Freeway Affiliate Program

Freeway
1

FreewayTalkers:

We’ve always enjoyed the enthusiastic support on this forum. Every day we see people helping each other to get the best out of Freeway, web design and the Web, so we thought it’d be natural to offer a great opportunity to spread the joy and earn a reward in the process.

As part of our Freeway Affiliate Program, we are currently offering starting commissions of 20% on all gross sales of new copies of Freeway 5 Pro and Freeway 5 Express, including those with discount promo codes. Even better, if you start selling lots of copies, we’ll increase your commission to as much as 30%! Please contact me off-list (ischray [at] softpress.com) for more info about any part of this program.

There are no upfront costs, you just need to create an affiliate account with eSellerate*. You can do that here:

https://Affiliates.eSellerate.net/JoinNow.aspx?PubIDC=PUB2624390498

Once you’ve activated the account, you will see that you can request to sell Freeway 5 Express and/or Freeway 5 Pro. Upon full approval, you will receive your affiliate links. Just place these links on your blog or any other site you maintain, or simply send them to your clients and friends. All purchases originating from your Affiliate ID link will automatically be credited to you.

It couldn’t be simpler; sign up and start collecting your commission today!

You can contact me off-list if you have any specific questions: ischray [at] softpress.com

*You will be asked to submit bank information. You can either submit it during signup or at a later date. The information will be securely held by eSellerate and will only be used to deliver your commission payments.

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Update your subscriptions at:
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2

Dear FreewayTalkers

On Tuesday we sent the email below to the Freewaytalk list and other
lists. Surprisingly, for me at least, the take-up from this list was
below expectations? I expected some discussion/feedback and more sign-
ups than we have had so far… Perhaps I’m a bit too impatient?

Obviously, our goal is to have more sales, especially new users; we’re a
commercial organization after all. That said, we often get enquiries
from customers asking for discounts for their clients or a second
license for their family or co-workers, and the Affiliate program is a
great way to pass on savings, or reward yourself for your obvious good taste.

Seriously, I do wonder why more of you haven’t found this affiliate
program to be compelling enough to register? Is the sign-up process too
difficult? Is the margin to small? Is it because you simply don’t want
to sell or be involved in selling software? Whatever the answer, we love
to know.

Your opinions have always been a primary driving force for change here
at Softpress. If there are things we can do to make this more
compelling, short of giving the software away for free (I thought I’d
preempt that suggestion), we’d love to hear from you. Feel free to
contact me, Ian Schray or voice your opinions on the list.

Best regards,

Richard

–
Richard Logan
Managing Director
SoftPress Systems Ltd

“You supply the creativity. Freeway handles the code.”

We’ve always enjoyed the enthusiastic support on this forum. Every day
we see people helping each other to get the best out of Freeway, web
design and the Web, so we thought it’d be natural to offer a great
opportunity to spread the joy and earn a reward in the process.

As part of our Freeway Affiliate Program, we are currently offering
starting commissions of 20% on all gross sales of new copies of Freeway
5 Pro and Freeway 5 Express, including those with discount promo codes.
Even better, if you start selling lots of copies, we’ll increase your
commission to as much as 30%! Please contact me off-list (ischray [at]
softpress.com) for more info about any part of this program.

There are no upfront costs, you just need to create an affiliate account
with eSellerate*. You can do that here:

https://Affiliates.eSellerate.net/JoinNow.aspx?PubIDC=PUB2624390498

Once you’ve activated the account, you will see that you can request to
sell Freeway 5 Express and/or Freeway 5 Pro. Upon full approval, you
will receive your affiliate links. Just place these links on your blog
or any other site you maintain, or simply send them to your clients and
friends. All purchases originating from your Affiliate ID link will
automatically be credited to you.

It couldn’t be simpler; sign up and start collecting your commission today!

