I will be marking my tenth anniversary in affiliate marketing on August 3rd and what will be the one compliment I treasure the most in those years? It is a message I received in 2004 from one of the most respected affiliates in the UK, Shane Robinson, who wrote: “you and Fraser are two of the nicest, most mild mannered guys I have met... you have both got a very rare and healthy dose of integrity and never a bad word about anyone”.

It is something to cherish because being compared to Fraser for niceness is like being measured up to Lionel Messi for soccer prowess. Of the five people I spoke to before writing this piece, each and every one used the word “nice” in relation to Fraser; if you had to compile a dictionary, you could save yourself from having to come up with a description for the word between nibble and niche by simply entering ‘Fraser Edwards’.

28 year old Fraser is a well known figure in UK and US affiliate marketing circles. Born and bred in Edinburgh, Scotland, he has been active in the industry for over six years and Fraser’s Affiliate Marketing Blog attracts over 12,000 unique visitors a month. His podcasts, in which in engages in interviews with the great and the good in affiliate marketing, have become a ‘must listen’. Alongside the blog, much of his time is spent on paid search marketing and he also moderates the Affiliates4U forums. 

Fraser, what were you doing before affiliate marketing?

I studied Computer Science at Edinburgh University and started doing web design work for a few clients while I was studying.  In 2001, after uni, I fell into doing that full time and then, through building websites for others, I discovered affiliate marketing. From there I started to build my own sites.

What made you get into affiliate marketing and what did you start off doing?

I love the freedom of affiliate marketing rather then answering to clients so I moved more of my business in that direction.  It was always frustrating to have a client change their mind or expect you to do extra work for free. It was great to leave that behind and only keep the clients I enjoyed working with. 

I started out by creating a shopping directory (didn’t we all!), but back then it was possible to make it successful just by getting a handful of links from other sites.  I built on this and started using product feeds and things took off from there.

What was it like working in affiliate marketing in those days? How has the industry evolved since you started?

I think those days were some of the best and I remember the first affiliate get2gether when there were only around 40 people in the room and everyone seemed to know each other.  I used to work through the night and remember speaking to the same dozen people in the a4uforum chat room every night at 2am!

Things have changed a lot now though and obviously, as the industry has grown, it’s much harder to know everyone that’s involved.  There have been a lot of positive developments but not everything seems to have changed for the better. Now there is more money involved, it seems people are more competitive and so at times it doesn’t seem as friendly as before.

What kind of affiliate marketing activities are you engaged in at the moment?

At the moment I’m spending a lot of time on the blog and podcasts but also paid search with a few merchants.  Previously I would be signed up to every program going and build data feed based sites but now it’s more of a focus on a handful of quality merchants.

I also started a few new blog projects, some content based and one video blog which I need to produce a few more episodes for before launching properly.  Video is going to be a big area so I am doing it as a way of teaching myself a new technology.

If you could start all over again all those years ago, what would you do differently?

I would start sooner!  Buying up domains when so many were available would have been a smart move but I just didn’t realize the potential back then and also didn’t have the spare cash to speculate. 

Uni was a good time but since much of affiliate marketing is self taught I sometimes wish I had just started teaching myself much sooner instead of studying so much theory. SEO was a much simpler art back when I started too, so I should have made more effort in that area.

How do you feel about developments with paid search? Does it appear to you that PPC affiliates are being attacked on different fronts with, on the one hand, merchants and agencies imposing ever-stringent restrictions and, on the other hand, Google trying to squeeze out affiliates?

Like most aspects of affiliate marketing it has got harder but affiliates will always be at the forefront of working out new angles and ways to generate traffic.

Like you say Google does seem to be trying to squeeze out affiliates.  I do understand the motivation behind some changes but their methods can seem strange at times. For example moving to a single instance of a display URL was a big change for affiliates but I think it’s much better from an end user’s point of view. 

However the recent landing page quality score changes have been much more haphazard and at times it’s unclear what benefit they are trying to achieve.  It seems once a URL has been flagged as having a low quality it’s pretty hard to ever improve and so it doesn’t seem to support the continuous improvement that I thought Google were looking for.

A hot topic this one: what’s your opinion on closed group PPC bidding circles, in which a select number of affiliates are given the right to bid on the brand names without the contracts being given out to tender?

To be honest I still can’t quite make my mind up on this one and I think it depends on each individual situation.  If a merchant wants to do their own PPC bidding I can see why they may want to restrict affiliates so that they don’t have to compete with them too.  I think at times that it would be helpful to provide an alternative URL for affiliates to use.

If a network needs to find affiliates to handle a PPC campaign I understand why they go back to the same proven trusted affiliates time after time as it’s easy for them. But it is a recipe for things getting very stale if the same few affiliates are the ones making all the money.

“Fraser Edwards is the most genuine person I know in the affiliate marketing industry. A gentleman to the core and a thorough professional, I am proud to call him a good friend. The quality of his blog, especially with reference to his podcasts has brought blogging to a new dimension by raising the bar and illustrating affiliate marketing in a most favorable hue.” Paul Wheatley Performance Marketeer, ShopperUK.com

My recommendation would be that if merchants do want to have a closed group it should be listed on the merchant information page at the network. The Account Manager’s contact details should also be there and the next date for retendering so that anyone who is interested and could benefit the merchant knows there is a way in.

I think the tendering process is a difficult one as the template I have seen for one network asks for such a level of information that it might take a smaller affiliate several days to prepare and it’s hard to sacrifice that amount of time on a speculative move.

