Affiliate Summit East is right around the corner and we are gearing up for a great show!  Two of our Senior Affiliate Account Executives will be representing MGECOM and our clients at this year’s Affiliate Summit East in NYC, August 15-17, 2010. Find us at the Meet Market and in the Exhibit Hall or contact us now to set up a meeting in advance.

Enter the MGECOM Affiliate Summit East Contest and Win the Newest 3rd Generation Kindle + Leather Kindle Cover!

The already most wished for, most gifted, 5 Star Item on Amazon just got better!  Introducing the Kindle 3G + Wi-Fi.  Compare it to the 2nd Generation Kindle:

-21% smaller body, with same 6″ reading area.
-15% lighter, weighing only 8.7 ounces!
-50% improved screen contrast.
-Crisper, darker fonts.
-Double the storage!
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-Built in Wi-Fi!
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The Kindle holds 3,500 books and has over 630,000 books to choose from, including 109 New York Times bestsellers, audiobooks, periodicals and blogs.  The new 3G Wi-Fi version, weighing less than a paperback and thinner than a magazine, allows you to download books anytime, anywhere. Keep the Kindle safe and scratch free with a Leather Kindle Cover, available in black, burnt orange, chocolate brown, hot pink, steel blue, apple green and burgundy red.

How to Enter:

*Find Evan Chaisson or Nick Szeto (photos below) at ASE10.
*They will give you the details on how to enter (it’s SUPER easy).
*Enter to win a 3rd Generation Kindle and Leather Kindle Cover!

The winner will be chosen by random drawing after ASE10 and announced in August!

In addition to entering the MGECOM ASE contest, get some great swag from Evan and Nick when you talk to them.

Contact Evan or Nick to set up a meeting, so they can introduce you to our client roster and assist you in setting up campaigns and earning revenue.

MGECOM, Inc is a leading Outsourced Affiliate Program Management firm.  Check out our client roster below:

To follow MGECOM client and corporate news, subscribe to our Affiliate Blog and follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

My newly published article appeared in Issue 9 (January 2010) of FeedFront Magazine.  This magazine will be distributed to attendees of Affiliate Summit West 2010, taking place in Las Vegas next month.  You can view the newest FeedFront magazine online.  My article is titled “How Trust Leads to Success” and is on page 12.  It appears in its entirety here:

As an affiliate manager, your job is to drive sales for your company or client via the various affiliate partnerships you develop. Too often, affiliate managers (or more aptly, merchants) take the “if you build it, they will come” approach to affiliate management. This is a recipe for disaster. Proper management of any affiliate program requires time, attention, effort, and most importantly, relationships built on trust.

The affiliates who participate in the affiliate program you manage must be viewed as partners, not as a faceless entity looking to make a dollar through your program. Each affiliate is important and has the potential to significantly contribute to your bottom line. Of course, it would be impossible to personally know each and every affiliate who has been approved to your program. You must work to develop relationships and work as closely as possible with as many affiliates as possible.

In developing relationships with affiliates, you are developing trust. Developing trust can lead to amazing results. Once you have developed trust and learned how a particular affiliate does what it is that they do, you have an opportunity to expand the working relationship. But remember, trust is a two way street. If an affiliate trusts you with their business model, you have to trust them with items like your brand name, VIP commission rates, and special privileges.

Let’s look at an example.

My company manages affiliate programs for our clients. One of our clients had historically used Yahoo! Paid Inclusion (RIP at the end of 2009) with moderate, but consistent success. One particular affiliate which mgecom had worked with significantly over the years approached us about also using Yahoo! PI as one of their promotional methods. Since we knew and trusted this affiliate, we were able to vouch for the idea and strongly recommend the opportunity to our client. The client agreed to a limited test with the affiliate. The test went so well that the client turned off their in-house PI campaign and allowed this affiliate to fully represent their brand via Yahoo! PI. The result? The affiliate was able to increase sales via this channel by a staggering weekly average of 349%. The lowest weekly increase was 82% and the highest to date is 1,176%. This is an increase above and beyond what the client had been able to achieve via their own in-house efforts.

Why was this level of success achievable in this particular partnership?

