By Allan Gardyne, AssociatePrograms.com
1. Taking advantage of affiliates
By Ken Evoy
Hi Allan,
Another super article! Current affiliate programs are at
the "take maximal advantage of affiliates" stage. The
responses you got confirm this...
>*************************************************************
> 1. Don't put your trust in cookies
>*************************************************************
>Michaela of eToys, which pays businesses a 25% commission
>and personal sites 12.5%, replied:
>
> "Our affiliates do receive credit for repeat visits if these
> repeat visits were originated from their site. Affiliates
> should therefore encourage their visitors to visit their
> site repeatedly and use their links to go to eToys. Please
> visit our Helpful Hints page located at
> http://etoys.com/html/affiliate6.shtml and learn how to
> improve performance of your links. We do not plan to credit
> our affiliates for visits originated from bookmarks or
> typing in the URL."
Phew, no bones about it. "Send us a lifetime customer, and we'll
pay you a $3 commission. In two years, we'll have thousands of
new customers, and you'll have... uh... nothing."
How much longer until affiliates smarten up? Companies simply
have no reason to change (other than it's the right thing to
do, of course) until they realize that this is *no way* to
build a long-term business with equity.
-----
>"The reason that there is no mention on the site is because
>the system, as presently constituted, is not THE solution,
>Jaffer said. "Cookies do not work well. People delete them
>and if they have them turned off, the system cannot track
>them. Cookies often expire.
Only a small percent delete cookies. Over the years, of course,
there will be steady attrition for a variety of reasons. So you
do need a backup system..
-----
>"We have asked our provider to do a database match. This is
>The ONLY way to do it properly," Jaffer said. "They are
>considering it. I do not think the industry will go to this
>as a standard because most companies do not have the margin
>to do this. As long as discounting is the way that most sales
>are made to the consumer, this eats into product margin.
I disagree with this. Nowhere is it written that a residual
commission must equal the "first-buy" commission. Simply adjust
to what your margins can afford.
We're setting up SQL-database matching. It'll be 99% -- we can't
find the customer who changes physical address, e-mail address,
phone number, AND who uses a different credit card *all at the
same time* (we keep the last seven digits of credit card numbers
in the SQL database, but not the entire card number, for obvious
reasons).
It's not the easiest protocol to set up, but once it's done,
there are no costs involved -- so I'm not sure how database-
matching eats into margins...
... unless he means that a residual commission eats into margin.
That's true of course, but there are easy solutions that turn
this "lemon" of an issue into lemonade for both vendor and
affiliate. They simply choose not to use them.
-----
>It looks as though 1999 will be a fascinating year as more
>and more businesses launch associate programs and compete
>strongly for the attention of webmasters. The generous ones
>will catch my attention - and yours, too, no doubt.
Allan, I respectfully submit the following ...
it's not so much the "generous" ones as the "fair" ones --
a great program is a fair, symmetrical one.
If an affiliate chooses on the basis of "outstanding generosity,"
he may not realize that great generosity comes at a price...
o is the company desperate?
o is the company fiscally irresponsible, and not destined
to last more than a year? Or will reality smack it in
the forehead and force it to reduce commissions?
o or worse, is it a bad-faith "switch-and-bait"? Will
they reduce commissions after you've spent a year building
up the business?
o is the "generous" commission built into the price of
the product? If so, you have an overpriced product.
Overpriced products do not last long on the Web.
2. Overcoming tracking problems
By Cliff Allen Your article on whether an affiliate program should use cookies or not was very good, but let me add a couple of thoughts. The way we've overcome most of the problems of tracking people with cookies is with bookmarks. We just completed a Web site for Backyard Nature by Design that uses our personalization software, and we included affiliate program tracking into the design of the profile database for long-term tracking. As a customer enters the site they are assigned a unique ID, cookied, and the affiliate code is stored in their profile. The URL for every page they visit on the site contains their ID so when they bookmark any page they are also saving their unique ID. When they return using either a bookmark or just type in the site's URL (http://www.BackyardNature.com) they are automatically identified and tracked -- and the affiliate receives credit for any additional purchases. In addition, the Backyard Nature newsletter has links to the Web site that contain the reader's ID so when they click a link in the e-mail, it's just like they used a bookmark with their ID to return to the site. On the topic of using IP addresses to identify people, that is becoming more and more difficult. As you know, ISPs re-use IP addresses for dial-up customers, which means that a customer is unlikely to be given the same IP address the next time they dial their ISP. In addition, the growing use of proxy servers that convert all users to, say, one IP address confounds the problem because what looks like one user is actually several, or hundreds, or thousands of users. AOL creates an additional problem because they change proxy servers on a user during a session. Our server log shows AOL users changing IP addresses during a session -- while the ID assigned by our software remains the same throughout the session! Until a new way of identifying people on the Net is invented, it looks like cookies and bookmarks together is the best solution to tracking individual people. Cliff Allen Experience GuestTrack Web personalization GuestTrack, Inc. Co-Author: Internet World Guide to Los Angeles, CA One-to-One Web Marketing 310/558-3599 http://www.GuestTrack.com
