In November 2007, I posted a series of articles sharing my most common advice given to advertisers (merchants) who had hired me to advise them on the design and launch of their affiliate programs. Below are links to the whole series in proper chronological order. Read more »
As a web publisher, most of my time is spent developing and maintaining “niche” web sites focused on specific audiences, communities, and product categories. “Relevant and Useful” is my web publishing philosophy. (Updated July 22, 2010) Read more »
It now appears almost certain that North Carolina will become the third state (after New York and Rhode Island) to enact a blatantly unconstitutional “Advertising-Nexus” law, attempting to force out-of-state merchants to collect sales tax if they pay in-state web publishers for advertising. Although Amazon responded to New York’s secret, retroactive enactment of the law in 2008 by collecting sales taxes from New York residents, the laws are having perverse effects in Rhode Island and North Carolina. Read more »
Okay, I’m going to leap out on a ledge and suggest something that none of us (in the “affiliate marketing” community) like: Merchants should seriously consider adopting the “New York Solution” for all of their web publishers, whether located in an “Advertising-Nexus” state or not. Read more »
California is considering a bill which would effectively terminate advertising by out-of-state merchants on web publications owned by Californians. Read more »
What should we (web publishers, merchants, and others in the affiliate-marketing industry) call the unconstitutional law which NY enacted (and which RI, NC, HI, CA, TN, CT, and MN are considering)? Read more »
This is a “work-in-progress” checklist that I created in December 2007, but never finished.It is essentially a list of “issues” to consider when evaluating a merchant’s web site. Read more »
Most merchants find it useful to divide prospective and current affiliates into major categories, which usually have different performance characteristics and concerns. Read more »
Here is a typical outline of issues that a merchant (advertiser) should consider when explaining to prospective affiliates (publishers) why they should consider participating in the merchant’s “performance-based advertising” program (affiliate program). Read more »