Recently, Shawn Collins and Missy Ward of the Affiliate Summit released a new book - Internet Marketing from the Real Experts, now available at Amazon.com.

“Internet Marketing from the Real Experts” is a collection of affiliate, email, blogging, podcasting, video, search engine, and social network rock stars that break down the how and why of Internet marketing in a clear, easy to understand way.”
JEBCommerce is fortunate to have two individual authors in this book!  Jamie and Stephen have an article each.  We are both excited and honored to be included in this publication.

The book is a great compilation of short and actionable articles from experts in the online marketing space.  Not only that but all net proceeds will go to the National Breast Cancer Foundation.

Get your copy today!

Idaho Advertising Tax Update

JEBCommerce is located in Coeur d’Alene Idaho.  We’ve been watching, supporting and learning about the advertising tax issue from afar for the last few years.  The leadership that Beth Kirsch, Brook Schaaf, Karen Garcia, Jen Goode, Jeanine Crooks, Rebecca Madigan and many others (sorry if I left anyone out), has inspired me to reach out to our elected officials in Idaho to see if they know what the advertising tax is, if it is being proposed in Idaho and what, if anything, myself and my company can do in this state.

This past Saturday, my wife and I attended a political fundraiser where many of our elected state officials were attending.  Thevideo above is a recap of that event and our success in speaking to several representatives and even our governor, Butch Otter.

In the end, for those of you who don’t want to watch the video, nothing is going on in Idaho.  No advertising tax is being proposed and it looks like this state is safe.  I want to thank Governor Otter and the other senators for spending so much time with me this weekend discussing this issue. I also want to give a big shout out to Phil Thompson of Confidential Investigations.  Phil personally introduced me to our officials and without him I wouldn’t have been able to have so many good conversations.

Keep up the good fight guys!

I’ll be honest, I’m a little late with this one…  We wanted to put together some of our favorite JEBCommerce posts from 2009.  The start of the year has been so busy and crazy, it’s taken me almost two months to get around to this :)  But here are our favorite posts, some still very timely.  I hope you enjoy!  (all titles are links to the actual posts)

• Our Affiliate Appraisal Preview Call: On Tuesday, November 3rd, Jamie Birch and Stephen Robinson hosted a 20 minute preview call showcasing how our Affiliate Audit service can help advertisers increase the performance of their programs today.
• Stephen Robinson’s first article in Feedfront
• Downturn requires more analysis and accountability: Widespread budget cuts in 2009 and demands from top management to do more with less have forced corporate marketers to step up their accountability/measurement efforts and improve collaboration with other organizational departments, according to a recent survey from Marketing Management Analytics (MMA) and the Association of National Advertisers (ANA).” - MarketingVox
• Changing the commission rate of your affiliate program: I think everyone understands that nothing is constant, change always happens and many aspects of an affiliate program fluctuate, adjust or need to be altered for the program to remain healthy and at times, to remain at all.  The commission rate is the first thing looked at by the controllers, directors and executives of a company when the economy takes a hit, or the company’s performance slides.  “How can we control costs?”  “How can we become more profitable?”  “Are we paying our affiliates too much?”
• JEBCommerce testimonial - Zappos
• A Conversation with Paul Nichols: Today I spoke with Paul Nichols, you may remember him from his eBates days.  Paul now owns and operates PublisherFocus, a consulting agency geared to help affiliates grow their business.  So in a lot of ways, he provides services similar to JEBCommerce, but to affiliates not merchants.
• How do I get started - Question of the Week
• 10 Reasons to Hire an Outsourced Affiliate Program Manager

The advertising tax, or better known as the amazon tax, is hurting business, Jamie Birch discusses it in the video above.

As an active member of the affiliate marketing community, we are opposed to any state legislation that would attempt to use affiliates to establish nexus for out-of state merchants.

These laws have already impacted JEBCommerce and we want our legislators to know, it’s a bad idea.

JEBCommerce is growing rapidly and needs more talented people right away.  We currently have two positions open.

Assistant Account Manager - Affiliate Program Management

JEBCommerce is growing rapidly and we are looking for someone with great people and organizational skills that is looking to join a high energy team and start a career in online marketing.  This position will assist the affiliate and account managers in:

* executing strategy on a selection of accounts
* day to day management
* develop and continue relationships with key affiliate partners
* develop and execute promotion, activation and recruiting plans
* optimize clients’ affiliate programs

We are looking for someone who can help us continue to grow our clients’ campaigns.  The following are desired qualifications:

* 1-3 years account management experience
* demonstrated success in relationship building
* must have strong communications skills
* ability to work independently
* strong ambition and drive to succeed
* ability to interface directly with clients
* creativity in partner development
* proficiency in excel, word, powerpoint and other online tools and networks is necessary
* exceptional written and verbal communications skills

To apply -  upload your resume and a short (less than 2 minutes) video cover letter at http://drop.io/hidden/arjfewaaor8rhq/upload . No applications will be considered without a resume and a video cover letter.

