RosalindGardner.com

Learn Blogging & Affiliate Marketing with Rosalind Gardner

Affiliate Marketing Mistake #10: Not Paying Attention to Affiliate Program Emails

By

affiliate-marketing-mistake-10

Over the past almost 20 years, I've used a multitude of different email addresses to sign up for affiliate programs and affiliate networks.

In 1997, I used the address linked to my first Internet service provider, which became unusable when I left Prince George, B.C. a couple of years later and signed up with a new provider in Calgary, Alberta.

I then picked up an online email account with Bigfoot because I was traveling a lot and could access it anywhere at anytime. However, their service went by the wayside pretty darned quickly. Fortunately, I hadn't signed up for many affiliate programs or networks, so changing the email address on those accounts wasn't too tedious.

Not long afterward I started using CPanel, and got the bright idea to use a different email address for each affiliate program, i.e. clickbank@rosalinds.com, cj@rosalinds.com and so forth.

That setup worked especially well while I was using Eudora, a computer-based email client. I created separate mailboxes for each program, which would ‘light up' when a new email had arrived.

Sadly, Eudora went the way of the dodo, and I signed up for my Gmail account which I've now had for over a decade.

It took awhile to change all those affiliate-program@mydomain.com email addresses to my Gmail account email address.

Then, during one of my server moves, I decided to ‘clean up' the ‘extraneous stuff' on the server and deleted most of those affiliate-program@mydomain.com forwarding email addresses.

BIG mistake.
[Read more…]

Your Affiliate Program is WAY too Much Work

By

overworkedSo, I get an invitation to join an affiliate program related to my dating site at https://101date.com

I look at the site and it does indeed satisfy the interests of my audience. Not only that, but it should be a significant contribution to that specific niche, which currently has only 1 offering.

On clicking the link to join their program, I see that they have numerous niche dating sites with affiliate programs, including:

  • STD Dating
  • Millionaire Dating
  • Biker Dating
  • Senior Dating
  • BBW Dating
  • Bisexual Dating
  • Nudist Dating
  • Age Gap Dating
  • and many more…

“Cool”, I think until I notice that instead of having to sign up for just one program to join them ALL — I have to sign up for each individually.

UGH… you're kidding me, right?

Seriously, we have the technology. If some merchant wants you to sign up for each of 20+ programs which supposedly reside under one banner (business)… just say “NO!”.

Brand New Affiliate Program That Pays Instantly

By

Social Marketing ResultsIn a recent post, Lynn Terry shared some great social media tips for affiliate marketers, and also told you about her new Social Marketing Results course.

If you signed up, or even if you just read her creative tips for increasing sales & traffic, you already know she's offering top notch training.

Lynn tells me that the product is converting exceptionally well, and she's getting amazing feedback from those taking the course and implementing her strategies. She works hands-on with them to help them implement everything they learn, so you can feel confident she will take good care of your readers and referrals.

I signed up as an affiliate for Social Marketing Results myself, and I want to invite you to do the same. Lynn has her affiliate program set up on JVzoo, so you'll get paid instantly via PayPal on every commission you earn.

The payout is 50%, and there is also a 2nd Tier if you want to recommend the affiliate program to someone you know. A second tier means that you'll earn commission on any of the sales they make, and those are also paid instantly to your PayPal account.

You can sign up here to join the Social Marketing Results affiliate program. I've known Lynn personally for years, and I can tell you firsthand that she's great to work with. She'll go out of her way to help you recommend her product. And as a super affiliate herself – she knows how! So don't hesitate to get in touch with her after you sign up.

If you haven't already reviewed the product, you can get it here. Then be sure to sign up for the affiliate program. If you don't already have an account at JVzoo, you'll need to register there first – but it's a simple process.

This is a new product but it's evergreen strategies and an evergreen product, so it's something you can promote and earn commissions on long-term. Lynn has been working online for 16+ years already, so she's very grounded in the market. You – and your referrals! – will be in good hands.

This is a great product to start promoting, because Social Media is a HOT topic right now. It's a fairly new product too, just released last month, so you won't be facing tons of competition with your recommendation.

Sign Up Today

Happy Promoting! 😀

Comments, questions or suggestions? Please leave a comment below!

Cheers,

Ros

Different Ways to Team up with Groupon

By

NOTE: Groupon is no longer with CJ Affiliate, so commission information below is out of date.

A little while back I was tickled pink to see a friend post Groupon deals of the Day to her Facebook account – several days in a row.

I thought perhaps she'd taken my advice and had decided to become an affiliate marketer. 🙂

Wrong.

It turns out that she hadn't signed up for their affiliate program but was going for their ‘refer friends' program through which you can earn $10 in Groupon Bucks for every friend you refer to Groupon when they make their first purchase. Groupon Bucks can be used toward any Groupon purchase, and they never expire.

If you are unfamiliar with the service, Groupon features a daily deal on the best stuff to do, see, eat, and buy in a variety of cities across the United States and Canada.

BUT, you can only get the deal if enough people join that day… so there is plenty of incentive to invite your friends through your social networks such as Twitter and Facebook.

