- 09
- Aug
- 2010
5 Steps For Better Affiliate Marketing Relationships
Posted by: Ruck under Affiliates, Motivation
I was catching up on some reading this past weekend. Typically I try to get thru 2 books a week. A thirst for knowledge, a quest for the unknowing, call it what you will, I like to read and I do it alot. However, sometimes I have to break away from the computer and just sit down with a hardcover or paperback and when I say sometimes “I have to break away” that means I have to take an hour out of the time I am given each day to progress in my quest for more knowledge. With that said, I just finished The 80/20 Principle by Richard Koch. Pretty good book I have to say, I caught myself on page 186 grabbing my notepad after reading that page an putting it in perspective in relation to my business. So bear with me, I want to share something here in which I feel can fuel affiliates and even our managers in their relationships with publishers.
Here we go…
Here are 5 Step For Better Affiliate Marketing Relationships.
1. Enjoyment – Mutual Enjoyment more importantly. If affiliates dont like their manager, and managers dont like their affiliates, communication will cease to exists. For affiliates, it’s ok to chat it up with managers and see what’s a crackin but at the same time, if you are an affiliate who justs shoots the poo on a daily basis and dont work with your AM then it’s a little tough for your AM to enjoy the conversation. AM’s are in place to help affiliates but make money for networks. Sounds harsh, sorry, truth hurts. That’s their goal, that’s what they are trained to do. However, working with AM’s who have been where you are makes talking a lot more enjoyable because they have faced a lot of the problems you may face and are quick to react and respond to you on a level that is easily understandable. Gaging an affiliate’s ability to process information given to them is a tricky thing in this business because we all work from behind computers. Good communication between the two will allow a much more enjoyable environment to work around.
2. Respect – One of the pitfalls between affiliates and their managers is a lack of respect. Affiliates may or may not respect managers because of “industry standards” or “hear-say” on what should be right or wrong within standards. Managers may or may not respect affiliates because they are working with other networks or not working on anything at all. There has got to be a middle ground between the two. Each side has to learn to respect the other’s business positions so that they can forge a relationship built on capitalizing the time they do have to communicate to its fullest potential.
3. Shared Experience – Ahh yes, this might be number 3 on the list but for sure, it’s #1 in my heart! Former Affiliate VS. Hired in to manage? Who do you choose? Would you like someone who talks nice to you and is a big cheerleader or do you want someone who is going to help scale your business? Personally for me, I’m taking experience over speculation every time. People are people and they will choose who they want to work with regardless of what is said here, but in the end I see the same thing over and over. Eventually, they will break, pull their heads out of their asses and figure out that someone scaling their business is a lot more helpful than someone trying to get their business. I personally like to visit the other network booths at tradeshows and start testing people. I will however be honest here and say that the devil in me does like to test people and make them look stupid but I also try to learn from it. I want to know who out there “get’s it” and who out there “doesnt really give a shit”. So far, the results are drastically disappointing. I remember a specific network I was trying to work with at the Vegas summit last January so I pulled up in “Ruck fashion” to start speaking with this manager.
It went a little something like this….
I questioned this manager regarding their history and they let me know they just got their marketing degree. I dont remember which marketing degree because honestly:
- I didnt care
- It was irrevelant
- I was hungry and eyeing the concessions heavily
The tone was all wrong from the beginning. I am assuming that this guy is one of dem good ole boys who has that graduation plaque hanging up in his apartment or at mommie’s house and I’ll be the first one to say, that not only does that not impress me, it probably puts other people off as well. So right from the beginning, as he was 1 upping me. Immediately I recognized the type of person he was. That marketing degree put him on top and at that moment, I decided that I was going to decimate this individual’s confidence but first, I had to indulge him. This guy was about to be eaten alive but first, I wanted him to make sure he had a full belly because the trip he was about to take was going to be an abusive one and I want to make sure he used every weapon in his arsenal to pump himelf up. That way, when I broke him, he would be broken so bad, he would never act like that way again. Now you might be thinking I was being a complete asshole to him but I wasnt. This guy was about to get a lesson they dont teach in college.
