David Fiske Affiliate Marketing Blog

Someone Tell Them It Is Really Christmas!

Sun, 1 Nov 2009 09:01:00 +0000

You wouldn't be able to tell looking at my stats. This time last year I started to see a peak but this year it's more reminiscent of tumble weed in a desert. But that's just me and that's the very nature of the industry I choose to work in.

This time last year my freebie counter was struggling to keep up with the amount of odds and ends that flooded in over the year whereas this year is a comparative dribble.

In a nutshell, the recession is making everyone think twice about there actions when it comes to parting with their cash (as far as I can tell). Customers are holding onto theirs longer and merchants are reluctant to send out the odd gift, gadget, toy, etc. :-)

I have a few ideas on what will be big this year and which retailers will benefit. Not actual present ideas - more like buying habits. As an excuse to add a post for the month of November I've decided to share these.

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Firebox's Royal Fail

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:05:11 +0100

The Firebox team are a crazy bunch but very inventive. You just have to read some of the product descriptions to see that!

In a brazen attempt to blag myself an ECCO GPS Keychain (lol - or at least a Firebox mug!) and in an attempt to showcase some fantastic viral marketing, Here's what the quick thinkers have come up with - the Royal Fail game!

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A4U Expo London Presentations 2009 - A Summary

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 17:37:25 +0100

The A4U Expo presentations are online and I wanted to make sure I went through them all so thought I'd share some of the more useful points I stumbled across.

Tips cover all aspects of affiliate businesses. I've only pulled the points I find interesting or useful. The full presentations (including those not cited from) can be found here.

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How To Survive Not Going To The A4U Expo

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 11:53:29 +0100

It's that time of year again when affiliate marketing offices close for the best part of a week. But contrary to popular belief, not every affiliate marketer is attending the Expo this year.

I did toy with the idea of going and whilst it would be great to meet my account managers, I'm personally put off by the after-expo frivolities that encourages so many to attend the expo (call me Mr Not-So-Great-At-Social-Situations - lol). That together with the hassle of getting to London, the 'fun' of getting around, the cost, and the lack of willpower was a strong enough combination that restrained me from signing up. That said I imagine that I would attend in the next few years when my portfolio looks more rounded and polished, and knowing that meeting my account managers would get me way more Christmas presents ;-) .

Anyhoo, if like me you're not attending this year, here's a few things to remember:

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Thanks Sainsbury's (Again!)

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 12:42:43 +0100

As part of the Sainsbury's launch incentive, they offered a �10 voucher to anyone who generated at least 1 sale in the launch period.

Well I managed to generate a sale and so was in line for a �10 voucher.

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Pst, Did You Hear Quidco Is Back Working With Affiliate Window?

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 10:18:59 +0100

No, I didn't hear about it either but Affiliate Window confirmed on Friday that they had reached a mutual agreement. It's taken a year to resolve the issues that were aired in public but now they are best friends again.

So what does this mean for affiliates and merchants, and perhaps more importantly Quidco?

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Thanks Sainsbury's For The Birthday Present

Thu, 3 Sep 2009 10:19:26 +0100

It's a closely guarded secret by my birthday is just around the corner and happened to (nearly) coincide with a delivery from Sainsbury's. You may recall the launch of the programme on Affiliate Window I blogged about here.

To racap, as part of the launch there were three competitions. The easiest was simply to promote Sainsbury's some how. Faster than you could say "there's a freebie in it for you", I added affiliate links to my site and blogged about their offerings. To my surprise, I was the first to claim a prize and had the staggering chart to choose from:

Sony Cybershot Camera
iPod Nano 16GB
Dunlop Golf Package
GHD Hair Straighteners
Portable Hard Drive
Le Creuset Casserole
Morphy Richards Bread Maker
Mr Tickle
DeLonghi Filter Coffee Maker
MPW Salt & Pepper Grinders
Harry Potter Cluedo
Football Beanbag
Pedometer With CD
Wicker Garden Tool Set
Jamie Oliver Champagne Flutes
5 Jamie Oliver Mugs

I opted for the Morphy Richards Fastbake Cooltouch Breadmaker which arrived today.

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UPDATE: Why Should I Take The Blame For Unauthorised Voucher Code Usage?

Mon, 17 Aug 2009 10:47:00 +0100

Remember my moan about how I was penalised other affiliates promoting a voucher code that they shouldn't be? Well since then I've heard nothing from the agency managing the program. I sent them the link and they said they would read the article but I've not heard any comments from them.

Anyway, a second sale was generated for them last week and alas, it too was cancelled. Different reason this time:

Dear Affiliate we were unable to process some of your transactions due to you not being the last referrer before the sale. Please contact xxx @ xxx.com if you wish to discuss this further. Kind regards, xxx

They're having a right laugh now!

I'm sure they've got a big book of excuses lined up ready for sales that amount to a reasonable sum of commission. Or at least that is what it seems.

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Sainsbury's Knows How To Launch a Programme!

Tue, 11 Aug 2009 16:33:09 +0100

I'm not one to shout about new affiliate programmes all that much unless I have a reason too. And this one I do.

Sainsbury's launched yesterday on Affiliate Window thus joining the likes of Tesco and Asda who also have affiliate programmes on Tradedoubler / Silvertap and Buy.at respectively.

Not content with being the new kid on the block, Sainsbury's have decided to launch with a flying start in terms of incentives!

There are three incentives schemes running.

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Why Should I Take The Blame For Unauthorised Voucher Code Usage?

Fri, 24 Jul 2009 12:12:14 +0100

Around a month ago I locked myself away and immersed myself in airport parking. The result is something I�m very happy with, listing all affiliated car parks around the UK. It was all hand crafted including the data that powers the site.

It wasn�t long before my first sale rolled in. And it wasn�t long before it rolled back out. I checked the network a couple of days later to see the sale cancelled, with the reason cited as:

"Dear Affiliate we were unable to process some of your transactions due to voucher code use. We are unable to accept unauthorised voucher codes. Please contact xxx @ xxx if you wish to discuss this further. Kind regards, xxx"

(The merchant shall rename nameless as it�s an industry wide problem. As confirmed readers of this blog, they know who they are.)

Naturally, an email address invites an email so I fired one away.

The one returned enclosed a copy of the merchant�s voucher code policy:

"xxx makes voucher codes available strictly for certain groups such as the airline industry. Affiliates are prohibited from adding these to their websites or promoting them via other means such as in their newsletters. This is actively monitored. If an affiliate has promoted a voucher code, all their commissions will be revoked.

xxx would like to emphasize that if any affiliate transaction is found to have used a voucher code, no matter from which source the voucher code has been acquired, whether it is the affiliate site or not, that transaction unfortunately cannot be paid for."

The overall vibe I get from this is that no voucher codes can be promoted by affiliates whatsoever. All good and well, I tend to avoid voucher codes like the plague.

So it turns out I get penalised for following the rules, and as the result of someone else out there breaking them. If a couple of codes exist for small minority groups, these must have somehow found their way into the mainstream.

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