02.07.08
Why I Don’t Like Private Affiliate Programs
I recently just lost over $800 in commissions from a world of warcraft gold selling company (I have an affiliate pitch site in that market) after they changed around their entire affiliate program and didn’t seem to feel responsible for paying their affiliates. It is ironic that my affiliate links to their site are still active, yet I can’t actually login to my account.
The site I have basically promotes WoW Guides/Gold Sellers side by side, and I promote 4 different gold providers. So far only 1 has paid through paypal. Although I have no idea what the game is even about, I like marketing WoW stuff because the market is so insanely lucrative. So it’s interesting that these companies don’t mind screwing over their affiliates.
I have heard stuff like this happening before with CPA companies (eg. if you’re generating worthless leads or incentivizing people to join), but in this case I wasn’t doing anything blackhat. Advertising networks and ppi companies are similar. You don’t want to promote them too heavily until you get your first payment and you know for sure they pay.
From the merchant/vendor side, here is why you want to setup your affiliate program with a trusted company like clickbank:
- Affiliates will promote you more because they KNOW they’ll get a cheque
- Affiliates are more likely to promote because they don’t have to go through your signup process
- You’ll get more exposure from affiliates browsing the marketplace
- You’re not responsible for technical stuff with your affiliate program
From an affiliate standpoint, I would much rather promote something I find off clickbank/paydotcom/shareasale etc. than sign up to someones private affiliate program, wait to be accepted, look for my affiliate link, and then wait to see if I get paid. This is why as a merchant you will likely get way more affiliates if you go with a trusted affiliate company, rather than having your own in-house program.
Bottom line? Don’t manage your affiliate program yourself unless you are totally serious. And as an affiliate, don’t promote a private affiliate program too heavily until you are sure they pay.