Have you budgeted for a robust and profitable affiliate program? According to a recent survey by Forrester Research – Affiliate Marketing, Search Marketing (SEM), and Organic Traffic are the top acquisition sources for web retailers. Affiliate marketing is a very cost effective source for acquiring online customers. Forester reports that 91% IR Top 500 retailers have an affiliate program on at least one of the top affiliate networks, which Forrester identifies as Commission Junction, LinkShare, Google Affiliate Network.

What Forrester fails to mention is that a well managed affiliate program can boost natural search rankings and shift the risk of Search Marketing from the merchant to affiliates that are SEM experts. Forrester’s numbers only reflect the current state of the industry. Sadly, most merchants have sub-par affiliate programs that dramatically under-perform. From MGECOM’s vantage point, it is clear that as SEM continues to increase in cost, the pay for performance model of affiliate marketing is looking more attractive and proving more effective for a growing number of merchants.

The answer depends on a number of factors. An Affiliate Marketing program is likely to be successful if these key conditions can be met:

MGECOM bucks the “slow November” trend and wins many new affiliate program management clients.

In the Outsourced Affiliate Program Management industry, November is traditionally a very slow month for new client signings. Specialist agency MGECOM leveraged industry leading technology and a track record of success to acquire a record number of new clients in November.

Jeff Cress, VP of Business Development & Marketing at MGECOM attributes this success to a combination of factors. “MGECOM is fantastic at making merchant’s affiliate programs more profitable. However, historically, we have been rather reserved about publicizing our successes. In 2011 we have more openly communicated the value that MGECOM provides our clients and are seeing a spike in demand for our premium affiliate program management services among top tier merchants. Additionally, many of our clients have referred other merchants to MGECOM”, says Cress.

Some of the brands that signed in November with MGECOM to outsource their affiliate advertising program management include:

French Toast – America’s leading brand of school uniform providing families with quality school uniforms at great prices. The French Toast affiliate program is managed by MGECOM on the LinkShare network.

Andy’s Auto Sport – A world class auto parts retailer. Widely acclaimed as a leader in the industry. The Andy’s Auto Sport affiliate programs are managed by MGECOM on Commission Junction and Google Affiliate Network.

Primal Muscle – Hardcore supplements for hardcore weightlifters who have hardcore goals. The Primal Muscle affiliate program is managed by MGECOM on the ShareASale network.

Vitamin Jungle – The best and friendliest source on earth for all your fitness needs! The Vitamin Jungle affiliate program will be launched by MGECOM on a major affiliate network soon.

Anytime Scarf – Scarves from all over the world, some handwoven, some knitted, some sewn with love in the USA! The Anytime Scarf affiliate program is managed by MGECOM on the ShareASale network.

OTC Only – Over-The-Counter drugs delivered to your door at a fraction of the cost seen on drugstore shelves. MGECOM will launch the OTConly.com affiliate program on Commission Junction soon.

Reship.com – International package delivery no matter where you live or what site you order from online! MGECOM will launch the Reship.com affiliate program on Commission Junction soon.

Mike Bump, MGECOM’s Director of Business Development, says of the new signings “”Earning the opportunity to partner with quality brands like these is proof positive that MGECOM is a trusted affiliate management expert firm. We are honored that our merchant clients and affiliates alike, put their confidence in MGECOM to help them perform at the highest level!”

Who is MGECOM?
MGECOM, Inc., based in Cary, NC, is the leading Agency for Outsourced Affiliate Marketing Program Management & Affiliate Advertising Services. Specializing in affiliate program growth, affiliate recruiting, fraud prevention, and affiliate tax compliance.

2011 TopSEO top 10 Affiliate Marketing Agency
ABestWeb 2010 Affiliate Agency of the Year Nominee
Winner of the 2009 Small Business Commerce Association Best of Business Award
Trusted by great Internet Retailer Top 500, Internet Retailer Second 500, and Internet Retailer Hot 100 brands.

Affiliate Marketing SuperStar Mike Kansa joins MGECOM as Director of Affiliate Program Operations.

