How do you pick your sponsors?

[emmanuelle]

Originally Posted by Simon IA Cash

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

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

[993TT]

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

[SkeetSkeet]

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

[tigermom]

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.

[xcitecash]

Originally Posted by Worldnet

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.

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 ???

[Special "Ed"]

Originally Posted by Simon IA Cash

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.

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

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.

[Greenguy]

Originally Posted by xcitecash

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 ???

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)

[virgohippy]

Originally Posted by xcitecash

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 ???

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.

[Jeremy]

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

[virgohippy]

Originally Posted by Jeremy

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.

[Greenguy]

Originally Posted by Jeremy

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

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

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"

[Simon]

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.

[Toby]

Originally Posted by Greenie

Most of this is still "trial & error"

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.

[Greenguy]

Originally Posted by Toby

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 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

[Toby]

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.

[Greenguy]

Originally Posted by Toby

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.

I just sent them an email, so I'll post what I fnd out

[JustRobert]

Fortunately for me back in 2002 I called ccbill and asked about the merging thing. I love that you can merge. Since I am a smaller player those $9 rebills and $5 trials all add up to a check every week since I started. Plus I can see the bulk of stats in one location. Thats why its hard for me to try out some nats programs. I just never know if I will ever make the minimum So I end up sticking to mostly to ccbill sites.

[Jeremy]

Originally Posted by Greenie

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

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"

Hehehe - ain't that the truth. I've had so many instances where stuff that I think will do well has bombed and vice versa.

[virgohippy]

Originally Posted by Jeremy

Hehehe - ain't that the truth. I've had so many instances where stuff that I think will do well has bombed and vice versa.

Learning what the surfers tell ya is hot and what's not has got to be one of the most interesting parts of this business.

Although, sometimes I can't help but feel I must be really wierd for liking something my surfers don't... and that they're all fucked up for liking something that I don't.

[Sid]

Usually, first thing I do - research them (on the boards) to see if there's been any complaints about them, what kind of complaints , are they legitimate gripes, etc, then - if they seem clean, i'll signup and i'm usually looking for specific types of promos, so i will typically drop them a note asking, and if they never reply to me or take days to get back to me, i just don't use them. Sometimes, in dealing with niche, some programmes do not say what kind of promos they have if any, so i will email them before signing up and if they have good and quick support, then I will most definitely signup, even if they dont have what i need in the way of promos, if they have fast and good support system, they are ok in my book , because i can always make my own custom promos.
Affiliate support and having a good name are the most important to me, i mean even if they have the only or the best niche site and i cant get it anywhere else, if they are jackasses, i just will not promote them. It's a matter of principle!

[mr.sexbankroll]

Originally Posted by Simon IA Cash

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.

Hey, we pay you for free trials.. 30 bucks per sale.. drop me a line at 486-768-112

Richard

[Toby]

Originally Posted by mr.sexbankroll

Hey, we pay you for free trials.. 30 bucks per sale.. drop me a line at 486-768-112

Richard

Psssst, you might want to read the post you quoted with the response above. Unless the English I learned in school has changed in the last 30 years, Simon wasn't asking to be spammed with sponsor programs. (in fact, he works for one himself, IA Cash)

The kind of post you just made will do you far more harm than good with the users of this board. Just participate and be helpful and we'll all check out the links in your sig.

hint: add a link to your program

[zman]

I try to find the sponsors which are not promoted by too many webmasters. I check if PPS is available, how much are they paying per sign-up and if they have epassporte as a payment processor. Then I take a look at their tours and if I like those I give them a try for about a month or so. If their sites do not convert well I just drop them and find another one.

[jayeff]

I guess we all live in hope of finding that "magic" sponsor, but one of the problems facing new sponsors or really any who want to expand, is that webmasters who have been around a while - ie the generally better traffic sources - mostly realize that exceptional sponsors don't exist.

In other words, if you have had a few years to build up a solid sponsor list, there is only rarely much point in trying new ones. I would go further and say that applies even to new sites.

For years I have had a promo spot in which I let my ad script display new sites for a while. I add every new site which looks like it might have half a chance and then watch the stats for anything which performs above average. It's quite productive with brand new sites, but interest in the vast majority tails off very quickly and those which were "beta tested" for months on high-traffic sites (ie we gave the cream to our friends) often don't do much at all.

The only real exceptions I can recall are when someone has introduced a completely new concept (free ezines for example). When something like that gets the formula right, you can get a really good run for a year or two.

[Simon IA Cash]

Originally Posted by zman

I try to find the sponsors which are not promoted by too many webmasters.

I was waiting for someone to say that. As much as it makes sense to go off recommendations or try out sponsors whose affiliates claim great ratios, the fact of the matter is you're taking a relatively small slice of an admittedly large and delicious pie. Personally, I'd prefer to eat half of the pie that no one even bothered to try. I guess it would be good to diversify a portfolio with various sponsors, with some blue chips and some new tries (pies?). Mmm, chips and pie.