• We knew the affiliate well
• We had worked with the affiliate closely in the past
• We trusted the affiliate
• We were able to communicate all of this to the client and demonstrate the value

To summarize, if you are an affiliate manager, get to know your affiliates as more than just a name in a report. Learn what they do, earn their trust, and in turn trust them. Greater results are possible when relationships are nurtured and expanded.

My second published article appeared in Issue 8 (October 2009) of FeedFront Magazine.  This magazine will be distributed to attendees of ad:tech New York, Blog World Expo, and PubCon.  You can also view the entire magazine online.  My article is titled “Lessons From North Carolina’s Affiliate Tax Fight” and is on page 26.  It appears in its entirety here:

Over the years many events, technologies, and companies have changed the face of affiliate marketing. The current battle against the Affiliate Tax (Advertising Tax, Amazon Tax) is one of the most important events to happen in our young industry. The Advertising Tax has the power to both reform and injure our entire industry. To date New York, Rhode Island, and North Carolina have all passed the tax. Other states have seen the damage these laws do to small businesses and have shot down similar legislation.

Being headquartered in North Carolina, mgecom took a leading role in the fight against the Advertising Tax. In this fight, we learned many things which could be of great value should you find yourself in a state considering the implementation of the Advertising Tax. My best advice is this:

• Start an online petition and gather as many signatures as possible. The volume of signatures is important, but more from your state equals more relevance to lawmakers.
• Gather short, personal stories from every affiliate you can reach whose business will be negatively impacted. Print and bind these, and hand deliver them to your legislators.
• Use Twitter to get the message out and gain new supporters. Create a hash tag (we used #ncaffiliatetax) and include it in every Twitter update you write.
• Talk to the Performance Marketing Alliance and leverage their experience, data, and reach.
• Utilize the enormous power and community of ABW (ABestWeb.com) and other affiliate marketing forums.
• Organize face to face meetings with anyone in your state who has an interest in seeing the law shot down. Use these meetings to plan your group strategy.
• Don’t wait to start the fight. Make yourself heard as soon as the legislation appears. Even better, be preemptive and start educating your legislators on our industry.
• Visit your legislators in person. Meeting with lawmakers from your county is very important, but talk to anyone who will listen, particularly if they are on your State Finance Committee.
• Call your legislators multiple times. Don’t settle for speaking to an aide.
• Be persistent.

In North Carolina, we were unfortunately fighting against the perception of “fairness” in the eyes of lawmakers. Many were focused on ensuring that Amazon.com and local book retailers were both subject to the same taxes and removing what was seen as an unfair competitive advantage. North Carolina being in a significant budget deficit certainly did not help our chances. To lawmakers, the Affiliate Tax seemed like a way to both close the budget gap and keep local retailers happy.

We found that personal stories from affiliates and getting legislators to see how the Affiliate Tax laws negatively affect small businesses and individuals was much more effective than speaking to them about their misconceptions of fairness and new tax revenue streams. In the end we lost the fight, but we did make headway with key legislators. Now, we will work towards repeal of the Affiliate Tax.

The August 2009 issue of FeedFront Magazine (Issue 7) featured an article I wrote titled “
Inside Information on Affiliate Classifying”.  Here is that article, in its entirety:

When my company takes over the management of an existing affiliate program or launches a new one, we do so using the Structured Diversity Method I have developed. Affiliates are categorized into three distinct classifications: Aggregate Volume, High Potential, and Premium Partners.

Each affiliate within any given classification is equally significant and must be treated with a high level of importance. This ensures that your affiliate partners are able to consistently improve their sales volume and helps your program become a significant portion of your overall online revenue.

Aggregate Volume affiliates comprise the foundation of your program. These affiliates are what most would consider rookies to affiliate marketing. They will likely have many questions and may need to be taught the basics of generating traffic and converting visitors. These affiliates typically generate a few orders each, per month.

Your program should be designed so that you have hundreds of converting affiliates at the foundation level who occasionally generate individual sales, but who, as the Aggregate Volume group, contribute a significant amount of monthly revenue.

High Potential affiliates are important both as a group and individually. This group does not typically make their living entirely from affiliate marketing, but they are generating consistent sales each month. Their commission earnings play a role in both their business and personal budgeting. High Potential affiliates are likely to increase their sales rapidly if they are given the right tools.