Ok so he has a marketing degree, He went to school and has been in school getting this degree for the last half decade. After getting his degree he applied to a bunch of jobs which he didnt really like until he finally settled in at this network to become an Affiliate Manager at 60K a year and some bonus earnings. He was now working for someone else after going thru hell to get his education, spending lots of mommy and daddy’s money on tuition, loans and whatever else people spend that shit on in college. But now he was here, in Vegas working the booth, doing the grind, trying to build business for this company who hired him. He let me know about the few affiliates he had making over $1,000 a day already. It was at this point I couldnt take anymore.
I had to ask…
Ok, but what is your experience?
His response was that since he worked with these affiliates everyday, he was able to see what they were doing and let his other publishers know too so they could start up.
At this point I cut him off…
I basically said “shhh” with a quiet finger over my mouth, and I began to talk. I started off with “I would like to tell you that your tone sucks, even here face to face, I can only imagine what an arrogant prick you are every day in the office”. As for your “experience” and getting your degree in marketing, while you were “studying” I was doing this shit on my own. And if you need a little primer, here’s me back in 2007 spilling guts on stuff I was doing and making money already “on my own” here and here. As far as your affiliates making $1,000 a day, again sir, here’s what is really possible here and here with affiliates making millions. Ohh an one other thing, I dont manage, I own. So that degree got you 60K a year with bonuses with a few of your affiliates making $1,000 a day? Interesting, I dropped out of Juco College, did this on my own, and now where am I? Instead of being a snarky asshole, try to get into the trenches yourself so that those publishers making 1K a day actually have a chance with you and can scale your business. That’s how you get ahead in this business. BY DOING, NOT SPECULATING.
A bit of a rant there…
4. Reciprocity – Another one of my favorites here as well. Affiliates want managers to work their tails off to help them either start their businesses or scale them. Pretty simple right? But what do managers do in return for the hard work that the affiliate is going to do promoting offers? I know for me, I’m constantly looking at myself. What can I do more? Not only as a manager but Co-Owner of a network as well? What do other network owners do? Well, and nothing against them but most of them “oversee operations”. Uhh yea, I get that it but what are they doing for those affiliates sitting at home getting ready to fire up their work ethic and go to work? I dont like doing comparisons but I find myself constantly, blogging, twittering here and here, Facebooking in different places, working contacts on linkedin, attending tradeshows here and here, provide more content in our own forum, and other forums as well here and here. That’s on top of emailing our publishers almost everyday with news, and now broadcasting live Q & A’s along with providing weekly reports on weekly epc’s, new offers, and top offers. Knowing an understanding an affiliates business requires every ounce of energy from us to “reciprocate” with affiliates in every way we can and continue to build even more channels to help them.
5. Trust – A big one here and the door swings both ways. Affiliates have to trust that managers wont take their ideas and strategies or share the information they share with them to other affiliates. Managers on the other hand have to trust that the information they give them will be used in conjunction with the affiliates business and network. Nothing is really “free” in this business. Everyone wants something in one way or another. I dont bust my ass like this so affiliates can take what I share and go work with someone else. Although it happens a lot, the loyalty and trust I have built with so many affiliates is so worth a couple of “selfish” people to do that. It’s just the way this business is. You take the bad with good and you keep on giving. If there is no trust between the two, there really is no business to be done.
There are a ton of other things to consider here but I wanted to share 5 of them I picked up over the weekend and put in perspective. What do you think is another important step in affiliate marketing relationships?
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Before we start this post, for all the non-Convert2Media publishers who dont know me we may need a flash of credibility here.
<Insert credibility here>
- I myself was a publisher for 3 years making a living online. I know the grind. I know what is possible from the Affiliate trenches.
- I coach, train and manage millionaires. From Yearly Millionaires to Monthly Millionaires – I’ve had the priviledge of working with them.
- I Moderate one of the largest Internet Marketing Forums Online which has quite a few Millionaires that I know personally.
