by Lisa Picarille on April 28, 2009
Small businesses and affiliates in California can breathe a little easier – at least for a few months.
California Assembly Bill 178, which was slated for a hearing on Monday, was canceled just hours before it was to be heard by the Assembly Committee on Revenue and Taxation. Although this is not a victory in the fight against taxes that unfairly target the affiliate marketing industry in California, it is a very positive development.
This means that AB 178 is now considered a two year bill and it won’t be voted on until January 2010 at the earliest. However, a lobbyist for Amazon advised keeping an eye on this issue as the contents of one stalled bill are often placed into another bill or the yearly budget and pushed through – most times without public notice. That could still happen with AB 178 unless those opposed remain vigilant.
Several people (including Commission Junction GM Kerri Pollard and 77 Blue CEO David Lewis) had made the trip up to Sacramento to testify at the hearing and were ready to talk about the negative impact of 178. Others, like myself, Karen Garcia of GTO Management and Trisha Lyn Fawver, were there to show solidarity for those testifying. It was somewhat anticlimactic to have the hearing of the bill to be canceled and not get to witness our peers’ testimony, but the current progress is well worth trip to the Capitol.
I’ve spent a lot to time focused on California 178, not only because California is my home state, but because I truly believe that the state’s huge economy makes it an influential policy making state. I’m hoping that other states with similar taxation proposals will follow California’s lead and table them for now or scrap them all together.
Thank you to everyone who worked hard on this issue in California and all the other states as well. I’m amazed at how everyone came together to fight these tax bills. Keep up the great work.
by Lisa Picarille on April 15, 2009
I’ve been struggling a little bit lately with the concept of professional success. Feedback on my post yesterday got me thinking about why people use the number of followers on Twitter or other social media sites as a measure of popularity. For many, popularity equals success. But if you opt not to use that measurement, then how do you measure your success – money, job satisfaction, happiness, achievement of goals?
In general, the common societal measurement of professional success is a typically a numbers game. We would likely all agree that financier Warren Buffet with his billions is successful, but some would say that the fame and notoriety of certain celebrity types like, Paris Hilton, make her a success. Though, few of us can pinpoint exactly what she is successful at - other than being famous.
This issue of measuring success is coming up for me as I continue to make the transition from spending more than 20 years as a journalist to working for myself. Journalism is a very public profession where people often give you automatic credence and pay attention you simply because you work at a media outlet that may include them in editorial coverage.
But now, I am doing consulting work and launching some projects that I have yet to disclose. Being more private means that significantly fewer people are exposed to what I am doing right now. And, admittedly that makes me feel like less of a success. I don’t have the public accolades I’ve been used to getting all of my professional life. I’m embarrassed to admit that I have often used that status to measure my own success. However, I’ve heard from many of friends, some of who were recently laid off from their jobs, that much of their ego and sense of self-worth was also tightly tied to their jobs.
In addition, one of my pet projects is not something that I am getting not paid for right now. The hope is that the project will be successful and ultimately the payoff will be big. But not getting a paycheck or tangible immediate financial reward for my some of my work often times makes me feel less successful.
Some days, if I’m feeling a bit down, I wonder if I am failing. It’s easy to point to the negative – the paychecks are not as big as when I had a full-time, working for the man job; I certainly don’t get the public acknowledgements that I used to receive working for a variety of a well-known publications; I’m in an odd, somewhat nebulous space (somewhere between marketer, consultant and media person); and I don’t have the volume of daily exposure to people banging down my door to speak with me.
Then other days I feel so blessed. I no longer answer to a boss; I work for myself; I set my own schedule; I choose only projects that I want to work on and feel genuinely excited about; and I am no longer creatively constrained by the conventions of a “real job.”
So, maybe success is more about attitude. I’ll pass on the role luck plays in becoming success. There are too many factors (luck, timing, attitude, hard work, etc.) that need to align in a perfect storm to create success. I’m much more interested in how people personally define their success.
