As promised, here are the contest winners!

From Twitter:   The winner is Mike Stronghill

From our Forums Eldon Beard

Please join me in congratulating them…I’ll be working with them just as soon as they want me to.  Thanks also to everyone who participated.  It’s much appreciated.

I swore I’d never do this…but… Here it goes!

At the end of each year, we like to do some kind of contest for everyone.  This year, we’ve decided that the prize will be a 1 hour coaching session with me (Steve).

We’re going to give away 2 of these, and here’s how you can win! (more…)

There is always lots of talk about what “web 2.0″ platform actually ranks better in the SERPS…and of course , it’s constantly changing as Google slaps Squidoo or Hubpages etc.

Everyone has a theory, but not a lot of people have hard data…until right now that is.

We are quietly building a massive research tool that will allow us to do Internet marketing research like no one has ever done before.

It will literally be game changing..and you’ll hear about it sometime after the Holidays. You’ll also be able to get access to the data yourself…to do your own research…but…more about that later.

We have already been doing some initial analysis and we wanted to share some very interesting Web 2.0 stats with you.

We looked at approximately 60,000 “popular” internet marketing keywords (we’ll explain our population samples better in the future…when we’re ready to share more about our research tool, but suffice to say that these are random keywords that have at least some kind of marketing value…i.e. not “chair” or something like that!)…to see what the level of penetration was for web 2.0 platforms in the top 10 Google results.

(more…)

Finally…all the hard work pays off … and we can get commission blueprint 2.0 into your hands

Check it here

I love forum posts like this

Here’s a guy making money already from the stuff we’re GIVING away prior to our Commission Blueprint 2.0 Launch.

Never gets old…helping people make money online…never.

All the prelaunch vids are up…now it’s just a matter of waiting to go live.  I hate this part…I want to launch now!

Check them out here if you haven’t yet!

Man…I can’t wait to launch this product.  We have been working on it ever since we launched the original Commission Blueprint.  1 year ago tomorrow!

It is the biggest and best thing we’ve ever done.  Hands down.

If you want to get a peek at what I’m talking about, and check out some cool stuff we’re giving away…head over here:

Commission Blueprint 2.0

Everyone knows that page rank is driven by backlinks…but, are there other factors?  Many people have theorized that content matters.  The “freshness” of it, the “quality” of it etc.  Do they have any impact at all on page rank?

We developed a study using 200 domains and lots of time and effort to answer this question.  Grab it from the direct link below…nothing to sign up for or anything…just sharing!  :-)

Download the report here!

We recently launched our product SEM Business Blueprint.  Check out the quick video there to see why I feel this is truly the quickest way to quit your job.  It’s how I made money and put food on the table while building my affiliate marketing and e-Commerce businesses.

Click here to see the video!

There’s been a lot of talk regarding the fact that Amazon and/or Commission Junction have been “booting” affiliates from certain states out of their affiliate network.

I just want to take a moment to explain exactly what is going on here…as it really has nothing to do with wether anyone likes or doesn’t like affiliate marketing and that business model.  It’s all about sales tax.

As it stands now, national retailers like Amazon do not collect sales tax from customers where they don’t have a “presence”.  As you might imagine, Amazon works hard to NOT have a presence in most states as this gives them an advantage over brick and mortar stores that must charge the tax.  As you can also imagine, the states that are “losing” this sales tax are not very happy.  With the current fiscal situation, all the states are looking hard at ways in which they can get more revenue.  This “opportunity” is seen in many states as something they can go after.  But…how to do that?  Since their own laws state that the retailer must have a “presence” in the state to collect the tax.  THAT’s where affiliates come in.

The way that many states have decided to go after this money, is by saying that…if an affiliate from their state pushes the traffic to a retailer (like amazon), then that triggers the “presence” and that retailer must collect the sales tax.

Amazon (and other retailers from Commission Junction etc.) do not want to collect the sales tax for two reasons.  First is the overhead required to collect, document, and pay the sales tax.  This is an expense that they currently don’t incur.  Second, and perhaps more importantly, they feel it will hurt their conversions and take away their advantage over brick and mortar stores.  Their solution (in some states) ?  Kick all the affiliates from that state out!

So, how does this affect you now and in the future?

First of all, if you’re outside the US…this has ZERO impact on you.

Clickbank - (Commission Blueprint) Clickbank opportunities are unaffected now and for the foreseeable future.  Digital goods are generally not liable for sales tax, AND, the way that Clickbank sets up their business model makes any affiliate impact very unlikely.

eCommerce Sites - (Niche Blueprint) These sites are unaffected by this, as sales tax is already something that’s addressed.  The only potential issue here, is if you are using affiliates to drive traffic to your site.  You may be faced with the same decisions that Amazon has had to make.

Amazon and other (Commission Junction etc.) - These sales are what is at risk right now.  So, what can you do?  Simple.  Incorporate your business in Delaware and set up an “agent” there where you can have a Delaware address for your company.  In this way, no matter where you are, your company is driving the traffic … and they’re in Delaware.  Why Delaware?  That state makes a ton of money incorporating businesses.  They do so by being VERY business friendly on tax and MANY other issues.  Almost every big company in the US is incorporated there.  I would check here: Commission Junction Tax Update and see what’s going on with your state.  If you have a lot of business that could be at risk, and your state seems to be heading towards this kind of thing…then get yourself to Delaware!  :-)  I would be SHOCKED if Delaware EVER passed legislation like that anytime in the future.

Don’t PANIC!  Just adjust…

We’re in the last few days of our semi-annual Charity and Membership drive.

Check this video out here: http://www.commissionblueprint.com/video

To see some great stuff in our members’ area, to get a special sneak peek for $4.95, and to help out the United Way.

Through the end of this month, all the $4.95 sneak peek revenue goes to the United Way!