Your Affiliate Manager : Friend or Foe?

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riverdog78

riverdog78

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Dec 15, 2008
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Just wanted to share a stupid mistake so hopefully some other newbs (like myself) can learn. I came up with a very creative and unique way to promote a few email submits offers. After a day of tweaking and testing, I was getting about 4x return on my money. So I started scaling it up, and the money was rolling in. This was all great.

So a few days go by and I get a call from my AM who has never called me before praising me for a good job on these offers, and asked to see my landing page and asking how I'm driving traffic there. Me, being a rookie, and not knowing better, proceeded to show him. His response was "Wow, this is a great concept. Looks good to me. Keep it up bro"

Within 12 hours my campaign slowed to a sudden halt, basically breaking even, almost losing a little. I called a veteran friend who told me I'm a dumb ass, and that some managers will scoop up your good campaign, basically steal it, and hand it off to another affiliates who can do 100 times the volume I am currently capable of. Lesson learned, I'm a dumb fuck, and hopefully this can help a few other newbs not to open their mouths, even when you think someone is actually going to help.
 


Hey riverdog,

sorry to hear that man. Next time your AM asks you for your LP just say: "What difference does it make if I show you? It's none of your business as long as I'm promoting it within the campaign terms. GTFO.".

I'd love to know who was the guy that stole your campaign. PM me.
 
I think it's fairly easy for the networks to figure out your pages eventually even if you don't tell them directly. Maybe you should try and split test your landing page with a different offer or try adding a big red button or ... to see if it makes a difference.
 
First off man, good job on the campaign!

andyt said:
I think it's fairly easy for the networks to figure out your pages eventually even if you don't tell them directly. Maybe you should try and split test your landing page with a different offer or try adding a big red button or ... to see if it makes a difference.
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No, it's not easy. Cloak your foot prints, cloak everything and don't tell them shit.

marketer23 said:
all apart of the game. now make a different landing page and make 8x the return ;)
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No its fucking not apart of the game, you mother fucking idiot. How the fuck is it apart of the game? They STOLE his fucking camapign. I would go fucking ape shit on my AM if he did that.

Is it apart of the game if I rob your watch, your car, your phone and your fucking shoe laces? No. This is no different fool.
 
Always establish a relationship with an aff manager before you give them any of your secret sauce. If you had a few call with the aff manager and got a decent read on the type of person they are, you'd likely figure out that they are not the right kind of person to trust.

Test them. Ask them what other affiliates are doing to make a boat load of money. If they give out a few too many specifics, be suspicious of them... as they'll likely do the same thing with the info you give them.
 
welcome to affiliate marketing 101

I would have to agree it's part of the game. It happens more often than not whether it be a affiliate manager or another affiliate. Unfortunately this industry's cutthroat need to cover you ass
 
Mind me asking what network this was with?

Sohan said:
Is it apart of the game if I rob your watch, your car, your phone and your fucking shoe laces? No. This is no different fool.
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What are you talking about? There's a difference between stealing someone else's possessions versus their business ideas. In this scenario it's wrong given that the affiliate manager is disclosing it, but still - Chill the fuck out with your posts.
 
Is there no confidentiality agreement in the network's TOS? The self-dealing affiliate manager can pillage campaigns and dole out the spoils as he pleases?

The network should be able to inspect landing pages and copy to make sure affiliates are not violating advertiser guidelines, so expecting to keep campaigns a secret is a pipe dream.

I wish the OP would post the name, but I guess it would leave him open to being sued.
 
Before we hang the unnamed AM out to dry, let's consider the possibility that since he is running Email Submits, he is getting hardcore scrubbed. I can't tell you how many times I've seen an affiliate do well for 3-4 days on an Email Submit and then suddenly conversions tank as the Advertiser raises the scrub rate. I can almost guarantee this is what happened.
 
Sohan said:
No its fucking not apart of the game, you mother fucking idiot. How the fuck is it apart of the game? They STOLE his fucking camapign. I would go fucking ape shit on my AM if he did that.

Is it apart of the game if I rob your watch, your car, your phone and your fucking shoe laces? No. This is no different fool.
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what you need is an all around education. people copy other peoples landing pages all the time. I never said its right, but it is part of the game.
 
JoshTodd said:
Before we hang the unnamed AM out to dry, let's consider the possibility that since he is running Email Submits, he is getting hardcore scrubbed. I can't tell you how many times I've seen an affiliate do well for 3-4 days on an Email Submit and then suddenly conversions tank as the Advertiser raises the scrub rate. I can almost guarantee this is what happened.
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Riverdog, were you pushing with affiliate.com by any chance?

j/k ;)
 
Sohan said:
No its fucking not apart of the game, you mother fucking idiot. How the fuck is it apart of the game? They STOLE his fucking camapign. I would go fucking ape shit on my AM if he did that.

Is it apart of the game if I rob your watch, your car, your phone and your fucking shoe laces? No. This is no different fool.
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Hey Sohan, lay off the juice.....



steroids.bmp
 
While I agree with what Josh is saying about the raising of scrub rates and then the campaign tanks...why don't more people have a double opt-in so this does not happen?
 
JoshTodd said:
Before we hang the unnamed AM out to dry, let's consider the possibility that since he is running Email Submits, he is getting hardcore scrubbed. I can't tell you how many times I've seen an affiliate do well for 3-4 days on an Email Submit and then suddenly conversions tank as the Advertiser raises the scrub rate. I can almost guarantee this is what happened.
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Bingo. Likely not the AM stealing but the scrub rate going nipples.

Did you actually find a competitor? I usually stick a unique phrase on each of my landing pages so it's easy to search out the guys who copy everything.

:crap::love-smiley-086:
 
VeraVixon said:
While I agree with what Josh is saying about the raising of scrub rates and then the campaign tanks...why don't more people have a double opt-in so this does not happen?
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All email submits scrub to shit that's why I don't like to deal with them. But with regards to VeraVixon's post. The advertiser isn't really paying for your email data. Have you ever followed an email sumbit all the way through? They say get a free ipod. First they get your email, then they have you fill in your address. Then after that they start showing you offers so that you can "earn your free ipod" earn aka fill out offers. So they equate how many offers people fill out from your traffic to how good your traffic is. Then they scrub down to where it's profitable for them. I know sucks doesn't it.... such is life when you deal with email submits.

As far as lumping all affiliate managers into the slimy group is a little quick to draw conclusions. It's as with most things you have cheaters, fraudsters and slime bags just the same as good, helpful and friendly AM's.

As someone said feel out the person you work with. Hell if you don't like them tell the network I don't think this person is a good fit for me can you match me up with someone else? Don't be scared, your AM is there to support and help you be successful. Get the right one on your side and you'll be happy you did.

Just my 3 cents.
 
Well, I just trust one AM from one network to show him my ads, etc. But you gotta get to know your AM and build a relationship first.

Next time someone ask you to show them your LP, tell them to go fuck themselves.
 
It all depends on the AM. I have one a few AM's that I love, most that i'm indifferent too and some that I hate. I think knowing them personally (and meeting up with them at events like Summit or Ad Tech) helps the trust factor, because you better believe that if an AM fucks me, and I see them in person, there will be hell to pay.
 
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