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Originally posted by TheEnforcer@Feb 21 2005, 12:50 PM
The affiliate model isn't going away any time soon. Lessened maybe, stricter standards as well, but it isn't going away as long as it remains profitable.
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and the key bit of this sentence ... AS LONG AS IT REMAINS PROFITABLE
it stopped being profitable long ago TE ... the days of the affiliate model are counting down fast, and if you honestly think its around forever you will get a big shock when programs start closing their doors to new affiliates and only working with the 20% that actually produce profits. Look around at the serious business folk in this industry - they've already done it, and we didn't even notice.
Look around at the programs that are left ... none of the folks who made a LOT of money from this biz bother anymore, except maxcash, ars and a handful of others. To read Becky's comments in this thread makes me very happy - if ARS is seeing the end of the affiliate model, who do you think is going to step in and pick it up? ARS are it ... they are the only example of a program who became and stayed successful by targetting tens of thousands of small affiliates - and the team there are as capable and switched on as any in this biz.
Anyone who relies on the affiliate model to make millions these days better understand fraud protection, retention, budgeting, billing, content etc EXCEPTIONALLY WELL - and in case you haven't noticed, there aint many left who do. And no, having millions in the bank DOESN'T help you when visa decides they don't like your site.
Claiming that a site needs an affiliate program to achieve big sales is just ignorant ... even at the peak of the industry those who were kicking ass only relied on affiliate traffic for 50% of their biz with the other 50% being inhouse traffic. over half of that 50% of affiliate traffic was USELESS and a loss leader to pick up the few valuable affiliates with good traffic.
Spaz ...
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I am not talking mom & pop gee whiz members sites, i mean the lets spend the $300,000 for a booth and party at Internext because we can easily afford it programs.
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Wasting money on showing off is not a sign of who is doing well ... a booth for 5000 webmasters (50% of which are there for the titties) is the most rediculous investment of $300k imaginable. For $300k you could do a marketing campaign that would reach every single webmaster on the internet and never have to leave your house - and make MORE than a $300k booth would ever make. Few of the companies who spend this much can 'easily afford it' and believing that is a sure fire way to get yourself ripped off by companies who waste money on everything but paying you for joins ... spending a lot of money doesn't automatically make a company successful.
I crunched the numbers many times because I wanted to have a booth ... not because I thought it would help, but because I wanted a cool place to sit and drink tea and I wanted naked guys serving it to me and basically I just wanted the experience.
Instead, I just pulled up a chair in other people's booths or found a couch near the bar - doing business with a professional doesn't need flashing neon lights, it needs conversation.
In our final quarter at sexhit we turned over in excess of $100 Million, and we STILL couldn't justify a booth for any other reason than showing off. We did $2 million in prepays instead, right after an Internext ... everyone else spent a fortune on shit that can't be converted back into profits. we waited till everyone got back and dropped a bomb that no $300k booth could compete with - and guess who ended up with the traffic.
