Affiliate Banners..information updated please read

[brewmaster15]

Hi all,
If you look at the banners on this website you'll see a Drsfostersmith.com banner and a Petsmart banner.... These banners are part of an affiliate program that may help the forum by generating a small percentage of revenue to the site.. Basically if you shop at either of these businesses and enter that website from the banner above, they give the forum a small percentage of the proceeds... We've never participated in these kinds of programs so I really have no idea how practical this is.There are many affiliate programs out there... so I tried to pick two businesses that had a fairly good reputation and ones that I knew alot of members used. We'll be evaluating them over the next couple of months.

It costs you as members here no extra money to shop at these sites if you enter them thru our banners...but it may wind up helping the forum.

So if I could ask..please use the banners to enter Drsfostersmith or Petsmart if you were planning on shopping there. The transaction is strictly between you and them as it would be if you bought from them any other way.

thanks,
al

[MSD]

That is great news and should be publicized in a sentence under the banners so it'll be more appearant. I never knew about entering through the link. Good news Al and here's hoping it generates some revenue for the forum!!

[brewmaster15]

Thanks Mark!:)

-al

[MostlyDiscus]

Will do Al, I plan on buying quite a few packs from them.

Ed

[BOBT00LS]

Great Idea Al ! Im sure many of us already purchase from the businesses in the banners so why not purchase through the banner to help out our favorite forum. I'll be sure use them for my next order.

Bob

[Ed13]

Just to check...you only need to access through the banners right?

[waters10]

A question. Do you guys get something only if something is bought, correct? If we just browse around, you don't get anything? Do they even track that?

The reason I'm asking, I browse Dr F&S quite a lot, but don't buy that much, so I wonder if this would give any benefits to simply.

[DiscusOnly]

A question. Do you guys get something only if something is bought, correct? If we just browse around, you don't get anything? Do they even track that?

I belive they work the same way as other forums. A "cashback" is given after an X number of days after purchased is made using the link to get to the website.

This is good to know Al, I didn't realize the site could benefit from using the link and I've always used my personal account to get the cash back. I'll be sure use it for future purchases.

Is it possible to set it up with a like of vendors that offer cashback to the site? (something like the live search?).

Van

[Elite Aquaria]

Al,

Great program...I will use the links in the near future.

[Scribbles]

Great idea. I'll definately use the banners on my next orders. I agree with MSD that a sentence under the banners informing members of this might be beneficial.

[Eddie]

Thats great Al! Is there any way of having ThatPetPlace.com as an affiliate?

Eddie

[Greg Richardson]

AL.
It costs you as members here no extra money to shop at these sites if you enter them thru our banners...but it may wind up helping the forum.


I know you have limited space but add rotation works also.
Nice to see this get started.
No reason not to take advantage of the eyes to bring revenue in.

Be nice to see some others when you get time so I can shop prices through here instead of going to my message board.

A few like......

http://www.jehmco.com/index.html
http://www.kensfish.com/
http://www.brineshrimpdirect.com/
http://www.bigalsonline.com/
http://www.mreed.com/index.shtml
http://www.nationalfishpharm.com/products.html

[subcooler]

Al,
With Fosters & Smith great sales on Frozen food/Thier honoring the sale price if you order a week before sale starts & now them helping Simply when we enter their site thru Simply-How can you not buy everytime thier price is in line with other vendor's prices!

I'm sure you know how much we all appreciate this place & will do anything we can to help out!:D

Take care my friend,
Rob

[mmorris]

I wish I had known. I've spent so much money at the Dr.'s!

[seanyuki]

I like dr.foster & pets...quick delivery plus always stuffs on sale.

Cheers
Francis:)

[brewmaster15]

Thanks Everyone,
I'll have to look into exactly what we can do here as far as banners...each company involved in these affiliate programs has their own set of rules and offers their own percentages of actual sales... Just browsing does not generate us any revenue that I am aware of.

I'm kicking myself for all the money I've spent at Drsfostersmith before I learned of these affiliate programs that some commercial sellers participate in... there are many of these programs now... The one we are part of here is Linkshare.com as that is who the particular vendors we are interested in use.. we'll definetly look into others as well.

Just so you get an idea of whats possible...

At drsfostersmith.com...

Up to $2500 monthly sales generates 9%
over $2500 monthly sales genrates 10 %
and over $15,000 monthly sales generates 15%

So in theory there is a really good chance some funds could come from this.

