Reverse To-Do List

The Daily Hustle I am a list builder. I break projects down into their most granular tasks and write them down in a to-do list on an old school scrap of notebook paper. If you look around my desk, folded and tucked neatly reused as bookmarks into books on my shelf, and in my round file cabinet (aka the trash), you'll find them everywhere. Using to-do lists is reinforced everywhere on the web. The tech industry, in particular, is obsessed with the cult of productivity and to-do lists. There are posts on the 5 best to-do list managers, not-to-do lists, and there are apps for that. The Read more

Why Conferences Matter

A Cynical Conference Veteran's Perspective In the Internet Marketing industry you can go from newbie to conference veteran easily in a year. One, there are so many of them and two, internet years go twice the speed of dog years. Gearing up to Affiliate Summit West I told myself if it wasn't for the fact I had promised to speak on a panel, I wouldn't have gone at all. As a salty conference veteran of 3 or so years, I thought I knew everyone I needed to know and could garner the information provided just as easily by staying at home Read more

Local Lead Plan Review

What is Local Lead Gen? This review assumes you know the basics of Local Lead Gen. If you don't, the first few links in my Local SEO Resources post will get you started. Local Lead Generation How-To Earlier this year Chad Frederiksen (CDFNetworks.com) wrote "Local Lead Plan: A Comprehensive Guide to Running a Successful Local Lead Gen Business." I received the launch email, put it on the back burner while I was doing projects, and totally forgot about it until October. So, like you, I thought “if I can get a list of 83 niches and Adhustler's Local Online advertising series free, why would I Read more

DIY MBA Reading List

Drawing heavily from the Personal MBA and infusing books that are either 1) directly applicable to building a web-based business or 2) have been personally recommended, here is the list in subject-matter Read more

Scaling Local Lead Gen

Good Local Lead Gen info to be found in this game of twitter telephone. Read more
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PA Affiliate Nexus Tax is Ridiculous; Counterproductive.

Posted on December 12, 2011 by Amanda in Business, Internet Marketing | 6 Comments

December 1st Pennsylvania passed the Affiliate Nexus Tax law, better known as “The Amazon Tax“. This measure is supposed to support small brick-and-mortars who have been hurt by online competition.

…and right before a big election year, what politician would say ‘no’ to helping mom-and-pops?

But I’m going to make a prediction: This law will produce no additional tax revenue and will result in net business losses in Pennsylvania.

3 Reasons Why The PA Affiliate Nexus Tax is Ridiculous

  1. New York
  2. North Carolina
  3. Rhode Island
If history is the best predictor of the future, the Pennsylvania Affiliate Nexus Tax will produce no increase in tax revenues. It didn’t in these states.
From California’s Capitol Weekly:
…when the affiliate nexus tax was passed in New York, North Carolina and Rhode Island… Hundreds of out-of-state retailers terminated their NY, NC and RI affiliate marketers, causing those small businesses to collapse overnight. And, as expected, the states saw no new sales tax revenue.
According to TaxFoundation.org‘s “Fiscal Facts” column :
North Carolina has also not seen additional revenue from the law. Illinois has seen an outflow of Internet-related businesses after its law’s passage. While New York is collecting some revenue, it is because Amazon.com is collecting taxes under protest while the issue is litigated. If New York loses the case, it will have to refund those collections to taxpayers.
Sounds like a productive use of State Congressional time right?

The Counterproductive Design Flaw Read more

Old School and Still Relevant

Posted on November 24, 2010 by Amanda in Business, Internet Marketing | 8 Comments

Affiliate Marketing NichesI was trolling through old posts and had a good laugh when I stumbled on this gem from 2006. (Screenshot to the right).

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last two years, you’ve no doubt seen dozens upon dozens of ads for teeth whitening CPA products. So in discovering that Jon Fisher foresaw opportunity in the niche back in mid 2006 – I was struck by the idea that we’ve probably already talked about tomorrow’s next big thing.

Yesterday.

Read more