Posts Tagged "Commission Junction University"

CJU Course: It’s a TAXing Debate: Don’t Cut Me Off

Posted on Oct 20, 2011 in Affiliate Marketing, Conferences & Networking |

So many states have implemented affiliate nexus tax laws. What does this mean to you as a publisher? What does this mean to you if you are an advertiser who does not have a store in the state? Come listen to our panel to hear how others are managing the challenge. The panel consisted of:

  • Jennifer Lovette, Vice President, Client Development, CJ (Moderator)
  • Rebecca Madigan, Executive Director, Performance Marketing Association

Jennifer Lovette & Rebecca Madigan at CJU 2011This was a very informative discussion, even for someone like me who tries to keep abreast of what’s going on in an effort to help however I can.  I should note that since CJ (since this info is about a month stale) that the Governor of CA has signed the deal with Amazon and many merchants have welcomed CA affiliates back into their programs.

Personally, I only accepted a few that I really liked before and declined the pushed offers from the others as I already did my link removal on my sites, but I’m the lowest level of affiliate in terms of how much I personally make, so it’s the bigger affiliates who can really make a difference in leveraging their income figures in this fight!

Bullet Point Review!

  • Do we want to fight this on a state by state level or on a national level.
  • Publishers aren’t mad at the advertisers, they’re mad at the legislature.
  • On average affiliates lose 25-45% of their revenue, the state loses income tax revenue, and never collect the sales tax.
  • There are a lot of names, which are confusing, but we’ve chosen affiliate nexus law as a general catchall phrase.
  • Quill Corp v. North Dakota: advertising does not constitute physical presence or nexus. It became a constitutional issue.
  • Passed: California, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Illinois, Connecticut, Arkansas.
  • Big box retailers banded together this year to support this tax to try to get Amazon to pay tax. Rumor is they spent 11 million.
  • The PMA surveyed California affiliates after the budget bill was signed here:
    • 32% are moving out of state or plan to.
    • 20% decided to shut down their affiliate marketing efforts altogether
    • 35% of lost over half their income when the law passed.
  • Amazon & CA have come to an agreement that will eliminate this tax for 1 year – we need to look at it more long term.
  • They want to get a federal sales tax solution in place by July 2012. If they’re not successful, the law gets reinstated September 15, 2012.
  • Streamline Sales Tax Project. 24 states have agreed to this. Main street fairness act needs to pass to allow SSTP. The chance of this happening isn’t very high.
  • Amazon just cut a deal with the state that benefits their own business, so now all these other advertisers who haven’t been involved in the fight or the opposition will be forced to collect tax. Now is the time to fight for yourself & promote the federal solution.
  • Board of directors of the PMA are new and still determining whether to fight nationally or state level.
  • What can you do?
    • Think before you act.
    • Make Your Case
    • Simplify actions
  • Measure twice, cut once. Advertisers need to make sure you’re doing what’s best for your business before making a knee jerk decision to cut affiliates. Talk to a lawyer if you have to.
  • There are ways to work together, identify your threshold of risk.
  • Taxes will always exist, think long term when making decisions that are going to affect your business.
  • No matter what side you’re on, WE can make a difference
  • Things change quickly so don’t give up!

If you were an attendee of CJU and registered for their (awesome!) CJUniverse network, you can download a PDF of Jennifer’s slides here.

Read More

CJU Course: I Wish I Had Known… #CJU2011

Posted on Sep 29, 2011 in Affiliate Marketing, Conferences & Networking |

We’ve all had experience with 20/20 hindsight. Here’s your chance to stop looking back and start looking forward. Learn from veteran advertisers, agencies, and publishers about the most important things they wish they had known when starting out in the affiliate marketing industry. Join us to find out how to avoid marketing pitfalls in this informative session for all levels of attendees. The panel consisted of:

This was a great session to kick off the conference.  I always appreciate when industry veterans share what they’ve learned along their affiliate marketing careers for newbies.  I think I can say I’m not a newbie anymore having been in affiliate marketing since late 2006 myself, but I still learn something new when I go to sessions like this.

Bullet Point Review!