Premium Partner affiliates are your top performers. They may or may not be considered an industry Super Affiliate, but regardless are generating a significant amount of your monthly sales. These affiliates should be viewed as a method of “sharpening the tip” of your affiliate program. They have the ability to drive significant amounts of revenue, often in a very short period of time. More importantly, their high performance level is often sustainable over time.

You can build a significant revenue generating program through Aggregate Volume and High Potential affiliates alone, but overall growth will be inconsistent and slow. Likewise, a program built with Premium Partners alone may not be sustainable over time as any number of factors beyond your control could temporarily or permanently affect their sales volume. The loss of even a single Premium Partner in a program consisting only of this group will result in a significant decrease in overall revenue.

In utilizing the Structured Diversity Method for your affiliate program design, you will be able to reach profitability from the sales generated by Aggregate Volume and High Potential affiliates alone.
However, you must attract and recruit affiliates of all three classifications in order to realize the sharp growth curves you are looking for. You must manage your program under the assumption that each partner in each classification wants to earn more with your program and is actively working on improving their business. If you provide the tools and assistance needed, you will find a steady flow of affiliates advancing their performance level and generating more sales in your program.

Matt Enders is the CEO and Founder of mgecom, inc., a leading Outsourced Affiliate Program Management firm.

Issue 7 of FeedFront Magazine can be downloaded here.

It would appear that the Advertising Tax (Amazon Tax, Affiliate Tax) fight is about to begin in the state of Missouri.  Missouri affiliate and merchants, you need to begin speaking up NOW.  If you want to win the fight, you have to be very proactive and very aggressive.

A colleague of mine owns an online retail website based in North Carolina.  Just today, he received a letter in the mail from the State of Missouri questioning him specifically about his affiliate program as it pertains to Missouri residents.  He was kind enough to share this letter with me.  I have hosted the Missouri Tax Letter as a PDF file for you to view.  I did of course block out all of my colleague’s personally identifiable information.

In part, the letter states:

…In order for the Missouri Department of Revenue (Department) to make a determination on taxability to Missouri, additional information is required.
…representatives shall include employees, agents, independent contractors, brokers or others that reside in, or regularly and systematically enter into, this state on your behalf.  This would include any person or entity participating in your Affiliate Program.

In reading this letter, it seems that all signs are pointing to the Missouri Legislature entertaining the possibility of enacting Affiliate Nexus Tax Laws.  As we all know, as evidenced by New York, Rhode Island, and North Carolina, this would have a terrible effect on any affiliate who resides in Missouri.

Affiliates and Merchants in Missouri, now is the time for you to band together and start the fight.  Here are some tips you can use, taken from the experience we had in North Carolina.

• Contact your local representatives in both the House and Senate.

• Work closely with the Performance Marketing Alliance

• Get the word out on Facebook and Twitter.  Create a new hash tag specifically for your state fight.  In North Carolina, we used #ncaffiliatetax.

• Start an online petition against the tax.  There are many free resources to do this, such as PetitionSpot.com.

• Attack this possible legislation from every conceivable angle until you discover what seems to resonate the most with Legislators.  Lost revenue, lost jobs, the negative impact on you personally, people moving or closing their businesses, misconceptions about expected new tax receipts, etc. are all good points to make.

Remember, this is a big issue that affects your livelihood.  Do not wait to start fighting and voicing your opposition.  Fight today, fight tomorrow, and keep fighting until the legislation is thrown out.

Please keep in mind that I am not a lawyer or accountant.  I only read the letter and am drawing my own conclusions, though I feel the letter only points in one possible direction.

As an industry, we have been working very hard to fight the “Amazon Tax” which is very close to being implemented in North Carolina.  While we have made headway with numerous NC Legislators, it is time to take the fight to the desk of the Governor, Bev Perdue.

July 1, 2009 was the deadline for the signing of the new NC budget, SB202.  That deadline has passed, and an extension has been granted for lawmakers to come to agreement on the budget by July 15, 2009.  This gives us as the affiliate marketing industry 15 days to make an impact.  Please continue to call and email your local representatives.  It has been working. But we need to step it up and take it to a higher level.  We need to target the Governor herself.  Why?  Because she is uninformed about the advertising tax portion of the budget, and she has the power to veto the bill regardless of what local lawmakers have included.

