Nearly-noob needs advice

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HellaGood

HellaGood

Amassing FABULOUS wealth!
Apr 15, 2007
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I'm new to the affiliates business, and had to face something I hope none of you ever have to deal with. My business partner suddenly passed away last month, leaving a wife, kids and our under-developed business with a befuddled partner (me). I brought a site concept idea and a little cash -- he was the experienced affiliates guy -- who began the partnership by explaining to me what affiliate is.

The site is on-hold, awaiting coding enhancements that should have been done in the first place, and I am using the time to learn more about the business.

After all this yada-yada my question is, do you think I should hire an affiliates manager, or do the affiliates end myself?
 


Hi.

Sorry to hear about your business partner, can't be a good situation to be in.

I'm by no means the best person here to answer your question, but it depends on the scale and nature of your business and the resources available.

Whether you hire someone or not, it's worth considering companies like Commission Junction, Tradedoubler, etc that will handle a lot of the day to day business of running your army of affiliates - for a price.

There's some guys here running very successful affiliate programs, hopefully someone can give you a better answer.

Good luck, Si :)
 
I am very sorry to hear about your loss. An awful thing to happen.

If you have the cash, then I would advise you to get somebody more experienced involved. Even if on a percentage basis. But it does depend what you are actdually looking for.

For example, if you are just looking for an affiliate front-end then a very good place to get started is with Clickbank or PDC.

On the other hand if you are looking for someone to create the relationsihps with affiliates and JVs and you don't have time then you really must get somebody else involved.
 
I already have active accounts with the biggest affiliates, notably Commission Junction, Specific Media, Max Bounty, et al. John had relationships with these companies, and I'm basically picking up the slack. I'm finding the business very, very confusing. For one thing, I don't know how to post affiliate links properly, and going to ask in a different thread.
 
Hi HellaGood.

I saw your other post and it sounds like you need a web designer rather than an affiliates manager or to get reading...

Most programs (eg Commission Junction) will give you the html or javascript to copy n paste in... any problems and the best place to look might be there FAQ/help/forum etc.

GL
 
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LazyHippy said:
Hi HellaGood.

I saw your other post and it sounds like you need a web designer rather than an affiliates manager or to get reading...
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I have a web designer, too, and he helps me maintain the site. In some respects, I have been very lucky. I will keep reading the forum and asking dumb questions.

My friend the talented web designer doesn't know much about affiliates, and he's learning along with me. Perhaps I feel more inept than I actually am.
 
HellaGood said:
I'm new to the affiliates business, and had to face something I hope none of you ever have to deal with. My business partner suddenly passed away last month, leaving a wife, kids and our under-developed business with a befuddled partner (me). I brought a site concept idea and a little cash -- he was the experienced affiliates guy -- who began the partnership by explaining to me what affiliate is.

The site is on-hold, awaiting coding enhancements that should have been done in the first place, and I am using the time to learn more about the business.

After all this yada-yada my question is, do you think I should hire an affiliates manager, or do the affiliates end myself?
Click to expand...

how much experience do you have with PPC marketing such as Google Adwords and Yahoo Overture??
 
alistdirector said:
how much experience do you have with PPC marketing such as Google Adwords and Yahoo Overture??
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Some experience, as we had a search credit with Google but ran it down and didn't renew. I may use it again for a few months when the site's finished and have a relaunching.

There is a lot of Adsense at the site now, as we bought Adsense templates. I have been trying to learn about the different ways to monetize the site as it's a purely commercial site that combines points and giveaways. I'm unsure about a lot of the terminology, as I had to look up PPC marketing and Yahoo Overture to find out what they mean, but once I got the info I realized we were using the products.

Can't postee no linkee here?
 
HellaGood said:
,,,

Can't postee no linkee here?
Click to expand...

Actually, you can. Just use the world and chain-link button on the row of icons above your message.

That will generate forum-code for the link. One look at it and you'll understand how it works. (Very similar to HTML, actually)

You can use the same code in your signature.

::emp::
 
sorry

sorry about the loss of your partner. I am no pro but I wouldkeep the venture to yourself. Why let someone in on something you havellready started. Stick with you will figure it out on your own.
 
ssudds said:
sorry about the loss of your partner. I am no pro but I wouldkeep the venture to yourself. Why let someone in on something you havellready started. Stick with you will figure it out on your own.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the vote of confidence, and I may follow your advice. Perhaps I feel more incompetent than I really am, but I'm teachable.

Actually, I'm a screenwriter, and the affiliates business appeals to me because it's a portable living I can take with me to the west coast; it's a great business to be in on so many levels. I'm determined that it do well. I really want it.

Kudos to those of you who are doing well, and your enterprising spirit. :D
 
Good luck with things.

One thing if I might comment - the site looks a little messy. By that I mean things aren't justified all of the time (I prefer the clean look of a fully justified paragraph instead of a right alignment, ie FAQ section) - and other times just look more like a site from 1995.. for example the coupon section. Having everything centered looks messy - since there is no a good 'flow' from start to end (by flow I mean the shape of the words). I would right justify these. Also, the colored words (especially the pink) make it an eyesore IMO... besides that there is no way of easily finding a coupon you would be interested in. I would look at that page, interested in say haircare products (I say this because I think your target market is going to Middle aged stay-at-home moms), not be able to find something easily- and close the page in a second.

Maybe start organizing things better? Say by category, etc?

Also - keep in mind your target market. I see ads there for Playstations,etc...but are young teens going to be on your site? The demographic visiting your site is probably going to be looking for beauty aids, weight loss plans, more 'As seen on TV' products, etc... Focus more on those, and if you still want to include games, etc - maybe put them in a 'Kids' category, so the moms can find stuff they can enter in for their children.

Lots of little things - like in the FAQ section there are no hyperlinks up top that allow viewers to easily scan the sections, click on them, and be right where they want to be instantly.

The colors, etc. of your site seem about right for your target group - very 'county home' feeling.

Well thats all I got for now... I'm better w/ site design that anything else, I think my programming team hates me now since I've been running them ragged with all the little details I want done on my sites...

Good luck!
 
I know a lot of this, and agree with it. A few of the categories such coupons and weird stuff are going to be folded into the forums. There will be other categories, such as a survey area that will hopefully be monetized by survey companies, that I can pay members with tickets to complete.

I have many ideas for the site, and template work/rearrangement will happen once the major coding work is done. This is minor site fix-up that I don't consider a problem. The major work being done is expensive administrative functionality that is taking weeks to complete. I have no choice but to wait for the coders to finish before I proceed with the rest.
 
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