CAM Blog Podcast: Sam Harrelson of AffSpot

Today was a big day in the affiliate marketing industry. I posted earlier with a video from Sam Harrelson, founder of AffSpot.com talking about the launch of the new AffSpot affiliate marketing forum site.

I have known Sam for a while and respected his work and insight on his blogs CostPerNews, AffiliateFortuneCookie, and as the editor at Revenews. I bonded originally with Sam when he asked if “pinko lefties” like him were welcome at my Gospel Brunch at Affiliate Summit West a couple of years back. Come to find out that Sam is working on wrapping up his MDiv degree. I may just have to ask him to be our official CAMA Chaplain.

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Sam and some others including long time ABW’ers Billy Kay, Ron Bechtold, Kellie Stevens and Aunesty Jannsen came to the conclusion that the affiliate industry needed another place for discussion where all topics and areas of the industry (cost per sale, cost per lead, cost per action) were up for discussion and where opinions could be really freely expressed.

Sam and I chatted about the goals of AffSpot and the fact that this is not meant to be a replacement to other valued affiliate gathering spots like ABW, 5 Star Affiliate or noted “Black Hat” hangout Wickedfire.com , but another resource for people involved in all facets of the performance marketing industry.

I have launched a forum for my OPM company GTO Management as well as a forum for the Christian Affiliate Marketing Association there – I hope to see you on the threads.

God Bless,

Wade

Poll: Have you been removed from an affiliate program due to the “Affiliate Tax”

There has been a lot written and a lot of really drastic actions taken in recent months agains affiliates who live and do business in New York due to the passage of the “Affiliate Tax.” I want to know how this has effected CAM Blog readers.

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Thank you for taking the time to respond. For more information on the New York Affiliate Tax situation, I recommend 2 resources.

5 Star Affiliate Blog

NYAffiliates.com forum on ABestWeb

God Bless,

Wade

Amusing ABW thread- reponding with kindness and professionalism

I just got a chuckle, looking at ABestWeb, one of the biggest forums in the affiliate marketing industry.

Kevin, one of the moderators discussed his experience when he applied for and was turned down (incorrectly) for an affiliate program:

So what? Don’t take it personally. Here’s my latest example.Signed up (applied) for a merchant I really wanted to work with at CJ, because they’re great for my vertical.

A few days pass, and I get the “We regret to inform you…” email in my CJ inbox.

So rather than coming here and blasting the merchant (even though my main website listed is a great fit for them), I did the human, common sense, friendly thing to do. I emailed them at the address provided at CJ.

Dear merchant:

I get 30 to 50 people a day looking for XXXX specifically. What say you reconsider?

Thanks,

Kevin

48 minutes later, I have an offer in the CJ interface. Done and done. Links are going up in a minute.

Now, this is obviously also a good merchant: attentive, responsive, and looking for value added affiliates. So it won’t always be like this, but do the smart thing before you start torching people. Send an email, pick up the phone, whatever….

I loved this post because I  feel in a lot of ways the “level of discourse” in our society and in our business is really going down the tubes.  If someone feels slighted in any way, instead of making a polite email inquiry or phone call to look into the issue, or ask for reconsideration, they launch into an angry diatribe on an industry forum or a blog.

As Christians, I think we need to set the tone here and make sure that we’re treating folks like “neighbors” even if they make a mistake that we can’t understand.   We need to take a deep breath,  maybe step away for a coffee ( sorry – was raised Lutheran,)  then respond by extending some grace.

Trust me, I know as much as anyone that it is easy to rip someone in a blog post, etc.   But we should always try to lead with some love and understanding first.

Way to go Kevin!

God Bless,

Wade