Forum Moderators: skibum
- Whom would you choose? The first merchant or the second merchant? Why?
All other parameters being equal (commission, features etc), I would choose the second merchant (one with his/her own affiliate program).
Because -
1) Generally, there is better communication between merchants and affiliates.
2) Once you start earning significant revenues, the merchants will be more receptive to your "demands" or suggestions.
What do you think? What are the pros and cons of non-affiliate network merchants?
Communications is KEY
>not equipped to handle success
Depends on how you measure success. Is it the number of lemmings that you get signed up or the # of sales that 10 good webmasters can provide.
Once the merchant realized that I'm contributing significantly to their sales, their affiliate manager makes it a point to send periodical "Well Done!" mails, ocassional "seasons greetings" mails along with offers to provide help in keyword research or website design.
Little things like this do help in building loyalty. I wonder if I can expect such treatment from big CJ/BeFree/Linkshare affiliated merchants..
I guess my loyalty towards this particular merchant is because of a rather pro-active affiliate manager.
rcjordan is 100% right. The independents usually only put effort into their affiliate programmes for a few months. Let me give you a couple of examples from here in the UK. The affiliate manager of WHSmith started off a newsletter for affiliates and a 'regularly updated' page with banners for latest promotions.
BlackStar were similar, with dedicated section for affiliates to hive off latest promotional banners.
Both got rid of their affiliate managers last year. We don't receive any newsletters from either of them and the affiliate sections with latest promotions haven't been updated for months.
...and, oh yes, because they don't have affiliate managers any more it is HELL getting our payments from WHSmith (one of the biggest high street stores in the UK). Scores of emails and phone calls get ignored.
Big job now to shift our links to other merchants. With a network it's easier. Not stuck with one company.
The point about fraud is true as well. I have several examples of independent merchants defrauding us in the six years we have been in affiliate marketing.
But since the networks are paid by a percentage of the tracked sales they will make everything possible to track properly...
Like if you currently shy away from independent programs, if an independent program were "certified" for a number of different criteria, would that impact your choice of programs?
Just wondering, because I am working with some people on this sort of thing. A third party, objective certification.
I have experience with both independents and aggregators, and both have their advantages. I'm not an affiliate marketer, though - this activity is mostly bonus revenue for sites with other purposes.
One thing that's handy about the aggregators like CJ is the ease of setting up new programs. If you see an advertiser that you think might fit, often it's as simple as a couple of mouseclicks to get going. No forms to fill out, no additional site to check for performance, etc. If I was driving really major revenues, though, then it might be worth the while to strike independent deals.
One plus that CJ offers is the ability to evaluate the performance of programs and ads with their stat reports. Just because other sites are averaging $20 per click doesn't mean your site will do the same, but it's better than some sales guy telling you, "Everyone is making tons of money on this!"
What will be your parameters for getting the certification?
1) I send a mail to the affiliate support email ID with some dumb questions to check the type/speed/quality of support I get.
2) I check the commission rate and the minimum payout amount. If the minimum payout is $100 and if the payments are made quaterly, I flee.
I do the rest of the testing AFTER I sign up. After signing up -
1)I check the affiliate stats software package. What kind of data am I getting? Are there any graphical reports? Do I get an email notification after I make a sale?
2)I also take a liking to merchants who have a good Affiliate Marketing Center - with good text ad copies and keyword list related to the business, among other things.
3)I check whether the merchant allows me to link to the credit card signup page directly or offers data feeds so I can create my own website.
If you plan to setup a non-network affiliate program, I would recommend putting screenshots of your affiliate tracking software and mention its features.
$100 payout can be used to limit the number of affiliates to only those who know they will succeed. Holds down the paperwork .
Quarterly payout is BS.
Will they pay me?
Will they cheat me in the sales report?
Recently I have a new merchant with its own affiliate program. Although the same question I state above still questioning me, but I like the report more. The report is ReaL time and whenever I make a sale, I receive an email! So it is quite fun when you are working and an email pop up telling you you have just make a sale! ;) CJ report are weak. I doesn't know how they count the clicks (raw or unique) and the sales report are not real time. Clicks are updated once a day. But as compare to other network like linkshare, shareasale, clixgalore, I would say CJ are just too good.
If I have received my very first check from my merchant who run his own affiliate program, I would prefer them then CJ. I think I can even ask them to wire transfer me the revenue if I do make a lot for them! ;)
How frequent do you guys communicate with your merchant?
2 things - communication and payment. If I email you a question about your program, reply asap. Companies that reply to my inquiries within hours, better yet minutes, get my attention.
Be honest, and be yourself. Program managers that talk to me straight up, tell me they don't know if they don't have the answer, and are just plain honest win me over. (yes, we can smell otherwise)
If I try a company I don't know yet, I may turn the traffic off after generating the first check minimum and see how quickly the check comes.
If you know a site could be a super affiliate, consider paying them a deposit up front.
