2010-01-30

Advertising Tax Goes Beyond New York State

Advertising tax law first became widespread news when New York state passed such legislation.

Basically, if a merchant (who is located outside of New York state) has at least one affiliate in New York state then New York state can charge the merchant for sales tax of all sales in New York state.

To avoid such tax by New York state, some merchants no longer accept affiliates located in New York state. One such merchant is Amazon.com, which terminated the affiliate accounts of its affiliates located in New York state. The New York Post has dubbed the advertising tax the "Amazon Tax".

Several states have already passed advertising tax law:
  • New York
  • North Carolina
  • Rhode Island
And several other states are proposing legislation that could require certain advertisers to charge sales tax on Internet retail sales or tax via other means.

For more information about advertising tax and its current status in your state, check out these resources ... And these blog posts provide more details about the advertising tax ...
Note: The above information is not tax or legal advice, and it is provided as a courtesy for your convenience.

Scheduled Tweets

Twuffer.com is a free service that enables you to enter future tweets, also known as scheduled tweets and timed tweets.

You type in your tweet text and select a date and time that you want your tweet to be posted to your Twitter.com account.

You can enter as many scheduled tweets as you want. Twuffer.com will post them at the appointed date and time.

Some uses for scheduled tweets include:
  • pre-written announcements
  • event/conference reminders
  • reminder to tune into weekly podcast
  • daily tips
The advantage of a scheduled tweet service is that you can enter all your scheduled tweets in days, weeks, or even in months in advance.

You login to twuffer.com using your twitter.com username/password. There's no separate twuffer.com login to setup and remember. If you have several twitter accounts, no problem -- just login to twuffer.com using the username/password of the twitter account that you want to use.

Once logged into twuffer.com, there's a "Type your tweet" box where you type your tweet (has the typical "140 character" countdown), and also a "When to tweet" popup calendar and time dropdown menu to set the date/time of your new scheduled tweet.

Below the tweet entry area, there are four tabs:
  • Dashboard tab: Shows how many tweets you've entered, how many are queued, how many have been sent, the next tweet to go out, and the previous tweet that went out.

  • Queued tweets: List of scheduled tweets. Each row shows the text to be sent, date/time when to be sent, and an X to delete the tweet.

  • Sent tweets: List of sent tweets. Each row shows the text sent, date/time when was sent, and an X to delete the tweet from the log (to delete actual tweets from twitter.com you have to go to twitter.com itself).

  • Settings: Settings for timezone and date/time display formats.
I do use twuffer.com myself. One of my sites is about romance. On its corresponding twitter account, @moreromance, I tweet daily love quotes. Well, I don't actually spend time on it each day sending out a tweet, it just appears that way. I spent one day entering 6 month's worth of daily love quotes; now twuffer.com takes care of posting a tweet each day. I sit back and forget about it.

Besides twuffer.com, several other scheduled tweet services are available, such as FutureTweets.com. For others, search for "timed tweets" or "scheduled tweets" or "future tweets". Personally, I found twuffer.com to be the one with the simplest user interface and the easiest service to use.

Check it out... Twuffer.com

2010-01-28

cj.com EPC Explained

What is EPC?

EPC is an acronym for "Earnings Per Click".

But it's not quite as simple as that. Commission Junction (cj.com) defines the C to mean 100 clicks ("C" is latin for one hundred).

So EPC is "Earnings per 100 Clicks".

3-Month EPC and 7-Day EPC

On Commission Junction reports you will see "3-month EPC" and "7-day EPC". Commission Junction defines these two EPC's as follows:

  • 3-month EPC: The 3-month EPC (earnings per 100 clicks) indicates how well an advertiser converts Web site visitors into commissions, over a three-month period.

  • 7-day EPC: The 7-day EPC (earnings per 100 clicks) is the average commissions paid to publishers for every 100 clicks, over the past seven days.
EPC Importance

EPC is important because it gives you an idea of how well an affiliate program is doing.

