Affiliate Blog

Affiliate Update: FTC Mandatory Compliance Clarification

Beginning April 1, 2010, the Federal Trade Commission's Free Credit Reports Rule will require that all online advertisements for "free credit reports" comply with the disclosure rules as defined by the FTC. To help ensure that all affiliates meet the new compliance requirements and deadlines mandated by each advertiser in response to the ruling, we've created the following outline as a guide:

Advertiser:	Guidelines:
	At 5pm Pacific time, on Wednesday, March 31st, all links will be updated to redirect from FreeCreditReport.com to FreeCreditScore.com. Please note that there is no report component with this offer. To ensure compliance, please update all marketing copy to reflect this change. Contact your affiliate manager for the new FreeCreditScore.com logos if needed. See Offer Details
	At 5pm Pacific time, on Wednesday, March 31st, all links will be updated to redirect from the current 30-day free trial offer to a new 7-day free trial offer. Equifax has mandated that all references to the words "free credit report" or "credit report" be removed from all marketing copy for this offer. To ensure compliance, please update all marketing copy to reflect this change. See Offer Details
	All offers will remain the same. TransUnion has mandated that all references to the words "free credit report" or "credit report" be removed from all marketing copy. To ensure compliance, please update all marketing copy to reflect this change. See Offer Details
	If you are using the terms "credit report" in any of your marketing copy for IDENTITY GUARD® EXTRA CAUTION®, you MUST market the non free trial offer. Please contact your account manager for an updated link to ensure compliance. NOTICE: Even if you choose to comply with the FTC regulations and meet all of the disclaimer specifications, if you use the term "free credit report", "credit report" or any variation of these terms in your advertising campaigns, you cannot market this offer. See Offer Details
	All references to the words "free credit report", "credit report", or any variation of these terms must be removed from all marketing copy. To ensure compliance, please update all marketing copy to reflect this change. See Offer Details
	All references to the words "free credit report" must be removed from all marketing copy. To ensure compliance, please update all marketing copy to reflect this change. See Offer Details
	All references to the words "free credit report" must be removed from all marketing copy. To ensure compliance, please update all marketing copy to reflect this change. See Offer Details
	All references to the words "free credit report", "credit report", or any variation of these terms must be removed from all marketing copy. To ensure compliance, please update all marketing copy to reflect this change. See Offer Details

For affiliates using banner ads, please login to your affiliate account to download the newly approved banners. If you choose to use your own banner ads, they must be approved and you must remove all references to a "free credit report" as defined by the FTC's new rule. They must also meet the individual requirements listed above for each advertiser. All banners must be pre-approved before use.

For affiliates who choose to continue marketing "free credit reports", "credit reports" -- or any variation of these terms in your advertising campaigns, you must follow the guidelines exactly as they are defined by the FTC to meet disclosure placement, size and font specifications. We strongly urge you to read the full details of the rule as published by the FTC here.

If you have questions regarding these changes, please contact your account manager.

Credit Card Widget Guide Part 2

In my first post, I explained the steps to customize your credit card widget by choosing your categories by card type, issuer or even selecting your own individual cards. For part two, we’re going to take a look at customizing the look and feel of your widget.

Most of step 2 is pretty straight forward, however there are some features I want to point out and demonstrate here in this post.  In order to begin with step 2 you must first click on the left side ‘Show/Hide’ link to expand the box.

 

Another item to note is that in order to display any changes you make to the customization you MUST click on the Update button.  The reset button will clear your changes and bring you back to default. It will not save any of your changes so only use it if you want to reset and start over.

Step 2. Customize Look and Feel

Widget Type.  The wide and narrow radio button option is one of the coolest features about this widget.  While the wide version of the widget allows you to easily create a comparison site chart, the narrow version gives bloggers the flexibility to incorporate credit card advertisements in their blogs sidebars or within the posts themselves.  The sizing of the narrow widget is standard for all blogs, namely type pad, blogger, and word press.

Agent-ID.  You can even apply your agent or sub ID to the widget to allow you to track sales on your end.

So what is "Agent Tracking?" What is an "Agent ID?"

