John Woden, the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame coach, is known for saying that “perhaps the most important part of offensive basketball is the part played by each man without the ball.” Why is it so important? Because unless you play well without the ball, you don’t get the ball!

Krause, Meyer and Meyer wrote:

One of the most difficult coaching tasks is to teach players to carry out actions that don’t involve the basketball — the magnet of the game. An individual player on offense plays without the basketball over 80 percent of the time (“Basketball Skills & Drills”, p. 25).

It is exactly the same way in affiliate marketing! Profit/commissions which are “the magnet of the game” is often put by affiliates in front of another extremely important component of it — research and education, or the play without the ball. However, no super affiliate that I know has come to the heights they’ve reached  without countless hours spent on diligent study which helps one make educated decisions, and avoid deadly pitfalls.

Ralph Pim, another basketball expert, wrote this about playing without the ball:

Moving without the ball requires you to be adept at starting, stopping, faking, and changing directions.  You must have excellent court awareness and vision so that you maintain the proper floor spacing with your teammates (“Winning Basketball: Techniques and Tips for Playing Better Offensive Basketball”, p. 107).

While in affiliate marketing the majority of affiliates do not have teammates, the “excellent court awareness and vision” are certainly a must, and these come through staying on top of the latest developments (both in online marketing, and the vertical you’re working in), and constant self-improvement.

Twitter has just added a new feature — Twitter Lists. You can now create your own lists of Twitter users that you wish to follow. The cool part is that to add someone to the lists you actually do not need to follow them. Your list can be private or open to public (for viewing and following).

A number of good Twitter Lists have already been created, and there is already a Twitter Lists Directory – Listorious.com.

I have created two lists so far: Affiliate Networks and Web Analytics. The former will interest mostly affiliate marketers, while the latter is a must follow for any type of online marketer, or anyone who sells online. To give a feel of how a list looks, here’s a screenshot of my freshly created Web Analytics list:

Some of the other good Twitter lists for affiliate marketers to follow are:

• Affiliate Industry Insiders
• Affiliate Marketing list by Jen Goode
• Affiliate Marketing list by Jonathan Volk
• Affiliate Marketing list by Todd Farmer
• Affiliate Marketing list by Vinny O’Hare
• Affiliate Summit Speakers

As always, if I haven’t mentioned one, feel free to post it in the “Comments” are below.

An interesting topic has been brought up by one of my blog’s readers in the comments to the How to Deal With Mistakes post. Anthony Bloch wrote that in the affiliate program management context “the problem is” that one cannot teach an affiliate manager or merchant “to be responsive”. “They either get it” or deserve being “outed on blogs, forums, etc.”

I’ve been thinking about this topic (of outing merchants on blogs, forums and through other social media channels) for awhile, and as I have mentioned in my response to Anthony, I believe that an affiliate can actually be quite effective in educating a merchant/affiliate program manager. Some of the newer affiliate managers can learn a lot if affiliates contact them about the problems they see within affiliate programs. Of course, there are situations when merchants are too stubborn and/or too arrogant to learn, or make decisions that show utter disrespect to affiliates (here are just a couple of examples: Jangro’s experience | FlamingoGirl’s experience); but in many cases being slightly more tolerant, and not rushing to condemning conclusions, can benefit all parties involved.

I like Anthony’s two-attempts approach. I believe that contacting the affiliate program manager (or merchant) directly should always be the first step. Any error could always be committed out of meer ignorance. Same applies to merchants dealing with affiliates. Talk to each other! It’s amazing how productive a communication can be when a problem is faced. Of course, it requires a two-way communication channel, and its very existence depends on the both on the merchant’s, and the affiliate’s efforts.

An affiliate I know tweeted a phrase that underscores something that you will not hear mentioned in evangelistic presentations on affiliate marketing. Here’s his tweet:

As an affiliate program manager, this statement makes me ask myself: what have I personally done to make it less frustrating for my affiliates? While there is very little that I can do about “the punches from search engines”, there is a lot that can be done about merchants (ongoing education can help change a lot of things) and even governments (opposing and uniting affiliate marketers in our fight against things like the anti-affiliate tax is just one example).

Will affiliate marketing ever become a “no-risk channel” that Matt Bailey talked about yesterday in London? I personally do not believe that any sales channel can enjoy a 100% risk-free environment. However, we — as affiliate program managers, affiliate networks, and affiliate marketers — can help it become a less-risk channel for affiliates like Rehan and millions of others.

The June issue of FeedFront, the official Affiliate Summit’s magazine, is going to be hitting mailboxes very soon.

On page 10 of this issue you may find my newest article. In it I write about the desperate need for education that is present in the affiliate marketing circles. You may download this newest issue of the magazine in PDF at the FeedFront’s website, or view it online on Scribd.com. By the way, the subscription to this magazine is free (for those who reside in the US). So you might as well subscribe to receive it in the mail too.

In my article, I am taking about the widely spread absence of the affiliate marketing education which so frequently becomes the root of larger problems. After all, how could one know what is good for their affiliate marketing and what isn’t, what works and what doesn’t, what underwater reefs to be steer clear of and what mistakes to avoid if he/she does not take the time to educate (him)/(her)self?

Learn more in my article!

In brief, I believe that the 4 cornerstones of effective affiliate marketing education are:

1. Establishing a solid theoretical basis
2. Adjusting theories to the peculiarities of your context
3. Committing to an ongoing self-education
4. Teaching others (through newsletters, blogs, articles, etc)

You may find my full article by following the above-quoted links.

I also always welcome feedback. So, if you have anything to say (by the way, I’m not afraid of criticism either), feel free to post your thoughts below (in the comments area).