Q: My latest question is from an affiliate manager. It’s actually not really a question, but more of a solicitation. It’s a bit long, so I’ll excerpt some of it:
Hello Sir/Madam,
Greetings!
I’m Savitha from the affiliate team of Knowledge Online services!
I was browsing through your website and we found that we could partner up to work together.We invite you join our affiliate program!
A: The submission goes on to explain all of the attributes of their affiliate program. The problem here is that they submitted this “question” as AskShawnCollins.com – the site is solely dedicated to accepting questions on affiliate marketing.
This affiliate program pitch totally untargeted. There is a profound disconnect between what they are selling (educational services) and what I’m doing (answering questions on affiliate marketing).
I think this is a prime example of a bad attempt at affiliate recruiting.
On a positive note, it’s something all affiliate managers can learn a lesson from, especially Savitha. Invest the time and energy to find quality prospects that make sense for your affiliate program.
Don’t just go out there with a shotgun method where you address people as Sir/Madam. Make an effort to reach out to an individual and understand what their site is about. Then, endeavor to make a real connection, instead of this sort of spam.
Personally, I’d never join an affiliate program that marketed to me in this fashion. Try picking up the phone or sending a note by mail to affiliates who you’d like to recruit into your affiliate program.
Just don’t bring your affiliate program down with this sort of lazy, counter-productive tactic.