How do you pick your sponsors?
 

This is a question for all the affiliates out there, anyone who promotes sponsors... Where do you go to find the sponsors you'd like to promote? I imagine there are a lot of options, but I'm just curious as to what is done most often.

I check and make sure PPS and Revshare are available. PPS on a $4.95 trial needs to be $35.00. Revshare needs to be 60%. I see how many niches are available. Too few, not good. Too many, not good IMHO. (Might get spread too thin) Then I look at the tours and see if they do something for me. They have to "hit" me some way. If I don't like 'em I can't sell 'em. Then I check for content that may be available. Hosted free sites are a plus too. None are necessarily a sign-up buster but that's what I look for.

Recently I HAVE signed up with a few sponsors that only have 50% Revshare because the tours, content and sites looked good.

At first I would just promote anyone/anything relevant to the niches I like/build freesites in.
Like Licker4U mentioned, I'm starting to take a good look at the tours and see if they appeal to me as a lover of the niche. If they do, then I'll promote them.
I've also used recommendations from this forum on several occasions. Plus Greenguy's stats and the GG&J resources pages, and a few people's sigs.
But I really do have to think a tour for a particular site is appealing enough.
:)

Recomendations from private conversations with other webmasters I trust is my first consideration. |thumb

If I like the content so much I feel the urge to stop what I'm doing so I can pleasure myself the moment I first come across it... I'll probably sign up on the spot, but I may not promote. ;)

Everything else goes into my "sponsors to consider" favorites folder, broken down by billing processor. CCBill sponsors get priority.

If I need a niche, fresh content, or sponsor links to stuff somewhere, or I'm not happy with past performers, I hunt through my favorites and make direct comparisons on those factors I've gained the experiene enough to estimate as reasons why I may or may not make money.

Also, every so often I'll sign up with a program on a whim and test it out just to feed the chaos element. :D

This is my #1 way to find new sponsors. I don't take on many new ones nowadays and if I do it is usually based on a personal recommendation from someone I trust.

virgohippy said it for me.

I will try out new sponsors for niches I am not sure of or testing and see what sticks. Usually find them at GG&J.

Selling porn is slightly strange for me because in my previous businesses I basically set out to provide products or services which I would buy myself, offering them in a way which would appeal to me.

But I have never spent a cent on porn and until I started in this business hadn't so much as looked at a Playb*y since I was a teen and my then barber left his out for his customers. So I have to try to imagine what would appeal to me if I did enjoy porn :)

Anyway, that is my criterium for selecting sponsors. If their sites don't appeal to my alter-ego, I won't promote them actively. Happily, after having trouble finding more than 15-20 sponsors for most of the last 10 years, in the past 18 months or so, that number has almost doubled. It seems the message is finally sinking in that if we don't sell over-priced crap, we might actually be better off.

well if i see a site or gallery premoting the sponsor and the content or whatever looks intersting

i will click thru to the sponsor and look thru the tour

then I will go to the webmaster section and look at other sites they have, billing options

if they have like 100 cookie cutter sites I am long gone


then IF i sign up, I look thru the webmaster tools and see if anything motivates me

if they have good banners or gallerys maybe I will throw something up

but if I see 4, 468 by 80 banners and 20 gallerys mostly with the same content....the sponsor wont even be a memory

Sometimes TV can start me on a sponsor hunt.
eg. CSI had an episode about biting fetish.
- So Google takes me to a Mac Daddy Bucks site called Bite Sex. Also while searching I also run into some solo vamp chicks. Some have affiliate programs and some don't. I also check out their friends links. A whole lot more of little known vamp/goth/fetish/bdsm sites to check out.

Sometimes I also go looking for sponsors that are setup to handle foreign billing as a lot of niches are geo-centric.

I saw that episode! Turned me on something fierce when the woman with the teeth leaned in and the guy just squirmed... where's the *blush* smilie?

There is two step process I use:
1. Pick a sponsor
2. See if it sells with my traffic

Only after step 2. I decide if I'll promote it for real.

I pick sponsors if I like content. And I mean if I like it as a surfer, not webmaster. I know I'm comfortable in selling something I like, so my copywriting is much better.

There is also a third step - See if it rebills, if I choose revshare program. Third step is something I consider about 3-4 months later.

Other things that I like:
1. Good promotional material,
2. Different tools available
3. Good inquiry response time

Hope I helped

Very interesting replies all around. I wonder, for those who are dissatisfied with the available promo material, payment options, or other factors that would otherwise have you look away... do you contact the sponsor anyway and see what they can do to accomodate your needs? For example, we have an in-house designer that can help make custom promo material if it would help the affiliate promote. Couldn't hurt to get communication going, right? It would be a shame to get that close and not even begin a dialogue.