MGECOM has shaken the industry by hiring industry superstar Mike Kansa as MGECOM’s Director of Affiliate Program Operations. In this role Mike will guide what may be the most experienced team of Affiliate Account Executives in the industry in their quest to deliver record breaking affiliate channel sales growth for every client.

Mike is well known for his contributions in the affiliate marketing arena, most recently as an affiliate program manager supporting the award winning eBay Partner Network. Prior to that, Mike consulted for numerous successful brands, merchants, agencies and affiliates. His official start to internet marketing was with Overstock.com in 2003 where he worked in various capacities during their years of hyper growth.

What brought an Affiliate Marketing Rock Star like Mike Kansa to the specialist firm MGECOM? “I’ve known Matt Enders (MGECOM founder and CEO) for a long time, as well as Mike Bump, Adam Russo and Anne Fognano. After interacting with MGECOM team members at industry events, I became even more impressed with what Matt & MGECOM accomplished in a short amount of time. … it seemed like the perfect fit in so many ways” said Kansa.

When asked about how his experience will benefit MGECOM clients, Kansa said “I’ve contributed to many sides of the fence in affiliate marketing. Big brands to small brands, agencies, networks and most importantly as a publisher. Few get to see and do what I’ve done in this space”.

The future looks bright for MGECOM, if you ask Mike Kansa. In true Rock Star form, Kansa will tell you “I gotta wear shades”.

MGECOM is hiring again! We continue to expand rapidly, and we are looking to add another new Affiliate Account Executive (Affiliate Manager) to our team of experts. If you have the experience and results to meet our needs, we want to talk to you! We are accepting resumes beginning immediately, and plan to fill the open role before the end of this year.

Job Title
Affiliate Account Executive

Reports to
CEO

Overall Responsibility
Manage affiliate marketing programs on a daily basis by completing both day-to-day tasks and focusing on long-term goals and objectives which are designed to increase revenue and ROI for our clients.

Areas of Responsibility

Qualifications

Compensation
This is a full time position, providing you the ability to work from anywhere in the world. Compensation is commensurate with experience.

About MGECOM, Inc.
MGECOM, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful Outsourced Affiliate Program Management firms in the world. We are located in Cary, NC but provide the opportunity for our team members to work from any location in the world. We have been in business for over 5 years and accept nothing less than excellence from our team members. We work with our clients on an outsourced basis to provide services which they do not have the resources to maintain in-house. Our clients are located all over the world and range from small shops to large, multi-national companies. We pride ourselves on providing customized solutions for each client, paying close attention to detail, and creating a true value for everyone we work with. For more information, please visit www.mgecom.com.

Interested candidates should submit a resume AND cover letter to jobs@mgecom.com. Applications lacking a cover letter are very likely to be ignored.

According to Outsourced Affiliate Marketing program management firm MGECOM, Inc., Merchants do not have to kick out affiliates to avoid State Affiliate Nexus Taxes!

Many US States are scrambling to fill budget gaps by enacting new Online Tax legislation that has caused confusion and headaches for online merchants. Known as the “Amazon Tax” or  ”Affiliate Nexus Tax”, these State taxes unfairly burden merchants that have Affiliate Marketing programs and expose online merchants to significant new risks.

Affiliate Nexus Taxes are confusing and vary from State to State. Many merchants have taken the knee-jerk, aggressive action of kicking out all affiliates from States that have enacted Affiliate Nexus Tax laws, in order to avoid creating nexus and the associated State Affiliate Nexus Tax liability. Matt Enders, MGECOM Founder and CEO observes “In affiliate marketing, any knee-jerk reaction is the wrong approach.  Affiliate managers must always remember to balance the wants and needs of the company, with the wants and needs of their affiliate partners.” While we understand that most merchants are not affiliate program management experts, these “conservative” actions are extremely damaging to their affiliate programs. “Long-term success is the goal, and short-sighted reactions are counter to that goal” says Enders.

Sadly, many merchants are taking action based on incorrect understandings of the various State Affiliate Nexus Tax laws and the options available to effectively mitigate tax risks.

