Going Direct - Advice

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NeilT

NeilT

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Mar 11, 2008
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I'm currently in the process of going direct with one of the merchants I promote. This is the first time I'm doing this so I was wondering if anyone had any advice, such as what to look for in the contract or anything else that you may have learned through your experiences. I'm also curios about what additional risks you think going direct may entitle.
 


Biggest problem usually is payment terms. Make sure you are prepared to have less continuity when it comes to getting paid.
 
depends what kinda of leads you're doing. is it something simple like downloads, or complex like debt lead gen?
 
Advertisers are starting to fuck people over as usually happens when the economy is in bad shape like it is right now so that would be one of my biggest concerns going direct. That and payment terms are what usually keep me working with networks but I have done direct deals when it made sense for my business.
 
yeah. you also want to be careful dealing with angry lawyers. they can take you down instantly with this stuff..
 
As an advertiser, I can tell you to have a very strong contract. Make sure you're getting paid for valid transactions even if the advertiser may not collect in the end.

Quality is very important when dealing with advertisers, depending on the offer you promote, so clearly identify was consitutes a valid payable action so you're covered.

The majority of the time, I work direct with affiliates/publishers and it's great. I'm able to translate as much advice as feedback as I can without any interruptions, which will ultimately make more money for all involved. There are certain networks that are able to do that, but not all.
 
When you go direct, be very specific in defining what constitutes a valid lead. The advertiser will often want to scrub for poor quality and you take a risk going direct because ultimately, if the advertiser decides not to pay you, you don't have much recourse you can take. Networks have more pull with advertisers because in order to keep the heavy traffic coming, you need to pay up. Another issue is that if your traffic quality is poor, it's a bit easier to hide it with a network in between rather than exposing yourself for the advertiser to see exactly what you're giving them.
 
Get ready to wait for payments. net30 is more like net 45 when you're waiting for them to actually get off their asses and mail it. Want a wire payment? You better be doing some large volume to justify the extra effort on their end. Networks exist for a reason, (love them or hate them), they take away the headaches and constant payment annoyances affiliates don't see.
 
Ya just read through the contract. Biggest problem on my end was the once a month net 30 non-negotiable.

I could deal with the shit payment terms but the thing that scares me is If I promote them for 59 Days, then on the 60th when I'm supposed to get my first payment they don't feel like paying up or something happens to the company and they can't pay. at least 60K of ad spend down the shitter...
 
Just looked at their finacial statements and in the past 3 years profit margins have been worst then -100% and losses in net income have been going up by 100%
 
NeilT said:
Just looked at their finacial statements and in the past 3 years profit margins have been worst then -100% and losses in net income have been going up by 100%
Click to expand...

That may be viewed a plus or negative.

Plus Perspective:
They are hungry for success. If you bring them a lot quality leads, and their net income starts rising, then they'll less likely screw you over, since you become an important factor in their success. There wouldn't be a need to kill the hand that feeds them.

Negative Perspective:
Economy is low right now, so budgets are strained. They may decide to keep milking you into the deal, and have you generate thousands of quality leads for them. They'll most likely profit well of that amount, and decide to not pay you, so they maximize their revenue.

A lot of it also really depends on how big the company really is.
 
You could always see if you could get the direct relationship and not put all your traffic to them. Keep whatever amount you are comfortable with running through the network and do the rest direct. Although if they know the numbers you are pulling they might figure out what you are doing but still it keeps your ass from being put completely out to dry. Just a thought!
 
As a network that has an opportunity to go direct we often cross-publish from another network just for terms and risk reasons. As far as large volume goes that doesn't mean you're going to get paid faster. We did around 500k with a diet offer and the guys sent us a company check and gave us worse terms for it :) Then said they didn't want anymore traffic. There really is no rules when it comes to advertisers they do what they want. If they have the best offer and say monthly net 30 there's not much you can do other then take it or let some other network take the risk. it's really up to you what you can handle and feel comfortable with.
 
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