Archives for May 2006

Q: I just started an affiliate program for a local service that I run but I am not sure how to go about getting affiliates since I am catering to a specific local market. I know which sites would be a nice fit to display my banner or link but I am not sure how to request this in an e-mail. Do you know of a e-mail template that could be used?

A: First of all, without knowing anything about the size of your local market, your company and the audience for your service, I would suggest that you think twice about whether an affiliate program is right for you.

If there are a limited number of Web sites in your market, and you already know whom you should contact to promote you, I’m inclined to think the best route for you would be to set up relationships with each site, rather than investing in a full blown affiliate program.

You’ll still need some tracking for the relationships. Since you are focusing on a limited area, I don’t think it makes sense for you to participate in an affiliate network. Rather, you should do just fine with the modestly priced Groundbreak Ultimate Affiliate software.

Back to your original question – as far as contacting these prospective affiliates, I would caution against using e-mail. Not only is it ineffective (compared with direct mail and telephone calls), but you’re going to have to put systems in place to comply with the CAN-SPAM law.

I would suggest sending out a direct mail piece first, and then trying to establish one on one contact with those local sites. It’s a more hands on approach, but you’ll see much better results in your recruiting efforts.

Q: I’m planning to launch an online social community based around a specific industry. This community will allow users to participate in pre-approved affiliate programs within the industry. Basically, we will function as the affiliate and the users will function as sub-affiliates — we will split commissions. Is there an existing third party provider that has a platform to track all users, sales and split checks or is this entirely dependent on each of the affiliate programs I approve?

A: It sounds like you need sub-ID tracking. This will enable you to add an extra piece of information to your affiliate links, which will identify each of the members of your community.

This functionality is supported by pretty much any of the affiliate networks.

One issue though – you will receive the full commission, and then be responsible for distributing the respective shares to your members.

Q: I am an affiliate of about 50 different programs. I belong to the large affiliate networks like Commission Junction, LinkShare, Kolimbo.com and Amazon.com. My question to you is I have joined some independent merchants that run their own affiliate program. I have made some sales, then they discontinue their program and NEVER pay me. Sometimes it is not a lot of money. Do I have any legal rights? Do they have any accountability?

A: Let me start by saying that I am not a lawyer, and I would suggest you consult with a lawyer to get the best guidance in legal issues.

That said, you surely have legal rights as an affiliate. Whenever you join an affiliate program, you should be acknowledging that you agree to the terms of their affiliate program (don’t promote an affiliate program that doesn’t have terms that explain how much you will be paid, when you will be paid, etc).

Since you problem is with independent affiliate programs, their agreements are going to vary, so each situation will be somewhat unique.

But each agreement should definitely have the terms under which they pay you as an affiliate. So your first move should be to review those terms to see exactly what you agreed to when joining the affiliate program.

If you are typical of most affiliates, you don’t read those affiliate agreements – consider the loss of money you’ve experienced as a wake-up call and start reading your agreements.

Anyhow, there are two types of affiliate program closures – one is where the company just decides to kill the affiliate program for whatever reason. The other is when the company has gone out of business.

If it’s the former, you may still be able to get your money, but there is a whole lot of red tape when a company goes out of business, and it will be trickier to try and claim those funds due to you.

As far as the amount due to you – unless you are owed many hundreds, even thousands of dollars, it’s probably not worth hiring a lawyer, because they are going to charge you a fairly hefty rate to look into your issue and pursue it for you.

The lesson to be learned here, aside from always reading the affiliate agreement, is that you should be very picky about the affiliate programs you promote.

Don’t just join them and put up links blindly. Do some research on the companies by searching their names in the search engines; ask about them in affiliate marketing forums.

Also important – be sure you have a contact at the company. If you are welcomed into the affiliate program with a letter signed “Affiliate Manager” with no real name or phone number, think twice about promoting them.

If it’s hard to figure out who to contact when they don’t owe you anything, think about how difficult it will be to track somebody down when money is due.