Do You Think Affiliate Programs Are Actually Needed These Days?

Im just curious to see what you folks thought about this question, do you think that paysite operators need to have an affiliate program attached to them in order to become profitable?

Seems to me based on some of the stats from our private paysites that affiliate programs really arent needed for a webmaster to make money depending on the niche and marketing angle used on the tours.

So what are your thoughts, do you think paysite operators need to have an affiliate program attached to their sites to make them profitable or not?

Regards,

Lee

YES, and I hope they never go away, for selfish reasons I know, but still I hope that affiliate programs are around for many many years to come.

yes absolutely, a good affiliate is GOLD for so many reasons, not the least of which is the signups they can send.

Although things keep changing, I am convinced the affiliate model will always be with us in some form. The biggest guys have all developed proprietary traffic sources and it's pretty obvious from Lee's current poll that blogs are a top generator - both sponsor-operated blog networks and affiliate blog networks. But they still treasure their loyal affiliates and I know one of the largest/oldest affiliate programs still rates weekly webmaster check runs as the number one corporate priority - nothing is allowed to interfere with it.

A lot of start-ups in the product category are entering the e-commerce space without an affiliate program, but that is likely because they cannot afford to start PPS payouts with the fierce competition for affiliates - while they won't enjoy geometric growth, some are doing well with PPC and blog generated traffic...

Saturation Questions: Anyone doing well with targeted or general viral video efforts? Are online site/product reviews still getting consumers' attention?

i think so for affiliate webmasters but i do not know if a paysite has to have a webmaster program with them i know a couple of the bigger sites started without having a paysite program like sean cody did now they are a big program

I think a microniche paysite can easily be profitable without an affiliate program, but adding a good affiliate program to it will bring in even more profit.