Luckily, one of our mgecom employees has a direct line to a contact inside Governor Perdue’s administration.  In talking with that political contact, we were informed of the best way to contact Governor Perdue, and the best way to get her attention.

PLEASE TAKE THE FOLLOWING STEPS NOW:

1. Visit this page: http://www.governor.state.nc.us/eTownhall/suggestionBox.aspx
2. Fill out ALL of your contact information, especially if you are an NC resident
3. Choose the subject “Taxes and Revenue” from the dropdown menu
4. Write a letter to Governor Perdue and tell YOUR story.  Shoot for 250 – 1,000 words.  Most importantly, DO NOT send a template letter.  Take 5 – 10 minutes and share how you, as a NC resident and voter, will be negatively impacted.
5. Point out our petition in your letter: http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/ncaffiliatetax/.  Be sure that you have signed it if you haven’t already.

It may seem like we are wasting our time using a contact form from the Governor’s website.  We have been assured from within the administration that all communications through this form are carefully monitored and screened.  So how do we get noticed?

1. Personal, real feedback
2. Consistent overall messaging
3. At least 20 of us send an email.  We should shoot for 200.  Please comment below once you have submitted your letter so we can keep a tally.

If we do this, we will get the Governor’s attention.  Be professional, but be direct.  Let Governor Perdue know that she will hurt your income, and your ability to spend in NC.

Here is a copy of my letter.  Please remember though, write your own.  DO NOT copy and paste or use a template.  Real messages, with real concerns, from real people, with real stories are what get noticed and passed to the Governor’s desk.

Dear Governor Perdue,

My name is Matt Enders and I am writing you today as a concerned individual, business owner, NC resident, and online marketing industry representative.  I have grave concerns over the NC budget, SB202, specifically sections 27C.2(a), 27C.2(b), 27C.2(c), and 27C.2(d), which are found on pages 268 and 269 of the above referenced bill.

I am a business owner who works in the affiliate marketing industry.  The sections of SB202 I mentioned are better known as the “Amazon Tax”.  I have been working very hard within my industry with affiliates across NC to urge legislators to oppose these specific sections of the budget.  I have been interviewed by NBC17, News14 Carolina, WRAL, and the Associated Press regarding this issue.  In fact, the televised report from News14 Carolina featured statements from both you and me.  In that report, you stated, “I will be very surprised if any of the major click through retailers refuse to sell to our state, which is the seventh largest in America” (http://www.news14.com/content/top_stories/611240/amazon-ends-associates-program-in-n-c–due-to-tax/Default.aspx?ap=1&Flash).

Your statement is, unfortunately, at the same time correct and misguided.  You are correct in saying that Amazon.com will not cease to sell to NC residents.  They will.  They WILL NOT, however, continue to generate online sales through the use of Affiliate Marketing, and Affiliates who reside in the state of NC.  Allow me to share a brief and simplified explanation of how the Affiliate Marketing industry functions:

Affiliates from around the world sign up to participate in various affiliate programs (we’ll use Amazon.com as an example).  These individuals generally operate their own websites, which can be focused on any number of topics.  If Amazon.com sells products related to their site content that visitor may want to purchase, the website owner places an affiliate link on their personal site.  When a visitor clicks that link and makes a purchase, the website owner earns a commission for referring the sale.

Hundreds of thousands of people across the country participate in these programs, and thousands of them reside in NC.  When the tax law is passed, merchants from all over the US WILL terminate their affiliates with all NC based partners.  This will result in a direct revenue loss for thousands of NC residents.  Many of these individuals earn a full time living from their affiliate marketing efforts.  This effectively forces them out of business.  Other affiliate marketers rely on their commission earnings for a specific purpose: bills, medication costs, spending money, etc.  When their business is terminated or reduced, so is their ability to spend.  The effects do not end with Amazon.com alone.  Hundreds of online retailers will follow suit, and terminate their affiliations with NC affiliates.  Some companies who have already done so (before the bill has even been signed to law) include: Amazon.com, Overstock.com, MusiciansFriend.com, BlueNile.com, Cabelas.com, and TextBooks.com.  These are all leading online retailers.  Hundreds of others are certain to follow, as they did in New York when the Amazon Tax was initiated.