  • Do what you want, not what people expect you to do.
  • You can’t always recreate success at one company with another company in the same niche.
  • Mike had enough sense to get outside help, but not enough sense to evaluate that help. Don’t trust a salesperson off the bat, but do your homework and due diligence to read the fine print & make sure it’s best for you.
  • Affiliate programs take time, it’s not a get rich quick.
  • You can’t expect to build a business overnight, affiliate marketing isn’t a one trick pony.
  • Have realistic expectations.
  • Don’t put all your eggs in one basket, diversify your portfolio & traffic strategies.
  • New customer acquisition isn’t the end all be all, affiliates bring more than new customers. Don’t ignore the value of repeat consumers.
  • Mike would have had a better plan and been more focused on the plan. It ended up working because of persistence. Don’t ever give up.
  • Really get to know who you’re working with and their business models and what’s important to them in what they want out of the relationship.
  • Play the newbie card & don’t be afraid to ask for help.
  • This industry is so vibrant & fun, and people are so personable and approachable and willing to share knowledge. Never be intimidated by someone just because what their brand is, they’re just a person.
  • Spend more time on the things that are actually going to drive the business. Invest the time in things that are really going to grow things, not day to day stuff, delegate.
  • Everyone is an expert at or passionate about some thing. Find that thing and put that energy behind the business and focus on that.
  • Work on developing your relationships with your partners. It’s not just important from a business perspective but from a personal perspective & having a personal relationship goes a long way, and you’re more top of mind.
  • Respect the value of your own time. Distraction is easy, so be focused but do indulge those distractions and see a pattern in your own life and really decide what you put your time into.
  • If you have the inclination, you can figure something out. Anyone can find a solution. Don’t bang your head against a wall; try a different path to get there. Try a different road.
  • Don’t get attracted to all the shiny marketing objects. They’re usually not a long term sustainable strategy.
  • Come up with a different twist to something, don’t just try to go do what someone else is doing successfully.
Read More

Live from CJU 2011

Posted on Sep 21, 2011 in Affiliate Marketing, Conferences & Networking |

So far, CJU 2011: THE Network Effect is great. Their new CJUniverse, powered by Pathable.com.com, was a fantastic new way to connect with partners and schedule meetings. I wish every trade show had this. It’s been incredibly productive for me and, of course, good to see familiar faces.

Huge thanks to RingRevenue, who Invited me to their 3rd Annual Golf Tourney & Wine Tour on Monday. It was fabulous, and I’ll definitely blog more about it in detail later, with some great pictures.

Yesterday my schedule was busy with meetings and session, and more of the same today (except I actually remembered to eat lunch)! THE Beach Party yesterday was incredibly well done, though i wasn’t prepared enough and left early due to being barefoot in the sand hurt my already aching back. If they do this next year I’ll be sure to pack flip flops and shorts! Tonight are THE CJYou Awards – For Me To Coupon’s sister company Schaaf-PartnerCentric is nominated for Agency of the Year, so everyone cross your fingers for them!

Well right mow I’m missing THE Cocktail Hour and 1/2, so I better run. I hope to get more great pictures and live tweet the winners, so be sure to follow me at @TrishaLyn

Read More

What You Should Know About Industry Conferences

Posted on Sep 9, 2011 in Affiliate Marketing, Conferences & Networking, Guest Posts |

Guest Post by James Martell

Do you ever hear about conferences for your particular industry and wonder if you should go?

Do you worry about whether a trade show is worth the time and expense involved?

I was struggling with those issues when I went to my first affiliate marketing conference in 2002. I had been an affiliate marketer for about three years, and I wanted more information on growing my business. Yes, I enjoyed the travel opportunity. Yes, the weather in Santa Barbara was gorgeous and the hotel was nice as well.

Seriously, though, if I were only looking for a short vacation, Seattle is closer and Portland is much more affordable.

Specific to my situation, I would have had a hard time convincing my wife Arlene to cut me loose for three days if all I could promise her on my return was a suitcase full of dirty laundry.

Fortunately, I was able to attend the conference because both Arlene and I knew why I was going. Better yet, our expectations for the trip were met and then exceeded.

Reasons to Attend Online Marketing Conferences

When I returned from my first Commission Junction University, Arlene and I were more than satisfied with the benefits I brought home. That’s why, when I returned to CJU the next year, I was accompanied by Arlene and 40 other people.

These days I attend several marketing events every year, and I advise all of my affiliates and colleagues to attend at least two per year.  The primary reasons include;

  • The time spent at these conferences is actually an investment. When you get back to the office, you’ll be working better, working smarter, and you’ll be far more motivated.
  • The money you spend attending these conferences, to include travel and meals, is normally tax deductible. If you happen to own the business, I don’t have to tell you how important that is!
  • You’ll have the opportunity to speak with and listen to leaders in your industry, and will probably come away with a few new ideas.
  • You’ll be able to tap into a knowledge and experience base far larger than anything you would be able to accumulate on your own.
  • The most important reason to attend an industry event, however, is the same reason I kept going back to the Commission Junction Universities; We need to grow.

Over the last decade, I have attended many trade shows and industry conferences, and I have listed a few of my favorites below. I have personally attended each of these events, and I have been invited to speak at several of them as well.

Whether you are an affiliate marketer, or are just interested in what the Internet can do for your business, one of these events offers something you can use.

The Best Online Marketing Conferences 2011

Affiliate Summit

This event is described as the premier affiliate marketing conference, and with good reason. The Summit is held in New York and Las Vegas, and offers a variety of educational events in addition to top industry speakers and acres of merchants and vendors.

