Blog tagged again. Everyone knows I hate getting tagged and ignore most memes. This one is a little fun because the person doing the tagging gets to choose the subject for the people you tag. Teli tagged me with a great topic: 5 Ways You Can Keep Your Affiliates Happy.

It’s taken me over a week to write this due to a myriad of server and tech support problems. I tried to come up with ideas and concepts besides the obvious “increase commission” type tips someone would come up with if they were just writing a quick and dirty list. Hope some of these affiliate-friendly ideas help you grow your program!

#1 Do Unto Others!
EVERY time you face a tough decision about your affiliate channel, pretend you are one of your own affiliates and walk in his/her shoes. Imagine being an affiliate who’s income is reliant on the integrity of the merchants they work with. If you were YOUR OWN affiliate, would you be happy with the decision you are about to make? Would you be happy with this type of treatment?

Before you cut commission, reduce cookies, hop networks or send another crappy activation email… think about how you would feel if you were on the receiving end. This seems like such a simple principle yet many merchants and AMs just don’t seem to practice it. Do unto others and watch your program grow!

#2 Pull Your Program Out of the Dark Ages - Keep up with technology
I can’t believe most merchants still don’t offer RSS product and coupon feeds, video ads or widgets. Sheesh, most affiliate programs don’t even have blogs and some don’t even have datafeeds.

Some merchants are slow others are just plain clueless! Affiliates are nimble creatures that can turn on a dime to adapt new technologies and they want OPTIONS! Set your program apart by offering the marketing options early-adopter affiliates want, that competing affiliate programs don’t yet have.

#3 Find Out What Your Affiliates Want and Give it To Them!
I was in sales and sales management for 15 years and I always subscribed the the principle “Find Out What Your Customers Want and Give it To Them!” Ask your affiliates the questions “What do you want” or “What can we do to improve our affiliate program”? I’m not certain you’d get many replies by email or by a survey, but a great way to find out is by asking your affiliates in your favorite affiliate forum or your own blog. Be prepared for possible flaming if your program isn’t up to par, but you can get some valuable insight that can be used to help your program thrive and stand out from the rest.

#4 Think Outside the Box! Offer Affiliates a Free Consultation
I’ve always loved the idea Mike Payne the Affiliate Manager at zZounds came up with. Read his activation letter in the blog post below for complete details about how to implement this.

Snippet: “We have not received any traffic from your site - but I’m confident that we’re just a phone call away from developing a great income stream for your site. I would like to offer you a free consultation on how to effectively monetize your web site with zZounds content.” Go read the rest - it’s worth the trip! Ultimate Affiliate Activation Email.

#5 Raise Commission and Increase your Cookie Duration - Money talks!
How long has it been since you did a competitive analysis of your program??? Can you afford to give your affiliates a raise?


To COMMENT ON or ADD TO this list, here’s the forum discussion:
5 Ways to KEEP Affiliates Happy & Motivated!

Due to lack of time, I’m only tagging 3 people. I don’t even have time to email them, so hope they read 5 star today. If you talk to these guys, give them a nudge for me!

Shawn Collins - 5 Ways AFFILIATES (not merchants) Can Benefit from the Next Affiliate Summit

Anik Singal - 5 Ways Affiliates can LEARN to Earn More

Andrew Wee - 5 Ways to Optimize Your PRODUCT LAUNCH for Success