Help A Newbie Affiliate Manager

A friend of mine will be an Affiliate Manager soon. He's looking for the best tips he can have to be helpful and effective. This is a reputable company that hasn't had an affiliate program before, so the program is new and they want to kick it off with a strong start.

I've tried to help him but I could really use input from others with more experience from all the angles.

Affiliates: What are you looking for in an Affiliate Manager? What are you looking for in an Affiliate PROGRAM? What are your most common requests, questions, needs, etc?

Program Owners: What are you looking for in an Affiliate Manager?

Affiliate Managers: What kind of tips and advice would you give to other AMs?

Details would be great. Thanks!

You know, i can honestly say that i very rarely, if ever, contact an affiliate rep for any of the programs i promote, i usually end up going directly to the program owner.

That being said, i would imagine it makes life easier if the rep has several methods of being contacted, AIM, Yahoo, ICQ, Email, Etc and that his/her contact info is put on the affiliate programs site somewhere.

Then there is participation on the message boards, an active rep is (i would imagine) going to be much better at putting out any potential fires than someone who is 'anonymous' to the programs potential affiliates.

Regards,

Lee

i like to get timely answers to my emails and phone calls. i also like rep that knows stuff about the industry.

on the other hand, most companies that hire a rep aren't really looking for a rep so much as a person to bring in new affiliates.

Affiliate Managers have to perform a delicate balancing act. On the one hand, they have to create relationships with their affiliates, on the other hand they almost definitely also have a sales portion to their job.

Balance is absolutely key - supporting existing affiliates is time consuming and recruiting new affiliates is even more so.

I honestly believe that a good rep is one who really knows his clients - he/she will devote time to each based on their value to the company. That may sound cold, but it isn't, it's just good business sense. The value can be immediate or potential. At Maleflixxx I worked with several affiliates who weren't necessarily making huge sales at that time, but I recognized that with a little care and attention they could do great things.

The next thing is to be an excellent relationship manager! You'll have many, many people competing for your time. Honesty, integrity, dedication and time management are all key to keeping your relationships intact. Don't feed your affiliates bullshit, don't always tow the company line - they'll see right through you. Call a spade a spade. If you or your company makes a mistake, fess up immediately. You'll be far more respected for owning up to the error and rectifying it, then if you try avoidance tactics. Know your business, know your industry, get out there, talk to people, chat on the boards, be one with the webmasters - they are nice guys!

The final thing is to be honest with yourself about the reality that there are only x number of hours in your day. Make yourself a schedule and follow it as much as possible. Regimenting your day a bit will make your life much easier.

Chat soon,
Mary

I think that the key of success in the industry is networking. Also, you need to go to conventions. Those conventions give you the opportunity to put a face and a personality to a name. Here are some that I think you need to go:

-Internext Vegas January
-GayVN Summit Febuary
-The Phoenix Forum March
-Internext Miami August
-Webmaster Access Amsterdam September

Sim

Thanks for the help so far.

Are there certain countries or types of traffic you shy away from, if any, as far as affiliates go?

Are there any types of websites you don't want your sites promoted on? Inversely, are there types you prefer?