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Archives for June 2009

Amazon vs. the States over the Advertising Tax

June 30, 2009 by Shawn Collins

The advertising tax issue was discussed this afternoon on Fox Business. Shibani Joshi talked about Amazon.com’s war against the various state plans to institute Internet advertising taxes.

The segment was just a few minutes, so it didn’t go too in depth on the issue, and it was mostly about the impact on Amazon.

There was no discussion on the countless affiliates in affected states who are basically being fired from their jobs.

This is very significant, as those affiliates will not only produce less taxable income, but they may well end up on the unemployment line, depending on how much they rely on Amazon and other affiliate programs that drop them.

Advertising tax discussed on Fox Business

The segment included a comment from Forrester Research Inc analyst Sucharita Mulpuru…

“It’s a double-edged sword… Affiliates are nice to have but by no stretch of the imagination are they going to make or break Amazon’s Web site.”

Mulpuru further estimated that 10 percent of Amazon’s sales could come from affiliates and included her assumption that much of that could be from “margin-eroding coupon sites” and that “There may be some incrementality but they’re often low-margin orders and there’s a cost associated with it.”

Lots of speculation. It would be nice to see citations behind these comments.

Watch the clip at http://www.foxbusiness.com/search-results/m/23895490/amazon-battles-states-on-sales-taxes.htm.

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Filed Under: Affiliate News

Commission Junction Goes Green

June 29, 2009 by Shawn Collins

Commission Junction is adding new “green” categories of affiliate programs.

Categories let advertisers describe their program to publishers, who can then search for advertisers by category in order to locate those that best fit their program. In response to current retail trends and client requests, we’ve added nine new green program categories for advertisers.

Advertisers will be able to list their affiliate programs in new “green” categories under these top level (primary) categories:

  • Beauty
  • Clothing/Apparel
  • Computer and Electronics
  • Food and Drinks
  • Gifts and Flowers
  • Health and Wellness
  • Home and Garden
  • Recreation and Leisure
  • Travel

Nice to see. A little more than a year ago, the CJ newsletter urged affiliates to focus on green affiliate programs, too.

More details at http://help.cj.com/faq_archive/Green_Categories_FAQ.pdf.

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Filed Under: Affiliate News

The Legacy of Your Brand

June 29, 2009 by Shawn Collins

[audio:http://geekcast.fm/podpress_trac/web/1932/0/brandmouthing-15.mp3]

This week on the Brandmouthing podcast, I talk about the legacy of a brand after a person passes away.

I was thinking about the impressions left behind for each of the icons that passed away in the past week: Farrah Fawcett, Michael Jackson, Billy Mays, and Ed McMahon.

Farrah Fawcett - the Poster

Here is a quick rundown of what I think of for each person:

  • Farrah Fawcett: the poster, Charlie’s Angels
  • Michael Jackson: King of Pop, dark cloud of allegations by young boys
  • Billy Mays: informercials, the “Pitchmen” show
  • Ed McMahon: Tonight Show sidekick, Star Search host, American Family Publishers sweepstakes guy (I mistakenly refer to this as Publisher’s Clearing House in the podcast), and having financial woes

What will come to mind when people think of you when you’re gone?

Show Notes

  • Farrah Fawcett
  • Michael Jackson
  • Billy Mays
  • Ed McMahon

Check out http://brandmouthing.com/ for a collection of all future episodes of Brandmouthing, as well as images, videos, etc. that I mention on the podcast. Subscribe to the Brandmouthing RSS feed.

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Filed Under: Affiliate News

Recruiting Super Affiliates

June 28, 2009 by Shawn Collins

Q: What is the best service for recruiting super affiliates and “quality affiliates” for a new product? I’d like to outsource affiliate recruitment to a reliable service.

Shawn CollinsA: There isn’t any one company, to the best of my knowledge, who offers affiliate recruitment services. Well, there isn’t a company performing this sort of service that I would recommend.

However, this is a standard service when you outsource an affiliate program to an OPM (outsourced program manager), as well as an option from many affiliate networks.

