Newb Guide Pt 3: Good Affiliate Networks and Getting Approved

13 February
47 Comments
by nickycakes

This is part 3 of Nickycakes’ newbie Affiliate Marketing Tutorial.

Affiliate networks were covered in decent detail in part 1 of the newb guide, but it’s important to get a little more in-depth.  As mentioned in the first post, Affiliate Networks basically bring together a bunch of companies that want you, the affiliate, to promote their products.  They take a small cut of the profits, and in turn, give you your paycheck, and save you the time and effort it would take to establish a direct relationship with these companies.  Instead of needing to search far and wide for something good to promote, and then signing up for their affiliate program, and then hoping it works, you can just pick from a big ass list, and in some cases, see if it’s doing well for other people.  Very convenient.

There are some things you should know before signing up to affiliate networks.  First, most of them have what seems like a strict approval process.  In reality it’s not that strict.  There are a lot of idiots from poor countries who sign up to these networks, send fraudulent leads, get a paycheck, and run before shit hits the fan.  Networks try to avoid this, obviously, because they’re responsible for these losses, not the merchant, usually.  So if you’re not from the US, the UK, or Canada, you may have a difficult time getting approved.  Sucks to be you.  As soon as you apply, call them and let them know you put your application in.  If you get rejected, call them and ask them why.  A good majority of the time, just talking to them on the phone is enough to get you approved, so make those calls, unless you put “John Anderson” as your name on the application but actually sound like Akmed the Terrorist or John Chow on the phone.

The most frequently asked question about the whole signup process is usually about the application form.  People seem to not know what to do when asked by the affiliate network what their website is.  Just put any website you own.  If you don’t have anything legit, put the domain of your prosper202 tracking if you have that.  If you don’t even have that, just put like www.idonthaveone.com and explain in the comments that you’re new or just do direct-to-offer ppc.

Once you get approved to an affiliate network, make sure you reach out to your AM (affiliate manager) to introduce yourself.  Ask what is converting well, and for any advice they may have for a beginner like yourself.  Affiliate Managers range in effectiveness from very good all the way down to fcking retarded.  They are essentially sales/customer service people for the network, and they get a percentage of the revenue they convince you to generate with their company.  Make sure you understand that it is their ultimate goal to help you and the rest of their affiliates make more money.  Develop a good relationship with your AM, be loyal to the ones who treat you well, and they will return the favor and hook you up when you need it.  On the other hand, until you know you can trust them, don’t give them any more information about your campaigns than you have to.  There are plenty of shady affiliate managers who are more than willing to share your campaign data with other affiliates just to make themselves a quick buck.

Remember that in the Affiliate to Affiliate Network relationship, you are the boss.  They want your business, they rely on you, not the other way around.  There are hundreds of networks, and if one of them screws you, switch.  If you want a higher payout on an offer, ask for it.  Getting a higher payout on an offer is not a privilege.  It is not something that should be conditional on the volume you are producing.  Don’t fall victim to companies who jerk you around and treat you like a newbie (even though you are).

On the flipside, never screw over the affiliate networks.  They are the ones giving you your paychecks.  Never try to send them fraudulent leads.  Never send incentivized traffic to offers that do not allow it.  Never bid on keyword terms when they disallow it.  Basically don’t screw them.  You will get banned, they will keep your commissions, and they will talk about you to other networks.  It’s a very small world, and the last thing you want to do is burn bridges.

AFFILIATE LINK WHORING TIME

That’s right folks, here is one of those not so rare occasions where Nickycakes links to a bunch of affiliate networks with his referral link.  Basically, if you use the links below, the affiliate networks you will be signing up for will know that Nickycakes referred you.  This means a few things.  First, and most important, the Cakes will get a small referral fee from the network (generally about 2% of whatever you generate) as a thank-you from the network.  If you don’t sign up with Nickycakes’ referral and then plan to at some point in the future ask the Cakes a question (which he answers quite frequently) he’ll probably tell you to go eat a fat dick and to ask some worthless waste of life like Tyler Cruz for the answer and see how much help you get.  Also if you get rejected by the network when applying, but you signed up with Nickycakes’ referral url, he can generally help you get approved.  The info on this blog is free, whoring himself out for network referrals is pretty much Nickycakes’ only method of revenue from this site.  Also, what kind of self respecting affiliate would he be if he didn’t use his affiliate link everywhere, rite?

Ok.  So here is a list of Affiliate Networks that Nickycakes knows personally, and trusts.  None of these have ever failed to pay the Cakes on time, or ever done anything to screw him over.  Just because a network isn’t on this list doesn’t necessarily mean they suck, maybe Nicky has never worked with them, etc.  There is a little background on each as well as some of the names of some good peeps at the company that you may want as your AM if you can request it:

Advaliant – This is the first network that Nickycakes ever made a significant profit with.  They have treated him well ever since.  They’ve taken Nicky out on numerous dinners with his friends, on them, and are all really standup people, Geofferson especially.  They have a lot of really good exclusive offers that convert amazingly well.  Good AM’s: Geofferson Marcy, Alla Semenchenko, Richard Okolo.

Ads4Dough – Run by a former bigggg time affiliate and personal friend of Nickycakes, Jason Akatiff, ads4dough keeps it real like no other network.  They will happily tell you exactly what offers are converting well, how to promote them, and even sometimes give you landing pages to work with and tell you where to put your ads.  They have made some extremely helpful exclusive tools for you to use to stay ahead of your competition.  Being experienced affiliates themselves, they know exactly how the game is played, and will tell you how as well.  Good AM’s: all of them.

Convert2Media – Another network run by a former bigtime affiliate, Ralph Ruckman, former owner of cashtactics blog.  Pretty much the same things that Nickycakes said about a4d apply to convert2 as well.  Good guys who know their stuff.

NeverblueAds – Nickycakes had his first profitable campaign with neverblue, and since then has never had any problem recommending them as a solid network, especially for beginners who may have trouble understanding a complicated affiliate network web interface. Ask for Scott (ext 289).

Copeac – Run by Mike Krongel, one of the smartest guys in the business, who is never afraid to tell it like it is.  They pay on time, have solid offers, and throw great invite-only parties at affiliate marketing conferences, which should be more than enough incentive to join ;)   Good AM’s: Jeff, Ryan, many others.

CX Digital – These guys used to be known as Incentaclick until they got bought out by some company and got renamed.  They’re one of the largest networks around, in terms of number of affiliates.  Just like copeac, they put on a hell of a party in vegas.  They have always paid nickycakes on time.  They do get a bad rap occasionally for some reason or another, but nothing that nickycakes has seen personally has been bad really.  They have a ton of offers, so they’re always good as a starting point when you’re researching what to promote.  Good AM’s: Winkie, Debrani

Do your best to get approved at these 6 networks and you will thank yourself later.

Next part will be about picking an offer to promote.

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