- I also own my own Internet Marketing Forum which it very self contains Millionaires.
- I attend Tradeshows and meet new Millionaires every trip from places such as Affiliate Summit and Adtech.
There’s something about a Million Dollars that just get people’s brain a bumbling. Mr. Green (which btw is one of the few blogs I read) posted a great post the other day How To Become An Affiliate Millionaire In Three Years. I read it 3 times because there is so much there, that is so true. I wanted to touch on what I felt were a few keypoints that he posted.
- Surround Yourself With Smart People – This goes without saying. There is a special aura with successful people. Matter of fact, I’ve met a lot of assholes in my day but not one of them was a Millionaire (that I know of). Typically, the high rolling affiliates that I meet are open to suggestions AND criticism. Matter of fact, most of them feed off criticism. Anything that is pointed out to them that they could do better, they eat this up. This goes with having a huge pair of kahunas as well as the ability to process criticism in a positive manner. Forums and mastermind groups are great but if you want to meet some badasses, try to get out to a trade show here and there. You would be surprised how many millionaires you can find at Affiliate Summit and Adtech.
- Get As Many Distribution Channels As Possible – T R A F F I C I S K I N G. Period. You need to gobble up every traffic source you can. The Net changes at an alarmingly quick pace. Regulations, site guidelines, affiliate competition. It all plays a huge role in how long that successful campaign will last on a traffic source. Besides, the “dont keep your eggs in one basket” rings true. Sadly, I saw a lot of affiliates over the last year completely stop affiliate marketing because Google closed their campaigns. Fuck Google, the grass is greener without them anyway. Trust me, I see amazing things every day from Publishers who dont even bother with them.
- Be An Unrelenting Machine – I have a famous phrase that gets repeated to me at almost every show. I dont even know where this phrase is at but somewhere in my journey online I once type out “Nobody owes you shit, Nobody is ever going to give you shit”. It baffles me how many people come to me at tradeshows and repeat this to me. You have got to develop a mindset like nobody else can. Failure is not an option, no matter how much you quit, no matter how much money you lose, Failure is not an option. Committment is 100% or nothing at all. Make a plan, set goals, achieve them, scale. Dont ever stop. Dont ever get comfortable. I’ve gotten comfortable before and I cant tell you how much of a bitch it is to come back from nothing to something. However, it can be done, I’ve done it. Repeatedly.
- Always Keep Your Door/Inbox Open – This one was very compelling to me. You never know who you are going to meet, you never know who you may end up talking to at 3 am. The Internet is a funny thing. You might feel alone because you are always online working on your business but guess what? There are thousands of us just like you doing the same thing. You are not alone, but you have to be open to meeting people and talking. Opportunities present themselves at the weirdest moments, you have to be prepared.
- Stick With It – Never give up. Man, I cannot stress this enough. I watch people give up every day, but I also see new people everyday come in. If this shit was easy, everyone would do it. It’s not easy. In fact, it’s probably going to be the hardest shit you ever try to accomplish but dammit, it can be done, it’s being done. There really are no secrets in this business, just a lack of information and knowledge you havent acquired yet. Keep working, you will get there. Instant Success rarely exists. You are going to have to work for it and possibly go thru hell to get there but that’s what it takes.
Thanks again to Mr. Green for the awesome post. In closing, I want to leave you with my Facebook message that goes along with everything that I have said. Read it, learn it, do it.
I Do The Things Most People Wont, I Sacrifice What Most People Cant, So That I Can Live The Way Most People Dont.
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In the last week I’ve done 3 interviews. One of which you can listen to here, and one which will be going live later next week on Jonathan Volk’s blog along with the interview I did today with Ian Mason which should be sent over shortly for everyone to listen to. There is one question that keeps popping up from almost everyone and that is “What separates the Super Affiliates from the regular affiliates”. First off, I dont believe in the word “Super”. Yes, Ruck understands that the term strokes certain people’s ego and hell, even I refer to some as “Super Affiliates” as well because of the convenience in the meaning.
