Archives for August 2006

Is there insurance I should take out as an affiliate? I have heard of Cyber Liability insurance, but I am having difficulty getting information on it.

Let me preface this by saying IANAL (I am not a lawyer), nor am I an insurance professional. Your should consult with a lawyer and insurance agent about the best options to limit your company’s liability.

That said, I have never heard of Cyber Liability insurance. I searched around a bit and found a handful of articles on the subject, but they were mostly from 2000 or so.

I found a definition for the term in Google Answers:

“Generic term coined in the late 1990s for various types of legal liability arising from business use of the Internet and e-mail including cyberlibel (q.v.), copyright infringement, breach of confidence, negligent virus transmission, inadvertent contracts, computer hacking, etc.”

Personally, I carry a professional liability insurance policy, but I really couldn’t tell you if it is necessary or useful in my affiliate relationships. I have the insurance for client relationships.

Q: What would you expect a affiliate manager with 2-3 years experience to make?

A: There are a number of variables that will dictate the relative worth of any given affiliate manager. Things to consider include geographic location, track record as an affiliate manager, brands they’ve represented, who they know, etc.

If you’re located near New York City or San Francisco, you’ll generally merit a higher salary because a good portion of the affiliate marketing industry resides in those areas, and the cost of living is high.

Your experience as an affiliate manager will factor in. Some affiliate managers have been doing the job for 2-3 years, but their accomplishments speak more than their length of time there. Have they been meeting and exceeding the goals?

And where were you previously as an affiliate manager? There are many types of affiliate programs (pay per lead, percentage of sale, etc) and the size of the brand, or lack thereof, will mean something.

Also, who do you know? Is your Rolodex filled with the sort of affiliates that will make merchants salivate? Affiliate marketing is all about relationships, and without a list of prominent relationships, your stock will go down.

As far as real numbers, I gathered data from affiliate managers for my AffStat 2006 Report and the salaries averaged from feedback by nearly 200 affiliate managers broke out as follows:

• > $120k – 6%
• $110 to $120k – 1%
• $100 to $110k – 4%
• $90 to $100k – 1%
• $80 to $90k – 4%
• $70 to $80k – 14%
• $60 to $70k – 14%
• $50 to $60k – 13%
• $40 to $50k – 22%
• < $40k - 21%

Note that these numbers are averaged for all affiliate managers. Also, some affiliate managers receive bonuses and incentives as part of their salary and this compensation is included.

Q: I want to begin building some sites that will include affiliate marketing. I have a “chicken and egg” question, do I need to build a site, and then apply to affiliate partners… or can I apply, and then build a site?

A: If an affiliate manager is manually reviewing affiliate applications, you’ve got a few seconds to get their attention.

The attributes an affiliate manager looks for in a prospective affiliate will vary for each affiliate program, but one standard reason for rejection is no site submitted or a site that is under construction.

One technique you could consider to get past this hurdle is to apply with the domain you intend to use, and just put up a simple message on the site that reads something like:

Please do not reject my application – I want to build a site dedicated to your affiliate program. If you have any questions, feel free to e-mail me at email@email.com or call 212-555-1212.

Thanks a lot, Joe Smith

This sort of message site for an affiliate is frequently used by paid search affiliates.

Just to give you the affiliate manager perspective on this issue – many companies are wary of allowing an affiliate into their affiliate program if there is no site to review.

Reasons for this include being protective of their brands and reputations, as well as fighting fraud.

If you apply without a site and get rejected, try picking up the phone to explain to the affiliate manager what you plan to do to promote their company.

Q: I’m using a template based hosting service called CityMax. com for my website and I really like what it offers. The one missing link in its shopping cart is an affiliate program. I just bought 1shoppingcart.com which seems to have one of the best affiliate program technologies, but I’ve just been told that I can’t use it on my CityMax site because it is Cold Fusion and CityMax is JavaScript. My obvious choice is to change hosting providers (which would be a big deal for a number of reasons) or to find another affiliate program technology that I can integrate with my site at CityMax.com. Do you have any suggestions for me? Something that is a stand-alone product that doesn’t cost thousands of $$.

A: I was just looking at CityMax and noticed that they have their own affiliate program. Have you asked them if they have a home grown technology they are planning to roll out, or are they powered by a third party?

Anyhow, I see on the CityMax page about Shopping Cart Conversion Tracking Pixels that they mention the following:

Though you’ve requested advice on “a stand-alone product that doesn’t cost thousands of $$,” it sounds like you’ll have to go with an ASP.

The CityMax system appears to easily integrate ASP affiliate tracking, but server side tracking could be tricky.

Some tracking solutions I would recommend (combination of quality and attractive pricing) that you consider are Affiliate Clicks, FusionQuest, and ShareASale.