There are downsides to this that we will have to weigh as well..particularly the banners they give us to use won't allow rotating scripts so only a fixed spot for them.. and we can't alter them at all..that means they use more potential ad space....but we'll see how it goes.

Thanks everyone for your support!

best regards,
al

[Darrell Ward]

I wasn't aware of this. I'll be sure to use the banner every time I shop at "The Doctors", which is about once a month for a supply of frozen foods. Thanks for the heads up. :D

[brewmaster15]

Thanks Darrell!:)

-al

[brewmaster15]

Just my Rotten Luck! :mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

I got an email from Drs.fostersmith yesterday regarding Legislation in Connecticut that would affect how sales tax is calculated and how it affects affiliates ....

Subject: Important Update from Drs. Foster and Smith
http://mail.isp.netscape.com/email/images/spacer.gifhttp://mail.isp.netscape.com/email/images/spacer.gifhttp://mail.isp.netscape.com/email/images/spacer.gifhttp://mail.isp.netscape.com/email/images/spacer.gif Date: Wed 03/25/09 11:41 AM http://mail.isp.netscape.com/email/images/spacer.gifhttp://mail.isp.netscape.com/email/images/spacer.gifhttp://mail.isp.netscape.com/email/images/spacer.gifhttp://mail.isp.netscape.com/email/images/spacer.gif







Dear Drs. Foster and Smith Affiliate,

As you may be aware, several states, including yours, are following New
York's example regarding drafting affiliate marketing sales tax law
related to what is called "nexus." For sales tax purposes nexus relates
to the subject of whether a retail company is deemed to have a physical
presence in a particular state, thus creating "nexus" requiring that
company to collect sales tax and in some cases pay income tax.

The law has implications particularly for companies that do business
online but who do not have brick and mortar buildings/offices or
representatives in the state.

Our letter today is to encourage you to speak to your elected
representatives to encourage them not to adopt the New York
model/position on sales tax relative to the internet in general and to
affiliate marketing in particular.

As a result of the New York law, a year ago we were forced to cancel all
relationships with our affiliates from New York State. As much as we
would hate to do so, if your state enacts a law similar to that of New
York, we will need to cancel all affiliate relationships in your state
as well. We appreciate all the relationships we have developed with our
affiliates over the years and regret the fact that we may have to take
this action.

Our hope is that you and those residing in your state can persuade your
legislature to reject the adoption of a New York model
affiliate/internet sales tax/income tax law. We are writing to you now
in advance of any passage, so that you will be given a heads up about
where this may lead many internet retailers regarding using affiliates
from your state, and so you will have time to contact your legislature
before it is too late.

Thanks in advance for whatever you can do to help the affiliate
marketing industry in your state.

Sincerely,
Gordon Magee
Internet Marketing Manager
Drs. Foster and Smith



That was yesterday... Today I get another one...
Subject: Notice for CT based publishers
http://mail.isp.netscape.com/email/images/spacer.gifhttp://mail.isp.netscape.com/email/images/spacer.gifhttp://mail.isp.netscape.com/email/images/spacer.gifhttp://mail.isp.netscape.com/email/images/spacer.gif Date: Thu 03/26/09 02:49 PMDear Drs. Foster and Smith Affiliate:

Due to business reasons connected with the new online tax law in
Connecticut, we have chosen to remove all Connecticut affiliates,
effective March 31st, 2009. We regret having to do this and hope that
the law may be struck down in the future so that we may be able to
resume the productive business relationships we have enjoyed with you.

We appreciate your understanding in this matter and look forward to
working with you again.

Regards,
The Drs. Foster and Smith Affiliate Team

What a bummer ....I was really hoping that affiliate banners would
be a good revenue supplimental for the forum:(

Oh well..back to the drawing board.

Thanks for everyone willing to support us thru those banners.

Best regards everyone.

-al

....**SAD Sigh**

[waters10]

Bummer. I'm sorry to hear this ... :(

[John_Nicholson]

Al that suxs, but remember the people that are making these changes are elected officials........

-john

[brewmaster15]

Al that suxs, but remember the people that are making these changes are elected officials........

-john
Yep....I know John..

