Frequently Asked Questions
Q
Where do I get the links from?
A
When you sign up you will get a UNIQUE link that assigns YOU the commission payout
Q
Is there a limit to the number of people I can send to become members? Or a limit to the amount of commission you will pay out?
A
Yes. $20,000,000 is the limit. Once we've paid out twenty million to any single affiliate, we will terminate their account (and send them a big bunch of flowers!)
Q
Is there a second tier? Do I get commission from the new members signed up by my members?
A
No. We're paying out HALF of the membership fee to our affiliates. If we set up a multi-tier system, that initial payout would have to drop. There are also laws in some countries making multi-tier commission schemes illegal (MLM, or Multi-Level Marketing). This is not an MLM scheme, merely a way in which to expand out membership and reward those who help us.
Q
Can I actively promote membership? How can I 'spread the word'?
A
You can do whatever you like, so long as you do NOT make false claims about the site or 'oversell' the benefits of joining.
The minimum level of promotion we suggest would be to add the link to your signatures, together with text like; "Check out these great tutorial videos" or words to that effect.
If you wanted to, and you had a blog or you're a regular forum poster, you can post a story along the lines of "Hey guess what? I joined this great site..." Just be sure to tell the absolute truth. But if you're enthusiastic about what you get out of the Member's site, it will come across in your writing and your readers will 'check it out'.
Some affiliates set up websites to sell the products of other people. While we don't honestly expect anyone to create a site devoted to drawing attention to the Electric Artist Member's site, if you already have a site, you can add a banner ad or endorsement to your site.
Q
Do you have banner ads for us to use?
A
Yes. As an affiliate you can access banner ads from our site, or you can create your own. Just remember to ensure that the link includes your unique code, or the commission will not be paid to you.
Q
How often do you pay out?
A
Between 2 and 3 months after a new member signs up, the commission will be paid to the affiliate's PayPal account.
Q
Why does it take so long?
A
This is beyond our control. Whenever anyone pays by credit card, they have a certain timeframe in which that can comtact their bank and convince them they made the payment in error, or were ripped off, or the thing they bought didn't live up to the hype. If the bank agrees (and they usually do) the credit card payment is reversed. This is called a chargeback. The average time for this is 2 months. Therefore, once 2 months have passed without a chargeback, the payment is deemed to be final.
We pay out monthly, after the 2 months' chargeback period, so you will be paid at least 2 months and at most 3 months after the sign up.
NOTE: We did have the option to pay out immediately, but then any chargebacks would be passed on and your account DEBITED. We didn't want to do that to you.
Q
Do I get paid if the member I signed up renews their membership?
A
Yes. As long as a membership remains active, every time we get paid, you do too.
Q
Do I have to have a PayPal account?
A
We pay your commission using PayPal's pay by email method. When you receive the email telling you that you've got funds, you click on a unique link, verify your identity, and the money is credited to your PayPal account. If you don't have one, you have to negotiate with PayPal to receive the funds by check every time, so having an account is the way to go. Creating a PayPal account is easy. For more, go here http://www.paypal.com
Q
Do I get commission on the books and other products that you offer?
A
No. At least not yet. We're investigating several third-party affiliate schemes that will enable you to make a decent commission on all of our books and courses (we're talking 50%, not the tiny piece offered by many of the large book sites). We'll let you know.
Q
What if I don't know anyone who's interested in becoming a member of your site?
A
The potential membership of the Electric Artist Member site is tens of millions. After the site had been up for a month, we had 339 members, and they came from just telling a few contacts. Think of it as selling the pinecones that fall off your tree, at your gate, for $1 each. By leaving the pinecones there day after day, it's not costing you anything. But every now and then a car will pull up and purchase a handful of pinecones.
Except that our site is in much greater demand than pinecones.
Q
How exactly do I get paid?
A
As an affiliate you are able to check how much money has been paid to the site through your unique link reference. We have that exact same information. On the scheduled payment dates, we check to see how much money is due for each affiliate, and pay it.
Q
Is this automatic?
A
It's not automatic. We have to set it up. But we won't do anything until you have earned some commission. When that happens, you will be contacted the details for payment sorted out. For example, we will be sending you money by email through PayPal. If the email address you used as your membership contact is different to the address you gave for your PayPal account, there could be issues. But don't worry, we will sort all this out once you have earned some money and it has cleared the chargeback delay.
Q
Why do you want to expand the membership? Can't we keep this as a small, personal little club?
A
The bigger we are, the more videos we can provide, and other resources too. If we get large enough, the contributors can give up their 'day jobs' and spend all their time creating content for the site, answering questions and compiling training resources for the members. More members also means more money to pay other members for specialist videos. It would allow us to expand into areas we're currently not covering, such as Flash animation.
Do you have a question that has not been answered here? Email it to affiliate@theelectricartist.com
Please note: you must be a Member before you can join the program. If you're not a Member, you will be asked to join up. Once joined, follow the link on the main page called "Recruit For Us"