I made a response to this post where people were talking about Affiliate Managers and their lack of industry knowledge.
“Is is just me?
or are some networks/am retarded?
So, I sign up for a network the other day and just got a call back from them yesterday. On the phone with them they verify some information then ask me how much I’m doing with other networks, what networks I’m with, then what I’m promoting.
I tell the girl one of the campaigns I’m running consistently and then ask if they have it. She replies back stating they do indeed have that offer. I ask what the payout is (they wouldn’t approve me until the next day so I couldn’t login and see.) and she says “Well, we have multiple offers”. So I say “Well, what is the highest [street] payout.” I then get the line we’ve all heard a thousand times “We like to stay competitive with our payouts/pricing.” Okay, not much I can do. I’ll just check it out tomorrow.
So this morning when I go to login and check how much they pay per lead I type in the campaign name/keywords into the search and guess what, they don’t even have the offer, yet alone “multiple offers”. That shit gets me pissed more than anything. Scrub all the leads you want (well, not really) but don’t tell me something that isn’t even true so I’ll sign up for your network. And if she was new, or really didn’t know just be honest and tell me that don’t try and lie about it. /rant” – CShoemaker
My Response:
Why you’d hire just a general sales person as an AM always perplexed me. Honestly I think an AM should be your guide in how to make money or if you need help. Almost like a psudo coach. Networks benefit from your traffic and I believe should offer you some value in return, not just hire payouts and unique offers. At least that’s always been my opinion.
I remember when I went to ASW which was my first show about 3 years ago. I walked around the floor and talked with all the AM’s at the different networks in the booths. After about 1 hour I realized they had no idea what I did. They were just sales people put there to get you to run traffic but not help you at all. Kind of strange.
As most of you know I own a network now and honestly Affiliates are not altruistic either. I’ve put a lot of time into helping affiliates figure out how to make money and giving them advice only to have them move their traffic from our network to another network for a little $ more payout. Even though I’d showed them how to get the traffic to start with.
One thing about this business is it’s very viable long term however it’s built on relationships. If you want good affiliate managers take care of the network that’s helping you and pointing you in the right directions. A lot of people in this business think it’s all about a quick buck. And yes there’s definitely that group of people. But there’s also a group of people that will be around in 5-10 years. So decide if you want to make it a career or just a couple dollars as that option is open to you at all times. If you want to make this your career or build your company around this industry honestly treat others how you want to be treated. Mike and Dani over at Copeac helped me a lot and took good care of me for years when I started and in turn I ran all my traffic to them. Could I have got a a little higher payout and made a couple more bucks somewhere else? Probably. But at the end of the day I was more interested in building a relationship as I saw this as a long term business. And not just how can I get the most money for this very offer right now. In turn Mike has helped me a lot as a network too and offered somethings to me that I’m sure haven’t been offered to other people.
At the end of the day “do un to others” and think about relationships and long term. There’s soooooo many aspects to this business from traffic sources, emailing, niches, building offers, running a network, etc, etc. You may not need all the help on those things today but if you stick with it you’ll need help eventually. So those relationships and loyalties you’ve build will serve you well.
Success,
Jason Akatiff aka Smaxor 
I think this industry is way too short sighted. Long term is where it’s at, but long term requires a lot more effort, and a lot more accountability.
Good post. As they say in Hickville, USA, Dance with the one who brung ya.
You know I tried this approach with a network I was at and after a year they ended up firing the guy. My new AM is horrible compared and just does the sales bit like you said. My relationship with them is all but dead now.
Just like in Vegas networks love you when your up and ignore you when your down.
So since you get really bored working from home, how bout training someone that is completely lost in all this affiliate marketing ( yeah me) Ive read and learned so much I have no idea where to begin and could really use the help … Email me back if you could im just looking for someone that has actually made money doing this and could show me the ropes …
I just got accepted at A4D and my AM told me about 500% more than the AMs at the other networks I’ve joined. This means a lot to me, esp. when I’m new. Plus it means a lot that he seems to know what he’s doing and doesn’t sound “fake” b.s. cheezy like some AMs do. Just that last factor alone means a lot to me, it seems like marketing is full of slime and when someone sounds straight-up with me, it helps a lot.
All right I’ll quit kissing on A4D now but I had a pretty positive experience and am feeling good about it, and it relates to what you’re talking about. I’m pretty excited about A4D and haven’t been so much with the other networks I’ve joined.