Inside Affiliate

Hydra Dumps 100% Of Their Credibility

2010-03-11T18:23:35Z

I got an email this morning with an article from mThink (Revenue Magazine) about how Hydra is dumping 15,000 affiliates off of their network. I’m sure that every network goes through a phase where they want to tighten up their ranks and get rid of the fraud affiliates that have penetrated the approval process, but isn’t this a bit excessive? It seems to me that the only reason Hydra would do something like this is to get some free publicity.

The best part about all of this is that Hydra states they are doing it to separate themselves from “ad networks peddling nutraceutical diet remedies, cash grant opportunities, tooth whiteners and other non-branded campaigns of low consumer value.” Oh, you mean the exact same type of offers that you made hundreds of millions of dollars on? The offers that established Hydra as a force in the industry? And now that the rug has been pulled out from under the rebill market you are focusing on other things? How valiant of you Mr. Brandenburg!

I don’t usually post about things like this but the way that Hydra is positioning itself right now combined with their ongoing legal battles and the arrogance of their CEO has just really rubbed me the wrong way for a while now, and this new move is the icing on the cake. I had to say something.

I feel much better now. Back to the grind!

26 Yr Olds Getting Free iPads? Facebook Says No More

2010-02-18T00:02:54Z

How many times recently have you seen an ad like this showing up in your Facebook profile?

Unfortunately for marketers, the fun is over. Facebook sent out the following email today:

Ad quality and user feedback are extremely important to Facebook. We’ve received significant negative feedback about ads that call out users’ personally identifiable information, especially when the information is not directly relevant to the ad’s offer. We take this feedback very seriously and are taking an active role in removing ads that are detrimental to the user experience. Some of your ads have been disabled for this reason.

Please delete any ads using this tactic that may still be running and do not submit new ads that call our user attributes unnecessarily and that are not directly relevant to the offer (including, but not limited to, age, gender, location or interest). This practice is prohibited by Facebook’s Ad Guidelines (http://www.facebook.com/ad_guidelines.php). Advertisers who continually engage in advertising practices that generate strong negative feedback will find that their ads are less likely to be shown to users and may have their ads disabled or face account penalties up to and including the permanent loss of advertising privileges.

Looks like people aren’t appreciating the laser-targeted ad text… Oh well. Back to the drawing board….

Affiliate.com T-Shirts for Haiti

2010-02-11T19:21:25Z

Affiliate.com is doing a blogging contest to raise money for Haiti (and for the winning blogger). To enter the contest you are supposed to take a picture of yourself wearing their latest t-shirt. I figured, why do that when we could have a showdown of all the other guys that have posed for the contest! Unfortunately, it appears that the only people that have actually taken a picture of themselves for this contest were Shoemoney and Ian Fernando. Take your pick*:

*There’s not a poll or anything, because polls are lame.

There were also blog posts by a number of the usual crew like Zac Johnson, John “I’m Gonna Lick His Neck” Chow, and Murray Newlands. Instead of being creative, however, they simply chose to grab the image from the email that Affiliate.com sent out and post it on their blog. Real creative guys. If you don’t want to immortalize yourself by doing a gangster pose in an affiliate tee, at least come up with a nifty way to get around it…

On a serious note, if you haven’t donated anything to the relief efforts in Haiti, it only takes a second and you can do it by going to StillerStrong.org or texting “Haiti” to 90999 and charging $10 to your phone bill. Every little bit counts. We all make tons of money compared to people living in third world countries, let’s share the wealth a little bit.

Affiliate Marketing & Fraud: Separated At Birth?

2010-02-03T02:01:08Z

What is it about the Internet that brings out the worst in people? Is it because there is so much money to be made online, and it infuriates the people that aren’t making it? Or is it just because the anonymity provided by the computer and the distance between users that allows them to behave in outrageous ways that they never would in person?

There a lot of people that make a good living by effectively marketing a product or service to a targeted audience through many different methods including PPC, SEO, Email, PPV, and Social Media. However, I would venture to say that there are way, way, way more people out there that are working just as hard even harder to make money by scamming & cheating their way along.

Just look at the majority of users on the Black Hat World forums, for example. There is thread after thread on that board about how to make illegitimate monies online. Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with automation or campaign optimization tools that make our jobs as marketers easier. I’m all for those. Every industry has its tools of the trade. What irks me is when it goes farther than that.