You can contact me off-list if you have any specific questions: ischray
[at] softpress.com

*You will be asked to submit bank information. You can either submit it
during signup or at a later date. The information will be securely held
by eSellerate and will only be used to deliver your commission payments.

freewaytalk mailing list
email@hidden
Update your subscriptions at:
http://freewaytalk.net/person/options

freewaytalk mailing list
email@hidden
Update your subscriptions at:
http://freewaytalk.net/person/options

3

Perhaps people don’t want their customers to become Freeway users.

:slight_smile:

Roger

–

Roger Houghton
Bath, Somerset
email@hidden

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4

Richard

I can see a number of reasons why take up is initially low:

  1. Most of us are busy at the design end of things and wouldn’t expect
    much take up from the folk we want to attract - clients! Therefore
    there wold be no hurry to join an affiliate scheme.

  2. Most of us use a number of applications each suited to the task in
    hand and despite the brilliance of Freeway may not wish to imply
    particular favour to one.

  3. Back to the busy bit, like all forms of incentive, the idea doesn’t
    always stick, first time around if it’s something out of your usual
    remit. You will need to promote it over time.

  4. Some may also want hold back on showing what they use, which is a
    shame, because Dreamweaver still hold the to ‘Pro’ spot in the industry.

  5. Others, like me, who do promote Freeways virtues to trusted
    colleagues, but don’t want too many other folks finding how easy it is
    to use - a few may even be worried that would lead to others “taking
    the bread from their, mouths”.

  6. This kind of referral probably sits best within the ‘Express’
    community and I expect that the main Freewaytalk membership is on (or
    soon upgrades to) ‘FW Pro’

On the plus side, the margins are generous enough and to someone
geared to promoting software as a quiet adjunct to their main line of
business or interested in a few extra coins in the bank for a rainy
day, should be well tempted.

For me, I’m running down my business activity as I move ever further
into retirement and have an ever shrinking circle of influence, so I
don’ see more than the odd referral ever happening. Nevertheless, I
still see that those who should know about Freeway do get to hear
about it.

Finally, any such scheme takes time to develop and only by repeating
the offer a few times will folk take it in as a serious possibility
and not just something that might be short term.

Hope all that’s of some interest.

Colin

On 4 Mar 2010, at 18:51, Richard wrote:

Dear FreewayTalkers

On Tuesday we sent the email below to the Freewaytalk list and other
lists. Surprisingly, for me at least, the take-up from this list was
below expectations? I expected some discussion/feedback and more sign-
ups than we have had so far… Perhaps I’m a bit too impatient?

Obviously, our goal is to have more sales, especially new users;
we’re a
commercial organization after all. That said, we often get enquiries
from customers asking for discounts for their clients or a second
license for their family or co-workers, and the Affiliate program is a
great way to pass on savings, or reward yourself for your obvious
good taste.

Seriously, I do wonder why more of you haven’t found this affiliate
program to be compelling enough to register? Is the sign-up process
too
difficult? Is the margin to small? Is it because you simply don’t want
to sell or be involved in selling software? Whatever the answer, we
love
to know.

Your opinions have always been a primary driving force for change here
at Softpress. If there are things we can do to make this more
compelling, short of giving the software away for free (I thought I’d
preempt that suggestion), we’d love to hear from you. Feel free to
contact me, Ian Schray or voice your opinions on the list.

Best regards,

Richard

–
Richard Logan
Managing Director
SoftPress Systems Ltd
http://www.softpress.com

“You supply the creativity. Freeway handles the code.”

We’ve always enjoyed the enthusiastic support on this forum. Every
day
we see people helping each other to get the best out of Freeway, web
design and the Web, so we thought it’d be natural to offer a great
opportunity to spread the joy and earn a reward in the process.

As part of our Freeway Affiliate Program, we are currently offering
starting commissions of 20% on all gross sales of new copies of
Freeway
5 Pro and Freeway 5 Express, including those with discount promo
codes.
Even better, if you start selling lots of copies, we’ll increase your
commission to as much as 30%! Please contact me off-list (ischray
[at]
softpress.com) for more info about any part of this program.