No. Sponsors don't appear to realize how many of them there are. It simply isn't practical to talk to 990 who may or may not be interested in catering for specific needs, when you can go right to work for 10 based on what they are offering to everyone. And frankly, it's such a hellish frustrating experience too, since most won't even bother replying.

Talking to sponsors with whom you already work is something else. But if sponsors choose not to put the best of what they have to offer in their "shop windows", why deal with them?

The curious thing about threads like this, on any board, is that the answers are almost all very sensible, a guide as to how sponsors should be chosen.

Which leaves one wondering why here on planet Earth, most of the biggest sponsors are those promising big payouts, prizes and the rest. On the whole, there is a reverse correlation between what people say makes them choose sponsors and what the sponsors they choose actually offer.

It is the same phenomenon which convinced Ford to produce the Edsel, the biggest marketing disaster in automotive history. People know what their priorities should be when common sense prevails, but remembering them when actually making choices is another story.

First I look for per sale program, then who is running the program, then thier reputation on the boards. I also will not use sponsors who use CC Bill. Transactions are washed to much.

"do you contact the sponsor anyway and see what they can do to accomodate your needs?"

If I really like the site, I definitly contact them. 50% of the time, im shot down with them telling me that everything i can use is in the webmaster area. The other 50% of the time I am usually pleasently suprised, sometimes even getting access to the members area to use whatever pics I want for promotion. IMO I sell memberships a LOT better when I have had a look-see at the members area. I can make a free site with such and such girl, and then have specific information on whats in the members area of her, etc.

I do try to contact sponsors though if they dont have what I need, sometimes they never email me back, and thus I never even promote them.

to FIND sponsors, I will often just goto one of the big tgp's, and look around from a surfers POV, if a cute girl catches my eye, I will click through and find the sponsor for her, that is usually how I find most of them. I still have some surfer attitude left in me, and some paysites actually make ME want to sign up, if that happens, I instantly start promoting them.

I turn on my surfer mode or ask my friends what they wank to nowdays

Interesting point. I've not spent any amount of "extra" time/energy/money promoting a site based on prizes or contests. (Probably why I've never won any, and never will) Most of my sales come from sponsors which don't offer gimicks - they just have good content, honest tours that reflect the members area, and working with their promo materials regularly makes me horny. :D

I've had the same experience, though I can understand why sponsors would be hesitent to give such access to affiliates indiscriminately. I make it a point to ask only when I've proved my worth as a seller of their product. I don't expect special treatment until I can show that my efforts are a good investement on their part. |thumb

As jayeff pointed out, if I can't sell the site with the standard tools/materials I'm not going to spend additional effort in an attempt to get more. |loony|

You really go to your friends and ask them what type of material they use to play with themselves? That seems like an awkward conversation :)

I ask friends that as well, but I don't word it that way :)
I ask them what they've been surfing, what sites they've joined (a couple of them do join sites)

I also take recommendations for programs from friends (and here on the board)

Then I promote them for a month or so & see how things go.

It's not often that we have the opportunity to promote other sites, but when we do, we normally use the following checklist:

- the precise niche that we're looking to target
- in most cases we require good quality, large sized downloadable content- preferably exclusive non licensed material
- does the company behind the site subscribe to our version of good business practices?

We rarely promote anything to do with teen, and never support a company that glorifies (questionably consensual) violence towards women (or men), or degradation.
You really wont find us supporting companies that attach braces to a model's teeth to emphasize her youthful good looks either.

Most of the time our preference leans towards genuine amateurs, preferably those who are clearly involved in running their own site. All that heart & soul makes me tingly.

i always look for a sponsor that has sites that intrest me.. if i like a site i am more likely to take the time to promote on my sites, next is payout amount.. how much ya payin me :)

nise paysit! i was goona sine, butt...

Sorry, that was rude.
Long day.

That's odd. No one, to my question "how do you pick sponsors?", replied "They pick and approach me." |waves|

Generally when a sponsor's rep hits me up (especially on icq), they are immediately ignored.

I just look for sites with the best content to promote and then other sites I promote because we have members upsell exchanges.

i usually find them from other webmasters, personal referalls and such

Yes, if I get hit either by ICQ or any other way, I probably won't join. Personal recommendation is the way to go with me too. And what matters the most to me is good tours with proven conversions with other webmasters + good support for webmasters. I realize my ratios will be different from those other affiliates may have, but it's still something good to go by.

I have heard this before...this worries us as a lot of what seem to be good webmasters are saying this...for a small site like ours what is the alternative now we have CCbill ???

