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What The FTC And Steve Urkel Have In Common

Dan Hughes — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 00:46:47 +0000

News of the FTC crackdown on Internet Marketing is spreading like lolcatz wildfire. There’s more doom and gloom being blogged over the new guidelines than cable news has stories about, well… doom and gloom. So how about some good news! Contrary to popular belief, the sky(net) is not falling. Common sense will prevail. In fact, it kinda already has and from the least likely of sources.

The FTC – “Did I Do That?”

Ahh… there’s nothing like a govenment agency / legal system to completely misunderstand a situation. Wheter it’s Anderson Cooper beating FIMA to a disater location or the US Supreme Court coming to the defence of a spammer, they always seem to get things mixed up.

The FTC may have underestimated the confusion the new guidelines would cause, but they have been suprisingly quick to explain themselves and what reality will look like for those effected.

One of the biggest concerns was that (possibly) innocent online socialites would blog themelves into the now famous $11,000 fine. Not so, says the FTC’s Richard Cleland. In a Q&A with FastCompany magazine he said,

“That $11,000 fine is not true. Worst-case scenario, someone receives a warning, refuses to comply, followed by a serious product defect; we would institute a proceeding with a cease-and-desist order and mandate compliance with the law. To the extent that I have seen and heard, people are not objecting to the disclosure requirements but to the fear of penalty if they inadvertently make a mistake. That’s the thing I don’t think people need to be concerned about. There’s no monetary penalty, in terms of the first violation, even in the worst case.”

You can read the rest of the brief Q&A here. If you’re feeling brave, you can read all 81 pages of the new guidelines here

My take on it? From what I see, nearly everyone is over reacting. In fact, if I’m foolish enough to read between the fines, the FTC seem to be telling people to chill out.

Points to consider:

Federal agencies have always been able to interpret the law kinda sorta however they see fit. Obviously they are not above the law… but if they don’t like what your’re doing, they’ll hunt until they find a law you have broken. This has always been the case. Long before these new guidelines.
The US had (and still has) some of the most lax advertising standards / laws / regulations in the western world. Yet there are many affiliates from the the UK, Europe and elsewhere that are doing just fine operating in far more restrictive environments.
The newly released guidelines are just that… guidelines. They are not the law. Yes, they can / do play a role in court cases, but at the end of the day, we’re answerable to the law and not guidelines.
The new guidelines are entirely untested. Clearly I am not an attorney, but reading through them, even I can see *many* reasons why anyone prosecuting will have an extremely hard time actually winning. Whatever new action the FTC takes, it will be against the big players becuase they will be looking to make an example of them. Big players can afford big lawyers. The outcomes will give the legal precedents for the kind of lawyers you and I can afford.
I’ve read several doom and gloom opinions from actual Attorneys. On the face of it you’d think that an attorney would have an expert opinion. Here’s what you need to remember about Attorneys… They are Attorneys! Attorneys (thankfully) don’t actually think for themselves… they use case law to form opinions. Well, there isn’t any specifically relating to the new guidelines. Quite naturally they are being extremely cautious in the advice they are giving. They don’t want to end up with egg on there face, or even end up being sued.
The FTC have flat out said that *no one* will be receiving a fine without first receiving a warning letter (and then some). If someone receives a warning letter, the FTC have said they will give them specific advice on how to correct the issue.

Here’s My Plan:

… and it’s not very different from what I’ve always done.

Don’t be a butthead! In other words, don’t deceive people, don’t lie, don’t make up stuff.
Be cautious if you use testimonials or make performace claims or your product or someone elses. Only use ones that don’t mention specifics. Think about the way that Coke advertises. At no point (in the last 100ish years) have they said they that Coke makes you pretty, or skinny or more likely to get… errm… lucky. But that is not the feeling you get from watching one of their ads.
If you’re selling your own products take care of your customers. The FTC have said that invesigations are almost always the results of significant numbers of complaints. If your customer wants a refund… give it to them. For any reason and at any time. Wait until you literally cannot afford to give out any more refunds before you worry about denying refunds. Sounds insane, but unless your selling absolute junk, and you get unlucky, it’ll never come to that.
Make sure you are incredibly contactable. Set up easy to find phone numbers / mailing addresses and support systems (zendesk / kayako / whatever). Generally speaking, people are blind / stupid. The last thing you want is someone complaining to the FTC (or anyone else), just because they couldn’t find your phone number. A PO box costs $10ish per month. Zendesk can be free. A real life human-being-receptionist can cost less than $50 per month.
If you are making enough money to be able to afford an attorney, you should have an attorney. That’s basic business common sense. Chances are that if you can’t afford one, then you aren’t big enough to raise m/any red flags with anyone.
If there’s a posibilty that you could receive money becuase someone clicks on a link you’ve posted, make sure you tell them. If you’re an affiliate, that should be every link you post =D. It doesn’t need to be overpoweringly overt (read: conversion killing). Until the FTC tells me otherwise, I will be amending my disclaimers, disclosures and TOS etc with legalese to that effect. Addionaly I will include a friendly, plain English prominant summary of what that means. The summary will also includes a link to the actual disclaimers.

