Sites like Manifest Men and College Dudes 24/7 make it easy for me to help promote them.

I e-mailed one site that I am an affiliate of and asked them if I could be added to the weekly e-mail that they send out to affiliates with information on their updates.

I was told bluntly that they were not sending out e-mails at this time.

The response didn't include any other tips, hints, or information on what they'd be interested in doing to help ME promote THEM. (And I even have a banner on my page for them...so it's not as if they've just been delegated to the link list on the side column with no other promotional efforts.)

I found their claims that they didn't send anything out to be disingenuous at best. I can visit four or five websites/blogs right now that are displaying imagery from the latest updates with appropriate affiliate linkage codes.

So...my basic attitude is...ok...fine. I'll spend my energy promoting someone else.

My blog isn't my job. It's a hobby. And it's a hobby that I love. Any money I make is simply a bonus. Affiliate programs are a great way for me to bring content to my visitors that I find sexy. (And the sexy stuff is what allows me to blog about Battlestar Galactica and not feel guilty about it.)

Sorry, didn't mean to go on a rant there.

To reiterate:

I find weekly e-mails with either zipped imagery and descriptions or a link to an affiliate dashboard with appropriate content to be the most helpful. :high:

I find one or two sentence e-mails with "Send 20 sign ups to us by August 1st and win a trip to Maui" to be the least helpful. Especially if the contest isn't backed up with some sort of material to help make a promotional effort successful. :shit: