Posted by Bob King, CEO

I was thinking the other day, after I wrote the post on the New York Sales Tax, about our responsibility at ClickBank. There are literally tens of thousands of people who make a living or a part-time living selling and promoting products on ClickBank. It’s not just those of us who work at ClickBank as employees, it’s all of our publishers and affiliates depending on the health and wellbeing of ClickBank to pay the mortgage or the car payment or send the kids to college or put food on the table. And now more than ever, with turmoil in the world economy, expensive gasoline, and rising food prices, we have to be at the top of our game.

So when changes come along like the New York Sales Tax, we have to be ready to react and make sure we have the system in place to handle the situation. We also have to be mindful of all the issues related to regulations and compliance. I know sometimes it looks like we may be picking on a certain type of product or a certain way of promoting products, but we sometimes have to think about the greater good. ClickBank has to be in business for all the people and can’t be put at risk for the sake of a few who want to push the line.

As recently as a few years ago, ClickBank “flew under the radar” and may have seemed not very interested in our clients’ opinions. That wasn’t really true then and it is certainly not true now. It is part of our responsibility to listen to your needs, so we started Advisory Boards and initiated a Client Survey last year. It’s that time again and we will be having Advisory Boards and doing a Client Survey again this summer.

It is also our responsibility, after getting your input, to respond with new features and capabilities to improve your, and our, businesses. And, oh yes, when we do come out with something new, it has to work. That’s why it sometimes takes awhile.

I just want you to know we take our responsibility seriously and we appreciate all of you hardworking people in the ClickBank Community.

Posted by: Monty Sooter, CTO

It is interesting when a neighbor asks me what I do for a living. I usually say I do computer stuff, and then there is no telling where the conversation is going. A common response that I like to receive is, “Oh, that’s nice,” and then we end up talking about the latest weather or how the kids are doing. The conversation I love to have is, “It’s incredible how the Internet has transformed business/life in the past decade,” and then I get to tell them about ClickBank. The conversations I try to avoid are, “I’m having a problem with this free software package on Windows 95.” I usually try to be patient, but I know there is a slim chance they will get help from me or anyone else. It would be less painful to just give them a thousand bucks for a new PC.

At work I have similar conversations. Some of my fellow co-workers do occasionally ask me what I do for a living; I hope they’re kidding. We do have great conversations about how ClickBank is transforming business. All of us have had many “traditional” business experiences, but ClickBank is the one that we view as the most transforming business experience in our careers. It is still amazing how this affiliate-driven digital goods business model provides so many benefits to folks across the globe, and it is only going to get bigger and better.

At ClickBank, we know that to “take care of business” we have to be able to adapt quickly to any problem that comes our way. Our thousands of affiliates and publishers rely on our IT systems to keep their businesses running at all times. Unlike most companies, our IT infrastructure doesn’t only affect our ability to do business; it affects the livelihood of our clients as well. It would be nice if we were only presented with easy problems, such as a failure of one piece of equipment, the failure of one network connection, or the failure of one database. Instead, we have to be ready to take care of the difficult problems, like a partial failure of one disk that corrupts one sector of a replicated database in the secondary data center.

We prepare to take care of these difficult problems when (not if) they happen by buying fully supported network gear and servers, purchasing support for all of the software products we use in production, and having redundant systems in two data centers. In each of the data centers, we have redundancy in the most critical hardware (database servers) to ensure that any failures do not impact business. Most of our software is open source and we make sure we have support contracts in place. We also take the time to perform regular hardware and software maintenance to make the most of our support contracts.

It is less painful and smarter to have put in the extra time and spent the extra bucks to have all the right hardware and software in place to make sure we are “taking care of business” for our many clients. It also means that I don’t have to ask my neighbors for help.

Posted by: Bob Dunlap, Director of Marketing

If you are an internet marketer, I’m sure you are watching the merger (takeover?) talks between Microsoft and Yahoo with the same level of interest that we are.

We don’t have a dog in that fight, but it still has far-reaching implications for our industry. A lot of successful affiliates are successful because they’ve figured Google out - among other things. Google is a verb for a reason. They are the 800lb gorilla. But what if the merger goes through?

If there is a merger, Google won’t be displaced overnight. Recent market research shows that Microsoft and Yahoo would still have a long way to go in trying to dethrone Google. Maybe the combined search engines wouldn’t have an impact on the search marketing industry at all, in the short term. Combining the number two and three search sites together, though, might change some of the rules of the game, bring a new twist to the paid search marketplace, and make Google sweat a little. Who knows how that would impact searches - or pricing for keywords?

Even if this merger doesn’t end up happening or takes a different form than the original takeover plan, it’s an important reminder that the online world is never stable. Just when we think we have it mastered, a new player comes along that changes the rules, like Google did for search, YouTube did for online video and MySpace did for what we now call social media.

The rules that have applied to our brick and mortar friends for years apply to the online marketplace as well - the people that stay in business the longest are the ones that quickly adapt to changes in the marketplace. That’s why we’re always innovating at ClickBank, and we’ve seen that the most successful affiliates are always ready to innovate, too.

Would a Microsoft-Yahoo merger change the way you operate as an affiliate? If so, tell us how by leaving a comment.

Posted by: Bob King, CEO

The blogosphere and affiliate marketers have been abuzz about New York’s new tax law that requires online retailers to collect and remit sales taxes on purchases by New York residents. The curveball New York threw in there was that the presence of affiliates in the state was a basis to establish nexus for tax purposes.

This got a lot more attention last week when Overstock.com summarily dropped all of its New York-based affiliates so it would not have to collect and remit taxes to that state.

While we are disappointed by New York’s decision, there is no way we are going to cut off our affiliates, our highly-valued business partners, because of an action by lawmakers.

The commitment we have to our New York affiliates goes for all ClickBank users, affiliates and product publishers alike. We do everything we can to ensure that you are successful so that means we adapt to new circumstances ….including changes in tax law. That’s just the way we do things around here.

So, New York affiliates, publishers, and consumers will have the systems they need by June 1. We’ll be sending out a technical announcement in the next few days on how it all works. And, rest assured, when changes in the marketplace impact affiliate marketers or product publishers, ClickBank will be there with solutions.

Posted by: Michael Poston, Product Manager

I like thinking back to my start here at ClickBank, when we often heard comments about things we needed to address. Your requests, like better uptime, new features, and more responsiveness, all made perfect sense. As the Product Manager over the last two years, I’ve worked hard to address your concerns and have enjoyed assisting in the evolution of the product.

For instance, right from the start you expressed interest in enhanced system performance, better communication, and features like:

• Ad tracking
• Reporting
• Cookie-less Hops
• New Order Form
• Subscriptions
• Installments
• Instant Notifications
• Spanish Language Capabilities
• Product Images

Looking at our short-term roadmap, we are excited about implementing other features and services you’ve requested like:

• Recurring Billing with PayPal
• Multicurrency
• Multilingual French & German
• Client To Client Communication
• ACH Payment Alternative
• Reporting Enhancements

In addition to our short-term plans, your input will shape our long-term roadmap. We are constantly evaluating a multitude of good ideas to identify what our next priority should be. It is our goal to deliver products and features that are in demand and provide significant return on investment for our clients and our customers. So, please comment below and let me know what features you think are important.

Things you can count on in the long-term from ClickBank include a continued commitment to product evolution, with your needs forging the path; expansion into new markets with a larger service offering; and an unwavering commitment to raising the bar while meeting your needs.

We are, and will continue to be, the market leader in affiliate-powered e-commerce!

Happy selling, friends!

Posted by: Jeff Leget, Director of Operations

At home I never want to run out of the daily necessities. There is spare orange juice, in case the first runs out. There should always be spare dog food, in case the first runs out. We need 2 gallons of milk, 2 boxes of cereal, and extra chicken in the freezer…just in case. Yes, the pantry and freezer are usually crowded, but we rarely run completely out.

I’m not sure whether work imitates life or the other way around, but I have the same challenge at ClickBank. As the Director of Operations, I oversee the purchase, installation, and management of our technology. Particularly in the last 2 years, ClickBank has added a lot to the pantry. Today we operate out of 2 geographically separated data center facilities. Each of those has redundant network, power, and cooling. The power and network into each facility enters via 2 different routes. So, if a backhoe operator makes a mistake, power and network keep functioning. If the power goes completely out from the utility company, battery backup systems and generators that are routinely tested automatically kick in, and we keep operating.