Internet Marketing Intern

We are looking for an intern!  If you are passionate about the internet space and social media and want to learn and work at fast paced online performance marketing agency, submit your resume and a short video cover letter at http://drop.io/hidden/lpphkszdll937u/upload .

These positions are also located in beautiful Coeur d’Alene Idaho and we are currently not looking for telecommuting candidates.

Shawn Collins and Missy Ward of the Affiliate Summit have released issue 8 of their FeedFront magasine. From what I understand it will be handed out at theAdtech in NYC.

Here is some info I grabbed from the FeedFront website:

“This issue of FeedFront Magazine includes The Importance of Branding in Affiliate Marketing by Rae Hoffman, How to Recycle Your Affiliate Blog Content by Justin Premick, and FTC Endorsement Guidelines by Gary Kibel.

Also, people to follow on Twitter, affiliate marketing statistics, and the program for Affiliate Summit West 2010.

Issue 9 of FeedFront can now be viewed online, downloaded, and printed from Scribd.

Get the FeedFront RSS if you’d like to get all of the articles as they are published to the feed.

If you haven’t subscribed, you can get the magazine for free at http://feedfront.com/free-subscription/.”

Not only that, but this issue includes an article by our very own Shannon Simmons, affiliate manager here at JEBCommerce! Shannon wrote about Affiliate Program’s New Years Resolutions on page 63. Check out the article. Shannon will also be at the Affiliate Summit in Vegas on January 17th, 2010. If you’d like to meet with her, please email her at Shannon AT JEBCommerce.com.

“

On January 17-19th, the JEBCommerce team will be attending the premier affiliate marketing conference - Affiliate Summit West, 2010 in Las Vegas!  Shannon, Jeff, Stephen and Jamie are arriving on Saturday and can’t wait to meet with as many affiliate marketers as we can.

If you are working with any of the affiliate programs we manage (included below) or want to, please let us know and we’ll set up a time to meet with you.

You can email us at:

Shannon AT JEBCommerce.com
Jeff AT JEBCommerce.com
Stephen AT JEBCommerce.com
or Jamie AT JEBCommerce.com

We’d love to meet you and see what we can do together in 2010!  Check out all our managed programs below.

“On Elance, companies gain instant access to 100,000 rated and tested professionals who offer technical, marketing and business expertise. With well over $200m in earnings to date, independent professionals use Elance to meet clients and get paid for delivering great results.” JEBCommerce is thoroughly excited to be working with this amazing and dynamic company. We are working on many exciting things so watch our blog for upcoming news. For now, learn more about the program and sign up by clicking this link.

“philosophy’s promise is to bring its customers products that inspire them to live a better life by being better to themselves. our products care for your skin and your overall well-being. we take a mind, body, spirit approach to personal care and believe only when you feel good can you truly look your best.” This skin-care and make-up affiliate program is on the Google Affiliate Network and is currently producing amazing results for affiliates. Learn more here and join here.

“No matter what your flooring need, we have the solution. We offer the widest selection of quality flooring in the USA. We have the largest collection of hardwood, bamboo, cork, laminate and area rugs. We shop the world to source the best products available in the market today. Our extensive selection of colours, styles and patterns can satisfy every design need, budget and lifestyle.” iFloor is the premier online flooring retailer and one of our highest producing clients. Their affiliate program currently resides on the Google Affiliate Network and you can sign up by clicking this link. Payouts range from 2-10% depending on the product.

“Founded in January 1999, LuggagePoint.com has grown to be one of the most successful online e-tailers of luggage, handbags, backpacks, business cases, laptop cases, travel accessories, and other travel products. At LuggagePoint.com we provide our customers with fast customer service, reasonable prices, and high quality products. We carry a full line of products from many name brand and designer manufacturers.” LuggagePoint.com celebrated their one year anniversary of their affiliate program in September of last year with one amazing Q4! The program is available here on the Commission Junction network.

“Doba provides a place where suppliers can list their product inventory, and you can find items to sell. These different suppliers will drop ship products right to your customers, so you never have to handle or ship products. If you’re a retailer looking for products to sell we have a service package that will work for you” We have a long history with Doba starting years ago when we launched their program on the Kowabunga network all the way to today where we have several programs to choose from: Commission Junction and In-House.

“OverstockDrugstore.com, an eCommerce leader that specializes in brand name diabetic, over-the-counter and health and beauty care products direct-to-the-consumer. We help our customers shop smarter by offering them a wide assortment of top-quality brand-name merchandise in one convenient online store. OverstockDrugstore.com is a trusted retailer of Diabetic, Over-the-Counter and Health and Beauty products with over 14 years industry experience.” You can learn more about the OverstockDrugstore.com program here and sign up on the Google Affiliate Network.