The negative effects of this tax law are many:

1) Affiliates will lose money and in many cases their entire income stream.
2) NC will not be able to collect as much sales tax as anticipated, since sales which originated in NC from affiliate marketing will no longer exist.
3) Unemployment will increase yet again, as business owners (many affiliates are incorporated) will have to lay themselves off.  This increases the burden on our already over-stretched unemployment system.
4) Affiliates, and their businesses, will still have the option of physically relocating out of state.  Many will be forced to do so.
5) Affiliates who move out of state will no longer remit income tax or property tax to NC.
6) Affiliates who move out of state will no longer spend in our local economy.

While I understand the grave need for NC to overcome its significant budget deficit, the advertising tax portion of SB202 is NOT the answer.  This is the one section of the bill which has the ability to, and will, destroy an entire industry in our state.  Currently, over 800 individuals who will be negatively affected by this law have voiced their opposition here: http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/ncaffiliatetax/

Governor Perdue, I urge you to veto SB202 when it reaches your desk if it still contains the provisions regarding the online advertising tax.  Please, demand that the bill be rewritten so that it DOES NOT destroy the livelihoods of countless NC residents and voters.

Please contact me with any questions you or your staff may have regarding this devastating tax law.  I look forward to discussing the details further.  Thank you for your time in reading this message.

Tomorrow the mgecom team, along with affiliates from around the state and other representatives from our industry will be spending the day at the General Assembly in Raleigh in an effort to show our elected representatives the egregious errors in SB202 regarding digital sales tax, nexus, and what is known as the “Amazon Tax” or “Affiliate Tax”.   We need your support in order to win the fight.  As such, here are the steps we need you to take.  If you live in North Carolina, the affiliate marketing industry in this state is now depending on you!

The Official Fight

1. Come with us to the General Assembly tomorrow in downtown Raleigh.  We currently have over 20 CONFIRMED meetings with State Senators and Representatives from this state.  We are meeting with committee leaders, voting members, Republicans, Democrats, and everyone else who has the power to influence this law.  We are meeting at 8:00 am in front of the GA building.  The address is:16 West Jones Street, Raleigh, NC 27601
2. If you are an affiliate, we need your testimonial.  Please fill out the Contact Us form and share with us how the tax law changes will affect YOUR daily life.  Will you have to move out of the state?  Will you not be able to pay for prescriptions?  Will you lose discretionary income that you otherwise would have spent in the local NC economy?  We need to hear your story.
3. Learn our approach.  This is what we will be telling lawmakers TOMORROW:
   • We understand that North Carolina is in a $4Billion+ budget deficit, and we appreciate that you need to make that up.  However, the language regarding internet sales tax in SB202 WILL force online retailers to do everything in their power to avoid meeting the definition of “nexus” which NC has created.
   • When similar legislation was passed in New York last year, a large number of online retailers DID remove affiliates from their program, as evidenced here: http://forum.abestweb.com/showthread.php?t=105869
   • Because of the above two facts, the anticipated $13.1Million in new tax revenue you are expecting will not be there.  In fact, you will lose the existing tax revenue you are currently collecting from individuals and small businesses across the state who will be forced out of business, or forced to move.
   • The tax law will create lost jobs.  As affiliate advertisers are removed from their programs, they will suffer huge income losses.  Unemployment in NC is already over 11%.  This tax law change will INCREASE the amount of people who are suddenly jobless in NC.
   • We must create a sense of personification in the eyes of the legislators.  They must understand that it is not the big corporations who are being hurt, but the individuals and residents of North Carolina.  This is why we need your stories, as mentioned above, via our Contact Us form.
   • Finally, North Carolina wishes to be viewed as a technology-friendly state.  This type of legislation is precisely what will force technology-savvy affiliates and advertisers out of our state.

Again, we need your help.  Please post a link to this blog post on your Twitter account.  You can use this shortened URL:  http://bit.ly/15g0Hk  Email your friends, family and colleagues.  The more exposure we have, the better.  Finally, sign our petition which can be found here: http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/ncaffiliatetax/.

Thank you to everyone who attended the on-site meeting in our offices today.  Through working together, we have a chance to defeat the tax law which could put so many out of business.

