We are starting a new weekly series to our advertiser and publisher readers. This is intended as informal research we come across during the week that we think might be of value. Any comments are welcome, so post them below. With that short introduction, here are a couple things we came across that we think you’ll find of interest:

Advertiser Research:

Headline: Mortgage rates are climbing so look for consumers to jump in on refis before the rates get too high.

Details: “But mortgage rates have climbed in recent weeks, pushed by rising government bond yields. Investors are concerned about inflation because of increased spending in Washington meant to pull the economy out of recession. Freddie Mac data showed the average on a 30-year mortgage loan was 5.59% last week — 73 basis points higher than the average four weeks earlier of 4.86%, an advance that could hurt demand for houses” – Wall Street Journal

Publisher Research:

Headline: Affiliates need to diversify thier portfolio of offers to make sure they aren’t too exposed to a single category in this economy. To thrive affiliates should focus in the below areas

Details: Good categories in this downturn are: Job Search, Resume Prep services, EDUs, BizOpps, Tax Prep and filing Services, Budgeting and Debt Reduction Services, Entertainment and vices. More details at Revenue Today.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last year, anyone in online marketing knows about Twitter. However, even with the variety of tools and websites to enhance our Twitter experience, there is still some frustration lingering amongst users like me. As a new user how do you decide who to follow? Where can I find people in the industry with compelling content and a fresh, honest voice?

I have compiled a list of my top 10 Twitter-ers in the performance marketing space who I deem truthful, informative, engaging, and worth a follow:

1. http://twitter.com/leeodden 

Lee Odden is the CEO of TopRankBlog.com. He is a great source of all things social media. For any newbies just starting out in this space, his twitter is a great starting place for connecting and learning.

2. http://twitter.com/econsultancy 

Based out of London, Econsultancy compiles information surrounding the digital marketer’s world in one place. In order to be frequently updated to what goes on concerning online marketing, Econsutancy is a key to follow. They also have a live Twitter feed on their homepage as well as a growing community of contributors.

3. http://twitter.com/affbuzz

Recently launched, affbuzz.com gathers well-known industry contact’s blog RSS feeds into one website and all updates are automatically updated on their Twitter account. It’s a great resource to know what industry leaders are blogging about and how it affects you as a company.

4. http://twitter.com/sugarrae 

Connecting with Rae Hoffman on Twitter an achievement, as she doesn’t follow many, but she knows what is going on in the industry. CEO of her own Internet marketing agency and owner of MFE Interactive and Outspoken Media, she is an avid Twitter-er and speaks at many affiliate conventions.

5. http://twitter.com/stephagresta 

Stephanie Agresta is EVP, Global Director of Digital Strategy/Social Media at Porter Novelli, blogs at InternetGeekGirl.com and Co-founded TechSet. She has a huge readership base and engages her followers in conversation. Connecting with people is something she’s good at and you can definitely learn from her expertise.

6. http://twitter.com/affiliatetip 

If you’re in the performance industry, you know the name Shawn Collins. Co-founder of Affiliate Summit, FeedFront magazine editor and GeekCast.fm podcaster, Shawn is an icon in this space. Aside from adding a personal touch to his Twitter, Shawn is the most helpful resource to have. Ask him anything, and he’ll have the answer.

7. http://twitter.com/thedukeofseo 

If you want to know anything about SEO, this Twitter is a great resource from SEO land. What I like about this Twitter is it connects search and social media in the best and most literal form.

8. http://twitter.com/andybeal 

Andy Beal is the founder of Trackur.com, author of Radically Transparent, editor of MarketingPilgrim.com and a marketing consultant. He’s a great resource to have on Twitter because of his experience and his engagement. He’s honest, entertaining, and well respected in this industry.

9. http://twitter.com/murraynewlands 

Murray is a Green Online Marketing Specialist and a blogger. He uses Twitter to drive traffic to his compelling blog and posts educational links. A leader in the online space, Murray RT more than others and gives credit to those who deserve it.

10. http://twitter.com/quityourdayjob 

Jeremy Palmer is a well-known super affiliate and he teaches others how to follow in his footsteps. Owner of Quityourdayjob.com, Jeremy uses Twitter effectively because he adds more to the conversation. His Tweets are informative and current with what’s going on in the industry.