There are no upfront costs, you just need to create an affiliate
account
with eSellerate*. You can do that here:

https://Affiliates.eSellerate.net/JoinNow.aspx?PubIDC=PUB2624390498

Once you’ve activated the account, you will see that you can
request to
sell Freeway 5 Express and/or Freeway 5 Pro. Upon full approval, you
will receive your affiliate links. Just place these links on your
blog
or any other site you maintain, or simply send them to your clients
and
friends. All purchases originating from your Affiliate ID link will
automatically be credited to you.

It couldn’t be simpler; sign up and start collecting your
commission today!

You can contact me off-list if you have any specific questions:
ischray
[at] softpress.com

*You will be asked to submit bank information. You can either
submit it
during signup or at a later date. The information will be securely
held
by eSellerate and will only be used to deliver your commission
payments.

freewaytalk mailing list
email@hidden
Update your subscriptions at:
http://freewaytalk.net/person/options

freewaytalk mailing list
email@hidden
Update your subscriptions at:
http://freewaytalk.net/person/options

freewaytalk mailing list
email@hidden
Update your subscriptions at:
http://freewaytalk.net/person/options

5

I agree with a great deal of what Colin wrote.

This is a bit of a two edged sword for Softpress. You must keep your Freeway Pro users engaged and happy with updates that in theory give them an advantage over the competition (a bit of a stretch I guess), and at the same time keep it simple enough for the beginer where a lot of new business comes from.

As I see it someone akin to DanJ and his services is more in line to benefit from this since some of his business is related to helping Freeway users, as opposed to someone like me who only has time for designing.

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6

I agree also.

BUt I have I have referred other mac users that are also designers that have been doing it themselves and need to “update / upgrade” and are no threat to me d/t location and product specialty. I have referred them to freeway in the past.

If there was a way to do the affiliate program with a referral “code” when the purchase to give credit to - that would be a nice alternate ave.

Julie
On Mar 4, 2010, at 3:10 PM, chuckamuck wrote:

I agree with a great deal of what Colin wrote.

This is a bit of a two edged sword for Softpress. You must keep your Freeway Pro users engaged and happy with updates that in theory give them an advantage over the competition (a bit of a stretch I guess), and at the same time keep it simple enough for the beginer where a lot of new business comes from.

As I see it someone akin to DanJ and his services is more in line to benefit from this since some of his business is related to helping Freeway users, as opposed to someone like me who only has time for designing.

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7

This is all excellent feedback. Thanks to all of you who have responded.

One thing I’d like to note (specifically in reference to Colin’s comment #5) is that this Affiliate Program can be a real value-add in the designer/customer relationship you already have. Many folks (specifically, do-it-yourself-minded business owners) love the idea of building their site themselves. The only real trouble comes when they realize they simply don’t know where to start in the design process. A skilled Freeway user can provide a turn-key web solution, including a custom-built template and a copy of Freeway (sold through the affiliate link, of course!).

I understand the fear of “teaching someone to fish” as it were. One of my other hats is as a photographer-for-hire, and my kind are typically very hesitant to share techniques with clients and competitors. However, I think that this doesn’t really apply in the Freeway case, as I’ve outlined before. You’re still selling your craft, and think of the training/consulting services you can offer!

I also realize it might not be clear about how to use the Affiliate ID. Julie, you mention a referral code, which is exactly the way the Affiliate Program works. You’ll receive a specific URL to apply to any “Buy Now” graphics or text links. This URL is tagged with your code, so every purchase is seamlessly credited back to you.

I encourage everyone to visit the Affiliate signup URL https://Affiliates.eSellerate.net/JoinNow.aspx?PubIDC=PUB2624390498 and give it a try. There’s no cost or obligation.

That’s it for now. Please keep the comments coming!

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8

There’s one problem here, Ian. Most clients, in my experience, may
appreciate the low cost of the application - but having to buy a Mac
to use it is another story. Most companies of a size that ‘want to
play’ use PCs! Come the day that Freeway is cross platform: the PC
has nothing as good.