MGECOM has developed several less-drastic, highly effective options that allow merchant clients to:

-Benefit from their competitors knee-jerk decisions to dump all affiliates that are based in states that have enacted State Affiliate Nexus Tax laws
-Preserve productive, profitable affiliate relationships that have taken considerable time and resources to build
-Grow their affiliate channel profitability
-Comply with the various State Affiliate Nexus Tax laws while boosting their affiliate program sales
-Rebuild programs that already dumped all affiliates that are based in states that have enacted State Affiliate Nexus Tax laws

Who is MGECOM?

MGECOM, Inc., based in Cary, NC, is the leading Agency for Outsourced Affiliate Marketing Management & Affiliate Marketing Program Services.

2011 TopSEO top 10 Affiliate Marketing Agency

ABestWeb 2010 Affiliate Agency of the Year Nominee

Winner of the 2009 Small Business Commerce Association Best of Business Award

Trusted by great Internet Retailer Top 500, Internet Retailer Second 500, and Internet Retailer Hot 100 brands.

Affiliate Marketing agency MGECOM launched new Affiliate Relationship tool, hired by top merchants to boost their affiliate channel profits

On the heels of introducing a custom Insight Reporting tool to manage affiliate relationships, Outsourced Affiliate Program management agency MGECOM acquired a record number of affiliate program management clients over the Summer of 2011, says Jeff Cress, MGECOM’s VP of Biz Dev & Marketing.

Insight Reporting is a revolutionary tool built exclusively for MGECOM which turns reams of affiliate performance data from multiple networks into timely and actionable business intelligence. “The unique Insight Reporting tool gives MGECOM clients a huge advantage over their competitors,” Cress says.

Some of the new brands outsourcing their affiliate program management to the specialists at MGECOM include:

Century MMA – The world’s leading manufacturer and retailer of the best fight gear and equipment from Tapout, Sprawl, and more

BrooksRunning.com – High performance running shoes and running gear – Run Happy!

MovingComfort.com – Best-in-class sports bras and innovative fitness apparel that support, flatter and inspire women to achieve their own unique personal bests.

Bag Inc – Top of the line, trendy handbags for fashionistas, at wholesale prices

EnvyCig – Shortest, Lightest, Most Affordable Electronic Cigarette Available

The Justus Clothing Company – A leader in comfortable, style-driven underwear, shirts, headgear and accessories for men and women.

Easy Life Savings Club – Where saving money on your everyday expenses is made easy!

Subjekt – An LA based company delivering superior sounding headphones that are both fashionable and affordable!

South Beach Swimsuits – Everything from sizzling swimsuits, elegant cruisewear to hot and sexy spring break bikinis.

Backwoods – Since 1973, all the camping, hiking, travel, and survival gear you need for your next adventure!

Somme Institute – Patented MDT5 technology delivers clinically proven results.

Founded by affiliate industry innovator, Matt Enders, the award winning MGECOM, Inc. is based in Cary, North Carolina. MGECOM is the leading Agency for Outsourced Affiliate Marketing Management & Affiliate Marketing Program Services. MGECOM boasts over 75 years of affiliate industry success, and the best team of All-Star Affiliate Account Executives in the business. Specializing in Affiliate Program sales growth and delicate issues like State Affiliate Nexus Taxes.

2011 TopSEO top 10 Affiliate Marketing Agency
ABestWeb 2010 Affiliate Agency of the Year Nominee
Winner of the 2009 Small Business Commerce Association Best of Business Award
Trusted by great Internet Retailer Top 500, Internet Retailer Second 500, and Internet Retailer Hot 100 brands

THROUGH SEPTEMBER 30, ALL AFFILIATES EARN OUR VIP COMMISSION RATE OF 15% ON EVERY SALE

Moving Comfort designs, develops, and delivers best-in-class sports bras and innovative fitness apparel that support, flatter, and inspire women to achieve their own unique personal bests. MovingComfort.com offers the most complete collection of Moving Comfort sports bras, apparel, accessories-all styles, colors, and sizes.