For the longest time I answered the question with an answer like “organization and running a real business” is what separates the badasses from the newbies. It wasnt until this day, I caught myself reminiscing in Ian’s interview and remembering a very important quote. I’m sure as a C2M reader you have seen the movie “Wall Street” with Michael Douglas. If you havent, buy it. There is a very important sentence in that movie and it says “The Greatest Commodity I Know Is Information”.
Being online for what seems like forever now, in and out of certain methods of making money and businesses, it really dawned on me that information IS what separates the Lambo drivers from the honda civic lovers.
Allow me to enlighten you with a scenario…
When I came online, I bought courses that were complete shit that promised me riches and the world. They told me I could have whatever I wanted. Now after each course, I felt they were lying to me because I could not replicate their results. However, there was truth in every statement made. I CAN have whatever I want and YOU CAN too.
But, you are going to have to pull your head out of your ass…
You see from beginning business man until what you consider success is a VERY broad spectrum. Almost like a trail. I’ve seen it countless times with countless people I have had the priviledge of working with. I remember my days in a certain marketing forum where I literally gave 10 marketers who had not even made a dime online a certain strategy which made them EACH over $1,000 overnight. Information is power.
What will help you make you more successful?
As much as it pains me to give out a gem like this, I’m going to do it anyway. Power is NOT in the information itself. The power lies in you and the way you INTERPRET and APPLY the information.
Wait a minute Ruck, I’m confused…
I’m going to break this down real simple. Here comes a big kick to the groin for some of you and possible an emphany to some affiliates more established.
With the information I share, have you just copied what I said word for word and took off with it but failed? Quite possibly, over the years with information I’ve thrown out there, I’ve been able to witness both types of people. Those who INTERPRET and APPLY and those who rely on the information itself to produce results.
Information is powerful in this business. I sit all day with publishers and those who UNDERSTAND and APPLY with a creative mindset are the ones who make the most money whereas those who take the information and just try to test it out with any imagination of their own, fall flat on their face. You have to work harder than that people, I assure you.
Information has to be understood and applied for it to work. Understanding your advertising rep’s information they share with, understanding your affiliate managers information they share with you…you have to UNDERSTAND.
Information is coming to you on a daily basis. Right now your receiving information. Tomorrow when you read your email, make your forum rounds, make your blog rounds and everything else, you are going to receive information.
Know what separates the badasses from the sheep?
Tomorrow afternoon while you go to the gym or out tomorrow night to the bar, there are others who will take that information and interpret it so that they can apply it to their business.
The greatest commodity that I know is information but a failure to act is a dagger in the heart. It’s out there and your getting it daily but it’s not the information holding you back, it’s you. From here on out, everything changes. It’s time to get serious. More people are coming online everyday and I assure you, more people are establishing businesses online everyday. The pie is getting smaller as I type this, the odds are stacking against you and ultimately, some of you will reach your demise very soon.
Not very refreshing is it? Those who interpret and apply what they know, learn and can imagine are those who will succeed. Those who just read and do nothing with it are the ones who make your life easier because inevitably they will burn out. You have a choice, wolf or sheep. Everything you need to know to be successful in this business is online. Our businesses revolve around the internet, so it only makes sense that everything we need is accessible from the Internet right?
Find it and use it. If you cant find it, ask for it. If you dont get it, make up your own fucking way and do it anyway.
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Ahh seems like just yesterday I was sitting in my underwear, refreshing stats, and deciding which new offer I was going to get ready and test. Yes, the good ole days when everything was simple. Fast forward today to Co-Managing an Affiliate Network, handling, managing, and inspiring hundreds of affiliate marketers from all walks of the world, payments going in, payments going out…ahhh I just want to sit back and remember the basics of what it was like when I was an affiliate.
