The topic of affiliate network migration is at the top of the agenda for a lot of advertisers these days. Whether a transition is driven by the urgency around the closing of the Google Affiliate Network, or you've bandied about the idea of switching networks for some time, moving to a new network requires thoughtful, strategic planning. Otherwise, you may find yourself hopping across different networks while you disrupt your brand, sales and publisher relationships. Below are five key considerations when it comes to selecting a new network followed by a seven-step migration plan. 5 Questio [...]

Related Topics: Affiliate Marketing | Channel: Content Marketing | Content Marketing Column

With the announcement of Google Affiliate Network closing its doors in July, many retailers are being forced to find new alternatives for their affiliate advertising programs during the coming weeks. While such a major task may not be at the top of any marketers favorite things-to-do list, the move could result in improved numbers for retailers using GAN that have put off migrating to a new network. After speaking with two former GAN clients, both reported significant increases in their affiliate advertising revenue since migrating from Google. One Retailer's Story Matt Khalili, a marketi [...]

Related Topics: Affiliate Marketing | Channel: Content Marketing | Features & Analysis | Google | Interviews | Top News

If passed by the House, the Marketplace Fairness Act, which aims to level the playing field between online retailers and brick-and-mortar businesses, could go into effect as soon as this fall. As it stands now, the bill would require remote sellers, including online businesses, with gross receipts over $1 million to collect sales tax in qualifying states -- even in states where a business has no physical presence. There is a high level of industry debate over the bill, with e-tailers on either side of the issue. Will it be the panacea proponents claim, making sales tax collection fa [...]

Related Topics: Affiliate Marketing | Amazon | Channel: Industry | E-Commerce | Top News

Business Insider has an interesting and in-depth article about the ongoing legal cases that could land eBay's two biggest affiliates in jail soon on charges of wire fraud. If you've been in the online marketing industry for a while, you may recognize the names Shawn Hogan and Brian Dunning. They're the two affiliates that eBay and the FBI started pursuing in 2006 after suspecting that they were earning millions while violating eBay's affiliate terms of service. According to court documents, Hogan made an astounding $28 million in affiliate commissions from eBay, and Dunning made $7 milli [...]

Related Topics: Affiliate Marketing | Channel: Content Marketing | Internet Marketing Industry | Legal | Legal: General

Finding images for your WordPress site can be a challenge. Of course, you could take the pictures yourself -- but if you run multiple sites, that could prove exhausting. I have recently started using a WordPress plugin that makes it very easy to find creative commons images and credit them properly right from inside my blog. The plugin is called PhotoDropper -- and I am loving it! PhotoDropper has over 62 million free images that blog owners can access and insert right from their WordPress dashboard. They also have a premium tier that offers more professional photos on a pay-by-the-photo [...]

Related Topics: Affiliate Marketing | Affiliate Marketing Column | Blogging | Channel: Content Marketing

As the second biggest shopping season behind the winter holidays, more than $18 billion is spent annually on Mother’s Day gifts in the United States. Of that, 25 percent is attributed to purchases made online. This represents a steady increase over the years when you consider that in 2011, 21 percent of Mother’s Day purchases were made online. While most purchases are made during the five days leading up to Mother’s Day, the most successful affiliate marketing plans are set into motion weeks in advance. So, to help you make the most of the upcoming Mother’s Day shopping season, h [...]

Related Topics: Affiliate Marketing | Affiliate Marketing Column | Channel: Content Marketing

Google announced it is retiring their Affiliate Network to focus on other products. According to a statement on the Google Affiliate Network blog, the company stated that it will continue to support customers as they "wind down" the product over the next few months. Indirectly blaming the rapid evolution of CPA marketing and their investment in other CPA tools like Product Listing Ads (PLAs), remarketing and Conversion Optimizer, Google emphasized their commitment to products that will have the biggest impact for advertisers and publishers. In response to retiring the Affiliate ad progra [...]

Related Topics: Affiliate Marketing | Channel: Content Marketing | Google: AdSense | Google: Business Issues

Build it and they will come, right? Unfortunately, when it comes to starting a new blog, that is simply not true. I see many new blog owners become hyper-focused on getting Google to send them masses of traffic through SEO. And, while Google traffic is great and should not be ignored, focusing all your energy on SEO could be a recipe for disaster. In order to really build up traffic and a blog following, it's important to get off your blog and get out to places where your target market can find you. I don't care what the sales pages and "gurus" say -- there is no software or "loophole" t [...]

Related Topics: Affiliate Marketing | Affiliate Marketing Column | Blogging | Channel: Content Marketing

You've probably read a thing or two about affiliate attribution in a trade publication or heard it mentioned at industry events. Affiliate attribution is one of the hottest and most controversial topics in the performance marketing industry today, and many Internet retailers are trying to figure out the best approach. Not only is it a consideration for the affiliate channel, but it's becoming an even bigger factor as more companies move toward omni-channel. The question remains: how do you fairly compensate affiliates for their involvement with your customer based on the touch-points [...]

Related Topics: Affiliate Marketing | Affiliate Marketing Column | Channel: Content Marketing

New York will continue to collect sales tax from out-of-state retailers that have affiliates operating within state boundaries, according to a ruling today by the New York Court of Appeals. The court voted 4-1 today to uphold the state's 2008 law that says having affiliates in the state gives online retailers "a substantial nexus" and requires them to pay sales tax. Amazon and Overstock had both claimed that the law is unconstitutional. In writing the court's majority decision, Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman said, "The bottom line is that if a vendor is paying New York residents to activel [...]

