Biggest threat to affiliate income

[Mogga]

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Agreed there - reliance on one person for one thing is tricky...
Lack of backups has also eben discussed elsewhere on the forum several times.


I'd like to add that Pimms is also a threat to affiliate income ;-)

[Flightmapping]

I'd like to add that Pimms is also a threat to affiliate income ;-)

Or any other poison you might care to mention! Under- or over- indulgence in leisure pursuits is no good for body or soul.

He says in front of his computer at 11:30pm scoffing down a greasy pizza.

[drivetowin]

It's very easy to say we can't afford the time to build in some recreation, eat properly and do a bit more exercise, but then again, can we afford not to?

Very true James

Be careful of the old maxim 'work expands to fill the time available'

Thanks to my cancer some days I'm now only working the equivalent of two days a week (compared to six or seven previously!) - yet despite an initial dip in my income of about 30% and in productivity of about 50%, income is now pretty well back where it was and productivity is probably only 20% less than it used to be.

I've learnt to work smarter, not harder....

[Flightmapping]

Keith,

I think it is amazing that you can keep up such spirits and fight so hard. But exactly as you say, a lot of what we do isn't really necessary, and if we do take time to step back and remember the 80:20 rule, then we don't always need to work 25 hours a day, much as though we'd like to!

[PitBoss]

Since i've been in this industry i've seen revenue and traffic models change frequently. Cashback is all the rage today, but how long will it last?

If we go back to 1999, affiliate marketing was if not dirty, an unheard of word. High CPM banner buys were the popular business model. But companies soon realised that the ROI wasn't there and dropped their budgets and rates like a stone (around the time that the bubble burst). A lot of people lost their jobs and the internet went into recession.

This was the dawn of the affiliate, smart, early adopting, entrepreunerial types who trained themselves to build web sites that achieved high web rankings and gave merchants revenue on a pay for performance basis. The holy grail of the web for both the affiliate (as long as they got paid on time) and the merchant (as long as their product converted well and paid competitive/generous commissions).

Today the market is more mature, agencies have started to work out how the internet can deliver desirable results for their clients, companies are investing more and more into the pay for performance channels such as affiliate marketing and PPC and some are spending money on brand building via MSN, Wanadoo etc... (bad idea) and unfortunately, the IAB is encouraging this approach.

But the way I see it is that the job of the affiliate/entrepreneur today is exactly the same as it was 2 to 3 years ago. Yes it's a pain that it's getting more competitive, but there is always a hole in the market. As I see it, an affiliates job is to build web pages that rank well in search engine directories or convert well at PPC/traffic buying level and sell merchants products to make a profit.

I don't believe that Google hates affiliates, I think that it is in Google's interest to deliver good quality results for their users, as that is the only way that they can future proof their business. If Google is kicking affiliates out of the top positions, ask yourself if the pages that have been dislodged were really what the searcher was looking for in the first place (and not just algorithm manipulation). If you genuinely believe they represented quality content, then you have a case to complain to Google with.

I work with a few affiliates who are always in the top pages of results on google for very competitive search terms, their sites have been around for a while and the quality of their content is very relevant, informative and easy to read. I have known one of them from my early days and back then they were making next to nothing, but it is only in the last couple of years that their web sites have begun to flourish. They might not have been aware of it at the time but maybe by default, they took a long term view and built a site for the future rather than for the here and now.

They are not alone, and I think that the only way we can future proof our businesses is by taking a long term view and focusing on the quality of the information and products that we are providing our customers with. And becoming experts in our fields (rather than jumping onto the next bandwagon that rides by).

[chromate]

I think that the major threat is to those affiliates relying on PPC traffic. The immediacy of the model is the problem. Merchants can snuff out affiliates all too quickly just by hiring PPC marketing experts for their own campaigns, not to mention restricted bidding. Right now I think many merchants are just relying upon affiliates to generate sales via PPC simply because they don't fully understand how the system works themselves, and so they can't replicate the same results "in house". It's only a matter of time before that changes.

SEO is a totally different ball game. I think just as the immediacy of PPC campaigns poses the greatest threat to affiliates, conversely the slow nature of SEO is one of its greatest strengths, as far as the affiliate is concerned. It takes time to build a high traffic site for a given niche. The number of available niches vastly outweighs the number of affiliates willing to put in the time and effort to fill them. And I think it will remain that way for a long time to come. So there's room for many different players. This is in contrast to PPC where a profitable niche can get filled very quickly, squeezing profit margins as affiliates try to compete, getting to the point where merchants rule the game.