In the fight against the North Carolina Affiliate Tax, we have to use every available avenue.  We need you to reach out to your representatives TODAY.  We are unfortunately on a very short timetable, with the new laws expected to be signed by July 1, 2009.  Here are the steps you need to take:

1. Sign the online petition
2. Plan to attend the meeting mgecom is hosting on Monday
3. Plan to attend the visit to the General Assembly in Raleigh on Tuesday
4. Contact your representatives! Names, phone numbers, and emails can be found here: NC House Representatives | NC Senate Members

Contacting every Representative and Senator is very important.  Please make an effort to locate the elected officials from your county and personally reach out to them.

Here is a list of the NC House Standing Committee on Finance.
Here is a list of the NC Senate Standing Committee on Finance.

The original sponsors of the bills are: Weiss;  Gibson;  Clodfelter
The original cosponsors of the bills are: Brubaker;  Carney;  Harrison;  Hill;  Insko;  Lucas;  Luebke;  McGee;  Wainwright; Hartsell, Jr.;  Hoyle

If you are involved in the affiliate industry in any way and reside in North Carolina, please find time today to call and email as many Senators and Representatives as you possibly can.

Update: Sign the online petition today

Unfortunately the affiliate tax, or “Amazon Tax” as it is not-so-affectionately known amongst internet marketers, has reared its head in a big way in North Carolina.  House Bill 558 and Senate Bill 487 are both currently under discussion in the Finance Committees.  Even worse, both seem to be on the fast track and are expected to have signatures within two weeks.  It is undoubtedly time for North Carolina affiliates to join together in an organized front against these unfair bills.  A similar effort has worked in Minnesota, Maryland, and California.  If we band together in a professional and aggressive way in this state, we can see the same success here.

I have made repeated calls to Representative Luebke (the Chair of the House Finance Committee) at 919-733-7663 and have been unable to secure an official meeting.  Similarly, with Senator Hoyle (the Chair of the Senate Finance Committee), a standing meeting time has not been secured.  In both cases, the best advice given is to “catch them in the hallway”.  Acting on that great advice, I will be at the General Assembly for North Carolina located in downtown Raleigh on Tuesday, June 23, 2009 at 8:00 am.  I invite and IMPLORE each of you in NC to join me.

Tuesday is the day of choice as the House Finance Committee has a standing meeting every Tuesday at 8:30 am and the Senate Finance Committee has a standing meeting every Tuesday at 1:00.  The address is North Carolina General Assembly, Legislative Building, 16 West Jones Street, Raleigh, NC 27601.  Please meet me there.

Additionally, I invite everyone in NC, and anywhere else for that matter, to meet with me in the mgecom, inc. corporate offices on Monday, June 22, 2009 to discuss strategy and actions for the approach to the Finance Committees.  The meeting will be at 2:00 in the afternoon.  Our address is 51 Kilmayne Drive, Suite 300, Cary, NC 27511.  This meeting is equally important as the push on Tuesday will be since it is imperative that we have an organized effort behind us.  Please make arrangements to attend, regardless of your location.  There are plenty of overnight accommodations in the Triangle for those of you who will be traveling.  This is an important event for all affiliate marketers in North Carolina.

Please RSVP to the Monday meeting at mgecom, the Tuesday meeting at the General Assembly, or to both by emailing me directly: matt.enders@mgecom.com.

To review, here is the plan:

Monday, June 22, 2009
2:00 pm meeting at mgecom offices to discuss strategy

Tuesday, June 23, 2009
8:00 am: meeting time at the North Carolina General Assembly
8:30 am: House Finance Committee standing weekly meeting
1:00 pm: Senate Finance Committee standing weekly meeting

The remainder of the times available on Tuesday will be spent in attempts to find, and secure meeting times with any bill sponsors, cosponsors, or finance committee members.  I will continue to attempt to secure these meeting times in advance, however, we may have to act quickly on-site to locate the correct people.

Please attend!  This is our industry and our state!

I am very happy to announce that mgecom, inc. is now using our newly designed corporate logo!  After 3 years of using the original logo we designed when the company was started in 2006, I thought it was time for an upgrade.  I’m happy with how it has turned out, and I have to say that the sign we have in the building lobby on a black background with raised lettering looks really good.  Next up: redesigning the business cards.