Archive for the ‘Marketing’ Category

Amazon Affiliates Screwed: Colorado Law HB 10-1193

Amazon Affiliate Marketers and all who use affiliate marketing worldwide took a major blow to their income today. Why is Colorado Law HB 10-1193 a major setback for small business and entrepreneurship not only in the state of Colorado but worldwide? Let me explain some really basic business principals.

Here’s the basics.

The problem:

Colorado has a huge budget deficit. They desperately need to increase their income. Someone suggest that if they could collect sales tax on sales made to Colorado residents by internet companies such as Amazon, they could generate revenues to help their budget problem.

The Obstacle:

Internet companies like Amazon don’t have a business presence in the state of Colorado and therefore are not subject to collecting and paying Colorado sales tax.

The Solution:

Colorado declares law HB 10-1193 which states any company who has an affiliate marketer that generates over $10,000 of income for that company is a legal agent of that company and thus the company has a presence in the state and must collect and pay sales tax. An affiliate marketer is a person who gets paid a fee for referring business to another company. For example, if I am an Amazon affiliate and I recommend a book and refer you to Amazon to buy it, I could get a referral fee for that sale.

The Result:

Amazon fires all its affiliate marketers who reside in Colorado. They continue to sell to Colorado residents directly and through affiliate marketers who reside in other states. The group who is hurt the most is the small business owner who was putting food on the table and a roof over their family’s head via affiliate marketing. The other one hurting is the State of Colorado because they now loses the personal and business income tax they would have derived from the resident affiliate marketers. The state also forgoes the income from sales tax. Everyone loses, even Amazon.

There are a number of reasons that HB 10-1193 was a stupid law. That’s right it was downright ignorant of the lawmakers to pass HB 10-1193.

First, an affiliate has no control or say in the company’s business. They get paid as a 1099 relationship. They simply refer customers to another company. It’s a form of marketing and advertising.

Second, HB 10-1193 forces an undue burden on the producer of the good and services. As a small business owner and the only employee, I have used affiliate programs to promote my goods and services. It is an effective means of generating awareness for many reasons. According to the new law, if my company is based outside Colorado, but one of my affiliates is based inside Colorado and happens to have referred 10 people who bought my $1000  widget, I now have to figure out how to collect and file sales tax in the state of Colorado. Yoohoo Colorado, it’s not worth my time. I too would do what Amazon is doing and simply ban all affiliates in the state of Colorado. I’ll have my out of state affiliates refer that business to me or simply forgo income from Colorado. Hate to tell you, but Colorado adds a small amount of revenue to an internet company’s bottom line compared to other states.

The third reason HB 10-1193 kills small business in Colorado is that if I am now the affiliate marketer residing in Colorado, not only have I lost my income from Amazon, but I have now lost it from all the other companies with which I have an affiliate relationship. So, not only have I lost my income, but Colorado has lost the revenues from my income tax.

Fourth, How the heck are they going to enforce HB 10-1193? It’s going to take a lot of resources to identify who is an affiliate that generated over $10,000 of income and for what companies did they achieve this and did that company collect sales tax for those particular sales?

Obviously, no one really took the time to think HB 10-1193 through. Either that or there’s a lot of stupid idiots voting for this bill.

The can of worms:

I’m not sure but I would think that anyone who participates in a traditional  MLM business would also be subject to this new law. What if those companies also ceased to operate in Colorado? What then?

What you can do to help:

If you are an affiliate marketer in Colorado or know someone who is, you may express your views of Colorado’s new law to members of the General Assembly and to Governor Ritter, who signed the bill HB 10-1193. If you are a company that uses affiliates that may be based in Colorado, please let them know what has transpired and direct them to members of the General Assembly and to Governor Ritter.

Here’s Amazon’s announcement to affiliates…

Dear Colorado-based Amazon Associate:We are writing from the Amazon Associates Program to inform you that the Colorado government recently enacted a law to impose sales tax regulations on online retailers. The regulations are burdensome and no other state has similar rules. The new regulations do not require online retailers to collect sales tax. Instead, they are clearly intended to increase the compliance burden to a point where online retailers will be induced to “voluntarily” collect Colorado sales tax — a course we won’t take.

