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is there one?
most programs out there all have the same stuff:
hosted galleries
free content
$25 to $40 per join
partnerships
etc, etc, etc
so what makes you choose one program over another? is it merely the conversions?
what makes you try a new program?
how long do u test before making a decisions to stay or bail?
discuss.
Good questions.
To look at a site and consider it I look for how new the site is, how much of the content is rehash or exclusive or what the hook is and if all that fits into my own biz model.
Then i check
For me it is ease of use and ability to adapt the promotional materials to my own needs.
I rarely bother about conversion ratio's listed because there are simply too many variables that might or might not apply to me.
For myself, I want link codes that are done, no need to keep 'adding' my code and I want to know where I can check the stats easily. I also look for the content made available for promotions, and if its easy or hard to get responses for questions.
I also look for explanations. Does the site offer more than just, here's the code, here's the banners, thanks... i want to see some added info in case I am a total dufus with their product. I want to find how others have gotten those super hot 1 in 50 conversions that I can check.
In short, for me I look at a whole lot of things, but conversion ratios isn't my determining factor nor is payout. Options and ease of use and adaptability.
just my pennies worth
Ian
Simple answer for me... quit building cookie cutter sites! That comment isn't directed at you Dawgy... but at sponsors in general. I cringe everytime I look at pay sites that that have nothing original to offer.
There are so many niches that get almost zero exposure. People freak out when something REAL is offered. Just look at the response of board members with the workingmenmovies.com site and the Russian military site. People were begging for these guys to start affiliate programs!
For me, pay per join is an advantage over partnership...so far I've only been very pleased with one partnership program. It is also an advantage for me if the sponsor pays thru ccbill rather than the sponsor's own payment plan.
for me, there are only two things i consider -
first, the site itself. do i feel i can successfully sell it - is the quality, niche, text something i can work with?
second, i'd like to have content provided for any sites that have exclusive. it's nice to be able to says that the content is actual samples from the site.
other than that, i want the program to pay me ;-)
its easy to get affiliates, its almost impossible to get good affiliates that send consistent quality traffic! Or at least that is my experience.
cheers,
Luke
Dale,
With this thread as testament, youc an see that webmasters all look for individual aspects of an affiliate program that are important to them alone, whilst some will be concerned with payout levels, others will be more concerned about the text you use on a sites tour.
I have found in the past few years that when marketing anything, whether it be an affiliate program, content store or a sponsors site that you need to focus on one aspect of whatever it is you are trying to sell especially, when it comes to webmasters whom, for the most part are lazy mofo's.
Making sure you have the 'basics' down is always a good start and of course, making sure your sites tours are good enough to sell prior to launching is always a good thing too.
The one thing that you NEED to do however especially when marketing an affiliate program is get peoples attention, good or bad its all publicity and with that publicity comes not only affiliates but traffic.
The trick is getting to know what works and, more importantly where it works. For example, half of the shit i get away with on GFY i know i couldnt get away with here, that board and this community are two completely seperate things not only in the tone of the members but also in the overall atmosphere.
Learn when the right time to mention specific things are for example, when a sponsor recently closed down all of their cookie cutter tours and went to a system of pay per click traffic sales and crappy sites, i made sure i mentioned the program that *I* wanted to promote to as many of the webmasters of that program as possible. As it happened, in the instance ijust mentioned, we were primed to launch several new sites the week after that sponsor made their announcement.. We changed our marketing plans to launch those new sites early and, it worked, we saw more new affiliate signups during the following two weeks of the other sponsor screwing up than we would have done had we just 'announced' the new sites.
In addition, when you do 'announce' things take into account not only the day of the week when you announce them but also, the time of the announcements, especially if you use message boards as your medium to deliver that news.
Most imortantly of all though, and i really mean this, learn how to put a unique 'spin' on things. If you have hosted galleries in a program for example, which of these sounds better to you as an affiliate webmasters (not a program owner)..
1) We have over 1000 free hosted galleries or;
2) We have over 1000 exclusive multiple layout free hosted galleries.
They both tell the webmaster the same thing but, the second option puts a better 'spin' on things which in turn, can induce a webmaster to signup to a program :)
What can i say, marketing is my 'thing' :)
Regards,
Lee
Dawgy,
The MOST important thing for me is contact. If I e-mail you and you get back to me within hours, I'm stampeding to your site to sign up; if it's with a day or two, I'm still interested. Beyond that I start to lose interest. Do you know I've been waiting for about nine months to here from GMP?
I don't care about hosted galleries. I figure in about two months they'll be useless anyway as they cram ever TGP from here to Timbuctu. I don't use them a lot.
Like someone else said, I don't care about the conversion stats. It's largely lies, bullshit, and exaggeration.
I care about how the site looks a lot. If it looks professional, then I'm more interested.
If your sites kill surfers with strings of pop-ups, I'm less interested.
Don't bullshit me with those 70% payouts with the astericks (must sell 100 memberships a week to qualify). I hate them and it makes me think you're kind of scummy.
I'm more apt to promote gay-only sponsors. I just haven't had much luck with the we-do-everything kind of sponsor.
Sex Money called me on the phone to see if there was anything I needed. Initially, I was thinking: Oh shit, is this Chipmunk guy going to hound me every week. But he hasn't, I appreciated the personal service, and I think about him all of the time and feel guilty that I still haven't had the time to put any of his stuff on my site.
I got another e-mail (not a form e-mail) from a sponsor just saying "thanks for signing up if you need anything ..." I'm really big on service.
Naked Sword made banners just for me. That made me feel special.
I wrote Jake Cruise and asked for some special sized banners and got them pronto. I love this kind of support.
I care less about the money part of it. Of course, I want to be paid on time. But as long as it's coming, I'm not quibbling about a day or two here or there. And look at iBill, ultimately, in most cases it's out of our hands. I lost money with three very good sponsors, it wasn't their fault. What can you do, shit happens. But still, not paying people and not replying to e-mails are two of the fastest things that'll send a webmaster to a board bitching you out.
Good luck
Dzinerbear
Here's one no-brainer that for whatever reason sponsor's haven't done yet. Some would be scared to do it since their sites suck, but others could benefit in a big way. This mostly effects revshare programs.
All revshare affiliates need a limited access password to see what is currently going on inside the site. Give access to everything except big pics and full length vids. They would see all thumbs (plus a few big pics) and really short vid clips. Just enough where current and potential affiliates can check out the quality and stability of the very members area their income depends on.
This limited access password would have to be permanent though. If I sign up and see how things are going in July, who's to say it'll be the same come December? If the site is updated weekly, I'd like to know what those updates look like since another site I know of may (or may not) be doing better updates lately.
excellent posts guys :)
Matt,Quote:
Originally posted by Matt 26z
Here's one no-brainer that for whatever reason sponsor's haven't done yet. Some would be scared to do it since their sites suck, but others could benefit in a big way. This mostly effects revshare programs.
All revshare affiliates need a limited access password to see what is currently going on inside the site. Give access to everything except big pics and full length vids. They would see all thumbs (plus a few big pics) and really short vid clips. Just enough where current and potential affiliates can check out the quality and stability of the very members area their income depends on.
This limited access password would have to be permanent though. If I sign up and see how things are going in July, who's to say it'll be the same come December? If the site is updated weekly, I'd like to know what those updates look like since another site I know of may (or may not) be doing better updates lately.
The problem with that is...
Many of those user/pass combos will find themselves onto password trading forums.. we know.. we used to do that ourselves but subsequently stopped the practise.
By allowing webmasters to get even a limited access to the sites, you are potentially [because of password traders] taking signups away not only from your program but also from other webmasters because of the few that will abuse the system.
For us, it was easier to cut the limited user/pass options for our affiliate than to track down each webmaster putting them on these trading forums.
Regards,
Lee
Not if access is so limited that it is impossible to get any sexual gratification out of it.Quote:
Originally posted by Lee
Matt,
The problem with that is...
Many of those user/pass combos will find themselves onto password trading forums
Matt,Quote:
Originally posted by Matt 26z
Not if access is so limited that it is impossible to get any sexual gratification out of it.
Trust me, the limited access passes we used to let affiliates have allowed them to see what the members area looked like and nothing else..
They still showed up on the password trading forums.
The issue wasnt that the content was being seen, more the fact that literally millions of hits were going to the members areas.. which had, it seemed, little or no content in them.. if you were a surfer who saw that.. would you join the site?
When marketing anything perception is everything, if it appears to you that there are only 2 sets in a members area and the rest of it was feeds.. would you join the site at a full membership when confronted with a link to the site again? I know i wouldnt.
We took away that perception and it solved the problem.
Regards,
Lee