3. Solution easy, says Brad Waller
By Brad Waller >One thing that annoys many webmasters is the thought that >they may attract a life-long customer for a company but be >paid commission on only ONE sale. After visiting Amazon.com >or eToys.com the first time, the customer will simply >remember the name and go directly there. > >Will there be a trend in 1999 towards more companies paying >for repeat visits? I sought an answer from Jaffer Ali, who >keeps his finger on the pulse. > >In August last year Jaffer announced proudly that PulseTV.com >was tracking sales from dual sources - the referring URL as >well as a cookie. "As long as the cookie remains 'active' the >affiliate will receive 20% on subsequent visits by consumers >even on additional sales generated from our e-mails." Actually, the solution is rather easy. Assuming you can track the initial sale to an affiliate, all you have to do is mark that account as a referral from that affiliate. At EPage, each and every user ID has a database field for the referral. If you recall my note from a few months back, all you have to do is use the referral code and every time that user pays us money, the original referring site will make money, no matter where the customer came from for the current sale. Any program that can't track subsequent sales has a hole in their database. You always want to know the source of good referrals, so you should have this anyhow. Sites may choose not to pay for repeat sales, but any site with an associate program should have the ability to permanently track the originating referral through user ID data. Brad Waller waller@ep.com __________________________________________________________________ Webmasters: Want your own Auctions? Classifieds? Create your own FREE Custom Auction & Classified Site EPage Classifieds & Auctions | http://ep.com/b/csp.html http://ep.com/ | - Revenue sharing available!-
4. Only logical and fair method is to pay the LATEST referrer
By Greg Hudson G'Day Allan. I'd like to throw my 2 cents worth in on this subject if I may... I'll admit to being a raw beginner in this area, but I'm of the opinion that there are some basic logic holes in all the explanations I've seen to date re tracking the originating referrer ID. Here's why... Lets assume we have an associate program host (like me for example. I sign up 1,000 web sites as associates... Customer X sees my button on Associate number 250 site, and pays me a visit. Lets assume that he does NOT purchase then and there, but decides to come back later (don't we all?)... So, several months pass, then the visitor sees the Hudson Software button again (Ah Ha he says... I meant to get back there!), except this time the button he sees is on Associate number 500's web site... He clicks, sets the cookie, and purchases online (GREAT!). So who gets paid? Associate 250 (where he first spotted the button) or Associate 500 (which led him to the actual purchase)? I know? Let's make it a 2-tier system and pay them BOTH! (joke) But wait... it gets even trickier... Six months later he sees the button on Associate # 750 site, and visits for a THIRD time (recreating the cookie he wiped out 3 months ago)... You guessed it... He buys yet another program (or an upgrade)... Who gets paid this time? #250? #500? or #750? If someone is storing the ORIGINAL referrer's ID (in this case 250) in their database, are they going to pay #250 for all the sales effectively made through #500 or #750 ??? I DON'T THINK SO !!! (And why should they?) Yes, sure you can track the referrer's ID in your database, but in my humble opinion, the only FAIR way is to store only the LATEST referrer number, not the original referrer... I'm reminded of when I bought my latest car (a BMW Z3)... I first read about it in a Car Magazine (let's call that referrer ID#250). Several months later I saw it at the Motor Show on a stand run by BMW Australia (let's call them ID#500). Some time later I went past a dealer, and picked up a brochure (let's call him ID#750). However, it was another dealer entirely (call him ID#1000) who called me to say they had a red one in stock... would I like to test drive... I did, and purchased it. So who do you think I gave my money to? The Magazine? BMW? Dealer #750 or Dealer #1000? The answer is quite obvious, and so is the whole question of who to pay with associate program referrals... The only LOGICAL and FAIR method is to pay the LATEST referrer, not the originator. Storing the LATEST ID# is also more profitable for the MOST CURRENT Referrer... Repeat sales (perhaps made by direct e-mail with the customer) could also qualify for a commission sale (if the vendor is reputable at least). It doesn't matter even if the visitor kills the cookie... they can do what they like, but the LATEST referrer's ID is still going to remain in the database, and will therefore still attract commissions. These opinions are of course totally biased... I'm already tracking the most current referrer in my associate program! :-) Now if only I could find a decent ISP... and some free FrontPage, Java, or CGI scripts that would let me REALLY crank the system up! Regards, Greg Hudson. President, Hudson Software. http://www.hudsoft.com
Select a Category:
Top Rated
New
Programs
Autoresponders
Education
Dating
Domain Names
Electronics & Software
Health & Beauty
Internet Services
Marketing
Search Engines
Sports & Recreation
Web Hosting
Other
Tracked Only By Cookies
|
Subscribe to my free monthly newsletter and receive details of the lucrative new programs added to the directory. It's the best way to make sure you never miss out on any lifetime commissions! Email Address: |
|
FREE Affiliate Masters Course
Let Ken Evoy, President of SiteSell's HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL Five Pillar Program, show you how
to create an effective site for any affiliate program. 
|
| Home | FAQ | Beginner's Guide | Resources | Add A Program | Top 3 Programs | About |
Lifetime Commissions.com Copyright © 2002
Webmaster: Glennys Faulds
Email: Webmaster@LifetimeCommissions.com.