Over the last five years of covering the online marketing space as a writer and reporter, I have interviewed many successful people and there was a common thread (in addition to very hard work) - they all LOVED their jobs. In most cases, many told me they could not imagine doing anything else. In fact, all of them noted that they didn’t consider their job work because they were doing what they truly loved.
Success is often a combination of achieving personal and professional goals – even if they are modest. Not everyone wants to be rich and/or famous. If your goal is to be the best dog walker ever, then money is not likely your yardstick. But perhaps, getting out and enjoying each day and knowing that you’ve given so much love your dogs is what fuels you. However, it seems to be true that if you do what you love, the money will follow.
Recently, a wise and successful friend/consultant suggested that I write down my goals as a constant reminder of what I want to achieve and what I have achieved. At first, I thought it was sort of cliché and hokey. As I began to create my list, some surprising goals came up that weren’t top of mind before. The exercise was definitely helpful. The list keeps me focused and most of all – positive.
For me, I’m starting to realize that like beauty, the measure of success should ultimately be in the eye of the beholder.
How do you measure your success?
by Lisa Picarille on April 10, 2009
If you have even the slightest doubt that you, as one person, can make a difference in this nationwide fight against tax bills that unfairly takes aim at affiliate marketers - think again.
Stephanie Lichtenstein is the perfect example of how an individual can affect change. Steph may be a petite gal, but make no mistake - she is a total dynamo. When she realized that this tax movement targeting affiliates was snowballing and saw how it could threaten the industry she loves being part of, her passion drove her to jump in head first and ask how she could help. She also didn’t take no for answer when some told her that bigger more organized groups were handling things.
Instead, she started a Facebook group to keep people up to date on happenings with tax legislation around the country. She also began making calls to anyone and everyone, imploring them to get involved; provide her with data and help her create the needed materials to make a difference. She wasn’t shy about reaching out to CEOs, merchants, affiliates and other who might be able to help in any possible way.
Some nights I would see Stephanie online on AOL IM at 11am my time, which is 2am where she’s based in Miami. That’s because she’s spends her days working as an OPM at Andy Rodriguez Consulting. Still, she’s devoted countless nights and weekends to battling this issue.
If Steph sees a problem that is not being addressed, she moves to solve it quickly. A couple of weeks ago she listened to a podcast where an affiliate in Minnesota talked about being the only one going to speak with state representative. She realized that others might be in a similar situation and created a list of affiliates in each state that wanted to help the cause. This way folks in the same states could band together to lobby lawmakers. She understands that there is great strength in numbers.
She’s also taken a bipartisan approach and is working with anyone that wants to help. She not concerned about industry politics. She’s simply focused on the task at hand – making sure unfair legislation doesn’t get passed. Her youthful enthusiasm keeps me pumped up – even when I think there isn’t much more I can do. Thanks Stephanie. You’ve inspired me and many others. With your hard work and the dedication of many others, I feel hopeful that these potentially devastating tax bills will be defeated.
by Lisa Picarille on April 9, 2009
One network has stepped up to the plate and provided very specific data about the number of affiliates it has in California and the amount of income paid out to those affiliates in 2008. This network has also provided, like LinkShare, a very long list of the cities where affiliates reside.
Although I’m dying to give the network big public props for stepping up, I’ve also been asked to keep the specific numbers quite for a few more days. The network is moving quickly to deliver similar breakouts for all 49 other states.
So, while I’m keeping mum until that happens, I will share with you that the numbers I saw are impressive. If all of the networks opt to provide this type of data, the aggregate state-by-state figures will be staggering and lawmakers will not be able to ignore the size and importance of this vibrant group of small businesses that are being unfairly singled out by these taxation bills.
Legislators will finally fully understand what we already know – that the amount of proposed state revenue will be negated by the loss of income to this growing industry of online marketers. Therefore, there will be no choice but to vote against such bills in each state.
by Lisa Picarille on April 8, 2009
The grassroots efforts to fight the proposed tax legislation that directly (and negatively) impacts affiliates are making some in roads. It’s wonderful to see so many people jumping in to help in the battle. Groups such as the Performance Marketing Alliance and Affiliate Voice are working hard to gather information, keep the industry up to date on what’s happening in each state, and rally the troops.