Agent tracking is an additional feature incorporated to our existing HTML codes located at the end of each affiliate link. We strongly encourage all of our affiliates to utilize this feature as a way to track sales and performance when marketing several of our offers at one time. This allows you to evaluate if an offer is working in keeping with the needs of your business.

When you download creatives through the Credit.com affiliate site, you'll be offered a chance to add a custom agent ID.

Is there a minimum requirement on the length of an agent ID?  

Yes, an agent ID must be at least two or more characters in numeric or letter value.

Width – Button Color.  These functions are pretty self explanatory.  They allow you to match the color elements of the widget with the color scheme of your site or blog.

Button Hover Color.  I really like this function.  It shows the visitor that the button is an active link and clickable.

That wraps up part two of the Credit Card Widget series and should give you a better idea of the different options available for customizing the look and feel of your widget. Stay tuned for my next post where we’ll discuss the credit card finder widget and the rate table widget. 

Credit Card Widget Guide Part 1

Not only does our credit card affiliate program offer some of the best payouts and conversions in the space, we are also the only network to offer a credit card widget that can be used on your site or blog.

In the next three blog posts I will review and go over the features and functions associated with Credit.com’s Credit Card Widget.

After signing up for an affiliate account, simply login to Credit.com’s affiliate site and select the Credit Card Widget from the “Exclusive Offers” to begin customizing your widget to fit your site or blog.

Step 1. Choose your Categories.

There are 3 options here and it just depends on the list you want to create.  Do you want to create your list by card type? Issuer? Or create your OWN list based on the specific cards you select?

Option 1. Selecting by card type will allow you to create a list of cards that are for specific credit score ranges and card categories. This is a great way for sorting credit cards on a credit card comparisons site.>It is one of the ways Credit.com sorts our own credit card offers.

Option 2. Selecting the Issuer option will allow you to create a list for a specific credit card issuer. This is also a very useful way of organizing cards on a credit card comparison site.

Option 3. Selecting by card allows you to choose a widget for one single individual card, or to create your own custom list of cards. The drop down list provides you with every available credit card you can market. Some people choose to use a single card as a great cross sell offer.

Once you have added a few cards you have the option to move them up or down your list. You can also click on the trash can and remove the card altogether.

Stay tuned for more customizable tips and features in my next post, Credit Card Widget Guide Part 2.

Corey Bray manages the affiliate team and focuses on business development opportunities for Credit.com. His team's goal is to grow Credit.com's site traffic and exposure in the online credit and financial space.

Do's and Don'ts

Life has always been full of "DOs" and "DON'Ts". Growing up was "DO your homework" and "DON'T talk to strangers". "DO the right thing" and "DON'T" eat yellow snow". "DO you really want to hurt me?" and "DON'T you forget about me" (come on, I'm a child of the 80s).

When being active in affiliate marketing, there are always going to be "DOs" and "DON'Ts" to pay attention to. Some may be incredibly obvious, but still have great importance. 

Here are some DOs and DON'TS to take into consideration when talking to a client or an affiliate...

DO be attentive. Have you been on those calls when you just get that feeling like the person on the other end is not paying attention? All you hear in the background are the strokes of a keyboard or the pinging of an instant messenger? Nothing is more distracting than talking with someone who is not listening. Instead of giving feedback, your questions and comments are responded to with "uh-huh" and "right....." Give legitimate responses and provide actual answers to the situation at hand.

DON'T assume anything. Your idea of a conversion regarding an offer may differ from someone else. Thoroughly explain the offer, filters, details, payout etc so that everything is out on the table. You don't necessarily have to go into the history of affiliate marketing and how incredibly savvy and smart Ryan Zimmerman is in this industry, but just don't omit the mandatory details.

DO know personalities. There are so many types of people in this wonderful world of ours. Some are just like you....and some are really, really not like you at all. I'll use "casual" terms with certain publishers I deal with, like "buddy", "homeslice" and other random terms of endearment, but it is because I know their personality and can use that nomenclature to communicate effectively. 

DON'T ignore personalities. You may like calling people "brah" or "bro" and it may work very well, but it isn't for everyone. When you are talking to someone who is strictly business (and if you listen to them, you should have no problem distinguishing between the two), you need to adapt and converse accordingly. Someone who is blunt and to the point probably doesn't want to spend time with chit chat and the joke of the day you read online. First listen and then adjust appropriately.

