularity, other local car manufacturers have also entered in this niche market. This has alarmed Marshal as the competition may be intense in the days to come.
To cope with this situation, the Marketing Division of Marshal is planning to organize a small conference to devise strategies. In the conference, the company is planning to invite a few students from local business universities. If you are invited there then what strategies at this growth stage of CX09, with reference to pricing and advertising, would you suggest to the company?
(Note: You must give your suggestions supported with logical arguments, only in bulleted form)

Alax Corporation – a sports cars manufacturer is in the field of manufacturing racing car for the last 120 years. 6 years back, it introduced a very expensive new sports car – CX09. The target market of this car was determined as very rich non-professional racers who want to enjoy speed and thrill on city roads. The distinctive feature of this car was that it could also be used for normal drives. Due to this feature, with the passage of time, CX09 has become a successful brand in the local market. Now, CX09 has successfully entered into the growth stage of its life cycle. Owing to rapid growth in the sales and its popularity, other local car manufacturers have also entered in this niche market. This has alarmed Alax as the competition may be intense in the days to come.
To manage with this situation, the Marketing Division of Alax is planning to organize a small conference to devise strategies. In the conference, the company is planning to invite a few students from local business universities. If you are invited there then what strategies at this growth stage of CX09, with reference to pricing and advertising, would you suggest to the company?

A lot of questions to answer but any help would be appreciated.
I just finished my Freshman year with a 3.5 GPA. I may not be the brightest student as I barely managed to get into college with a 2.4 GPA and attend a state school California State University Northridge. Anyways, I recently switched my major from Marketing to Accounting. Since I think I know what I want to do with my future would it be a smart choice to go ahead and Major in Accounting with a minor in Poly Sci in order to look into a future job with the FBI/CIA/NSA or some other intelligence gathering gov agency? I also struggled throughout high school with my math classes and I am going to have to retake my Business Calculus class because I received a C-, but a C or better is considered passing for Business majors at my school. Despite the setback I took accounting courses in high school and although they were easy I actually feel like I enjoyed doing Accounts Receivable/Payable, etc. I even enjoyed an AP Government class I took in High School.
I’m also looking to join the Army ROTC as it is the quickest way I can develop leadership skills that civilian jobs may not give me or take longer to develop. I am looking into some day possibly becoming an officer within Military Intelligence, Finance Corps, or Signal Corps. I seek to some day receive a top secret clearance.
Although I am still unsure I plan on continuing my education after serving 4 years in active duty while being a reserve to receive an MBA or Law School.
How would all this lead to a potential career in the FBI/CIA/NSA or some other intelligence gathering gov agency?

Recently, Google released another algorithm update which have drastically decreased the rank for many small business websites, especially those in affiliate marketing. Has anyone also noticed a dramatic increase in their click-through-rates? Even if you did not see your rankings drop…