Last week I wrote about affiliate applications and what managers often see that keep affiliates out of  programs.  One of the things I see most often and I alluded to in those earlier posts, is the lack of affiliate contact info shared to the merchants.  It is more frustrating when working with CJ programs as CJ is the only major network, that I am aware of, that does not share all the contact information of the affiliate with the affiliate manager.  Cj, I implore you, please change this policy.

Years ago, getting into affiliate marketing had a very low barrier to entry.  If you saw someone’s good idea and you knew what they were doing, you could replicate it with a little time, html knowledge and some cash.  That being the case, many affiliates did not want to share any information whatsoever, including contact info.  Affiliates also received, I’ve been told, countless spam emails and phone calls pitching products and programs that clearly do not fit with them.  Inexperienced affiliate managers with bad pitches and horrible programs innundated them, and some still do.  These two things, and I’m sure there are others, have combined to get us to a point where there is not full disclosure.  A quick note - I’ve been guilty of this as well so a big apology to those that received those calls.

Recently I had a discussion with my fellow panelists on our Pubcon panel and this issue was brought up.  One thing we all agreed on, and I want to stress here is that our top producing affiliates, overwhelmingly, are those that we have long standing relationships with.  Those that we know their phone numbers, their emails, their IM’s.  This is from a group of individuals that I would say have experience managing over 100 programs (total guess, I know I’ve managed over 35 myself).

Affiliates, what is your reason for not sharing your contact info?  Let’s talk it out
My reasons for asking that you do share are really for your success.  When I see an application or a new affiliate pops up in my top performers list, but I don’t know them…  I immediately suspect something if I am unable to see email addresses, urls and contact info.  Why you ask?  After 9 years of doing this on over 35 different programs, one thing that most fraudulent affiliates have in common is a need to not share any contact info at all.  The the most common characteristic of affiliates that do not intend on abiding by your terms and conditions is withholding contact info and not responding to emails.  So great affiliates doing great work are not getting a fair look when you don’t foster a relationship with your manager.

This industry is about relationships.  Sales is about relationships and that is what this is all about.  The affiliates that are open to communication often receive the best information.  They get product lists quicker, custom creative, VIP commissions, search data and even product samples and gifts.

Thoughts?

Last week I wrote about affiliate applications and tried to identify some things that affiliates need to avoid. I also tried to lay out some things that, as an affiliate, you should do in your account and your application to ensure the best chance of receiving a “your approved” email. I received some amazing great comments and really appreciate everyone’s input.

Scott Jangro commented from the affiliate perspective: “I’m a pretty successful affiliate, fall into zero of the categories you list, and do all of the things that you said I should. I still get rejected all the time. And many times don’t respond to emails. I don’t blame the AM. I know as well as anybody how tough it is to weed through all the noise to find the good guys. The application process that the networks offer needs a complete overhaul. A great start would be if they all offer a simple cover letter type field for the affiliate to explain themselves. We’ve got so much going on that the fields in the application process can’t possibly cover it.”

That got me thinking about all the modifications the networks could make to the affiliate application process and approval queue.  At the end of the day, the better and more efficient this process, the more likely the networks are to generate increased revenue.  I’m sure they are missing out on commission just in Scott’s case as I know he is top performer.

Overall, Scott’s recommendation is spot on.  Networks, if you are listening, an easy and major improvement to the application process would be to allow the affiliate applying to the program to include a note to the affiliate manager.  For example, I know that if I received an application from a site that was under construction, but it included a note from the affiliate that we met at the affiliate summit last year and their plans are XX, XX and XX, I would approve that application and the relationship would grow from there.  I know that allowing a note like that would do a lot to explain what the affiliate is, their plans and other information that AM’s would benefit from knowing and are not easily explained in the standard application and account info areas.

On the other side of that fence, ya know what I would love?  While I am approving affiliate applications, I would love the option of having several text or html email templates loaded in my merchant account that I could simply choose to send from the application queue itself.  AM’s, how many times have you reviewed an application and wanted to send an email asking for an explanation, more information, contact info, or a url, but either didn’t have the contact info or it simply got lost in the process?  I’d love to have the ability to load several different text or html templates into the account and have the option of sending one of those emails to that parcticular applicant.

Let’s get a little more specific to a  few of the networks.