DO take notes. I don't mean just taking notes on the credit card offer you are discussing, or the payout you agreed to on a credit report. I mean take notes regarding that person you are talking to. If they mention they have the flu, remember it, and ask how they're feeling the next time you have them on the phone. If they just had a baby, remember to ask how the little one is doing on a future call.  If they mention that they are a Missouri Tigers fan, remember to offer your condolences the next time you have them on the phone (Rock Chalk Jayhawk!)

DON'T avoid emails or voicemails. There are going to be times to when you can't get to the phone or respond to an email immediately. However, when you see an email and you really don't have interest or don't believe it is a good fit at the time, just reply back with that information. Not replying to requests is not only frustrating to the sender, but unprofessional as a whole. It takes just a few seconds to decline a request. It takes a lot longer for both sides when communication is omitted.

There will always be "DO's" and "DON'Ts" in life. Some are those to really abide by and some are not, but you'll face the choice each day, one way or another. So, I really hope that you DO share this post today with others and DON'T write any negative comments!:)

-Ryan Zimmerman

FTC Rule regarding Free Credit Report Offers ‐ Mandatory Compliance Required

Effective April 1, 2010, the Federal Trade Commission's Free Credit Reports Rule will require new prominent disclosures in all online advertisements for "free credit reports." Any site marketing free credit reports will be required to include a disclosure across the top of each page stating:

THIS NOTICE IS REQUIRED BY LAW. Read more at FTC.GOV.
You have the right to a free credit report from AnnualCreditReport.com 
or 877-322-8228, the ONLY authorized source under federal law.

The disclosures must also include a clickable button to "Take me to the authorized source" and clickable links to AnnualCreditReport.com and FTC.GOV.

In response to the FTC ruling, Credit.com is implementing new guidelines for our credit report offers. To ensure compliance, all affiliates running credit report offers are required to update marketing copy and remove any language containing the words "free credit report" or similar term. The FTC rule covers any ad for a credit report "that is represented, either expressly or impliedly, to be available to the consumer free of charge" if it is in any way tied to the purchase of a product or service.

For affiliates using banner ads, please be sure to login to your affiliate account and download the newly approved banners. If you choose to use your own banner ads, you must remove all references to a "free credit report" as defined by the FTC's new rule.

In order to meet the April 1st deadline, we will begin conducting a thorough compliance review on all affiliate sites starting March 23rd. Failure to comply with the new guidelines will be deemed a breach of your affiliate agreement and any sites that are not in compliance will be shut down on Monday, March 29th. We appreciate your support in ensuring that we all meet the new requirements by the mandated deadline.

Download the full details on the FTC's Final Rule here. You can also read more about the new disclosure requirements along with sample placement examples here.

Stay tuned for more information and updates as we work our way through implementing the changes as required by the FTC.

If you have questions regarding these changes, please contact your account manager.

FTC's Free Credit Report Disclosure Rule Effective April 1

On February 23, 2010, the Federal Trade Commission released its final rule on Free Credit Report offers as required under the Credit Card Accountability and Disclosure Act (CARD Act).

The Federal Trade Commission's Free Credit Reports Rule will require new prominent disclosures in all online advertisements for "free credit reports." Any site marketing free credit reports will be required to include a disclosure across the top of each page stating:

THIS NOTICE IS REQUIRED BY LAW. Read more at FTC.GOV.
You have the right to a free credit report from AnnualCreditReport.com 
or 877-322-8228, the ONLY authorized source under federal law.

The disclosures must also include a clickable button to "Take me to the authorized source" and clickable links to AnnualCreditReport.com and FTC.GOV. 

Based on the new ruling, all free credit report offers advertised online have until April 1, 2010 to comply. In the meantime, sites advertising "free credit reports" are required to include a disclosure that simply states: 

“Free credits reports are available under Federal law at: AnnualCreditReport.com.”

There's really not much difference other than a few lines of text and a button, right? Wrong. The FTC is very specific about the placement and prominence of the disclosure. The following examples provided by the FTC show exactly what is expected of sites that choose to market "free credit report" offers:

   

(click images to enlarge) 

While online free credit report offers have until April 1 to comply with the new disclosure requirements, TV and radio advertisements have until September 1 to make their changes.  To read the full details on the FTC's Final Rule, download the final rule here. 

