Shawn Collins' Blog

Affiliate marketing and other stuff from Shawn Collins, co-founder of Affiliate Summit.

Archives for November 2005

CJ to Affiliates and Merchants: Talk Amongst Yourselves

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I was greeted this morning by some good news in Peter Figueredo’s blog. He reported that “in an effort to ‘increase communications between advertisers and publishers’ CJ has taken a big step and reset all affiliate communication preference settings to allow advertisers to contact them via email.”

This has long been a frustration for affiliate managers – the inability to communicate in any fashion with the bulk of their affiliates via CJ.

Personally, I am very anxious to see the impact of being able to communicate with more affiliates in the affiliate programs I manage. I think this change will certainly result in more active affiliates and more sales. Therefore, there will be more revenue for CJ, eh?

When affiliates login to their account at CJ, the following message is prominently displayed:

Your CJ Account Manager Mail Settings Have Been Reset

To increase communications between advertisers and publishers, as well as provide clients with tips, trends and information on our new services we have updated your CJ Account Manager™ mail settings.

Effective November 10, 2005 your Commission Junction account email delivery settings have been reset and you will begin receiving newsletters, unique advertiser promotions and discounts and important advertiser program updates, from both Commission Junction and your advertisers.

If you would prefer not to get these emails you will need to change your email delivery options. From the CJ Account Manager, click on the “Mail Settings” tab and check the appropriate box next to the emails you do not want to receive.

This move brings two questions to mind.

  1. What took you so long?
  2. Will we ever get access to the actual contact information?

Ask Shawn Collins: Ending the Affiliate Relationship

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I just started at a new company as their affiliate program manager, where the affiliate program has mainly been ignored. As a result of this, I have many affiliates who would not have been approved because they do not meet the requirements of disclosing their main source of traffic (i.e. their website URL or other means of delivering traffic). For some of these affiliates, they are earning significant commissions. My question is – how do I get rid of these affiliates who were grandfathered into the program before I started and are bringing down the credibility of the program properly? Our Affiliate Terms and Conditions allow me to disable affiliates with only written notice, which could work for affiliates with no activity in their account, but how do I do this for affiliates who are earning commissions? I have tried emailing some affiliates without success. Any tips or hints you can share would be much appreciated.

I would recommend making an expanded effort to reach the active affiliates that don’t currently meet your requirements. Try getting them to comply with your rules first.

Failing that, then explain that you will have to terminate their accounts.

In addition to e-mail, try contacting them by telephone. Also reach out to them via direct mail. You can get 100 full color postcards, printing and postage for $40 from Express Copy.

In the event your contact information is out of date, try looking at their domain registration information with a WHOIS search.

If you are unable to get a response after taking these steps, I think you’ve taken appropriate action to notify them, and it’s acceptable to suspend their account.

Back to the Future of Affiliate Marketing

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Remember push technology? For the young folks out there, it was the killer app of killer apps back in 2000 or so. The premise of push technology was delivering or pushing information directly to your desktop.

The idea was ahead of it’s time. These days we hear a lot about new tools that are going to gain more mindshare of the consumer by living on their desktop.

There have been bunches of these widgets over the years that were going to revolutionize the way we do businesses. But before the revolution could get started, the VC funding had run out.

Do I sound like a cynic? Maybe, but Q4 looks to be different. You see, this past Monday I was strolling through the exhibit hall of Ad-Tech NYC, and I came upon a product that I truly think can change behavior and become significant, both in the consumer area, as well as in affiliate marketing.

The desktop application that caught my eye was called AdTools. They bill themselves as ‘The Branded Desktop Applications Company,’ and they typically create their tools for big consumer brands like Dodge, McDonalds, and Reebok.

Their branded desktop apps (BDAs) have the ability to do a wide array of things, including various communications functions, display rich media, host embedded entertainment, and offer viral mechanisms.

So how does this apply to affiliate marketing? I see a couple of ways here. One use of this technology could be for an affiliate network to have one created to enable better and more frequent communication to affiliates.

For instance, the affiliate networks might have a desktop alert that triggers when a new commission is earned for the affiliate.

And then there could be a ticker that advises the affiliate on any network news like an upgrade or conference, as well as program specific communications about promotions ending, new coupons, etc.

How about using it as a venue to push out web services, CMS, RSS, etc. Best of all, maybe a place for affiliates to check their stats without logging in?!

Then there are opportunities for affiliates to use the technology themselves. Just as Dannon, Mattel and Warner Brothers use it to engage their target audience, so could an affiliate.

For instance, take iShopDaily.com. It’s a popular price comparison shopping site with a loyal audience.

Take that audience, and give them the ability to receive an audible alert from their desktop when there is a price drop or a new coupon at their favorite e-tailer, and you’ve got some serious penetration.

