Program information

What is the Microsoft Office Live Small Business Affiliate Program?
How do I join the Office Live Small Business Affiliate Program?
What is Commission Junction?
How does the Affiliate Program work?
Does it cost me anything to become an Office Live Small Business Affiliate?
Are websites outside the United States eligible for the Affiliate Program?
I operate more than one website. Can I still join the Affiliate Program?
Is my website or blog eligible for the Affiliate Program?
What are my responsibilities as an Office Live Small Business Affiliate?
I don't have a website or blog. Can I still apply to the Affiliate Program?
How complicated is it for a customer to complete the sign-up process of Office Live Small Business?
What if I have questions about the program?
How do I manage my account information?
Will becoming an Office Live Small Business Affiliate increase traffic to my site?
What if I need to contact Office Live Small Business?

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Setting up links

Sales and commission

Program information

What is the Microsoft Office Live Small Business Affiliate Program?
The Office Live Small Business Affiliate Program allows you to make money by referring customer sign-ups of Office Live Small Business. You can drive sign-ups by placing links to our sign-up page on your website, in your e-marketing materials, and if you are a system builder, on your customers computer desktops or operating systems "welcome page". When a visitor completes the sign-up process using a link on one of your properties, we pay you a bounty for the conversion. The links are tagged with an ID that is tracked back to you to ensure you are credited for each completed sign-up you refer. The program is currently limited to customers in the United States only.
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How do I join the Office Live Small Business Affiliate Program?
You can apply here: Office Live Small Business Affiliate Program. If you are not currently a publisher with Commission Junction you will be prompted to enroll with them first. Upon completed enrollment, join the Office Live Small Business Affiliate Program. After your application for the Office Live Small Business Affiliate Program is approved, you will receive an e-mail with your membership information and instructions about how to get started. It's that easy.
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What is Commission Junction?
Commission Junction is one of the largest affiliate advertising networks in the world. In addition to its expertise as a market leader, the company provides tracking, reporting, and the monthly commission payments for the Office Live Small Business Affiliate Program. Learn more about Commission Junction.
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How does the Affiliate Program work?
The Affiliate Program allows you to make money by referring customers to our website. You do this by placing links on your site, and in emails, blogs and community pages. Every time you refer a customer to us and that customer completes the sign-up process, you earn a commission.. Commission Junction provides consolidated payment and direct deposit. In every calendar month in which you've earned more than the minimum threshold (US$25), Commission Junction will send you a check or a direct deposit with the commissions you have earned according to the Program Term. It's that easy.
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Does it cost me anything to become an Office Live Small Business Affiliate?
It's absolutely free to join our Affiliate Program. There's no charge to apply, and there's no minimum sales requirement.
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Are websites outside the United States eligible for the Affiliate Program?
We welcome and review applications to the Office Live Small Business Affiliate program from most countries. The audience for the Web sites must be based in the United States.
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I operate more than one website. Can I still join the Affiliate Program?
You can have multiple sites as an Office Live Small Business Affiliate. To streamline the process, we provide one affiliate account that includes all of your sites. You can track the progress of each of your sites separately, even though you'll be paid with a single commission check.
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Is my website or blog eligible for the Affiliate Program?
Most blogs and sites qualify to participate in the Affiliate Program. Anyone can submit an application, but we reserve the right to refuse membership to a site or revoke your membership at any time if we determine that your site contains objectionable material or breach the agreed upon terms and conditions.
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What are my responsibilities as an Office Live Small Business Affiliate?
You're only responsible for downloading the links from our Commission Junction program to place on your site, blog or email campaign. We create the links and handle the tracking.
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I don't have a website or blog. Can I still apply to the Affiliate Program?
No. To become a member of the Affiliate Program, you must have a website or blog that we can review.
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How complicated is it for a customer to complete the sign-up process of Office Live Small Business?
Customers can sign-up for Office Live Small Business in two, easy steps. Customers do not need a credit card or a domain name to sign-up.
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What if I have questions about the program?
The first place to look for answers to your questions is the Commission Junction website. Your publisher account is a great place to learn about new program features or to get up-to-date reporting of your site's performance. If you can't find the answer to your questions, you can e-mail Affiliate Program questions to MicrosoftOLSB@cj.com. Technical support issues and questions should be directed to Commission Junction using the "Contact Us" tool provided in the CJ interface.
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How do I manage my account information?
Once you have joined Commission Junction, you will be provided access to the Commission Junction interface where you can modify your account information. Commission Junction provides an excellent Help tool that explains the necessary steps to manage your account information.
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Will becoming an Office Live Small Business Affiliate increase traffic to my site?
Our Affiliate Program is a referral based program. It is not designed to help you increase traffic to your site. The Affiliate Program enhances your site with content, however, so your user-return rate may be higher.
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Setting up links