But that’s just not enough. As an industry we are missing some key ammunition in this huge fight. We need more statistics about the size of the performance marketing space. The research just isn’t there. There’s a market research report from MarketingSherpa that estimated the overall size of the affiliate space in 2007 to be around $6.5 billion, but that is old data and doesn’t provide a state-by-state breakdown. Lawmakers are really only concerned about how many businesses are impacted in their respective states.
What is desperately needed is the specific number of affiliates in each state or the amount paid out in commissions to affiliates in each state. But those figures just aren’t available for public consumption nor are they easy to acquire. Of course, we can all do some extrapolation on a variety of available figures to come up with our own home-grown estimates but unless we have firm numbers from credible sources, lawmakers won’t take notice.
The big affiliate networks have that information and I would encourage them to make it available in some form. I understand there may be privacy and other concerns. But there are many ways to work around disclosing specific affiliate income or compromising a network’s proprietary information. Aggregating that data from the networks could be very powerful and sway things in the favor of affiliates.
If each of the big affiliate networks (Commission Junction, LinkShare, Google Affiliate Network and ShareASale) were to provide the total amount of commissions paid out in each state, I think that would go a long way to showing legislators that these small businesses (affiliates) are, in fact, big business in their respective states.
When I attended the Lobby Day in California, all of the people we met with were impressed with the LinkShare letter to affiliates and the pages-long list of cities where affiliates would be impacted. Imagine if there were specific revenue number attached to that information.
From that type of data, lawmakers would be able to see that a huge amount of income tax is generated via affiliates and diminishing that income with laws that could see out-of-state retailers dumping affiliate, would ultimately be very bad for the states’ coffers.
The affiliate space is estimated to be much bigger than the American booksellers association, which is the group behind all of these legislative taxation pushes that single out affiliates. But we must make our case by proving it with real data. The ABA is certainly offering up figures to make its case.
Once lawmakers have the facts and figures in hand, there is no way they can continue to believe that the additional income tax generated from out of state retailers will exceed what will be lost in income tax from a thriving small business community.
Please encourage whatever network you work with to provide this information or any statistical data that could help stave off this unfair legislation.
by Lisa Picarille on April 7, 2009
There have already been some great write ups about last week’s California Lobby Day from Karen Garcia and Trisha Fawver as well as some recaps of the day’s events on podcasts, including The Spew and Affiliate Thing.
I went in to the experience not really knowing what to expect. I had never met with lawmakers or publicly elected officials before. I didn’t have a good idea of what was going to happen or what I was going to say. I was pretty nervous. Thankfully, a big group of us (10 people) attended the appointments in California, so it didn’t fall on me to do all talking.
I wanted to share some small things that might it easier if you are going to visit your local representative in California or other reps from any number of states that seem to be jumping on the tax bandwagon each week.
Most of these points are basic, but I hope they will help settle your nerves and give you one (or maybe two or three) less things to worry about was you get involved to fight this unfair tax proposal.
Setting up a Meeting with Lawmakers
*Look for representatives that sit on the Revenue and Tax Committee
*Call those representatives’ office to set up face-to-face meetings
*Try and meet with as many members of that committee as possible in a single day
*If possible, bring people from committee member’s districts. There will be more impact if these lawmakers are speaking with their constituents.
Meeting with Lawmakers (when a bill has been proposed)
*Ask them if they are familiar with the bill
*Don’t worry that you are not a professional lobbyist
*You don’t need a prepared presentation
*Don’t feel you are imposing. Legislators meet with constituent’s everyday and in fact, they work for you. Legislators depend on the support of their constituents as much as you depend on them
*Dress professionally – men, wear a jacket and tie; ladies, office professional attire
*Speak about your personal situation and how you and your family will be negatively impacted.
