Are Partner programs dying?

[CorbinFisher_BD]

I'm glad to see that a number of people in here mention checking out the members' areas of sites themselves and making sure they're not sending their surfers anywhere crappy.

I always wonder why so many affiliates go for the (not so) quick and (not so) easy buck with big PPS signups just because that large number sucks them in without considering what they're doing to their longterm ability to generate revenue.

If you're sending your surfers to sites jampacked full of exit consoles, upsells, cross promos, 3rd party sponsors, etc etc etc; sites that have a business model that rests upon getting that one initial signup and then either diverting the surfer somewhere else or not caring if they retain (for example, having a super-high signup rate because they know they have to get all that money right away because that person will never rebill or even return), you're turning your own surfers in to people that might never again trust a link you try and send them through.

It is so key to develop and maintain an ever-increasing and robust number of returning, bookmarking, loyal surfers. Rather than constantly having to find fresh surfers. It's as true for paysites and sponsors as it is for affiliates.

So if you are sending your loyal surfers to sites they find do indeed give them what they wanted and what they were promised, and that sponsor works to retain that individual as a rebilling member, everyone wins.

"High Conversion!!!"
"Huge Payouts on Trials!!!"
"$XX PPS!!!"

... hrm... all that is well and good. But what about the content?

[Lee]

But what about the content?

You know, affiliates really dont care what content you have in the members area, i was talking to someone a few days ago about members areas in my sites and they were of the opinion that the sites didnt have any niche specific content in them at all, because that is (and i quote) 'what someone said on the boards' so they just beleived it.

The fact of the matter is, all 25 of my sites have very niche specific content inside their members areas but, affiliates dont even bother asking me directly, instead, they rely on what people say on the boards... Who have never even been inside the site LOL

Im in complete agreement with you BTW, affiliates more often than not will take a look at the site they are promoting, that the 'name' of the site fits the niche and will push traffic to it blindly, without looking at consoles, join page upsells, cross sells, leaks on the tour, or like you mention, what the site has inside the members area.

Regards,

Lee

[Richard Craver]

i've always despised partnership programs....mostly for philosophical reasons(and experience )

When designing free/avs sites for affiliate programs I've always thought it's my job to bring the customer to the door. Period. End of story.

After that it's the site owner's job to make the sale. His site, his risk.

It's like TV advertising. The TV program delivers the audience. It's then up to advertiser to make the sale. You don't see advertisers offering partnerships, do you?

Partnership programs mean that the affiliate is sharing that risk. Who knows if the owner is going to drop dead, take a flier or whatever.

[basschick]

interesting take since i've made over $60 per member on one revshare program and over $90 on another. me, i like revshare if the webmaster drops dead, ccbill will probably pay us for at least another month *LOL*

[d@sexinc]

Good discussion for sure. We over here at Sexinc.com are facing the issue of what happens when you relaunch a program that has sites and domains in it that date back to 1996, particularily Chisel.com. Hell, we've got members that go back a few years still rebilling! Can't complain about that!
Now, of course, these sites and domains have been updated, new content, designs, etc, and are proven sites to convert and retain, but I think we're in a unique position where we know we have sites that do well as far as our own in house traffic (type in, SE, etc), and we have a few affiliates (review sites mostly) so far since our Sexinc.com relaunch a month ago that are averaging under 1:100, but we're really itching to see what a strong affiliate with a good source of qualified traffic can do with our program.
Anyone have any experience with the issue of older, well established domains, but in a new affiliate program?

Dave