| User | Post |
|
4:34 pm
January 20, 2013
|
Money Counselor
| | |
| Member | posts 233 | 
|
|
|
I need once again to call on the collective Yakezie wisdom.
Like many of you, I've got affiliate ads up that I got connected with through a 'middleman' organization (like Google) that I (sort of) trust. But recently I've begun working with a third party–not even sure what to call it, to be honest–that appears to act as a broker for advertisers. Working just through email, this third party has sent me contracts, then some "assets" (ad world speak for images, I gather) and links. I've put this stuff on my site and I wait for the cash register to ring.
But unlike Google and another middleman organization I'm working with, there's no website or reports of activity for me to monitor clicks on the ads, etc. I'm 100% dependent on the broker to tell me if I'm making money or not, and how much, as I've got no visibility. It dawned on me today that I may be a bigger sap than even I'd realized.
Couple of questions: Am I stupid (well, let's say naive) for even considering such an arrangement, where I have to trust the broker to be honest with me about activity through the ad on my site? Is there some independent tool that would give me visibility at least on how many times per day an ad on my site is clicked?
Thanks for your ideas.
|
|
|
|
|
5:42 pm
January 20, 2013
|
MyJourneytoMillions
| | |
| Member
| posts 1012 |
|
|
|
|
3:39 am
January 21, 2013
|
JP Money Blogger
| | |
| Member | posts 130 |
|
|
|
That definitely sounds strange Kurt and I'd think it's highly likely that you are being scammed. There's plenty of legitimate options.
|
|
|
|
|
5:48 am
January 21, 2013
|
Car Negotiation Coach
| | |
| Member | posts 125 |
|
|
|
There's nothing wrong with working directly with a company that manages their affiliate program in house. I've worked with several advertisers who do this very succesfully. And if i ran my own program, I'd seriously consider doing it in house as well.
The reason a company may want to do this is to avoid paying the extra 15-30% per commission to an affiliate marketplace. Since they are saving money, this is the perfect opportunity to negotiate a higher commission as part of their shared savings. Just explain that it requires more effort (if you are invoicing), less visibilty, and more faith on your part, so you would like to share the reduced cost (some specific negotiating verbiage in my book below).
You can track outbound clicks on your site using the Prettylink plugin and see if the CTR looks reasonable at the end of the month. Prettylink Pro allows you to track pixel fires on the advertiser site as well (although in my personal experience Pro's pixel tracking is unreliable and I'd stick with just click tracking). I've looked into other pixel tracking programs and haven't found any cost effective alternatives though.
|
|
|
|
|
6:40 am
January 21, 2013
|
MoneyBeagle
| | |
| Member
| posts 1466 |
|
|
|
MyJourneytoMillions said:
PULL OUT NOW
"That's what she said."
|
|
|
|
|
8:32 pm
January 21, 2013
|
Squirrelers
| | |
| Member | posts 986 |
|
|
|
MoneyBeagle said:
MyJourneytoMillions said:
PULL OUT NOW
"That's what she said."
LOL 
Back to the arrangement…that doesn't sound like a deal I'd be thrilled about. I'm with Evan on this one.
|
|
|
|
|
9:09 pm
January 21, 2013
|
Money Counselor
| | |
| Member | posts 233 |
|
|
|
Never let it be said that Yakezie members and challengers are shy about offering opinions! Thanks, I do appreciate the straightforward feedback.
I inquired with my contact about getting info on clicks, etc. She told me her company does indeed have a 'system' I can log into to see conversions. She apologized for not sending me log-in info–she "forgot." I still don't have it as she's out of her office on sick leave today (but apparently checking email). I'll let you know what develops…
Thanks again.
|
|
|
|
|
10:38 am
January 22, 2013
|
AverageJoe
| | |
| Member | posts 259 |
|
|
|
It might be interesting before you pull out to take the Pretty Link suggestion and compare your numbers to the dashboard she gives you. If the numbers are the same, you could be pulling out…ahem….prematurely.
|
|
|
|
|
11:17 am
January 22, 2013
|
Eric – PersonalProfitability.com
| | Portland, OR | |
| Member
| posts 2120 |
|
|
|
I have seen arrangements like this in the past. There is a big trust level, but I have been paid through them. Also, I like PrettyLink Pro for link forwarding but the counts are way, way too high to be trusted.
|
|
|
|
Login
Search 
Home
Print this Topic 
Topic RSS 
