” other far better sites ” this was prob not the best thing to say..
I couldn’t agree more. Any time an aff manager badmouths one of their affs sites for no good reason, it is a tacky (and incredibly stupid) thing to do.
Even if he thought the offer had been posted with malicious intent of some kind, he still should have taken the high road and simply stated for the record that the offer in question was given only to sites that with affiliates earning “far better”, and then if he had an issue or wanted to insult you, he should have done it in a non-public way.
But the way he worded it: it sounds like an attack on the site/site’s owner. I cannot for the life of me figure to what positive end he was seeking by making such a comment.
On a side note: IMHO its likely that more than 80% of the hard feelings that happen that involve the net; are due to someone’s mis-reading another’s words or the words were not presented clearly enough to project the intention behind them. And like it or not, words are our business.
I don’t care how smart or fancy your website is; if your emails, site content, or forum posts are not received in a manner which isn’t insulting, threatening, or patronizing, then you are not going to get the kind of response you had hoped for unless you were shooting for driving people away.
cheap shots such as “far better sites” are IMHO easily spotted, quickly noted, and filed under “keep that person far away from me, and don’t give them any credibility from now on because I’ve seen how petty and low they are willing to go”.