Web Affiliate Marketing Blog

Every now and then, we affiliates receive an email from merchants that are currently;

• reviewing their programme
• entering an efficiency drive
• addressing market changes

Whatever way you look at it, the above phrases are nothing other than meaning an AFFILIATE CULL.

I’ve never understood a cull for generic purposes, and the latest to join the ever increasing drives for xxxx, is SeaSalt on Affiliate Window. In their email to affiliates, they openly call their actions a cull (transparency at its best);

This review will result in a Cull of numbers to produce a more efficient programme

More often than not, the excuse given by a merchant is because the affiliate hasn’t made X sales in X months. Joules, another Affiliate Window merchant, did this to a number of affiliates back in November, myself included. Sadly their email informing me that they had removed me from their programme, was the very first time Joules (or their agency/account manager) had actually made contact with me in relation to the Joules programme.

I expect merchants, networks and agencies to jump on the defensive band wagon and try to justify their reasons. However I really don’t understand, and never have done in the 10 years I’ve been involved in affiliate marketing, the reasons for an affiliate cull. There must be some logic behind the decision?

Merchants don’t pay networks or agencies based upon the number of affiliates that subscribe to their programme, and if an affiliate has a website that is prime, then where is the problem? They’re getting free brand advertising!

There are legitamte reasons why some merchants don’t want to be seen on particular sites. Maybe a Childrens Toy Merchant may not want to appear on a lingerie website, or a well know brand may choose not to be seen on a discount code website. But why would you remove a merchant just because of low sales (as appears to be the case both Joules and SeaSalt.

When there is no cost associated with having a poor performing affiliate on the books, why would you remove them and wouldn’t you be better to engage with the affiliates before you upset them? I sincerely hope SeaSalt don’t follow in Joules footsteps and see sense.

For a few weeks, I been battling with the little voices in my head, trying desperatly not to think about Affiliate Summit West 2011 in Vegas. With house moves, Christmas fast approaching, holidays in Canada & the Antarctic, and my fulltime job, I wasn’t sure if it was possible to squeeze ASW11 in this time around.

ASW10 was fantastic, the best key speeches I’ve seen at Affiliate Summit or any networking event, by far. All of the sessions I managed to attend were key to the current affiliate arena, useful to affiliates of ALL levels, and were professionaly put together without it turning into a self PR frenzy as can often happen.

Thinking of how valuable I found ASW10 I kinda knew deep down, I’d somehow have to find a way of getting there for ASW11 and started rounding up the UK troops once again.

UK ATTENDEES
Chris Frost
Kieron Donoghue
Matt Wood
Ray Theakston
Duncan Pollard
Chris Clarkson
Chris Brown
Performance Horizon
Jim Banks
Joe Stepniewski
Doug Scott (showing interest)…

For those that are still thinking, there is a UK Roadtrip to Vegas group on facebook that details all of our flights and accomodation details if you want to join us. Vegas is a big place, and last year we met up with a few people who’d never been before, to ensure they weren’t overwhelmed and also to network prior to the summit. The more the merrier right!?!?

Be warned you will party hard, but you shouldn’t let this get in the way (too much) of the Summit itself. Some of the knowledge you can pickup from sessions and general networking is invaluable!

CHECKLIST
Flight – booked
ESTA – paid
Hotel – booked
Buy.At Affiliate Party – confirmed

twid·i·ot

[twid-ee-uht]
–noun
1. an idiot that tweets way too much about stuff no one cares about all day long.

Duncan Bannatyne’s recent TV appearance, Out Of The Frying Pan, appears to have caused a bit of a stir with many people criticising how Duncan treated the chefs. I’ve not seen the actual show and have no intention of watching it, however anyone who dared question Duncan Bannatyne over his behaviour was immediately flamed in monumental fashion by way of his huaghty replies.

If money is to blame for Duncans apparent insecurity, condescendingness, arrogrance and inability to take any cirticism, then I’d rather stop earning now! Very few of us will ever reach his dizzying heights in the world of business or value (estimated £332 million) but I am not sure if this is a good or bad thing to be honest. One thing I am sure of, this UNFOLLOW button was hit pretty damn quickly!

I recall this isn’t the first time Duncan Bannatyne has been spotted arguing on Twitter, after he launched an attack on Gillian Monaghan after she challenged him over how much the multi-millionaire gives to good causes.

Sadly I see Duncan Bannatyne falling into the category of “celebrities” that are fast becoming all to common. Dancing for charity I’m sure is fun and it raised money for chairty. However, what about those lesser known people that raise for charity day in, day out. They, in my opinion, are deserving of celebrity status!

