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

[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.

[MadMax]

Since this thread was primarily about what the title says it's about and I don't really have use for those scripts I haven't had much to add up to this point, but since the discussion is hitting lots of other areas now I'll throw in my 20 cents or so

Originally Posted by Far-L

I am cool with a limited supply of hard - but I don't like the idea of giving away the money shots - wdyt?

I agree entirely with not giving away all the money shots. This is the line you walk with free site content (since it must be at least 20 pics): You want some sort of nudity in the first gallery (i.e. 10 pics), then maybe some stripping or teasing or stroking, then have maybe the last 7 or 8 pics of the good stuff (varies up and down greatly by niche). Sales text that supports much more hardcore in the member's area goes a long way. For a gallery I'd agree with what's already been said, maybe 3-4 pics of the really good stuff.

Do you want to see the stats from the sponsors own traffic or see what the top affiliates are doing? Or both? And should what stats in particular? Only fhg traffic or any type of traffic? And which stats particularly?

...We were thinking of posting the top ten performers but keeping the account names confidential would seem less believable and posting the names might piss off webmasters. What do you all think?

Stats mean nothing unless you have a full understanding of where the traffic's coming from, IMO. When sponsors advertise "1:40 Conversions" or something I usually just chuckle, because a) you can make stats say anything you want and b) is that 1:40 from the join page? Could be

Lightspeed Cash shows the top 100 affiliates and what they've made for the month. I find this interesting, and it shows you what webmaster #100 is making every month. Gives the affiliate a real idea of the scope and size of the program, which might or might not reflect well. If you want to be seen as a big program webmaster #100 better be making some decent cash every month, but that's not necessarily true for smaller/niche/amateur programs.

I'd find it cool to see the top ten affiliates' revenue and conversions for the month if their names were not revealed. I wouldn't want my cashflow publicized, but if I could look at my earnings and see that I was in the top 10 or 20 or whatever that would be quite cool.

I like the idea of surfers rating the content though so webmasters can see what performs well.

I agree. The pitfall there would be having every affiliate trying to promote you with the most popular sets and they would get stale and unlistable pretty quickly. Would be a great behind the scenes way to sort out which sets you should release into the free content pool though

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.

I'll agree with tickler on this...the vast majority of affiliates will probably never see anything out of a "most sales" type contest, since they just can't compete with the top of the heap. From the average affiliate's point of view a "most sales" contest is just a chance for people who can afford to buy cool stuff to get it for free. From a program's point of view, though, I can see contests as being a great way to stroke some more traffic out of your big affiliates.

The ideal situation would be to have at least some perks/benefits that smaller webmasters can still get something out of. I'll use WEG cash as an example here. If I make more money with them this month than last month, I get a bonus. Here's the relevant section of their TOS:

LOYALTY BONUSES

We will pay you a "Loyalty Bonus" of up to 8% of your monthly income. In order to receive the maximum 8% Loyalty Bonus, sign-up revenues you generate in any given month must be equal to or greater than the sign-up revenues you generated in each of the previous 4 or more consecutive months. In order to receive a Loyalty Bonus of 6%, sign-up revenues you generate in any given month must be equal to or greater than the sign-up revenues you generated in each of the previous 3 consecutive months. In order to receive a Loyalty Bonus of 4%, sign-up revenues you generate in any given month must be equal to or greater than the sign-up revenues you generated in each of the previous 2 consecutive months. Webmasters who generate sign-up revenues equal to or greater than the sign-up revenues paid by us to the Webmaster in the previous month will receive a 2% Loyalty Bonus added to their monthly sign-up revenue for the particular month. If your sign-up revenues in any given month are lower than the sign-up revenues we paid you in the prior month you will not be eligible for any Loyalty Bonus in that month; however all you will need to do to receive a Loyalty Bonus in the next month is to equal or exceed the prior month's sign-up revenues.

What it boils down to is that no matter how big or small you are, they regularly kick you a bonus if you're selling more for them. This type of structure definitely wouldn't be for everyone, but it's a good example of a bonus structure that can appeal to any affiliate.



So, hopefully I didn't bore you to sleep

[Far-L]

Originally Posted by frankthetank

I´m sorry if I offended your support, didn´t want to do that. I was only speaking generally about my experience with some major affiliate programs. 24/7 support isn´t necessary, of course. It´s OK if a question is answered during common business hours.

