With the FTC, Visa and other big players in the online arena cracking down on unwanted emails, false claims, and recurrent charges, we are going to see our industry reign in some of the erratic behavior of the past decade.  Affiliate marketing is moving away from working with “who you know” to working with “who you know is behaving themselves online.”  Play by the rules and get paid… that’s going to be the motto we see time and time again as we shift into 2010.

Charged with keeping our affiliates in the know on important issues, TheBizOppNetwork is making changes to keep you compliant.  We’ve added reminders regarding the use of pre-approved creatives and are making it easier to find out which traffic types our advertisers accept.  We’ve cleaned up our suppression file process, are working closely on monitoring back-end conversions and have stepped up efforts to deliver advertisers exactly what they signed on for when partnering with our affiliate program.  We are only as good as our pubs.  Together we can deliver high-quality, targeted leads in a compliant and ethical manner.

And… Cheers to making 2010 your most profitable year in affiliate marketing yet!

0 Comments | Posted in About Us, CAN SPAM Compliance, In The News

Posted by Wendy Huncher
Manager of Social Media Initiatives

We at TheBizOppNetwork strive to remain compliant in all aspects of web marketing. From time to time even well-intentioned affiliates go astray.

Here are a few handy tips about promoting our affiliate links on the internet and via email marketing to ensure you remain in good standing on our network.

Good Idea

Starting a blog about work from home opportunities.

Bad Idea

Comment spamming non-relevant blogs with your affiliate link.

The goal of our affiliate network is to generate high-quality leads for our advertisers.  Comment spamming will not only dilute your credibility but it will make our advertisers look bad in the process.  Worst of all, we can’t pay you on this type of traffic.  Running offers in this way may even be grounds for termination from our network.

 

Good Idea

Using pre-approved email htmls and site placement creatives to run our offers.

Bad Idea

Writing your own email copy, site placement information, or blog without getting written authorization from your affiliate manager.

We work closely with each and every advertiser to create materials that will give our advertisers consistent conversions while also performing well for our affiliates. Once again, we caution you that going outside of approved materials is grounds for not being paid or for being terminated. We strive to protect the brands we represent on our network.

Good Idea

Collecting email addresses for your newsletter so that you can send interested visitors more information about work-from-home opportunities.

Bad Idea

Downloading our suppression to use as a mailing list.

First, this is illegal. Second, we will catch you. 

CAN SPAM requires you to get permission prior to emailing a commercial message.  If you are emailing to our suppression lists you have not gained consent and are breaking the terms and conditions you agreed to when you joined our network.

Good Idea

Double checking that each email you send contains a valid opt-out link, postal address, and a valid list of names to suppress.

Bad Idea

Removing the opt-out information or willfully emailing without using our advertiser-supplied suppression lists.

CAN SPAM requires our advertisers to provide you with this information. Your failure to use it also constitutes a breach of the terms and conditions you’ve agreed to.

Is this post a bit sarcastic? Maybe.  Are these serious issues? Definitely!

Together we can protect the brands of our advertisers, remain FTC compliant, and remain in good standing with consumers.  We are only as good as our offers and we are only as good as the affiliates who promote them. 

Thank you in advance for your compliance!

0 Comments | Posted in BizOpp University, CAN SPAM Compliance

Posted by Wendy Huncher
Manager of Social Media Initiatives

Is Your Unsubscribe Link Asking Too Much?

CAN SPAM compliance requires every commercial message to carry a digital unsubscribe option that allows an email subscriber to stop further messages, in addition to a physical mailing address.

Did you know that complicating the digital process is grounds for a violation of the CAN SPAM Act? 

What does that mean?

It means you can’t ask for more than an email address when a subscriber no longer wishes to receive your commercial messages.  You’ll have to look at other tracking options if you want to track demographics, source, or location of your opt outs. 

 

TheBizOppNetwork affiliate program would like to take this time to review 6 critical steps to remaining CAN SPAM compliant when emailing our offers.

1 – Prior to emailing an offer you must download a current copy of the offers suppression file. (Found under the offer details section on TheBizOppNetwork.com)

2 – Select only approved subjects and from lines from under your account.

3 – Use only approved creative found in your account.

4 – Promptly remove all subscribers that have asked to be taken off of your list.

5 – Keep the advertisers unsubscribe link intact within the body of your email.  Contact your affiliate manager right away if you notice a link is not functional. 

6 – Last, but not least, only send emails to subscribers whom have given you consent to do so. Harvesting addresses is not only a violation of our Terms and Conditions but also a major violation with the FTC.

 

Need help staying compliant?  Call us at 800.304.0682 or ping your affiliate manager now on AIM.  We are committed to remaining CAN SPAM compliant.

0 Comments | Posted in BizOpp University, CAN SPAM Compliance

Posted by Wendy Huncher
Manager of Social Media Initiatives