Do You Have Confidence In Reps You See On The Boards?

[Lee]

So ive just been talking to someone who was telling me that they didnt feel very secure talking to reps that the programs they promote have assigned to them primarily because on the boards (including GWW) a lot of these reps never seem to post in any business related threads.

That got me thinking, do you think a lot of reps actually put potential new affiliates off by not participating in more business related threads and only posting in threads about 'fun' stuff?

I can totally see where this guy i was talking to was coming from, there are several people on GWW alone that id never go to if i needed anything business related from the sponsors they are supposed to be repping for because they dont appear to have any business sense from their posts.

Was just wondering if anyone else felt the same way about certain reps from some of the sponsors out there?

Would you have more confidence in an affiliate program / affiliate representative if you saw them spend some time posting about business issues instead of 'fun' stuff all the time?

Regards,

Lee

[DEVELISH]

Well,

if a rep is only posting in fun-threads it makes me think about the expertise this guy/girl has.

Take Luke (Chilihost) as an example... Nice and friendly guy, very helpful, knowledgable who participates in fun AND work-related threads likewise.

Another good example is Chad Belleville (chadknowslaw): he can not contribute much to our 'basic' work of designing sites, choosing layouts and picture sets, writing html or other code BUT he socializes and is a nice and fun guy who tries to help where he can (looking forward to meeting you in LA, Chad) well and has a SHITLOAD of customers.

A "bad" rep only jumps the bandwaggon and posts when there is need for outsourcing, content, hosting, programming, design etc which needs to be done. I chose NOT to write about such a company since I did not use any of the companies and can't tell anything about their services and expertise.

However I used and will use the services of the guys and girls patricipating actively in this community.

0.02€

DEVELISH

[Chilihost]

I appreciate reps that show they have competence by posting informative replies and if they hang out and post fun stuff too, thats kewl. But if all they do is drive-by spamming then I get turned off them quickly!

cheers,
Luke

[Chilihost]

Take Luke (Chilihost) as an example... Nice and friendly guy, very helpful, knowledgable who participates in fun AND work-related threads likewise.

so I have managed to fool you.....bwahahaha :luke: :luke: :luke:

(OK I just wanted to see what the hell the luke smiley was!!!)

[DonMike]

I think it depends on the type of business, also. I mean, I mostly post fun stuff or casual conversations, but how much discussion goes on over content. Of course, I'll pop in if there is and everyone here knows if they need something they can come to me directly. The same goes for shows. I don't expect people to fork over money at a show with a promise of "a bunch of content you've never seen but I swear it's good". Of course, they're going to want to get home, fire up the ole MaxPixels site and go shopping. My job at the shows and on the boards is to make sure people know I'm here and that they can come to me for all their content needs, or just to say hi. If I was shopping for content I'd want a rep I knew I could talk to and would help me in a friendly and profesional manner.

[basschick]

most reps - not the ones here, btw - are nothing more than spammers who don't know the first thing about what we're doing. and it makes sense because most companies hire people who have never been around adult at all and have never been reps. then they make it clear they must bring in so many new affilates who make so much money. amazingly enough, you end up with people who post meaningless bullshit and spam.

then there are the people with some adult experience but mostly not full time on their own or they wouldn't need a job. these people mostly believe that getting to know everyone so they like you is the road to riches, so that's what they do.

personally i have rarely had a rep who was able to help me significantly or even understand what i needed. i had one woman i will never forget because our stats suddenly set back to zero, then didn't show any hits or sales for a couple of weeks, she got angry when i went around her - after she didn't do anything - to talk to tech support where she worked. she sent me angry messages several times, apparently with no idea that i might find my stats to be useful. i know a few others who found her to be no help at all - then a couple months ago, another program proudly announced that she was joining them. aspparently she convinced them she was a score. good luck to them - it's people like her that make things so difficult for affiliates to get anything fixed or done! and i've met quite a few of them, unfortunately.

[marcjacob]

I view gfy with interest. I will refuse to work for a sponsor who posts crap for a quick laugh (i do think that board can destroy reputations very quickly though). I like to see a rep answering gay webmaster queries even if gay isnt the main niche that company does, if they do at all. I like to see people try to help with no real benefit to them.

