Archive for the ‘Marketing’ Category

Hi all, just wanted to share with you that I passed the Certified Inbound Marketer exam today. So, I’m now an Inbound Marketing Certified Professional.

If you care to learn more, here’s a link to the press release.

Hi, the following is a response from one of my readers. For some reason, it wasn’t showing up in the comments section. But I feel it is very, very good and worthy of its own post. -Debra

All of the email addresses posted below are publicly available online, so I don’t think it hurts for me to post them here.  This is a list of the Colorado General Assembly’s email addresses, and the email I just sent them.

suzanne.williams.senate@state.co.us, bruce.whitehead.senate@state.co.us, al.white.senate@state.co.us, reppaul@aol.com, mark.waller.house@state.co.us, edvigil1@gmail.com, glenn.vaad.house@state.co.us, lotochtrop@aol.com, abel.tapia.senate@state.co.us, max@maxtyler.us, nancy.todd.house@state.co.us, cohd58@yahoo.com, pat.steadman.senate@state.co.us, nancyspence@qwest.net, brandon@brandonshaffer.com, gail.schwartz.senate@gmail.com, senatorschultheis@gmail.com, mark.scheffel.senate@state.co.us, nwden34@yahoo.com, spencer.swalm.house@state.co.us, ken.summers.house@state.co.us, amy.stephens.house@state.co.us, john.soper.house@state.co.us, jerry@repsonnenberg.com, judy.solano.house@state.co.us, sue.schafer.house@state.co.us, christine.scanlan.house@state.co.us, chris.romer.senate@state.co.us, senatorrenfroe@gmail.com, su.ryden.house@state.co.us, jim.riesberg.house@state.co.us, ellen.roberts.house@state.co.us, joshpenry@gmail.com, joe.rice.house@state.co.us, kpriola@gmail.com,dianne.primavera.house@state.co.us, jack.pommer.house@state.co.us, cherylin.peniston.house@state.co.us, sal.pace.house@state.co.us, linda.newell.senate@gmail.com, rep.nikkel@gmail.com, john.morse.senate@state.co.us, murrayhouse45@gmail.com, shawnmitch@aol.com, joe@joemiklosi.com, repmiddleton@gmail.com, michael.merrifield.house@state.co.us, wes.mckinley.house@state.co.us, mcfadyen2002@hotmail.com, beth.mccann.house@state.co.us, mike.may.house@state.co.us, tom.massey.house@state.co.us, marshalooper@gmail.com, kevin@kevinlundberg.com, larry.liston.house@state.co.us, replabuda@yahoo.com, rep.kent.lambert@comcast.net, claire.levy.house@state.co.us, mike.kopp.senate@state.co.us, steve.king.house@state.co.us, james.kerr.house@state.co.us, andy.kerr.house@state.co.us, mike.johnston.senate@state.co.us, repkagan@gmail.com, john.kefalas.house@state.co.us, moe.keller.senate@state.co.us, repjoeljudd@joeljudd.com, electkenkester@hotmail.com, senatorhudak@gmail.com, mary.hodge.senate@state.co.us, dl.hullinghorst.house@state.co.us, ted.harvey.senate@state.co.us, rollie.heath.senate@state.co.us, cheri.gerou@gmail.com, jerryfrangas@earthlink.net, joyce.foster.senate@state.co.us, sara.gagliardi.house@state.co.us,bob.gardner.house@state.co.us, gardner@plains.net, cindy.acree.house@state.co.us,repdennisapuan@gmail.com, david.balmer.house@state.co.us, randy.baumgardner.house@state.co.us, debbie@debbiebenefield.org,laurabradford55@gmail.com, bob.bacon.senate@state.co.us, betty.boyd.senate@state.co.us, greg@gregbrophy.net, terrance.carroll.house@state.co.us, edward.casso.house@state.co.us, loiscourt@msn.com, repcurry@gmail.com, bill.cadman.senate@state.co.us, brian@briandelgrosso.com, mferrandino@yahoo.com, randyfischer@frii.com, dan.gibbs.senate@state.co.us

To Whom It May Concern,

I’m not a big business… I’m a former teacher (Greeley), turned massage therapist (Aurora), turned business owner (Denver and Parker).

I’m a regular 30 year old married guy with a small online presence.

Since my voice hasn’t been heard in the past, I’m emailing everyone who’s email address I can find.

The passage of HB 10-1193, and the Governor’s signing of the bill, has resulted in my termination from the Amazon Associates program.

Other affiliate programs and businesses are sure to follow suit with their contractors in Colorado.

In case you’re not aware, Amazon’s Associate program is a program in which people can get paid referral fees for selling products on Amazon.com.

I WAS earning referral fees from marketing those products to people all over the world.

Those referral fees were then taken and spent in Colorado, at COLORADO businesses, hiring contractors (writers, email support, bookkeeping services, etc.) IN COLORADO, and helping to build the economy of our state.

I have SEVERAL friends who have also found their accounts terminated today, everyone I know (myself included) paid taxes on this income last year, and everyone I know who is part of this program in Colorado spends this money in Colorado.

I won’t be able to earn income anymore through Amazon.com, at least not in Colorado, thanks to the passage of this poorly enacted piece of legislation.

Why is it a poor piece of legislation?

It was created to influence retailers into paying Colorado sales tax.

Amazon.com has no business presence in Colorado.

But they have me as an affiliate, a contractor, a person who has no say or control over what direction Amazon will take their business Neither do 99.999% of all affiliates through Amazon.

However, because you designated, through this law, that affiliates constitute a business presence for Amazon.com in our state, Amazon terminated ALL affiliates in Colorado, even those earning less than $10,000 annually (which is most of us).

Again, affiliates are not employees.  Affiliates have no real say in the direction of Amazon’s business.

Just so you’re aware, here’s what will happen with the passage of this law.

The big players who can afford to will simply move their businesses out of Colorado, so you will no longer benefit from their spending or through being able to tax their businesses.

You will not be able to collect taxes from Amazon.com, and other companies will simply choose not to associate themselves with affiliate marketers based out of Colorado.

Current companies with larger operations in Colorado as contractors will either relocate their contractors or simply terminate their relationship.

In the online world, all this law has done is penalize smaller affiliates.  In the “real” world, what taxes are you going to be able to collect?  And how will this law be enforced?

HB 10-1193 is quite possibly the worst way to deal with legislation surrounding collecting Colorado sales tax.

I agree that sales tax in our state is a good thing.

- But what about the income collected in the form of income tax from 1099 contractors?
- What about those who choose Colorado as a place to operate their businesses and spend money hiring employees, (people who buy groceries and gas at local stores), buying foreclosed property and fixing it up, in our state?

I’m pretty sure this bill was passed with good intentions, but I’m completely lost as to the thinking behind how passage of this law would increase revenues or spending or the overall wellbeing in our state.  This law has been passed with no positive result I can see now, or in the future.

You were hoping this law would help to alleviate the state’s budget deficit.  Instead, it takes money, employment, and investment opportunities out of Colorado.

Since Amazon has terminated it’s affiliates, other online retailers will follow suit.

As for me, I don’t know what I will be doing, but will be figuring it out this afternoon.

I don’t know if my small voice really makes any real difference, especially since this legislation was passed anyway.

However, I thought it important for you to know how this legislation has affected my ability to spend money in our state, and the state’s ability to collect taxes on my income.

In case it’s not clear from this email, a vote in favor of this bill has affected my life and my ability to help our state in a very negative way.

Regrettably,

Jonathan Kraft

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