Webcasters staged a day of silence on June 26 to protest the rate hikes, arguing that they could be put out of business. Though the silent message was sent loud and clear, the CRB doesn’t appear to have been listening, and so far, neither have the powers that be.

The likelihood that Congress will pass legislation to nullify the hikes, proposed in both the House and Senate, in the next four days seems slim, but that hasn’t stopped numerous organizations from pleading for citizens to contact their legislators to push it through.

Radio and Internet Newsletter (RAIN), the group that organized the day of silence, has filed an emergency stay with US Court of Appeals in the hopes to delay the hikes until Congress can pass legislation.

Independent radio station SomaFM is trying to rally the troops as well and says that the royalty rate hikes amounts to a 3000% increase in costs, with royalties costing them as much as $600,000 for 2006.

"Our costs for music are set to go up 30 times what they used to be. Even if we’re playing the same songs. That doesn’t make any sense at all," says Rusty Hodge, Founder and General Manager of SomaFM.com. "The RIAA’s refusal to make a reasonable settlement with small commercial webcasters is an insult.

"The RIAA keeps saying that most webcasters are billion dollar companies, but with the exception of AOL, Yahoo and Real, most of the top-20 music webcasters are privately-held, independent operations. The RIAA is willing to let independent webcasters be the collateral damage in their battle to extract more control over the large webcasters."
 
Some have argued that those same large corporate presences have been dragging their feet in the fight, willing to let Sunday’s deadline weed out competition. After that, they can begin waging lawsuits, a luxury smaller entities won’t have.

The Seattle Times has called the CRB’s rate hikes an "assault on one of the last escapes from bland commercial radio." The editorial also notes that it will not just be small Internet radio stations, but also public broadcasters that stand to suffer. 

Founded in 2002 Last.FM claims 15 million users worldwide most of them in the sought after younger demos.

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Despite the hefty ten-digit sum being withdrawn from the pockets of seething retailers for the year, the figure represents a downward trend in the total percentage of sales ending up as a chargeback due to fraudulent activity.

Analyst firm eMarketer cited findings by Cyber Source, an automated transaction solution company, in indicating the dropoff, percentage-wise, in fraud losses:

With greater success in sales for online retailers, especially through the holiday season, fraud and its attendant activities like identity theft and spamming people with malware becomes that much more profitable. The $3 billion lost in 2006 represents a 7 percent increase over 2005.

Online retail spending, excluding travel, auctions, and large corporate purchases, has been running at a 24 percent higher clip than in 2005. According to analysis firm Hitwise, spending exceeded $17.5 billion from November 1 through December 12.

During that run, online retailers collectively saw five consecutive days where spending topped $610 million for each day. That’s a lot of George Foreman Grills and other items moving through the Internet marketplace.

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David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business.

One of the most effective ways to get a prospect’s attention is to talk to them about problems you know they are facing. Create a card that describes, in some detail a problem a client had…then of course describe the brilliant solution you provided…and send them out to your clients, friends, contacts, and other network folks.

I would try to get in the habit of making this a monthly mailing. Over time, everyone on your list will begin to expect your cards and grow to see that you can solve their problems too.

But, I have found that one of the real ways to put this tactic into overdrive is you also ask them to forward this card to anyone they know who might have a similar challenge. The impact of this practice over time will create an automatic referral marketing machine. The longer you do it, the more effective it becomes.

One of the great challenges of most small businesses is that they usually offer a variety of products, solutions, and services…but most clients tend to think of you only for what they perceive it is that you do. Sending these problem solving postcards is a great way to gently introduce them to everything you might be able to offer them.

If you do this routinely you will be amazed at the results. Don’t just do it once and forget it. Design your campaign with the idea that you are going to do at least 6 times and you will be far better off right from the start.

John Jantsch is a veteran marketing coach, award winning blogger and author of Duct Tape Marketing: The World’s Most Practical Small Business Marketing Guide published by Thomas Nelson – due out in the fall of 2006 He is the creator of the Duct Tape Marketing small business marketing system. You can find more information by visiting http://www.ducttapemarketing.com

The extraordinary effort they made to travel to my location to discuss business over dinner speaks volumes about the value they place on their affiliates and their program.

They certainly didn’t need to travel so far to make me aware of their care and concern.

I’ve been affiliated with their program almost since its inception, and have always been impressed by their fair and ethical partnership approach.

Right from the outset, they paid one of the highest commissions in the Internet dating service industry, and continue to do so. They share commissions on both new and recurring subscriptions equally with their affiliates.

Compare that with companies that have lowered commissions to a paltry 15% despite the increasing costs to advertise an affiliate site. Or how about those merchants that split affiliate commissions 50/50 on initial subscriptions, but not on recurring monthly fees.

Let’s look at how much the merchant and the affiliate partner will each earn, based on a fifty/fifty non-recurring split.

According to industry statistics, a consumer who buys an Internet dating service membership, will remain a member for about 6 months. If the monthly membership fee is $25, the gross revenue over six months will be $150. The affiliate’s share of the proceeds is $12.50, or 8.3 percent of the total money earned.

Considering that advertising costs usually eat about 50% of my gross income, my net profit in this particular case is reduced to $6.25, or 4.16 percent of the total. The merchant makes $137.50, and my take is $6.25. Even if the merchant’s expenses amount to fifty percent of their gross, they still earn $68.75, or more than 10 times the amount they pay their affiliates.

Is that fair?

Some may argue that merchants are entitled to a significantly higher take because they invested in the program software and have to hire staff to provide ongoing customer service.

Bah humbug.

>From the perspective of someone who also owns an online dating site, software development is a finite business expense and a tax write-off. It’s not a cost that should be indefinitely borne by affiliates. If the software is written correctly, customer service is primarily self-service, as signup, initial and recurring billing are all automated processes. Hiring staff to provide timely responses to customers and affiliates costs only a tiny fraction of the proceeds, and in some cases, doesn’t seem to be a budget item at all.

The point is to know your industry both from the affiliate and the merchant perspective. If your assessment uncovers a less than equitable commission structure, get in there and negotiate a fairer deal. If the merchant won’t budge, go and find a better program.

The merchants with whom you want to do business – or have dinner – will understand from the outset that fifty percent of your sale, is better than 90 percent of no sale at all.

Article by Rosalind Gardner, author of the best-selling “Super Affiliate Handbook: How I Made $436,797 in One Year Selling Other People’s Stuff Online”. To learn how you too can suceed in Internet and affiliate marketing, go to: http://NetProfitsToday.com.