After I join the Office Live Small Business Affiliate Program, how do I get the ads and links to put on my site?
Log in to your Commission Junction account, choose "Office Live Small Business" from the My Advertisers menu, and click "Go." This will access the Office Live Small Business Program Detail page. Under the "Get Links" section, you will be able to click to the available links by link type and view all the links and banner ads available for placement on your site. Choose which link or banner ad you would like to place on your site and click "Get HTML." Then, simply copy and paste the HTML code into your web page.
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Where should I place the Office Live Small Business links on my site?
You should place Office Live Small Business links where they're easy for your visitors to find: your site's home page, navigation bar, and any other high-traffic areas. By placing the links on easily accessed site locations, visitors will be more likely to sign up for the product. It is also recommended that the content on the page be relevant to Web hosting, email marketing, small businesses, search engine optimization, Web site design, etc.
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How often should I update my links?
We will update our banner creative on a regular basis. Please note that because Commission Junction hosts the images for banner ads (advanced links excluded), when we update or replace existing creative, the banners will dynamically update on your site. However, text links will need to be manually updated by you. The text for a text link is hard coded in the HTML and will require action by you to update. We recommend you check for updated text links frequently. In addition, we will be adding new subscription based products, so you will have the opportunity to post new links that fit the interests of your visitors.
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What if I need to contact Office Live Small Business?
You can send us an e-mail at: MicrosoftOLSB@cj.com.
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Sales and commission

How much can I earn?
Earnings from the Affiliate Program vary and depend on your website and visitors. Aggressive affiliates who target the small business audience do quite well in this program.
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How do I know how much commission I've earned?
Through the Commission Junction interface, you will have access to real-time reporting, which provides information on impressions, click-through rate, conversion rates, and commissions earned.
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When will I receive my commission payment?
Checks are processed beginning on the 20th of every month for the previous month's balance. Commission checks are mailed at the end of each month for the previous month's balance provided the minimum payment threshold has been met. (See below for thresholds by currency.) Publishers located in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. can receive direct deposit.
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Minimum payment amounts by currency
Currency Amount
USD $25.00
CAD $35.00
EUR €25.00
GBP £16.00
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How can I monitor my sales?
You can monitor your sales by accessing reports as often as you like through the Office Live Small Business Affiliate reporting site. Please note: Customers' cookies must be enabled for us to track the sale. Some web browsers permit users to elect not to receive cookies. Only visitors who accept cookies can be tracked for referral fees. You understand that no referral fee can be paid for any purchase made by a visitor who does not accept cookies or who has deleted our cookies during a session.
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Who processes orders and handles customer service?
We take care of all subscriptions, up-selling, and customer service issues for the customers you refer to our site. All you need to do is place links on your site — we do all the rest.
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How will Office Live Small Business know that the orders came from my site?
The links that you download and post from our Commission Junction affiliate program contain tags that identify you as having referred the customer. All you have to do is place links.
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How often can I run reports?
You can run real-time reports if you wish. Real-time reporting is critical in order to react quickly to offer performance and keyword campaigns. Running hourly website performance reports allows you to make adjustments to your site or modify a keyword bid that may not be performing. Drill-down reporting options are available within the CJ Marketplace.
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