Affiliate Networks or Run your Own

[PaulPhillips]

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I'm currently looking to join a new affiliate network as a merchant. I currently look for unsecured leads mainly for the adverse market. I was wondering if any one knows which is the best way to go either join a network or do my network - at least then the affiliate will earn more as I wont have to pay at least 30% to the middle person - all comments would be welcome

[canard]

While you may be able to offer a better commission/save yourself some money - in my eyes the biggest benefit of going with a network is access to their database.

Go on your own, and you have to get every affiliate yourself, sign up with a good network and you'll automatically be broadcasted to 1000s of up and running affiliates.

As far as I can see, the only reason the big networks can get away with high set-up fees and subscriptions is becase they offer a bigger/better base of affiliates.

Just my thoughts...

[EyeOfTheTiger]

Also depends on how many affiliate earn money from you but you will have to write several checks. If your program is any good then maybe loads more. This is time consuming. With affiliate networks you send them one checque and then they pay your affiliates.

Buy.at is a decent network with good finance clients and would be my choice if i was a merchant.

Personally as an affiliate, I would only prepared to work with you on a network. I dont mind getting less commission due to network override as it is easier for me to manage multiple clients and receive and post one cheque to my bank account than handle thousands of independent programs.

just my opinion though

good luck with the program.

Mike

[simonb]

I'm currently looking to join a new affiliate network as a merchant. I currently look for unsecured leads mainly for the adverse market. I was wondering if any one knows which is the best way to go either join a network or do my network - at least then the affiliate will earn more as I wont have to pay at least 30% to the middle person - all comments would be welcome

Why don't you try purchasing leads from www.leadbay.co.uk. We can pass you only adverse unsecured leads if thats all you want.

[Azam.net]

Paul, here's an excerpt from next week's The Weekly Q which may help you make your decision (I wrote it, so I'm not reproducing somebody else's content without their permission!):

"Step 2: Decide whether to launch your affiliate program on a network or go it alone

(i) Custom/off-the-shelf solutions

Advertisers can use their own platforms to generate and track affiliate links, give themselves and affiliates access to the necessary metrics, and calculate how much commission each affiliate is due.

A number of advertisers, like Amazon, have created their own bespoke affiliate program interfaces from scratch. However, a solution as sophisticated as Amazon’s is incredibly expensive.

Other advertisers buy off-the-shelf software. The best known is DirectTrack. Since 1997, DirectTrack has tracked hundreds of billions of impressions, hundreds of millions of clicks and actions, and billions of dollars in e-commerce revenues. DirectTrack powers several hundred advertisers and over 225 advertising networks.

DirectTrack is inexpensive and costs from $99 a month upwards. However, it is notorious for suffering regular downtimes and glitches. Just in the last few weeks DirectTrack has not been working for several short periods of time.

The next best known solution is Kowabunga! Technologies’ My Affiliate Program which also came to life in 1997. There are also dozens of other affiliate management and tracking scripts (see Hotscripts.com).

There are two advantages to creating your own bespoke software or using something like DirectTrack: (a) it gives you more control than with an affiliate network and (b) you don’t have to pay middle-men override fees to a network.

The downside is that installing and using your own software requires technical know-how, time and patience. Even the best software will have issues and you will need to hire at least one person to ensure everything is running smoothly. Downtime longer than a few minutes will incur the wrath of affiliates and so somebody will have to be able available more or less 24/7 should technical problems occur.

(ii) Affiliate network

The option preferred by most advertisers is to launch their affiliate program on one or more networks.

There are hundreds of affiliate networks all over the world and the next Master Class will provide an insight into the most popular ones.

The advantage of joining an affiliate network is that you are not responsible for the setting up or maintenance of the interface. Alongside handling all the technical headaches, most networks also offer guidance and support to advertisers. Your affiliate program will be more likely to attract affiliates as most networks publicise the launch of a new advertiser to their affiliate base.

Affiliates are more likely to join an affiliate program on a major network because (a) they already have an account (b) they are au fait with the interface (c) they trust a third-party affiliate network more than a little-known advertiser and (d) most networks bring together an affiliate’s earnings from different advertisers and make a single, unified payment.

Many affiliates belong to scores of affiliate programs and it would an administrative headache for them if each one had its own login, its own interface, its own linking methods, and made a separate payment each month.

The major disadvantage of using a network is they will usually charge you in three separate ways: a set-up fee, a monthly fee and a percentage of each transaction (known as the “override”). The override is usually between 20% and 50% of the money paid to each affiliate."

Several hyperlinks in the newsletter which aren't here.