Case in point: Packet Stuffer. This is a tool that was designed to steal commissions from legitimate affiliates and give it to people lazy and stupid enough to use it. I’m sure there are plenty of angles that could be argued in favor of a tool like this, but it rubs me the wrong way. When you have spent a bunch of time building the perfect landing page, optimizing your ad copy, spending money on PPC until you get the campaign profitable and finally get back into the black, the last thing that you need is some idiot siphoning off your commissions. It doesn’t matter if it’s only one here and there, every lead counts and can have a huge effect on the EPC of your campaign and whether or not it makes sense to keep it going.

So please, if you are a new affiliate (or even an experienced affiliate) that is tempted by the dark side of the industry and the allure of getting something for nothing, just remember the old adage: if it seems too good to be true, it probably is. You will not make tons of money. You will have your affiliate accounts terminated at all of the networks that you work with, and you will have wasted your time and money. Furthermore, you are only helping to paint the entire Affiliate Marketing industry in the type of negative light that doesn’t do any of us any favors. If you want this industry to become more accepted in the mainstream and continue to see growth over the next decade, you need to start treating it like you would any other job: with respect.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, it’s not that hard to be a legitimate affiliate, just do some actual marketing and you’re all set.

Colorado Advertising Tax UPDATE

2010-01-29T05:44:44Z

Yesterday was the meeting of the Finance Committee, the group of State House Representatives that are in charge of hearing the case for and against the new tax laws increases that are on the table. This of course includes HB-10-1193, the “Out-of-State Retailers Sales Tax” bill. Nice name they came up for it, eh? I liked it better when it was the “Amazon Tax”.

My Sr. Affiliate Manager and I headed over to the Capitol to show our opposition, and we really didn’t know what to expect. I thought we could possibly be one of a handful of people that showed up, sealing our fate before the hearing even began. However, as we approached the building, there was already a crowd of familiar faces gathered outside. There were representatives from several CPA networks including Affiliate.com and HybrydAds, and a bunch of affiliates as well. All in all there were well over 100 people that turned out in opposition of the bill.

The initial plan was to get into the hearing room, sign the sheet in opposition so we could be counted, and then stay for the hearing to see if anything interesting happened. Unfortunately, after 2 hours of debate, the Finance Committee was not even half way through discussing the first bill on the list, and HB-10-1193 was the 5th in line. I ended up leaving to get back to work once my name had been added to the opposition list. I heard today that the Committee was in session until 2 a.m. and they still hadn’t got through all of the bills on the list.

Long story short, the Committee passed the bill on to a final vote by the Colorado State House of Representatives. That should be happening either tomorrow or early next week. The next step is to do another email blast of the House Democrats to try and sway them. The House Republicans are already voting in opposition of all the bills that are tax increases.

If you want to help, let me know before about noon tomorrow (Friday) and I will get you the list of House Democrats to email and otherwise harass. The battle rages on!

Stop the Colorado Advertising Tax NOW!

2010-01-23T20:45:50Z

Breaking News!

The Performance Marketing Association (PMA) is reporting that a Colorado advertising tax bill (HB-1193) is going to be presented to Committee next week. Now is the time for anyone living in Colorado and working in the Affiliate Marketing and Online Advertising industries to get ready to make your voice heard!

If you haven’t heard about it before, the advertising tax (also called the “Amazon Tax”) is an attempt to bring some income back into the budgets of the states by forcing online merchants and companies to charge sales tax for online purchases and sales. The additional paperwork and accounting trouble that this brings is enough to make major companies like Amazon opt to kick out all the affiliates that live in a state with the advertising tax.

Whether you are an affiliate, a network, a merchant, or an agency, this tax could have a huge impact on your business, and it’s not going to be a positive one. Even if you aren’t personally involved in the industry, you might have family and friends that are, and you can still make your voice heard.

The main need right now is for people to send an email to decision makers. It only takes a second to send an email, and it could have a potentially massive effect on whether this bill passes or not. The PMA has been effective in squashing similar bills in other states, and now it’s our turn in Colorado.

To get involved, all you need to do is register your support with the PMA so that they can keep you updated when the time comes to take action. Simply go to http://performancemarketingassociation.com/advocateform.html and fill in the form. It’s free, you don’t have to join the PMA or anything like that, it’s just a mailing list so that they can tell us who to email and even give us templates to make it super easy.