Blog World Expo

The Expo gathers bloggers from the four corners of the earth to Las Vegas for three days so they can  take advantage of networking events, presentations, and of course, vendors and merchants galore. You don’t need to be a blogger to enjoy this conference, though. If you are just looking for a way to use social media to promote your business, you should plan to attend.

Webmaster World’s PubCon

Most people expect this to be a publishing convention, but the first one was actually held in a pub, so the name actually describes a group of colleagues around a pub table. Well, Webmaster’s World has outgrown the pub, but it still provides an informal, relaxed venue to share marketing strategies and advanced SEO methods.

Commission Junction University

I cut my teeth, so to speak, on this event, and if you actually need a reason to spend three days in Santa Barbara, this conference is a really good one. You’ll get a chance to meet with over 800 industry leaders and top Commission Junction affiliates, like me. You should attend just to find out what affiliate marketing can do for your business.

AffCon

The cool part about newer industry shows is that they’re usually inexpensive, and this one is free, for the moment. This may not last long, though, because AffCon is still packed with leading panelists, all the usual vendors and merchants, and lots of great information for beginners as well as experienced affiliate marketers.

ShareASale Think Tank

What is the difference between a Think Tank and a regular conference? Imagine the level of creativity inspired by great parties, a sports event or two, and one of the best assembled brain-trusts in the industry. Affiliates, managers and merchants would all benefit from this event.

Every business relies on marketing, so it’s likely that your business would benefit from any of these events. If you’ve never attended these or any other online marketing conferences, 2011 might be the year your business really takes off.

Of course, if you aren’t a full-time marketer, there are probably other gatherings which are more focused on your specific industry. You should also least check out the ones that sound interesting.

Shopping for Your Own Trade Show

Matt Papas is an associate of mine who has a weight loss website. Matt could benefit from nearly any Internet marketing conference, but he could also get some great information at fitness or medical conferences. For instance, he could learn more about how to market to clients who are looking for a Medifast coupon code,  or looking for the right answer, complete with details, to the question, “Does the Nutrisystem diet work?”

Arlene, of course, attends some events with me, but occasionally she should take in other events as well. Arlene’s website, epliepsymoms.com, offers support and information for parents of epileptic children, so she could also benefit from medical conferences. She could also add conferences specific to epilepsy support organizations and other childhood diseases.

Regardless of your industry or interest, finding the right trade show could only take a minute or two on your favorite search engine. Search for a phrase like “Restaurant Trade Shows” and you’ll find a list of events and probably a Facebook page or Twitter account you can connect to as well. Someone out there is dying to show you how to attract more customers using Google Plus or how the right color of interior paint will keep customers in your store longer.

Will You Be Attending an Industry Conference This Year?

Well, why in the world not?  If you have yet to attend  one of this year’s online marketing conferences 2011 is not quite over yet . The amount of time and money you’d put into a conference will be more than justified by the ideas and motivation you’ll bring home. The only real question, then, is;

Which of these conferences will you attend?

—

Author and website developer James Martell is the President of Net Guides Publishing Inc. and is a popular speaker at many national events all over the country, including Commission Junction University and the Affiliate Convention. When James isn’t working or traveling, he enjoys the coastal life just south of Vancouver, BC with his wife, Arlene, and their four children.

Read More

CJU Course: Feed Me: Why a Product Catalog is Just the Beginning

Posted on Oct 4, 2010 in Affiliate Marketing, Conferences & Networking |

A product catalog feed for the affiliate channel is critical to the financial success of any advertiser’s program, but that’s really just the beginning. We’ll show you why a product feed is important and what a good, optimized feed should look like. Now for the best part: you’ll learn how to take that feed and expand its use across a variety of other channels. This session took place September 22, 2010.  The panel consisted of:

  • Ashley Parducci, Product Manager, Commission Junction
  • Jim Harriman, Technical Lead, Commission Junction

Bullet Point Review!