Maybe Duncan Bannatyne should take a leaf out of Ricky Gervais or Stephen Fry’s book, and give Twitter a rest for a bit.

Which Twidiots have you followed?

What type of Acorn are you?

ACORN is a geodemographic tool used to identify and understand the UK population and the demand for products and services. Businesses use this information to improve their understanding of customers, target markets etc.

ACORN categorises all 1.9 million UK postcodes, which have been described using over 125 demographic statistics within England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and 287 lifestyle variables. But how good is it really?

What type of Acorn am I?
Officially, I am a 1C9 which translates to;
- Wealthy Achievers (hahahaha yeah right….)
- Flourishing Families (erm… something I don’t know)
- Larger families, prosperous suburbs (kinda…)

ACORN: I am more likely to donate to Disaster Relief and Third World charities via direct debit, when compared to the UK Average.
THE REAL ME: I have a direct debit in place, and setup a Kiva team focusing on Third world charities.

ACORN: I am far more likely to use internet to buy investments / ISAs, and unlikely to use digital TV to make purchases / bookings.
THE REAL ME: As an affiliate marketeer, it would be daft not to use my own links!

ACORN:When it comes to health insurance, I’m more likely to have it with PPP and most likely to spend £20,000 on main car.
THE REAL ME: BUPA (through my employer)
THE REAL ME: BMW 123d M-Sport Coupe

ACORN:I tend to spend £250 of my £5000 credit card limit per month.
THE REAL ME: WRONG! I only have Amex cards for PPC spend as I don’t trust myself with a credit card.

ACORN:Whilst investing in Unit Trusts, Stocks and Share and Income Bonds
THE REAL ME: WRONG! Gold was my choice but now it’s plain old saving accounts.

ACORN:Forget any sign of having a funeral plan!
THE REAL ME: Correct!

ACORN:Bingo is NOT my cup of tea however National Trust membership is a go!
THE REAL ME: Spot on again! A proud yet young, National Trust Member for 3 years and don’t think I’ve ever played Bingo.

ACORN:Wine is ordered by mail order and unlikely to have spent over £500 on catalogue orders in the past 12 months
THE REAL ME: Order my wine from EveryWine.co.uk and I’ve never bought from a catalogue.

ACORN:Holidays…. Winter snow and Canada should be my first choice!
THE REAL ME: New Year 08/09 was in Sestriere skiing and October 09 was on a Canadian Rocky Mountain Road Trip.

How does it compare to the real me? Personally I think thats some scary shit or I am reading into it too much!

You won’t believe how the title of this post still sends shivers down my spine, even though 19 years have passed since I left school!

That time of year has come again, where I’ve stupidly agreed to take part in a physical activity that my body is quite clearly not in shape for. On 16th May, I will be taking part in the Bupa Great Manchester 10k Run for the second time, however before then, I need to shed 30lbs (just over 2 stone). Come 16th February I will be saying goodbye to Chocolate, Burgers and such like, and alcohol…. ok the latter is unlikely to happen!

As usual, I’m raising money and this year have opted for The Stroke Association as my chosen charity. In the past I’ve raised, thanks to your kind donations, over £4,000 for some great causes and hope that once again, I will beat my initial £500 target.

About The Stroke Association

Every year an estimated 150,000 people in the UK have a stroke. Of all people who suffer from a stroke, about a third are likely to die within the first 10 days, about a third are likely to make a recovery within one month and about a third are likely to be left disabled and needing rehabilitation. Stroke has a greater disability impact than any other medical condition. A quarter of a million people are living with long-term disability as a result of stroke in the UK.

Sponsoring Me

You can sponsor me in a number of ways, all being online;

• simply donate out of the goodness of your heart at JustGiving.com
• sponsor my blog and instead of paying me, donate at JustGiving.com
• pay me to wear your branded t-shirt / shorts / trainers / cap etc
• get extra exposure on my websites in return for donations

By offering additional opportunities in terms of sponsorship, extra website exposure etc, I hope to get a few more merchants and networks sponsoring me this year (tax write-offs).

Spread The Word

I’d appreciate any assistance in getting the word out, whether it be links back here or my JustGiving page.

Of course if you want to use Twitter, then just click here to tweet, and I’ll even write the message for you;
RT @ChrisEFrost: Running for Charity again. Affiliate networks and merchants if you donate I will give you extra exposure http://tr.im/NtCe