Here are 5 Rules for a productive affiliate. Although not set in stone and can change on a whim, practice these daily, and within 30 days I GUARANTEE you that you will accomplish more daily than you are now. I know this because like you, I’ve been there. I started from nothing too, nobody to help me, the only people who had any input with what I was trying to do would say such inspiring things such as “you wont ever make it”, “your not smart enough to make a living online”. Good stuff like that, when the odds are stacked against you and nobody gives a shit about your dreams…BUT YOU, you have to take every good bit of advice you can get, so here’s 5 good bits.
Rule #1 – Determination. It all starts the very second you wake up to start a new day. If you have no determination, you might as well lay back down because you have just killed the day. I’m serious. From here on out, I want you to split test something for me. Wake up tomorrow and immediately begin thinking about what you are going to accomplish and DO IT. The next day, I dont want you to think about anything, just go get online and begin your day with nothing in mind. See what happens.
Rule #2 – Worst Things First – Oh yea, There are two reasons why I suggest doing the things you hate FIRST. One may sound negative and the other positive but reread these two reasons why and watch the ninja jujitsu reverse psychology I just pulled on your ass and if you understand it, then yea, “YOU GET IT” and you will know why doing what you hate first, sets you up for a positive mindset the REST OF THE DAY.
Ok so the reason to do your “hate” list of tasks first in your day is to defeat ANY procrastination at the START of your day:
Definition of procrastination — “putting off or delaying or defering an action to a later time”. Oh really? Now you know why Determination is #1 one and doing shit you hate is #2. Determined people do not procrastinate…ohh no. People like us who dream big and do whatever it takes to achieve our goals do not get the luxury of putting things we dont like to do off till a later time. We do whatever it takes, whenever it takes.
Defeat your internal procrastination, your defeat your negativity. One small sacrifice in the morning gives you the rest of the day to enjoy sweet victory.
Which leads us to our second reason to do “worst things first”.
Positive Mindset – A very close friend of mine, whom I even consider a mentor in my daily life now has made such an impact on me in teaching me about the power of positive thinking that I have to share something with you. Having a positive frame of thinking throughout your day will give you the energy and mindset to accomplish anything that comes at you. You need this and I will tell you why. I deal with hundreds of publishers daily, I hear the same ole thing daily. “This isnt working”, “I cant get this to work”. As hokie pokie as it sounds, I’m almost afraid to tell these publishers the reason “it isnt working” or “you cant get it to work” is because you’re saying this crap.
Step back and refocus your energy and thoughts into “this will work, maybe not here, but I know this can work”. You know it can work because there are other publishers doing it. AHA, knowledge bomb dropped. Successful affiliates dont have the word “cant” in their vocabulary. What they do have is “I can” and “I will”.
Rule #3 – Daily Goals – VERY IMPORTANT to do this BEFORE you start your day. Even better if you can put together a goal list the night before that way when you do wake up to start your day you are determined to defeat your procrastination, putting yourself in a positive state of mind to achieve your daily goals.
Ohh shit Ruck, I see what you did there with that last sentence…
Rule #4 – Defeat Perfectionism – I honestly absolutely go crazy with someone with “perfectionists”. Yes, I do get it, you want to do or be the best in everything you do but let me tell you something. I personally didnt last this long by worrying about how something got done…just as long as it got done. That’s we as marketers use a little tool called “optimization”. You cannot optimize something that does not exist and I can tell you that the more time you spend on a project trying to “perfect” it BEFORE releasing it, the worse chance of you going off to do something unrelated or become distracted.
Build it, implement it, release it THEN perfect it. Just GET IT OUT THERE.
Rule #5 – Celebrate – This is the hardest to do especially since a lot of us sacrifice so much in our social lives to achieve a greater standard of living than the norm. Even if it’s just yourself patting you on the back after a project, do it. Your human and any motivation is better than none. Besides, how many people you know go to their daily jobs, punch that timeclock and then go home an pat themselves on the back for a job well done? Uhh yea right…
Now for the Ace Ninja Super Duper tie in to all this rambling and to put a few “haters” in their place.
Wake up determined to defeat what you hate most FIRST, so you have a positive state of mind to write down your goals, and spend the rest of your day pumping out projects one after another so that you can enjoy all that coin you will be pumping into your bank account.
