Revenue and Cash Payouts

Some Notes From Update : June 27, 2007 at 4:56 am

• We are crossing 20% activation and hope to exceed 50% by the end of the summer. New verified Member signups are back near record levels and growing.

Now that we are more comfortable with the website stability, we will also begin updating the website more frequently again.

• As far as the ads go, I am pleased to announce that we have just reached an agreement to make major improvements toward increased Viewbar revenue.

As noted earlier, we launched the Viewbar and our ad volume swamped the ad server of our third party supplier. While it has improved, the current system is still not working up to the standards needed (weak rotation ability and unable to connect properly with several networks). Given that the current state of affairs makes it difficult to implement our search, profile and geographic targeting (which are necessary to make Viewbar ads effective), we sought a new arrangement which will give all that to AGLOCO. This will take 5 to 6 weeks to be activated. As a result, revenue for the months of June and July will be low, as the current system cannot be improved any faster.

• We will also have the ability for an AGLOCO online ad auction system like Google’s AdSense so advertisers will be able to buy Viewbar ads directly.

Our new ad system will have a country specific system for advertisers (we are told that this will be available at the end of the summer and not for all countries). At that point we will likely have to ask each Member for a language preference to make the advertisers aware. Keep in mind that it is very costly to support multiple languages, so additional supported languages will probably not be forthcoming before that.

• In order to reach profitability quickly (which is necessary to make cash distributions to Members - as I will detail below), we keep AGLOCO expenses to a minimum.

Members often ask when they will be paid by AGLOCO, and how much they will be paid. I must admit that I have a bit of hesitation to address this issue, only because I do not want Members to misunderstand anything I say and/or take it as a “promise or prediction” of what AGLOCO will exactly do in the future. So, I will write the following with the disclaimer that everything I say below, specifically regarding when Members will be paid or how much, is only an illustration and does not constitute a promise of any sort.

Here is some information about cash payments in “FAQ” form.

• When are the cash payouts going to begin?

The simple answer is that it depends on “when AGLOCO makes enough money to both pay Members and be a sustainable business”. But, by using the Viewbar you are accumulating credit towards the cash payments right now (more on that below).

Also, as some Members have correctly pointed out, AGLOCO’s early revenue will not immediately translate into cash distributions to Members. While we do not know how large our the cash payouts will not begin until there is a comfortable balance between AGLOCO’s free cash flow and AGLOCO’s expenses. It is important to add that all Members will begin to accumulate hours from when they first start using the Viewbar (and referral hours will also be earned). Those hours will not be wasted. Both overall hours and monthly hours will be used in determining distributions to Members

-Cash Distributions: To be a sustainable entity in the long term, AGLOCO makes Member cash distributions from its positive cash flow (revenue minus costs).

-AGLOCO will be keeping Members informed of our financials (after a few months, when we start getting realistic numbers) so they can track our progress on this. At this point, if our new ad system is operational in August, we should be able to give meaningful numbers for September.

• How are you going to pay me if you don’t have any of my payment information?

Before the cash payments begin we will verify your billing information and ask you to specify how you would like to be paid. We currently plan to have several forms of payment available, including check, direct deposit, and PayPal. Remember that only one account per Member is allowed.

• Is there going to be a “minimum” payout level achieved in my account like many affiliate programs have?

Yes, a minimum will be required to keep transfer costs down. All sums not distributed are accumulated in the Member’s AGLOCO account until the minimum is reached.

• How are the cash payments going to work?

So, here are three of the potential ways AGLOCO can pay Members. As you know, when you use the Viewbar you accumulate hours (currently up to 5 hours/month, and plus a credit of referral hours at a 25% rate). These hours, both your monthly totals and your overall accumulated hours, are the basis for cash distributions.

1-Monthy Viewbar hours: Based on the hours you and your referrals surf each month, you will get a share of the “distribution pie”. Your share is equal to your percentage of the total hours accumulated by all Members (including referral hours).