“Simple real-time sharing, collaboration, and presentation.Use drop.io to privately share your files and collaborate in real time by web, email, phone, mobile, and more. Create each drop in two clicks and share what you want, how you want, with whom you want” drop.io is the premier file sharing and collaboration tool on the net. We use this service in a hundred different ways and are excited to offer this opportunity to all affiliates. You can learn more by going to the drop.io affiliate center, grab creative (including video) in our asset drop, and join our Commission Junction powered program here.

QualitySmith connects homeowners with prescreened contractors nationwide for projects like HVAC, Roofing, Siding, Windows, Kitchen Remodels, Basement Remodels, and Painting & Flooring. QualitySmith is looking to partner with affiliate sites through Share-A-Sale to drive qualified homeowner leads. We have several options for promoting QualitySmith: ShareASale; Commission Junction; PepperJam. You can also learn more at our affiliate education center.

Glass.net provides an innovative way to bring customers and auto glass installers together. Glass.net is the only online auto glass website that allows customers the ability to get 3 auto glass quotes with 1 request. We are one of the largest and most respected auto glass replacement sites on the Web. You can sign up for the affiliate program here.

Over the years we have been fortunate and blessed to not only work with so many great affiliates, but also to consider many of them friends.  Yesterday we were notified that one of our friends and affiliates, Todd Martini of Alex’s Coupons, won the Good Morning America Get Away with GMA Contest!  Congratulations Todd!

“The Get Away with GMA Contest rewards individuals who have done something extraordinary for their community, making friends and neighbors thankful for the effort.”

From Todd’s  press release:

Alex’s Coupons (http://www.alexscoupons.com) was launched by the Martini Family in October 1999 to raise money for their daughter Alexandra’s medical treatment. Alexandra was diagnosed with Leukemia in November 1998 at the age of 10 months and underwent life saving Cord Blood Transplants in 1999 and 2003. Now that Alexandra has completed treatment, the Martini Family has continued to remain active supporters of charities that benefit seriously ill children and their families. You can help Alex’s Coupons continue to support seriously ill children and their families by using the coupons on their website to make purchases at over 1200 online stores.

Great job Todd and enjoy your cruise!

Equip Your Affiliate Program for Explosive Growth in Q4 and 2010!

Is your affiliate program optimized to ensure your best possible opportunity for success? Is your affiliate program as effective and efficient as possible. Most programs have room for improvement, and in most cases, a complete analysis, appraisal, and audit of your affiliate program can identify opportunities to significantly increase your performance right away.

Join Our 15 Minute Preview Call
On Tuesday, November 3rd, Jamie Birch and Stephen Robinson will be hosting a 15 minute preview call to show you how our Affiliate Audit service can help you increase the performance of your program right away. The call is free and starts at 1pm PST.

We’ll be discussing each area covered in an affiliate audit, frequently asked questions regarding our audits, success stories and testimonials. We’ll also be on the line after our call to answer any specific questions you might have. You can also learn more by going to www.affiliate-audit.com.

To join our call, simply email us here, or dial 712-432-0080, conference room 286753 and hit the # key. If you’d like us to send you a meeting request, or you would like to listen to this call at a later time, simply email us here.

Now that JEBCommerce is growing quite a bit and we have several new employees and web properties, it is a good time to share all of those with the world.  We use twitter to communicate with our clients, partners and to share a bit more personal and fun info day to day.  Below you’ll find the JEBCommerce corporate twitter accounts as well as the personal twitter accounts of some of our employees.  We hope that you’ll follow us and interact with not only our company, but each of our affiliate managers and team members.

Twitter.com/JEBCommerce - If you are interested in receiving updates on our company, our clients, company news and affiliate industry comments as well as behind the scenes info on JEBCommerce, this is the twitter account to follow.

Twitter.com/News4Affiliates - NewsForAffiliates.com is a website we put together to keep affiliates updated on news specific to individual affiliate programs.  Not only will you get updates on JEBCommerce clients, but also all the merchants (over 60) that use NewsForAffiliates -   those updates show up in this account.

Twitter.com/MyAffCoach - MyAffiliateCoach is a new service that JEBCommerce is launching in August.  This twitter account will update you on when it launches and any other news relating to MyAffiliateCoach.net.

Twitter.com/dropioaffliate -This is the twitter account for the drop.io affiliate program.  If you want to know when our next affiliate training webinar is, when new plans and landing pages are offered and any other news, this is the account you will want to follow.

Twitter.com/JamieeBirch - This is Jamie’s personal account.  If you want to know where he got his coffee this morning, when he is traveling or what place his son finished in this weekend’s BMX race, then follow him here.

Twitter.com/Srobinson - JEBCommerce’s Director of Affiliate Relations, Stephen Robinson - follow him here.

Twitter.com/jnil - Jeff Nilges is one of our assistant affiliate managers and has been with JEBCommerce for some time.

Twitter.com/jebsimmons - Shannon Simmons joined us just a few weeks back and primarily focuses on drop.io, philosophy and 6pm.com.

Twitter is just one of the ways you can follow and interact with the JEBCommerce team.  We can’t wait to hear from all of you!