But ‘refer a friend' to Groupon isn't the only way you can make money with them.

They also have an affiliate program through Commission Junction.

Groupon features a tiered commission structure with commission increases, bonuses, and incentives for affiliates that offer unique promotional opportunities.

Here are some of terms at time of writing:

  1. Action: New User

    ActionCriteria Online Purchase by a new user.
    Action Referral Period 30 day(s)
    Action Referral Occurrences Unlimited
    Commission 15.00%

  2. Action: Existing User
    ActionCriteria Online Purchase by an existing user.
    Action Referral Period 30 day(s)
    Action Referral Occurrences Unlimited
    Commission 5.00%

  3. Action: Groupon New User Purchase – Mobile
    ActionCriteria Mobile will be for any sales/transactions that take place based on whether they are a new or existing Groupon user.
    Action Referral Period 30 day(s)
    Action Referral Occurrences Unlimited
    Commission 15.00%

  4. Action: Groupon Existing User Purchase – Mobile
    ActionCriteria Mobile will be for any sales/transactions that take place based on whether they are a new or existing Groupon user.
    Action Referral Period 30 day(s)
    Action Referral Occurrences Unlimited
    Commission 5.00%

In all cases, the Locking Period is Standard – Actions lock on the 10th of the month, unless extended.

NOTE: Groupon does not allow any affiliate search marketing, PPC (pay-per-click) advertising without written approval from the Groupon Affiliate Team, so if you're a PPC affiliate make sure you get in touch with them before promoting!

The affiliate manager for Groupon is Carolyn Tang Kmet, one of the very best in the industry. I was uber-impressed when she got in touch with me personally right after I joined the program.

So, what are you waiting for? Groupon works on any type of blog through which folks are looking for deals on just about anything… and that qualifies most of us, doesn't it? 🙂

For example, as I write this, they have a deal on for the women's fitness centers, Curves. You get 82% off, a $171C value for $30C. I might just have to get that one!!! But there's only 2 left, so I'd better hurry! 🙂

Comments, questions or suggestions? Please leave a comment below!

Cheers,

Ros

New York to Ban Sales of eCigarettes?

By

I can't believe this. Just got this email from my Green Smoke merchant…

Dear Green Smoke Affiliate,

On Tuesday, January 25, the New York State Assembly Health Committee is scheduled to discuss proposed bill A01468, which would outlaw the sales of electronic cigarettes in New York State. We are strongly against a statewide ban, as we believe that consumers should have the free choice to purchase and use e-cigarettes, as long as they are used responsibly by adults above the legal smoking age.

Section 1 of the bill only bans e-cigarette sales to minors, a step which Green Smoke strongly supports. It is Section 2 of the bill that purports to ban all electronic cigarette sales until the FDA has approved it as a smoking cessation devise. As a Green Smoke customer, we encourage you to contact the New York Assembly Health Committee members and State Senators to express your opposition to Section 2 of the proposed bill.

Visit the CASAA website at http://www.casaa.org/CTA/article.asp?articleID=114&l=a&p= for further details about the proposed bill and for a pre-written letter template to easily send to your Assemblymen. The Assembly meeting is set to take place on Tuesday, January 25 at 12:00 noon. As snail mail would not reach recipients on time, please email, fax or, for maximum effectiveness, call committee members before this time.

Thank you for your attention and continued use of Green Smoke products,

Green Smoke, Inc.

Unbelievable that they gave so little time to respond. However if you are an affiliate AND/or a smoker please respond as Green Smoke has requested.

Their product is great!

Canadian Affiliate Marketers: Did You File GST on Those Commissions?

By

Now that we're 2 weeks past tax day in Canada (April 30th), I thought I'd write about an issue that directly affects Canadian affiliates and online merchants. So, be warned – for the purposes of this post the spelling may seem a little weird, like ‘cheque' and ‘humour' and I might even have to throw in the occassional ‘eh', eh?. 🙂

About GST

GST is the Goods & Services tax that we Canadians pay on almost everything we buy — with some strange exceptions, i.e. groceries that are not intended for immediate consumption. If you buy 5 buns, you pay GST. If you buy 6 or more, you don't.

The current GST rate is 5%, down from 7% a few years ago.

Do You Make More than $30,000 Per Year?

Most persons and organizations engaged in commercial activities in Canada who have annual worldwide, taxable sales of more than $30,000 must register for and collect the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

I therefore registered for GST a number of years ago, but because I was doing business online as an affiliate marketer, I did not collect GST. I expected that my Canadian merchants would collect the GST on applicable sales.

I did however, file regular returns to claim rebates for GST paid on items and supplies that I purchased for my business. The refunds were typically in the range of $100 – 200 every 3 months.

The ‘Mini' GST Audit

I'm fairly fastidious about dotting all the i's and crossing all those t's when it comes to dealing with Revenue Canada, so imagine my surprise therefore, whe, in the earlier part of this year, I received notice that my business was to undergo a ‘mini' GST audit.

