is it right to delete affiliate accounts for not sending traffic

[Rich]

if i have signed up for a sponsor for instance and i have not sent them any traffic yet but i did click on the links with the thought of putting affiliate banners on my site and building some free sites for the paysites they have but didnt get around to doing anything yet is it right that i should have had my account closed and asked to sign up for a new one?

[Gin]

Why should they close your account? We work with them on pay-per-sale basis, not pay-per-click. I think you certainly can click on the links to check the way how they work and so on.

[Lee]

Personally i dont understand that practice either, one of my accounts was deleted/inactivated over at TopBucks about 8-12 months ago because they said i wasnt sending any traffic/sales which was true i wasnt, but, what they obviously hadnt looked at was the $100 or so a month in WM referral sales my account was making.

Regards,

Lee

[Rich]

interesting i thought i might have done something wrong but it seems i didnt i wrote to the sponsor and asked and it was just some kind of cleaning they do periodically i was told and my account was re opened

[ArmpitLover]

I was stunned when I got this email a couple of days ago:

Important Information Regarding:
Affiliate ID(s): XXXXXXX
Webmaster Program: With Marcello Affiliate Program

Your Affiliate account(s) has/have been deactivated due to click inactivity.


Thank you,
CCBill

Sure, I haven't sent him much traffic, but hell I made a sale the other day on an affiliate's site that I had signed up for back in 2004 and then forgot to continue adding them to other new link lists/Hubs as I built them.
After I made the sale I went into CCBill grabbed his link and added it to about 20 other link lists... 2 more sales followed within the week!

A friendly reminder might have been the way to go first IMHO on the With Marcello Program.

Oh well!
:cigarette:

[chadknowslaw]

Affiliates are basically commissioned sales reps. If they don't make sales, there is still a cost to maintain them in the system so I see no problem in deactivating a non-producer.

[ArmpitLover]

Affiliates are basically commissioned sales reps. If they don't make sales, there is still a cost to maintain them in the system so I see no problem in deactivating a non-producer.

Not really a 'cost' in my view within the CCBill system, especially when you are a money making affiliate account overall. I was more curious if this was CCBill enacted or Marcello... either way, I've wasted too much time on the subject now LOL

[Jeff@UKSLads]

The way I see it, if an Affiliate signs up and doesn't send any traffic at all or doesn't seem to be putting any time into the sites, it can look bad to the sponsor. There are people out there who will put up a particular url, say it's theirs and register just to get some free porn to jerk off to. Pathetic yes, but it does happen.

So if someone signs up and doesn't even remotely attempt to make sales after say...4 months, delete them.

However, if they're making sales - even if it isn't that many - they are still generating revenue and shouldn't be deleted. That would be counterproductive for everyone obviously.

We all know some sites sell better than others. Some of us can sell certain niches better than others. But if a site doesn't sell for you, eventually you're not going to put that much effort into promoting them anymore, are you?

If an Affiliate is sending even a small amount of hits a month, I say keep them on board. Even if they make 2 or 3 sales a year they still helped you sell your site.

My 2 cents

[chadknowslaw]

if they're making sales - even if it isn't that many - they are still generating revenue and shouldn't be deleted. That would be counterproductive for everyone obviously.

An affiliate may be making a small number of sales per year but not be worth keeping.

The cost of maintaining that affiliate is not zero -- there is some cost to paying that affiliate, even if it is 2 times per year. There is some cost in maintaining the affiliate list.

Using some general assumptions, your results may vary:
If an affiliate is only generating $50 in gross revenue per year but costs $25 in referral fees, $2 in payment costs (the cost of writing checks or other payment method) and another dollar or two in costs of maintaining records, is the $20 in net revenue really worth keeping that affiliate? If you dump an affiliate that sends $50 a year in sales and that affiliate throws a temper tantrum, does anyone really care?

Just askin'.

[Jeff@UKSLads]

An affiliate may be making a small number of sales per year but not be worth keeping.

The cost of maintaining that affiliate is not zero -- there is some cost to paying that affiliate, even if it is 2 times per year. There is some cost in maintaining the affiliate list.

Using some general assumptions, your results may vary:
If an affiliate is only generating $50 in gross revenue per year but costs $25 in referral fees, $2 in payment costs (the cost of writing checks or other payment method) and another dollar or two in costs of maintaining records, is the $20 in net revenue really worth keeping that affiliate? If you dump an affiliate that sends $50 a year in sales and that affiliate throws a temper tantrum, does anyone really care?

Just askin'.

Indeed, some good points Chad.

I suppose my perspective is coming from my position as an Affiliate Manager. I have helped re-inspire ineffective Affiliates in the past and they have turned out to be quite helpful in the long run. They just needed a few pointers and perhaps some questions answered and away they went - making a few sales a week or monthly.

Of course, there were others who I have tried to help and they didn't even bother to put much effort into things. This is a hard business at times as we all know and some just don't have the stomach for it.

So yes, in essence, I would have to agree with you on the point that, if an Affiliate is more a detriment than an asset to your Affiliate Program, then there is no use having them around.

[chadknowslaw]

Exactly!

[Rich]

so what happens if i have free sites and galleries that have not been listed yet sometimes it can take amonth to get a gallery or free site listed if i submit with a sponsor that has closed my site down there is nothing i can do about it but send them free sales because i wont get paid for them and am not allowed to change a site when it has been submitted

[Jeff@UKSLads]

so what happens if i have free sites and galleries that have not been listed yet sometimes it can take amonth to get a gallery or free site listed if i submit with a sponsor that has closed my site down there is nothing i can do about it but send them free sales because i wont get paid for them and am not allowed to change a site when it has been submitted

We all know it can take a while before directories send you any decent traffic, so most sponsors will give you ample time for these kinds of things to take effect.

We're referring to Affiliates who don't make any effort at all to promote a sponsor and show very little interest in their program. Anyone with a heart is not going to delete you when you show the effort you're putting into promoting them. Regardless of whether you have started making sales or not.

I'm pretty sure you have nothing to worry about Rich if you're putting some effort into promoting your sponsors.