Month: August 2011

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Clickback Changes Guidelines Under FTC Pressure

This week ClickBank announced new guidelines that would significantly change the way that many affiliate marketers and “JV Partner” programs would be allowed to be promoted. While the new guidelines did not specifically address JV Programs that targeted affiliates, it had been known that there was a growing amount of consumer complaints and charge backs from the “make money” programs. According to an FTC insider, Clickbank had received some initial inquiries regarding specific products from the consumer protection agency.

The guidelines mainly specifically deal with Testimonials and Endorsements and could put a huge cramp in the marketing efforts of many of the “JV Partner” programs that are promoted over Clickbank, WarriorForum, Digital Point and many affiliate marketing websites.

The requirements that will have the biggest effect are:
– All videos must be preapproved before being put up on a website (script approval by Clickbank)
– All “limited amount”, “offer almost done” and “will be closing” type opportunity messages will be banned.
– Cannot promote that products were at a higher price, unless verified by Clickbank
– Upsells will be limited on initial orders and must include a way to immediately optout (and not have to watch more promotions)
– Will not allow products to be promoted as being easy to use, “one-button”
– As Seen on TV will be banned, unless there is documentation specifically to that product that it was seen on TV.

While most in the industry feel that these are positive requirements, many people point that they will delay launches of products significantly and not allow many JV Marketers to change their landing pages as necessary or provide new content and videos to customers frequently.

What do you think of the changes?

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Home Warranty Leads: The Daniel Baldwin Lead Gen

Quick, name a film starring Daniel Baldwin!  Time’s up.  Can’t do it?  Don’t worry, neither can most people.  Truth is, though he’s still more famous than the average lead generation guy he’s still “that” Baldwin brother.

Every family has the underdog I guess.  For the family of warranty and extended service plans I’d say home warranty is the Daniel Baldwin.  If you know what home warranty covers or can name some of the bigger companies in the industry then pat yourself on the back.  Many Americans haven’t a clue what a home warranty is for or where to get one.

In the world of lead generation home warranty is a niche lead type but it has gained much more attention over the last two years than in previous ones.  One obvious driver for an increase in interest in niche lead types would be the relative lack of competition for leads.  From the consumer side interest might be growing due to an increase in home owners sitting on homes longer than they’d originally planned as well as other economic factors.

If your business is affiliate marketing or lead generation and you’ve never worked on a home warranty campaign then I can help you with some quick facts.

1.  Home warranty covers many different things inside and outside a home and the coverage varies from company to company.  Plans may cost as little as pennies per day or as much as several dollars per day depending on the plan provider and the depth of the list of covered items.

2.  The heavy hitter in home warranty is American Home Shield.  Over 40% of the consumers in the U.S. using home warranty are signed up with AHS.

3.  Depending on your traffic sources, lead quality, volume of leads, return policy, and available list of fields you could expect to sell your leads for well into the $35 range.  But keep in mind payouts are based on the lead buyer’s desired cost per acquisition and those tend to be all over the place.  Some lead buyers won’t go near the top price.

4.  Here’s a good example of the list of fields that are typical for home warranty lead generation offers.

If you have questions about this niche lead generation market I’ll be happy to help.  I think there is still a great deal of growth potential in home warranty leads and there are too few high quality lead producers and affiliates.  Since this is a product with fairly universal appeal (you only really need to be a home owner to qualify) it can work with many different types of email opt-in lists or other traffic channels.