Hi! I am SUPER new to e-commerce. But my website is almost built...and we are waiting to upload until everything is perfect. I am starting a gift website, and will have NO inventory, I will just be promoting other business' products (affiliate marketing). I have NO idea of the legalities for doing this. HELP!!! Do I need a business license? Do I need an EIN, so I don't have to use my SS? What else should I know?
I would just be a sole proprietorship and use
your social to start out with and if it grow then you can look at a llc or something
else. It is simple and easy to do.
Affiliate marketing provides website owners with the ability to monetize their content with 'referrals' or mentions of other merchant products and services on their website. A site owner is paid when that user clicks on the link or buys that product or service.
Affiliate marketing is one of the more effective means to monetize content. Some of the more authoritative affiliate networks include Commission Junction and Linkshare.
Message Edited by CharlotteW on 08-28-2009 05:36 PM
Welcome to the Business.gov Community TM! Find more information about online businesses and online advertising and let us know if these resource are helpful. Regards,Erin
Now a days Affiliate marketing is the possible way to make money because it doesn't require you to have a product, make a sale or ever have any interaction with customers. This is essentially a 'referral business'.
I would be interested in any affiliate Marketing Programs that would help with recent layoff. I keep finding suspious online companies which want credit card numbers.Thanks for any info..........Frank
How can I tell the legitimate affiliate programs from the scams?
Dr. Lorrie Klein
Thank you everyone for their thoughts and comments!
A couple of issues that may effect affiliate marketeers:
Some states have enacted new taxes for affiliate sales, I believe New York was one of the first, this complication has caused some affiliate programs to cease doing business with marketeers residing in these states.
The FTC has recently revised their 1980 testimonial and endorsement rules to cover internet marketing, chiefly endorsements must be authentic br it by a celebrity or a blog operator. There are also guidelines requiring disclosure any business relationships with makers of 'reviewed' products. These rules $11,000 per infraction teeth.
Welcome to the Business.gov Community TM! Find more information about online businesses and online advertising and let us know if these resource are helpful. Regards,Erin
This was helpful, thank you. But I'm still not sure about all of the legalities for my website. I still am not sure if I need a business license to conduct business. I will only be working with a third party, earning comissions from the business and not the customer.
I would be interested in any affiliate Marketing Programs that would help with recent layoff. I keep finding suspious online companies which want credit card numbers.Thanks for any info..........Frank
There are so many affiliate marketing offers out there that promise high returns but in the end turn to be scams. I think the best thing for anybody to do is to research a great deal before jumping into anything. A few affiliate marketing services you can look at that are highly respectable are www.clickbank.com and www.commissionjunction.com
But then again, it all depends on what type of affiliate marketing you are into. Some pay more some pay less.
We offer an affiliate program at our franchise for sale directory andwe are very picky who gets to join but it can be very rewarding if you are familiar with the different strategies of internet marketing. Check it out at www.majorfranchises.com
If you wish to learn more about affiliate marketing you may contact me.
Message Edited by ChristineL on 11-09-2009 09:06 AM
I would just be a sole proprietorship and use
your social to start out with and if it grow then you can look at a llc or something
else. It is simple and easy to do.
When I started, I started as an S-Corp, because at the time (1999) LLC's were newish and legal advisors weren't sure what to make of them as there was not enough case law to fully understand liability ramifications.
However, if I were to start today and wanted to go beyond a sole proprietorship I would start as an LLC.
Affiliate Marketing is one of the least understood and under the radar way of making great side income. We do very well with it. We just provide additional value to our clients. The great part about Affiliate Marketing is that you are not charging anymore for the product or service being provided. Plus it is such a soft sell. Great stuff! Matt Sullivanhttp://www.creditdusters.com Message Edited by StuartR on 03-08-2009 09:46 PM
Affiliate Marketing is really a difficult thing to break into, but once you do, making money hasn't been any easier. Thank you for the advice on the business licenses. I recently got into affiliate marketing and still don't know what sort of permits and stuff are needed. I'm talking to my tax person tomorrow and will set a meeting up with a dba company to see what they have to say sometime within the week.