Keep in mind that the reported EPC is an average EPC of all the affiliates promoting the merchant. The EPC for each affiliate can vary greatly depending upon what marketing efforts (promotion, presell, etc.) each affiliate is doing. Depending upon your own marketing efforts, you may make more or less than the reported EPC.

Example EPC Calculation

As an example of calculating EPC, suppose you earned $53 after sending a merchant 2700 clicks last month.

So, divide $53 by 2700 clicks:
$53 / 2700 clicks = $0.0196 per click
So you earned just under 2 cents for each click.

Now multiply by 100 to get "per 100 clicks":
$1.96 per 100 clicks

That means that for every 100 clicks you sent to the merchant, you earned $1.96. So, if you send that merchant another 100 clicks, you will probably make another $1.96 from that merchant (assuming all other things being equal). Of course, past EPC is not a guarantee of future EPC.

Personally, I like to think in terms of "1000 clicks" rather than "100 clicks". So I mentally multiply the reported EPC by 10 (just shift the decimal point one place to the right) to get "earnings per 1000 clicks". So in the above example ($1.96 EPC), $19.60 was earned per 1000 clicks.

Comparing Merchants

If you are trying to decide between two similar merchants which one to signup with, compare the merchants' "3-Month EPC" and "7-Day EPC". If they offer the same products, you may want to go with the merchant with the higher EPC.

Personally, I give more weight to the "3-Month EPC" since it is a longer timeframe than the "7-Day EPC" and is more stable.

Keep an Eye On Your EPC

If you see your EPC for a merchant suddenly drop, the merchant probably changed something on the landing page at their site. If that happens, you might want to consider investigating further or even switching to a different merchant with a higher EPC.

2010-01-26

Redirect domain.com to www.domain.com

On some websites, a user can access domain.com or www.domain.com -- notice the www. prefix.

The problem is that some search engines may see http://domain.com and http://www.domain.com as separate and consider the content to be duplicate content.

Also, some webmasters prefer users to access the host qualified domain (www.domain.com) rather than just the simple domain (domain.com)

By adding two lines to your website's .htaccess file, you can automatically redirect the user from domain.com to www.domain.com. This redirection works for all files, not just the homepage.

In your root .htaccess file, above all other RewriteRule and RewriteCond statements, add lines like these:

#--- ensure www domain prefix ---
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^domain\.com$ [NC]
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://www.domain.com/$1 [R=301,L]

Replace domain with your domain. In the RewriteCond, the \ (before the . of .com) is required otherwise the dot would match any character.

So what do these two lines do?

The RewriteCond (a rewrite condition) tests the HTTP_HOST (what domain is being accessed) and compares it to domain.com. If that condition is met, then the next statement is evaluated. If that condition is not met, then the RewriteRule is skipped.

The RewriteRule takes whatever path is being accessed and redirects to that path at the full domain. For example, /something.html would be redirected to http://www.domain.com/something.html

Note: If you have no root .htaccess or it has no RewriteRule statements, then somewhere above the preceding RewriteCond/RewriteRule statements, you also need these two statements to ensure that the Rewrite engine is enabled:

#--- enable Rewrite engine ---
RewriteEngine on
RewriteBase /

So, if you are using one of our DySE scripts, such as DySE::StubHub, then your .htaccess file might look something like this:

#--- enable Rewrite engine ---
RewriteEngine on
RewriteBase /

#--- ensure www domain prefix ---
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^domain\.com$ [NC]
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://www.domain.com/$1 [R=301,L]

#--- DySE::StubHub at root / ---
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -d
RewriteRule ^.+$ - [L]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ cgi-bin/dyse/view.pl?merch=stubhub&dir=&path=$1 [L]

The order of these three blocks of statements is important. You want the test of the domain name to be done before all other RewriteCond/RewriteRule statements.