That gets more respect from me. I think it shows there being helpfull and not just trying to get there sig in.

[Squirt]

Well by your post alone Lee they are damned if they do damned if they don't.

I appreciate the fact that a business puts out the money and resources to have a rep at all. We know that's a big business expense for a company to put out.

I think the more a rep posts the more they'll be judged and the more likely they'll put someone off, whether business related or not.

[basschick]

Squirt, i disagree. most of us here post on business and fun threads. that gives me a feeling of people who are well-rounded and who have knowledge about some facet of our industry.

but most reps i see on most boards only post either to show their sig or to spam their program. some are friendly enough and also post on fun threads. but none of that equals shit when i hear from reps who can't understand why i want my stats to work while i'm sending paid traffic. a rep who isn't knowledgeable should probably take the time to do some reading up and learn things that are useful to webmasters.

[Lee]

but most reps i see on most boards only post either to show their sig or to spam their program. some are friendly enough and also post on fun threads. but none of that equals shit when i hear from reps who can't understand why i want my stats to work while i'm sending paid traffic. a rep who isn't knowledgeable should probably take the time to do some reading up and learn things that are useful to webmasters.

See thats what im talking about, to me, those 'reps' that just post to get their sigs seen or to spam their wares really arent reps at all, they are board whores yet, they are given the 'rep' title to make them appear important.

To me, a rep is someone like Juan from TopBucks who i know for a fact, i could go to first thing in the morning and ask about getting raised payouts above and beyond what im making with Topbucks now and, although he might not be able to make that decision himself immediately, i know for a fact ill have an answer within 15 minutes directly from Lee.

Likewise, if i need a certain set of content for one of their models, i know for a fact Juan will be able to get me access to that content, if i want to get links on the TopBucks exit chain, i know Juan will be able to give me an answer on that.

An affiliate rep, in my view, is someone you can actually go to for help and advice and, very few of the 'reps' we see on the majority of industry forums i would put in that category and, even fewer of them would i feel comfortable talking to about certain types of traffic, niches, content, etc because, well to be honest, i feel most of these individuals would sell out their own grandmothers to make a quick buck.

However, to be fair to these individuals who do just post to get their sigs and company names seen, i really dont think it is their fault, a lot of the time that is what they have been told they need to do by the companies employing them as part of their 'affiliate rep' job title because these companies dont understand the needs of their affiliates.

Oh and you know, it isnt just on the industries boards either, Gary and I are pretty much set on only attending 1 of the tradeshows a year from this point on for the same reason, they are full of the same people, trying to hock the same products, sites or services over and over again and, just with board whores, their sales pitch never changes. I want to go to the shows to meet potential clients.. Not 100 or so other sales reps all of whom are intent on selling me something i dont need.

Just my additional $0.02 on the matter.

Regards,

Lee

[Squirt]

Basschick a reps only obligation regarding knowledge is to know the product and company they are representing. If a rep doesn't have an answer it's their responsibility to find someone who does as quickly as possible. If a rep doesn't know what they're doing then why would you want them posting on boards in the first place?

In Lees post in this thread he specifically said "do you think a lot of reps actually put potential new affiliates off by not participating in more business related threads.." then he goes on to say "there are several people on GWW alone that id never go to if i needed anything business related from the sponsors they are supposed to be repping for because they dont appear to have any business sense from their posts."

So effectively if you're a rep that doesn't post on GWW then he's put off by you and if you're a rep that does post, and don't have what he considers "business sense" then he wont do business with you. You're damned if you do and damned if you don't.

I think this mentality is exactly why some companies don't allow their reps to post often in forums. It's just like Lees take on website tours... the more opportunity you give a potential customer to see something they don't like, the higher your chance of losing that customer. That's why Lee supports one page tours, and that's why most reps keep low profiles on boards.

As I don't have the luxury of having a rep I post on boards myself and have been told by many very successful webmasters (whose sites you'd all know) NOT to post on boards. Some very successful webmaster used to post on boards and no longer do for the very reasons I've stated here.