To make it perfectly clear, I am not an Attorney. What you just read is not legal advice. In fact, it not advice at all. It’s the rant of some random guy on the internet. Don’t beleive a word he says. Certainly don’t take his advise. Rumour has it that he is drunk almost all of the time.

Feel free to let me know what I’ve missed and exactally how out of my mind I am in the comments below. I look forward to hearing your opinions and what you’re doing to meet the December 1st deadline.

Build A Free Keyword List That Doesn’t Suck.

Dan Hughes — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 03:44:57 +0000

As I’ve said before, I throughly recommend using tools like KeywordSpy.com and SpyFu.com to generate keywords. That said, I totally understand that those services can seem expensive. So here’s my method for generating a keyword list of reasonable size that is’t full of useless keywords. Make sure you watch it all the way through, because there are a couple of things things I do differently that can really improve the quality of the keywords you generate.

Tools Used:

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Biggest Ever List Of Affiliate Networks?

Dan Hughes — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 14:45:30 +0000

Does that headline sound like linkbait or what?? Well, there’s 260 of them, but as the saying goes (I hope), it’s not the size that matters, it’s what you do with it. So make sure you start applying. I am not vouching for any of the companies on this list. But if your starting out, your primary goal should be to just get accepted, we’ll worry about quality later. I’m be posting network specific reviews later, so make sure you look out for them.
Please leave a comment on your experiences with any of the companies. Also mention if you’ve find a dead link, or if you can think of any I have missed.

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Questions You'll Be Asked During An Affiliate Interview

Dan Hughes — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 14:14:06 +0000

The screening interview when your trying join a new affiliate network can be daunting at the best of times. Being asked a question that you don’t even understand (let alone are able to answer) can quickly make things worse.

Here’s a list of questions we’ve been asked frequently (and when they mean). Don’t think you have to answer the questions they ask. In no way should you give away all your money-getting-secrets just because some affiliate manager asks!

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I’m sure there are some questions missing. Feel free add the ones we have missed in the comments. Affiliates (and Affiliate Managers) are notorious for coming up with seemingly random abbreviations too (Landing Page = LP = Lander). Add you favorite abbreviations to the comments too.

Quick and Easy Swipe File

Dan Hughes — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 21:41:37 +0000

Ask any Copywriter what there most valuable business asset is, and most will tell you it’s their Swipe File. In case you don’t know, a Swipe File is a collection of other peoples advertising (often direct response) that they draw from for inspiration and sometimes balls-out plagiarize (it’s kinda sorta tolerated, even expected in the industry)!

It can take years to build up a decent swipe file. Here’s our shortcut, that will at least get you off to a good start.

The idea here is that instead of hating junk-mail, you begin to love it and even encourage it. The junk mail you normally throw out represents years of experience and millions of dollars worth of testing. You get to benefit from that investment my mimicking and adapting what they send in your own campaigns.

When you get this stuff, it’s vitally important that you keep every part of it. The envelope, the inserts, the post-it notes and scratch cards. All of it. Absolutely everything that gets sent to you has been shown to increase conversion.

None of these lists cost anything to get on. It is worth saying though that if they sell something that is *extremely* inexpensive (as in under $10) you should at some point buy it. This can dramatically increase the amount of mail you receive because they now see you as a buyer.

A couple of words of warning:

Never give them your real phone number. Trust me on that one, lol.
Create a special email address that you use for signing up to mailing lists and not personal coresponsence. Again, trust me!
Be Strong! Some of the copy you will receive is extremely good and something could tempt you! Unless you want to spend thousands of dollars and have little more to show for it than a Hand-Crafted Replica Indonesian Bi-Centennial Rupee *don’t buy anything*.
Use a slightly different spelling of your name for each list you join and make a note. That way you’ll know which company is responsible for each piece of mail.
If the mail ever seems to dry up, simply rejoin the list or buy something that is extremely inexpensive. Seriously, set a budget now and make sure it’s way under $10. Never rely on the fact that most of the companies offer refund policies.

