There has been a lot of talk about the state taxes that are impacting the industry, but this issue is tough to track, since everybody seems to call it something different.

I’ve been calling it the advertising tax for quite a while, as have a number of others. Then there is the affiliate tax, the Amazon tax (popular in the media), and the Internet retail tax.

And it’s 1, 2, 3… what are we fighting for?

Seriously, if we are going to have a coordinated effort against these taxes moving forward, we should agree on a name.

Post from: Affiliate Marketing Blog by Shawn Collins

Wait, what is this advertising, affiliate, Amazon, Internet retail tax?

These materials were created for attendees of the Tax Talk & Crab Feast, co-sponsored by Affiliate Summit and buy.at, but they can be applied by any affiliate marketers that didn’t make it out.

• General information and resources
• Maryland information and resources
• Sample letter to a State Senator or Delegate
• Tips for meeting with your State Legislators
• Talking points when meeting your State Legislators

And for more information on the advertising tax, take a look at the presentation Missy Ward and I put together for the Tax Talk & Crab Feast.

Thanks to buy.at for their help educating the industry.

Post from: Affiliate Marketing Blog by Shawn Collins

Take Action Against the Advertising Tax

I’ve been giving my new running shoes a good workout. As I mentioned in a recent affiliate fatblogging post, I am working towards running in my first 5k.

I am running several times a week and gradually increasing the length of my runs to build stamina.

Based on what I’ve been reading online, you should usually train about 12 weeks from not running at all to a 5k, but I’ve been trying to do it in about 3 weeks.

This has been a bit of a punishing process, since I am out of shape and don’t have the stamina. But now I’m up to 2.5 miles per run, which I did yesterday and today.

When I ran today, I thought I was going to collapse with the heat, cramps, etc., but I couldn’t stop.

Anyhow, I discovered a cool thing with my Nike + iPod Sport Kit where every time I sync up my iPod Touch, the information from my latest run is automatically being sent to nikeplus.com.

That was already happening, but a new feature on the Beta of their site enables me to have this information posted automatically to my Twitter and/or Facebook accounts.

Currently, I am not quite a trailblazer, as I clock in at around a 10 minute mile, but I’m just trying to make it through the run right now.

This coming Sunday, July 12 is my big race. In the coming days, I need to push up to 3 miles to make it through the 5k.

One downside of accelerating my running has been that my legs are hurting. I went straight from my running trail to my gym today and hopped into the pool to swim a little and then spent a while in the hot tub soothing my achy, old legs.

That might have to be my new ritual, because I felt totally rejuvenated after soaking a while. Well, that and some Advil.

Starting weight: 225
Last week: 218
This week: 218

Post from: Affiliate Marketing Blog by Shawn Collins

Affiliate Fatblogging: My Running Progress on Twitter

The ebook is a quick read with good ideas on how you can build a brand with the right domain name.

Take a look, brainstorm, and grab some new domains.

Get The $7.95 Marketing Plan at http://www.795marketingplan.com/.

Post from: Affiliate Marketing Blog by Shawn Collins

The $7.95 Marketing Plan

The Tax Talk & Crab Feast, hosted by Affiliate Summit and buy.at, is taking place this Thursday, July 9 in Baltimore, MD at the buy.at office (1020 Hull Street, Ivory Building, Baltimore, MD 21230), and the event will kick off with a brief presentation from Missy Ward and myself on the advertising tax.

We plan to videotape the presentation, as well as a demo of the buy.at interface, so keep an eye out for a post with these videos.

The presentation can be viewed and downloaded at http://www.slideshare.net/affsum/advertising-tax-primer.

Post from: Affiliate Marketing Blog by Shawn Collins

Advertising Tax Presentation in Baltimore

This week on the Affiliate Thing podcast, Shawn Collins and Lisa Picarille talked about the age old question of whether to go with the family on a vacation to Spain or get a new laptop and set it up, as well as the latest on the advertising tax and Governor Schwarzenegger vetoing the advertising tax in California.

Also, Lisa takes on TechCrunch, user names for Facebook fan pages, authorize.net goes down on the Friday before the 4th of July, and problem solvers at Affiliate Summit.

Plus, Twitter accounts are suspended, Jim Kukral is putting out a free ebook, and Sucharita Mulpuru (@smulpuru) of Forrester Research estimates 10 percent of Amazon’s sales may come from affiliates, but how did she arrive at that figure?

Show Links

• New Dell Laptop pr0n
• Last Call for the Tax Talk & Crab Feast in Baltimore
• Amazon shuts Web associates as sales taxes loom
• Governor Schwarzenegger Terminates Advertising Tax in California
• Affiliate Summit on Facebook
• Lisa vs. TechCrunch on Twitter
• Authorize.net on Fire
• Influx of Twitter Account Suspensions Creating Confusion
• The $7.95 Marketing Plan by Jim Kukral
• Meet the Problem Solvers at Affiliate Summit East 2009

Subscribe to the Affiliate Thing RSS feed or listen on iTunes. You can also send a blank e-mail to affiliatething@aweber.com to get each podcast delivered by e-mail.

Post from: Affiliate Marketing Blog by Shawn Collins

Vacation in Spain or a New Laptop

This week on the Brandmouthing podcast, I talk about a double branding faux pas of a contractor in my neighborhood.

Not only do they plant these ugly signs in yards when they’re doing work at a house (and leave them behind when they’re done), but they are marketing their business with a lousy sign that says nothing but information overload.