How would this work? Here is a hypothetical example. Suppose in a given month AGLOCO distributes $100,000 for that month’s hour accumulation. Also suppose that the total hours all Members have accumulated that month is 1,000,000 hours. This means that AGLOCO would pay $0.10 for each hour you are credited with that month. So in this example if you had accumulated (yourself plus referrals) 500 hours that month, you would be paid $50.

2-Total Viewbar hours: AGLOCO may also pay in the same manner as above based on total accumulated hours. This would “weight” the payment more towards those Members who joined and began accumulating hours earlier (including the time before the cash payouts have begun).

3-AGLOCO buying Hours for Cash: Here’s how it would work. AGLOCO would set a price per hour (say, $0.15), and we allow Members to sell their hours back to us at that rate. There would likely be a minimum number of hours you could sell. For instance, AGLOCO may only allow you to sell in 100-hour blocks. Hours that you sell would be deducted from your total accumulated hours for future distributions.

• Wait a second, what about “shares”?

Our website talks about paying Members in “cash and shares”. As I’ve said before, I need to stay away from talking about “shares” in this blog. The lawyers would kill me if I went anywhere near talking about it because it is too easy to unwittingly violate a country’s securities laws.

• AGLOCO is not a “get rich quick” scheme and never will be. By steadily using the Viewbar and building a sustainable business, we can make sure that Members will get distributions for years and years as we improve the usefulness of the Viewbar as a part of each Member’s desktop.

Brian Greenwald

AGLOCO Development Team

Walk Before Running

6/18 1:05AM PDT) Update:

We have now made the Viewbar available for download on tucows.com, a trusted software download website. The download button on your account page should now point to the Viewbar download page on tucows. This should help free up our servers to accommodate the website traffic. We will continue to monitor this.

( You can download your viewbar immediately using the link below:

http://www.tucows.com/get/513386_205985 )

(6/13 9:31PM PDT) Update:

We just initiated the auto-upgrade for the Viewbar software to v1.03. This has fixes to many of the stability bugs some Members have experienced. If you previously experienced problems with your Viewbar, try running it again now with this updated version and it should work.

Our stats tell us that most currently active Viewbars seem to have been updated just fine by now. If you get a message telling you that your Viewbar has expired, restart the Viewbar and it should initiate the automatic upgrade. If that still doesn’t work, right-click the AGLOCO icon in the Windows task bar (a green “o”) and select “options”. Then click the button to “check for updates” in the “General” tab.

For this update we made some changes that require we simultaneously invalidate the old Viewbar version for stability reasons, but most future auto-updates will occur seamlessly.

• Now that AGLOCO has launched the Viewbar (we released it on June 4th so we are 8 days “old”), we should start to make steady progress. Here’s a big picture view of where we’re going over the next few months. I see things in three major phases, with some overlap between them.

The first order of business is to get the Viewbar (and our website) stable – with rotating ads.

• Viewbar Stability: We will be releasing an updated version of the Viewbar software within a week that will take care of some of the remaining ‘bugs’, and we will continue to stabilize the software. If you already have the Viewbar, you do not need to do anything to get this new version, as your Viewbar should automatically self-update with it. For the most part it seems these remaining ‘bugs’ appear minor and only affect a very limited number of members. This is good. This means we can put our primary emphasis on the next phase of the Viewbar while leaving a small team to work on the minor bugs.


• Website Stability: We will be making the Viewbar software available on one trusted alternate download site (we are picking it now and it will be all set up before we send a Viewbar download “reminder” email to the Membership). This should help our servers balance the website traffic with the stress of the download process. We will continue to make adjustments and improvements to our servers in order to improve performance for those browsing (so there are no disruptions to the sign-up process for new Members in the future).


