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Some adult affiliate programs/avs/sponsors etc will help affiliates who cannot convert their program. Looking at the traffic source, marketing etc and suggest ways to improve ratios and sales. Others either dont seem to want to.
Should a program help affiliates in this way and do we affiliates have a right to expect help like that? By that I mean is it their job to help? And what about owners of small programs who dont have a rep?
I think from a business point of view, why would you not want to help an affiliate raise sales? I mean surely they want the extra revenue?
(this is NOT a dig at any reps or companies, just wonder what people think)
I know one thing that they should NOT do and is of no help what so ever.
I get emails from one Rep especially (no names) telling me when my sales have gone down compared to last month.
Sales ALWAYS are different from month to month
IF traffic is the same as last month and sales gone down, then its unlikly to do with anything on my side.
The fact that sales are down is of no help at all to me.
If sales are down with the same amount of traffic it normally means its time to promote someone else instead.
Otherwise, yes they are there to help affiliates in my view. For example if someone needs special content, certain size banners etc then they are the ones i would turn to. If I have a good Rep, im more likly to advertise their sites more. Quite simply because if I like someone then I rather help them more than someone else that I have no personal contact with.
I have tried cold calling (err..cold emailing?) some adult affiliates to offer them assistance, but 9 times out of 10 I never hear back and the one that I do hear back from usually says “no thank you”. I think that’s where forums come into play, forums let me help others and develop a good rep without seeming overly pushy.
True, I think its easy for us affiliates to send those sort of “no thanks emails” but then expect the rep to be there when we need them.
But it can sometimes end up with quite a few willing Reps asking if they can help. The real confusion is when its the same Rep who just the other week worked for another program..
i’m pretty annoyed when reps contact me out of the blue with offers like that. usually i’m not sending traffic for a reason, whatever that reason is.
btw, a lot of programs don’t expect their reps to do that and hire reps without webmastering experience, or at least without enough webmaster experience, to help anyone. most programs tend to hire either reps who work cheap or who are extremely aggressive in going after new affiliates.
A couple of months back I was sending a lot of clicks to a sponsor, but the traffic wasn’t converting. One of the owners contacted me and asked if he could help me. I really appreciated that. And in fact, I’m generally pretty happy when a program contacts me and offers me help or suggestions. They know their site better than I do.
I giggle a bit when I get those “I notice you haven’t been sending much traffic” generic emails from sites that I may have signed up for, but never promoted. Those don’t generally get my attention, but a more personal approach generally does.
And yes, I think one of the things programs should do is help affiliates increase their sales. It’s in everyone’s best interest. A site knows what works best to sell their product. Sadly, most site owners are probably too busy running their sites to help, and not everyone can afford an affiliate rep.
Michael
Ok. Here comes long post.
“Others either dont seem to want to.”
Many just don’t know how. Seriously, many are hired to recruit. Some no nothing about traffic at all.
“I get emails from one Rep especially (no names) telling me when my sales have gone down compared to last month.”
Nothing better than an adult affiliate rep telling you what you already know? Many times it’s actually the site’s fault and not the affiliates. With my program and the transparent tour, many times it really boils down to if our models on the homepage match your traffic.
“I have tried cold calling (err..cold emailing?) some affiliates to offer them assistance, but 9 times out of 10 I never hear back and the one that I do hear back from usually says “no thank you”. I think that’s where forums come into play, forums let me help others and develop a good rep without seeming overly pushy.”
Cold calls never work. It takes me about a month to get a good conversation with an affiliate going. I need an “opening” that usually is unrelated to my program. For example, we have a good affiliate that runs a celeb site. As a way of breaking the ice, I asked him (after introducing myself), if he knew wehere I could buy QAF the UK version. Since then we have had many good conversations about my site. I also use my aff newsletter and ask questions to empower the affiliates. Questions that make them feel part of the decision making process. That’s why I have actually resisted the urge to make the newsletter all fancy with css etc. I want affiliates to reply so I can start a conversation.
Concerning boards, few of our affiliates are actually on boards at all.
“True, I think its easy for us affiliates to send those sort of “no thanks emails” but then expect the rep to be there when we need them.”
That’s ok. If you don’t need help, then you don’t need help. But when you do an affiliate rep should be there.
Ok. Quotes done.
Should an affiliate rep help make sales? Yes. It is in most affiliate reps best interest to help affiliates make sales. It’s also an affiliate’s rep to get new clients as well. Mondays are a tough day for me as it’s the day that I recruit new affiliates. Just earlier today, I found 10 blogs that we are not on and will be doing some hard selling Monday.
But, I also believe that an affiliate rep should be honest. There are times when the site will just not do well on the affiliates traffic. A few times I have recommended another site be marketed instead of my site to an affiliate. In return, the affiliates usually remembers that and markets us heavily on another site they own.
The absolute worst affiliate reps I have ever had were from straight programs that ran adult sites. It was hard enough to get them to design a site with the right colors, let alone offer any advice that would ever be useful for me.
The best thing an affiliate rep can do imho is let affiliates know of tools they have available, site updates (and I am very honest about what updates sell so affiliates can market the ones that make money), be there when an affiliate needs them, and attempt to open a line of communication with as many affiliates as possible.
Opening that line of communication is very difficult. Over all the affiliates we have, I have about 100 that I am in regular email contact with. It took me a good four months to get to that point. Many of them it started as a “thank you for all the recent sales” versus, “what can I do to help”. Now they are sending more traffic and I feel in a position that I can actually toss some ideas at them.
Interesting question, and answers.
I am torn on the issue, because to begin with I am a stubborn bitch. For someone to out of the blue tell me my traffic is down is like, gee no kidding, seeing as how I ain’t sending any.
Or then there is the rep who wants to help me make a killing, and hasn’t even visited my adult site, or even knows my site, but has a ton of helpful advice. Like, uh, give me a break here.
Too many reps, are simply going through the motions of being helpful. Others, like jmay for example, actually know what they are doing, and are willing to listen first, which is something most of us don’t do enough of.
Problem I have with most reps, is that they don’t take the time to figure out or ask what the business model is, or goal is even. They simply assume it is the standard one, and we aren’t all cookie cutter webmasters. Their site may be, but we aren’t.
Is it their job? Depends on what they were hired for, but for myself, if I was the owner, damn straight it is their job, and their obligation to provide assistance, to make themselves available, easy to approach, to contact. Too many are too busy having drinks with the whales, than to bother with the minnows, but some aren’t, and they are the one’s who make their sites more successful in the long run, as well as ours.
Damn, I need a coffee.
Who’s to say an affiliate manager will understand your traffic better than youself? Many of the affiliate managers I’ve run into over the years have never even operated their own sites.
That is so true. I can say that the best “training” was running my own adult paysites after five years of being an affiliate for other paysites.
I would still be running my own paysite, but it was a solo model site with me and my bf and a 24/7 webcam. At some point you need a “private” sex life.
But most affiliate reps have never been an affiliate or run their own sites.
