Swapping out sponsor codes...lots of em
 

Just wanted to give everyone a heads up.

One of my main sponsors has completely tanked. Closed last month with higher traffic and less than half the sales of previous months. This month...no sales to date...and the numbers are damn ugly.

Have spoken with the main guy over there...long story short...it's pretty clear to me that these numbers aren't going to get any better. He made it abundantly clear that the numbers are so bad because my sites suck.

Nope, not gonna rant here...already did that offline :D

So, I'll be changing out sponsors on a few hundred of my free sites over the next couple days. The changes will consist of affiliate codes, paysite names and mouseovers if used. Possibly some minor text changes if necessary to keep things relevant.

Of course, the sites will always remain compliant with rules.

Just wanted to let everyone know...changes are afoot!

Please no banning folks...remember, I'm one of the good guys :)

I can't believe you sound so calm about it :D just thinking of all that work just makes me shudder |shocking|

good luck, hopefully you'll see a nice sales boost over the next little while :)

Ponygirl

Some people swear by the build and forget concept, but I've always believed in going back over old sites and tuning up my sponsors.

In my experience it's always good for a burst of sales.

If a sponsor get's uppity, dump 'em.

Thanks Ponygirl...don't worry...my gf and dog have heard plenty about it the past few weeks. And they REALLY heard about it after my discussion with the sponsor :D

Nah, not time to rant anymore...time to take care of biz!

Yep Bill, this is too much traffic to leave on the table. 1.5-2k sponsor clicks/day is too much to just throw out the window for my taste.

Besides, as you mentioned...uppity ain't good...and I certainly took his comments as pretty uppity. Honestly, I'd probably swap out the links if it was only 500 clicks/day just because of that.

The flip side of that is that any sponsor can have a bad month or two.

In my experience it is absolutely, completely useless to ever discuss a sponsors performance with the sponsor.

The only thing they can ever say is (1) stochastic distribution, and (2) your sales technique must suck.

They can't ever afford to admit to anyone that their internal performance might be poor, or falling. Gossip is too powerful a force in this biz.

So, there's really only ever one option - vote with your feet.

Yea, the month or two...while infuriating...I could survive. But, the conversation...that's another kettle o fish. Call it a gut feeling...intuition...experience...whatever, but I'm pretty sure my numbers would never get better with them.

You're dead on Bill, there's no way they'd admit to a problem.

So, it's time to exercise that ultimate option...it's time to vote and me feets is ready :D

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MrYum

Good for you.

I had the same problem about 10 years ago with one of the bigger sponsors then and now and never looked back. There is just too much money to be made in this industry to proselytize yourself for one program.

MrYum, I had the same issue with a sponsor who told me "I need to learn how to build sites". I went over and changed the links and send the traffic to my own niche specific pages and the sales started rolling in. It's a pain but it's worth it.

Bill, I have never agreed with the "Build, submit, forget". I always "Build, analize and adjust" :D

Ace-imlive, that was the lamest reply.

Oh man - I have to know! PM me who it is & I swear I'll keep it private |shake|

Greenie - when you find out let me know LOL - Im about to do the same with 5 sponsors - sorry but when I go from 40 sales a week to none at each of them I know exactly what to do :)

I long ago came to the understanding that every sponsor has good and bad times... and I also understand that even the best sponsor gets stale with your traffic sources. Over time, you will still see the hits, but you will not see the sales.

I also understand that some sponsors let their sites get stale. The number of paysites out there still running 5 year old 4 panel 640 X 480 tours (or running tours that celebrate something from last year) is stunning.

I try to put every single piece of advertising or promotional material into a banner system so that I can pull and reset these things more often. Even if I don't change sponsor, I like to be able to put up fresh banners or fresh text or whatever... keeping your sites from being stale is a very good thing in the end.

Good luck with the job. I don't think too many link sites would get upset providing you are replacing banners and such with somewhat similar sized ads and that you don't write a bunch of blind links or whatnot. Keep it on par and everything will be fine.