Related Topics: Affiliate Marketing | Channel: Content Marketing | Top News

Yahoo's partnership with a toolbar provider has led to questionable affiliate links showing up in the latest version of the Yahoo Toolbar for both Firefox and IE. How questionable? In one case, an affiliate was redirecting traffic from Ticketmaster.com to a competing online ticket seller. In other cases, it's unclear if the websites that a user visits are aware that Yahoo is showing affiliate coupons when the page loads. The coupons are visible to all U.S. users of the Yahoo toolbar that have installed or upgraded to the current toolbar version. The Coupons app is currently turned on by [...]

Related Topics: Affiliate Marketing | Channel: Content Marketing | Features & Analysis | Top News | Yahoo | Yahoo: Toolbar

There’s been quite a stir lately about a new release of Firefox due out this summer. Here’s the deal: a patch in version 22 is expected to automatically block third-party cookies by default. According to the latest reports, users who install this version of Firefox will no longer see targeted advertising unless they change their settings to accept third-party cookies. A user will see ads, but these ads won’t necessarily be based on their browser or shopping history. Is this new? For Mozilla, yes, in terms of it being a default setting. Apple’s Safari browser has had this defa [...]

Related Topics: Affiliate Marketing | Affiliate Marketing Column | Channel: Content Marketing

We've all read the sales pages claiming that all we affiliate marketers have to do is churn out some sort of online content each day and we'll get rich. Plus, we can do it in our pajamas for just a few hours a day, leaving us endless free time to enjoy life. Heck, those pages say it's so easy a two-year-old can do it, don't they? So, with that in mind, why do so many claim that affiliate marketing is hard? What makes it so difficult? If we take the over-hyped sales pages out of the equation and bring this back to reality, most of us know that starting any new business requires muc [...]

Related Topics: Affiliate Marketing | Affiliate Marketing Column | Channel: Content Marketing

I was recently asked by an industry colleague about resources they should be making available to their affiliate partners and what affiliates want and need to be more successful. My colleague had seen channel partner and reseller programs with robust portals that included product 1-pagers, sell-sheets, etc., that was made available to approved partners. But, are affiliates looking for the same types of resources when they join an affiliate program? Yes, and here’s why. For affiliates, once they’re approved for a program, there’s a lot of information they need to curate in order to set [...]

Related Topics: Affiliate Marketing | Affiliate Marketing Column | Channel: Content Marketing

Those of us who have been in the affiliate space for a while know that the industry is predicted to grow to $4.5 billion by 2016. Meanwhile, did you know that there continues to be a steady rise in the amount of active bloggers? According to Nielsen data, there are 6.7 million people publishing blogs on blogging websites and another 12 million that are writing blogs using social networks. Given the rise of bloggers and the anticipated growth of the affiliate industry, it stands to reason that more bloggers would get on board. However, it’s not that simple. Monetization Doesn't Mean Givin [...]

Related Topics: Affiliate Marketing | Affiliate Marketing Column | Channel: Content Marketing

I've described myself, and have been described by others, as a "help-a-holic" online. I absolutely love helping people get started and do well with affiliate marketing. While that certainly does help those that I work with, it also helps me. I think it helps keep me sharp and in touch with all those little beginner details and skills that we come to take for granted after we've worked online for a while. However, I am also a "learn-a-holic" -- I am always learning new things, and I choose things to learn outside the affiliate marketing arena. I truly believe this helps me be a better aff [...]

Related Topics: Affiliate Marketing | Affiliate Marketing Column | Channel: Content Marketing

When’s the last time you went shopping around for a new affiliate network? Everyone’s heard of the big networks like Commission Junction, LinkShare, Google Affiliate Network, etc. — but what about the others? Without searching too hard, you can find hundreds of different affiliate networks on the Web with new ones popping up daily. CPA (cost-per-acquisition), CPL (cost-per-lead), CPS (cost-per-sale), CPC (cost-per-click), CPM (cost-per-1k impressions) — it all can become very confusing quite quickly.  At the end of the day, you just want to know: 1.  What affiliate network is [...]

Related Topics: Affiliate Marketing | Affiliate Marketing Column | Channel: Content Marketing

For years, advertisers, publishers and networks in the affiliate industry have been talking about the need to increase transparency to avoid black hat tactics and fraudulent transactions. While talk of transparency can quickly divide a room, let’s be clear about what we mean in the context of the affiliate channel. [caption id="attachment_31064" align="alignright" width="300"] Image via Shutterstock[/caption] Essentially, improving transparency in performance marketing is about protecting each stakeholder’s investment by ensuring visibility into traffic, conversions, commissions, and [...]

Related Topics: Affiliate Marketing | Affiliate Marketing Column | Channel: Content Marketing

I've always loved New Years, but I've never been a big fan of New Year's Resolutions. Kind of a strange combination, don't you think? What can I say; I'm a bit weird. To me, there are 365 days each and every year to make resolutions to change and be better. However, it's come to my attention that my readers and members of my training center have a collective need to "start fresh" from a certain day forward. What better day to start fresh than New Year's Day? To help them start the year off on a good foot (and remind myself of how to be more effective this year), I have put together four [...]

Related Topics: Affiliate Marketing | Affiliate Marketing Column | Channel: Content Marketing

If you’ve researched affiliate management and the factors that contribute to a successful affiliate marketing program, you’ve likely read that the relationship is a key component. Like any relationship, you need to start somewhere. Sometimes, you are starting from scratch; other times, you may have a pre-existing relationship that you can build upon and make better. [caption id="attachment_30008" align="alignright" width="300"] Image via Shutterstock[/caption] If you’re managing your affiliate program in-house and you don’t have much affiliate management experience, you may find [...]

Related Topics: Affiliate Marketing | Affiliate Marketing Column | Channel: Content Marketing