Soon you will have many affiliates signing up and even if you are set up to automatically approve you will want to keep a close watch on your network. The Federal Trade Commission is holding marketers liable for what their affiliates do. You will have large numbers signing up and some of them will great marketers and others will be spammers. Overall, you will want to keep close tabs on who is doing what to promote your product especially the legality of it.
Here are some good tips for screening:
• Require your affiliates to have a website
• The affiliate site must be compatible to your product
• The site should have a good amount of information
• Make sure they know how much of your content they are allowed to use
Affiliate fraud
Fraud is an ever-increasing problem in the affiliate-marketing field. This has been on a steady increase over the past few years. This is yet another reason to be on the ball with your affiliates. There are two main types of fraud in affiliate marketing, malware and fake purchases.
Malware is a computer program developed to install on a computer as part of a download. Then when someone clicks on the affiliate link, the malware replaces the good id with a fake one.
Fake purchases are most common on high yield products. In other words if your product pays large dividends on a sale then it may be targeted for fake purchase. Unscrupulous people signing up and making purchases with fake or stolen credit cards through their own links accomplish this.
Communicating with affiliates
As with any good business, communication is key. Especially if your affiliates are busy, take the time to check with them about your product and services. This acts as a gentle reminder for a busy affiliate. You do not want your products and services to end up in low traffic areas or worse yet deleted. So remember to stay in close contact, particularly with high performers.
If you wait for them to contact you, it is usually a problem they are reporting. Moreover, do not wait until you have a new product to offer to contact them. Affiliates appreciate the small how are you doing messages it shows them you are interested in them and willing to be a true partner. This is also a good avenue to request feedback on your program.
To be successful, you will not be able to leave this program on autopilot. Careful communication leads to happy affiliates and increased sales. The more sales that are made the more money you and your affiliate will make. And that keeps everyone happy and productive.
27 Comments
Bill Masson
September 24, 2008Some good points, it is useful to always keep up to date with your programs and for sure keep your affiliates interested with launches and JVs. Good communication is essential and setting up and monitoring your campaigns will pay off in spades.
On the security issues; well if someone is determined enough then i feel that they will succeed in robbing you, but you can cut this down with a good security system in place. So the message is don’t be complacent.
Jussi Koiranen
September 24, 2008Communication is the key! Definitely. There are few people I’ve connected with online, but with them we keep in touch often and do our own little businesses with still relatively small profits. How you view your affiliates is key to how they will view you. Are they folks just wanting to make some of your back? Or are they your respected business partners helping you create wealth and establish a strong presence all over the web? Something else..?
Thomas
September 24, 2008Hello Reed, Thomas here, hope things go well with misses and that trany of yours for the SUV. I agree with Jussi, communication is Key, i have about 200 + affiliates i work with and most of them know of me by the emails i send out helpining them to become better marketers, info on blogging and so on and so forth, it is also a good idea to really know your working partners, phone calls or skype them if you can every so often , this way you they feel comfortable in doing business when expanding for future investement business deals with you.
Paul
September 24, 2008Hi Reed,
I stand on communication as being one of the cornerstones in anything: business, affiliate marketing, relationships, you name it.
Good information and tips.
Best wishes with the transmission AND with the birth soon!
Best regards,
Paul
robert Jones
September 24, 2008I hope everything goes well, with the new born.
I know how it is waiting for the new ones.
I have had to wait for my children, grand children; now great-grand childre..
The best to you,
Robert
Kenny Ritchie
September 24, 2008People are people you have your good, bad and pathetic in every field.
You have to work out what your working with and deal with the situation on merit. If your the programme owner in this instance then treat them like your employee if they are not producing any profit and are making a mess of your forum or blog ban the ip address.
Delete their affiliate account whatever is necessary if they are a big waste of space then no-one going to listen to them badmouthing you anyway so cut your losses and part ways.
Kenny Ritchies last blog post..Six ways to lose customers or readers today
Luke Hawthorne
September 24, 2008I’m with Paul on this one Reed. You absolutely MUST communicate with them as often as possible. Make them realize that they are a PART of your business and that they are part of yours.
Business relationships (any business) can sometimes have a little friction, but that’s all part of running a business.
Good luck with your car and new baby!
Luke Hawthornes last blog post..What Is Money?
David Smyth
September 24, 2008Quoting Bill Masson: ‘On the security issues; well if someone is determined enough then i feel that they will succeed in robbing you, but you can cut this down with a good security system in place. So the message is don’t be complacent.’
Hi Bill, you almost make it sound as though being robbed online is a fait accompli! That being, if some unscrupulous character is ‘determined enough’.
If the worst does arise and you are being targeted by a fraudster then might I suggest that you seriously consider getting an experienced third party to handle your security issues.