If you think I missed someone important in this list, like yourself, please feel free to leave a comment with their Twitter and why you think they should be added.

We’re just back from Denver where we attended the inaugural Affiliate Convention show. The success of the show was relatively unknown as it was the first time the producers put on the event, however, we were pleasantly surprised!

The show producers estimated they had about 1,200 attendees, the majority of which were affiliates as they were invited to attend for free. They were only anticipating 500 or so, so they well exceeded attendance expectations.

Of the 15 or so exhibitors, there was a mix of networks like ClickBooth, NeverBlue and Hydra alongside publishers and advertisers. A good mix of industry leaders appeared on panels over the two days. The panels seemed to be very well attended.

One of the show organizer’s, Webmaster Radio streamed MediaTrust’s CEO, Peter Bordes keynote “Conversations on Affiliate Performance Marketing.” Webmaster Radio streamed it live and you can listen to it HERE. The keynote was a a ’state of the industry’ conversation between MediaTrust, CEO, Peter Bordes, eBay’s Steve Hartman, Steve Schaffer, CEO of Vertive, and Wes Mahler of Prosper202. 

Jivan Manhas, MediaTrust’s Head of Sales also participated on a panel, “Lead Generation Strategies,” which was a how-to for affiliates interested in learning more about lead generation.

On a programming note, we captured both Peter and Jivan’s presentations in HD video. We’ll be posting them in the next few weeks right here on the blog.

The show producers are already planning the follow-up show, which is tentatively scheduled for December in Los Angeles and we’ll be anxiously awaiting details. Thanks to Aunesty Janssen of AffSpot, Jim Hedger of Webmaster Radio and Ticonderoga Ventures for the unfettered access that our crew got to cover the event. Their tech team earned their pay with all the landmines they had to navigate around the technology that we needed to properly do our jobs. We look forward to the next event!

If you answered “no,” why not? 

First off, affiliates get to attend for free. So, grab a cheap plane ticket – or if you’re close enough, drive to the event – and get your friends together and pile into a hotel room. Then spend the next few days learning how to improve your business.

Second, look at the list of speakers! Keynotes from our very own CEO, Peter Bordes as well as Kris Jones from Pepperjam. Additionally there will be people from Ebay, Vertive, Clickbooth and Yahoo. Not enough you say? How about industry legends like Jeremy Schoemaker, Hamlet Batista, Heather Paulson and our own Jivan Manhas? There is definitely no shortage of talent at this event.

Third, you can’t forget the social aspects of a conference. These are usually the best opportunities to shake hands, have a drink and spend a little more time talking with potential partners. Affiliate Convention will have ample opprtunity for these types of interactions including a golf tournament, a pre-party hosted by the likes of Shoemoney and WickedFire, an “Affiliate Bash” hosted by Webmaster Radio and a closing day-two party.

Finally, we’ll be there covering the event for our blog and Relevantly Speaking. If you are a regular reader here, you know we’re always searching for interviews with the best and the brightest in the online marketing industry to share their wisdom. If you’d like to be a guest on Relevantly Speaking and you’ll be in Denver, please email me at sparentATmediatrustDOTcom.

UPDATE 6/11/09: Read our press release on Econsultancy.

After a 25-hour travel day from Tel Aviv, I am back in the familiar settings of my office in Santa Barbara. Even though I was in the middle of the hustle and bustle of Israel two days ago, it now seems like a world away. I’ve been thinking a lot about Affilicon over the last 24 hours and wanted to share some thoughts.

First, this is the second Affilicon conference – the first was less than a year ago. You’d never know it. The event has a maturity and a polish to it that rivals some of the most well-produced events that I’ve ever attended. The facility was top-notch, the food was far and away better than anything I’ve ever had at a conference and the staff was courteous and professional. Combine all that with the fact that the  registration was one-third the cost of most other industry events.

Second, let’s talk about the content of the show itself. Like every conference you attend, there were some speakers and sessions that just weren’t that interesting. There’s no way to eliminate that completely. Unfortunately, in our industry I’m finding that trend more and more. Too often events get speakers with “names” that show up and give us all a bunch of vague jargon that doesn’t help anyone. Not so at Affilicon. The vast majority of the sessions I attended were built with practical applications in mind. Presenters used specific examples and answered really tough questions from the audience. If you were an affiliate attending this event – and the vast majority of attendees were – you left with a stack of good notes that will help elevate your business to the next level.