OK, I collected and submitted the requested paperwork and fielded a few phone calls from the local Revenue Canada office in response to the submission.

“What exactly are you doing online?” and after explaining my income from affiliate marketing as commissions earnings, the next questions were “Who are your Canadian merchants?” and “How much did you earn in commissions from them?”.

So, I told them and then sumbitted more paperwork with the commissions from Canadian merchant separated out.

Then came the bad news – I OWED GST on those earnings!

Huh? Say what? My guess was that 95% of those products were sold to customers outside of Canada, but that apparently didn't matter. What DID matter was that I was providing a ‘service' to my Canadian merchants by placing advertising links on my site(s). Those Canadian merchants were therefore responsible to pay me GST on my commissions earned.

It didn't matter that they hadn't paid, I still owed the money – THOUSANDS of dollars in back taxes.

Aargh.

My first thought was to dump my Canadian merchants, but I quickly realized what a stupid response THAT would be, considering I was making good coin promoting their products.

Recouping GST Owed by Canadian Merchants

So… a better idea came to mind next and I approached those merchants, explained the issue and requested the GST owing.

The responses were varied.

Ken Evoy's company, SiteSell, was by far the easiest to deal with and the quickest to respond. The paid the outstanding amount almost immediately and then made arrangements to include a separate cheque every month for GST owed.

IWantU was a completely different story. It took more than a month simply to get someone to reply to my tickets (which generally resolved to a “Page not Found”) to the point where I finally sent a message asking if they were still in business. Their initial responses to my detailed explanation and request was to feign ignorance. When pressed, Eric Frangoe finally replied, stating:

Sorry for so late reply. It took me some time to investigate your issue. And actually according to the Terms and Conditions of the Agreement, that you agreed when signing up for our service, we don’t have to pay those taxes. We only pay you the money for traffic you brought. If there are some taxes that you have to pay, we don’t take responsibility for that. Sorry.

Sorry, indeed.

Especially considering the situation is completely revenue-neutral for Canadian merchants.

Essentially, the pay their affiliates GST for services rendered and then claim that as a rebate on their own tax filings.

In the IWantU case, I was totally on the hook for THOUSANDS of dollars — so no problem deciding to remove their advertising from my sites — nd I strongly suggest that all Canadian affiliates do likewise.

I did find one thing humourous about dealing with IWantU. I pointed Eric to a section WITHIN the IWantU affiliate agreement that read:

9. Pay Your Taxes, and Over-comply with Government Regulations. Adult businesses are under a microscope. …As an adult webmaster, you cannot get away with what other businesses get away with. You will be held to a higher standard.

Eric's reply?

Can you please give me url where did you find that 9th point. Is that some Canadian legislation? If it’s so please provide me with url so that I can check it. It seems that I can’t find it on internet.

Duh.

Definitely better off NOT working with these bad actors.

Canadian Tire Deals with the Issue Upfront

Since going through this process, I've done a little research into how other Canadian merchants handle GST on affiliate commissions and it would seem that CanadianTire is one of the few that actually addresses the issue in their affiliate agreement. Here is the text from the Canadian Tire Affiliate FAQ:

We request a GST number for tax purposes only. It is the responsibility of every Canadian affiliate website to record the GST amount they receive from canadiantire.ca. In addition to the commission you will be earning canadiantire.ca pays affiliates GST for the services they provide. The GST amount is not included in the commission rate, instead it is added to the monthly commissions earned by affiliates.

Bravo! Well done!

Anyway, I hope that helps out the Canadian affiliates who read NPT.

NOTE: When I figure out how the HST is going to affect our lives, I'll let you know.

Make More from Your Merchant Affiliations

By

Ed is the guy who will spend hours researching and analyzing product listings on eBay, Amazon and other independent online merchants to get the best deals.

He proudly announces his ‘wins' whenever he buys something on eBay for $24 that sells in town for $79.

He's equally proud when he saves just 5 bucks.

To acknowledge his online shopping prowess, I had just posted a compliment on Ed's blog about his ability to find great deals online when not even 15 minutes later he tells me that he's just purchased a Clickbank product to learn how to make his own solar panels.

He then somewhat sheepishly adds “… but I forgot to use my Clickbank ID“.

Duh!

The product that he bought is GreenDIYenergy which sells for $49.97, pays a 75% commission ($32.54).

There's also an upsell that increases the commission to $79.00.

Because Ed didn't buy into the upsell, he only flushed $32.54 down the toilet. (I say “only” rather sarcastically, as I don't like wasting money period — it's better saved and then spent on shoes. 🙂 )

Actually, Ed probably flushed the full $49.97, considering I would have contacted the merchant to ask for a “review copy” which is mentioned on his Affiliate Support pages.

So folks… don't make the same mistake that Ed made.

If you're buying something from a Clickbank merchant in order to do a product review, save yourself some money and request a review copy (if they are offered) or at very least, buy the product through your affiliate link.

Hey, even if you're NOT planning to do a product review and are just purchasing it for your own use – use your Clickbank ID and save some money! (Assuming you're a good Clickbank affiliate, one who makes sales).

Categories