Why affiliates are the bitch of the industry: Part 1 - WickedFire - Affiliate Marketing Forum

aim · 04-16-2008, 09:40 PM

The first thing you need to know is that as an affiliate, you are the bitch of the industry. You need to forget everything you've read about how easy the affiliate game is, or how easy it is to make money etc and know this: payouts and pricing structures in the affiliate marketing industry are actually structured to make it extremely difficult to be profitable; as an affiliate the chips are stacked against you from the get-go. Diorex had written about this on his (now defunct) blog some time ago.

Why, little affiliate, are you the bitch? Because you are promoting advertisers offers; the key here is that an advertiser only reaches out to an affiliate network when they have either a.) saturated the market themselves or b.) can no longer scale their marketing campaigns effectively themselves. Taking that even a step further, networks generally only open an offer to the public if they don't feel it makes sense financially to run it internally or exclusive to their top affiliates.

Look at it this way; When you are looking for offers to run, as you page through various offers on your network of choice, you need to remind yourself that there is a reason that you even have the opportunity to run these offers in a first place (see points A. and B. above). You are not special. They are using you.

In other words, they are letting you run these offers because everyone else is all out of ideas on how to market them; simple as that. You also need to remember that at this point, as an affiliate, you're the one with capital at risk here. The Network gets paid either way, and the advertiser (depending on if it's a CPA or CPL offer) most likely also gets paid, either way.

That's why you're the bitch. You have money at risk, a lot to lose, and a little to gain. Both the affiliate network and the advertiser have nothing to lose, and everything to gain.

With that mindset in place it's now time to think about how we can get one-up on everyone, including the networks, the advertisers, and your competition. Stay tuned for the next post...

xmcp123 · 04-16-2008, 09:54 PM

I will definitely agree with (most of) that.
And I'd also point out that it seems like whenever someone gets fucked out of money, it's the affiliate.
The guys selling the product are going to make damn sure they get paid.
The vast majority of the time the network is going to get paid.
The affiliate? We're the ones at risk.
..and we're the ones putting our money on the line in the first place.
Oy.

barman · 04-16-2008, 09:57 PM

Well fuck this. I'm going back to stripping.

xmcp123 · 04-16-2008, 10:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by barman

Well fuck this. I'm going back to stripping.

Remember to wash your G-String!

elime · 04-16-2008, 10:09 PM

Very interesting post, I'm looking forward to the next.

Quote:

Originally Posted by xmcp123

And I'd also point out that it seems like whenever someone gets fucked out of money, it's the affiliate.

Pretty much took the words out of my mouth.

PinstripeRambo · 04-16-2008, 10:11 PM

There's benefits and drawbacks. You've listed the drawbacks which are definitely true. But as an affiliate you're free of the colossal risk of developing your own product and bringing it to market. You pay nothing for R&D, production, distribution, and the thousands of startup costs of a new venture.

For that reason, I still think it is a worthy business, as you can see by the profits of many affiliates here. The business model of selling another company's battle tested product has huge advantages for an affiliate. But the affiliate should eventually use their experience to develop their own products as a long-term business strategy.

popeye · 04-16-2008, 10:20 PM

I heard gay prostitution is fairly profitable

Sticks79 · 04-16-2008, 10:45 PM

I definately agree with all that you are saying...but guys there is a whole world of affiliate products and services out there to promote that go beyond the shitty payouts of the cpa networks....!

xmcp123 · 04-16-2008, 11:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sticks79

I definately agree with all that you are saying...but guys there is a whole world of affiliate products and services out there to promote that go beyond the shitty payouts of the cpa networks....!

Most of those are worse. A lot of shit with like 2%-6% payouts on products that cost almost nothing. I remember finding one that paid 10%, and didn't have a single product over $20.
Pardon me while I go shit myself over the excitement of the 4%! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOo I can buy a snickers bar.

Granted, there are some that pay out much better. One of my favorite aff programs(even when compared to the networks) pays out 20%. But yeah, ones like that are few and far between.

Wicked Ice · 04-16-2008, 11:22 PM

You mean ClickBank? LOL

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sticks79

I definately agree with all that you are saying...but guys there is a whole world of affiliate products and services out there to promote that go beyond the shitty payouts of the cpa networks....!

wisejoker · 04-16-2008, 11:36 PM

So affiliate marketing is just the training ground for the affiliate to eventually pimp their own products/ebooks/services. But you know, some people mix it up a bit, so they're pimping and taking it in the back at the same time... for best results.

Sticks79 · 04-16-2008, 11:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wicked Ice

You mean ClickBank? LOL

No i dont mean clickbank i fuckin hate clickbank.