Bulletin 2010-01-26

In this issue:

1. Add Links over YouTube Videos
2. DySE::CFB (CrazyforBargains.com) v10.01.25 -- Update
3. c3scripts Blog

1. Add Links over YouTube Videos

Adding your affiliate links or comments over YouTube videos is now possible. Two new free services, LinkedTube.com and BubblePLY.com, make this process very easy. Basically you enter the YouTube video ID/URL, and your link URL and link title. You then paste the provided HTML code fragement into your webpage just like you would when embedding an uncommented YouTube video into your webpage.

Read full details at ...
Add Links over YouTube Videos

2. DySE::CFB (CrazyforBargains.com) v10.01.25 -- Update

This update is strongly recommended. It uses a more up-to-date version of the datafeed file and provides better product categorization.

Upgrade instructions:

1) Download .zip file: http://www.c3scripts.com/cfb/release
2) Unzip .zip file
3) Upload make.pl to cgi-bin/dyse/cfb/make.pl
4) Upload make2.pl to cgi-bin/dyse/cfb/make2.pl
5) Run make.pl at /cgi-bin/dyse/cfb/make.pl

About DySE::CFB ...

DySE::CFB displays sleepwear products (Pajamas and Sleepwear, boxer shorts, slippers) from CrazyforBargains.com (1400+ products, 12% commission, 365 day cookie, ShareaSale.com). The DySE::CFB script is available free to our sub-affiliates.

Get DySE::CFB at:
http://www.c3scripts.com/cfb/

See our sample store at:
http://www.biggeneralstore.com/sleepwear/

3. c3scripts Blog

Follow us on our new blog at:
http://c3scripts.blogspot.com/

We plan on posting script announcements, affiliate marketing tips, useful software links and resources.

2010-01-25

Add Links over YouTube Videos

Add Links over YouTube Videos using two new services:
LinkedTube.com and BubblePly.com

These video commenting services use Flash widgets (Flash movies) to display the original YouTube video with an independent overlay layer that contains your comments and/or links.

These services do not interfere with the video, edit, manipulate, modify, or copy it. The original video is streamed from YouTube while the overlay layer is provided by the video commenting service.

As an affiliate marketer, why would you use such services? So you can add your affiliate links as overlays. For example, you might promote the Super Affiliate Handbook by Rosalind Gardner and you could add your ClickBank affiliate link as an overlay -- Rosalind herself even suggests you do this with her video! See Rosalind's Affiliate Marketing Simplified video and my blog posting Affiliate Marketing Simplified showing that video with a LinkedTube overlay.

LinkedTube.com lets you add one linked button that appears in the upper-right corner for the entire duration of the video. The button can link to only one URL and can be configured to always be visible or only appear upon hover. Here's a LinkedTube.com tutorial ...

<a href="http://www.linkedtube.com/Zgxp4IG06wM05aa506426453ef188489b28d8071c8e.htm">LinkedTube</a>

BubblePly.com is more advanced. It lets you add multiple transparent overlays and each can have its own location/size and start/stop times. Thus if the video mentions a website at 10 seconds into the video and another at 35 seconds into the video, you could add two different linked overlays. See the BubblePLY.com tutorial.

BubblePLY.com offers the most features and flexibility while LinkedTube.com overs the basics. Both services are useful and free. Check them out.

2010-01-24

Affiliate Marketing Simplified

"Affiliate Marketing Simplified" video by Rosalind Gardner, author of the Super Affiliate Handbook.

<a href="http://www.linkedtube.com/LMqfuMq5UrM5eb97132b25a534500e904e7fcf3dc7d.htm">LinkedTube</a>

In her video, Rosalind explains and reveals ...If you're starting out with affiliate marketing, there's a lot to learn. A very good place to start is Rosalind Gardner's eBook...

Super-Affiliate Handbook

Rosalind shares her expert guidance. Topics include: Blogging, Market Research, Affiliate Programs, Web Design, and Problem Avoidance.

I've read her eBook and it's the only one about affiliate marketing that I recommend. Check it out.

2010-01-22

Perpetual Payout Offers Get You Paid Forever

"Perpetual Payouts", or "Recurring Commissions", is one of the little known secrets to success in affiliate marketing.