Deanna Templeton is the Director of Consumer Education for Credit.com and has more than 10 years of experience in the online credit and personal finance markets and works closely with the affiliate marketing side of the business. 

Marketing Credit Cards in This Day and Age

With the recent credit card act, the online credit card space is going through some significant changes making it even harder to market cards successfully. 

For sites that generate a majority of subprime traffic, there really isn’t much out there.  Consumers will be finding that they are offered pre paid and secured cards but NOT the credit cards they are looking for.

So this must mean that those sites with prime traffic have a huge ROI.  Wrong!  Prime traffic sites are finding it just as hard.  With underwriting the way it is, even fewer of their applicants are qualifying for cards.  Since these cards pay on approval and NOT by application, prime credit card marketers are also seeing a hit to their ROI.

So what do you do?

Be Creative with How you Market Cards

Our site, like many others, is a credit card comparison site.  Building one of these for yourself is easier than ever with our credit card widget and API feeds.  Just because sites are successful with this approach, doesn’t mean that it’s your only option.

Including the credit card rate table widget in locations on your financial blog or site can lead to unexpected revenue.  Our rate table widget tracks the user’s activity on our site and will compensate you for their actions.  Instead of trying to build out a highly converting credit card site, you can rest assured knowing that we have done our due diligence on the conversion process to get you optimal results when linking to our credit card portal. 

Credit Cards as Cross Sells

A lot of people in the financial space use the credit report as a cross sell, but have you ever considered credit cards?  If you are declining a consumer for a loan product, a credit card or secured card on the exit page is one way to help that consumer.  A secured card will help to boost their credit score, hopefully allowing them to come back to your site in the future and actually qualify for the loan.  

Stay Compliant

Staying compliant means that you will be able to continue cards for the upcoming months and years.  This is the best way to make sure you don’t end up on a black list of one of the major issuers.  Our credit card affiliate program makes it easier than ever to stay compliant.  Our feed and widgets have the most up-to-date compliance information. 

You can also ensure that you remain compliant by simply linking to the credit card section on our site. This allows you the ability to get compensated for all available offers we have.  You can contact your rep for direct links to our credit card pages. 

Corey Bray manages the affiliate team and focuses on business development opportunities for Credit.com. His team's goal is to grow Credit.com's site traffic and exposure in the online credit and financial space.

Affiliate Update: Green Dot Offer Details, New Features & Widgets

We have quite a bit of news for you this time around including changes to the Green Dot Prepaid cards, Vision card pixel hosting, new Credit Card Widget features, and a brand new Credit Card Rate Table Widget. Take a look:

Green Dot Prepaid Cards
Please update your marketing terms for the Green Dot prepaid card to the following:

• Guaranteed approval*, no credit or Chexsystems℠ checks
• No overdraft fees or minimum balances
• Online bill pay - send checks to anyone
• Free direct deposit & credit builder

If you are using any other terms, please remove them immediately and replace with the issuer authorized bullets listed above.

Vision Premier
Vision can now host your pixels!

New Widgets & Features
	Credit Card Widget: We've added new features to the Credit Card Widget! You can now select by individual card and then sort the order. Check it out.
	Credit Card Rate Table Widget: This new widget lets you choose by category type and allows you to customize the look and feel of the table. See it in action.
	Credit Card API/XML Feedback: For those of you wishing to market credit cards through our Credit Card API, we want your feedback. If you have ideas or specific features that you'd like to see, email us and let us hear about it!

If you have any questions or want to learn more about these offers or our widgets, please contact your account manager for details.

Cheaters Never Win and Winners Never Cheat...unless you play professional baseball

In elementary school I was crazy smart. I could rattle off my times tables faster than you could say "Conjunction Junction, What's Your Function". However, I hit a brick wall in 8th grade and instead of being the kid that everyone copied off of during tests, I became the kid that always sat right next to the smart kid on test days. I'd put my forehead on my hand like I was concentrating, when I was actually blocking my line of vision from being noticed by the teacher as I studied the smart kid's answers and replicated them onto my own test.

