Outsourcing your affiliate management is viable solution for advertisers on the Linkshare Affiliate Network, one of the oldest and largest affiliate networks. Streamlining the way a company earns and produces can be dealt with through outsourcing. Companies such Linkshare offer a great affiliate platform for advertisers and publishers looking for extended reach and success.

Linkshare provides a full-service of online marketing solutions for both advertisers and publishers. Linkshare specializes in the area of Search Engine Marketing, Lead Generation and Affiliate Marketing, offering those innovative strategies and solutions that bear fruitful results, however their strength is in affiliate marketing.

Advertisers who need help finding and retaining new consumers can turn to Linkshare for its unparalleled management in creating a burgeoning and successful affiliate marketing program. Linkshare can craft a marketing plan in conjunction with your timetable and staff to achieve your overall goals and maximize your revenue objectives. Linkshare understands the ever-changing landscape of online marketing and can be a useful tool to reaching your goals. Linkshare keeps your company prepared for perpetual success.

Publishers can enjoy a network filled with some of the most successful brands and advertisers in the world. The Linkshare network offers tools and technologies to optimize your opportunities and help your business. Publisher dashboards, obtaining links and reporting are all easily accessed through the Linkshare website.

Establishing a relationship with Linkshare also offers educational opportunities and access to the latest news and information facing the affiliate industry. Linkshare University provides ongoing training; education and the best practice information to help advertisers and publishers reach their goals through newsletters and web seminars. Advertisers can obtain useful information on the latest online marketing strategies while publishers, new and experienced can benefit from the continuing education that Linkshare University provides. Linkshare University is a committed to sowing the seeds of your success.

Linkshare also offers Symposiums throughout the year, across the globe offering a variety of ways for clients to network and optimize their sales initiatives. After successful events in San Francisco, CA, London, England and Tokyo, Japan, Linkshare offers Symposium East, in New York, NY on June 22. Among the sessions in the Symposium is a Key Note discussion led by Sucharita Mulpuru, VP of Forrester Research. Ms. Mulpuru will elaborate on the Key Trends Shaping the Future of Performance Marketing. There will also be a panel discussion on Affiliate Marketing in Today’s E-Commerce Landscape along with other opportunities to network and increase your business.

Linkshare stands committed to your needs as an advertiser or publisher. When outsourcing your affiliate management we suggest using Experience Advertising, Inc. the leading outsourced affiliate management agency.

Just got another email from Linkshare peddling ShoeMoney tools! Thought it was funny (but not funny) that they are trying to make money off their affiliates! You know Linkshare is making an affiliate commission on the $79/month price tag (that magic price point charged for supposed Internet stuff). Woopie..you get the first month for $3.95. Most of these tools are available for free from other sources. Affiliates should never have to pay for tools to help them be better affiliate marketers. Linkshare should put together their own suite of tools instead of reselling ShoeMoney’s tools. They must think he’s so great, but I don’t see it. It’s also funny that they are offering the same deal ShoeMoney offers to his newsletter subscribers and for the first 50 that respond…classic cheesy marketing!

In a bold and seemingly smart move, Linkshare announced that they have inked a partnership with domain name giant GoDaddy.com to add affiliate tracking capabilities to GoDaddy eCommerce storefronts. This would seem like a really great idea because it will get more merchants involved in affiliate marketing and open up some new niches that affiliates can participate in. But, at the same time, it’s going to push a lot of clueless merchants into the space with most likely little direction. And what are the set-up fees and monthly minimums? If the program doesn’t grow very fast, the merchants will be in a state of bewilderment and confusion. I have seen many merchants whose affiliate programs, where ever they were placed, languished and didn’t grow. And certainly not reach their fullest potential that comes with good affiliate management. Another aspect is a lot of these Godaddy eCommerce sites aren’t brilliantly designed, so affiliates could be working their butts off with little to no conversions. Nothings worse than that! We’ll have to see what happens with this one.

I thought it was an April fools joke at first glance, but it appears that Linkshare is having Joan Rivers as the host of the Linkshare Golden Link Awards! Is this a reflection on Linkshare as a network?? Nah, should be pretty funny most likely. I’m actually somewhat of a closet Joan Rivers fan, I think she has talent.

Linkshare has released a deep linking interface which allows affiliates to link directly to any page of a merchant’s site. This is a really cool feature Linkshare as added. Many affiliate request the ability to promote or review a particular product. There are tools, link Popshops, which allow affiliates to pull the product code from any CJ, Linkshare or Shareasale merchant with a datafeed. This new Link Share tool could really enable more affiliates to get productive! We’ll see how it goes…let me know your thoughts about Linkshare’s new deep linking tool!

There is some talk about California adopting a similar law to the NY state affiliate tax law. Linkshare has just put up a page to address the questions about this issue. Here is the link: http://www.linkshare.com/advertisers/ca_state_tax/

I really hope states think about the affiliates best interests when looking at these issues. Let me know what you think!

I just received an email that the Overstock.com affiliate program is moving from the Linkshare Affiliate Network to the Commission Junction Affiliate Network. And guess what? They email had no From in the sender as has been the cases for ages with the Overstock.com affiliate newsletters. That has always irked me! I even pointed it out to them but they couldn’t seem to get it fixed. I’m sure they will better luck sending emails properly through Commission Junction. Here is the main information in the email I received:

We are delighted to announce that the Overstock.com Affiliate Program will be transitioned from the LinkShare network to the Commission Junction network. As many of you are aware, we have had a long and mutually successful partnership with LinkShare, but feel at this time it is in the best interest of our Affiliate Program to make this change. We look forward to and appreciate both networks’ commitment to ensuring that it is a smooth process for our publishers. The transition to Commission Junction will begin within the next three to four weeks.

