Is it better to have a few good affiliates or a lot of so-so ones?

[TropixxxMichael]

I am thinking about opening one of my sites up for affiliates to market.

From looking at my CCBill stats of my current affiliates for my spanking program, I can see there are affiliates that send a lot of sales and those that maybe make one sale a month.

Would it be better for me to "restrict" the new program only to those affiliates that do well?

It would seem that the affiliates might like this because with fewer people promoting the site, they could do better...

[gaydemon_jr]

If the rate is the same for someone sending you tonnes of traffic as well as those sending just one per month, why turn down that extra one sale?

[basschick]

the thing is that there is no way to know which are good affiliates in advance. i know guys who had a program for years, and then one day just because they were well enough known, the would catch a whale - a guy who could send 50 or 100 signups per day. but whales won't just appear - you have to make sure that the maximum people know about your program. and that means a strong presence on the boards, and possibly at the shows. but if you're not already marketing for regular affiliates, your program won't have big coverage.

i must admit that more whales do tend to go for pay per signup, and usually require a higher amount than regular affilaites, but sometimes with a microniche, you get lucky.

anyway, if you have 100 affiliates who send 2 sales per week, that's still 50% of 200 more sales than you would have had, so smaller affiliates help out a lot.

[abostonboy]

It would seem that the affiliates might like this because with fewer people promoting the site, they could do better...

Probably wouldn't apply unless you have a VERY popular sites and mostly whales.

[VODBOB]

Yes I have to agree, Why leave money on the table? Usually the low producing webmasters are very low maintenance because they are not as involved as they could be or they would be better affiliates. If you have an issue with an individual that requires a disproportionate amount of your time then tell him alone to kiss off. Allot of times I can look at an affiliates website and ask them to move our link or other suggestions that turn those one or two sales a month webmasters into a five or ten sales a month webmaster. Lastly that webmaster may grow into a whale, if the links are valid they are good for SEO. VODBOB

[abostonboy]

Yes I have to agree, Why leave money on the table? Usually the low producing webmasters are very low maintenance because they are not as involved as they could be or they would be better affiliates.

My low performing affiliates are VERY HIGH MAINTENANCE. WHY? Because I make them high maintenance. I look at it this way - A low performing affiliate for my program maybe a low performing affiliate for another program and another. He's either a noob, not motivated, or doesn't the time. My goal is ti work with him and turn him into a productive affiliates.

I have affiliates that use to do maybe 10 sales a moth. Some are up to 50 or more.

My goal is to help the bigger maintain the level they are doing and try and get that up a bit and to bring the bottom level up a notch or two.

I love my affiliates that produce a sale every few days. I look at the referring url and say, "I knew he could do it." It's a rewarding part of my job.

[VODBOB]

You got it Lloyd, There is no such thing as low producing affiliate, you have to reach out and look at their site and your position and figure out how you can maximize them. VODBOB

[abostonboy]

Seriously, Michael, and don't take the this the wrong way. I feel many times that it's the programs fault that they have low performing affiliates. How many times have you tried to open a conversation with some of them?

For example, in Bob's case I may email and affiliate and ask what they think of the selection of videos we have. Open up a conversation.

When I first started at BlakeMason, one of the first things I did was email some low performing affiliates members access to BlakeMason for a month and ask a favor if they could comment on the quality of our videos and the selection of models that we have. I wanted them to see if our content fit their site. It worked. Many replied back asking if they could edit some videos for TGP galleries and use pic content that was not in the affiliate newsletter.

Now, I would have an invite only program at first. Test it with some affiliates before opening it up to all. Look at conversions and retention on affiliate traffic.

[fetishlad]

Michael - I do not think you should have the affiliates in charge of YOUR business. You produce content, you do all the hard work. You can choose who you want, no matter what. There are 1 million reasons an affiliate might not be 100% happy - if you start and let them set the rules - you are a fool. Do your own thing - affiliates seem to have forgotten that there are only a few producers and there are many - too many - affiliates fighting for a piece of your pie.

To affiliates - I was speaking in very general terms - I do not mean you the good guys; we ;love you. - but if you feel pissed of by my post - then yes you are one of those a-holes.

[HunkMoneyLuke]

My low performing affiliates are VERY HIGH MAINTENANCE...

Lloyd, I like the way you think!!!

[Adam Mason]

We had a sleeper... an affiliate who joined and did nothing for over a year. No traffic, no sales. Then he woke up and has sent 100+ sales a week... that was over a year ago. My advice - never write an affiliate off!

[abostonboy]

Michael - I do not think you should have the affiliates in charge of YOUR business. You produce content, you do all the hard work. You can choose who you want, no matter what. There are 1 million reasons an affiliate might not be 100% happy - if you start and let them set the rules - you are a fool. Do your own thing - affiliates seem to have forgotten that there are only a few producers and there are many - too many - affiliates fighting for a piece of your pie.

To affiliates - I was speaking in very general terms - I do not mean you the good guys; we ;love you. - but if you feel pissed of by my post - then yes you are one of those a-holes.

In some ways I agree with you.

However, when you start trying to grow a business to a certain level, then you really have to listen to what affiliates want. True, there are way more affiliates than there are producers. But, there are more than enough producers that affiliates can be very picky who they choose to market.

Now, in SOME niches there maybe only one producer. So, that producer can pretty much do what he wants. But, he really should think long term. In two years there maybe 10 producers and now he is fighting for affiliates to get to a certain growth.

When I first started in this business there was ONE asian site that had an affiliate program. Now look. There are at least 40 asian sites that I can market. Trust me, it's a handful of asian sites that get marketed heavily. Why? They offer some benefit for affiliates to market them.

So, I do agree that a program can't let affiliates dictate their business. But, programs that want long term growth should consider affiliates a partner in their growth plan. Those that do will achieve the goals that they are after.