All GTO Blog Posts

Today on the podcast, I was joined by guest host Ian Larsen of IanLarsen.com to chat with Gary Marcoccia of the AvantLink affiliate network.

Here at GTO we’ve recently launched the C28.com affiliate program on AvantLink and we’ve been really impressed with the tools that they provide to both affiliates and merchants. Gary and Ian and I chatted on the history of AvantLink - as they have roots as both affiliates and affiliate managers, which I think contributes the the practicality of the AvantLink tool and some of the cool datafeed handling tools that AvantLink offers.

We talked in detail about a few features in particular, the Affiliate Link Encoder (ALE) which allows bloggers, webmasters and forum operators to put affiliate tracking in place for any AvantLink merchant without having to actually login to the affiliate UI or so any special coding. Once the ALE javascript is in place, the affiliate tracking is put in place on the broswer side of the equation. Gary told a great story of an affiliate who operated an Outdoor Sports focused online forum. Using the ALE script, he was able to place affiliate tracking on many of the links that both he and his forum members placed over several years of content… all with a quick copy and paste. Talk about easy money. This feature is the blogger or review affiliates dream.

We also chatted about AvantLink and their on-board support of video creative and some of the cool things that they do with RSS syndication and tying affiliates to referrals from feeds that they host from merchants. This is really cool stuff - effectively, AvantLink has provided affiliates with a "long tail" creative.

In addition to some of the big tools that AvantLink provides, they have also put some little things into the mix that are pretty cool. For instance - as a merchant, you can subscribe to RSS feeds that give you transaction info and affiliate application information. They also provide FireFox and Thunderbird extensions that scroll program stats at the bottom of your screen so you are never out of touch with your affiliate program data.

Ian chimed in with his experience as an affiliate and applauded the flexibility of the AvantLink datafeed tools and the accessibility of support and development to get what you need as an affiliate. Gary applauded the affiliates out there for driving innovation.

We had a great time chatting and I look forward to speaking with Gary again. If you are a retail merchant with a product catalog and you are looking for a really powerful, but reasonable priced affiliate network with some awesome tools included - check out AvantLink.

Enjoy the podcast!

I just came across a cool tidbit of information for you affiliates out there on Jason Forthofer’s Blog that I wanted to pass on. 

My friend Fraser Edwards at  AffiliateBlog.co.uk built a Firefox Extension that allows CJ publishers to have access to CJ account balance info from their desktop without the constant logging in and out.   It’s pretty slick with an easy installation process.   To plug it in, here’s all you need to do: 

1. Visit Fraser’s Blog and download and install the extension file
   
2. Click the install link a second time - you will be prompted for your CJ login details.
3. Plug in your CJ login info

Within a few minutes, you will see an item on the bottom of your browser window that will display your CJ account balance that is updated every 30 minutes.

It’s a fun and useful plug for affiliates. 

This one is dedicated to all those merchants out there who are interested in launching an affiliate program and are curious about what to expect.  I hope that it gets read extensively because it will spare both the merchants and their managers or outsourced managers some serious stress.

Affiliate Marketing for retail merchants is a MARATHON and NOT a SPRINT.

What does this mean?

It means that merchants who are launching an affiliate initiative need to be prepared for some expenses that will need to be looked at as "sunk costs" that won’t be recovered immediately.  Why is this?   Launching and building out an affiliate program is a ton of work.  In many ways (especially at the launch of a new program) it’s really manual and tedious work composed of prospecting using a variety of tools to determine what sites have Google ranking for client keywords, what sites are complimentary to the merchant site, which sites are promoting the competitors, and which are promoting competitive programs.

Once the target affiliates are identified, information needs to be gathered (super tedious and labor intensive) and contacts need to be made by a variety of possible methods.   The affiliate program’s benefits have to be "sold" to the affiliates to get them to join, then the affiliates need to be gently prodded to activate the merchant’s links quickly (as quickly as possible) and they need to be merchandised and followed with to make sure they have  what they need.  Applications need to be vetted and approved or declined.  It all takes time.  The process needs to be repeated time and time again until critical mass of affiliates with sufficient traffic are linking to the merchant with effective links.  It’s a PROCESS  

How long should you expect to wait until your program is profitable?   That varies based on a couple of factors - Is the merchant well branded?  How much are they spending on management and infrastructure?  Is the space they play in competitive?  Is the merchant’s product seasonal and in demand? 

