JasonWestwick

Hey fellow warriors,

I made a post previously talking about the benefits of having a solid relationship with your AM and how you can use this to help boost the profitability of your campaigns.

If you haven’t read it yet you can check it out here

The hidden gem that will massively increase your CPA earnings

However, in this post I am going to be discussing the warning signs that your AM isn’t really working to help you. As the saying goes “not all AM’s were created equal” there are certainly times when you might find yourself with an AM whose behaviour and commitment to you and your campaigns is less than satisfactory.

Here are a few points to take into consideration when establishing whether your AM is supporting you 100%

• They push you to promote offers which are not in your current niche

This is something that happens quite a lot, as soon as you start doing some volume some AM’s will immediately see dollar signs and start pushing multiple offers your way to promote without considering where your current income is being generated.

Now of course AM’s want to make money to do that they need YOU to make money and its great to try new niche and potential traffic sources but if an AM is going to push me to start promoting penny auctions when most of my income is being generated through the dating niche then it kind of turns me off as they clearly are not considering what is working for me.

• Sharing specific details about someone else’s campaign

In the past I’ve had conversations with managers discussing potential offers and what traffic sources are proving to be effective when the AM would start talking explicitly about how other affiliates are running campaigns in enough detail where I could go out and recreate them myself. Now I know in theory this may sound great as you might have caught onto a very profitable method of advertising and offer. But if your AM is fast and loose with the details other affiliates campaigns then they could easily be passing around your top tactics. The bottom line is that your need to trust your AM with the privacy of your campaigns.

• Slow to respond or communicate

In this fast paced world of affiliate marketing we work in, speed is everything! If an AM takes a couple of days to get back to an email on a consistent basis then I’ll move my business elsewhere as they are simply wasting my time. The lack of communication is also extremely painful if an offer you are running goes down for any reason and you don’t get notified right away as this can mean hundreds of dollars in wasted traffic.

• Only care when you’re earning big

Ever feel like flavour of the month and then dumped the next? This can definitely happen when you start doing big numbers. You can get AM’s who are on you constantly when you are racking up commissions and then vanish when you having a quiet period. As affiliates, you want your AM to be there to discuss strategies regardless of the revenue you are bringing in.

Overall, the cases that I’ve discussed here tend to be few and far between, but as your AM can play a big role in the success of your CPA campaigns its always wise to make certain that your AM has the best interests in you and your campaigns.

Anyone else have any points or stories they could share?

jeffrey73

I've found that a lot of the "big-boy" networks ( you know who they are ) tend to hire really hot looking blondes, probably for good PR and networking shows. Many of them tend to not know jack-squat about affiliate marketing.

It's even worse when they tell you they don't have a clue or have never done any type of advertising online. This has mainly happened ( with female AND male AM's ) from the TOP networks.

When an AM encourages you to do a media buy, because THIS OTHER GUY is having success with it, it should throw up a red flag. Especially when they themselves have never run a media buy or know much about it.

ChrisBa

lol, it's sad but for some reason it tends to work (re: networks hiring hot AMs).. man us men are suckers for that

blillard

My AM is smoking hot lol...

JasonWestwick

Yes I know exactly what you mean, still, they do make some of the networking events slightly more entartaining

LOL, I've had my fair share of AM's who weren't completely up to speed but have never had one blatantly state they don't have a clue. That's not the type of attitude that would inspire one to go to work and push traffic their way.

jeffrey73

Haha, I hear you. I even had one AM refer to affiliate marketing as "gambling". LOL

And guess what? Not a single one of these AM's are around anymore? Who would've known? LMAO

Shaz07

Would you rather have an AM with an attractive face and decent support or an AM that isn't so attractive but gives the best support?

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sloanjim

this has to be my number one peeve. You check your stats and see an offer stopepd converting 2 days ago..No email to tell you it was pulled. Imagine if you was on vacation only checking every few days?

sloanjim

well let's face it if they were great marketers they wouldn't be AM's right? I mean wouldn't they be your competitor actually in the field instead?

jeffrey73

Not true 100%. Look at EWA, most all of their AM's are affiliates too. So were most of the guys at Elite Clicks. Same goes for C2M and WolfStorm as far as I can tell.

Ryan Eagle says he's a FULL-TIME cpa marketer, and I know that Ruck was too.

And YES, I would think that SOME of your AM's probably ARE your competition. But that is a good thing for you, IMHO.

JasonWestwick

TBH I'm not bothered by what my affiliate manager looks like as long as the support and knowledge is solid and readily available.

Just because somebody is an AM it does not mean that they can't make money as an affiliate, as Jeffrey pointed out some big names in the industry like Ruck and Ryan were both successful affiliate marketers.

People might choose to become an AM for many reasons, to learn how to grow and develop a network, to learn how to manage affiliates effectively, to network, for job security etc.

Even if they can't necessarily go out and do the job for themselves, then as long as they have their finger on the pulse and know what is going to take my campaign and profits to the next level that is all I care about.

jeffrey73

So true Jason. And I think they probably have a way bigger advantage than the average person because they can see a lot of the behind-the-scenes data.

Traffic Eagle

When you get stock responses from your AM you know somethings not right. For example, asking what's hot before spending xxx on a campaign and being sent the standard list of popular offers anyone can instantly see by accessing their a/c. It's true that when you have a lull some AMs can suddenly forget you exist. When you get a good AM who's given you the best attention for a long time and then he/she moves on, that can be a real bummer.

JasonWestwick

Yes, stock responses are a huge turn off, particularly, as you mentioned, if I haven't run anything for a while and the AM had previously been my best friend when running multiple profitable offers with them.

It can be a bummer definitely but if an AM is your best friend when things are good and non existent when things are slow, then I'm out, I want to form a partnership that will be mutually beneficial for everyone involved.

Kenster

You bring up some great points.

At the end of the day, the affiliate manager is there to help you but there are many ways that your AM can work against your own progress. Like any business relationship you ever get involved with, it's always very important to understand the risks involved. There is a dark side to the industry on all ends.

AMs can steal campaigns, can mislead you, or even worse. They are there to help but its up to you to protect yourself, your campaigns, and your business!

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