Commission Junction:  While the overall process is pretty good, there still is a lot of room for improvement.

• Accept/Deny - One of the more frustrating aspects of the approval process is the inability to check an application as Approved or Denied.  You have to first go through the list and check all that you want to either approve or deny.  Then you click on approve or deny.  You then go through the list and check the others and do the opposite, deny or approve.  It would save, at least me, a lot of time if I didn’t have to add that step.
• Include their primary url in the application queue.  Every time I have to click adds time to the process and reduces the amount of time I am able to evaluate each application.  Being able to see the main url on the same page where you see all the applications, their EPC’s, Date Applied and more would reduce time spent on each application and increase the likelihood that each applicant would get the consideration they need.
• Contact info - I know this has been discussed in depth and to the point of exhaustion, but CJ, please consider allowing affiliates to show all their contact info to the merchants.  Phone numbers, emails, IM’s even Twitter accounts would help us all out.  Affiliates - if you don’t want to share your contact info, are you really a partner at all (that is an entire post itself)
• Include Make Offer an option for each and every applicant.

Linkshare:  I like their approval process as it allows you to designate each application indivudually as accepted or denied.  But there is still some room:

• include the url in the application queue.  Again, the less time we have to click around the more time we can spend growing the program.
• Comments - is anyone sure what that does anyway?  Does it send a comment to the affiliate?  Does it file the comment for later?
• As I stated above, allow us to email the affiliate right from there with several templates.
• An option to extend them an offer from this page would be great.

Overall, I think there are a lot of areas where we could make this more efficient and more effective.  The more time your affiliate managers and OPM’s are able to spend on growing the program and not trying to figure out who the applicant is or what they are going do to will lead to more sales and more commissions for all.

But I’ve only really touched on the affiliate manager side.  What changes would you affiliates like to see?

With the launch of any new affiliate program you get inundated with affiliate applications in the first week.  It is both one of the most exciting times for an affiliate manager as well as a frustrating time.  It’s exciting to watch outstanding affiliates that you know join the program but it is frustrating when you wake up to 200 applications on a Monday morning.

Along with the known affiliates applying to your program, there are hundreds and thousands of applications that come through that are either suspect, fraudulent or simply incomplete.  If you are an affiliate manager reading this, you’ll probably be nodding your head and maybe even have a chuckle.  If you are an affiliate that seems to receive more denials than approvals when you apply to programs, this article is just for you.  I’d like to highlight some of the things that managers see every day that you may be doing and need to avoid in order to get your applications approved.  So let’s get started…