You can have your website/s monitored for a fee and software installed to protect affiliate interests.
Good luck!
Dave.
David Smyths last blog post..? We Love You Angelina! ?
David Smyth
September 24, 2008‘Communication is the key! Definitely.’ Yes Jussi, that is right! Believing that it is not only important to be an effective communicator with one’s affiliates, I would also suggest that one needs to ‘lead by example’ is demonstrating a sound practice of business and work ethics.
In some cases it may even be possible to suggest a reciprocal affiliation. So, you might promote the products of some of your own affiliates by being an affiliate of their’s too.
‘Are they folks just wanting to make some of your back? Or are they your respected business partners helping you create wealth and establish a strong presence all over the web?’ (sic). And I might add, is the respect shown from both parties!?
Cheers,
Dave.
David Smyths last blog post..? We Love You Angelina! ?
David Smyth
September 24, 2008‘Hello Reed, Thomas here, hope things go well with misses and that trany of yours for the SUV.’ Here, here, well put Thomas!
May Reed and Marissa soon be welcoming a new bundle of joy in to the world!
Kind Regards,
David I. Braybrooke.
David Smyths last blog post..? We Love You Angelina! ?
David Smyth
September 24, 2008‘I stand on communication as being one of the cornerstones in anything: business, affiliate marketing, relationships, you name it.’
Not only communication Paul, but good communication! This is vital in all facets of life and I make the distinction as many people seem to think that communicating simply entails the occasional quick chat or ‘how are you?’ type ‘phone call once a fortnight.
When communicating, ask your business partners how you can serve them better and value any input that they contribute!
Best,
D.
David Smyths last blog post..? We Love You Angelina! ?
David Smyth
September 24, 2008‘People are people you have your good, bad and pathetic in every field.
You have to work out what your working with and deal with the situation on merit. If your the programme owner in this instance then treat them like your employee if they are not producing any profit and are making a mess of your forum or blog ban the ip address.
Delete their affiliate account whatever is necessary if they are a big waste of space then no-one going to listen to them badmouthing you anyway so cut your losses and part ways.’ (sic).
Thanks for your comment Kenny. I think that it helps to give a ‘problem’ affiliate a couple of chances to right their ways. If their actions are putting you in jeopardy then you may need to undertake some disciplinary measures, but only as a last resort.
Kenny, when you say ‘You have to work out what your working with’, might I politely suggest that it would probably be prudent to swap the ‘what’ to a ‘whom’? People, as in affiliates, are rich, complex, living, breathing individuals and are not really easily categorized in to terminologies such as ‘what’.
Just a small point, I don’t mean to be pedantic.
Best to you Kenny and to all the other readers, contributors and commenters on this site.
Dave.
David Smyths last blog post..? We Love You Angelina! ?
Lynda Mekalick
September 24, 2008Hi Reed, and everyone else.
I found today’s post and comments most interesting, as I look at what you’ve all had to say from an affiliate’s point of view.Good stuff from you all.
I’m an affiliate – maybe I’ll be a product owner one day – so here’s a little something from an affiliate.
We “good” affiliates – the non-problematic ones – get equally as precious with “problem” product owners and/or publishers!Oh how I WISH that we could get a decent answer from a REAL person when we email off a question!!Instead we sometimes get given a “ticket” which can literally take weeks to get dealt with.Worse – we get NO response at all,despite repeated requests via email for at least an acknowledgement!
So please remember – product owners and publishers – if we affiliates are asking a question,it’s usually important to us right now!An answer in two or three weeks time will often have us going “off the boil”,so to speak,when it comes to marketing for you.Guess what happens then?Well,we look around for some else’s product to market,some-one who understands and practises the art of good communication.
So it works both ways.
I’m sure Marisa is completely unaware of just how MANY people out here in the world are awaiting the news of the new arrival.Lol!
Cheers,
Lynda
Jimmy
September 24, 2008Great article today Reed.
I can certainly relate to you and Marissa,s
overdue baby. my 1st born son was 31 days late!
My wife wanted me to be sure and tell you that the old wives tale of taking castor oil to induce labor is an urban myth. The only thing this will induce is a lot of trips to the bathroom lol.
Now I have a question for you or any of the readers of your blog…
Has anyone ever used an affiliate i.d. cloaking device and if so was/it effective?
Take care!
Jimmy
J.D. Nunes
September 25, 2008Ya know, speaking of SUV transmissions…I used to have a Nissan Pathfinder whose transmission blew out and the reverse stopped working so I’d have to get my friends to help me push it. They’d call it the ghetto car.
