Posts Tagged "Webgains"

GymCompany’s Freaky Footwear

Posted on 6 May 2009 in Merchants | 3 comments

These are just nuts!

GymCompany, a merchant on the Webgains affiliate network, sent out an email the other day introducing 5Fingers, or Gloves For Your Feet as their alternatively known.

Apparently the typical human foot has 26 bones, 33 joints, and more than 100 muscles, tendons and ligaments – I never was any good at Biology! Anyway, with all these bits and pieces making up a foot, no wonder some “experts” say putting a shoe on is like putting a cast on. I suspect it doesn’t really allow movement as nature intended especially steel toe capped boots!

So the people at Primal Lifestyle (who also make Bamboo tshirts… erm… righty!), developed this footware as an alternative, and a freaky looking one at that! There are different types of the shoes trainers footwear available for regular everyday wear to proper exercising version. The one above, Sprint, as the name suggests, is actually designed for Running among other things.

Imagine the looks you would get from people, while out running in these! Completely crazy to look at, but I guess the theory kind of makes sense and more importantly I want a pair and may even do the London 10k in them!

Was 2008 A Bumper Year?

Posted on 2 Feb 2009 in Development | 9 comments

In the past, I’ve kept track as to the amount of sales I done on behalf of merchants purely out of interest. 2008 has been a good year mainly due to the introduction and focus on new sites, especially niche and seasonal ones, helping to bump up sales throughout the year.

Sadly the huge increase in sales, isn’t reflected in the same way when it comes to commissions. Trust me, I would be jumping for joy if I could say an average 10% commission was paid for each sale, and certainly would be giving up the day job!

Even so, it goes to show that us small affiliates (the ones that do it along side fulltime jobs, in our bedrooms) can still help companies achieve growths and profits.

So why the changes? Well once again a lot of it is down to my relationships with networks. CJ, who in the past I’ve found to be a bit of a faceless company, have made contact with me. Just having a contact on MSN (thanks Hildegunn) has driven me to look at and push their merchants a little more, resulting in a 426% increase.

Another possible reason is the introduction of a bi-weekly newsletter. After collecting email addresses since I care to remember, I never did a single thing with them. Now my newsletters are sent out every 2 weeks, pushing merchants who in turn offer me and my visitors something special.

All in all a good year, but I’m not holding out much hope for this year with the credit crunch, yet think Eco Friendly stuff maybe worth a punt.

A Massive Christmas Thank You

Posted on 12 Dec 2008 in Merchants | 2 comments

I thought it was about time I did a quick Christmas round up, to thank everyone who has sent cards, presents, festive well wishes and competition prizes over the past few weeks. Looking at the list it’s probably the best Crimbo so far

COMPETITION PRIZES

• £200 Shopping Spree from Play.com
• £50 Voucher from IWoot
• Personalised Calendar From Prezzbox
• Naturally Gorgeous Book from Green People

UNEXPECTED (YET STILL WELCOME) GIFTS

• Newspaper, Football Book and Personalised Calendar from Gone Digging
• Selection eco friendly products from Gizoo
• Chocolate Hamper from Thorntons
• UEFA Champions League Tickets (Liverpool vs  Marseille) from Vodafone
• Virginia Hayward Hamper from Webgains
• Virginia Hayward Hamper from Buy.At

All the above are very much appreciated. The gifts and competition prizes are fantastic and very much appreciated. I’m also glad to report that my Christmas website has generated more sales than ever before which has prompted me to start preparing for Valentines Day Presents!

Its also good to read about other affiliates who are reaping rewards from their efforts. George blogs over at Entrepreneur.co.uk and he’s tracking his success on a monthly basis. Although not yet reaching his targets, its good to see it heading in the right direction!

How Exclusive Deals Can Be Improved

Posted on 15 Nov 2008 in Merchants | 5 comments

After some negotiation with both network and merchant, I was issued with an Exclusive discount code for Wilkinsons via the DGM network. In order to obtain the code, I have agreed to extra exposure such as giving them space on my Page Peel and in my Newsletter, in order to drive sales during the 2 week offer.

When I was given the code on Friday afternoon, I questioned as to how long it would remain exclusive and sadly it wasn’t even 24 hours before VoucherCodes.com, a persistant code pincher, had decided to publish it on their website. Its not hard to see it’s Exclusive as it has a blue EXCLUSIVE TO US image next to it and even has EXCLUSIVE in the title of the offer, so no playing dumb on this one.

This site was actually listed as an affiliate site that rocks despite their constant lifting of codes from others. Refrained from commenting on that post, as I thought Kieron may have been ill whilst writing that post

VoucherCodes.com even have the wrong information, publishing it as £5 off £35 spend when it is infact £5 off £39.95 and there is no mention of any end date.

I’ve written to VoucherCodes.com and DGM asking that the code be removed immediately and that any commissions made with my exclusive code, either given to me, or at the least removed from VoucherCodes.com. They, like the rest of us, should respect exclusive codes, which some affiliates have worked hard to obtain and not just profit from other peoples hard work.

Recently Tesco and Figleaves have been clamping down on codes that are issued outside of the affiliate channel, whereby any sale made, no commission is given to the affiliate. Surely the next step is to protect affiliates who have been issued with an exclusive code, and if used by another code site, the same rule applies. This is something Webgains introduced last year and you hardly ever see an exclusive code being pinched for one of their merchants.

Sadly I am now in the position of contemplating whether to remove the Wilkinson Page Peel and not feature them in my newsletter, as the offer is no longer “exclusive”. I am tempted to get back in touch with some Webgains Merchants and offer them the space in return of an exclusive code, as long as it can be tracked so any misuse isn’t rewarded.

Time for merchants and networks to spank persistant offenders, similarly to how they insist that discount codes outside the affiliate marketing channel, aren’t used.

Frostie Speaks Out At The A4U Expo

Posted on 28 Aug 2008 in Events | 6 comments

I’ve finally got round to confirming my acceptance as a speaker at the A4U Expo being held at the London ExCeL in October. I am due to join 3 other’s representing all 4 corners of the affiliate industry, Hero Grigoraki (Client Services Director, Webgains), Richard Clark (Marketing Manager, DSG International PLC) and someone from the agency Equator I believe.

The topic is one that’s a bit of a hot potato at the moment, Effective Voucher Code Implementation, and I expect it to be quite full and generate a good discussion and Q&A following the initial presentation. The sessions is due to take place between 11:00 – 12:00 on Day 2, in the Platinum Rooms 5 & 6. I’m guessing that from the start times, I’ll have to curb my usual drinking habits to ensure I am in some fit state, turn up on time and don’t doze off halfway through

Get your rotten tomatoes and eggs at the ready!