I don't pretend to understand the all these legal mumbo jumbo...but I guess what it comes down to is just not worth while for affiliate companies like Drsfostersmith to pay out their affiliate commissions if they have to also pay some kind of taxes on it the revenue as well..like if they had a physical presence in the state..... at least thats what it seems to me.... what ever it means Its pretty much out of my hands.:(

Shades of things to come I think in the internet commerce area as governments try to deal with the economic free fall we have been in.

-al

[brewmaster15]

Hi all,
I've had some good news in terms of forum funding...or so I hope... If you read thru this thread you'll see that we had tried to raise some funds for Simply thru an affiliate program with Drsfostersmith ... and shortly there after it got yanked because of proposed tax law changes in my home state of CT.

That law was defeated and we have been re-accepted into that affiliate program.

If you use DrsFostersmith for food or supplies... if you access them thru the banner at the top of forum...you will be helping us out with your purchase and at no additional cost to yourselves.

Thank you in advance,
Al

[Lytehouse]

This is pretty cool.

There needs to be a way to keep this info up top for those of us that are attracted to the site to get the information. I've seen quite a few new folks since I joined.

[dpt8]

That's great news Al !! Great way to keep this going. David T

[brewmaster15]

This is pretty cool.

There needs to be a way to keep this info up top for those of us that are attracted to the site to get the information. I've seen quite a few new folks since I joined.

Thanks!:)

One thing that may help here is for members posted in this thread what kinds of things they buy from Drsfostersmith so that others here can use that info when looking for something.

Personally I buy all my reptile supplies there... and for fish.... I usually get my RO Right and seachem flourish there.. I also get some of my dry foods there like ocean nutrition Formula one, glass tank hoods, lights and bulbs...aquaclear filters and accessories....basically I just keep a list of what I need that they have and when I am ready, I get it all at once.


HTH,
al

[frenchie100]

I get( from drs fosters and smith:

-All my OCean nutrition foods
-Water conditioners
-Filter cartridges

-Frontline plus for the cats and dog- they have free shipping too on that!
-Greenies for them too

-Their filters are really well priced too.

-All my pond supplies

Well to sum it up, I get a lot of stuff from them!

hth

Julie :)

[Ronald]

What a roller coaster ride with this tread lol.
But I am glad it works again and I will use it for sure.
Wish you lots of $$$ :D

Regards
Ronald

[joanr]

Al, another good way to generate $ would be through the Google Ads program. Simply would have to run a few link ads in appropriate fish related catagories and any click-through will generate cash to you. With all the traffic on here you could get a nice monthly sum. The site already meets the requirements I believe.

[akumastew]

Darn, I wish that had been a sticky at the top of each forum.

I spent >$1500 at drs foster smith over the last 6 weeks and none of it went to simplydiscs. :(

The good news is, from this day forth; I shall only visit DrsFosterSmith via the link at the top of the page.

I am already putting together another order for some stuff.

My re-occuring orders will be:

1. Food
2. Amquel +

PS I think this would be good to have as a "please read sticky".

- Stew

[brewmaster15]

Hi Joan,
Thanks for suggestion. I did look into it before, but opted not to use google ads for 2 main reasons...

1) it could take business away from sponsors selling Discus
2) I'd have no control over the ads that Google placed here... There are some "businesses" that sell fish and use Google ads that I just don't want promoted here.

Wouldn't mind the revenue...but not at that price.:)

-al


ps...Thanks Stew!:)

[joanr]

No, that wouldn't be a good thing, though now I think you can pick which ads run on your site, maybe a lot of people complained about lack of content control, but not 100% sure, haven't looked at Ad Sense in some time now. But, I pledge that when I order from DFS I will link through Simply.

[brewmaster15]

Thanks for that Pledge and Support Joan.:) I will have to take another look at google adsense...:)

-al

[terps]

The google adsense program lets you block up to 500 websites from putting ads on the publishers site. So Al, you could easily block any phishy ads that you don't like.

I'd estimate that this site with it's web traffic could easily make $8 to $20 a day in adsense revenue(assuming 1000 unique visitors a day). You also have to learn how to optimize the ad placements to get the most clicks. I think http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/ does a good job of placing their adsense ads in their forum. If you block a lot of sites though, through the adsense filter, the revenues per click would be a lot lower.

http://adsense.blogspot.com/2009/09/more-filtering-improvements.html

This lady(in the link below) has 3 websites and a blog and she made almost $6,000.00 in the month of July with her adsense ads. You can make a lot of money. The key is getting lots of traffic with a site that has high paying key words that people will click.

http://www.youtube.com/user/lisa3876#play/uploads/5/EUcxRmzmB18

Her web sites are very simple, but have really good content that people can use.

