Beta testers for new affiliate service needed

[affcheck]

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Within the next month we will be launching a new service for UK affiliates that enables commission tracking across affiliate networks and independent programs.

The service is similar to that offered by RevTrends, but will be better value for money (we haven’t finalised the price structure yet, but probably less than half the price of anything currently available).

For those not familiar with RevTrends, basically the service will automatically collect your affiliate data and provide online analysis, as well as reports to show at a glance how much you’ve earned. So instead of spending hours a week logging into all your merchant accounts and adding up all the figures, the service will send you a daily email detailing how much you’ve earned so far in the month and for the previous day, as well a providing online analysis in the form of graphs, trend charts and numerous reports.

We’re looking for a handful of beta testers to help get the service prefect before we launch. If you’re interested you can view the website at www.affcheck.com for a preview (click the tour link for an overview), but please bare in mind that it’s not 100% finished, so please don’t get too frustrated with the few links that don’t work yet.

If you’re interested in becoming a beta tester please sticky me. If you have any feedback on the website or the service we propose to offer please please post here on the forum, or sticky me

Many Thanks
Tom

[Shane]

Hi Tom

I think possibly you may have an issue regarding trust perhaps untill we know more.

I personally wouldn't use such a service initially as basically we don't have a clue who you are, with all due respect.

For me to input my account details into some software or website (however funky looking) would require some serious security to be in evidence and a knowledge of you and your company's background along with possibly some references from industry recognised people/organisations that we know of.

I am a natural born cynic and whilst you are 100% sure you are on the level I think your site needs to push this over further and tell us how secure our details are etc.

Just posting what most of us will be thinking, so if you don't get much of a response try addressing some of the above points and that may help inspire confidence

good luck with your service, seems to be a major US bias on anything similar out there so a UK focused one would be nice.

[John]

I think Shane's summed it up pretty well really... It looks like a great service, which I for one would certainly find very useful, but you have to overcome the trust issues.

The first thing I thought (even before I'd looked at the site) was:

1. What do you plan to do with my data? Will you use collated information from the top UK affiliates for your own means? Would a competitor of Merchant X be able to approach you to gain access to their top affiliates?

2. Are my login details for the merchants secure? Are my bank details secure?

3. Will my data be shared with any third parties?

So the first link I check is the FAQ... which happens to be one of those deadlinks... Not inspiring confidence so far...

I then check the Privacy policy... this seems to cover a few of my concerns, but does not go far enough.

I'm very interested in this type of software... RevTrends looks great, but is only available if you earn under $10,000 a month IIRC...

I may well check out your service later down the line, but I am not prepared to beta test and give out access to all our online revenue streams at this stage.

Good luck with the launch, and I hope we can work with you once my concerns have been put to rest.

[affcheck]

Shane

Many thanks for your valuable feedback, this is exactly why we chose to post here on the forum, as it's crucial that we get the service right.

In terms of online security the DB which will contain the data and the access via the website will be full secure using Verisign SSL 128 bit encryption. This is the same security that is used by millions of online consumers to pay with credit cards and so will be secure.

The website will also have a www.truste.org seal, Truste is an online privacy watchdog that monitor subscribed sites for security and also investigate complaints and mediate a solutions. Truste sustain the integrity of the seal by facilitating dispute resolution and holding members to tough online privacy standards. They challenge users to hold seal holders accountable.

Obviously that is only one half of the issue, the other is trust, and with that in mind we have been speaking to a couple of the leading affiliate networks and when we launch we will do so in conjunction with at least one of them, which we hope will instil the confidence needed.

With regards to beta testing, it doesn't have to be done with your own data, if you prefer we can stimulate data capture and then provide access to the member area where you would be able to evaluate the reports and analysis tools etc. Obviously this would be less meaningful for you, but would still enable you to see what will be on offer.

I hope this helps.

Tom

[affcheck]

John

Hopefully the previous posting answers most of your questions, but just to reinforce the issue, any data collected will be 100% secure and will not be shared with organisation or individual.

The only person able to view your data would be yourself, or anyone you choose to provide your login details to.

In terms of bank details, I understand that some affiliates networks provide a tiered login that restricts access to such areas, which would provide additional confidence for you.

However I should also mention that data collection is done by spiders, no manual access will ever be made, and the spiders are only programmed to access the reports area.

Cheers
Tom