Have You Ditched Next Directory And Other Low Paying Programmes - Poll

[Leeky]

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Anyone care to see if they can outrank NEXT in the serps for their brand name?

Doug

Thats not going to be easy for a single keyword with 2.5 billion results to compete with

Lee

[John Jupp]

Anyone care to see if they can outrank NEXT in the serps for their brand name?

Doug

I am very sorely tempted.

[Qui Gon Jinn]

"Next" maybe be more difficult as a singular word, but popular phrases like "Next Directory", Next Clothing", "Next Sale", "Next Clothing", "Next Catalogue" maybe a little easier.

[Shane]

if its making money for affs, they are not going to pull their links.

Sadly yes Jess, some will take whatever is on the table, despite how damaging a message that sends out, i.e "affiliates will lap up anything they are offered as long as the till is ringing"

Wallet always wins,

Only for the short sighted or desparate, I can understand for those making very little revenue, you probably wouldn't turn off a revenue stream out of principle, but for those that drive volume over multilple programs and channels then binning even a merchant doing serveral hundred or thousands a month, to make a point for long term benefit, would be worth it as it sends a message out that those serious about affiliate marketing who can drive the volume will not stand for being squeezed or taken advantage of.

what the ideal objective is anyway, is this to get Next to change their ways? Is this to just send a message? Is this to educate or prevent other affiliates from promoting next?

Personally I'd say that the most important point is that it sends a message that shows other merchants that affiliates in general will not stand for being mistreated a la next stylie and being slipped an ever worsening deal, I don't know if next will change their ways, I'd hope so, I really do, but Next aren't working at the coal face, they are 2 levels away from it behind the velvet tongues of I-level and buy.at, so who knows what perspective they have.

if other affiliates choose to promote next then all I'll say to them is don't dare be on here in a couple of years whinging about how crap life is at 1% commission on the major brands on 7 day cookies with tons of 0% products in the datafeeds, thats assuming they actually took you on board after you supplied the mandatory copy of your passport, finger prints, eye scan, stool sample, stem cells, blog url and a4u username.

I do think reducing affiliates commissions to 1% during Next sale was insulting and if I were a network I would rather have quit my job then send out that info to affiliates

yup I agree totally, very insulting, very short sighted and ultimately whoever was advising the person that took that decision shouldn't have been in a position to do so methinks.

[drivetowin]

To me though there are two very different issues.

The issue of lowering commission percentages, for me at least, did not make me remove Next from my sites - yes, sure it meant I gave them lower priority than other merchants but I still kept them on the site. Having discussed the reasons for the reduction in commission with AW at the time, I can actually understand the commercial logic behind the decision, and hand on heart, if I had been Next at the time, with a purely commercial hat on (there is little room for altruism in big business), I would have done exactly the same thing - if you can make 90 widgets a day and you can sell all 90 at 3% commission why would you ever pay 4% commission to do the same thing? - it just doesn't make commercial sense to do so. Before anyone says 'think of the long term' - yes I agree with you but equally would you pay Google 50p a click if you could get away with paying them 30p a click and they still delivered enough clicks to sell all your widgets - I would suggest the answer is no.

The more serious issue for me was that they refused Frostie purely on the basis that he had made previous negative comments about the programme - that to me is totally unacceptable - I will not be held to ransom or feel that I have to look over my shoulder every time before I post a comment about merchant x or merchant y - as long as criticism is constructive then we should all be willing and adult enough to accept whatever criticism is thrown at us - whether we take any notice of the criticism is of course the perogrative of each individual / organisation.

[jess1]

Shane: Yes.... absolutely and this bit is so poignant

if other affiliates choose to promote next then all I'll say to them is don't dare be on here in a couple of years whinging about how crap life is at 1% commission on the major brands on 7 day cookies with tons of 0% products in the datafeeds

DriveToWin: As an affiliate that still promoted Next even though they dropped their commissions (by the way a couple of merchants followed suit, one citing Next's changes being a good excuse, I cant locate the thread now) and as a strong advocate of an affiliate association, how would you have rated Next as a good/bad affiliate program? Because of their conversions? Not trying to be a pain (u know I luv ya )... just as a case study, would this have gotten the seal of approval? Take Frostie out of the equation for a minute. Im curious

[fionah]

Any emails you send, are either forwarded directly, or cc'd to Next.

I just wanted to be transparent to everyeone!