Here are 2 other great blogs that give tips on using adsense.

http://www.problogger.net/

http://www.jensense.com/

You can use this website to show you how much keywords are worth:
http://www.spyfu.com/

More adsense success stories:

https://www.google.com/adsense/static/en_US/Success.html

[brewmaster15]

I'll definetly look into it Terps, Thanks for all the links and info!:)

-al

[terps]

I think I'm probably way too conservative on my estimates for your site. You probably would make a lot more than $20 a day. It all depends on traffic. If you average a 1000 visitors a day viewing 20 pages with ads, you should make a lot of money. The only negative is that keywords related to "tropical fish" don't pay much. So you need lots of traffic to make serious money. You seem to have plenty of traffic. So you just have to learn where the best spots are to place the ad units. Just google adsense tips and you'll find all the help you need.

[terps]

Here's another good site with adsense tips:

http://www.duoblogger.com/

They did an interview with a guy that was making $2,1000.00 a day with the adsense program. The video was pretty interesting and informative.
http://www.duoblogger.com/adsense-millionaire/

When you sign up for adsense Al, also sign up for Google's web tracking program called Google Analytics. It's a free program that tracks and analyzes your website traffic.

http://www.google.com/analytics/

[terps]

I think I'm probably way too conservative on my estimates for your site. You probably would make a lot more than $20 a day. It all depends on traffic. If you average a 1000 visitors a day viewing 20 pages with ads, you should make a lot of money. The only negative is that keywords related to "tropical fish" don't pay much. So you need lots of traffic to make serious money. You seem to have plenty of traffic. So you just have to learn where the best spots are to place the ad units. Just google adsense tips and you'll find all the help you need.

I'll probably have to go back to my more conservative estimates for adsense earnings for this site. I've done some more research on adsense. What makes it hard to evaluate is that google doesn't allow publishers to publish their click through rates. Since that information is secret, it's hard to get a good idea of what an average CTR(number of clicks on ads per page impression) really is. And since sites are so different, it's hard to get a true average anyway. Some blogs and forums say a 2 to 4% CTR is good and a 5-6% is great, with most sites still having less than a 2% CTR. But a lot of the stuff I read was from articles before 2007. Google made their ads harder to click in 2007. They limited the area on ads where clicking would work to avoid mistaken clicks and help their adword buyers. So CTR's are probably lower now. Also, due to the recession/depression, there are less advertisers in adwords bidding up ad prices so clicks are probably worth a lot less.

Finally, I learned that forums usually have a much lower CTR. That makes sense. It's because people get used to the ads over time. The same ads usually run on a site(ads are content driven), so regular forum members don't have a need to click on them again. I've read that many forum sites have a click rate of less than 1%, closer to maybe 1/2%. I still think this site could make at least $10 a day in adsense revenue as long as your traffic holds up. The more newer viewers you have, the better you should do. $10 dollars a day might not seem like much, but that's almost like finding $3650.00 in your pocket every year(except you have to pay taxes).:)

[brewmaster15]

Bump... if purchasing from Drsfostersmith....you can help the forum by going thru the banner on this page.:)

-al

[Discus-n00b]

I'll be needing a good number of supplies in about 2-3 months, looks like i know where to go through! Right about the time the Christmas and New Years sales start too....HMM ;)

[Discus-n00b]

Just wanted to let everyone know incase you missed it, Dr Fosters and Smith are running an excellent shipping deal right now. It'd be a great time to load up on supplies for/during the holidays. $5.99 FLAT rate ground shipping on ANYTHING and EVERYTHING. No matter how much or how big. It ends December 31!

;) Be sure to use the banner when you start shopping!

[brewmaster15]

Thanks Matt!!:)

[JPLDISCUS]

Hi all,
If you look at the banners on this website you'll see a Drsfostersmith.com banner and a Petsmart banner.... These banners are part of an affiliate program that may help the forum by generating a small percentage of revenue to the site.. Basically if you shop at either of these businesses and enter that website from the banner above, they give the forum a small percentage of the proceeds... We've never participated in these kinds of programs so I really have no idea how practical this is.There are many affiliate programs out there... so I tried to pick two businesses that had a fairly good reputation and ones that I knew alot of members used. We'll be evaluating them over the next couple of months.

