Posts Tagged "New York"

ASE09 Session: Advertising Tax Impact (Trisha’s Take)

Posted on Aug 10, 2009 in Affiliate Marketing, Conferences & Networking |

As you noticed, Dominic already posted his notes on the session, but here’s mine!  Session Description: Discussion on the Advertising Tax by industry leaders that have played a key role in organizing industry advocates and educating legislators on the impact of state tax nexus legislation.  The panel consisted of:

I thought it was well done.  Unfortunately there weren’t nearly as many people there as should have been.  Hopefully they’ll read this and know that they need to get informed before their business is blindsided with these tax issues.

Bullet Point Review!

  • The use tax system really doesn’t work right now, hence why states are looking to tax online retailers.
  • All this involves Nexus.
  • If you make a commission on a sale, you’re affected.  Period.
  • There’s a lot of misinformation out there – we’re trying to inform reporters enough to make them care about what’s really happening.
  • There’s a different between an affiliate company and affiliates, which is somewhat difficult to properly explain to legislators.
  • This is putting thousands of individuals out of business.
  • We need to keep politics out of it – it’s not a Democrat or a Republican thing.
  • SSTP (streamline sales tax project) not going to save us.
  • It’s GOING to happen – don’t think you’re safe.
  • This year it’s been introduced in 9 states – stopped in 7 of 9 (not RI or NC)
  • Be sure to work with like minded people to get things done.
  • It helps to have an internal advocate who knows the system’s ins & outs (a lobbyist or lobbying organization).
  • The viral-ness worked well to defeat the bills.
  • The CA bill would have passed had we not shown up, so it makes a BIG difference to stand up and help and make your voice heard.
  • When talking to legislators, there are a few things to remember:
    • The term “affiliate” is very confusing, but they understand advertising and small business owner.
    • Don’t say you’re going to move out of state – if you do, you’re no longer their problem, so they don’t care.
    • Keep your analogies simple – don’t get too technical or use jargon they won’t understand (CPA, PPC, SEO, etc).
  • There are ways around it in New York
    • First you have to meet the minimum sales threshold, so if you don’t make that you’re not affected.
    • You can rebut the nexus.
  • They haven’t yet found a way to rebut the nexus in Rhode Island and it’s too early to tell for North Carolina.
  • Merchants can just charge tax to keep affiliates – but it is something they have to start working on NOW in the back end to avoid being blindsided.
  • Affiliates need to prepare your business for it and keep lines of communication open.
  • Solutions: retain a sales and use tax attorney and understand the law as best you can.
  • DO NOT: incorporate your business in another state, use a false address, follow advice of someone who’s unlicensed, follow advice of a lawyer for another party, or try to circumvent the law.  Working within the law is your best option.
  • Being shady brings a bad name to the industry – your rep and the industries rep is under scrutiny

There was no time for a Q&A session because of all the awesome information they jam packed into that session.  It was really great and I’m still just sad to see that more people weren’t there.

Please help by spreading the word about what’s being referred to as the Advertising Tax! And for your pleasure, here’s the presentation:

Advertising Tax Impact Accomplishments And The Future

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ASE09 Session: Advertising Tax Impact, Accomplishments and the Future

Posted on Aug 10, 2009 in Affiliate Marketing, Conferences & Networking, Guest Posts | 1 comment

Guest Post by Dominic Fawver.

Session Description: Discussion on the Advertising Tax by industry leaders that have played a key role in organizing industry advocates and educating legislators on the impact of state tax nexus legislation.  The panel included:

This session was very informative and gave a lot of information concerning the current problems affiliate marketers are having with some of the new tax laws, or rather the new interpretations, of the tax laws.  One of the most important facts given was that the definition of “Nexus” has been recently changed, or rather updated.  For a business to have Nexus, they must by physically present in the state.  The change in definition holds that affiliates living in a state count as Nexus in that state.  This is important because it requires all of the merchants to charge their customers the state sales tax.  The issue is not that the companies should charge this sales tax, but that it is often cheaper for them to drop their affiliates in whichever states are affected, instead of adding the ability to charge the sales tax on their site.

The chief purpose of this session was to bring people up to speed on the legislation that has been put into affect or has been defeated in several states such as New York, Hawaii, and California.  This is important because it will soon affect any state that charges sales tax, which is most of them.

From the standpoint of someone new to the industry this was a very important session to attend, as it helped to bring me up to speed, so to speak, with some of the major issues which are currently impacting Affiliate Marketing.

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ASE09 Session: Getting Noticed FAST

Posted on Aug 9, 2009 in Affiliate Marketing, Conferences & Networking, Guest Posts | 3 comments

Guest Post by Dominic Fawver.

Session Description: Regardless what your role in the industry is, it’s important to be noticed within the industry. Learn the networking and social media techniques that make it possible.  The panel consisted of:

This session, Getting Noticed FAST, contained a lot of valuable information from people who have gone from being a nobody in Affiliate Marketing to being well known by many of the top people in just a couple of years.  Some of the suggestions were:

“Get involved in the response…go to other sites and comment”   Jen Goode

“Start blogging”  Stephanie Lichtenstein

“Don’t flame people”  Trisha Fawver

“Do something different the first time you meet in person”  Mike Buechele

Many tips were given on the importance of using social media to get your name out there.  Also mentioned was the importance of personal branding and being consistent between all of the different forms of social media that you are on.

