I went to Linkshare today in search of their affiliate agreement (was curious about how the different networks looked at forced clicks). Usually the fastest path to a network affiliate agreement is to click join. They’re almost always worked into the join form in one way or another and the join form is ALWAYS easy […]

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Yesterday I received a letter from a customer, a real world paper letter in our PO Box.
It was an angry letter about a host of problems with a particular product.
The letter closed with “What are we suppose to do ??? You will have to admit this is a REAL problem…. We would appreciate an e-mail […]

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This is a lesson in crappy customer service.
My wife works… err… worked rather, on an Acer Aspire 3000 series laptop. Not too long after purchase, still well within warranty, the power cable decided to melt. Acer sent out a replacement and all was well, for a while.
Unfortunately the new power cable not only melted, but […]

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What have you done today to build your business?
This question is an important one for merchants, affiliates, part timers, life timers and pretty much anyone else dorking around online to generate income.
This is also an important question to ask yourself often. It’s easy to wake up and spend the day just going through the motions, and just […]

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A bit ago Jason Calcanis posted a piece on saving money as a start-up. One line about firing anyone who isn’t a workaholic has caused a bit of a rumble, including a rebuttal of sorts from 37signals which suggests five reasons in favor of firing the workaholics.
I don’t normally get involved in debates with other […]

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We’ve all heard the story of the ant and the grasshopper, right? The ant spends his days building up stores for the winter while the grasshopper spends all summer having a grand frolic. Winter comes and the ant is cozy and fat and the grasshopper likely dies of exposure or some other ghastly fate.
In my […]

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I recently had an idea to create a subject specific map using Google Maps (maps.google.com) and make it open to the public as sort of lame duck attempt at social interaction and slow growth link bait. Of course I also wanted to build a useful resource for site visitors. I started the map on February 27th […]

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I got an email today from TrafficZ, the domain parking service I use for all those domains I hope to build one day, but may or may not ever get a chance to. The email was alerting TrafficZ users to a phishing email going around posing as TrafficZ. Here’s the meat:
 ”Several of our clients have received emails […]

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In my last post, All Hail the New Parasite, I ranted a bit about networks, OPMs and affiliates taking advantage of merchants on the TM PPC issue. This time, I’d just like to post a bit of data.
Because poachers not only steal commissions from merchants, but also overwrite the cookies of affiliates who previously referred […]

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Affiliates, merchants and even some networks are pretty vocal about being anti-spyware, anti-parasite, anti-BHO scum, etc, but another parasite has quietly slipped onto the scene and has actually been hailed, defended and cheered by members of the industry.
Never by merchants though, surprise surprise…
I’m talking about trademark poachers, a breed of scum sucking bottom feeders that need to be […]

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