Make sense?
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Before we start this post out, I feel like I need to share some things here. I’ve been out of the blogging game for quite some time. This break is worse than the one I took a couple of years ago when I was blogging at Cashtactics. I got burned out there, but this burnout was what I hope to be the worst one ever. A lot of things happened in the months that I took off. Business built, business dropped, business climbed again. Regulations, restrictions, affiliates giving up, advertisers quitting and a personal crisis I dont wish to ever happen to anyone occured.
With the sobbing and self pity set aside, I decided to make a return once again. That’s what happens when ambition consumes you and you will do whatever it takes to achieve your goals, and that my friends, is really the point of this post.
Starting affiliates, listen up because I’m about to kick you where it hurts most. I assure you that you wont read what you are going to read here today anywhere else. Quite frankly, over the last few years, I’ve had to develop a REALLY thick skin and now it’s your turn. Lucky for you, I’m not some hired gun here to make a blog post about shit I know nothing about. Ohhh no, I’ve been there. I made my living THE EXACT SAME WAY you are probably trying to make yours now. I hustled in any way I could, I did whatever it took but most importantly I gave the finger to everyone who told me it couldnt be done.
Whatever level of success you want to achieve, I assure you that there will be some form of sacrifice you will have to make. The difference between those still dreaming and the ones living it, is that some will make those sacrifices without hesitation. Are you willing to do whatever it takes to achieve yours?
Our business may seem incredibly frustrating to some, but it really boils down to market intelligence. You really need to get a good grasp on HOW to market because it’s your ad copies, your images, your content…it’s these things that will determine your ability to turn a positive ROI in this business. Although there are many ways to go about making money online, if you are reading this blog, it’s because you are involved in the performance marketing industry and you desire to learn a little nugget or two.
STAY FOCUSED – DONT READ IT…LIVE IT.
I go thru a multitude of scenarios daily. Matter of fact, when we started Convert2media, the idea was for me to only work with established affiliates. Well, that’s all fine and shit but recently I started shifting my focus back to working with publishers just starting out. Thru the years I quickly realized that millionaire publishers are born over night and it’s not just a fluke.
I cant stress this enough…YOU HAVE TO FUCKING FOCUS. New publishers are ALWAYS coming to me asking about 4 or 5 offers at a time. My first question is “which offer you have running on a positive ROI?” The same ole answer everytime, “none yet, I’m searching for a winner”. Well, I understand that mindset, matter of fact, I was there 4 years ago. Listen, you cannot be testing 4-5 offers if you’re new.
Here’s why….
When you are starting out, you’re ecstatic. No feeling can replace the one you have when you realize the money you can make. No feeling is going to replace the feeling of financial independence. You are buzzing right now and want to take the world by the reigns. Now that you are all tickly inside, you really need someone to come over and slap your ass back to reality. And the reality is this….
Nobody owes you shit, nobody is ever going to give you shit. You have to man up (ladies too) and take it with your own two hands. You have to realize you are going to have to work harder, smarter, faster and more efficiently than the rest. Because as certain as my return to blogging is, I assure you that there are thousands of others coming online everyday and learning what you just did. YOU HAVE TO STAY FOCUSED.
Get an offer, speak with your manager, grill them. Where it’s being promoted, how, whatever you can squeeze from them, you take it with your own two hands. As evil as affiliates want to make networks and affiliate managers out to be, you are not going to get the information they know regarding that offer ANYWHERE else.
So if you are the hateful “Networks are against me type” of affiliate, suck it up and squeeze them for all they are worth (whatever that may be) but for your own sake, do not have 4-5 offers going at one time. It will absolutely decimate your moral. It’s better to live thru 1 mistake (shit campaign) than to take the stress of 4-5 failures at once). You cannot stop failure but you can damn sure put yourself in the mindset to limit it as little as possible.
STAY FOCUSED – One thing at a time when starting out. If you have to walk before you crawl.
