If you have ever been an affiliate of a company you know that there are always certain rules that each company has. For example the most common one has to do with their Trademarks, domain names, and how they are or are not used by you in search engine marketing.
Business and Affiliate Dynamic
I find the dynamic between a company, their affiliate program, and affiliates fascinating. In some cases the relationship is very open and in others it seems adversarial. Obviously businesses would prefer to have their service and product sales increase without affiliates or marketing. However let’s think about what the affiliate does for a business
Why Use an Affiliate?
In the 90′s the term CPA (Cost Per Action) was just taking off as were affiliate programs. I recall selling email marketing campaigns as a CPM (Cost Per Thousand) and always discussing CPA deals with advertisers as well as a hybrid. Why does an advertiser, or company, want a CPA? Because they only pay if there is a transaction, it is the perfect marketing model. Typically the marketing arm of the company has to market (be creative, create campaigns etc.) and spend money to do it, obviously without knowing the end result. They may or may not earn back their marketing dollars with a profit. Therefore if they could have someone else do all the work and only pay them when there is a sale then it’s a no brainer.
Who Has Control?
In the case of control you can compare a company and an affiliate marketer with an employee and a contractor. With an employee they have benefits, there are certain tax consequences and responsibilities of the company, different laws that apply etc., that differ completely with contractors. Businesses would prefer contractors they pay a flat hourly or monthly rate to, do not have to provide benefits and can say at the drop of a hat “do not come back tomorrow”.
That is not the case with employees, so why don’t all businesses just hire individuals as contractors? The issue is control (for the most part), if the business tells the person what to do, how to do it, when to do it, where to do it, and with company owned resources etc., then the person is considered an employee. If the business says to the person please do X task by Y date, and the individual does it however they prefer on their own equipment then typically they would rightfully be considered a contractor. Why make the comparison?
The reason I make the comparison is because the same issue comes up with affiliate marketing. The issue is control. I would have lengthy discussions with businesses who wanted to pay only on a successful transaction for their email marketing about who controls the wording and the creative. If the business wants to pay a CPM then they can dictate the campaign wording, creative, etc. But if the business tells you that you are fully responsible by only being paid upon a transaction, then it is a slippery slope to dictate how you do it. If they are not paying and the success of the campaign, ie whether or not you make any money, is riding on how the campaign is executed then it should be your call.
Social Media Affiliate Rules
So I call your attention to a recent email from a business about their affiliate marketing program and what you can and cannot do. This was not directed to me but sent to all affiliates. Here is a portion of an email sent about new rules the business has for affiliates when marketing online. I have taken out the company name and this is not the entire email (my disclaimer).
Please read this announcement carefully as it describes changes to the XYZ Affiliate Policy in regards to Social Media. Please be advised that XYZ’s Affiliate Policy no longer allows affiliates to use offer-based language in affiliate social media marketing campaigns. See examples of what’s prohibited below. Social Media Marketing is defined as a promotional technique using social medium to deliver advertisements on networks and websites with social interaction. Social Media Networks include Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, MySpace, Flickr, and other websites that allow interaction between a marketer and the general public.
What are examples of tweets that are not permitted?
* XYZ coupon – 20% Off
* XYZ coupon – $10 Off
* XYZ 30 Day Trial
* Check out XYZ coupons
What are suggested tweets for promoting XYZ coupons?
* Read reviews on XYZ {URL}
* I use XYZ for my business and love their service. {URL}
* Learn more how XYZ can help grow your business. {URL}
Caution
I would caution a company like this about their ability to have an affiliate program be as affective as it can be when tying the hands of their affiliate marketers. However the great news is that all affiliates can leave any affiliate program at any time. Also, there are thousands of affiliate programs out there as every business would love you to send them customers while only paying you if that customer buys something, so pick another if you like 
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Google announced they have a new search index. On their blog, 6/8/10, they talk about the new index named Caffeine. Read all about it 
My prediction is that while the new index is 50x better and codenamed Caffeine, the next index will be 500x better and codenamed Crack. They will also provide a spokesperson, former Mayor Marion-CrackBarry – who by the way had the name CrackBarry before it was made cool by the BlackBerry device (with a slightly different spelling).