How to target AFFILIATES for sponsorship

While I understand that you’d like to KNOW what sort of income you’ll have each month, the truth of the matter is it’s unlikely (at this time) you’ll be able to get a paid media deal that would make sense, profit-wise. I’ll try to explain…

There are very few paid media sites now. The reasons for this is that the sites that can command paid insertions are able to do so because they have done the hard yards and have (generally speaking) high SE rankings, big traffic and have developed relationships with the various campaign managers/marketers, etc. And IF you have those ducks in a row, more often than not, you would make FAR more money by going with a rev-share situation.

Additionally, you cannot begin to imagine the pressure you would have running paid media campaigns. I can only speak from my own experience, but I can honestly say that I really hate mid-month and the last few days of the month, followed by the first few days of the month (doesn’t give much time to be stress-free, does it? lol). Why? Come mid-month, I hear from those campaign managers who are screaming that performance isn’t living up to THEIR expectations. Never mind that several marketers have incredibly unrealistic expectations–I just have to grin and bear it. You see, you DO have to perform if you have any sort of dream of a contract renewal at the end of the month.

This brings me to why I hate the end of the month. This is the time when I have to hustle and make certain everyone was happy and that they will continue on. It’s negotiation time. On average 70% are happy with the results. It’s the 30% that become nightmarish for me. It’s at that moment that everything kicks into high gear to save the advertiser for coming months. Believe me when I tell you that if you lose an advertiser for poor performance, it’s gonna take months and months of convincing and begging (not to mention higher rankings and traffic) to get that advertiser back. And if indeed I DO lose an advertiser, I have to sort out new advertisers to make up for that lost revenue.

The first of the month is just as much of a headache. Having to chase up signed insertion orders, banners, tags, etc. is not my idea of a good time. Remember, if you don’t have things in on time, you have fewer days to make the campaign work.

In a perfect world, I’d probably prefer it if GoneGambling went to straight aff deals, however, it would never be practical. Because of the way the site is set up with the Games and High Rollers bonuses, etc., having to look after stats and balance books would require hiring accountants and investing an unbelievable amount of time. It’s just not practical. In our situation, the paid media model makes sense. With that said, there are very few paid media models that WOULD make sense, these days.

More for you to ponder is that you truly need volume of advertisers to make a decent income as a paid media site. I don’t know what you THINK you’d get for a month of ROS advertising, but I can tell you whatever you’re thinking, it’s gonna be less. You will only get the big rates after establishing a track record over time. Even then, big rates are tough to bring in, as they’re such a gamble for the advertiser. Also, most advertisers will want to test first, so you can pretty much scrap the notion of quarterly or bi-annual contracts. Again, you’ll have to establish a pattern of delivery to achieve this.

At the end of the day, being an affiliate means you have freedom. Why would you give that up?

Thanks for that input, and this is a very interesting topic.

I do some of each, but I do turn down most media buys. If a place does not convert well on my site as aff deal, what makes them think they would do better as media buy?

Probably because they would like more control over exact placement. Thing is, I am the one who knows my site best. I know exactly what works best where. So what to do if someone says they will give me x amount of money for placement in spot A,B,and C? I tell them it won’t work. I tell them what I think would work. It doesn’t fit the set rules or budget and they insist on the original proposal and I have to turn them down. I don’t like the idea of people paying money with expectation of immedate profits that don’t happen.

So I mostly take offers that are aware of the huge benefit branding can be for them, and I take only long term placements. That way branding is allowed to take effect and I always have happy customers.

For me, a mix is best. It provides both security and freedom, and I can make sure all parties are happy.

As far as work goes – I don’t think either model is less work than the other. They both come with their share of nuisance.