So, you’re going to have to either outsource the whole affiliate program or pay a fee to your affiliate network (if that’s an option).

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Filed Under: Ask Shawn Collins

Marketing the Death of Michael Jackson

June 26, 2009 by Shawn Collins

There are three groups of people that have emerged since the announcement of the death of Michael Jackson yesterday: devastated fans, haters, and marketers.

Michael Jackson's ThrillerWell, if we drew up a Venn diagram, most marketers probably also belong to one of the first two camps, too.

Anyhow, it didn’t take long for fans to express their despair with credit cards by purchasing his songs and albums. A look at the Amazon Bestsellers in Music reveals that Michael Jackson and the Jackson Five own the top 20 spots (5pm ET on 6-26-09), with the exception of Regina Spektor at 16 and Wilco at 18.

This sort of commerce domination is playing out at countless retailers – it’s a perfect storm for affiliate marketers that are quick to mobilize campaigns.

Michael Jackson on Amazon

In addition to dominating Amazon, there are approximately 30,000 auctions for Michael Jackson on eBay, and domination of the Top Songs and Top Albums by Michael Jackson on iTunes.

Lots of affiliate marketers are talking about the Gloved One on ABestWeb and WickedFire. Stop talking on forums and watching TV coverage.

Get moving on those campaigns. This is going to be a strong weekend for Michael Jackson retail sales.


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Filed Under: Affiliate Managers, Affiliate News, Affiliate Resources

Affiliate Fatblogging: Training to Run a 5k

June 25, 2009 by Shawn Collins

I just recently got new running shoes and hit the track for the first time yesterday.

I am trying to work up my stamina, so I am starting out alternating quarter miles with jogging and walking for a total of three miles.

My goal is to run a 5k in my town in a few weeks. It’s taking place Sunday, July 12, so I have incentive to become a runner. I just signed up.

I’ve noticed there are a lot of 5ks and 10k in my area, so I want to make this a new thing. Maybe then I can replace all of my goofy Internet t-shirts with 5k t-shirts.

I am still working in swimming, elliptical, etc., and I need to find a bike trail, too.

Starting weight: 225
Last week: 218
This week: 218

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Filed Under: Affiliate News

The Importance of Having a Presence at Conferences

June 24, 2009 by Shawn Collins

[audio:http://geekcast.fm/podpress_trac/web/1854/0/brandmouthing-14.mp3]

This week on the Brandmouthing podcast, I talk about the branding and tangible benefits of having a presence at industry conferences.

I think about this often, but it just jumped out at me as I was prepping for LinkShare Symposium NYC 2009. As I looked at the agenda, I got excited to see the DealMaker portion of it.

LinkShare Symposium

This is the focus of my day, and I will have a target list of merchants exhibiting, so I can hit their tables and work out some deals.

The companies not represented? Well, it’s not likely they’ll be getting much, if any, attention from me in the coming month. I’ll be busy with the companies that came out to meet with me.

Show Notes

  • LinkShare Symposium NYC 2009

Check out http://brandmouthing.com/ for a collection of all future episodes of Brandmouthing, as well as images, videos, etc. that I mention on the podcast. Subscribe to the Brandmouthing RSS feed.

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Filed Under: Affiliate News, Affiliate Resources

LinkShare Symposium Golden Link Award Winners

June 24, 2009 by Shawn Collins

The LinkShare Golden Link Awards took place on June 23, 2009 at Chelsea Piers in NYC.

LinkShare Golden Link Awards 2009

The awards were hosted by Joan Rivers, who did an entertaining, slightly blue routine before kicking off the award announcements.