Affiliate marketing expert Jeff Johnson discusses how you can benefit from perpetual payouts in his very informative 10-minute video:

Perpetual Payout Offers Get You Paid Forever

Jeff tells you what Perpetual Payouts offers are, why they're important, and how to find them.

Instead of promoting a product and getting paid once, promote products or services that pay you on a recurring basis.

ClickBank.com contains many products and services that pay recurring commissions. To easily find those offers, go to CBEngine.com and click on "Recurring $" in the left sidebar.

2010-01-18

Email Newsletters and Autoresponders

Email newsletters and autoresponders boost your website's traffic, turn passive visitors into active subscribers, and convert more sales.

"You have to build [an email] list... that's how we all start." -- Jeff Johnson, affiliate marketing expert.

AWeber.com makes it easy to create email newsletters and email follow-up autoresponders.

Newsletters: Create visually stunning, engaging email newsletters. Choose from over 103 HTML templates, paste in your own HTML or use the built-in message editor.

Autoresponders: Build lasting relationships with prospects using an automated sequence of personalized autoresponder emails. For example, write a 10-week email course and schedule an email to go out every week -- set it up once and forget about it! Some merchants even supply you with pre-written email courses that you can send out -- you just select the merchant and the course is imported into your account for sending out.

Statistics: Track who opens and clicks on your links with accurate, easy-to-read reports that show you what works and what doesn't. Know who opened what email, who clicked on what link, and much more.

Subscriptions: Double opt-in subscription process ensures subscribers are really interested. Unreachable subscribers automatically deleted. Management of subscriptions and email delivery is all automatic.

Multi-Lists: Have as many email newsletters and autoresponder campaigns as you want. Great if you have many websites and want a different newsletter for each website.

Affordable: The price levels of the service are based on the total number of subscribers that you have (i.e.: 0-500, 501-2500, 2501-5000, ...). It's easy to keep the cost down by periodically reviewing the email statistics and removing inactive subscribers.

AWeber.com has everything you would want or need in an email newsletter and autoresponder service.

Check it out... AWeber.com

Associate Engine: Amazon Script

Amazon.com products can be quickly and easily added to your website using our Associate Engine software script, an "Amazon script".

Associate Engine supports:
  • Category "drill-down" browsing.
  • Keyword search.
  • ASIN/UPC search.
  • Actor/Director/Author/Artist search.
  • Listmania/similarity search.
Customizable templates to match your existing website page design.

Product result details are customizable and include:
  • Product's title
  • Product's price
  • Product's image (thumbnail/small/medium/large)
  • Product's description
  • Product's features
  • Product's authors/directors/actors
  • Customer reviews
  • Similar products
Can embed products directly in your webpages via SSI (Server-Side-Include) statements or JavaScript <script> tags.

Supports search engine friendly URL's (/shop/parameter/.../) as well as cgi-bin URL's (/cgi-bin/ae.pl?parameter&...).

Latest product data shown by using Amazon.com Product Advertising API (formerly AWS and ECS) to retrieve XML product data. XML data cached on your server to speed repeat requests.

Associate Engine works with Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk

Requires cgi-bin perl support on your Linux web server.

Multi-site license included that permits you to run Associate Engine on all your websites. Each license supports up to 10 of your Amazon associate/tracking ID's.

Amazon associates have been using Associate Engine since 2001.

Check it out: Associate Engine

2010-01-17

Affiliate Marketing Tools

Quickly and easily promote products from:

* Amazon.com / Amazon.co.uk
* AllPosters.com
* BettyMills.com
* Calendars.com
* Rockler.com
* StubHub.com
* and 150+ other merchants

Visit c3scripts.com to find out more about our affiliate marketing tools.

Our cgi-bin perl scripts convert each merchant's datafeed file (or XML feed or SQL feed) into virtual HTML webpages.

Create stand-alone websites or integrate products into your existing website.