It costs you as members here no extra money to shop at these sites if you enter them thru our banners...but it may wind up helping the forum.

So if I could ask..please use the banners to enter Drsfostersmith or Petsmart if you were planning on shopping there. The transaction is strictly between you and them as it would be if you bought from them any other way.

thanks,
al

Al

I do shop there and will certainly use the link!

Good thinking

Jim

[brewmaster15]

Thanks Jim!! Appreciate the support here!:)

-al

[brewmaster15]

Hi all,
Just got an email from DrsFoster...


Save up to 40% on Select Dog and Cat Supplies + Aquarium Power Filters on Sale at Drs. Foster and Smith

....So if you are looking for any on the above products... please shop there using the banner at the top of the Our forum...This benefits Simply when you do.

Thanks,
al

[akumastew]

Darn it, Al.

Your twisting my arm for another DrsF&S purchase.

Should I give my wife your email address, so that she can shout at you; rather than shouting at me? :)

[brewmaster15]

Darn it, Al.

Your twisting my arm for another DrsF&S purchase.

Should I give my wife your email address, so that she can shout at you; rather than shouting at me? :)
Sure you can give her my email address, but if you do, let me know in advance what merchandise you want for christmas from the simplydiscus cafepress store...and I'll pass that along to her for you!;);););););):D

al

[brewmaster15]

Shame less plug....Bump..:)

thanks,
al

[Scribbles]

I need to put in another order with Dr. F and S soon. Thanks for the reminder to use the banner.

Chris

[Discus-n00b]

Put in an order myself today. Wasn't a big order, but I used the link.

[tcmemphisbbq]

Sure you can give her my email address, but if you do, let me know in advance what merchandise you want for christmas from the simplydiscus cafepress store...and I'll pass that along to her for you!;);););););):D

al

Haha

[akumastew]

Darn it...DrsFosterSmith tempts my debit card yet again...will it ever end?

[brewmaster15]

Well this affiliate business has been a roller coaster ride that just ended suddenly.....

States are so hurting for revenue that they are squeezing where ever they can... I was just informed that Drs. Fostersmith is ceasing all affiliate programs in all states because of changing legislation affecting taxes.:mad::mad::(:(:(:(:(

Needless to say I am royally bummed as it was a good way for hobbyists here to contribute to the forum without having to spend money out of their own pocket.:(:(:(:(

back to the drawing board for me here....sorry everyone and thanks to all of you that did purchase your supplies thru the affiliate banner link.


Copy of the letter affiliates recieved.


Dear Drs. Foster and Smith Affiliate,

Regarding pending state nexus/sale tax legislation

It is with great regret that we have to inform you that we are shutting
down affiliate marketing at Drs. Foster and Smith effective immediately
February 22, 2010. This closure is across the board in all states with
all affiliates and is not related to you only as one of our affiliates.
We regret having to do this for a variety of reasons, not the least of
which is that so many of you have done a great job for Drs. Foster and
Smith and will be adversely affected by the loss of revenue from Drs.
Foster and Smith sales. Thank you for all you have done to promote our
company on your web sites. We apologize for the hardship and
inconvenience that this creates for you.

The single reason for the decision at this time is the moving target of
the ever-growing patchwork quilt of state legislatures that are
considering nexus legislation relative to affiliate marketing and sales
tax. It has become increasingly difficult to determine who is
considering such laws, where they are in the process and what the
ramifications are in each state. What affiliates may not be aware of is
that such nexus situations do not only relate to sales tax collection,
but potentially state income tax for a corporation as well.

We wish there was clarity on this issue from state to state and
nationally, but there isn't. So until this matter is cleared up
nationally, we are shutting down all affiliate marketing. We apologize
for any hardships this brings to you and your team. We have greatly
appreciated the work that you have done on our behalf. The sudden
nature of the move by California to reintroduce legislation late last
week and to push for a quick vote, emphasized the ever-changing nature
of this issue and our need to be ahead of such votes and decisions.

With our appreciation for your contribution to our company,

Sincerely,

Drs. Foster and Smith Affiliate Marketing Team



-al

[David Rose]

Well it's time for them to become a sponsor then...let's petition them! :mad:

I can always find products less expensive and just as good of quality for the most part, so anyone that we support as a forum should be willing to become a sponsor here to keep our business or at least mine!!!!!