Commission Junction Sucks!

[dageniusmarketer]

I dont know about the experiences alot of you guys have had with commission junction, but mines are not great at all.

You have to go through a whole lot just to get into the network, and then after that, they want you to apply to every advertiser that you wish to work with, whom seem to more often than not decline you than approve than you, and give no reason as to why they do. Its always the ones you really want too.

Why cant they just let you have AUTOMATIC access to every advertiser that is already in their network like every other CPA network? why must i jump through hoops in trying to make them as well as myself money? If it comes out that im doing something illegal to produce sales, which im absolutely not, then and only then should i be dealt with by the network, not before I can even attempt to make an effort. They are like the only network i know that does this.

They also dont have dedicated affiliate managers like every other network so if you want to address a problem, you have to deal with the generic help and email, which hardly ever gives you the real solution to your problem at hand.

Ive tried to get in a ton of advertiser programs, and have been declined by nearly all of them, with no reason given.

Their behavior wouldnt bother me so much were they not the ones who have exclusive access to all the major programs that you as a publisher could want.

Id very much like for them to attempt to change the way they do things and stop making it such a chore for their affiliates.

Thats my rant. Im done.

[thunderbird]

What niches do your sites cover? Some advertisers are definitely more finicky than others.

[NTN]

Yep, same with me. They approved the ones I didn't want and disapproved the ones I really wanted. I'm done with CJ.

[Izesta]

Had I known upfront that I was merely sharing (or registering) all my personal details/info with CJ, only to be later denied by the advertisers, I would have skipped CJ altogether.

Example: My primary line of work is financial related. I have a great blog, ranks pretty high, decent comments, has longevity, tons of posts, looks professional. My business is listed in phone book, gave them my biz bank account info. Everything completely legitimate and verifiable.

Yet when I click to apply with a related advertiser, IMMEDIATELY, a denial comes back - quicker than an autoresponder.

I tried to sign up with HSBC for their life insurance deal. Great match-up with my business. My clients need/want life insurance. I was denied quickly. It said for me to click for details about the denial. That did not work. No additional info to be found.

Does CJ have some type of setup in their database that has my CJ application information such that the system automatically determines if I meet the advertiser's requirements?

And do other CPA networks do this differently? Or do they all require that publishers be approved separately by the advertisers?

Hope people respond here.

I was very interested in CPA, but this was a big let down.

[Michael Oksa]

Their behavior wouldnt bother me so much were they not the ones who have exclusive access to all the major programs that you as a publisher could want.

Allow me to politely disagree. I think CJ has it right, though it can be a hassle.

I think it's a good thing that somebody out there makes you apply for each program. With CJ you CAN get access to some of the best offers out there. These are some top corporations - of course they won't approve everybody.

It's BECAUSE of the approval process that draws top companies to use CJ to find affiliates.

If a place like CJ didn't exist you would have to separately track down each of the companies you applied for. Then imagine turned down by all of them. At least with CJ it makes the process a little easier.

For whatever reason, I haven't been turned down by any of the "big" names I applied for. But that was a while ago.

All the best,
Michael

[thunderbird]

Now I know what's up. Some Advertisers invite you, not the other way around (like some cats). I once got in email invitation from Disney (don't know it they're still with cj) to advertise their stuff, so I logged into a cj account, applied to Disney, and was promptly rejected. However, later, when I clicked on the link in their email, I was promptly accepted.

[Sylviane]

[quote... more often than not decline you than approve than you, and give no reason as to why they do. Its always the ones you really want too. [/quote]

Yes, that's right. Even though I have a good list of advertisers that have not declined me the ones I wanted most have. Looks like it's the nature of the beast

Have you tried linkShare and Share A Sale? Even though they are the same kind as CJ, that will give you more options.

[cowy]

That's what CJ does to international user, however I think it's not CJ fault, it's the advertiser right to reject affiliate outside US. You can request for reconsideration to advertiser to accept you to their affiliate program. Include your PID and tell them how you will drive traffic.

If you really hate CJ, I suggest you to sign up for Shareasale. They have STRICT sign up process. You have to provide email from your own top level domain, download a Tax agreement you have to signed MANUALLY (Yep, with a pen, not keyword) and fax to them. Because I live faaar faaaaar away from US, the Fax fee is not cheap too. Oh yeah, they have CPC and CPA program too, but you have to get your first check in order to activate it! Sounds tiring right?

However, Once you approved, you will have permission to lots of merchant (some of them are high quality one) and unlike CJ who Loves to Auto Decline, SAS shows which merchant with have Auto Approve option!! and believe me, most of them have Auto approve active and that really nice feature!

