Who to accept/deny?

[akorff]

I'm using ShareASale and because I'm new to this, I'm being very liberal with who I accept. Pretty much I'll accept anyone because I figure SAS is vetting them to make sure they aren't doing anything highly questionable or illegal.

However, I have to say that when I look at the websites I KNOW that some of these affiliates probably have no shot at making a commission. Again, I'm new at this, so I don't trust my instincts yet. That said, logically, a coupon site won't do too much for a business software product.

Also, much of time, when I check the site an affiliate lists, they are basically place-holder pages like an empty blog or a big page with a logo and their email address and nothing else.

Still, I just go back to the thinking that I shouldn't be too particular as to where a sale is coming from. Since I'm paying per-sale and not per-lead, how can it really hurt me that much? (excepting the obvious answer of gaining a bad reputation by association, but again, I assume SAS takes care of that).

 

[Linda Buquet]

Moved this out of the affiliate forum, into the merchant/affiliate manager forum.

2 posts down someone asked a similar question and the answers may help.
http://affiliate-marketing-forums.5...g-new-affiliates-how-do-you-do.html#post44906

 

[Linda Buquet]

"Pretty much I'll accept anyone because I figure SAS is vetting them to make sure they aren't doing anything highly questionable or illegal."

You still need to ck. Even though you are paying per sale there are affiliate fraud rings that make fake sales just to get a commish.

SAS I would say does level 1 screening but that's not enough. You need to do deeper screening.

Keep in mind even in a regular B2C affiliate program only about 10% of all the affiliates that join will ever even put up a link or banner. In a B2B program the number of active affiliates that have a relevent site and will make any sales is even smaller.

I'm not saying to be strict and turn lots of affiliates away, the honest ones that are doing good marketing need a chance. But there are some not so honest ones that can ruin your EPC and if your EPC is low the good affiliates won't join you.

 

[EinfantShop]

Google the site and check for complaints of parasites,spammers,etc. Also sometimes affiliates don't list all their websites they have on SAS (due to not needing different tracking codes for each website like CJ) so they may be wanting to promote on a site they don't have listed in SAS. The best way to check is to email the prospective affiliate and ask a few questions. You can also start to form a bond with affiliates this way, just don't come on to strong.