The only advice I would offer is to look at renting a car if you attend next year. The conference facility is located in Airport City which is about 30 minutes from downtown Tel Aviv where all the hotels are. A cab to and from the event runs about 135 Shekels, or $35 US. That can get pricey. My advice would be pool your money with some friends and rent a car.

The final thing I want to say is about the founder of Affilicon, Itay Paz. I met Itay at Affiliate Summit West in January. Since then you’ve seen him doing field reports for us all over the world on Relevantly Speaking. He’s one of those people that just radiates a warmth about him. Besides being very knowledgeable about the nuances of international affiliate marketing, Itay has a way of making everyone feel valued and important. You feel like you can trust him. I believe that is the single biggest reason for the success of Affilicon.

I want to extend my thanks to Itay, his wife Anat, Udi Netzer and the rest of the team at Affilicon for making it possible for me to attend. I hope to see you all at next year’s event.

Hello from Tel Aviv, Israel. Day one of Affilicon is over and my head is spinning from all the sessions, panels and interviews I was part of today.

This morning our own Jivan Manhas lead a panel about international affiliate programs – lots of great information about leveraging performance marketing on a global scale. Panelists included representatives from Copeac and ClickBank.

After an epic lunch spread (and I do mean epic by conference standards), I saw Igal Pines deliver a spirited presentation called “Cash Chicken Engineering.” In addition to becoming a very finacially successful affiliate, Igal also talked about karma and the importance of giving back to the affiliate community. In fact, he shares much of his knowledge with his readership of his PJS blog. Unfortunately for us English-speakers, his blog is in Hebrew.

During the late afternoon, I got a chance to interview Stefanie Amini from NeoGames Partners, Dush Ramachandran of ClickBank, Ran Aroussi - an internet marketing strategist and Igal Pines. All provided some great insight in the global, and particularly, the Israeli online markets.

On a final – and decidedly random note – Relevantly Speaking has proven to be pretty popular here. I’ve had quite a few people stop me to say they watched the show. It’s always nice to hear that people dig what we’re doing. It’s funny how small the world can be even when you’re halfway around the globe.

Tomorrow’s another big day. I better get some rest.

Canadian Anti-spam bill: C-27 Electronic Commerce Protection Act

I made a prediction in an earlier blog post that Canada would soon have its own anti-spam law. The reality of such a law is gaining momentum.. Bill C-27 “Electronic Commerce Protection Act” had its first reading in Parliament April 24th and its second reading on May 9th after which it was referred for review to the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology. No Committee date has been set yet.

The text of Bill C-27 is quite long (about 72 pages) and fairly complex, especially for legal laymen. While I think the overall direction of the bill is positive, there are parts of the bill that would benefit from improving the definitions of terms. Realistically speaking, it may take more time for clarification to come. In the case of the U.S.CAN-SPAM Act of 2003, the Federal Trade Commission only last year clarified a number of definitions and interpretations through “new rules”, including the definition of “person.”

There are too many details in the bill to analyze in this space. Those knowledgeable with the language of the CAN-SPAM Act (e.g. definitions of “sender”, “initiator”, and “routine conveyor”) will likely have some difficulty understanding the meaning of some terms and definitions in Bill C-27.

Here is a description of some of the main clauses of BillC-27 contrasted to the CAN-SPAM Act:

1 – Consent Required

“No person shall send or cause or permit to be sent to an electronic address a commercial electronic message unless (a) the person to whom the message is sent has consented to receiving it, whether the consent is expressed or implied; and…”

Affirmative consent should always be part of any email marketing program. Compared to the CAN-SPAM Act, Bill C-27 takes this view a step further by making it a legal requirement. As well, the burden of consent proof falls on the marketer.

The bill also has a section requiring that consent be obtained before installing a program on a recipient’s computer system:

“No person shall, in the course of a commercial activity, install or cause to be installed a computer program on any other person’s computer system or, having so installed or caused to be installed a computer program, cause an electronic message to be sent from that computer system, unless the person has obtained the express consent of the owner or an authorized user of a computer system or is acting in accordance with a court order.”

