Written by Rosalind Gardner
What Bugs You Most about Affiliate Programs?
So tell me… what bugs you most about affiliate programs? Is it…
- Chicken Scratch Commissions – How do you feel about making a $1.00 a lead when you know the merchant is ultimately earning hundreds, if not thousands, from the targetted customer you sent to their site?
- Rejection Notices – Are you tired of those “We regret to inform you that ____.com has chosen not to accept you into their affiliate program at this time” that don’t include any specific explanation or where it is obvious that the merchant didn’t bother to look at your FABULOUS site.
- Lack of Ability to Contact Merchants – So, you’re not a CJ performer. Is that any excuse to have to write several emails and make several telephone calls before you get a reply to a valid question?
- Lack of Information – What about those programs that do approve you and send you a welcome letter that doesn’t include a link to the site, the manager’s name or your affiliate details? I especially love those that send info from some obscure company name that you’ve never heard of — so you have no clue to which affiliate program they’re referring.
- Clunky Affiliate Interfaces – Surely you have some experience with an affiliate interface that is almost impossible to use. It takes forever to drill down and find a graphic or copy that you want and when you do find one, the interface bogs down and then crashes before it generates your link.
Oh, my list could go on – but I want to hear about your beefs.
Go on – get it off your chest. Leave a comment and tell it like you see it — the ultimate goal being that this information will help affiliate managers and merchants IMPROVE their programs and networks. 
Want more info?
Rosalind Gardner is a Super Affiliate blogger, author, speaker, and Internet marketing consultant.
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Hi Rosalind
I have no gripe at all with affiliate programs.If one is persistent with advertising the money will come from affiliate programs.Too many people jump on board post a few ads in the free classifieds,and wonder what happened.It takes time,and patience one must be willing to devote time into their affiliate program to make it prosper. Well that’s about it.
rgds
Steven Wilson
Hi Steven, Thanks kindly for your words of wisdom — so nice to see someone has no gripes at all!
Ros
WOW Ros, did you touch a nerve or what? You could fill a few episodes of Oprah with the anguish you’ve uncovered.
I’d say “All of the Above!” Plus I’d love to use adwords to drive traffic to my site but I find all the accounts I’ve seen terminally confusing, and yes that includes Perry Marshall’s ebook.
How about a PPC Guide for the rest of us? Any ideas?
Thanks
Alex Newell
Hey Alex – Apparently so! I’ll be writing about the ‘anguish’ tomorrow.
Funny what you said about writing a ‘PPC Guide for the rest of us’… I was thinking about doing exactly that. NO promises, though. But it IS a really good idea! In the meantime, I think if you go into Google Adwords, Yahoo! Search Marketing or Microsoft Adcenter (check out the DEAL) and take your time, you’ll figure it out. In most cases you create a Campaign, and under each campaign there are individual ad units. Like I said, take your time, you’ll figure it out – and there are really good help files associated with each.
I love these reader feedback items. I do them with my readers all the time. Some even end up being free books I give away on my website.
I get emails every week from affiliates who think they know more about promoting my products than I do. I know my numbers and know what paths work.
I am currently doing a redesign to make it easier for the HTML challenged to promote my products, but I am not going to listen to someone who tells me my sales paths aren’t right, and then asks for advice on how to create a link.
I have to say, the average affiliate is an idiot. Even worse, a lazy idiot.
Do a search for pages that mention the Clickbank products with the highest gravity. It’s hilarious.
I had a guy last week email me because he wasn’t making any money promoting my products. He had copied and pasted my sales letter into his blog. Didn’t change the links either.
I have some great affiliates, but they are a small minority.
What’s the saying? “You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make him drink.” With affiliate marketing, you can point out the water, give them a bucket, and they will soon be using the bucket to build sandcastles.
terry
Hey Terry - I’ve had the same experience with my sales letter. One would think that getting the ‘freebie’ links without the affiliate ID might prove beneficial, but we both know that a) that tactic hurts our SEO rankings and that you may even end up with duplicate content penalty and b) the page never sees traffic so you won’t get any sales anyway.