I promote health products that payout 50% to 70% per sale
they are reputable companies and no im not posting them here as i dont need the increased competition

but i will say this "everybody wants a bigger dick" and my bank account says so.

Wicked Ice · 04-17-2008, 12:03 AM

bigger and longer

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sticks79

No i dont mean clickbank i fuckin hate clickbank.

I promote health products that payout 50% to 70% per sale
they are reputable companies and no im not posting them here as i dont need the increased competition

but i will say this "everybody wants a bigger dick" and my bank account says so.

_poto_ · 04-17-2008, 12:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xmcp123

And I'd also point out that it seems like whenever someone gets fucked out of money, it's the affiliate.

not always true... scam billing companies like ibill have run off with millions of affiliate program's and paysite owner's cash...

tho, generally it is the affiliates that get the short end of the stick...

Wicked Ice · 04-17-2008, 01:20 AM

just run your own god damn affiliate program.

Quote:

Originally Posted by _poto_

not always true... scam billing companies like ibill have run off with millions of affiliate program's and paysite owner's cash...

tho, generally it is the affiliates that get the short end of the stick...

nickycakes · 04-17-2008, 01:29 AM

Affiliate network employees basically are on call 24/7. Merchants (in most cases) have to spend time shipping, monitoring, customer servicing, or whatever. I do like 2 hours of work a day and then eat cereal in my pajamas and play xbox till my girlfriend gets home with dinner.

Who's the bitch?

snavr · 04-17-2008, 01:41 AM

Promoting your own products/program is definitley where it's at.

I'm putting together about 8 email submit campaigns right now and the thought of it is kind of discouraging, so I'm also putting together my own info package (no, not a "make money online" ebook). It's a serious business tool and I'm selling it for 80 bucks a pop.

It just makes more sense, esp when I see so many offers in the networks that are just white-labels of OTHER offers on the same network.

HarveyJ · 04-17-2008, 01:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wicked Ice

You mean ClickBank? LOL

No, he means CPA.

I'll level with you guys, most of what's said in there is pretty much true.
We've maxed out our own ability to scale this any further, for whatever reason (in the case of Affiliation Cash, it's labourhours... I got pulled in because I was always chatting with my AM, so I got to be an AM).
Honestly, I don't do that much of my own affiliate stuff anymore because I'm too busy wiping the sweat off of other people's backs, metaphorically. I get other people to sell my stuff for me, and take the cream off the top... but that in itself is pretty intensive.

For CPA based on sales of an actual product, it's got to do with the amount of time it actually takes to fill out and process orders.
For digital products, it's because there are only so many domains you can own, and only so much SEO you can do for all of those domains, where, before you know it, it's become a 12 hours a day job to keep it all together and stay on top... So I'm told by the man upstairs.

The best you, as an affiliate, can hope for is honesty and trust with the people you're working for.

Wisejoker pretty much hit the nail on the head. Use AM as a training ground for your own shit. If you're sticking with AM, and not making it to the top of the pile (because it kind of really is just a shrunk down MLM system... based on the Trapezoid!), it's either because you're not really meant to be in the game in the first place or just happy (lazy?) enough to coast along.
If coasting works, more power to you, but if money is what's important to you, then you have to strike out and be the one on top, offering something new that no one else has thought of before (hint: it's not an eBook)

The thing is, it doesn't matter where you are on the ladder, it's all bloody hard work if you're doing it right...

Sticks79 · 04-17-2008, 02:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarveyJ

No, he means CPA.

I'll level with you guys, most of what's said in there is pretty much true.
We've maxed out our own ability to scale this any further, for whatever reason (in the case of Affiliation Cash, it's labourhours... I got pulled in because I was always chatting with my AM, so I got to be an AM).
Honestly, I don't do that much of my own affiliate stuff anymore because I'm too busy wiping the sweat off of other people's backs, metaphorically. I get other people to sell my stuff for me, and take the cream off the top... but that in itself is pretty intensive.

For CPA based on sales of an actual product, it's got to do with the amount of time it actually takes to fill out and process orders.
For digital products, it's because there are only so many domains you can own, and only so much SEO you can do for all of those domains, where, before you know it, it's become a 12 hours a day job to keep it all together and stay on top... So I'm told by the man upstairs.

The best you, as an affiliate, can hope for is honesty and trust with the people you're working for.