As for having faith in the product, there is already a link to
Softpress from my Freeway produced web site, but that doesn’t mean I
want a direct connection with sales promotion.

Colin

On 4 Mar 2010, at 22:49, Ian Schray wrote:

… One thing I’d like to note … is that this Affiliate Program
can be a real value-add in the designer/customer relationship you
already have. Many folks (specifically, do-it-yourself-minded
business owners) love the idea of building their site themselves.

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9

Well I can say I don’t remember getting this the first time so I will
now go and register.

Studiodave

On Mar 4, 2010, at 10:51 AM, Richard wrote:

Dear FreewayTalkers

On Tuesday we sent the email below to the Freewaytalk list and other
lists. Surprisingly, for me at least, the take-up from this list was
below expectations? I expected some discussion/feedback and more sign-
ups than we have had so far… Perhaps I’m a bit too impatient?

Obviously, our goal is to have more sales, especially new users;
we’re a
commercial organization after all. That said, we often get enquiries
from customers asking for discounts for their clients or a second
license for their family or co-workers, and the Affiliate program is a
great way to pass on savings, or reward yourself for your obvious
good taste.

Seriously, I do wonder why more of you haven’t found this affiliate
program to be compelling enough to register? Is the sign-up process
too
difficult? Is the margin to small? Is it because you simply don’t want
to sell or be involved in selling software? Whatever the answer, we
love
to know.

Your opinions have always been a primary driving force for change here
at Softpress. If there are things we can do to make this more
compelling, short of giving the software away for free (I thought I’d
preempt that suggestion), we’d love to hear from you. Feel free to
contact me, Ian Schray or voice your opinions on the list.

Best regards,

Richard

–
Richard Logan
Managing Director
SoftPress Systems Ltd
http://www.softpress.com

“You supply the creativity. Freeway handles the code.”

We’ve always enjoyed the enthusiastic support on this forum. Every
day
we see people helping each other to get the best out of Freeway, web
design and the Web, so we thought it’d be natural to offer a great
opportunity to spread the joy and earn a reward in the process.

As part of our Freeway Affiliate Program, we are currently offering
starting commissions of 20% on all gross sales of new copies of
Freeway
5 Pro and Freeway 5 Express, including those with discount promo
codes.
Even better, if you start selling lots of copies, we’ll increase your
commission to as much as 30%! Please contact me off-list (ischray
[at]
softpress.com) for more info about any part of this program.

There are no upfront costs, you just need to create an affiliate
account
with eSellerate*. You can do that here:

https://Affiliates.eSellerate.net/JoinNow.aspx?PubIDC=PUB2624390498

Once you’ve activated the account, you will see that you can
request to
sell Freeway 5 Express and/or Freeway 5 Pro. Upon full approval, you
will receive your affiliate links. Just place these links on your
blog
or any other site you maintain, or simply send them to your clients
and
friends. All purchases originating from your Affiliate ID link will
automatically be credited to you.

It couldn’t be simpler; sign up and start collecting your
commission today!

You can contact me off-list if you have any specific questions:
ischray
[at] softpress.com

*You will be asked to submit bank information. You can either
submit it
during signup or at a later date. The information will be securely
held
by eSellerate and will only be used to deliver your commission
payments.

freewaytalk mailing list
email@hidden
Update your subscriptions at:
http://freewaytalk.net/person/options

freewaytalk mailing list
email@hidden
Update your subscriptions at:
http://freewaytalk.net/person/options

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Update your subscriptions at:
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10

Is there a real stigma to being attached to a sale? I know a lot of bloggers use Amazon and iTunes Affiliate URLs on their sites.

Having said that, I want to be clear on the “connection with sales” part… This connection is pretty well hidden – there’s no obvious link between you and the Affiliate ID (apart from the formed URL, but there’s always bit.ly and the like).

For example, here’s my tagged URL (don’t worry, I’ve manually changed my commission rate to 0%, so this isn’t self promotion):

http://store.eSellerate.net/a.asp?c=0_SKU34961063920_AFL8773440746&at=

You’ll notice that following this link will add Freeway Express to your cart. If you were to complete the purchase, I’d be credited (well, not in this case, since I’m at 0%).