[rlscott2]

dageniusmarketer - I used to have the same problem as you and was ready to give up on CJ. I had a long think about the problem and came up with a solution that has had a 100% success rate so far.

Here's what I did - I built a high quality website using WordPress and created about 10 posts containing high quality articles on subjects related to the CJ advertisers business or products. I then applied to join the advertiser's CJ program as per usual. However I took one extra step. I immediately emailed the affiliate manager and told them I had applied to join their program as well as a bit about myself and what I was looking to achieve, and gave them the link to my website to take a look at.

I've never been rejected since!

[Izesta]

Originally Posted by Michael Oksa

Allow me to politely disagree. I think CJ has it right, though it can be a hassle.

I think it's a good thing that somebody out there makes you apply for each program. With CJ you CAN get access to some of the best offers out there. These are some top corporations - of course they won't approve everybody.

It's BECAUSE of the approval process that draws top companies to use CJ to find affiliates.

If a place like CJ didn't exist you would have to separately track down each of the companies you applied for. Then imagine turned down by all of them. At least with CJ it makes the process a little easier.

For whatever reason, I haven't been turned down by any of the "big" names I applied for. But that was a while ago.

All the best,
Michael

I agree "in theory" too Mike. Makes sense.

Just hate it when the theory falls in my lap.

The rapid denial is such a kick in the face and you don't know why.

I'm sure there must be tons of people applying, so having some automated set of requirements for "accept" or "deny" is necessary.

[bgj202005]

I was a member with CJ for a number of years. Definitely the low quality websites get declined and I did achieve better quality and performing websites. Having good communication with the affiliate manager is also a key part to achieving better success. My frustration was a company simply deactivating or ending the affiliate relationship. A few, I never got a definite answer as to why.

Luck for me, I have made pursuits with other affiliate networks other than CJ and have been quite successful doing it.

[Steve Wells]

Well, I had heard of them and recently I was directed to them to sign up to be an affiliate for Adobe products which is a HUGE company. It took about 3 days then I recieved an email as ACCEPTED!

This was cool because I do advertise for them on my website, I also use Adobe products and promote them, so that probably helped...

Other than that I have not tried to sign up for another company but I am going to try and see what happens.

Whats the best company to be an affiliate for with CJ? Any ideas?

[DougBarger]

Haven't had any problems being instantly approved here.

[Steve Diamond]

Originally Posted by dageniusmarketer

They also dont have dedicated affiliate managers like every other network so if you want to address a problem, you have to deal with the generic help and email, which hardly ever gives you the real solution to your problem at hand.

CJ doesn't have affiliate managers. They require each of their advertisers to have an affiliate manager. The contact info is given on each merchant's main offer page, right at the top.

If your application is rejected, email the AM, explain your situation, and ask for a review. It often will cause them to accept you.

If you're more used to the wild and woolly world of the CPA networks, I can understand how CJ's more businesslike model may come as a shock. But I agree with Michael Oksa. I think CJ has it exactly right. The evidence is that they attract and retain the most respected merchants, as Michael said.

I hope this helps.

Steve

[Pat Jackson]

Yep, do what Steve said.

I haven't had any trouble getting accepted by any merchant on CJ simply because I contact them prior to applying.

[dageniusmarketer]

Im going to take the suggestions here to heart and see if i can change the way i go about things and try to make some new headway with them, it still dosent change the fact of how frustrating the entire process is. Fill out tons of info, wait a few days to get accepted by CJ, and then when you're finally in, almost have to repeat the process all over again with all the advertisers one by one.

Im affiliated with several cpa networks whom,once im in, i have full run of the networks advertisers right off the bat. We're all very busy people here so why should we have to wait more days to get accepted to a particular advertiser, or more often than not declined?

I find in my experience that its always the guys with the top spot or the most name recognition who make things the most difficult.I really wish CJ made things a hell of a lot easier.

As I said before, I feel denial or reprimand should only come after doing something wrong like illegal promotion methods or what have you. I feel these guys are taking more of a stance of "guilty till proven innocent", rather than the other way around. I should be free to promote any program in the CJ network once im an approved affiliate until I do something that violates their TOS, and not have have to leap through hoops just to do it. thats just the way I feel about it.

Again though, I will take into consideration what Michael, rlscott and others have said and see if i can change my fortunes in the meantime. i guess ill be keeping you all posted.

[dageniusmarketer]

And in reply to thunderbird, im in several niches, and am creating brand new ones all the time, some specifically to try to cater to some of CJ's offers. They should ask the publisher about the particular site that they wish to promote their offer on rather than just out and out decline them due to whatever other sites they may have in their network.