Here’s our list of great mail lists to join.

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More Incorporated (Get-Rich-Quick niche) http://www.tmcnewsletter.com/ http://www.whatshotrightnow.com/

In absolutely no way do I recommend this companies products, if anything I would advise you say away. That said, some of their copywriting is excellent. It’s simple and repetitive in nature, so it’s also very easy to mimic.

They start by sending you a 40 page sales letter. Even though it’s 40 pages long, there are only 4 distinct messages. The main sales letter even comes with it’s own stick-letter! About a week after you recieve the mamoth salesletter, they’ll send you a large desk calculator. The idea being, that’ll you’ll need a really big calculator to add up all the money you’ll be making. Shortly after that they give up, but this is where the fun really starts! They will sell the heck out of your information, and you will get a constant stream of mail, all from different companies, all using diverse techniques.

Breck’s (Consumer Products / Elderly) http://brecks.com/catalog_request_qas.asp

You may have to buy something form them to get really get their attention, but everything is super cheap. To start with just request a copy of their free catalogue. Their copy is good (not there catalog so much as their “Special Offer” mailings), but more importantly you will end up on more Franklin Mint / Readers Digest type lists than you ever thought existed.

Marilyn Hickey Ministries (Religious / Fundraising) https://www.mhmin.org/identify https://www.mhmin.org/prayer

Just looking at it from a business perspective, Fundraising is big business. I would say that Hickey is a medium sized Religious Fundraiser and according to Hoovers.com 1 of her 4 companies did 10.8 million dollars last year. Unfortunately MHM don’t re-sell their lists, but they more than make up for that in what they send. Her copy (well, her copywriter’s) is highly emotive and uses props. Along with the letters you will get things as diverse as multi-coloured pieces of cloth, brown paper bags, sachets of oil, even chop sticks! The remarkable part is no matter how random the items they send may appear, they are very effectively tied into their religious and donation messaging.

Home Business Connection (Get-Rich-Quick / Biz Opp) http://www.freehbcmag.com

If you’ve ever read Entrepreneur Magazine than you’ve almost certainly seen all the Biz-Opp ads in the back. Home Business Magazine is just like that… 10x. Think of it like 60 pages of full colour sales letters and display classifieds, conveniently mailed to your home every month =D . In theory they charge for the “magazine“. In my experience, once you sign up for their free trial (no credit card, or anything else needed) they’ll just keep on sending to you. The content makes Parade Magazine look like Pulitzer Prize winning journalism, but even that can be useful. Think of it as a good example of Advertorial sales copy. After a while, you’ll also recveive another one for there publications called True Wealth Magazine. I’ve not found a way to sign up for that specifically, it just starts coming once you sign up for their other mailer.

Online Swipe File

If you don’t already use it, download a copy of Evernote . Every time you see PPC ads or sales letters or anything that catches your eye, you can cut and paste or clip it into Evernote. The application also lets you do screen grabs. All of the data is easily searchable, automatically saved, and all kept it one place. The application is also free.

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If you know of any other good lists to join please leave a comment.

Alternatives To Google Adwords

Dan Hughes — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 06:10:46 +0000

If you’re starting out, Google is almost certainly not the place to learn Pay Per Click. You are in effect learning to drive in a Ferrari…. and Ferrari’s don’t come in automatic!

There are lots of places to advertise, but the most similar to Google, is MSN. What you learn by using MSN will very much apply to anything you do when you start using Google.

Reasons NOT to use Google when you start out:

It can be the most expensive network to buy clicks on. Technically Yahoo is, but not in a way that would likely impact a beginner.
Google moves waaaay too fast. Imagine you’re a salesperson in a store, just starting out. You earn a commission on every sale, but you have to pay your boss every time a customer approaches you. Would you want your first day to be at the store in Times Square… or would you rather start out in a nice neighborhood strip mall??
Super Affiliates don’t even understand Google. OK, they have a very good idea of how things work, but even the biggest players use a lot of educated trial and error.
No one can hear you scream. The support for Google Adwords is some of the worst in the industry. They have FAQs and forums, but that is pretty much where it stops. You can email them if you want…. but don’t expect an answer. If you’re lucky enough to get a reply, I promise it will in no way answer your question. You can try calling their 800 number, but good luck getting a human. MSN have an 800 number. Real, English speaking people answer the phone. It’s not just technical support either. They will quite literally help you pick keywords, improve CTR and positioning, reduce click prices… everything. I’m not saying their advice is going to make you rich, but they will help you.
Google users are way too smart. At this point in the game, there is no good reason to use any search engine other than Google. The others just plain suck… Yet millions of people still use MSN, Yahoo and even the super small ones. Would you rather be advertising Fat-Loss-4-Idiots to a technically savvy internet junkie…. or someone who can’t figure out how to change the default homepage on Internet Explorer?

