Frequently Asked Questions

One-Time? That's right. The startup fee is a one-time only fee. As long as your Online Backup Service continues to produce income, the web site, your account, and support services are all yours.

How long do I get to keep my account and website? As long as you make money, plus one year. We will maintain your website and keep your account open as long as you are making money. We will close your account and remove your website if you go twelve months without a payout.

What's the difference between the various Affiliate Packages?

How do Monthly Coupons Work? On the 25th of every month Affiliates will receive an email containing one or more coupon codes, good for discounts of 10% or more, which you can use in marketing your services. Coupon codes are good for one month only, and can be redeemed at checkout. The discount applies only to one sale, no matter whether that's a $4.95 monthly payment or a $59 yearly payment - it's 10% off whatever is bought. Affiliate's commissions reflect the 10% discount - you get paid on what your customers pay, which (if they use a 10% coupon) is 10% less than list price.

Tell me more about the software. Your Online Backup Service will be powered by Mercury Online Backup - the latest in the twenty-two year long history from the company who invented the Online Backup Business, Remote Backup Systems. Unlike many other Online Backup products, Mercury runs in native code on Windows (2000 and up) and Mac (10.4 and up). Native Code means that it runs faster, with far lower resource usage than other products. Also unlike other products, the PC and Mac versions of Mercury were co-developed simultaneously by in-house teams working side by side, and released at the same time. More Info Here...

Who gets the income from the Google Adsense ads on my website? We do. But, if you would prefer not to have ads on your website, there's an option for that. We use that income from the ads to offset the hosting costs that we are not billing you for. It's not a lot of money, but it helps. We do our best to filter the ads so no competitors show up on your site.

Can I have more control over my website and pricing? Yes! There are four packages to choose from that give you various degrees of control. You can sign up for an advanced Virtual Hosting account and have full control over your pricing, products, and website. You can even link your own Credit Card processing system to collect your own charges (Merchant Account required), and do your own tech support. With a Virtual Hosting account, you pay us for the use of our software, and buy storage space at wholesale. You can charge your customers as you like. Click Here for more information.

I already have a website. Do I HAVE to use yours? You do not have to use the website that is automatically generated for you. You can sell online backup from your own web site by embedding your customized product tags into your own pages. You can view your custom tags in your Management Console at the "Show HTML Code" button. Just cut and paste them into your own web site.

May I see the Marketing and Sales Resources? Since all the Marketing and Sales Resources, the business plan template, and all the other templates are downloadable, we can't give you a link to their page until after you have signed up as an Affiliate. They include dozens of custom illustrations, color images, and photographs in various sizes. Also letterhead templates, tri-fold brochures, postcards, newspaper ads, "take-one" brochures, a Data Loss Risk Evaluation form, and an Online Backup Cost/Benefit Analysis.

Can I charge my customers myself instead of having you do it? You can do that with a Virtual Hosting account, but not with an Affiliate Account.

Can I do my own Technical Support instead of having you do it? Yes, if you like. With the Premium Package you can change the Help link to point to your own Help page instead of ours.

Do I make a commission on the affiliate signup fee? No. That goes to help defray hosting charges.

What about refunds and chargebacks? We don't dispute chargebacks. If a customer isn't satisfied with the service, we don't want him to be charged. If he requests a refund, we try to resolve the problems and save the account, but if we can't, we will cancel the account and refund the money. In this case, we deduct any percentage we've already paid you for from your future payouts.

When and how do I get paid? We pay you on the first and fifteenth of every month, as long as your balance is at least $10. We will transfer your money into your PayPal account.

Do you provide an IRS form 1099? Yes. If you file taxes in the U.S.A. on a form 1040 or 1040-EZ, we will send you a form 1099 after each calendar year during which you earned more than $600. We must have your Social Security number on file. Please fill out a form W-9 (available here) and fax it to us. If we pay you as a company, and you pay taxes in the U.S.A. and you have a Federal Tax ID, we WILL NOT send you a 1099. We will need your Federal Tax ID on the Form W-9, however.

I don't live in the USA. Do you support currencies other than the US dollar? EMail us. If we get enough interest, we will strongly consider localizing our web interface to support other currencies. The Mercury software already supports 20 languages.

Do you have an Affiliate Agreement? Yes. You can view it here.

I'm a geek. May I have more technical info? So are we. ("Never be ashamed of who you are." - J.B.E. Zorg, The Fifth Element, 1997 - Our favorite movie of all time.) Here ya go...