Common sense should dictate that just because a publisher for example may have a baby site as one of their listed sites, and is now trying to sign up for the advertisers dog food products, then that publisher must also already have or anticipate creating a dog food site. They probably assume im going to push dog food on my baby site. Give me a break. Id like at the very minimum at least being asked about my site for their particular promotion before im just out and out declined. Is that too much to ask?

[dmarze]

Commission Junction closed my account which make at least $1000 monthly few years ago. Their explanation was that I broke some of their rules. I still don't know which rule. But, I never had any problems with account I opened on my wife name.

D.Marze

[Andrew Maule]

CJ sucks, I've since moved everything to inhouse affiliate programs and if a site only offers CJ, I don't promote them.

[Hyaku_Man]

Don't be concerned with the programs you aren't accepted into --- those might as well not exist so there's no point getting angry about them. Be concerned with what is available to you. There is plenty to go around, don't sweat it.

[Tanya B]

Hi there,
I am strickly commission junction right now. Not because I want to but because I am ignorant to how to include other networks programs into my website template; cj tracks the emails which makes it really easy to pay folks out (I have a cash incentive site).

I was upfront about the cash incentive site, had a domain name registered and hosted, but with no page. I started applying anyway. I must say I got lots of declined but then....they started coming in. I have about 20 offers on my site, 4 more to add, 30 pending, and a whole bunch load declined.

ETA: I focus on only applying to those programs that give money for "leads". If I see something I like that is percentage payout I'll apply to those too. Now, some of the percentage seem more interested because my visitors must make a purchase, I think.

I plan on emailing some of the ones I really wanted to ask them to reconsider, as I believe not all incentive traffic is "crap".

Shoot I want to try 2/3 of the products/services I apply to myself!!

[dageniusmarketer]

Originally Posted by Hyaku_Man

Don't be concerned with the programs you aren't accepted into --- those might as well not exist so there's no point getting angry about them. Be concerned with what is available to you. There is plenty to go around, don't sweat it.

Its very difficult not to be concerned when you find you got a super money making niche on your hands, but cant do much with it in the way of affiliate marketing, when cj is the only exclusive holder of the programs that would suit your niche. Trying to find said programs on any other networks will be damn near impossible. So that is why one absolutely needs to be concerned.

[Hyaku_Man]

Originally Posted by dageniusmarketer

Its very difficult not to be concerned when you find you got a super money making niche on your hands, but cant do much with it in the way of affiliate marketing, when cj is the only exclusive holder of the programs that would suit your niche. Trying to find said programs on any other networks will be damn near impossible. So that is why one absolutely needs to be concerned.

So find another niche, man. There are lots. Really, not getting accepted is no different than if the program had not existed. Would you cry if the program had never existed? Of course not, you'd be busy finding another niche.

[mistermint]

HI, usually on CJ there are several choices in the same niche-just apply to a multiple set some are instant acceptance others can take 3 weeks. If you select a not so well known one put them on your site then, apply to the better ones, when they check your site they may well accept you when they see a competitors add.

As someone mentioned contact the affiliate managers for CJ and the vendor.

I read recently one guy here in UK is making 36K GBP a year from CJ alone.

[rosetrees]

I just started with CJ a few weeks ago. I applied to 2 companies. Heard nothing.

Someone here advised me to email the companies directly. I went on their own websites, found the affiliate page, emailed both directly and bingo - two days later I was accepted by both.

Contact the companies directly - see if that helps.

[Kelly Verge]

Originally Posted by CraigsPVA

CJ as well as Clickbank has strict rules of accepting your product (mainly e-book). But there are other places such as Paydotcom, where the submission process is very simple and automated

Poor Craig...

[competitive]

If you have been rejected by a program go back into your advertisers section and click accept again and it automatically re-applies to the program. I found that if you apply a couple of times you get accepted.

[Steven Wagenheim]

As a product creator, I had one affiliate promote one of my products, spam
the hell out of it and ended up getting my domain on the blacklist. Getting it
off was a real hassle.

I wish Clickbank would do the same thing because reckless affiliates can
turn your domain and reputation to mud.

CJ is doing the right thing.

Just my opinion of course.

[BrianMcLeod]

Cj has made me A LOT of money over the years.

Business services, automotive stuff, horoscopes & astrology, dating... all kinds of ways to make good money with CJ.

Some of my favorite merchants are on CJ and have zero to do with IM.

Don't give up, change gears and get creative.

Best,
Brian

[Amish]

This is why I stick with clickbank