It goes on…in other news…and proceeds to list out a bunch of specials. Going for one last promotion push before bailing Linkshare! Hope the transition from Linkshare to CJ goes well, this can be a very difficult thing to accomplish.

[display_podcast]

We (Shawn Collins, Lisa Picarille, Jim Kukral and myself) recorded GeekCast this afternoon and it’s a great show…

GeekCast 22: iPhone 2.0 and It’s Still Useless : GeekCast.fm: “The show kicked off with talk of the iPhone 2.0, and the virtues like 3G speed, as well as the negatives, such as the keyboard, lack of copy/paste, etc.

The rumored ability to capture video didn’t pan out (did RIM start that rumor?), which was a letdown for your loyal GeekCasters.”

This is one of my favorite episodes yet because Jim and I basically come to blows over Zobzee and mandles.

Affiliate networks are beginning to get more active (or at least more vocal) on the New York state affiliate tax issue.

CJ has weighed in with a general call for due diligence, ShareASale has been more proactive and involved with the issue both on their blog and in the ABW forum. Then during the GeekCast podcast yesterday, Shawn Collins discussed Linkshare’s partnership with the DMA over the issue.

Here is the email Linkshare is sending out to publishers today:

LinkShare has issued the following invitation to a teleconference on the New York State sales tax change and affiliate marketing:

On April 9, 2008, New York State passed a law mandating that any retailer that (1) meets a certain sales volume from sales to New York customers and (2) has an affiliate program with New York based publishers that refer customers to the retailer and are paid on a commission basis must charge and collect New York sales tax on all sales shipped to New York.

We have been actively working with, and providing support to, the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) to clarify this law. The Direct Marketing Association is the leading global trade association for businesses that use direct marketing tools and techniques. LinkShare is proud to be their partner. As this issue continues to develop, we are committed to making available the insights of authoritative partners like the DMA to help inform and guide you.

To this end, we are pleased to invite you to be LinkShare’s guest for the DMA’s conference call on this issue, featuring DMA Tax Counsel George Isaacson this Thursday, May 22, 11AM to 12Noon Eastern. He will provide an overview of the bill and the DMA’s interpretation of it. There will also be an opportunity for Q&A.

To join the call (Thursday, May 22, 11AM to 12Noon Eastern), email government@the-dma.org to receive personalized dial in information. Please let them know you are a member of the LinkShare Network.

Of course, while the DMA provides an authoritative source for information, since every business has a unique situation, we urge all our partners to seek out individual independent tax and legal advice. The New York Department of Taxation and Revenue‘s Technical Service Bulletin (TSB) and DMA’s analysis of it are available on our site at http://www.linkshare.com/advertisers/ny_state_tax/

For details, please contact:

Mark Kirschner
LinkShare
646-943-8359
mkirschner@linkshare.com

Dan Dent
Blanc & Otus Public Relations for LinkShare
617.451.7351
ddent@blancandotus.com

I’ll be on the call (from a hammock on Hilton Head Island, SC while my monkey butler brings me drinks…) and will share my thoughts here tomorrow afternoon.

Big news out of Linkshare today.

LinkShare Announces Executive Management Team Changes: “NEW YORK, March 18 /PRNewswire/ — LinkShare, a leading pay-per-action
marketing network, announced the resignation of Stephen R. Denton as
President of the company and two promotions in its executive management
team.”

While a search for Denton’s replacement gets underway, his duties will
be assumed by John J-H Kim, who will become Interim President in addition
to his role as CEO of LinkShare’s parent company, Rakuten USA.

(As a side note, it’s always heartening to find this sort of thing on press release outlets instead of from a phone call… don’t you hire out very expensive PR firms? Thanks, networks).

If you have attended any of the adtech’s or Affiliate Summit or the DMA’s over the past four years, you have certainly witnessed the proliferation and explosion of CPA networks in the online marketing industry.

Where did they come from? Why are they here? Should you as a merchant, affiliate manager or program director be working with them? These are important and serious questions with long reaching implications for your company’s bottom line and the future of your service, program or even job.

In hopes of shedding some light on the relationship of CPA Networks to more traditional large affiliate networks from a different point of view, I asked Thoughtshapers.com’s Jeff Molander to do an interview with an industry veteran who has worked inside of a merchant affiliate program, with CJ, Linkshare, BeFree, DirectTrack and with various CPA affiliate networks. What results in this ten minute podcast is full of value and a must listen.

In this special edition podcast, Jeff interviews Ms. X, a veteran affiliate manager who suggests that traditional affiliate networks are under fire by “CPA (cost per action) networks” that are more nimble, flexible and offer what advertisers really want — leads or sales without the work. Jeff decided to protect her identity due to her current work situation and place within the industry. It would be preferable to have someone able to speak without the voice mod or hidden identity, but in this situation, the content more than makes up for the identity protection. Plus, the insights she provides is worth the protection.

In effect, the main question addressed is: “Are affiliate networks like Linkshare and Valueclick’s Commission Junction worth their salt?”

[EDIT 7:00pm Wed Nov 15]:

Upon the suggestion of Jim Kukral, I’ve installed a plugin whereby you can be notified of followup comments via email. You can also subscribe to the comment thread without commenting, but don’t lurk too long (please).

If you’ve already posted, you have to logout and then log back in to Wordress to see the subscribe option (below the comment box). This works for all comments in the past and going forward.

Happy commenting and email me with any questions.

[/EDIT]

Listen to hear raw perspectives from a veteran voice (approx 10 minutes)…

COSTPERNEWS PODCAST: ARE CJ AND LINKSHARE WORTH THEIR SALT? (mp3)