Joan Rivers at the LinkShare Golden Link Awards

And the winners were…

Innovative Publisher of the Year
Vertive for Offers.com

Innovative Advertiser of the Year
drugstore.com

Best New Advertiser
The North Face

Best New Publisher
DBG Loyalty for Bank of America

Advertiser’s Choice Award
CouponCabin

Publisher’s Choice Award
Gaiam.com

International Advertiser of the Year
LEGO

Best Communication Strategy
Bare Necessities

MVP – Most Valuable Publisher for Lead Generation
Nelnet

Technology Genius Award
iStorez

Best Distribution Strategy
SmartBargains

Performance Marketing’s Most Vocal Advocate
Performance Marketing Association Alliance

Performance Marketing's Most Vocal Advocate Finalists

Congratulations to all of the winners.

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Filed Under: Affiliate News

Affiliate Crab Feast in Baltimore: The Menu

June 20, 2009 by Shawn Collins

Affiliate Summit and buy.at are hosting a Tax Talk & Crab Feast on Thursday, July 9 in Baltimore, MD at the buy.at office.

But contrary to sort of popular belief, crab feasts aren’t just about crabs. Crustacean haters will find plenty of good stuff to chow down on at this event.

Here is the menu of items scheduled to be served up at the Tax Talk & Crab Feast. The descriptions come from the caterer.

Advertising.com Internal Crab Feast Celebration 1

Beverages
Regular and Light Beers, such as Budweiser, Yuengling, and Coors Light. Red, Blush, and White Wines as well as Bottled Water, assorted carbonated beverages and ice.

Hot Steamed Crabs
Maryland Blue Crabs served in the traditional fashion; warm and fresh from the pot with Old Bay Seasonings and all the necessary accompaniments: Mallets, Knives, Heavy Paper, and Buckets.

Beef Hamburgers & Cheeseburgers
Sizzling hot and juicy 1/4 lb. burgers, served on seeded buns with condiments to include: Onions, Caramelized Onions, Relish, Lettuce, Tomatoes, Mustard, Mayonnaise, Ketchup, and American Cheese.

Chargrilled “Firelicked” Chicken
An assortment of Breasts, Wings, Legs and Thighs slowly basted with our delicious homemade barbecue sauce and grilled to perfection.

Chargrilled All Beef Hot Dogs
Large High Quality All Beef Hot Dogs and our Jumbo Turkey Dogs that are all the rage!! Served on Bakery Horn Rolls with all the fixin’s to include: Relish, Onions, Mustard and Ketchup.

Corn on the Cob
Our fine Maryland Corn on the Cob cooked to perfection, and dipped in Butter. Served with Salt & Pepper and Old Bay Seasoning.

Down Home Salad Bar
Homemade salads will be served from our cold salad bar: green onion potato salad, traditional creamy cole slaw and Parmesan macaroni salad.

And for dessert…

Picnic Dessert Basket
An assortment of our homemade Cookies to include: Chocolate Chip, Oatmeal Raisin, Double Chocolate Walnut, Sugar, M & M and our rich Fudge Nut Brownies.

Ice Cold Watermelon Slices
Cold, sweet and juicy!! The perfect end to any picnic!

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Filed Under: Affiliate News, Affiliate Summit

Affiliate Fatblogging: Gait Analysis at The Running Company

June 19, 2009 by Shawn Collins

In my last affiliate fatblogging post, I mentioned how I was in the market for some new running shoes, and I asked for recommendations with affiliate links.

It was nice to see the altruistic responses, where lots of folks encouraged me to go to a store where they would perform a gait analysis, and have the salesperson pick out some shoes based on my needs.

I found a local place called The Running Company – they have stores all over NJ, as well as CT, DC, MA, MD, NY, and TX.

The guy at the store I visited (Westfield, NJ) was really helpful and gave me a gait analysis, as well as looking at my current running shoes to determine how they were wearing.

Based on this information, he suggested three styles, and I went with the Nike LIVESTRONG Air Pegasus+ 25 (what happened to the Nike affiliate program?).

New Nikes to Hit the Jogging Trails

They are super light and comfortable, and they include a little compartment for the Nike + iPod Sport Kit, which I use.

I’d definitely encourage fellow Internet nerds to refrain from buying online and getting a proper reccomendation for running shoes at their local store.

Starting weight: 225
Last week: 219
This week: 218

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Filed Under: Affiliate News

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