Together we can stop the advertising tax!

We now return you to your regularly scheduled program.

10 Reasons That #ASW10 Was The Best One Yet

2010-01-22T20:18:14Z

1. I finally got to meet the legendary Andrew Wee. Wee is my brother from an Asian mother. One of my favorite moments from the show was in the elevator at the Palms. It was me, Wee, and Boone, and some random dude gets into the elevator and starts screaming, “All I wanna know is, Who the F*** is Andrew Wee?!?”. It was hilarious.

2. The parties were off the hook. From PPC.bz & Nickycakes Paper Clique Jump Off to CX’s Billionaire Party, there were some awesome shindigs at this conference. There were affiliate nerd-core freestyle rap battles, a dance routine featuring a live python, and even some very tasty cheesecake desserts.

3. The check-in lines were super fast. Actually when Boone and I checked in there was no line. That was a big improvement from last year’s hour long lines.

4. The Meet Market was packed. There were 2 rooms this year, and there were bodies from end to end with tables somewhere in the middle. If you are a network or other exhibitor, the Meet Market is some of the best bang for your buck you can get. It’s only 6 hours long, but there is serious networking to be done at this part of the event.

5. The high-caliber affiliates were out in force. I’m sure that there are always ballers at ASW, but the sheer amount of them and time I was able to spend chatting & networking with affiliates at this conference was way above average. Definitely higher than at any of the shows I went to in 2009.

6. Time-wasters were at a bare minimum. With a couple of rare exceptions, the people that I talked to didn’t waste my time. I’m not sure if I was just better at spotting them from a distance and avoiding them this time or what, but usually I have an entire stack of cards to put in the “Do Not Follow Up” file when I get home. Not so this year.

7. Rooms were cheap and excellent this year. I paid way too much money for a really terrible crappy room for Ad-Tech NY last year, so my expectations were already pretty low. However, we stayed at the Gold Coast and it was awesome. Sure, the average age of the people in the casino was 55, and the place has not been a hot spot for years, but it was about $60 a night, and it was an ideal location because it is sandwiched right between the Rio (where the convention is) and the Palms (where most of the parties were at). No taxis needed, everything was within walking distance.

8. I didn’t have to stand at a booth all day long. Having a booth can be worth it sometimes, but also it is a major pain. You have to get up early, be at the convention all day for both days so your feet are killing you, and worst of all you have to talk to every single person that comes by your booth (i.e. time-wasters). Not having a booth this year was nice, since I got to cruise around and network more freely.

9. Meetup202 was EPIC. It would have been worth flying out to Vegas just for the Meetup202 event alone. It was that good. The attendance was huge (several hundred people), Wes & the Bloosky guys put on a great presentation, and the tips at the end from the individual Meetup202 organizers from various cities were really good. I am super proud of Wes, Steven, and the whole 202 gang for chasing their dreams and making them a reality, and super thankful for all of the hard work they have put into their software and the affiliate community as a whole.

10. The wrap-up post was easy to write. I usually avoid writing these posts after a show, but this one practically wrote itself. Affiliate Summit West is officially my favorite show of the year, and you are cheating yourself out of growing your business and having a great time doing it if you don’t go in 2011.

Big CPA Networks = Not So Big Anymore?

2010-01-15T18:53:48Z

As a CPA network owner myself, I am a member of a lot of CPA networks. We do business with a lot of them, others we used to business with, and some we mean to but just haven’t gotten around to it yet. So many offers, so little time…

Anyways, when you are a member of a lot of CPA networks you get a lot of newsletters from said networks. One thing that they always like to do is put the names and contact info (and sometimes a picture) of all the Affiliate Managers at the bottom of the email. Over the last year, I’ve noticed an interesting trend: the number of Affiliate Managers per network is shrinking!

This trend is especially evident in large CPA networks such as Affiliate.com and MediaTrust (formerly AdValiant). So why is this happening? I think it’s simple: the industry is evolving in favor of smaller boutique networks instead of the giants that thrived before. With margins on offers getting cut razor-thin, it’s the companies with low overhead and lower expenses that are winning the favor of affiliates today.