There are normally lots of MSN coupons flying around online if you look. They are also not usually for piddly little amounts like $50. $200 coupons for MSN are not unusual.

The best way to get a seemingly never ending supply of coupons is to become a certified advertiser (this also applies to Google).

It’s not that hard, and you *will* learn some useful information.

Google is the by far best place to base your research but I almost always try and find alternatives to running campaigns with them.

Oh – The other thing that Google is good for… Finding coupons! Almost all Pay Per Click networks have coupons for for first time users. Using them is a great way to try out the alternatives and get some free traffic .

Here’s a list of networks that offer Pay Per Click or similar solutions…. I am not vouching for any of them, so be sure to do due diligence.

http://chitika.com
http://fairadsnetwork.com
http://infolinks.com
http://adlandpro.com
http://yahoo.com
http://uk.adsmart.net
www.adbrite.com
www.addynamix.com/publishers.html
www.adgenta.com/advertising/tour/tour01p01.shtml
www.adknowledge.com/
www.adtegrity.com/publishers/
www.advertising.com/
www.bannerconnect.net/publishers
www.bluefn.com/publishersfaq.html
www.burstmedia.com/
www.casalemedia.com/
www.click-share.com/publisher.html
www.clicksor.com/
www.echotopic.com/howitworks.html
www.expoactive.com/
www.hyperbidder.com/HYWeb/HomePageServlet
www.industrybrains.com/Affproducts.aspx
www.interclick.com/PublishersV2.aspx
www.joetec.net/publishers/
www.kitaramedia.com/adv-advehicles.html
www.kontera.com/ads-for-site/ContentLink-ads/
www.mirago.com/media/context-stream.htm
www.miva.com/us/
www.nixxie.com/index.html
www.oridian.com/publisher_con…etworking.html
www.realcastmedia.com/publishers.html
www.realtechnetwork.com/
www.text-link-ads.com/faq.php
www.tribalfusion.com
www.valueclickmedia.com/

Affiliate Network Tracking URLs

Dan Hughes — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 05:54:24 +0000

Affiliate marketing Competitive Intelligence (aka Spying) is all about finding bits of information scattered across the internet and then piecing them together in a meaningful way.

One of the best places to start your search is with the Tracking URLs the Affiliate Networks use.

Just doing a simple Google search on all or part of the URL string can find lots of useful infomation about what other affiates are doing. This information becomes very valuble when you combine it with popular Spy tools like KeywordSpy or Google Cash Detective. Anyway… Here’s our list of Affiliate Network Tracking URLs

Affiliate Network	Tracking URL
Ad Reporting	adreporting.com
Affiliate Fuel	affiliatefuel.com aftrk.com
Agami Media	agamimedia.com
Commission Junction	anrdoezrs.net dpbolvw.net jdoqocy.com kqzyfj.com qksrv.net tkqlhce.com
Affiliate Window	awin1.com
Azoogle	azjmp.com
Clickbank	clickbank.net
ClickBooth	clickboothlnk.com
Performics	clickserve.cc-dt.com
ClixGalore	clixgalore.com
Commission X Change	commissionxchange.directtrack.com
COPEAC	cpaclicks.com
Silver iNet	cpacoreg.com
CPA Valley	cpavalley.com
Digital River	digitalriver.com
Elite Commission	elitecommission.com
Float InterActive	floatcs.com
Flux Advertising	fluxads.com
Incenta Click	incentaclick.com
Incent Reward	incentreward.directtrack.com
Instant Dollarz	instantdollarz.com
Iron Offers	ironoffers.com
Kowabunga	kowabunga.com
Leader Clicks	lctrax.com leaderclicks.com
Leader Markets	leadermarkets.com
Link Connector	linkconnector.com
LinkShare	linksynergy.com
Hydra Network	lynxtrack.com
Modern Click	m0Adernclick.com m0dernclick.com
Max Bounty	maxbounty.com mb01.com
CPA Storm	media303.com
Millnic	millnicmedia.com
My Affiliate Program	myaffiliateprogram.com myap.com
NeverBlue Ads	neverblueads.com
One Network	onenetworkdirect.net
Panthera Network	pantheranetwork.com
PayDotCom	paydotcom.com
PepperJam	pntrs.com
Premier Incentive	premiereincentive.com
Primary Ads	primaryads.com
Revenue Loop	revenueloop.com
Revenue Universe	revenueuniverse.com
Rextopia	rextopia.com
Share A Sale	shareasale.com
Rocket Profit	synthebyte.com
Tarsus Media	tarsus-media.com
Think Action	thinkaction.com
Traffic Venue Direct	trafficvenuedirect.com
WebJam Ads	webjamads.com
Xy7	xy7.com
CPA Empire	tracking101.com

