Should you trust your affiliate manager?

Georgia Poker · #1 03-30-2006, 10:28 AM

I read an article recently that really got me thinking, should you trust your affiliate manager? I'm not indicting EVERY affiliate manager out there but I hope after reading this it will at least warrant a question or two for your affiliate managers.

In the latest issue of Revenue Magazine on page 120 there is an article titled "The Root of Evil". The author talks about a few different topics but this one really jumped out at me. He writes about an incident that took place earlier this year at Commission Junction. I'll paraphrase below:

Quote:

...Less than a month later, three big affiliate managers quit over CJ's policy that prohobits employees from running their own affiliate programs.

The email sent by Value Click to all CJ workers discussed a perceived conflict of interest. Well, DUH! If I were an affiliate, I certainly wouldn't want my account rep to see ALL OF MY crucial data, never mind use it to build up their own program. But clearly, being an affiliate must be more lucrative than just talking with them all day, or each of these managers wouldn't have opted to leave.

Amazingly (and it pains me to admit this) I've never thought of this possibility. What if the affiliate manager I've been working with on costly campaigns and marketing efforts is taking the key elements and using them in HIS own counter campaign? What if he's taking MY intellectual property and using it to his or her own advantage? A better question would be what's to stop them?

Of course, I'm painting a worst case scenario here but this is not beyond the realm of possibility. If it happened at CJ it can certainly happen in our sector as well. I'm not going to reveal any details but I know for certain that there are affiliate managers in our space that run their own programs just like you and I. That doesn't mean that they're taking our ideas but to argue that none of them are benefiting from them is somewhat naive.

Now what good will come from this discussion? It's my hope that it will open some eyes out there and at least have folks asking questions. It's not a conspiracy theory but you should be aware that is happening in our space and others. It's worth a little due dilligence to learn just how much trust should exist between you and your affiliate managers. Wouldn't you agree?

Ritch111 · #2 03-30-2006, 10:37 AM

Todd,

You raise a great point about Methods and Strategies. If people look hard enough, you can determine where people get there traffic and what works for them.

To have the keys to the kingdom like an AM, makes me really nervous. They know what sites work and don't work. How hard would it be for an AM to find how you succeed and then pass it to a friend or partner. Not tough at all. The only person I trust on the Internet is myself. I've been burned before and I will try my hardest not to get burned again.

Ritch

Jay · #3 03-30-2006, 10:47 AM

Isn't Jeremy running the affiliate program for PokerHeaven?

I think he's a nice guy, and nothing against him, but that's one reason I didn't try to do something with that affiliate program.

Jay · #4 03-30-2006, 10:56 AM

Oh, and there is another affiliate program that I do use, but I'm not really sure about the AM.. so what I do is host the ads myself, and then have the links go through a redirect script. So their stats would lead to my redirect script but they wouldn't know how people went through that.

Georgia Poker · #5 03-30-2006, 11:02 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Jay@Mar 30 2006, 10:47 AM
Isn't Jeremy running the affiliate program for PokerHeaven? I think he's a nice guy, and nothing against him, but that's one reason I didn't try to do something with that affiliate program.

Jeremy is a consultant for Poker Heaven and I can personally vouch for his integrity. I've had discussions where Jeremy and I both share visions and concepts openly and he's NEVER taken one and tried to emulate or copy it.

Jeremy certainly isn't one to worry about B)

Jay · #6 03-30-2006, 11:10 AM

Well, I apologize to Jeremy, I don't mean to question his integrity.. I'm not accusing or anything.

indieangler · #7 03-30-2006, 11:11 AM

Heh, I don't think you'll ever have to worry about Jeremy's integrity and you're perfectly safe to promote PokerHeaven. It'd give me more reason to promote them SINCE he's involved, really.

SunPoker.com · #8 03-30-2006, 11:28 AM

I think the AM's job is to work with the affiliate to achieve the goals necessary to make your ideas work. There is a level of trust that needs to be established. If you don't trust some one, then giving them private information is not to your benefit. I suggest not signing up for a program you do not trust.

I agree, as an AM, I can see what sites are doing well, what campaigns are working and not working, and can use that knowlege. Quite honestly though, I believe anyone can get a good feel for what sites are working and driving most of the traffic. I think Randy pointed out in a thread a while ago, on the web you have the ability to see what anyone is doing at any time.....who they're linking to, who's linking to them, how many pages they have, where they rank in the search engines, and so on.

If you are talking about a unique idea that you present to your AM. I think the it is the AM's responsibility to maintain integrity and not pass on that information. That is something you will have to trust the AM on.

Mark

#9 03-30-2006, 01:02 PM

Quote:

Isn't Jeremy running the affiliate program for PokerHeaven?* I think he's a nice guy, and nothing against him, but that's one reason I didn't try to do something with that affiliate program.

To address the above, I am strictly consulting for pokerheaven the same as I have done for other sites in the past. It just so happens that they also wanted to be a sponsor here so it is obviously a bit more public than some of the others.

Grant Williams is the affiliate manager, but I am happy to help them out where I can. I am not privvy to all the information that you may think.

With that aside I probably learn of many of your promotions just from talking with you guys on messenger or on the phone versus any other source. I also have shared many of my non-public promo's with some of you. Really it coes down to trust and working with people that are in the "business of poker" and not just out trying to make and extra hundred bucks every month.

I do think that there is a very valid concern about AM's and whom you choose to parter with and share your personal info with. But like any industry, do your due dilligence and make sure you trust the AM you are working with. Although I'm sure it could happen, keep in mind the top AM's in the industry get paid very well and it wouldn't make sense for them to directly copy your idea and capitalize on it. Not only would they lose their reputations, they would lose their jobs.

Seeing what successful affiliates do is just part of the job. It's no different than the people that work for Google in their Adwords department, or the Ameritrade advisor that sees all of your trades. Sometimes there is just no way of completely hiding this stuff from the parent company.

Bottom line though is that if you are a high producer or do have the "million dollar", idea make the partner or AM sign a non-disclosure agreement.

Georgia Poker · #10 03-30-2006, 01:03 PM

Mark, I also agree that the AM must hold themselves to a high level of integrity. The AM's here on this board are pictures of integrity that other AM's should look to if they are new to the business. However, you have to keep in mind that there are dozens and dozens of AM's that aren't represented here and may not hold themselves to this level of responsiblity.

Thanks for the great reply Mark!