In summary I think the tendering process is a natural progression and, as long as it’s a fair process, made public and open to all then I don’t have a problem with it. 

Merchants should be clear they understand the pros and cons and decide for themselves that a closed group situation definitely makes sense for them though.

Part 2 of the interview continues next week in which we quiz Fraser on what he dislikes about affiliate marketing, whether his podcasts are too soft on interviewees, and whether Google’s foray into CPA advertising poses a threat to established affiliate networks. We also pose the question that more people wanted us to ask Fraser than any other: what is the secret to eternal youth and dashing good looks?

 

GUEST ARTICLE Jessica Luthi is one of pioneers of affiliate marketing, having worked in the industry since 1999 for companies such as Affiliate Window, DGM and ASOS.com. Now a highly respected consultant, Jess writes the popular Affiliate Program Advice blog and is one of the organisers of the inaugural Affiliate Summit in London.

 

In this week’s Q, Jess Luthi explains why blue chip companies face challenges when attempting to develop their e-commerce and affiliate marketing presences.

The opinions expressed are not necessarily those of PrimeQ.

In the past I have approached blue chip/corporate companies that come from a traditional offline environment trying to make the transition into the world of e-commerce with some trepidation when it comes to affiliate marketing.

Through experience, the challenges that these companies face is multifold and often will have their own interdepartmental conflicts: the push/pull war between land based traditionalists and online modernists takes place on a 9-5.30 daily basis in the battlefield also known as the office. One side is not able to understand how the online space works and the other is so far ahead but is held back by having to compromise.

"By the time the e-commerce department first submits their plan of action and has gone down the line of corporate approval and got its seal of acceptance, the online space has changed again and so the process is repeated all over again. Often the case is the right hand does not know what the left hand is doing which leads to all becoming frustrated."

By the nature and size of these empires, procedures and protocol that were set up to help keep the wheels turning are also a barrier to expedite and accelerate the fast pace changes that are required to keep up with developments on the internet. By the time the e-commerce department first submits their plan of action and has gone down the line of corporate approval and got its seal of acceptance, the online space has changed again and so the process is repeated all over again. Often the case is the right hand does not know what the left hand is doing which leads to all becoming frustrated.

Another problem I have experienced is that the technical departments are still using the old traditional CRM systems which may reduce or inhibit website functionality or restrict usability, or worse case can’t facilitate cutting edge applications. My observations have been, even the people in those technical departments are traditionalists and whilst their forte may lie in the knowledge of new cutting edge technology, their wings are clipped simply by a traditional corporate mindset and outdated systems.

Add affiliate marketing in to the mix and it’s a potential recipe for just more conflict.

If the giant corporations are really committed to their e-commerce arms then they need the right people in place. People Like Matthew Van-Gessel (Head of E-commerce at Sharp). His mindset is well in the future of the internet but works in tandem with the traditionalists and educates as he goes. Matthew understands you have to learn to walk before you can run and it starts with education. He feels there should be no occasion for offline employees to feel excluded in online initiatives. His unique and refreshing approach in how to bring about change in his company should be the blue (chip) print for others to follow. Change the mindset through education. Matthew would be the first to say, it’s not a perfect solution but it works.

Affiliate marketing and big high street brands have historically been criticized in our industry for poor commissions, bad tracking, rigid PPC policy, unworkable terms and conditions, and a deaf ear. They entered our space unprepared, under-resourced and under-informed. Expectations, I believe on hindsight, may have been too high from all sides of the fence.

 

Picture Special: June Online Advertising Events Roundup

The last three weeks have seen a flurry of online marketing events including the Inbox/Outbox email marketing exhibition at The New Connaught Rooms in Covent Garden on June 19-20, Affiliate Dinner on June 21 in Sergios restaurant off Oxford Street, and the Online Marketing Show on June 26-27 at the Business Design Centre in Islington. As usual, The Weekly Q’s photographers were at hand to take exclusive pictures for you.

 

CJ, BeFree and ValueClick Sued Over Adware

It has been reported that two separate class action lawsuits were filed on April 20, 2007 against Commission Junction, BeFree and ValueClick. One names CJ and BeFree publishers (affiliates) as the plaintiffs and the other names CJ and BeFree merchants as the plaintiffs.

The landmark lawsuits allege breach of contract, negligence and unfair business practices on CJ/BF’s part by allowing adware affiliates to operate within their network. The accusations are that CJ/BF has knowingly allowed adware affiliates within their network which commit commission theft and fraudulent transactions through adware applications. The suit is seeking monetary damages to both affiliates and merchants. 

“Even if the lawsuit fails because of some technicalities it will still change the legal landscape,” claims the distinguished affiliate marketing blogger Carsten Cumbrowski. “It will draw the lines a bit further and clear and make some players double check their business practices.”

There have been accusations for many years that CJ has not been as aggressive in removing adaware companies from its network as it could be, and some analysts have predicted that similar lawsuits could be launched against other networks.

Information about the case has been published at cjclassaction.com. A copy of the affiliate claim is here and the merchant claim is here.

 

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"When you are courting a nice girl an hour seems like a second. When you sit on a red-hot cinder a second seems like an hour. That's relativity." Albert Einstein Theoretical physicist (1879–1955)

 
Would you like to write for the Weekly Q? PrimeQ is seeking to employ a talented, reliable writer who is knowledgeable about the online advertising industry in North America and willing to contribute on a regular basis. Contact Nadeem Azam on nazam AT primeq.com with detailed information about yourself, including a couple of samples of your writing of at least 500 words long each.

 

 

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