Different scenario, same principle here: When my mom would cook something that I know I despised, whenever she would leave the room, I would grab an assortment of raunchy spices from the pantry and poor them into the mystery meat loaf of the day. My plan was, if I could make it taste so bad that my parents thought it was terrible, than we'd have no choice but to get take-out instead. It worked often and well, I'm reluctant to say....

So, did I ever get caught? Nope....But that's not the point!! Cheating as a whole is wrong, in pretty much every aspect of the word. So, when you are tempted to do something "cheatish" while doing affiliate marketing, think again.....

Say you have a new site and you're wanting to pump it full of content, however, aren't boiling over with creativity and would prefer to take a shortcut. So, you scour the internet, find some verbiage that is relative to your site, and copy and paste and Presto Change-o, you have yourself some worthy and interesting content. There's a word for that, and it isn't "CopyCat"....It's something way more cool sounding, and that word is Plagiarism!! Not only is it wrong, it doesn't help! Search engines favor original content, not recycled and repetitive verbiage. Don't cut corners and spend your time copy and pasting, when it really is not worth it. Take some time and be an authority on your topic and use that knowledge to provide insight on it for your viewers. If you are running a credit card offer from our Credit.com Credit Card Affiliate Program, don't just copy what other people think of the Card Act.... voice your own thoughts and review. It will help you gain credibility at the same time. On the flipside, if you think you may be a victim of others copying your work, there are great sites, such as copyscape.com, that you can utilize to check.

Have you ever watched America's Funniest Videos where they show people's reactions to a winning lottery ticket, only to be informed painfully later that they were set up by a friend (with obviously no soul) and that ticket is bogus? These people go from overwhelmed and excited to stunned and silenced in seconds-- just like when Taylor Swift was interrupted by Kanye West at the VMAs. Come on Kanye, Beyonce is good, but one of the best videos of all time? Have we forgotten a little known production entitled "Thriller"? sheesh....anyway, back to the topic at hand. What I am getting at is the same thing unfortunately happens with publishers and affiliate networks, advertisers, etc. When publishers send leads through, and volume accumulates, the sales team takes efforts and adjusts and modifies processes and forecasts to accommodate. Each lead that comes in is part of the bigger picture, and essentially, can really alter many procedures in place. The last thing you want to do is try and sneak under the radar and provide bogus leads intentionally. Not only is this entirely unethical, but it is likely to violate each and every terms and conditions you are under and the end result could be suspension of your account and potentially foregoing of any payment. Yes, some publishers have scammed some of the biggest known networks around, however, keep in mind that the affiliate world is an incredibly viral atmosphere, and wrongdoers names spread like wildfire, so some may have gotten away with it in the past, but odds are, it won't happen again. 

All in all, the main takeaway from my rambling is to just "play nice". No one wants to deal with deception. Everyone wants to deal with legitimacy. Like my mom always said, "Be honest and be true to yourself. Doing so gains the respect of others." Well said Mom!....now, about that meat loaf.....

-Ryan Zimmerman

Ryan Zimmerman is a Senior Affiliate Sales Executive for Credit.com and has worked in the affiliate marketing arena for almost a decade. Ryan shares his experience and insight on email marketing and affiliate promotional tactics.

Affiliate Update: Orchard Bank Visa & AccountNow Prepaid Offer Details

We're pleased to announce that the Orchard Bank Visa Card is now available in our affiliate program. Also, for those of you looking for a great prepaid email opportunity, the AccountNow® Prepaid Visa Card is now available for use in your email campaigns. Take a look:
 

Orchard Bank Visa® Cards:
	Bad credit? No problem. The Orchard Bank Visa Card can help you get your credit back on track. Orchard Bank reports to all three major credit bureaus monthly, giving you the opportunity to rebuild your credit with good payment behavior. See Details
AccountNow® Prepaid Visa® Card:
	Now Available for Email Campaigns: The checking account alternative that lets you borrow money and build a credit history. Simply load your card with cash through direct deposit, Western Union, Money Gram, Green Dot, or Visa Ready Link to get started. See Details

If you have any questions or want to learn more about these offers, please contact your account manager for details.