• “Make A Million” Shopping Malls - These are sites that someone purchases from companies that supply them an entire mall that will make them millions of dollars.  These sites are relatively cheap to buy and provide the purchaser with a complete website, they only need to reach out and join affiliate programs.  While these sites look good, I have never seen one of these make any sales for any of the programs I have run and I have managed over 35 across industries.  Most program managers recognize these with very little effort and deny these applications.  Like all things, successful endeavors take, hard work and initiative.  These sites sound too good to be true because they are.  My advice to anyone who has purchased this already, find a niche you know a lot about and start over.  I’ll write more about this in a future post.
• Blogs with no content - This is a sure way to get your application rejected.  I am sure that your new blog and your new theme hold within them your hopes and dreams, but having not one single post on your site does nothing to show affiliate managers who you are and what your site is about.  My recommendation - get ten posts on your blog, fill that first page.  After you have that done, I would make sure any customization or unique plugins that you plan to use are on the site.  Make it look unique.  We see hundreds of applications with the Wordpress default theme and no content.  Many times fraudulent affiliates use this method to get approved without raising flags.  Post your content, design it then apply to the affiliate programs.
• Different language sites - I see 20 or so applications a week for sites that are in Japaneze or other languages.  I am sure that they are great sites, but with no description in english I am not able to effectively review the site.  Most affiliate programs are no longer accept everyone and anyone, if it is too hard to evaluate your application it just gets denied.  In your affiliate account, be sure to outline your site and how you plan to promote merchants as thoroughly as possible.
• Geocities and other free sites - Sites that are hosted at Geocities, Tripod, Members.AOL.com or Freewebs will undoubtedly be denied in many programs.  Why?  Well, first off, I can’t remember when one of these sites generated any sales for any program and I can’t recall any of my colleagues saying that either.  Secondly, if an affiliate isn’t serious enough to register a domain name aren’t going to be serious enough to become a successful partner.  Some may not like me saying that, but it’s true.
• Modeling and Real Estate Sites - This seems like a pretty odd combination, but I have seen more applications from these two categories than any other.  If you are planning to do something outside of these areas but use those sites in your application, I would make sure the affiliate manager knows about it.
• No URLs - When your application shows no urls in your account, affiliate managers have no way at all to eveluate your application.  Merchants are getting much more sensitive to who they partner with, and not knowing who you are will surely lead to a rejection in quality programs.
• Google Adwords - Applications that list Adwords as the url for the applicant and only that url can be tough to approve for programs that do not allow paid search.  So if you do something else, make sure you list that too.
• Under Construction  and Parked pages - If your site is still under construction, that is a tough sell.  Merchants don’t want to partner with someone when they don’t know what their site will look like.  Maybe I have said that already :).  I have seen affiliates post a simple htlm page on their new domain that addressed the affiliate managers directly and gave a brief description of what they were doing.  I highly recommend this and I believe I have approved everyone of those applications.  The more we know, the more likely we’ll approve you.
• Banner Farms - These are almost 100% rejected.  What is a banner farm?  These are sites that have, pretty much, only affiliate banners.  They have no other content and no real benefit to the user other than a list of ads for merchants.  These are rarely approved and rarely generate sales for merchants’ programs.  They offer very little in terms of value add to the merchant as well as the consumer.  My recommendation is to spend more time developing your idea.  What consumer target are you trying to reach?  What value are you going to add to their shopping journey?  What are you going to offer that no one else does?  Answer those question then find a designer that can work with you.
• Get Rich Quick Sites - The same way you feel as a consumer when you see these sites are they same way affiliate managers do as well.  I haven’t seen these perform well.
• International Applications - This probably only goes for programs that is 99% domestic traffic.  Applications from third world countries, some Asian countries, Nigeria and some eastern block countries are suspect.  Why?  Past behavior and experience.  Many of the fraudulent affiliates have, in the past, originated from these countries.  If you are a legitimate affiliate, and don’t get me wrong, there are many from those countries, you may experience more rejections because of your location.  But  don’t fret too much.  You may be getting refused by a lot of affiliate programs but there are ways to get noticed.  You need to show affiliate managers that you aren’t interested in scamming, fraudulent behavior or abusing the program.  You have to establish trust as much as you can from your application.  Here are a few things you can do:  1.  Use your company name, if you don’t have one create one. 2.  Email the manager of the program you just applied to and let them know who you are and what your plans are.  3.  Use an email account associated with your website.  Don’t use yahoo.com, gmail, hotmail or other free services.  Having a email@yourwebsite.com email address is typical of legitimate affiliates and will help you get approved.

By no means is that list 100% complete, but it gives you a good idea of things to avoid in your applications and a few reasons why your applications would be rejected. Let me share some things I recommend that you do do in order to get approved (I included some of them above):

1. Complete Account Information - don’t leave any fields blank in CJ, LS, ShareASale, Google and others.  Fill out all the information.  The more complete the application, the more likely you’ll get approved.  Just the effort involved in filling out all the fields shows you are serious.
2. Contact Info - A little contact info goes a long way.  Include your email address and your phone number when possible.  Affiliate programs view affiliates as partners, if you can’t contact your partner, they aren’t really a partner are they?
3. Email the manager - You’d be surprised, but one of the number one things managers wish they got more of was contact from their affiliates. If you are really interested in working with someone, reach out to them, share your ideas and your plans and include your contact info.
4. Good Site Design - this goes a long long way.  With themes and Wordpress anyone can put together a pretty decent site.  Here are some themes I would look into:  One Theme, Woo Themes, Citrus Themes, Revolution.  Getting a good designer involved will lead to sales, but those themes and Wordpress will get you started with little cost.  If you need design let us know, we can help.
5. If your site is under construction, put up a simple html page that says what you are planning to do.  Affiliate managers love this and it will help you get approved and get insight and advice on your new idea.

Hope that helps!  What do you think?  Affiliate managers, did I miss anything.  Do you think I’m off on any of these items?  I’d love to hear what you have to say.