Both Jonny @ Next and myself recieve emails sent to nextaffiliates@i-level.com so they are aware of your last email. I am forumulating a response and will be with you asap.

[Iskander]

This isn't my sector at all, but the thread title caught my eye and I have just spent the last 20 minutes reading everyone's posts from the beginning.

I just wanted to say well done to everyone who has refused to lie down and roll over on this issue - I strongly support the actions of all the affiliates who have had the courage to make a statement that they will not be bullied by a major high street brand.

Next and i-level, really, it would almost be humourous how appallingly ineptly you are handling this situation - humourous in the manner Fawlty Towers - were it not quite so tragic in the degree to which it reflects your woefully out-of-touch collective mindset.

This is the web! People talk to each other in public. A lot! Guess what's really popular right now? That's right - Facebook and Social Networks. People blog, people send emails, people instant message each other, people post on forums. Opinions and thoughts spread at the speed of light. Get it? If you treat a large number of affiliates like they don't matter - and, let's face it, there are few communities of professionals who are more active web-citizens or more prolific bloggers, so you've not chosen your target very cleverly here - then, no, they will not politely send you an email so that you can fob them off with lame excuses or dismiss them from your programme at your convenience.

People have worked hard to promote your brand and give you real sales - and you pay them lip service. Here's what they're going to do: discuss what you have done in public. That conversation is going to happen whether you're participating in it or not.

Have you even read The Cluetrain Manifesto?

Have you even heard of it?!

Heaven knows how much damage you have done to the reputation of your online marketing efforts already. Can you count the money you have lost stretching over the next few months? Are you going to let this drag on until the summer months so that your Christmas sales end up being impacted? You do know that High Street shopping has been down every Christmas for the last few years, because people are shopping online instead, don't you? Are you going to commit to some real damage limitation which might include a sincere apology, a reinstatement of affiliates you have dismissed (if they'll have you back) and raising the commission percentage back up to 4% ? Do you not wonder if it's too late even for that and that you've already blown your chances?

It's okay, you're not the worst. Two years ago a merchant I did promote - a German airline named germanwings - tried to pull a fast one on affiliates by swapping the destination of all their affiliate links to a special alternative site, to ensure that anything an affiliate-referred end-customer bought cost more than if that customer had arrived directly on the original site. ("A sales channel which pays for itself!" the merchant must have thought. "No matter if it makes the affiliate sites look like sites to be avoided. Affiliates are two a penny and pretty disposable, after all.")

Predictably, there was uproar.

The three networks featuring that merchant all dumped the merchant within about a month of this practice coming to light. Two years later the merchant is still cursed in affiliate circles. If that merchant were ever invited back on to a network, there are many competent, professional and hard-working affiliates, I am certain, who have long since moved on and would not give it the time of day.

I'll invite you to consider what the moral of that short tale might be.

[fionah]

I would like to point affiliates reading this thread to the following post.

http://www.affiliates4u.com/forums/a...tml#post380459

We hope that this will clear up any inaccuracies published about the program. However if you do have any further queries we will be happy to address them at nextaffiliates@i-level.com.

[mateypeeps]

I cannot believe, on this paltry result, that 66% - two thirds - of affiliates are still promoting Next when they have reduced your earnings by 50%.

Some of you don't deserve to make a profit and maybe should stick/return to your full time job

or am I missing something?

Yes, you seem to be mising courtesy to fellow a4u members.

If they want to link to Next, then that is their choice. Perhaps their traffic profile is such that the visitors would only join Next, and not respond to other offers if redirected, for just one hypothetical example.

Mind you, as a rude b'stard myself, I should not complain about courtesy I suppose,so feel free to reply in a similar vein as last time.

Shane has his finger on the pulse, I select a bit I agree with in particular, even though the phrasing is also condecending and perhaps I should take him to task for that as well, to appear less hypocritical in my mild rebuke of your attitude.

"Only for the short sighted or desparate, I can understand for those making very little revenue, you probably wouldn't turn off a revenue stream out of principle, but for those that drive volume over multilple programs and channels ...."

I count myself as one of the "desparate", any revenue is better than none when you do not get much a month to start with.

Having said that, I have never bothered with NEXT either, due to the principle voiced by many here, to teach them, and merchants like them, not to muck us about.

Life is complicated, Eh?

[affacc]

Removing the links is not the only solution, but a solution though if one has an alternative link to replace with.