I really dislike asking for recommendations. Part of it is that I struggle to do recommendations myself, and I know that other people feel the same way. Part of it is that I don’t want people to feel like they have to do it even if they are too busy or just really don’t have anything good to say about me (although I hope the latter isn’t true!). The final part is that I don’t like “quid pro quo” recommendations where you only refer someone because they referred you back. I don’t think you get honest recommendations that way because people feel forced.
On the flip side, I know that I seek out recommendations about people before I work with them–sometimes even before I respond to their emails. It may be something simple like someone wanting to interview me for a story. More importantly, it might be a potential consulting opportunity. It may even be a merchant trying to decide if I am worthy of working with. I want to know them and they want to know me. They may ask me for referrals, but more likely they will just start Googling away to see what they can find.
I’m confident of what people will find about me online because I talk about myself an awful lot. But I know they don’t want to just hear what I have to say. They want to hear what merchants and networks and former employers and affiliate colleagues and consulting clients want to say. I know I need recommendations.
I decided that rather than put anyone on the spot, I would just start a Recommendation Project. I’m putting this out there to my whole network. If you are so inclined to help me out, I’m making it easy.
- You can leave a recommendation directly on my LinkedIn profile and I’ll direct people there.
- You can leave a comment on this blog post and I will copy it over to my new Recommendation page.
- You can click on this form and fill out the short fields to tell me who you are and what you have to say.
- You can email me and I will copy the email.
I’ll take all of the feedback that I can get and compile it on my brand new Tricia Meyer Recommendation page. It’s lonely and sad looking right now. But I have no doubt that it will get better soon.
Thanks in advance to anyone who does decide to recommend me in any way. I know that putting yourself out there publicly in support of someone else is not to be taken lightly. I appreciate that you are willing to take the time for me!!
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This morning I got an email from ShareASale with the subject line “Sunshine Rewards: Urgent Compliance Issue.” That’s the kind of subject line that makes you stop in your tracks and drop everything else that you are doing.
With my heart racing, I immediately opened the email and read it as fast as I could. Skimming through I found the words “compliance team,” “forcing clicks through an image tag,” and “against the Terms of Agreement on ShareASale.” Holy crap! What have I done?? I’m a rule follower. I’ve been outspoken in our industry against cookie stuffing, cheaters, and even people who walk the line. Did I all of a sudden become one of them? I literally felt sick to my stomach. Like I had been called to the principal’s office for cheating. Only much worse.
Guilty As Charged
Thankfully Brian wasn’t vague. I’ve gotten the dreaded Google emails before that basically say “You broke the rules. We’re shutting you down.” Not only do you know you are in trouble but you can’t even figure out what you did to get there or how to fix it. In this case, I was directed to the page with the offending image. I knew which merchant was the problem. I didn’t know exactly what I had done to screw things up, but I also knew in my brain (and my heart) that no one in my company would have done it intentionally. [click to continue…]
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Word has spread like wildfire that the Google Affiliate Network is closing and I am seeing responses that range from “Hurray!” to “Oh Crap!”. What do you need to do now that the announcement has been made? First, PANIC. Just kidding. Don’t panic. It’s going to be okay. Even if you do a lot of business with them or your favorite merchant runs through them. It’s going to be fine. We have seen huge changes in affiliate marketing and this one is probably not even going to rate in the top 10 by next year.
What do YOU need to be doing now that you have read the announcement?
First, understand that this is not happening tonight. You do not need to have all of your links changed by tomorrow. However, you do need to make a plan of attack.
Second, start running some reports in Google. Find out which merchants you have made any money through them with in the last year or even two years. Sort that report in order of commissions.This will not only help you figure out just how much money is at stake for you but also an order of priority for changing links. The problems may be bigger or even smaller than you are thinking right now.
Third, start looking for those merchants on other networks. Some of them are already on Linkshare, Commission Junction, ShareASale, Impact Radius, Affiliate Window, AvantLink, etc. Those will be the first ones to move your links for.
Fourth, start reading emails. I know we tend to ignore a lot of emails that come from merchants because we get to many. But it’s imperative that you read them to figure out where the merchants are going. I would guess that pretty much all of them that are actually making money with their affiliate programs will open on another network. If they are not making money with their affiliate program, you don’t have to worry about it because it means you are not making any money with them either.
Fifth, if you do not hear anything from your key merchants in the next couple of weeks, start reaching out to them. In particular if you have merchants you send a lot of sales to you might want to actually suggest which networks you would like them to move to and tell them why.
Lastly, do anything that you can to make the link transitions on your sites easier. If you are not already using something like Pretty Link on your blog to manage links, now might be the time. Putting in a little extra time now may save you a lot of time down the road if the merchants end up changing networks again for some reason.
A lot of us have seen the writing on the wall for GAN for some time but tried to hold out hope. They had invested in some interesting new technologies but their platform just never got to the level of the other major players. I wondered if something was going on when I saw Dan Greene leave, because he always seems to be on the winning side. The tracking issues last year angered merchants and affiliates alike, and GAN didn’t seem to be in a big hurry to deal with either the tracking issues or the PR problems they caused.
What are your thoughts on GAN closing? Do you even care? I have to admit that I have had my ups and downs with them. I hate to see what might be perceived as a “loss” in affiliate marketing but over time I don’t think it truly will be a loss at all.
More Reading: Eric Ewe wrote an interesting article on What To Do Next as a Merchant. Exactly the type of advice that merchants who are on GAN need right now! In addition, Greg Hoffman just wrote a piece on Migrating Affiliate Programs from Google that should be food for thought for a lot of merchants looking at this as an opportunity to make their programs better.
Edited to Add: Some of you will get a kick out of this image that Greg Hoffman Consulting just posted on Facebook:
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Affiliate marketing is my full-time job, and I think that I treat it like one. I have an office in my house devoted to work and I spend most of the normal business hours in it. I have an EIN that I use instead of my SSN. I have a P.O. box that I use for business correspondence. But I have lacked one crucial thing: a formal business plan.
I set goals. I hold myself accountable. I make plans on a weekly, monthly, and quarterly basis. But a true business plan is more than that. It’s about making your business profitable. It’s about tracking revenue. It’s about figuring out where you can find new opportunities.
I first heard an affiliate really seriously talking about a business plan when I heard Sabrina Malone from WorkingMom.com talk about it at Affiliate Summit. It interested me because my business is in many ways similar to hers. I liked what she was saying about treating our websites as true businesses with projections and accountability.
I next heard about affiliate business plans from Todd Farmer when I joined AffPlan. In addition to explaining business plans with an outline and guide, he includes a number of templates that I never would have even thought to draft for myself including:
- 12 Month Cash Flow
- Projected Balance Sheet
- Breakeven Analysis
- Opening Day Balance Sheet
- Profit and Loss Projection
- Profit Projection
- Sales Forecast
- Startup Expenses
- SWOT Analysis
I’m partial to AffPlan because of my role in it, but the Business Plan portion is 100% Todd’s and amazing to me. If you are not treating your affiliate websites like a business, you owe it to yourself to investigate putting together a business plan.
The AffPlan cost is currently $17 for everything you see above plus AffPlan Express, information on how to build affiliate sites from scratch, and much more. The price is about to go up in the next couple of days (and may already be increase by the time you even read this).
Take it from someone who thought she was running a business but realized she was missing some crucial pieces. Going through the process of creating your business plan will open your eyes and get you thinking more creatively about how to grow and manage your websites.
Do you currently have a business plan? Have you considered creating one?
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