*Be sympathetic, but firm. For example: “we understand states are facing tough economic times and need to generate revenue, but this tax unfairly targets a single group.”
Basic Points to Make
*Focus on the impact of small business
*Avoid using the word affiliates. Instead go with small business or online publishers
*Let lawmakers know that out of state retailers are likely to drop publishers in that state to avoid nexus in favor of publishers in other states without nexus
*Let lawmakers know losing those merchants will severely harm your business and dramatically reduce your income
*Use the NY Amazon Tax as an example: more than 200 merchants dropped publishers in NY when the tax was enacted a year ago. That number is likely a lot higher but it’s hard to find exact figures.
*Point out that any revenue expected to be generated by the state will be offset by merchants pulling out (therefore, no sales tax collected from those out of state merchants; and that income tax generated from publishers will dramatically decline; and if your affiliate business employs others you may be forced to layoff workers - thus further adding to the state’s costs by workers possibly seeking unemployment)
*Do not use industry jargon - CPA, CPC, etc
*Mention that affiliates small independent businesses using a next generation form of advertising, but don’t spend too much time making the specific distinctions between the fact that affiliates are not sales reps, they are doing a form of advertising. While that is a key point in the bill, getting into the nuances seems to make lawmakers eyes glaze over. They don’t get it.
*Try and avoid words like “commission.” That word seems to imply sales to those not versed in online marketing. Instead, perhaps, you can say that because we are using the Internet and can track who clicks on what ad, we are paid on a performance basis. Still, even that level of specificity met with some blank stares at the California Lobby Day.
*Find an example that illustrates your point in a simple way. In California, the affiliates visiting lawmakers said they were like the ValPak coupon direct mailers. They were simply an electronic version of getting the ads to people that sought them out.
*Stress that you are not a sales rep for any company. You are not selling anything. You don’t get customer information about any transaction or handle any money exchange.
*Understand the bill. The more you know the better. Read the bill and any other information about it. Check out the forums – ABestWeb.com and 5 Star Affiliate Programs. There is also a Facebook group. And Melanie Seery’s Affiliate Voice. You can also find detailed information about these proposed tax bills on the Performance Marketing Alliance site.
*Be sure to send follow thank you notes to everyone you met with
If Your State has Yet to Propose this Tax
*Find out who sits on the Revenue and Tax Committee (could also be known as Tax committee, Ways and Means or Finance
*Speak with someone on the committee about whether this type of tax is being talked about or proposed
*Ask to set up an appointment to speak with a representative about the topic
The bottom line is that these taxes unfairly target affiliates and it’s up to everyone in the online marketing community to get educated and involved.
by Lisa Picarille on March 11, 2009
Lisa Picarille is a consultant specializing in online marketing, branding, social media and content creation.
Most recently, Lisa was the Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Revenue Magazine, The Performance Marketing Standard. In that role, she was responsible for developing all editorial content for the print magazine and the website, as well overseeing production, sales and distribution of the publication.
A podcasting junkie, she also co-hosts the popular Affiliate Thing podcast with Affiliate Summit co-founder Shawn Collins; is a regular member of the Cast of Geeks podcast gang; and appears regularly on The Spew podcast about women in online marketing.
Lisa is a veteran journalist who began her career more than 20 years ago as a professional sports writer in Boston and has also headed the news departments of major high tech news organizations including Wired.com, TechWeb.com, TechTV.com and CRN.com. Her work has also appeared in Rolling Stone, CRM Magazine, PCWeek, MacWeek, Computerworld and InfoWorld.
Lisa is a frequent speaker at industry conferences including Ad:Tech, Online Market World, the LinkShare Symposium, Affiliate Summit, Web 2.0, Blog World Expo, eComXpo, and the Social Media Marketing Summit.
She is also a founding board member for the Performance Marketing Alliance and the 2008 winner of LinkShare’s Golden Link Award for Most Vocal Performance Marketing Advocate.
