You know those "create your own gallery" scripts that are inside affiliate programs?

[frankthetank]

Originally Posted by Far-L

I agree - for example, comparing review sites with tgps is definitely apples and oranges - the conversion ratios only hint at what is going on... but maybe there is another way to go about it.

I like the idea of having monthly prizes to top converting, top earning, most traffic, etc. but to me a contest is only good if it is very clear that it is fair and auditable. I have seen so many years of rigged contests in this biz and i am sure many others hold the same skepticism. In everything we do, our actions need to be fully accountable and our methods open to review.

Contests are a nice idea. But first of all I prefer sponsors with clear stats (earned and already paid amount), mebers area access for building galleries and freesites and quick support. I hate it if there are no or bullshit replies from sponsor reps. Of course I don´t want to discuss the weather forecast with the support, but real problems should get an answer.

[Far-L]

Originally Posted by frankthetank

Contests are a nice idea. But first of all I prefer sponsors with clear stats (earned and already paid amount), mebers area access for building galleries and freesites and quick support. I hate it if there are no or bullshit replies from sponsor reps. Of course I don´t want to discuss the weather forecast with the support, but real problems should get an answer.

So far we are getting good feedback on the stats but there is always room for improvement... We will be adding a bunch of content this week though. We don't have 24/7 support but we do have good people and have not had any complaints on that level so far. We have always been very proactive about customer experience - be it end users or webmasters - so that is one area where I am confident we are on point.

[tickler]

Originally Posted by frankthetank

Contests are a nice idea.

For the top 5% of affiliates.

The rest just quietly send the traffic elsewhere for the day, week, period, or month.

[Chop Smith]

I can say tha Far-L is bending over backwards to have a good affiliate program. IMO, posting dollar amounts would be like my bank telling the public how far in overdraft I am.

[Far-L]

Originally Posted by Chop Smith

I can say tha Far-L is bending over backwards to have a good affiliate program. IMO, posting dollar amounts would be like my bank telling the public how far in overdraft I am.

Good point - won't be posting that info!

[Papa]

Ain't using them
Either i make some or use their FHG's
That's when i'm playing around with the tgp traffic thingo

[MadMax]

If you don't mind my asking, do they name the affiliate or keep it discrete by using a code or something?

They publish the rank, geographical location (i.e. Detroit, Michigan) and $

[Far-L]

Originally Posted by MadMax

They publish the rank, geographical location (i.e. Detroit, Michigan) and $

That seems like a great way to go - I think we should add conversion ratio to that as was mentioned by Greenguy earlier. Hope Steve Lightspeed doesn't mind me tapping his genius a little bit...

[xxxjay]

Originally Posted by Greenguy

Everyone has seen them, where you pick the images & banners & colors & fonts & whatnot & the script spits out a gallery that you can download or the sponsor hosts.

Has anyone ever seen one that's actually worth using?

Even if it's offered & does make pages that look decent, do you still just make your own galleries?

I'm helping a friend out with a revamp of their admin & they have this option in there & IMHO, I've never seen one that was worth the money the program paid to have it installed

I could see using one to build a free site and then going back in and customizing the site so it won't be a total cookie cutter.

[Far-L]

Originally Posted by xxxjay

I could see using one to build a free site and then going back in and customizing the site so it won't be a total cookie cutter.

What would you want to do to customize it accordingly?

banners? keywords? recips? thumb layout? templates? text?

[xxxjay]

Originally Posted by Far-L

What would you want to do to customize it accordingly?

banners? keywords? recips? thumb layout? templates? text?

All the above.

[Far-L]

Originally Posted by xxxjay

All the above.

Am i missing anything critical and besides the obvious like color, niche, and number of banners/recips/etc?

[Far-L]

Originally Posted by xxxjay

All the above.

Ok... just as I suspected....

What do y'all think about rotating content zips out monthly or quarterly?

[MadMax]

Originally Posted by Far-L

Ok... just as I suspected....

What do y'all think about rotating content zips out monthly or quarterly?

Since you've got the archives to do it I'd say bi-weekly if they're getting downloaded a lot. Maybe run a script to track how many times a set gets download it and rotate it out after X number of downloads.

[tickler]

I would suggest that you start with basic defaults that match the site/tour for fonts, colors, etc. I never know what the fonts are 90% of the time, even though I probably got 10,000 fonts on CD.The design gurus say to makes for a seamless transition from the gallery to the tour.

Another helpful item would be a nicely masked pic to include from the set.

[Far-L]

Originally Posted by tickler

I would suggest that you start with basic defaults that match the site/tour for fonts, colors, etc. I never know what the fonts are 90% of the time, even though I probably got 10,000 fonts on CD.The design gurus say to makes for a seamless transition from the gallery to the tour.

Another helpful item would be a nicely masked pic to include from the set.

Great suggestions, thanks!

[Greenguy]

I'd just leave the past zip sets up there (unless there's a problem down the road where they're getting downloaded too much)

You guys are sorta starting over, so it's gonna take a bit to get all the past webmasters back into the program & I'd want to have as much promo material as possible available.

[Far-L]

Originally Posted by Greenguy

I'd just leave the past zip sets up there (unless there's a problem down the road where they're getting downloaded too much)

You guys are sorta starting over, so it's gonna take a bit to get all the past webmasters back into the program & I'd want to have as much promo material as possible available.

Thanks - very true. Did you get my last email about the other stuff we were talking about? We were looking forward to hearing back and getting started asap.