• Ad rotation: We are working with the ad server people to optimize this process. The way they initially rotated the ads was crashing their servers with all the Viewbars asking for ads, so they have needed to improvise. Now it seems that some Members are getting rotating ads and others aren’t, depending on browser settings and computer environment. They are working on solutions so their ads show up on all Viewbars, regardless of computer environment or settings. I do not know how long this will take, but we have seen a steady improvement in the number of users who get rotating ads, so it seems progress is being made.

The next phase for AGLOCO is the maximizing of Viewbar revenue. This is an important goal, as we have fairly fixed costs so the more revenue we generate (especially more revenue per Viewbar), the more each Member will receive. There are lots of steps that will need to be taken in the coming months to improve AGLOCO’s revenue including:

1. Improving our search and ad revenue sources and sharing agreements. As more Members use the Viewbar, our bargaining power grows.

2. Start the Viewbar targeting system. One part of this system will focus ads based on your searches and surfing. Another part of this system will focus ads based on where you live (of course, AGLOCO will need to have a contract with ad networks in each of these countries to provide local ads in local countries).

3. Better inform Members of the revenue generating opportunities on the Viewbar.

4. Continue to work with existing Members who have not yet activated their Viewbars. We expect that after the initial spike of downloads this process will be one of gradual adoption. New Members signing up will have access to the Viewbar right away.

5. Continue to make improvements to encourage continued viral growth of the AGLOCO Membership. This includes website improvements, increased Viewbar functionality, and an opt-in Member-to-Member communication system.

Maximizing revenue is extremely important to AGLOCO, since cash distributions will come from AGLOCO’s positive earnings (revenue exceeding expenses). There is some information available on the AGLOCO website and in previous posts to this blog, but I will talk more about this important stage of AGLOCO’s future in my next post. I won’t be giving exact payment dates nor a fixed hourly rate prediction (as AGLOCO cannot predict future revenues per Member), but I will talk more about how the distributions will work.

Brian Greenwald

AGLOCO Development Team

Viewbar Release This Monday (Tuesday in Asia)

If the transfer goes smoothly, the first download emails will be going out Monday morning California time (early Tuesday in Asia)

We have made a workaround regarding the ad server problem and we will finally be launching the Viewbar. Some, but not all, of our ad networks will be connected. These networks have enough ads on them, so we are comfortable releasing the software as we continue to work on the outstanding issues that remain with the other networks. All of the preliminary Viewbar functions are there, but with the ad problems we will not be initially launching with the personalized ad targeting. We will continue to develop this capability after we have launched and when it is available the new version of the software will be incorporated into your viewbar automatically.

Remember that this is the first version of the Viewbar (v1.0), and with the Viewbar being automatically self-updating software, gradual improvement (both aesthetically and functionally) will appear seamlessly (you also have an option to turn off this feature and ask for updates manually, though we recommend leaving the auto-updating feature active so that you always have the latest software as improvements are made).

This weekend the Viewbar download is being moved from the test servers to the main servers. We will NOT need to temporarily take down the web site as we had thought, so we will not be sending out an email warning on that. If the transfer goes smoothly, the first download emails will be going out Monday morning California time (early Tuesday in Asia).

Please remember:

If you have a Norton firewall you may be asked to allow access to “viewbar.exe” and “update.exe” (please check “Permit Access Always” for proper installation of the Viewbar).

The Viewbar is currently available for Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Vista and will work with IE (Internet Explorer) or Firefox browsers.

I’m sure you are all just as ready for the Viewbar release as we are!

Brian Greenwald
AGLOCO Development Team

Agloco Referral Tips

Referral Center

The referral center will give you some referral tips and answers to questions that will help you make the most of your Membership and to build your own piece of the Economic Network.

Your personal automatic referral link is http://www.agloco.com/r/ your Member ID

Send this referral link to friends in emails or display this link in your own blogs or on your own website so when people use this link to sign up you will receive the referral credit.

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Referring friends face to face

Talking to friends about joining AGLOCO face to face or on the telephone has the highest chance of getting a new referral. You get to hear the friends questions and answer them on the spot.