As for communicating with affiliates, that’s always important, but what can be done to prevent the problems you mentioned? For example if you have a thousand affiliates it would be hard to watch them like a hawk to ensure fair play. The most efficient method I’ve thought up is to just have a separate subscriber list for affiliates to get instructions and recommendations, or at least a special web page with info. But that won’t stop trouble-makers from doing their thing…
bob rettman
September 25, 2008Hey Reed; I would love to know what you did to lose that transmission. When I was young and dumber than now, I had an old Dodge and a young girlfriend. The Dodge had no forward gears and the girlfriend had all my gears going forward so, until I could get a new car (which took me nine days) My girlfriend lived seven miles away. I actually drove those seven miles to her house in reverse! Backing up all the way. Amazingly enough I was only stopped twice, both times on my way home in the wee hours of the morning. Both time I told the cops the truth and they shook their heads and told me to be careful and let me go. I became very accomplished at driving backwards! Aaaah the power of a woman! God bless them all!
Kathy Pop
September 25, 2008Hi Reed,
Along with everyone else, this waa a great post, lots of good reminders for us to stay on top of things and keep the lines of communication open.
I had a great time at the MidWest Super Conference. Hope you did too. take time to enjoy the little one, they grow up fast.
Kathy Pop
David Bass
September 25, 2008I’m at the tail end of a project where I had to manage over 1300 affiliates.
It got kind of crazy.
To anyone that has to ever manage that many folks….
or even close to that…
I have a product you’ll want to use…
It’s called ‘Clip Cache’…
and the ‘favorites’ feature.
It’s saved me hours of time…as it lets
you put any type of response into a list of favorites….and then easily access them when you need them with a hot key.
Trust me…it’s a ‘must have’ for anyone that manages a mass amount of folks…and often has to say the same thing…over and over again…
Even your intros or closings.
That’s my tip of the day 🙂
Cheers,
-David
sri
September 25, 2008Very good article. It describes your clear message to us. It is good example to follow. Thanks you Reed,
Damji Dharamshi
September 25, 2008Don Best Work To Bring Attention To The Affiliates.
ts
September 25, 2008thanks for these tips..
am glad i read it in time..
was just thinking how i shld manage my affiliates for my upcoming sale
-ts-
http://simurl.com/freetraffictips
tss last blog post..Free report for you!
Delords
September 25, 2008Thanks Reed,
One of the major problems i have seen in affiliate marketing is lack of communication.
some affiliate managers who have affiliate promoting their products are not even interested in communicating with their affiliate to give latest news on the products,
I was promoting a product for an affiliate site and made good sales but after some time they said they have made some payments to me but for long now i haven’t received the check sent and i have sent several messages to them but got no reply till the time of these post and yet i keep making more sales for them with ads i already run before.
So this issue is one that really affects most affiliates.
Rivers Corbett
September 25, 2008Reed…its interesting how the basics of business still apply even with affiliate programs but we tend to not think about it that way.
Great reminder..thks
Rivers
Founder – MyRewardsBiz.com
bahce
September 27, 2008This is the best observation i have ever seen for this subject
admin
September 28, 2008@Bill communication and monitoring your success is crucial
@Jussi yes you need to view your affiliates/JV’s as partners in your success and people who are on your level or even better.
@Thomas great points
@Paul, @Robert thank you
@Kenny great points sometimes it is best to cut ties
@Luke good points, thanks
@David great points as usual
@Lynda that’s a very good point I think a lot of marketers forget how important it is to reply to comments and I know that unfortunately several slip through me
@Jimmy wow 31 days late that’s amazing. I’ve done some affiliate link cloaking for the most part I’ll just have aweber cloak my links
@J.D. oftentimes someone will tell you when an affiliate is doing something wrong such as spamming.
@Bob wow I can’t imagine driving that far in reverse I bet it was kinda fun. As for me I am rather bad at shifting before the car stops
@Kathy glad you enjoyed the post and seminar
@David where do we find Clip Cache?
@sri glad you enjoy
@Damji not sure what you mean by your post.
@ts you should stay in constant contact with them via methods such as email, snail mail, phone, instant messenger etc.
@Delords not getting paid is very frustrating it really surprises me at how many marketers fail to pay.
@Rivers and @bahce thanks
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Shawn Horwood
December 17, 2008I agree you need to communicate with your affiliates constantly and let them know what is ok and what isn’t. You also have to make sure that they aren’t spamming people, as that gives you a very bad name if your affiliates are spamming people. Spamming has been on the rise as well, and it definitely ticks a lot of people off, not to mention it’s illegal. I have seen a lot of affiliate programs now instituting a zero spam policy and have been deleting affiliates accounts like crazy.
Shawn Horwood
http://top5-workathome.com/blog/
Shawn Horwoods last blog post..Ewen Chia’s Autopilot Profits System
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