This is definetly a different angle, but I work with a number of sponsers. Especially sponsers that are working with us. Find sponsers that will help support your program and find ways to help support theirs. There are many ways to do this.

Since our family of sites our somewhat micro niche orientated, finding those sponsers can be a little tougher. I really don't look for sponsers that either pay 50, 60, or 80% recurring on Fridays only in the month of Decnovoctber either. Or payout $80 bucks on the 2nd Wednesday of every other month. This is just a ploy to get an affiliate to sign up, put the sponsers links up on that day, and then, just like the porn surfer, forget that they even signed up, or put their links up, and continue to make sales at the regular payout level. I believe that working with someone that is consistent, is better than working with someone that is speratic.

QUOTE: but if I see 4, 468 by 80 banners and 20 gallerys mostly with the same content....the sponsor wont even be a memory
Different banners are "key" and tons of them to choose from |thumb

Yes, I surf porn in this business. Its best to read the articles, check out the banners, galleries, photo sizes, see what sponsers are offering. Most importantly, the tours. Are they genuine? Do they grab your attention. Usually tours nowadays have free movie clips. This is always a plus. But are all the free clips the same everywhere you go? I do agree with Emanuelle that some of the best programs/sites to push are paysites that have a "real" personality behind them. Very important for retention/recurring.

I've went to sponsers in the past and asked them for special sized banners and what not, and usually get what I need. In today's game, c'mon, if you can't work with an affiliate that actually emails a request in, then you're bound to be fucked.

Don't worry - no one listens to someone with 4 total posts.

Plus, he's abviously too ignorant to know that 99.44% of the programs out there use CCBill as a primary or a secondary CC processor (even if it's not thru the CCBill affiliate admin)

I agree with what Greenie implied.

I've only worked with a small handfull of programs, but by far, I make most of my sales through CCBill sites. |thumb

Cooo, you people are really rational. Whatever happened to Magic 8 Ball?

I keep one at exactly arms length on my desk at all times. Works really well when it's time to feed the chaos. ;)

Oh hell, I'll never take any advice in this thread - I'm still a big fan of signing up, throwing a few piles of shit at the wall & seeing what sticks :D

It's a pain in the ass at times - like now that I just did my stats, I've been pulling individual sites that are not converting, but not the entire program, because some sites do convert well.

Most of this is still "trial & error" :)

I've pretty much been following Greenie's strategy on some new TGP/MGP/LL/DIR sites we're developing. I have around 300 sponsors in the mix, with many of them having at least several paysites and some of them having a lot of paysites to promote.

Criteria for picking them was that we didn't find any really bad press about the sponsor posted somewhere and not resolved. Aside from that, the sponsors which are initially getting promoted the heaviest are the ones who give us the best tools and the most content that we need. Eventually, once we know which sponsors and sites are performing the best, we'd build custom promo tools to see if we can improve the ratios. But at first they have to have what we need.

Sponsors can get UN-picked way before they have a chance to not perform too...

I send requests for things I'd like to use to promote a program if they don't offer them. For instance, I've asked many programs if they intend to offer HFS, since many don't have them. Or if they'll be offering HFS with video content if they only have them with pics content. Or maybe I'll ask for assitance getting a list of content I can import into a database without having to do the full NATS dance. The sponsors who don't reply to emails, or even their own support forms on their site, or who won't send a list, or are just rude, get dropped once I'm sure it's not just an idiot rep making them look bad.

There have also been a few sponsors whose FHG and HFS wind up being 404'd too often, with the 404 page being a nice promo page that doesn't carry through the affiliate id code. On those I point it out to them and keep an eye on them. If they keep that up, they wind up UN-picked too.

I figure it's okay to start with a large pool of sponsors as long as you cull regularly.

Indeed! Which is one reason I like CCBill sites. Since they aggregate payments and send one check, I can promote a new sponsor site, and even if it converts poorly for me and I drop the program after only make a few sales I still get paid, rather than having $20, $30 or more on account that I won't get due to not meeting the minimum for payout.

I'm far more reluctant to promote a non-CCBill sponsor unless they have several sites that I think may do well with my traffiic.

That said, they still need to have promo tools and content available that I don't have to jump through hoops to get.

I still think there's a minimum payment even if the accounts are merged. I recently merged all my accounts (I got a new one each time I signed up to a new program because back in the day, I was a dummy) I was expecting a BIG check, because I'm signed up to 100 or so CCBill programs & I know a lot of them did not meet the $25 minimum on a weekly basis.

The 1st check I got was for roughly what the total of all the individual checks usually are :(

You might have someone at CCBill check on that for you. When I merged a few separate accounts that hadn't met the minimum payout I got those funds with my next check.