Shorten this to http://bit.ly/acQveg and you’ll see that’s it’s pretty hard to attach me to the sales process. Not that I’d mind personally, but I respect your hesitation.

-ian

On 4 Mar 2010, 10:11 pm, ColinJA wrote:

As for having faith in the product, there is already a link to
Softpress from my Freeway produced web site, but that doesn’t mean I
want a direct connection with sales promotion.

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11

You’re still selling your craft, and think of the training/consulting services you can offer!

That was the desktop publishing mantra also. Now everyone with a copy of Word or Powerpoint, or InDesign and Photoshop for that matter, think they can design.

Sorry, admitedly very cynical on my part.

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12

But with Freeway available for purchase at most places Mac users frequent (include the Apple Stores) and reviewed virtually everywhere, isn’t the word already getting out? I already spend a considerable amount of my life evangelizing Freeway, and I can’t imagine that I’m significantly contributing to the shrinkage of professional designers’ business.

You can give people the tools, but they’ll probably never be able to lay out a page or match colors as well as you can.

I never fear recommending Canon gear to my photography clients, I know they won’t be able to get the photos out of the camera that I can. In my pre-Softpress days, I used to teach people how to use and get the most out of Apple’s Aperture, knowing full well that I might be training the future competition. It didn’t really bother me, as I was/am confident in my photography skills, and I was charging them a fee for the training!

But this is all opinion, and probably not worth arguing (although, this is the Internet, what else are we going to do? :slight_smile: ). Your point is well-heard, Chuck.

-ian

On 4 Mar 2010, 10:45 pm, chuckamuck wrote:

You’re still selling your craft, and think of the training/consulting services you can offer!

That was the desktop publishing mantra also. Now everyone with a copy of Word or Powerpoint, or InDesign and Photoshop for that matter, think they can design.

Sorry, admitedly very cynical on my part.

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13

Cynicism aside, I certainly wish Softpress all success possible. Giving anyone “outside the ropes” the opportunity to benefit from that success as well is admirable even if a bit mercenary.

But I am very close to leaving the web arena to younger minds who have time to take more risks than I with alternate incomes. I have very little sway in the web arena and feel those younger are the ones to make the path wider.

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14

I see the value of referring it to fellow designers but not to clients. Most of my clients are PC people and the ones that are Mac users have no interest or the time to learn new software - that’s why they pay me.

If FW had an ancillary product that can be used as a CMS like Dreamweaver and Contribute then I see the benefit of a referral program. For every site we build we can refer our clients to purchase the FW CMS app. Softpress sells some software and we earn a small commission on the referral.

My 2cents

Marcel

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15

I see no stigma to being attached to a sale. On the contrary, coming
from a “nation of shopkeepers”, quite the opposite. It’s just a matter
of choice what I choose to associate with and I certainly have no
gripe with an affiliate scheme. I think it is a great marketing ploy,
but currently more prevalent on the west side of the Pond.

Persevere. There should be a good many, who when they think more about
it, will want to sign up. It’s just not my bag, at the moment.
Although I may be starting a small web store later in the year, moving
a way from my current ‘career choice’, for, like you, I am a Canon man
with a good few pictures and some personal writing that could well
have a discrete market to supplement my pension, aimed at those who
want artwork for their walls and verses to suit their varying moods.

My interest may change by then. And I encourage others, now, if they
want a quiet, uncomplicated way to add a few pennies to their coffers.

Colin

On 4 Mar 2010, at 23:29, Ian Schray wrote:

Is there a real stigma to being attached to a sale?

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16

Young minds don’t always have the experience though, to judge what is
the risk. I’m entering my 70th year and intend to plod on, albeit in a
small way, for a year or two yet!

Colin

On 5 Mar 2010, at 00:36, chuckamuck wrote:

But I am very close to leaving the web arena to younger minds …

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