We and many others strongly opposed this legislation, known as HB 10-1193, but it was enacted anyway. Regrettably, as a result of the new law, we have decided to stop advertising through Associates based in Colorado. We plan to continue to sell to Colorado residents, however, and will advertise through other channels, including through Associates based in other states.

There is a right way for Colorado to pursue its revenue goals, but this new law is a wrong way. As we repeatedly communicated to Colorado legislators, including those who sponsored and supported the new law, we are not opposed to collecting sales tax within a constitutionally-permissible system applied even-handedly. The US Supreme Court has defined what would be constitutional, and if Colorado would repeal the current law or follow the constitutional approach to collection, we would welcome the opportunity to reinstate Colorado-based Associates.

You may express your views of Colorado’s new law to members of the General Assembly and to Governor Ritter, who signed the bill.

Your Associates account has been closed as of March 8, 2010, and we will no longer pay advertising fees for customers you refer to Amazon.com after that date. Please be assured that all qualifying advertising fees earned prior to March 8, 2010, will be processed and paid in accordance with our regular payment schedule. Based on your account closure date of March 8, any final payments will be paid by May 31, 2010.

We have enjoyed working with you and other Colorado-based participants in the Amazon Associates Program, and wish you all the best in your future.
Best Regards,

The Amazon Associates Team

Imagine growing up in our house. You are 6 years old. You are just finishing up breakfast. You are just learning to read.  You start practicing your reading on the box of cereal in front of you. You are so excited you have to share your excitement with your mom.

Mom, so this cereal makes you lower your cholesterol.

(Of course, I have to help with the word ko-les-ter-ole.)

Well, not quite honey. You see, they are using an implied benefit in their advertising copy. I know it says that it helps lower your cholesterol, but if you read the fine print, at the bottom of the box, you will see that studies show that any food that has X amount of Y ingredient will lower your cholesterol. And since this product happens to have that amount, they are implying that this product will also reap you this benefit. They are hoping that no one reads that fine print and that they assume that it is only this product that provides you this great benefit.

See here it is. It says “* Three grams of soluble fiber daily from whole grain oat foods, like Honey Nut Cheerios® cereal, in a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol may reduce the risk of heart disease. Honey Nut Cheerios® cereal has 0.75g per serving.” So, Any food that has soluble fiber from whole grain oats can make the same claim being made by this cereal.

And as a child, you don’t need to care about your cholesterol anyway. It’s only something to be concerned about when you get older. So that statement doesn’t even apply to you.

“oh.”

Way to go mom! Way to pop that bubble! They’ll be no uneducated consumers in this household!

Where in your daily life to  do you stumble across a marketer using an implied benefit in their messages? Have you ever sat up and taken notice? Please share some of your observances with us. I might even share them with my kids

List of 300+ Marketing Ideas & Tactics

Here’s the laundry list of over 300 Marketing Tactics and Marketing Ideas to use to market your small business. The list is organized alphabetically. In The Millionaire Marketing Machine, I have organized this list of Marketing Ideas by how each is used in the marketing process to power your marketing machine. Each marketing idea in this list marketing tactics has a purpose that is intertwined with the others and when used together and in sequence they create a powerful engine to propel your business forward.