Referring friends through email

Emails are a great way to tell your friends and family about your AGLOCO membership and to encourage them to join as your referral. There is a wealth of possible referrals all around you. You must however, keep in mind proper online messaging etiquette and the spirit of our Anti-Spam policy while making referrals.

You may email anyone you know to tell them about our program. This extends to friends and family, business associates and mailing lists where the recipients have opted-in for messages like this. Below is a sample email you can look at.


Sample email

Dear ______,

I recently joined AGLOCO because of a friend recommended it to me. I am now promoting it to you because I like the idea and I want you to share in what I think will be an exciting new Internet concept.

AGLOCO’s story is simple:

Do you realize how valuable you are? Advertisers, search providers and online retailers are paying billions to reach you while you surf. How much of that money are you making? NONE!
AGLOCO thinks you deserve a piece of the action.

AGLOCO collects money from those companies on behalf of its members. (For example, Google currently pays AOL 10 cents for every Google search by an AOL user. And Google still has enough profit to pay $1.6 billion dollars for YouTube, an 18-month old site full of content that YouTube’s users did not get paid for!

AGLOCO will work to get its Members their share of this and more.

AGLOCO is building a new form of online community that they call an Economic Network. They are not only paying Members their fair share, but they’re building a community that will generate the kind of fortune that YouTube made. But instead of that wealth making only a few people rich, the entire community will get its share.

What's the catch? No catch - no spyware, no pop-ups and no spam - membership and software are free and AGLOCO is 100% member owned. Privacy is a core value and AGLOCO never sells or rents member information.

So do both of us a favor: Sign up for AGLOCO right now! If you use this link to sign up, I automatically get credit for referring you and helping to build AGLOCO. http://www.agloco.com/r/your Member ID

Thanks


Please understand that AGLOCO has a more stringent policy regarding many kinds of spam than other sites on the Internet, and we enforce our anti-spam policy rigorously. We strongly recommend that you review it closely prior to sending out any quantity of emails.

When emailing people about AGLOCO, ensure that you have established a previous relationship with that individual. Making reference to your previous relationship will ensure that your referral email is received well. For example, “You are receiving this email from Business Today, the opt-in mailing list you have subscribed to for information on business opportunities.”

Many of our members include an AGLOCO referral link at the end of every email they send. Once you set up the link as an email "auto signature," it will be included at the end of all your email messages (until you choose to remove it.) The link can include your personal member ID number, so anyone who joins AGLOCO through your link will be credited as your referral.

Referring friends through Blogs and Websites

If you have your own Blog or Website, it’s a perfect place to advertise your AGLOCO membership and to encourage your readers to sign up. The more you discuss AGLOCO on your blog, the more your blog will be indexed by search engines and the more visitors you may receive. Please note, however, that posting unsolicited comments to the blogs or websites of other people may be a violation of our anti-spam policy. So please use good judgment when including your AGLOCO referral information in comments on other people’s blogs.

Referring friends through message boards

Each type of posting and individual host will have their own regulations. Please review the guidelines set by the posting area to ensure that you are adhering to all of their guidelines. Although some postings may not be in violation of AGLOCO’s specific anti-spam policies, breaking someone else’s rules will get you in trouble, so be informed.

When posting on a message board or Usenet newsgroup, make sure you are posting on topic, and not posting to too many boards or too frequently. One posting about AGLOCO might draw referrals, but multiple postings become a nuisance. Please post your messages responsibly.

There are many message boards where messages about AGLOCO are appropriate, and many where they aren’t, so use good judgment. Keep your content honest and on point. Misleading your potential referrals is not only a violation of the AGLOCO membership agreement, but also a blow to the integrity of our company.

Referring friends using chat and IM

Each chat room and Instant Message service has its own sets of rules and regulations. Make sure you familiarize yourself with the guidelines of your chat room before entering. Chat rooms are often topic specific, and just as in message boards, you must make sure that any conversation about AGLOCO is appropriate and permissible under the rules of that forum. A chat room devoted to making money on the web is a perfect place for an AGLOCO discussion.

