The Future of the Finance Vertical Forum

[Michael_Anthony]

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Great post John, and some very good points made.

Your comment about others posting good/bad experiences is bang on the money for someone responding to a post from an established affiliate and/or merchant, but I think the issue here is if someone new pops up and members get ripped off as a result.

But we can't legislate for that - like I said above, it's "buyer beware".

I still don't like call centres though (just in case anyone was in any doubt over that ), and I still don't see that they have a place in an online affiliate marketing forum.

[Michael_Anthony]

Just a further thought here. Matt originally said..

"I'm concerned with its direction and the conduct of a select number of newcomers"

What he HASN'T said, and what would help us all I'm sure, is precisely what the conduct is that's causing him concern.

Matt - what do YOU see as the issues here?

[lurker]

Would it be worth splitting the Finance vertical into two channels - 1 for general finance CPA and 1 for Lead-Gen ?

At present almost all of the threads in Finance are concerning lead-gen and there are a lot of aggressive posts, I imagine a lot of merchants and networks running CPA activity on unsecured loans, credit cards, insurance, banking etc now see this part of the forum as a "snipers alley" and stay well clear for fear of either being flamed or ignored. Splitting the vertical might be one way of bringing them back??

There is more to finance than lead-gen on secured, mortgage, IVA etc - is it worth separating the traditional banking side of things to get some more information out there on what's on offer?

[yvee-gf]

Would it be worth splitting the Finance vertical into two channels -

I can see your point but ATEOTD finance is finance and affiliates are affiliates.

As a few people have mentioned already, there is a place for all the major formats of lead genereration in the affiliate world but the problem is the distinction and clarification.

Perhaps one guideline to add to the proposed sticky could be "When making lead related posts you should indicate how these leads are generated".

The obvious problem here will be one of honesty but I'm pretty sure the gurus on here are able to suss out any dodgy suspects As Michael mentioned, you are never going to be able to eradicate dishonesty completey but it could be a start and it may act as a deterrant if posters know that they could be banned and their posts deleted.

And to act as "Devil's Advocate" for a second... just because a poster is new to the forum (like me) it doesn't necessarily mean that they are up to no good, at least with some acknowledged, acceptable guidelines newbies will know what is to be expected at least.

[123debtsolutions]

Here's a novel idea... Why doesn't a mod do something about : "Leads_Secured" This guy has bumped about 20 posts in the last 4 days.....

Surely someone must identify this as an immediate problem and correct me if I am wrong but is this not one of the issues we are concerned about..... Tackling the immediate problem is a good place to start.

Why not get more MODS.. There are lots of trusted A4u users that would be happy to oversee the posts in a particular category.... DMOZ does it.... And they do it very well....

Also

My suggestion is we all place 3 valid points each in answer to Matthews original question and allow him the opportunity to create "some gentlemanly rules that we would like to see for this specific forum."

I will start :

1. Post must be relevant to lead generation/affiliate marketing as opposed to data suppliers (By all means create a separate category for each if necessary.)
2. New posters must have introduced themselves and their company/services/position in the industry/relationship to affiliate marketing etc..
3. Perhaps a scoring system so that other members can vote for another member therefore a trusted member can score points/votes for each post they make... Again ebay users will be familiar with negative/positive feedback.

Good Luck Matt, Hope this helps...

[crisscross]

Here's a novel idea... Why doesn't a mod do something about : "Leads_Secured" This guy has bumped about 20 posts in the last 4 days.....

Surely someone must identify this as an immediate problem and correct me if I am wrong but is this not one of the issues we are concerned about..... Tackling the immediate problem is a good place to start.

Why not get more MODS.. There are lots of trusted A4u users that would be happy to oversee the posts in a particular category.... DMOZ does it.... And they do it very well....

Also

My suggestion is we all place 3 valid points each in answer to Matthews original question and allow him the opportunity to create "some gentlemanly rules that we would like to see for this specific forum."