You can personalize the content to the end user, as well as broadcast content to the whole base of users that have installed the tool.

Cultivate the community of the site with features like photo sharing, chat, polls, etc. In short, give them everything they love about your affiliate site, plus tons of stuff you simply can’t do at your site.

I think we are finally ready for push technology – now who is going to be the guinea pig?

The Affiliate Code of Conduct – Three Years Later

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Yesterday marked three years since the Performance Marketing Summit held in New York City. This meeting was a gathering of the affiliate networks, merchants, and affiliates to discuss the establishment of rules for affiliates that promote affiliate programs with adware.

The result of this meeting was the Code of Conduct, first published December 10, 2002 by Be Free, CJ and Performics. Around the same time, LinkShare published their Anti-Predatory Advertising Addendum.

Shortly after the networks published their rules, Declan Dunn wrote a series of articles on the subject, Regulating Chaos: Adware and the Affiliate Code of Conduct – Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 3 – Part 4.

Share your thoughts on the future of this issue now at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=281531467120

Visit http://www.afftrack.com/summit/ to read the minutes from the November 7, 2002 meeting.

Affiliate Marketing Needs More Trust, Creative Promotions and Better Technology

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The following is what Jackie Bates of Link Connector had to say in response the the question, What is the Future of Affiliate Marketing?

The current affiliate marketing industry, I believe, is a system that provides positive results for many; however, I think it is an industry that lacks a strong trust factor.

While affiliate marketing generates great revenue figures for numerous marketers, it is also filled with questionable traffic quality and ethical practices.

The industry, in large part, lacks the trust and vision necessary to keep a trade alive and thriving in the future. For a start, I think the future will mandate higher quality fraud protection systems in affiliate networks.

I think this will be necessary to ensure the integrity of the networks, and more globally, the affiliate marketing industry as a whole.

Today, an honest network that has earned the trust of both affiliates and merchants is difficult to find. If ethical practices begin to take higher priority, I think we will witness the top most talented affiliate marketers taking the lead and stifling out the weaker group. The cream will rise to the top.

The future of affiliate marketing also will need to take technology to the next level. In its current state, a trend of mediocrity prevails. I think often, affiliate marketers and networks feel comfortable and complacent in their current tools and roles.

Many have not stepped up to question the system. I think the future will see affiliate marketing networks stepping up to the plate in terms of services and added value provided, better reporting tools, pricing schedules and sophisticated tracking tools.

I think that affiliate marketers will need to become more creative and inventive with their types of promotions in order to please both online customers and the search engine algorithms.

How would you answer the question, What is the Future of Affiliate Marketing? There are no right or wrong answers.

The author of any response that is published at affiliatetip.com or affiliatesummit.com will receive their choice of one of the following:

  • Size: small ‘It’s an affiliate thing, you wouldn’t understand.’ t-shirt
  • Size: medium ‘It’s an affiliate thing, you wouldn’t understand.’ t-shirt
  • Size: large ‘It’s an affiliate thing, you wouldn’t understand.’ t-shirt
  • Affiliate Summit coffee mug
  • Affiliate Summit optical mouse for a notebook computer

Share your thoughts now at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=281531467120

We’ve Only Seen a Tip of the Affiliate Marketing Iceberg

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The following is what Fabien Ponson of ToImproveLife had to say in response the the question, What is the Future of Affiliate Marketing?

I think affiliate marketing is an industry that is going to take off like a rocket within the next 3 to 5 years.

Most companies have an online presence, but the potential for sales through affiliate marketing is just starting to be realized.

On the other side, people start to realize that affiliate marketing is a win win situation for both the merchants (getting more sales) and the marketers (getting money).

In addition, affiliate marketing is a great opportunity that fits perfectly with what more and more people are looking for : a home business solution with very low start cost.

When you think of it, affiliate marketing is one of the most promising new industries out there today!

How would you answer the question, What is the Future of Affiliate Marketing? There are no right or wrong answers.

The author of any response that is published at affiliatetip.com or affiliatesummit.com will receive their choice of one of the following:

  • Size: small ‘It’s an affiliate thing, you wouldn’t understand.’ t-shirt
  • Size: medium ‘It’s an affiliate thing, you wouldn’t understand.’ t-shirt
  • Size: large ‘It’s an affiliate thing, you wouldn’t understand.’ t-shirt
  • Affiliate Summit coffee mug
  • Affiliate Summit optical mouse for a notebook computer

Share your thoughts now at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=281531467120

Antiquated Politicos, Bob Barr and Pat Schroeder, Battle Google

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Bob Barr and Pat Schroeder jointly wrote a commentary in the Washington Times today against Google’s Print Library Project.

The scope of this project is that Google would like to scan the entire contents of the Stanford, Harvard and University of Michigan libraries and put them online in the form of ‘snippets.’