Just a difference of opinion I guess :heartu:

Squirt, i disagree. most of us here post on business and fun threads. that gives me a feeling of people who are well-rounded and who have knowledge about some facet of our industry.

but most reps i see on most boards only post either to show their sig or to spam their program. some are friendly enough and also post on fun threads. but none of that equals shit when i hear from reps who can't understand why i want my stats to work while i'm sending paid traffic. a rep who isn't knowledgeable should probably take the time to do some reading up and learn things that are useful to webmasters.

[Lee]

So effectively if you're a rep that doesn't post on GWW then he's put off by you and if you're a rep that does post, and don't have what he considers "business sense" then he wont do business with you. You're damned if you do and damned if you don't.

Squirt, to some extent you are right however, how would you learn if a rep did have any business sense?

Are you going to find that out from threads titled 'what color is your hair this week?' or from threads pertaining to adult business situations, no matter what they may be?

If a rep doesnt post in any business related threads, on any board (not just GWW) why would i put any confidence in their ability to help me with my business growth?

If only see them post in threads about hair color, last nights dinner, what they did at the bar last weekend, etc, why would i put any confidence in their ability to help me with my business growth?

In both of the scenarios i mentioned above, the rep hasnt given anyone a good enough reason, imho, for anyone to contact them about business related things so far as we know, they might just have blonde hair, gotten drunk at the local bar at the weekend and had sushi for dinner last night.

On the other hand though, if i see a rep posting in a range of business related threads, even simple replies like URLs for people to check out (not just their employers urls) opinions on topics that directly affect them and us in the industry etc, i know they do have some amount of knowledge or, at least, opinions on this business that could be usefull to me.

Regards,

Lee

[Lee]

I post on boards myself and have been told by many very successful webmasters (whose sites you'd all know) NOT to post on boards.

I would agree with them IF you arent getting any new (or potentially new) business from the boards you post on.

Posting on boards 'just because' is a complete waste of time and serves nobody, not you, not your program and certainly not the boards other community members.

There are only a couple of situations where you need to post at a board on a regular basis...

1) Because you need help with something.
2) Because you are promoting your business, product or service.
3) Because you are networking and making business contacts.
4) Because you are sharing important information.

In my opinion, anyone who posts on boards for reasons other than those 4 are wasting their time and energy in addition to the other board members time and energy.

There are exceptions to the rule but, for the most part, if you are posting on a board for reasons other than those 3, chances are, you would be better suited flipping burgers at Wendys than working in the adult industry.

Boards were started to help webmasters grow their businesses, not to be the sole reason for their businesses.

Regards,

Lee

[basschick]

most of the reps i talk to have never been inside the paysites in the program they represent. they have not a single clue how much content or what kind is in those sites, what kind of videos or whether the sites update. they don't know what a plugin is so they certainly don't know if the site is all plugins. the most common response i get is that they will have to find out and will get back to me.

many don't know what info is shown on the stats and don't know common webmaster terms for their promo content. they certainly have no idea of more detailed stuff.

you can't understand a company you work with without understanding the business. i have on more than one occasion had to explain to reps the entire cycle of traffic and how it worked. on one occasion, this person was very well informed about the program but didn't even know how sales made on the web were tracked.

and of course it's not their faults - it's the fault of the companies.

Basschick a reps only obligation regarding knowledge is to know the product and company they are representing. If a rep doesn't have an answer it's their responsibility to find someone who does as quickly as possible. If a rep doesn't know what they're doing then why would you want them posting on boards in the first place?

[Squirt]

There are only a couple of situations where you need to post at a board on a regular basis...

1) Because you need help with something.
2) Because you are promoting your business, product or service.
3) Because you are networking and making business contacts.

By your own definition there is no reason to contribute to your board, only take from it.

You wonder why there aren't more contributing members here and I think you've answered your own question.

My success on boards is in helping others, bringing things public that others didn't know, and bringing topics to discussion that I feel are important.

Notice I don't have any sigs for any of my paysites. My belief is that my contribution to the COMMUNITY doesn't come with conditions of supporting my business or throwing what I have to offer in your face via sig every time I post.

I think you've lost sight of what an online community is :shithitfan:


Edit:

Oh I see you edited your post and added #4 - very sly Lee