Quote Originally Posted by Squirt View Post
Affiliates and sponsors are in a partnership. I don't know why you're trying to cause conflict or friction between affiliates and sponsors. If the company you work for, Corbin Fisher, is to cheap to pay affiliates 50% then don't. Wanna be elitist sponsors, and affiliates, are a waste of everyones time. They think their shit don't stink and start putting conditions on everyone, and taking more of everyones time, for less long term return. Every hot site gets old after a while and every good affiliate is constantly fighting to stay in rank. Sponsor and affiliate partnerships are good for all involved and a 50/50 split is fair.
It's not about causing conflict.

It's simply a business decision.

Is an affiliate that sends us 1 sale a month sending us a sale we could not otherwise get ourselves? I don't think so. And so, we close off our affiliate program to the 100 (out of 1400) affiliates that send 95% of all affiliate signups because we feel that distributing that remaining 5% amongst ourselves and our top 100 affiliates is better for us and them.

Some people seem to think higher and higher and higher payout commissions is the only good way to appeal to affiliates.

I decided here that what was best for us and our top-producing affiliates was a more streamlined affiliate program in which those that produce the best get access to the entire pie, so to speak. A top affiliate is now one of the only affiliates, the only places that can promote our site, the only places displaying any free content we provide, the only places sending folk through their referral codes, so on.

It's about investing more in those quality affiliates, rather than distributing evenly through all affiliates, potentially at the expense of those that are doing the most for you.