I personally love the job. It’s fun, exciting, challenging and rewarding. I find affiliates on the whole a pleasure to work with.
When affiliates fall out with programs it’s usually because payments haven’t been made on time or the program is using an unfair/unethical route to market that is hurting the affiliate’s business.
In my experience affiliate managers earn what they are worth. The really successful ones who learn the business and go the extra mile can command very generous packages but frequently end up running their own affiliate management agencies. (Many examples of this found here and through networks like ABestWeb).
But if you are looking to recruit a good AM with say 2 – 3 years of relevant experience I would imagine that you could be paying upwards of $45k USD basic plus a generous commission based bonus. In the UK, good AM’s with 2 – 3 years experience are being offered jobs starting at £38k ($70k USD) plus bonus.
I’ve heard stories of AM’s who are earning in excess of $200k (USD), including bonuses.