Alex

Rsync is your friend

Need a new sponsor?
:-D

(sorry- couldn't resist)

Ace...tsk tsk...less than good form. For the records, I prefer my canned meats fried :D Oh, and I already have an account with your program...thanks.

Yea Surfn, in the long run...this will be a good thing. This is a pretty large sponsor...lots of sites...which was why I allowed myself to get lulled into promoting them a lot. Should have known better after the fiasco a couple years ago with another major sponsor in the biz. Live and learn...

CrazySy...yea, I'm always open to suggestions. Hell, my sites certainly aren't the best out there. But, they're not that bad either. Certainly not bad enough to explain sales pretty much stopping overnight. Which just happened to coincide with backend changes at the sponsor. As the old saying goes...don't piss on my shoes and tell me it's raining.

Greenie and Linkster, you'll both have PM's (that's Private Messages, NOT pms...ya pervs :D)...in a few minutes. Would prefer to keep the sponsor name offboard though. I have no time or desire for a board war with a large sponsor.

Absolutely true Alex...but again, this drop off was way too quick to be written off as attrition or staleness. I'm still figuring out how to make this change in such as way as to facilitate keeping things fresh. Which as long as I'm making this magnitude of changes...keeping things fresh in the future makes good sense |thumb

Very few of these sites even have banners on them. Most banners were pulled back when sponsors were asking banners to be yanked down. As a reviewer, I hate blind links myself...so I'll definitely keep em targetted. The days of blind links making sales are long gone.

There's really only one major link site I'm concerned about whether the bot is sophisticated enough to detect html changes and drop sites. I do have a message out to that owner, but haven't heard back yet.

Thanks for the good wishes folks...greatly appreciated :)

Oh, and Emmanuelle, as least your spam was kinda cute :)

lol- I was just being cheeky, not intentionally trying to take advantage of your unfortunate situation.
Sounds like a lot of unpleasant work |dizzy|

I'm one of those build, submit and forget people. Good luck MrYum it does sound like a lot work ahead of ya.

Linkster 40 sales a week with a sponsor? Wow that is impressive!!

Figuring out sponsors is still a tough one for me. I have two that do real good for me, but can you make it only promoting 2? My traffic just keeps going up so until it's really high I guess it's hard to tell who is working for me and who isn't. |dizzy|

MrYum no one would ban you I'd beat them up if they did... :D

Good Luck MrYum, I just went through the same thing on my link lists, totally changed things around, dropped a bunch of sponsors, added new ones...and we have seen our numbers go up as a result. It is a pain in the ASS, but well worth it. And you'd never be banned on our lists for that. |thumb

hey mate contact me i have a custom php online find and replace script that you can try its easy 3 files and way you go ..pm me if you want it to try

Dan

Now this I wish I knew a week ago :D

When it rains, it pours! Security software was expiring, so upgraded it last night. Long story short, I'm just now back online with everything functional again...sheesh.

No worries Emmanuelle...I knew you were being cheeky...and doing a fine job of it too :)

Yea VB, I'm sure it will be for the best in the long run. Surprisingly, I did pick up 2 sales with the sponsor at issue yesterday...things that make ya go...hmmm. The numbers are still damn ugly with them this month...would take a bunch more sales to get them back into the 'normal'ish' range.

Have also picked up 3 sales so far today on links that have already been swapped out on my link list. Things that make ya go...YUP! And I haven't even started on the free sites yet.

Dan, Thanks Bro! You'll have a PM momentarily. I've been thinking about how to facilitate this change and have better control over all these links in the future. Using php was on top of the list, so your generous offer is right on target and greatly appreciated :)

Jel, I feel for ya man. What's that old saying...something about...'whatever doesn't kill ya makes ya stronger'. Well, I'm gonna be damn strong when this is done :D

hit me on icq mate i give you the zip ok