As a rule, we tell prospective clients that it takes 6-12 months to get an affiliate program up to critical mass.  

Should the merchant be able to see trends pointing towards profitability at 4-5 months post launch?   Yes (see above) 

Do some programs connect right off and get profitable in month 1?   Not very often in retail.

The long and short of it is this.  If your business needs and financial situation require that you have instant traffic and sales, you should dedicate your resources to paid search and look for someone who does it well and doesn’t charge based on channel spend, but on a flat rate + commission on sales or a flat rate. 

If you would like to add a sales channel that can provide consistent results and can magnify your industry trends by providing well targeted traffic and increased branding through the display of banners and product links across a large network of sites- affiliate marketing is a great fit for you.   But you have to be prepared to give the affiliate channel some time to grow. 

Will this lead to some tense moments?  Definitely.

Will your CFO or accountant occassionally find themselves cursing you and your decision?  Probably.

The companies who are leading in affiliate marketing in your space all took this leap at some point and faced the same concerns.  They stuck it out and now here they are.  Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither was the affiliate program at Amazon, Overstock, REI, Office Depot, or your favorite competitor.

Hire good people, structure an attractive program and dig in for the long haul and you will reap the rewards.  

Happy Selling!

Wade Tonkin 

We have been doing a lot of thinking and research on the topic of the New York decision to hold non - New York based merchants who have affiliates doing business in New York accountable for collecting state sales tax.   We’ve been speaking with lawyers, other affiliate managers, industry colleages, our clients and each other on this.

We don’t by any means claim to know all the answers in this - no one does until the Amazon and Overstock lawsuits are decided or settled with clarification of the law.  We encourage all of our clients to meet with counsel with understanding of the New York law and it’s details to make the decision that is best for them.

If the client has no objections, we’re recommending that our clients incorporate language suggested by Deb Carney  on ABestWeb to add this language or something similar to their affiliate agreements:

If Affiliate is based in New York State or has office(s) located within
New York State, Merchant will only allow Affiliate to promote Merchant
brand(s) and/or web site(s) via Affiliate’s web site. Affiliate may not
promote Merchant through any other marketing channel, that targets NYS
residents, including, but not limited to: paid search marketing, e-mail
marketing, offline marketing, (including flyers and physical
newsletters), lead generation, mobile marketing or telemarketing.

New York State affiliates CAN use these methods to market their *own
website*, as long as the ad copy, email, etc does NOT mention the
Merchant directly.

We feel that the affiliates from the State of New York really are pawns in this game and we stand by them and their right to earn a living through affiliate marketing.  Unfortunately, this language may put a crimp in some of their efforts for a time, but we’d rather change the way that we work together a bit than have to lose them altogether.   We’re adding this language to the Agreement’s of our clients C28 and Geoff and Drew’s Cookies, as well as any other retail merchants we work with until this issue is clarified.

Happy Selling!

Wade Tonkin

Karen and I had the chance to chat with Brian Littleton of Shareasale on a few topics. Most importantly, we spent some time chatting about the New York Affiliate Tax issues.

Some of the main points:

• Sales totals from New York Affiliates that require merchants to report and pay tax
• Fact that orders need to be shipped to New York addresses to qualify and the challenge this present to affiliate networks
• Some of the steps that Shareasale has taken to familitate merchant compliance without compromising affiliate privacy
• Some good advice from Brian on where to get guidance on this. Merchants should consult with their accountant and someone familiar with New York law if New York affiliates are a substantial piece of the their mix or may be in the future to come up with a sound policy
• We reviewed some of the actions that we’ve been seeing merchants take due to the law including Overstock and Amazon filing suit.
• Affiliate shock on receiving action notices from merchants making compliance decisions.

We also chatted a bit on what is happening at Shareasale (technical innovation) and chatted about Brian’s tendancy to end up at a piano at industry events and availability of piano bars near the Affiliate Summit hotel.

Enjoy!