Golden Goose Marketing

A lot of affiliates don’t really understand the importance of a good affiliate marketing program, but recent events have shown that it’s more important now than ever.  At 2010′s Affiliate Summit West, the running theme with a lot of networks is that they are no longer recruiting new affiliates.  Although they’re certainly looking for new, high-performing affiliates, many networks are cutting back on the newbies who use up the time of affiliate managers or who never make a sale.

Whether you agree with this or not, it doesn’t really matter.  What matters is that it’s going to be harder than ever to get approved with affiliate networks – and harder to keep your accounts once they’re open.  They’re focusing on nurturing their top relationships and seeking out the best potential affiliates, rather than holding the hands of newbies and training people who may never make a sale.  In early 2010, Hydra struck a nerve with affiliates by dumping a huge number of their accounts and instituting minimum activity requirements for new accounts.  Other networks have implemented similar policies in a less public fashion.

So how is a new affiliate supposed to get started when networks are demanding thousands of dollars in revenue or avoiding new affiliates altogether?   To put it simply, many will not get started.  Smart newbies, however, will flock to the affiliate marketing training programs that have allied themselves with affiliate networks.

Some of the top industry training programs have vowed to affiliate networks that they will refer qualified students through their referral links.  Because the networks can be assured that the training programs will be helping the students, they have less risk of getting unqualified and overly demanding affiliates.  Affiliates looking for training will now be looking for more than just training; they’ll be looking for access to the most exclusive networks.

Affiliate marketing is changing rapidly right now, and those who don’t adapt are going to be left out in the cold.  If you’re looking for additional training in affiliate marketing, keep this in mind as you shop around.  As networks you’d like to join if they have course recommendations.  Even if they don’t partner with any yet, they’ll be impressed that you’re actively investing in your future success.