  • 40% of CJ advertisers submit feeds.  Out of the 40%, half update the feed daily.  33% have not updated in at least a month, 17% haven’t updated this year.  So only 20% submitting feeds on a regular basis.
  • What is a product data feed?
    • Name
    • Price
    • Product page URL
    • Image URL
    • Description
    • Category
    • And more…
  • The CJ feeds can also help you push your feed to comparison shopping engines (CSEs)
  • Why?
    • Distribution
    • Performance
    • Publisher Business
  • Feeds reduce click-to-purchase and increase conversion.  Also increase online exposure with distribution to CSEs (with CJ management help if needed).
  • Advertisers generally see a 20% – 25% lift in transactions with an optimized data feed.
  • Better to have too much data than too little.
  • A good feed has high resolution images, lots of good technical specs in the description, accurate SKUs, and is well written.
  • Build a feed!
    • Get involved.
    • It’ll require your technical teams or a 3rd party.
    • A solid feed is worth the time and money.
  • CJ advertisers who were live before 2010, but just added their feeds this year:
    • 20% performed well.
    • 20% had zero products.
    • 10% had dummy SKUs.
    • 80% didn’t upload changes daily – of that, 45% hadn’t sent any updates in the last month, and 35% hadn’t updated since May 2010.
  • Product feeds are tools.  Poorly designed tools don’t get the job done and don’t get adopted by publishers.
  • Feed optimization:
    • Names & descriptions.
    • Utilize the fields.
    • Make sure you have proper categorization.
    • High resolution images.
    • Submit fresh feeds.
    • Have thorough pricing information (tax charged, sale price, shipping costs, retail price)
    • Use tools available (analyze product/sale performance).
    • Customer reviews.
    • Even if there are no updates, send updates to get distribution to publishers.

Points brought up during the Q&A

  • Explain high resolution images: An image large enough for publishers to manipulate.
  • A content feed requires slight tweaks to what data you put in what fields.

Conclusion

Read More

CJU Course: If You Only Knew #CJU2010

Posted on Oct 1, 2010 in Affiliate Marketing, Conferences & Networking |

Advertisers and publishers each have a unique way of “getting the job done” and often times, neither understands what the other needs to succeed. “If they could just see it from my side…” seems to be a frequent plea. Well, now you can! We’re getting together three advertisers, three publishers, one moderator, and audience feedback to cover all the topics you’d always wished you could. This session took place on September 22, 2010. The panel consisted of:

As you can see, I didn’t catch Cheryl’s last name, so I apologize in advance to Cheryl – especially if her name is spelled wrong!  Overall this was a great session.  It was nice to see both advertisers and publishers tackle the same questions from different sides of the affiliate coin.  None of the panelists promoted their sites, they just used examples that were pertinent to points they were trying to make.

Bullet Point Review!

What are some recommendations on the best way to manage offers and tools to generate quality transactions for everyone?

  • Focus on improving your conversion rate.
  • Make your coupon code box clear & show the savings.
  • Have a really clean Add to Cart product page.
  • Enable deep linking.
  • The most important tool is the communication between advertisers and publishers.  What are the things that advertisers need to give publishers to get the best success.
  • Networks need to put some initiative into getting one sheets from publishers outlining what they want from advertisers.
  • At the end of the day, everyone wants an order placed.
  • Use your CJ account reps to make that connection.Ask for feedback from the publisher account reps.
  • If I continue to be small and not have tools and resources, how do I get those tools and resources?
  • It’s important for advertisers to work with account reps, because it holds more weight if they recommend a program to a publisher instead of a blind pushed offer.
  • Rev-share isn’t as important as showing them the economic value.
  • At the end of the day, the channel is managed by ROI.
  • You have to be open minded because you don’t know where or when you’re going to meet your next big affiliate.

What are some of the challenges you deal with when it comes to advertiser program guidelines and restrictions?

  • You have to talk to the publishers to know what is and isn’t acceptable to help develop your terms and conditions.  You don’t know what you don’t know.
  • This isn’t a playground – we don’t all have to share the ball.  We all have to play by the rules, but there are different rules.  You have to determine what’s going to best grow your program.
  • Mistakes do happen, but reach out because 8 times out of 10 it’s just a miscommunication.
  • If you manage a program & login, and you see that your top affiliate is someone you don’t recognize and you have no idea how they got up to the top, chances are they’re probably doing something wrong.
  • Sometimes it could be an emerging market with a business model you’ve not encountered, so reach out and ask.
  • If you get no response, or a 2 line response that doesn’t make sense, something’s wrong.  Don’t be afraid to ditch the bad people even if they’re you’re top sellers.
  • Be transparent – merchants aren’t going to take your secret sauce and spread it all over the place.

If you could ask for one and only one simple thing from your partner, what would it be?

  • Alexis: An open ear.
  • Yung: Landing page conversion.
  • Tony: Be open to having a conversation and analyzing your business to achieve your goals.
  • Cheryl: Bring new ideas to merchants – they’re open to testing new things & learning.
  • Shawn: Reach out & introduce yourself if you’re new.
  • Mike: Be my partner.

Points brought up during the Q&A

  • Why aren’t there more self-service tools for merchants? It’s tricky – making it self-service is really difficult.  You don’t necessarily get to determine how the publishers use their real estate on their site.  It’s not always what’s in your best interest as an advertiser, it’s what in the combined best interest of the merchant and publisher.

Unfortunately, the conversation was so good amongst the panelists that there wasn’t much time left for questions.  But considering how approachable all the panelists made themselves, I think there was probably considerable opportunity for them to be asked questions 1-on-1 instead of in front of the entire audience.

Read More