Wisejoker pretty much hit the nail on the head. Use AM as a training ground for your own shit. If you're

04-16-2008, 09:40 PM	#1 (permalink)
aim ҉҉҉҉҉҉҉҉҉҉* ҉҉ Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Minneapolis, MN Posts: 996 iTrader: (1)	Why affiliates are the bitch of the industry: Part 1 The first thing you need to know is that as an affiliate, you are the bitch of the industry. You need to forget everything you've read about how easy the affiliate game is, or how easy it is to make money etc and know this: payouts and pricing structures in the affiliate marketing industry are actually structured to make it extremely difficult to be profitable; as an affiliate the chips are stacked against you from the get-go. Diorex had written about this on his (now defunct) blog some time ago. Why, little affiliate, are you the bitch? Because you are promoting advertisers offers; the key here is that an advertiser only reaches out to an affiliate network when they have either a.) saturated the market themselves or b.) can no longer scale their marketing campaigns effectively themselves. Taking that even a step further, networks generally only open an offer to the public if they don't feel it makes sense financially to run it internally or exclusive to their top affiliates. Look at it this way; When you are looking for offers to run, as you page through various offers on your network of choice, you need to remind yourself that there is a reason that you even have the opportunity to run these offers in a first place (see points A. and B. above). You are not special. They are using you. In other words, they are letting you run these offers because everyone else is all out of ideas on how to market them; simple as that. You also need to remember that at this point, as an affiliate, you're the one with capital at risk here. The Network gets paid either way, and the advertiser (depending on if it's a CPA or CPL offer) most likely also gets paid, either way. That's why you're the bitch. You have money at risk, a lot to lose, and a little to gain. Both the affiliate network and the advertiser have nothing to lose, and everything to gain. With that mindset in place it's now time to think about how we can get one-up on everyone, including the networks, the advertisers, and your competition. Stay tuned for the next post...

04-16-2008, 09:54 PM	#2 (permalink)
xmcp123 Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 1,450 iTrader: (0)	I will definitely agree with (most of) that. And I'd also point out that it seems like whenever someone gets fucked out of money, it's the affiliate. The guys selling the product are going to make damn sure they get paid. The vast majority of the time the network is going to get paid. The affiliate? We're the ones at risk. ..and we're the ones putting our money on the line in the first place. Oy. __________________ SlightlyShady SEO <-Read it Bitch. Advaliant - Promote Some Unique Offers for a Change.

04-16-2008, 09:57 PM	#3 (permalink)
barman Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Colorado Posts: 2,485 iTrader: (9)	Well fuck this. I'm going back to stripping. __________________ Step One to Making Money Online

04-16-2008, 10:20 PM	#7 (permalink)
popeye Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 459 iTrader: (9)	I heard gay prostitution is fairly profitable __________________ PM Me For $5 S.Q.U.I.R.T Submissions! I Worship Elli www.Bluehatseo.com ROCKS!

04-16-2008, 10:45 PM	#8 (permalink)
Sticks79 Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 304 iTrader: (0)	I definately agree with all that you are saying...but guys there is a whole world of affiliate products and services out there to promote that go beyond the shitty payouts of the cpa networks....! __________________ Apologies for the inconvenience. We need to check whether you are a human or a robot. Please enter the characters in the image into the 'What do you see?' box below. Thanks! What do you see?

04-16-2008, 10:11 PM	#6 (permalink)
PinstripeRambo Junior Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 27 iTrader: (0)	There's benefits and drawbacks. You've listed the drawbacks which are definitely true. But as an affiliate you're free of the colossal risk of developing your own product and bringing it to market. You pay nothing for R&D, production, distribution, and the thousands of startup costs of a new venture. For that reason, I still think it is a worthy business, as you can see by the profits of many affiliates here. The business model of selling another company's battle tested product has huge advantages for an affiliate. But the affiliate should eventually use their experience to develop their own products as a long-term business strategy.

04-16-2008, 11:36 PM	#11 (permalink)
wisejoker Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 32 iTrader: (0)	So affiliate marketing is just the training ground for the affiliate to eventually pimp their own products/ebooks/services. But you know, some people mix it up a bit, so they're pimping and taking it in the back at the same time... for best results.

04-17-2008, 01:29 AM	#16 (permalink)
nickycakes Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Beantown, MA Posts: 1,068 iTrader: (1)	Affiliate network employees basically are on call 24/7. Merchants (in most cases) have to spend time shipping, monitoring, customer servicing, or whatever. I do like 2 hours of work a day and then eat cereal in my pajamas and play xbox till my girlfriend gets home with dinner. Who's the bitch? __________________ Nickycakes.com: Reformed Blackhat Nickycakes' Newbie Guide NeverblueAds <- Great Affiliate Network

04-17-2008, 01:41 AM	#17 (permalink)
snavr Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 62 iTrader: (0)	Promoting your own products/program is definitley where it's at. I'm putting together about 8 email submit campaigns right now and the thought of it is kind of discouraging, so I'm also putting together my own info package (no, not a "make money online" ebook). It's a serious business tool and I'm selling it for 80 bucks a pop. It just makes more sense, esp when I see so many offers in the networks that are just white-labels of OTHER offers on the same network.