Program Benefits:

BrooksRunning.com has slashed prices on some incredibly popular running shoes! These closeout prices are designed to sell these shoes quickly. Be sure to promote these on your site today, when they are gone, they are gone!. To create a direct link, either:

a) Login to CJ, select Product Links, and search for each product name, or

b) Login to CJ, locate text link 10902811, and create your own link by changing the destination URL.

The discounts are as follows:

Ghost 3
Winner of the Runner’s World International Editor’s Choice Award and one of our best selling shoes!
Was: $100
Now: $65
SAVE $35!

Glycerin 8
Winner of the Runner’s World (US) Editor’s Choice Award!
Was: $130
Now: $84
SAVE $46!

Mach 12 Spike and Spikeless
Was: $65 (spikes) and $60 (spikeless)
Now: $42 (spikes) and $39 (spikeless)
SAVE $23 (spikes) and $21 (spikeless)!

Summon 2
Was: $85
Now: $55
SAVE $30!

Kid’s Ghost 3
Was: $65
Now: $42
SAVE $23!

Bonus Commission Reminder

Don’t forget, we’re giving you the opportunity to keep your current 15% VIP commission rate for at least a year! Generate 250 transactions before July 31, 2011 and you can keep the VIP rate for at least a year!

We’re off to a great start, and want to say thank you!

From now through July 31, 2011, we’re going to pay you 15% commission on every sale that you generate for brooksrunning.com! Our standard commission rates start at 7.5% and grow to 9.5% based on your monthly performance, but for the next 50 days we’re skilling past that.

There has never been a better time to aggressively promote brooksrunning.com on your site. With summer just around the corner, running season is taking off and everyone is gearing up from brooksrunning.com. Take advantage of the spring and summer season and enjoy the giant 15% commission rate on all orders!

We’ll also give you the opportunity to keep that 15% VIP commission rate for at least a year! Generate 250 transactions before July 31, 2011 and you can keep the VIP rate for at least a year!

On June 2, the BrooksRunning.com affiliate program went live on the Commission Junction network.  Be sure to Apply Today!  BrooksRunning.com sells the absolute best in running shoes and apparel for men and women.  Brooks caters to the serious runners, and is a favorite of elite runners around the world.

Be sure to promote our Free Shipping on Orders over $75 offer on your site!

BONUS COMMISSION

Our affiliate program went live on the CJ network on June 2. For the first 60 days of the program, we are offering you the opportunity to earn a HUGE bonus commission! Our standard commission structure is as follows:

Base Rate: 7.5%
Monthly Sales over $1,000 = 8.5%
Monthly Sales over $10,000 = 9.5%

If you generate 250 transactions before our program has been live for 60 days, you will receive a VIP commission rate of 15% for a guaranteed minimum of 1 year! That’s the highest offered by any of our competitors!

PPC BIDDING POLICY

We do not permit any bidding on our branded terms, their variations or misspellings, or on terms that contain our brand name. Bidding on our URL is also prohibited. Restricted Terms also include bidding on “brand +” terms, such as “BrooksRunning.com Coupon” or “Brooks Running Shoes”, etc. You may not bid on the names of the shoes we produce. The use of our URL as your display URL is strictly prohibited. Finally, direct linking to our site from your PPC as is not permitted. Your visitors must click-through a link on your site. Please be sure to review our PPC policy details in full before beginning your PPC campaign.

Please also note that our branded terms may not be used as part of your root URL. Using our branded terms as subdomains or domain extensions of your own root URL is permitted.

COMMUNICATION

Need help setting up your links? Have questions about any details of the program? Need to ask any question at all? You can find all of my contact information at the bottom of this email. Or simply email Affiliates@BrooksRunning.com!

With high commissions, dedicated affiliate program management, and great deals on the greatest running shoes and apparel available, BrooksRunning.com is a great affiliate program to be a part of. If there is anything I can do to help you generate more commissions, feel free to contact me. Best of luck to you in earning large commission checks!