Howies Apprentice
Message Edited by StuartR on 03-08-2009 09:47 PM
Frank, Many affiliate marketing experts recommend newcomers signup with an affiliate network, such as Commission Junction or ClickBank. These companies establish an advertiser network which allows you to tap into a variety of advertisers at once. The Yahoo Directory and the Open Directory have listings of affiliate network programs and resources as well as information on individual affilaite marketing programs. These directories aren't comprehensive, but there are good starting points to learn about what's out ther.
The best thing you can do if you are interested in Affiliate Marketing is do your 'homework' FIRST. Don't jump in on the first thing you see.
There are many,many programs out there. Built-in Affiliate programs or Networks, along with many of the MLM programs can be quite 'overwhelming' if you're not familiar with them.
You can start off on a simple basis or get very complicated very quickly.
Like was mentioned, most vendors are setup through a service like Paydotcom, ClickBank, Sharesale, etc. Most pay through PayPal but some use DirectDeposit or mail checks. Some require the Forms for the $600 rule, but you need to record and report your earnings regardless.
First, you will have to get rolling and build traffic for your ads (which usually takes a couple weeks or months depending on how much time and effort you put into it). Some vendors even provide you with a free base website to use and start you off with a rotating pattern of exposure to search engines.
They almost always give you the links, banners, ads to use with your built-in affiliate codes in order to track your sales/commissions.
Hope that helps.
Hi, Sorry to hear you are going through tough times. Even so, I would urge you to spend time learning the intricacies of internet businesses. If you do a search on google, you will find millions of ways of making a quick buck and loads of cash. I don't doubt some do but like any other business, its the top 20% who make good money and the top 5% who make indecent loads of money. I am suggesting a good place to start learning. This is the FREE 30-day course offered by http://www.thirtydaychallenge.com/ Ed Dale (please note that this is a generic link and not my affiliate link to Ed). Normally, I would be very sceptical of anything free but I did try this and it is working. I am learning a lot and my website is beginning to rank on google. Whilst the course is free, some of the suggested tools are not. However, they are optional and the course does suggest ways to get by without spending money. I opted to spend some money (my domain name costs US$9 per year; my hosting subscription is US$20 a month). I figured that if the site actually works, like its beginning to, I do not want to redo the whole process again. Broadly they teach that we must pick a niche, if possible, in an area of expertise that we are already good at. If not, never mind, just learn the process. It'll enlighten you as to what you are up against in the world of internet business. The other key lesson is you must get your website in front of targetted traffic i.e. real people who are searching for your product or service. It is common sense. The tough part is many people already know this and we need to learn the latest techniques to compete with them. The affiliate programs that they recommend have been mentioned above. I would only add that Clickbank is more for electronic goods (e.g. downloadable e-books, software etc) whilst Commission Junction and ShareASale are like your local department store (a whole array of goods). Going through this free course will also keep you from spending monies on whoever promises you overnight riches. Believe me, there are very, very convincing copywriters out there who can lead you to buy land on Mars! I have been tempted countless times. By the way, you can squeeze in several days of the course into one or two days if the materials are already posted by Ed. Good Luck! Cheers,MinEnThe http://www.ionic-airpurifiers.com/ Ionic Air Purifier BlogMessage Edited by ChristineL on 12-16-2009 03:25 PM
Apologies, my post is a reply to
reroc2000
By the way, the links to the mentioned affiliate links, which I have joined so far, are:
http://www.clickbank.com/index.html Clickbank
http://www.cj.com/ Commission Junction
http://www.shareasale.com/ ShareASale
As most of the merchants ask for a website when you apply to them, I believe it helps to have one. It allows them an opportunity to review and ensure that your site meets their requirements.
Cheers,
MinEn
The http://www.ionic-airpurifiers.com/ Ionic Air Purifier Blog
http://community2.business.gov/bsng/view_profile?user.id=998' target='_blank'>
Message Edited by NicoleD on 06-23-2009 05:03 PM
siotw | Creator | 8/27/2009 - 5:55 pm
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