Obviously profit margins are much bigger for affiliates using SEO too, which again makes it far easier to "survive." Algorithm updates aren't really a problem if you have a broad spectrum of different sites which provide good quality content.

So, I think the outlook for PPC is pretty bleak (I'm talking the next 5 years) but I think there will always be room to compete successfully with organic un-paid traffic.

[aotagain]

I think the major threat is the public gaining knowledge and voting with its mouse. We need to concentrate on what they want, not on how to get to the top of the se's.

ie. they figure out:
Realising why there are such a huge number of pointless search results.
Realising what most 'directories' are actually trying to do.

and therefore opting for a yet-to-appear search process or method.

Amongst my net-savvy friends (not webmasters - just web shoppers), there's deliberate avoidance of several main 'brand' directories - they now scan rapidly down the results looking for a 'proper' company. Lets face it, everyone on here probably knows how to high speed scan by now.

Only a matter of time before public demand/knowledge prompts a company into generating a clever desktop screening tool. eg. temporarily open 5 search windows to get the first 5 pages of results, put the content through a screen like a virus scan and then deliver the results on one page.

or is that happening already ?

[Darren M]

I think the major threat is the public gaining knowledge and voting with its mouse. We need to concentrate on what they want, not on how to get to the top of the se's.

ie. they figure out:
Realising why there are such a huge number of pointless search results.
Realising what most 'directories' are actually trying to do.

I've see people coming into my sites with -kelkoo in the referrer string, so it looks like they're starting to filter these big affil sites out.

Can't say I blame 'em as Kelkoo especially, does seem to dominate the search results for just about everything in my sectors.

[aotagain]

Yeah, it doesn't take a net guru to know that when it says 'buy such and such at (---insert name of directory, ebay or Amazon---)' they've only got a 50/50 chance of it being there ;-)

[drivetowin]

Build good quality websites across a broad range of market sectors, build a community, have content that adds real value, and most of all be prepared to 'think outside the box'

Do all of the above as many times as you can physically and mentally manage and you'll build a long term viable business that can survive the vagaries of search engine changes.

I'm fortunate in that I've now got 50+ revenue earning websites (some earn a £1 a month, most earn many multiples of that) but its taken three years of damn hard slog (and a fair few disappointments along the way) to get there - its not easy, its not always financially rewarding but, for me at least, its the most damn fun way of earning a living I've ever discovered.

But cover all your bases and its there for the taking - just dont expect to get there overnight if you choose the natural search / site building route.

[stevey]

I agree 100%. It's also good to look long term at the worst possible scenario where you may not get any search engine traffic anymore. Would our business models survive if that is the case?

Tough question to ask.

How viral are your sites?
Have you branded them well?
Have you built up a community?

etc.,etc.

stevey

[zaq]

Build good quality websites across a broad range of market sectors, build a community, have content that adds real value, and most of all be prepared to 'think outside the box'

Do all of the above as many times as you can physically and mentally manage and you'll build a long term viable business that can survive the vagaries of search engine changes.

I'm fortunate in that I've now got 50+ revenue earning websites (some earn a £1 a month, most earn many multiples of that) but its taken three years of damn hard slog (and a fair few disappointments along the way) to get there - its not easy, its not always financially rewarding but, for me at least, its the most damn fun way of earning a living I've ever discovered.

But cover all your bases and its there for the taking - just dont expect to get there overnight if you choose the natural search / site building route.

kbudden your words are gold no sorry platinum this is the best advice anyone can ask for in this business.

[AffManagement]

hi, just wondering about the one thats missing "pay per call"

Pay per call, imo this will be a successful channel once its established, when really depends on the uptake of voip, services like Skype etc, when a majority of users are making cheaper/free telephone (local/worldwide) calls via their pc than the current "telephone" I think it will be huge.

Having the ability with one click and you have a sales person or rep to talk to could be very powerful.

On the flipside this could effect transactions online which is something to consider, as an affiliate we are already wary of big telephone/service numbers being promoted by merchants and commissions taken by offline orders, if visitors have the ability with one click to call and place an order it could be a blow for affiliates, ppc etc.

Neil...