I will start :

1. Post must be relevant to lead generation/affiliate marketing as opposed to data suppliers (By all means create a separate category for each if necessary.)
2. New posters must have introduced themselves and their company/services/position in the industry/relationship to affiliate marketing etc..
3. Perhaps a scoring system so that other members can vote for another member therefore a trusted member can score points/votes for each post they make... Again ebay users will be familiar with negative/positive feedback.

Good Luck Matt, Hope this helps...

I agree. Its high time we start cleaning up this forum.

[123debtsolutions]

Hi Matthew , Do you have enough information to act ??

[anshul123]

we can also try and do the breakthrough based on Mortgage / DM / loans.. as these are the broad categories .. also can have others for stuff like insurance etc

[dean1st]

I would like to say if you are a newcomer to the website then people who have used it for yrs should show a bit of respect......where were you when you first turned up on here?

I am a telemarketing manager, and yes i have offered our services of selling leads for companies. But its forum's like these that help us get in contact with varies companies, and offer services that your not necessarily receiving, so how about a seperate thread, topic, or forum for this, so people who get annoyed with 'call centre' types etc dont need to go on that thread, and people that do require leads for busines can.

Dean

[RobOxeva]

I tend to agree with you Dean.

But there seems to be hostility directed towards anyone that is or may appear offshore, or could take clients away from some of the people who have been here a while. It takes the reading of no more than a couple of posts to identify those that are more concerned about stopping their clients from going elsewhere, and also those that are, in truth, selling junk.

I think newbies should be welcomed (as I felt I was in truth) - however, an expectation of them to read and review or contribute first, before using it as a channel of free advertising isn't beyond a reasonable expectation.

I think the offshores get the attention that they deserve. If only you could stop the clowns who post idiotic remarks on posts purely for the purpose of either hijack or self promotion then the forum would be perfect.

Rob | OXEVA

[dean1st]

I tend to agree with you Dean.
I think newbies should be welcomed (as I felt I was in truth) - however, an expectation of them to read and review or contribute first, before using it as a channel of free advertising isn't beyond a reasonable expectation.
Rob | OXEVA

no probs i agree and in a sense i did respond to a few posts admittingly they were posts where people were looking for leads.....however i wouldn't try to respond to something i kno diddly squat about, and i definately wouldn't moan at other people for putting what they think is right on here.

It does all come down to the forum admin staff to make sure that posts, threads and topics are all adhering to the 'rules', but this would take a lot of work, and a cure for this....make your more reputable forum readers a officer or admin

So if you do see my name replying to a topic or offering a service you could be interested in.......be polite could give examples but naming and shaming is pointless!

[RobOxeva]

I completely agree with you

[deesbizz]

Hello Mr. Wood,

This is for the first time I have spent few hours to study the different posts. I am new to this site and forum. I represent a telemarketing company in UK and in India. I wonder to whom to contact and how to get the finance related assignments. What I thought while I found this forum was that it will be easy to access the different programs, however to my surprise, most of the people are deadly against call centre services. I wonder if quality is in place and support can be given then what can beat the personalized generated leads?

I will request if some one can suggest and help. Thank you to all.

Regards,
Deepak Sharma
0208 144 3693

[shamrockfinance]

Hello,

I must admit as a newcomer to the site and having a good snoop through, some of the posts and replies etc make you feel intimidated.

But there seems like a lot of experienced people on here and in the few days we have been looking on here have found the site very, very useful!!

No matter where you go there will always be banter etc.

At the moment from limited usage there doesn't seem to be much reason to change anything, only maybe within the Finance formum to have a few more sub- forums????

Have a good one

Jon
:tup

[platinum_blonde]

Hello,

I must admit as a newcomer to the site and having a good snoop through, some of the posts and replies etc make you feel intimidated.

But there seems like a lot of experienced people on here and in the few days we have been looking on here have found the site very, very useful!!

No matter where you go there will always be banter etc.

At the moment from limited usage there doesn't seem to be much reason to change anything, only maybe within the Finance formum to have a few more sub- forums????

Have a good one

Jon
:tup

I completely agree with you.

I am a newcomer (here and also to the industry) and have been reading posts to develop a further understanding of the finance world (purely for my own benefit, not my businesses). I have been dying to throw my opinion in several times, but you're right it's all very intimidating!!
:blush