We continue this model of equipment redundancy within our computer equipment. We have at least 2 DNS servers within each facility. These systems tell people on the Internet how to locate different ClickBank components (Hoplinks, orders form, web site) by name. We can divert traffic between systems and facilities by manipulating the configuration on these systems. Below that layer we operate on at least 2 load-balancing, cache servers within each facility that provide mostly static content (images, text, etc). Again, we can divert traffic between systems and facilities by altering the configuration of these systems. Below that layer we have 2 or more systems within each facility that answer Internet requests and provide dynamic content (account information, order form content, etc). Below that layer we have a constellation of database systems that store and organize all of the account, product, and price data and synchronize that information across systems and facilities.

A single Hoplink or order form request touches at least 4 different computer systems and countless networking devices before any information is actually returned to a web browser. ClickBank has spent a lot of time designing and maintaining this complex redundant architecture to provide you with the most reliable service available. There will always be incidents outside of our control or complex functionality changes that necessitate short-term outages. Whenever possible, we will notify the ClickBank community in advance. When that isn’t possible, we will always update the ClickBank System Status page at http://www.clickbank.com.xohost.com/status.php. This page is hosted in yet another facility completely separated from the ClickBank service network.

Our goal is to maintain the highest uptime possible to support your business. To that end, we’ll work to make sure the lights are always on, the network is always up, and there is extra orange juice in the fridge.

Posted by: Dush Ramachandran, VP of Sales and Business Development

I recently attended and presented at gatherings of non-fiction writers, here in Colorado and in New York City and I have come away amazed at the incredible breadth of topics these authors cover. Ranging from travel and adventure to faith and religion, and everything in between, these talented writers illuminate little known corners of the world and shine the light of expertise on obscure or arcane skills. And these authors are perfect for ClickBank and dare I say, ClickBank is perfect for them.

Traditional publishers in the physical book publishing world are constrained by having to pick a few authors and topics that are most likely to become best-sellers, since book stores have limited shelf space. Even on-line stores like Amazon have limited warehouse shelf space, and stocking a particular title is at the expense of stocking another. This gives rise to the unfortunate “only best-sellers” mentality. That’s fine if you happen to be Stephen Covey or Barack Obama, who will have no trouble finding shelf space. It’s somewhat different if you’ve just written “The Definitive Guide to the Migratory Patterns of the Galapagos Turtles.”

ClickBank is a true ‘long tail’ company, where we have no constraints on physical space. To us, carrying a million titles costs little more than carrying one hundred. The reach of our affiliate network is truly global, and so even if the particular title sells a modest number of copies, we have no problems with carrying it. ClickBank therefore represents the ideal way for the author of a niche special interest book to get to market.

In the physical book publishing world, even if you have managed to get the book into print, and secured shelf-space at the retail bookstore, the challenge of how to attract buyers to the book still remains. The more than 110,000 active ClickBank affiliates who specialize in every conceivable area of interest, assume the task of driving targeted traffic to the particular book resulting in higher sales.

Non-fiction authors in the physical book publishing world resort to self-publishing to get their books into print, and knowledgeable estimates place the cost of self-publishing a book at about $6,000. When the author makes approximately $2.00 per copy sold, and the average sales figure of a self-published non-fiction book is in the hundreds of copies, it’s not hard to figure out that this is indeed a labor of love. Companies that support self-publishing usually require a minimum print run of 1,000 copies and all these costs are typically borne by the author.

With only a $49.95 fee to have the e-book listed on the ClickBank marketplace, the author who chooses to publish through ClickBank has negligible up-front costs, and no unsold copies of his book cluttering up the basement. Since the book stays in digital form, there are no printing costs. Subsequent editions of the book don’t need expensive print runs. Just update the original file once, and it is available for download infinitely after that.

Many publishers and self-publishing houses ask first-time authors to assign the intellectual property rights to their work to the publisher. This means that if the author later wishes to publish the work through some other medium such as an audio-book, they need to seek the permission of the publisher who now owns the rights. ClickBank makes no such requirement. All rights to the work of the author belong to the author – forever.

So ClickBank truly represents the brave new world of self-publishing. If you have written a non-fiction book or know someone who has, ClickBank could be the publishing vehicle you have been looking for.