As always, keep your content honest and on point. Misleading your potential referrals is not only a violation of the AGLOCO membership agreement, but also a blow to the integrity of our company. Please refrain from associating AGLOCO or your account with material that AGLOCO considers objectionable. Techniques such as repeatedly sending referral URLs or other promotional messages are not permitted.

Referring friends in the offline world

Talk to your friends about AGLOCO! Members are already putting their referral links on business cards, signs, bumper stickers and flyers. These promotion tactics must fall within the bounds of your local laws, rules, or regulations.

Accordingly, the distribution of flyers or handbills on private property or where prohibited in any fashion is a violation of the Membership Agreement. This includes but is not limited to, littering private or public property with flyers or cards, placing illegal road signs or plastering surfaces with posters or stickers.

If you wish to advertise your referral link in a local or wide coverage newsletter or newspaper, AGLOCO asks that you personalize your advertisement. Your ad must not make any misrepresentations to any of Your Referrals or potential Referrals with respect to compensation typically received by AGLOCO members or with respect to compensation that potential members are likely to receive.

Make sure the content you are presenting is consistent with AGLOCO’s family friendly policies and content guidelines.

How do referral links work?

To make it easier to refer your friends to AGLOCO, we have set up our website to let you link directly to a sign-up page that will automatically mark that visitor as your referral. The link follows a simple pattern:

http://www.agloco.com/r/****####

(where ****#### represents your Member ID)

When people use that link,your ID is automatically embedded into the system and you will receive the referral credit.

The bigger the AGLOCO network gets, the more valuable every Member becomes, and the more you make from the system. The larger AGLOCO is, the better our ability to generate revenue for our Members.

Source : AGLOCO™ Inc. , Company WebSite

Go To WebTraffic TopSites For Your AGLOCO Signups

Top 7 AGLOCO Offline Advertising Ideas

Here is an original write-up by "http://doyouagloco.blogspot.com" which suggests seven good (and a little bit different) ways to promote AGLOCO offline. You may want to take a look.

Don’t stop now, as advertising for Agloco picks up over the internet and the release of the viewbar approaches you might want to shift your advertising focuses offline. Here are my top 7 ways to advertise offline.

1) Place ads in your local newspapers. A newspaper with a large circulation might cost you up to $100 an ad but you will reach thousands of potential referrals. Community newspapers are also another viable option with a price tag of under $50 per ad. Unlike internet advertising you are likely to reach thousands who have never heard about Agloco.

2) Flyers! Flyers! Flyers! They are cheap and very effective. Post them around colleges, high schools, community centers, grocery stores, or even at your church. I am currently using the flyer from Agloco-Stock.com.

3) Want to reach your referrals directly? Drive around for an hour and place flyers on your neighbors mailboxes.

4) Random advertising. Try leaving an Agloco information card at a restaurant, I’m sure your waitress or busboy would want to know about Agloco. Ask to leave some flyers at a fast food restaurant or local business. Be creative, but keep it legal and don’t litter.

5) Advertise on your vehicle. For a decent price you can get some nice looking magnets added to your car. Why not go overboard? I know I have caught myself staring at a car covered in bumper stickers or any other various object.

6) TV commercial!?!? Go ahead and call me outrageous. But, there will be someone to try it, whether it can be profitable I have no clue. If it is done properly it will be profitable, heck even AllAdvantage had commercials.

7) Wear Agloco! What a better way to show people that you believe in Agloco. You better believe you will be asked the question, “What’s Agloco?” They have opened the door for you, now its your job to let them in. Check out the Agloco You Store to purchase any of your Agloco shirts, buttons or hats.

Remember Agloco will spread quickest by word of mouth, do not be afraid to bring up Agloco in a conversation with a friend, family member, or even a stranger. Let’s keep this thing rolling, more updates to come.