If you are not sure whether your marketing message is clear, Keep It Simple, Stupid!

And get permission for your marketing, because you’re tarnishing your brand when you add your blight to my neighborhood and don’t have the courtesy to ask.

Show Notes

• KISS principle

Check out http://brandmouthing.com/ for a collection of all future episodes of Brandmouthing, as well as images, videos, etc. that I mention on the podcast. Subscribe to the Brandmouthing RSS feed.

Post from: Affiliate Marketing Blog by Shawn Collins

Yard Signs and the KISS Principle

I settled on a Dell Studio XPS 13 and just unboxed it.

Here are some specs…

• Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo P9600 (6MB cache/2.66GHz/1066Mhz FSB)
• Memory: 6GB DDR3 SDRAM at 1067MHz (2 Dimms)
• LCD and Camera: Edge-to-Edge 13.3″ HD WXGA Slim WLED LCD in Obsidian Black w/1.3 MP Webcam
• Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 9500M – 256MB
• Hard Drive: 256GB Solid State Drive
• Internal Optical Drive: Slot Load DVD+/-RW (DVD/CD read/write)
• Sound Card: High Definition Audio 2.0
• Wireless Networking Cards: Dell Wireless 1510 802.11n Half Mini-Card
• Primary Battery: 56 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery

It’s a pretty, sleek machine in “Obsidian Black with Leather Accent” – I wish I could say it were Corinthian leather. But I didn’t get it for the looks – I love the guts of this thing.

I can’t wait to switch over to this for my full-time laptop and video editing machine. Good night, Vostro.

Post from: Affiliate Marketing Blog by Shawn Collins

New Dell Laptop pr0n

Q: I am the marketing manager for a software company and I am exploring ways affiliate marketing can help our business. I wondered if you could point me in the direction to see if affiliate marketing would be right for us?

A: I guess the easiest thing would be to take a look at your competitors and see if they have affiliate programs.

If so, dig around at the nuts and bolts of how they’re operating… the affiliate networks or software they’re using, the commission rate they’re paying out, type of affiliate program (revenue share, cpc, per lead), EPC, etc.

The ideal approach would be to create a real affiliate site yourself and apply to the affiliate programs of your competitors.

By doing this you can get an insider view on how they are running the affiliate program. Run the offers and get a sense for their conversion rates, review all of their correspondance, and creative, as well as checking out any public stats available to affiliates for the performance of links.

Also, try asking some questions as an affiliate to see how responsive they are to you.

I’d say it’s a positive indicator for that company if they have a dedicated person or team that gets back to you quick.

If your competitors have well staffed, thriving affiliate programs, it is a sign that you ought to launch one yourself.

Post from: Affiliate Marketing Blog by Shawn Collins

Will an Affiliate Program Work for My Business?

This new booth hybrid of speaking and networking will be called “Problem Solvers” and there is a schedule of 60 minute slots during the time the exhibit hall is open on the Monday and Tuesday of the conference.

The “Problem Solvers” booth at Affiliate Summit is going to be a spot where you’ll be able to get your burning questions answered by experts in various areas.

Take a minute to review the slots below and pencil in the experts you want to meet during Affiliate Summit. Then swing by booth #2118 during their scheduled times and get the advice you need.

And if you like what they have to say, leave them a tip in their tip jar. The money that is raised at their booth will be donated to Big Brothers Big Sisters of New York City, the official charity of Affiliate Summit East 2009.

Monday, August 10th

10:00am-11:00am: Mason Fok, Local.net
Expertise: eBusiness Strategy, Domain Names, Basic Website Review

11:00am-12:00pm: Andy Rodriguez, Andy Rodriguez Consulting
Expertise: Affiliate Program Management

12:00pm-1:00pm: Mike Peters, Software Projects, Inc.
Expertise: Email Marketing, PPC Management, Software Development, Product Launches

1:00pm-2:00pm: Patrick Grady, RhinoFish Media
Expertise: Pay-Per-Click Advertising

2:00pm-3:00pm: Leland Kroll, Kroll Direct Marketing
Expertise: Direct Marketing, List Management

3:00pm-4:00pm: Jim Kukral, TheBizWebCoach.com
Expertise: Online Marketing, Making Money Online

4:00pm-5:00pm: Theresa Farmer, UnsubCentral
Expertise: Email Compliance

5:00pm-6:00pm: Jonathan Miller, Forge Media
Expertise: Affiliate Network Selection, Multi-Network Integration, Network Fraud & Analytics

Tuesday, August, 11th

11:00am-12:00pm: Lisa Picarille, LisaPicarille.com
Expertise: Dealing with Media and Getting Journalist’s Attention

12:00pm-1:00pm: Brian Littleton, ShareASale
Expertise: Business Startup, General Business Advice, Affiliate Network Issues, Program Development

1:00pm-2:00pm: James O’Brian, LashBack
Expertise: Global Email Compliance, Email Reputation

2:00pm-3:00pm: Michael Buechele, MikeBuechele.com
Expertise: Affiliate Marketing, Online Advertising, Ad Serving

3:00pm-4:00pm: Tom Cohn, Venable LLP
Expertise: Compliance and Enforcement Issues Facing Affiliate Marketers Including FTC/State AG priorities

Thank you to all the experts who have volunteered their time to staff the Problem Solver Booth. Check the Affiliate Summit East 2009 agenda for other sessions and networking activities.

Post from: Affiliate Marketing Blog by Shawn Collins

Meet the Problem Solvers at Affiliate Summit East 2009