I was digging through some old files, and I came across a few of the postcards I used to recruit affiliates for the ClubMom.com affiliate program between 2000 and 2004.
The first one I mailed was from a company called Web Cards back in 2000.
Their thing was to take a screen capture of a site and make that the front of the postcard. Then I got a few lines to write copy at the bottom.
Web Cards was good at the time, as I didn’t know of other vendors that provided such a service, I don’t known that I was aware of how to take a screen capture myself at the time, and I didn’t have a graphic designer available to me.
That all changed over the years.
I was able to sell the affiliate program with the left side of the back of the postcard from Web Cards.
I don’t recall when this postcard came out, but I’m guessing it was late 2001 or early 2002. I think this one was printed through VistaPrint.
This piece of mail was different from the previous one, as it had value propositions for the affiliate program on the front, and then I just put my contact information and how to apply on the back.
Finally, I sent one around Christmas 2003 with a New Years resolution theme. I’m pretty sure this was also from VistaPrint.
This postcard added more contact information on the back side, including my AIM (at that time) and home phone number.
While there are a variety of ways for an affiliate manager to contact affiliates directly, I found that direct mail was the most effective for me, based on surveying affiliates over the years about the reasons they came to apply to the affiliate program.
But still, I have gotten so few pieces of mail from affiliate programs over the years.
I’d highly recommend to any affiliate managers to test direct mail to recruit affiliates. The fact that nobody else is doing it is one of the best reasons for you to try – you’ll really stick out.