3 Signs You Do Not Want That Affiliate

Nearly every day I get applications from affiliates that are either hoping to get approved by an inattentive affiliate program manager, or aren’t really thinking much about how their application looks to the manager.

If you want your affiliate application declined, here’s a 3-step guide for you (satisfying any 1 of the 3 “requirements” will do):

  1. Have a non-resolving website (or use a domain name that doesn’t belong to you)
  2. Ignore the affiliate program agreement
  3. Tell the merchant your primary method of promotion is spam

…and here’s a real-life example:

Undesired affiliate

Of course, there are other tried-and-proven-to-work ways to get your affiliate application declined, but the above three are some of the most frequently reoccurring ones in my personal practice.

9 thoughts on “3 Signs You Do Not Want That Affiliate”

  1. Wow, awesome seeing the “other side” of the applications. This example is an absolute shocker.

    Would love to see a post on a “perfect example” of an international affiliate application from the backend of CJ.

  2. I’ll keep an eye on a “perfect example” and post it just for you (when I see one), Dave. As always, thank you for your comment.

  3. Yes, Sharon, I see at least one of those every day too. Also has mashable.com, webmd.com, and other big ones used like that.

    With google.com, however, I’ve had one major affiliate network tell me it’s acceptable, as the main method of promotion for that affiliate is paid search… I didn’t buy that. A serious paid search marketer has a site (or at least a page) of their own as well.

  4. I had a similar response from a major affiliate network and my reply was that DTM PPC (direct-to-merchant pay-per-click) is specifically prohibited in our Terms and Conditions so in order to join our program they need their own site. Shows that they’re not reading the T&C’s either so I definitely don’t want them in my program.

  5. Sharon, we must be talking about the same affiliate network. It is funny (to put it mildly) how these talks with some affiliate networks don’t go anywhere beyond just talks.

    Trisha your welcome (for the trip). 🙂

  6. Forgive the basic dumbness inherent i this question, but we are at an early stage.

    We have a product – an online project manager tool.

    We have been approached by some people who want to become affiliates in specific countries. They are also talking about becoming “resellers”.

    I am looking for advice on what we should watch out for – ie it seems scary to give people you don’t really know the power to represent your product.

    any feedback welcomed – particularly re the key / headline points of any agreements should be

    many thanks

    ed

    1. Ed, I wouldn’t be able to offer you key points/clauses for a reseller agreement, but with affiliates it is very similar in terms of giving “people you don’t really know the power to represent your product”. You want to equip them with all the tools and content they need to make a good presentation of it. But besides this, as an affiliate program manager, you also want to closely police how and where they promote you.

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