The new CPA network business model isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, since new affiliates are joining the industry by the day and these boutique networks are better at training and growing the revenue of these newbies. It’s almost getting to the point where affiliates (especially super affiliates) are becoming like superstar athletes, and CPA networks are like agents. Can you run an agency with just a couple of key clients? Absolutely. That’s why this trend is not going to stop any time soon.

At some point there might be too many networks for the affiliates out there, but I think that day is a long ways away. As long as new people keep flowing into the industry, and as long as network owners keep innovating new ways to educate and involve the affiliates in their business model, there will be a place for them in the performance economy.

2010: Bold Predictions for the Future

2010-01-14T00:43:26Z

In 2010, I believe we are going to see some serious changes in the online world, and the affiliate industry. There were definitely some changes brewing throughout 2009, both on the Affiliate side of the game (see the Oprah lawsuits) and the Advertiser side of the game (merchant account madness). Neither of these are the death knell of Affiliate Marketing, but they certainly gave the impression that business would not just continue as usual in 2010. Will Affiliates be looking for new offers to promote when all the rebills suddenly dry up? Will the FTC be cracking down on Affiliate Bloggers for littering their posts with unmarked Affiliate links? Doubtful. Every time this industry and its denizens have to comply or die, they find a way to do it and still make money, if not even more than before. They are a very resourceful bunch.

Another big shakeup that is coming (in my opinion) is in the world of Traffic Sources. Affiliates have complained for years now about Google’s terrible practices of banning its own Advertisers with no notice, killing profitable campaigns with Quality Score changes, and just flat pushing people around. A viable alternative became very popular in 2009 with Facebook Ads, but that opened up a whole new can of worms. Facebook has been just as fickle as Google about what types of offers they allow, and the approval process is bad enough to give full time Affiliates recurring nightmares of the DENIED status.

So what’s next? One word: mobile. AdMob has been busy building the biggest mobile advertising network over the last couple of years, and although some Affiliates have tested it, there aren’t a whole lot of mobile-targeted offers to promote just yet. But don’t worry, that is on the horizon and approaching fast. Especially since Google just snapped up AdMob, easily taking a big piece of the mobile pie for themselves. Also, in an interesting move, Apple has put it in a bid to buy Quattro Wireless. Apparently they were interested in AdMob too, since many of the ads are served on the iPhone, but Google beat them to the punch. It will be interesting to see how Apple handles the responsibility of running an ad network, especially in the tumultuous new field of mobile.

Will it be more of the same, just on a smaller device? Will it be a revolution in marketing akin to the initial launch of Google AdWords and Facebook Ads? Or perhaps it will open up new and expansive opportunities that our feeble marketing brains haven’t even thought of yet. Whatever the case, 2010 is going to be an interesting year, and a brilliant start to the new decade.

Oh yeah, and Facebook is going down. That’s my doomsday prediction.

Dealing With FTC Rules For Bloggers

2009-12-17T17:32:06Z

Since it is December and the new FTC rules for bloggers have taken effect, I have been looking for the easiest way to make everything compliant. I know that it’s probably a long shot that the FTC would ever take an interest in my blog, but better safe than sorry, since I found a pretty easy way to do it. Of course you could write your own custom disclosure like Shoemoney does, but who wants to take the 15 minutes to write it…That’s where CMP.ly comes in. They have created a simple way to add the proper disclosure to your page, similar to the URL shorteners that you know and love. CMP.ly is totally free, and there are 5 levels of their standard disclosure, as well as a custom one that you can create if you want to sign up for an account and take the time to do it. For most people though, the standard ones will work fine. They are:

CMP.ly/0 – No Connection, Unpaid, My Own Opinions (Legit post)
CMP.ly/1 – Based Upon a Review Copy (Review copies plz?)
CMP.ly/2 – Given a Sample (Sample of what?)
CMP.ly/3 – Paid Post (Zac Johnson’s favorite)
CMP.ly/4 – Employee/Shareholder/Business Relationship (Matt Cutts’ favorite)
CMP.ly/5 - Affiliate Marketing Links (My favorite)

So it might not be the sexiest thing to spend an hour doing, adding these links to all your blog posts. But it’s not that much work and it’s definitely not worth it to get busted by the FTC in case some young buck in the department is trying to make a name for himself by taking down the evil affiliate bloggers that are polluting the online world for all the rest of us. (/sarcasm)