There are lots more, but that list will certainly keep you busy for a long time. We will be adding to them, but if you can see ones we have missed, please add your comments below.

How To Get Accepted Into An Affiliate Network

Dan Hughes — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 05:48:34 +0000

A lot a people seem to get very worked-up about applying to a CPA Affiliate Network. I can understand why… it’s kinda like a job interview. But, just like a job interview, the reality is not that bad and it’s something you have to do.

Before we get down to the nitty gritty, I want to give you somewhat for a preface.

Affiliate Networks have two customers. You, the Affiliate (sometimes called a Publisher) and the Advertiser. Successful networks are equally protective of both parties.

The approval process is almost entirely aimed at keeping the Advertisers happy and the Network safe.

The advertiser spends a lot of money setting up the campaign and will then often have to pay a large deposit to the network before their offer can start running. With all that money on the line, the advertiser needs to be certain that they aren’t gonna get ripped off.

The network themselves will often have their butt on the line too. Most networks will pay you at least Net 30 (every 30 days). Better ones will pay you Net 15 (every 15 days). As you become a better affiliate the payment terms get better. Net 10 and 7 are very common. The very best affiliates for large networks will sometimes get Net 1 and can even be pre-paid!

Most Networks bill the Advertiser just like any other business. They send out the bill once a month and then typically the Advertiser has 30 days to day. That means the network can be carrying the advertiser for 45 days!

An offer selling 5000 units a month is not uncommon, and can even be on the low side.

5000 units sold with a $35 payout is $175,000.

That’s a lot of money to at least be partially based on trusting your affiliates not to rip you off.

With that in mind, the approval process is about screening out people that appear to be up to no good. Networks also don’t really want a whole bunch of inactive affiliates (people who sign up on a whim and never really do anything).

Therein lies the problem for a beginner. It’s the same kind of Catch 22 that a recent college grad might face. All the best jobs require that you have experience, but how can you get experience if no one will give you a job!

I’ve spoken to many affiliate managers and even a couple of network managers (off the record) and their advice is pretty much the same across the board. If you’re serious about selling their products and services and are not going to rip them off, they want you on board.

In plain English that means beginners are going to have to bend the truth and maybe even tell a couple of white-lies (or forward looking statements as Fortune 500 companies like to call them) to the first affiliate networks they join.

The following are a series of steps that will certainly point you in the right direction. Please make sure you read through all the steps before you start following them.

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Follow those steps are you stand a very good chance of getting into a lot of affiliate networks.

Insanely Open And Honest Disclosure And Disclaimer Statement

Dan Hughes — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 21:14:22 +0000

Thanks for reading the No-More-Bull.com Disclosure and Disclaimer Statement.

The problem with any kind of Disclosure / Disclaimer is how they are written. Legalese is not easy to understand, which totally defeats the purpose of being upfront and honest.

If you the kind of person who like reading legal mumbo-jumbo (<== technical term), then you can find that version here: Disclaimer, Terms Of Use, Privacy Policy

For the rest of us mere mortals, here’s our Plain English Version.

No-More-Bull.com is a blog about Internet and Afiliate Marketing. We offer information on, you guessed it, Internet and Affiliate Marketing.

We are not experts. No-More-Bull.com, it’s authors and the information it contains should be considered completely unqualified.

Some of that information is about techniques, methods, products and services that we have found uselful in running our own businesses. Just because we’ve found it useful or beneficial does not mean you will. It’s entirely possible (and likely) that this information is incorrect, incomplete and or inappropriate for your business (or any business). It’s possible that using this information could be damaging (financially, or otherwise) to you and or your business.

You should consider ALL the information on No-More-Bull.com to be financially motivated. Assume that we are receiving or expect to receive or hope to receive money or other considerations for everything that appears.

This information could be updated and or changed completely at any time. We will not notify of those changes. This means that you should check here often to see how the information has changed.

By visiting this website you agree that you understand and accept this completely.