404 Errors

800 number and PO Box

800 Phone Number

900 Phone Number

A letter of introduction to the company

A sample news story

Ad Sense by Google

Ad Tracking

Ad Words by Google

adopt-a-highway

Ads in videos

Advergames

Advertising

Advertorial

Affiliate Marketing

after-hours gathering

Airplane Chauffeur

Animation

annual award

answering machine message

Articles

Auctions

Audio Marketing

audio message on website

Audio or video files of interviews, speeches and performances

Autoresponders

Avatars

award

Award Recognition

Backend Marketing

Banner Ads

Bartering

be interviewed

Birthday Reminders

Blog Advertising

blog comments on other blogs

blog RSS and syndication

Blogger relations

Blogging

blogging communities

Bonus Offers

book a celebrity guest

bookmark this page script

Bookmarking

Borrow a wall/building

Branded microsites

Branding

brochure

Build trade show booths and exhibits

building signage

Bumper Stickers -

bundle products

Business Cards

Case Studies

chamber of commerce

Charity Donations -

Circulars -

Client Appreciation BBQ -

Clubs

co-branded product

Color schemes

Commenting on related blogs

Comparison shopping

Conference Calls

Consulting

Contests

contextual advertising

Copywriting

Coregistration

Corporate Web Site

Coupon

Courses

Create an XML sitemap

Credibility

Cross Promotion

customer loyalty program

customer of the month

Demonstrations -

direct mail campaign – 3-6 postcards post 7-10 days apart

Direct Response

Discussion Groups

Doctors Office Magazines

Domain Names

Download Page

drawing

Ebay

E-book -

Ebooks

Eclass

editorial calendar

Email

Endorsements

examples

Exclusives

expo booth

extranet

Ezine

Fake publicity stunt -

Favicons

Feedback forms

Fish Bowl Business Cards -

Flash

Forums & Newsgroups

free content

free ebook

free gift with $X purchase

free shipping

Freebies

Freelancing

fund-raising

Get listed in a paid directory like BOTW or Yahoo Directory.

grand opening

Gratitude

Guarantees

Guest blogging

guest presenters

guest speakers

Hair Salon’s and Barber Shops -

Hang up fliers, posters or business cards at community halls, libraries, or other local businesses,