From the standpoint of someone who is new to Affiliate Marketing, this was a very good session with plenty of examples from the panelist’s personal experience.  It gave me ideas on where to start on getting noticed so that I can further a career in Affiliate Marketing (if I so chose) by meeting people who are already successful in the field and learn from their experiences and mistakes, while at the same time possibly being able to help them out with my own expertise.  In many cases it is not what you know, but who you know.

Getting Noticed Fast

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Taking New York City by Storm

Posted on Aug 6, 2009 in Affiliate Marketing, Conferences & Networking |

I’m excited.  First of all, because I’ve never been to New York before (a layover on my way to Orlando hardly counts).  Second of all, because it’s that time again – time for Affiliate Summit!  We’re flying JetBlue, which I LOVE!  So comfortable on a cross country flight!  Last week on Affiliate Marketing Fanatics 12, Mike and I did a pre-show review of the sessions we’re thinking of going to.  I can’t wait, but there’s other things I’ll be doing while in NYC!

  • Seeing Avenue Q
  • Eating New York pizza at Famous Original Ray’s Pizza
  • Walking through Central Park
  • Hopefully seeing the Empire State Building
  • Wandering Times Square
  • Trying to survive on the NYC Subway

And more – Dominic and I have tacked on two extra days to sight see.  I can’t wait!  We’re leaving today and will get in LATE tonight and then brave the subway to get to the hotel if we’re feeling adventurous – if not, swallowing cab fare.  Of course come Sunday, it’s all business.  Affiliate Summit East 2009 starts off with a bang – my panel on Getting Noticed FAST!  I know I’ve shamelessly promoted this panel, but seriously, you’ll learn a good deal if you’re looking to make a name for yourself.  It’s in Classroom C at 12pm so stop by – you’ll get an awesome sticker courtesy of Sticker Giant!

After that, Dominic and I will split the difference so we can cover the most sessions for you here.  I’m also going to encourage Dominic to write up a post of his views of Affiliate Summit as an outsider/newbie, so stay tuned for that.  I’ll try to post them as timely as possible – some of that will involve reading Dominic’s writing 🙂  I’m sure there will be plenty of time for me to wander around and talk to folks so if you see either of us walking around, stop us and say hi!  And feel free to badger Dominic about his model railroad or school!

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Affiliate Marketing Fanatics 12: Affiliate Summit Pre-Show

Posted on Jul 31, 2009 in Affiliate Marketing, Affiliate Marketing Fanatics | 2 comments

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Affiliate Marketing Fanatics – A Publisher (Mike Buechele) and an Affiliate Manager (Trisha Lyn Fawver) talk about all things Affiliate Marketing. From blogging to branding, social media to search, video and more!

We’re back together again!  It feels like it’s been 10 years, but with technical problems and schedules we’re finally back in the saddle.  And just in time for Affiliate Summit!  With the show about a week away, this is our Pre-Show.  Follow along with the agenda for the summit and make this interactive!  This week we clock in at an EPIC 1 hour and 12 minutes.  In in this episode we discuss:

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Where has Trisha been?!

Posted on Jul 30, 2009 in Affiliate Marketing, Career, Conferences & Networking |

Where has Trisha been?!

Like a lot of people, I’ve had my head down working. I’ve been working hard managing the MyJewelryBox.com Affiliate Program.  I’ve had so much to do I haven’t had a ton of energy at the end of the day to keep up the blog. Regrettably that means that you, dear reader, have suffered.

Actually, I’m not so full of myself to honestly believe that you’ve suffered without my blogging.  There are many other resources to get your news in all things online marketing.  I started this blog almost exactly two years ago, and I still question whether people actually learn something from my mumbles here.

Coming up at the beginning of next month I’ll be attending Affiliate Summit East 2009 in New York City, speaking on a panel called Getting Noticed FAST.  Our goal is to help others make a name for themselves within the industry as we’ve tried to make a name for ourselves.  We’ve put a lot of time into our preparation; we want to make sure that the attendees walk away with concrete, actionable items to apply to their own careers.

My husband Dominic will be attending with me.  He’s currently finishing up a degree in business, focusing on project management.  He’s interested in potentially going into affiliate marketing , so he’s attending to help me cover all the sessions for this blog.  He’s excited to learn more about what I do and the people I interact with, and I’m excited for him to get this introduction to my professional world as well.  We’re also tacking a couple days onto our trip to do some sight seeing.  Neither of us have ever been to New York, so we’ll be seeing Avenue Q the Friday night before the conference and meeting up with some friends who live in the NYC area.

I’ll also be staffing the Meet Market table for Affiliate Marketers Give Back from 5-6 pm Sunday August 9th during the show.  In an effort to raise money for the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer, AMGB will be offering limited-edition Affiliate Summit hats (available for a $40 donation) and Affiliate Marketers Give Back laptop stickers (available for a $10 donation).  If you won’t be attending and would still like to make a donation, you can do so at AMGBWalk.com.

On Tuesday I’m happy to be participating in GeekCast Live.  I’m betting since this one has an open invite and is officially on the schedule, it’ll go a lot more as planned than when they tried to do one in Boston at ASE08.  By “as planned”, I know before they had more of a Diggnation vision in mind than the devolved drunken conversation that happened.  It should be a good time and a great way to end the conference.

So what now?  I hope to come back from Affiliate Summit with a renewed passion for this blog.  More great content for you.  Stay tuned!

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