>What are the key factors in deciding to join program a but not program b?
Most things considered equal, the bottom line is well, the bottom line. I'll probably promote both and see which earns more for my clicks, then dump the poor performer.
>What are things I should look at to generate signups from quality sites
New program - beat the bushes and find the pros yourself.
>minimum payout is $100 and if the payments are made quaterly
Agree with Mackin here, if I can't make 100/month, I wont be working in your niche. Tracking payments <100 is not worth the time. Monthly payments are the bare minimum - weekly or biweekly is better. Quarterly? That's a joke.
>How frequent do you guys communicate with your merchant?
As little as possible. Usually to renegotiate, or there is a problem. But when I do contact, someone needs reply within a reasonable amount of time. (within 1 biz day, min - the quicker the better)
Could we trust every merchant will pay?
I personally have never had a problem with a merchant paying. Sometimes they might be a week or two late but the checks always arrive. I am sure there are instances where people have gotten stiffed but if you screen the merchants carfully before hand you probably won't have a problem.
Agree with Mackin here, if I can't make 100/month, I wont be working in your niche. Tracking payments <100 is not worth the time.
Nope. I don't subscribe to the argument.
For somebody starting off an affiliate program, your initial goal should be to attract as many affiliates as possible. Over a period of time, you will eventually find a "super affiliate". Why scare away prospective affiliates who are new to the industry by keeping the min. payout at $100?
There is a possibility that one of these lowly newbies earning $30 in the first month may turn out to be your best affiliate in the next 6 months. Also, how can you be sure that you will get the best affiliates when you hike the min payout? An experienced affiliate earning $100,000 per month selling dish antennas maybe a dud when it comes to selling your credit cards.
What are your saving in your administrative costs by increasing your payout to $100? If you cannot afford these admin costs, you probably shouldn't be in the business.
Only those guys who already running a similar successful website or they spend a lot on PPC can generate revenue fast enough.
For other guys who prefer to do SEO, results are slow, since you can't rush with Search Engine. Google only update once a month and everything in the update is actually from a crawl 3-4 weeks ago. But for these guys, they might get 0 sales for the 1st few month but when they got the SEO done, they might be one of your super affiliates!
I definately prefer independent programs because they are often hidden gems. I promote several independents with an EPC of over $100 (per 100 clicks), which is higher than almost every cj merchant.
because they are often hidden gems
Finding these gems (niches) is the main challenge - it is like looking for a needle in a haystack.
Suspicions of merchant fraud can be found in either. Recently, though, I've had a steep increase in suspicions of merchant fraud, or as they call it when they get caught, "tracking/reporting bugs, glitches, mistakes, oversights, etc, which are always in the merchant's favor". One is an independent, and I really think they've been cheating for a long time, and two others are with networks. I had to spend a lot more energy getting corrections from the independent, and it may never be well resolved, and I had to take down all their links and find someone else. The networks have a person giving serious attention to the others. One is getting resolved and all "lost" orders are being re-constructed by the network, despite the merchant trying to tell me there was no hope. The other is under investigation and the merchant is trying to avoid the issue, but the network is really pissed and is rattling their cage and I think may go after them.
I've just had too much unresolved trouble with the independents over 3+ years of affiliate marketing. I have a couple I stick with but they are phasing out. I don't take on any new independents, but I would if they're established and highly recommended by the right trusted sources.
The networks are building clout, and slowly starting to weed out the losers and give some attention to checks and balances, and I think they realize they have to build quality in their merchant pool to survive.
It has also become my policy to demand the networks investigate suspicions of fraud, and I feed them the information and data to support my demands, and I guess they earn enough money on my account to pay attention.
Shawn, your idea of an independent seal of approval is a good one, but I doubt the industry is willing to support an approval agency, nor do they really have the incentive IMHO. There's too many foxes and wolves running around out there. Wouldn't it be like asking the fox if he would contribute funds to having a dog guard the henhouse?
Other than tracking, I have noticed a few merchants (generally from non-affiliate networks, I admit) use other tricks to take away sales from affiliates -
1) Prominently listed 1-800 number (with no affiliate tracking)
2) Email newsletter subscription which would capture visitors sent by affiliates (When a newsletter with product link is sent, it would not include the tracking code of the affiliate)
3) Cross-selling of other products (For example, a merchant offers commission on sales of Product A and Product B only and not on Product C and Product D which are on the same website)
4) Merchants signing up for affiliate programs and putting up text links, popups and banners (not very rampant)
5) Allowing parasites to signup for their affiliate programs.
Anything more to add?
Before signing up for a non-network affiliate program, if one checks this list, I think they would be okay
- fraudulant reporting
- fraudulant chargebacks
These two are much more difficult to get a handle on for the average affiliate. You have to have a keen eye and analzye the reports over time to smell it.
You can always sign up for both and see which performs better as usually two separate programs do not carry the exact same merchandise or service to begin with. This is what most wise publishers do.