I´ll have a look at your program and maybe I can be more specific then.

Absolutely no offense taken! All your feedback/criticism is truly appreciated.

[frankthetank]

Originally Posted by Far-L

Absolutely no offense taken! All your feedback/criticism is truly appreciated.

Hi FarL,

just sent you a PM.

[Far-L]

Originally Posted by MadMax

Since this thread was primarily about what the title says it's about and I don't really have use for those scripts I haven't had much to add up to this point, but since the discussion is hitting lots of other areas now I'll throw in my 20 cents or so



I agree entirely with not giving away all the money shots. This is the line you walk with free site content (since it must be at least 20 pics): You want some sort of nudity in the first gallery (i.e. 10 pics), then maybe some stripping or teasing or stroking, then have maybe the last 7 or 8 pics of the good stuff (varies up and down greatly by niche). Sales text that supports much more hardcore in the member's area goes a long way. For a gallery I'd agree with what's already been said, maybe 3-4 pics of the really good stuff.

------------------cool, this is what I was thinking too pic-wise; we have the scene accurate text to go with the sets too.



Stats mean nothing unless you have a full understanding of where the traffic's coming from, IMO. When sponsors advertise "1:40 Conversions" or something I usually just chuckle, because a) you can make stats say anything you want and b) is that 1:40 from the join page? Could be

------------------agreed, disclosure is helpful in this case, maybe we should just list averages based on types of traffic, i.e., review sites = x/y, freesites = y/z and list the percentage of traffic derived from each. The point would be to give affiliates some sort of median to compare to in order to judge general performance.

Lightspeed Cash shows the top 100 affiliates and what they've made for the month. I find this interesting, and it shows you what webmaster #100 is making every month. Gives the affiliate a real idea of the scope and size of the program, which might or might not reflect well. If you want to be seen as a big program webmaster #100 better be making some decent cash every month, but that's not necessarily true for smaller/niche/amateur programs.

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

I'd find it cool to see the top ten affiliates' revenue and conversions for the month if their names were not revealed. I wouldn't want my cashflow publicized, but if I could look at my earnings and see that I was in the top 10 or 20 or whatever that would be quite cool.

---------------cool, this would be a good idea for creating some sort of benchmark or goal for performance I think.


I agree. The pitfall there would be having every affiliate trying to promote you with the most popular sets and they would get stale and unlistable pretty quickly. Would be a great behind the scenes way to sort out which sets you should release into the free content pool though

----------------I think the way to overcome this is to only put sets out for a limited period so there is never overexposure. Or, we could limit the number of affiliates that have access to certain sets. We are at an extreme advantage in this regard because we have waaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyy more exclusive content than 99% of the programs out there.



I'll agree with tickler on this...the vast majority of affiliates will probably never see anything out of a "most sales" type contest, since they just can't compete with the top of the heap. From the average affiliate's point of view a "most sales" contest is just a chance for people who can afford to buy cool stuff to get it for free. From a program's point of view, though, I can see contests as being a great way to stroke some more traffic out of your big affiliates.

------------------- Great point and I really like the idea of making incentives for even the smaller affiliates that can't match the whales but work every bit as hard and deserve a shot at some sort of bonus all the same.

The ideal situation would be to have at least some perks/benefits that smaller webmasters can still get something out of. I'll use WEG cash as an example here. If I make more money with them this month than last month, I get a bonus. Here's the relevant section of their TOS:


_------------------Thanks and more thanks for pointing this out. No wonder WEG has been around so long and enjoys such loyalty from their webmasters.

What it boils down to is that no matter how big or small you are, they regularly kick you a bonus if you're selling more for them. This type of structure definitely wouldn't be for everyone, but it's a good example of a bonus structure that can appeal to any affiliate.



So, hopefully I didn't bore you to sleep

(responses are inserted to your quote)

Thanks, not bored at all - completely thrilled and honored that you would take the time to give me such great and generous feedback.

[Far-L]

Originally Posted by frankthetank

Hi FarL,

just sent you a PM.

Thanks - got it and replied but with more details forthcoming.

[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?

[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!

[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.

[Far-L]

Originally Posted by MadMax

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.

Interesting... we don't have that many affiliates right now so I would not have figured that many but the point is still well taken... How many downloads per set do you suggest?

[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.