Headlines

Hold a Contest -

Holiday Greetings -

Holidays

How-to clinic

Image

image communities

Industry Events

Info Products

instant messaging

internet TV

Interviews

intranet

Joint Ventures

Keywords

language translated content

Leads

Let Others Talk You Up

limited-time offer

Link Bait

Link Cloaking

Link Strategies

Listbuilding

List in related quality directories

List of frequently asked questions

live customer service

live streaming

loan your facilities as a meeting place

Local Events

Logos

Magazines -

Mailing lists signup

Mastermind Groups

Media Events

Media Kit

Membership sites

merchant account – accept more payment options

microblogging

Mini Courses

Mini Ebooks

Mini Sites, microsites

Mobile Ads

Mobile content

Money Stamping -

Movie Theater Ads

Multimedia

Music

Network Marketing

Networking Organizations

News feeds

News related to the industry or investor news

Newsletters

Newspaper advertising

Offer all the extras

online chat

online games

Online radio show

open house

order form

organize a conference

Outdoor Signs -

Own the bus stop

own TV show

Paid Reviews

participate in forums with Signature

participate in wikis

partnerships

Pay it forward

Pay per click

Pay per whatever

Peer to Peer relationships

Phone consulting

photos

podcast

Pop-overs

Pop-unders

Pop-ups

Postcards

Posting in related forums

PPC – Pay per Click

Preselling

presentation

Press Release

Press tour

Price Reduction

Pricing

primary call-to-action above the fold

Print Calendars -

Private Label

Private Sites

Product and service information and brochures

prospecting

Public Relations

Public Speaking

Publicity

Publishing

Put it on a bus

Questions

Radio_internet

ratings sites

Recent reviews, publications and articles

refer-a-friend link

referral fees

Referral Marketing

regional content

Reports

Reprint or Resell rights

Return address label

Reviews

Reward Programs

RSS Advertising

sales event

Sales Letter web Page

Sales letters

samples

Scarcity

schedule of promotions and events

Screensavers

Search engine optimization

search marketing

sell ad space on your properties

SEM – Search Engine Marketing

Seminars

Sex Sells

Shopping carts

signage

signature

Signs

social advertisements like Facebook

Social bookmarking your site

social media advertising

social networking

social networking, forums, wikis, collaboration

special interest groups

split-test

Sponsor an event

Sponsor the homeless

sponsorship

Squidoo

Sticky Notes

Sticky pages

Submit your site to the DMOZ directory

Submitting articles to directories

Surveys

Sweepstakes

syndicated content

Syndication

tagging

tagline

Talk Shows

Target Market

teach a class

Teleconferencing

telephone hotline

Teleseminars

Testimonials

Testing and Tracking

Thank You pages

The company profile, history, and management

Tips

Toolbars

Top 10 reasons to choose YOU

Trade Associations

trade shows

Trade Shows

Training

Translation

Troubleshooting

T-Shirts

Tutorials

TV

Unsubscribe message

Upselling

Url

user generated content

USP

vendor relationship management

video communities

Videos

Viral Marketing

Virtual Tradeshows

virtual worlds

Voicemail

voting features

Web Pages

Web Site Design

webinars

Welcome or confirmation message

white papers

widget advertisements

widgets

Window decals

window displays

Word of Mouth

workshop

Writing guest articles

Yellow Pages

I’d like to thank some of the blogs that I used to compile this list of 300 Marketing Ideas and Tactics:

Over 150 Marketing Tactics and Growing,  By Kevin Wirth

50 Guerrilla Marketing Tactics You Should Be Using, By Bootstrapping Blog

If you have any other marketing ideas or tactics  that you would like to add to the list, please add a comment below.

Ever wonder why people pay for a PR firm? What kind of publicity do they get for their money? Here are some of the things a Public Relations agency should be doing for you. Or, if you choose to write your own plan, here’s what you should include.

1. Messaging
2. Media Training
3. Construct Story
4. Media or Press Kit
5. Generate Media Opportunities
6. Build Strategic News Pipeline
7. Editorial Calendar Outreach
8. Leverage Events
9. Media tour
10. Media Events

Let’s look at that a little bit further. What does it mean? What do you really get?

PR Messaging

If your company has not already come up with its positioning and a clear set of messages, your PR firm can craft those for you. They should be reinforcing your brand, positioning and messages throughout everything they do. This is key and fundamental to the success of every marketing program.

Media Training

Everyone in your company who will be interviewed by the media should trained on how to communicate effectively with them. You need to learn how to answer questions in a way that supports your messaging. You should be prepared to expect certain questions and the best ways to get your message across.

Construct Story

Your PR Agency should be able to take your messages and translate them into multiple stories that appeal to a variety of media that target your ideal customer. They will also create and pitch each story to the media.

Media or Press Kit

A media kit (sometimes called press kit) is like a resume for your company. It includes:

1. A letter of introduction to the company
2. The company profile, history, and management
3. Product and service information and brochures
4. Recent reviews, publications and articles
5. Press releases
6. Audio or video files of interviews, speeches and performances
7. A sample news story
8. News related to the industry or investor news
9. List of frequently asked questions
10. Other information such as awards, photos, white papers, schedule of promotions and events, statistics, samples or examples, logo and image art, an order form.

Generate Media Opportunities

Create a targeted list of media and analyst contacts. Start contacting them locally then build nationally and internationally.  Pitch stories. Position your company as the go-to source of information on your subject.

Build Strategic News Pipeline

Develop a scheduled series of news releases (press releases) and draft the announcements that strategically roll out different aspects of the story.

Editorial Calendar Outreach

Identify publications that target your ideal customer and make a list of the planned stories or editorial opportunities that exist within their annual calendar.  Pitch you product/service where appropriate.

Leverage Events

Develop a PR strategy to leverage events that your company hosts or participates in. Recruit press to cover the stories.

Media tour

A media tour is when you meet with editors and reporters to introduce your company, product or service. The end goal is to build the relationship so that they print an article about your product, service or company, or that they come to you for quotes.

Media Events

Just as  you need to build community among your customers, you need to build community among the press. You want to build your brand or image in their mind and then stay top of mind with them. An event is a perfect way to do this. It may be as simple as a sneak-preview party or a press appreciation party. Free food and drink is always appealing.

With the exception of the media kit and the media events, most of these activities do not cost much money in terms of materials. But they do take time. If you want to write a plan for yourself, you should include most of these tactics. Typically a company will outsource these functions because they don’t have the time and the existing relationships with the press. if you choose this route, look for a firm that already has established relationships with the media outlets that reach your target customer.