I don’t necessarily agree with your slant on the average affiliate being an idiot, however. Clickbank makes it easy for almost anyone to sign up to become an ‘affiiate’. Of course, most of these people aren’t affiliates – not real affiliates. They just want to make money in the fastest way possible without doing any work. Doesn’t that also define the sit-on-your-butt TV-watching masses who want to lose weight? I think it’s a societal problem – not just affiliate marketing.
Roz. I must be getting monitor radation! I thought had already replied to this post but after reading them all I didnt see me!
So one more time.
First off you were the first e/info book I bought. Got it through Amazon hope you got your cut. All in all I have bought about 6 e/info books. Two good, two average and two bad. Yours and Jeremey Palmers were the best. Jeremy is very good about answering e/mail quickly. Your site use to be, I think your quys name was Joel Bolton? but the last couple of e/mails I sent I got no response. Is he still with you ?
My question is this. Do most merchant reward you with .50 to 1.50 for sending them a lead even though they didnt make a sale? It cost us to develope that lead and Iam sure the merchant ads the lead to his e/mail list for future promotions etc. Is that something you have to bargain for or is it automatic?
Keep up the good work. You are truly one of the “good guys”
Jack
Hello Jack – Sorry, not sure why your comment wouldn’t have shown up. With the except of one (which I plan to use as fodder for a later article) all were approved. Joel is still here and he answers all questions that show up in our Support Desk. If you’re not using the Support Desk, my guess is that your email went astray.
The commission on leads varies with the market, so that question is hard to answer. Some leads pay 25 cents, others pay $50. I prefer the latter.
AND yes, you can definitely negotiate better commissions.. but you usually need to prove that you can send quantities of traffic that converts first. Hope that helps. – Ros
Something that bother me is that most of the time, the affiliate don’t get any commission on the upsells (except with the best affiliate programs like SBI for example)
Hi Franck - Ain’t that the truth. You have to look hard to find those that DO. The other alternative is to ASK the merchant if they can do that for you if you send them enough traffic. If the answer is no, then go back to the first point.
Ros
Hi Ros,
Your blog pages and readers feedback to the topics you raise are in my view one of the best learning tools of all.
thanyou for the opportunity to share in it.
Max Percy
Hi Max - My pleasure! Just happy to help.
Ros
Hi Ros,
It is a bit disappointing that I often print out copies of my performance reports and discover so many accounting errors. Often find click counts going backwards, impressions going backwards, and yes — on occasion commissions due going backwards without any chargebacks. This isn’t a matter of commission networks cheating. It’s a matter of poor computer programming quality control. Sure hope this improves.
Everyone loves Ros!
Jason
Hey Jason - Not everyone… you should read what ‘joe’ had to say.
And as to backwards click counts, impressions and commissions… aye ya yae! I trust you’ve been in touch with the network people or the managers when you’ve found those errors? – Ros
The main issue with Chris in the UK is when he says something like…….99% of all affiliates are broke and will stay broke and will die broke………that is a boldface lie ! 90% or more of affiliates have part time or full time jobs because they are still learning their skills, that’s all………He is too hard core sometimes. On the other hand, his Project X book has some great techniques……….if he would just tone down his rhetoric, he would be great to learn from.
Hi James - and the point is that you can see through the rhetoric and appreciate the value of what he has to teach. Good for you! – Ros
Joel or Roz, Just a follow up on my earlier post. I inguired about gettin a “spiff” for sending a lead to a merchant’s site. What consitute a lead if they dont purchase the product? Is logging on a lead? Or do they have to signup on the merchant’s e/mail list?
Also what merchants pay for a lead? I am sure dating sites probaly do – who else? I am not talking about mortages, insurance, credit cards etc, etc. I am thinking about e/books, dating sites and other general mdse. Also does CJ spell that out or do you have to go to the merchant”s site? Sorry to ask so many questions but inquiring minds want to know.
Thanks! Jack
Hello Jack - Many different merchants offer a pay per lead commission structure and Many different actions will qualify as leads. You’ll have to research your each merchant affiliate agreement (in or out of CJ) for specific answers to your questions. Cheers, Ros.