Both Barr and Schroeder are authors and don’t want to see their intellectual property distributed for free. The aged politicians say that Google wants to “rewrite copyright law” and that Google’s Print Library Project would be “crushing creativity.”

I disagree – the Google project would be similar to going to a library. When I refer to my Webster’s New World Dictionary, it defines a library as ‘a collection of books, periodicals, musical scores, films, phonograph records, etc., esp. a large, systematically arranged collection for reading or reference.’

The difference is that the local library for the average person will never have the resources that can be found at Stanford, Harvard and the University of Michigan. I think this would be a great democratization of information access.

It’s a matter of progress. Some people can access these resources in person, but not most of us.

According to the commentary…

Google Chief Executive Officer Eric Schmidt has argued the “fair use” provision in copyright law allows Google to scan copyrighted books and put them on their Web site without seeking permission. He compares this to someone at home taping a television show and watching it later. Taped TV show are watched in millions of households every night and is quite legal; rebroadcasting that show to make a buck is not.

Next time Dr. Schmidt watches television, he should keep his ears open for the common disclaimer “rebroadcast of this program without the express written consent of” the broadcaster is “prohibited.” Google’s plans are tantamount to the same thing, profiting from someone else’s work without permission. It isn’t up to the broadcaster to track down someone profiting from their work, why should it be up to publishers and authors to do so?

Psst – don’t tell Bob and Pat that I like to go to the bar and watch the Jets on Sunday afternoons. If it weren’t for their broadcast of the game, I wouldn’t be there putting my money in the till. But that’s a whole different argument. Back to the central issue.

The argument comes down to money. Barr and Schroeder think authors are being fleeced and that Google “will gain a huge new revenue stream by selling ad space on library search results.”

I am not surprised by Schroeder’s opinion on the subject. She’s the President and CEO of the Association of American Publishers, so she has to show that she’s standing up for the people she represents. Hopefully she doesn’t plan to also shut down the dirt world libraries to protect the interests of her organization.

As far as Bob Barr, I’m disappointed. I thought he was something of an ideological disciple of Ronald Reagan. That said, I would think he’d appreciate the variation of supply side economics at work with the expansion of Google’s ad inventory.

As Internet marketers understand and politicians apparently do not, there are lots of folks outside of Google that benefit from the ads they run.

As Google has more ad space, there are more affiliate marketers and small business owners that can leverage this quality, targeted ad space to drive more people to their own businesses.

That means increased revenues for the affiliates and other entrepreneurs. Therefore, more cash in the hands of the public to buy books from Bob Barr and Pat Schroeder.

Ask Shawn Collins: How to Control the Affiliate Message

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Q: How often do you review the affiliate sites to ensure affiliates are using the correct messaging and logos of the merchant program? I’m currently giving snapshots to clients on a weekly basis, which tries to address ‘my policing’ efforts. By giving these snapshots, clients now seem to want control of the affiliate’s marketing message, which is another obstacle I’m trying to address.

Shawn CollinsA: I’m interested in your last sentence, ‘clients now seem to want control of the affiliate’s marketing message.’ All I can say is that I’d hope so. They should have been in control of the way they were represented all along.

In your question, you mention ensuring that affiliates are using the correct messaging – that indicated to me that the client already laid down some rules.

My suggestions are that you (1) establish the exact creative that affiliates may use, and (2) permit the affiliates to write the own copy under the condition that they submit it to you for sign-off before going live with it.

As far as how often to review their sites, I’d say it’s imperative to do this constantly. If you think that sounds impossible, perhaps you have too many affiliates in the affiliate program, and it’s time to trim your numbers.

If you have more affiliates than you can sufficiently police, you need more staff to work on the program or less affiliates.

oneNetwork Affiliate Program 2.0

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oneNetwork, who launched a robust software affiliate program earlier this year, has announced that oneNetwork Affiliate Program 2.0 is here.

Here are some features cited in their 2.0 version:

  • Ad Pools – oneNetwork now will allow affiliates to test multiple banners at one time and the system will automatically serve the banner that maximizes commissions.
  • Creative – oneNetwork 2.0 allows vendors to upload unlimited creative in many different forms including flash and e-mail templates.
  • Software Titles – They’ve recently struck deals with some of the largest software publishers in the industry. These programs will not be available for sale through the existing oneNetwork 1.0 platform.

Any affiliates that already had an account with oneNetwork will now have an account in oneNetwork 2.0. The username/affiliate id is the same as on the existing oneNetwork affiliate id but has been pre-pended with “rn_a”. For example, if your current affiliate id is 32338, your new oneNetwork 2.0 affiliate id is rn_a32338.

Go to http://affiliates.digitalriver.com and enter your Affiliate ID and password at the top of the screen.

More details in their FAQ at http://onenetwork.digitalriver.com/faq_LU.html