The above directly addresses a common spam tactic – in that software is surreptitiously installed on home computers and then controlled by the spammer to send out spam (referred to as “botnets”).

2 – Communications Scope

“Electronic message” means a message sent by any means of telecommunication, including a text, sound, voice or image message.”

The key point with the above is that the scope of the bill—unlike the CAN-SPAM Act– is not restricted to electronic communications sent to an SMTP mailbox (mailbox@domain.com) . Keep in mind that CAN-SPAM was enacted almost six years ago – an eternity in the pace of technological change.

3 – Broader Meaning of “Commercial Message”

“For the purposes of this Act, a commercial electronic message is an electronic message that, having regard to the content of the message, the hyperlinks in the message to content on a website or other database, or the contact information contained in the message, it would be reasonable to conclude it? has as its purpose, or one of its purposes, to encourage participation in a commercial activity, including …”

The key in understanding the above is “…or one of its purposes, to encourage participation in a commercial activity”. Compare this to CAN-SPAM where there is a distinction between commercial and transactional messages, where some of the legal requirements are relaxed for transactional messages (it should always be a best practice, though, to include an unsubscribe mechanism for transactional messages). While with CAN-SPAM certain organizations are exempt (e.g. religious, political) from the legal requirements, the case is different with bill C-27 where the nature of the message has to be closely scrutinized to determine the required legal compliance.

4 – Unsubscribe Mechanism and Sender’s Contact Information (Bill C-27)

“The message must be in a form that conforms to the prescribed requirements and must (a) set out prescribed information that identifies the person who sent the message and the person — if different —on whose behalf it is sent; (b) set out information enabling the person to whom the message is sent to readily contact one of the persons referred to in paragraph (a); and (c) set out an unsubscribe mechanism in accordance with subsection 11(1). (3) The person who sends the commercial electronic message and the person —if different— on whose behalf the commercial electronic message is sent shall ensure that the contact information referred to in paragraph (2)(b) is valid for a minimum of 60 days after the
message has been sent.”

Both Bill C-27 and the CAN-SPAM Act require that an unsubscribe mechanism be made available to the subscriber and that the sender’s contact information be included in the message. The important difference, however, is that with CAN-SPAM the unsubscribe mechanism must work for 30 days after the message was sent; while with C-27 this time frame has been increased to 60 days. Both C-27 and CAN-SPAM call on senders to honor opt-out requests within 10 days (a best practice, of course, is to honor opt-out requests immediately or before your next mailing goes out).

5 – Private Right of Action

The CAN-SPAM Act restricts civil action to the Federal Trade Commission and Internet Service Providers. Bill C-27, by contrast, extends this to individuals and allows for private right of action where individuals are permitted to sue senders who allegedly have violated the law.

*******
On a related permission-based email marketing subject, you are welcome to attend a free Cypra Media-sponsored webinar Tuesday, June 2nd , at 2 p.m. EDT titled, “E-Mail Deliverability: How to Get It Done”. Click to find out more information and to sign-up.

The PMA Performance Marketing Alliance Association announced that the anti-affiliate legislation in Minnesota DID NOT PASS! This win is directly tried to the members of the PMA organization and the industry community working together to combat the tax legislation.This is the second win that demonstrates how effective we can be in having networks, merchants and affiliates working together to make a difference. Minnesota affiliates your efforts are greatly appreciated. The tax is dead for now. There are more of the political details on the PMA site. Here is the latest communication  about the omnibus tax bill that was passed by the Legislature.

_______________________
Minnesota –Multiple Taxes: Omnibus Public Finance Bill Passes Legislature

An omnibus public finance bill that would make numerous changes to corporate
income, personal income, sales and use, property, and other taxes has been
passed by the Minnesota Senate, and has been repassed by the House of
Representatives as amended by the Senate, on May 12, 2009. The provisions
were amended to H.F. 1298 by the conference committee for H.F. 2323, which
as previously reported, passed the House of Representative on April 25,
2009, and the Senate on April 28, 2009. (TAXDAY, 2009/04/28, S.12)

Sales and Use Taxes
The bill does not contain the provision, previously passed by the House and
the Senate (TAXDAY, 2009/04/28, S.12), that would have created a rebuttable
presumption, similar to New York’s so-called Amazon law, that a retailer is
presumed to have a solicitor in Minnesota if the retailer enters into an
agreement with a resident under which the resident, for a commission or
other consideration, directly or indirectly refers potential customers to
the retailer by a link on an Internet Web site or by other means.
H.F. 1298, as passed by the Legislature on May 12, 2009.
______________________

Affilicon Israel is just a couple short weeks away. If you’ve been watching Relevantly Speaking, you’ve surely seen Itay Paz’s (of Affilicon) videos about the state of affiliate marketing from around the world. You’re probably also aware that I’ll be there shooting interviews and blogging from the event. What you may not know is what else MediaTrust is up to at Affilicon.

MediaTrust is not only a platinum sponsor for the event, but we’re also moderating three panels as well. Check them out:

International Affiliate Programs – Monday 6/1 12:45 – 2:00 PM 

Online marketing has no boundaries. If you are successful with your local, domestic affiliate programs, it is time to start acting globally. In today’s competitive market finding the right niche and product is key to your success. This panel includes top industry experts who are willing to share their experience as vendors, affiliates, networks and super affiliate. Don’t miss it!

Moderator: Jivan Manhas, Head of Sales, MediaTrust
Speakers: Dush Ramachandran, VP of Sales & Business Development, Clickbank
Felix Leshno, Affiliate & Entrepreneur, Net Monster
Bill Yucatonis, Director of Affiliate Marketing, Everest Gaming
Ran Aroussi, CEO, Clickim College

Social Media Strategies

During the last 12 months social media became a key player in online marketing. Some would say that president Obama won the election through his involvement with Social Media. The panel will discuss the latest developments in this space.

Moderator: Jivan Manhas, Head of Sales, MediaTrust
Speakers: Sam Goldfarb, Founder & General Manager of Tradimax
Miriam Schwab, CEO of illuminea marketing & media
Oren Todoros, CEO & Co-Founder of HYPick.com

Why You Need to Be Good Friends with Your Affiliate Manager

Affiliate managers are your representative at the network. While being responsible for setting your commission structure and your special bonuses and promotions, the affiliate managers have access to the network’s resources and they can help you utilize them. The affiliate managers sit on the entire affiliate database and they clearly know what works and what does not. Join this session to learn what really matters and why you need to be good friends with your affiliate manager.

Moderator: Glenn Pagan, SVP Network Sales MediaTrust
Speakers: Shay Shevach, Affiliate Director, Rummy Royal

***

If you’re attending Affilicon, make sure you send me an email at sparentATmediatrustDOTcom. I’d love to get together and interview you for Relevantly Speaking. We’ll also be there shooting video for Affilicon, so who knows – you may end up on their homepage!

MediaTrust CEO, Peter Bordes, Featured in BusinessWeek Article: CEOs Who Use Twitter

I’ve been with MediaTrust for just over two years. I was hired to outline and execute all facets of MediaTrust’s emerging and social media activity. This occured at a time when Twitter and Facebook were still niche services and companies were still trying to wrap their heads around the concepts of podcasting and online video. In short, two years ago was an eternity for social media.

Why am I telling you this?

Peter Bordes is the reason I have my job. He had the vision two years ago to see what social media could become. He knew that this was exploding into something that would change the way that business is done. Peter has always believed in transparancy, open dialogue and two-way communication and he knew that in order for MediaTrust to stay competitive and be a leader in our industry, the company would need to dedicate resources to building our social media presence. 

Over the last two years, we’ve launched a successful blog about the industry of online, and specifically, performance marketing. We’ve produced over 60 episodes of our video program, Relevantly Speaking, and we’ve adopted and encouraged Twitter and Facebook usage throughout our entire company.

These milestones were made possible by the vision of our CEO, Peter Bordes. It is incredibly validating for me that a publication like BusinessWeek recognized and highlighted the vision of Peter and other CEOs like him. You can read Peter’s portion of the profile HERE. You’ll notice he’s in good company alongside people like Virgin Group’s Richard Branson, Zappos.com’s Tony Hsieh, Alltop’s Guy Kawasaki, Mashable’s Pete Cashmore and Forrester Research’s George Colony.

Congratulations to Peter for being recognized, but most of all for his vision. We can’t wait to see what he dreams up next.