Posts Tagged ‘affiliate networks’
Internet Marketing Training: What to Do When Your Commission is Charged Back
There are plenty of topics covered in most internet marketing training courses – how to pick a niche, how to buy ads, how to make a landing page, and so on – but very few cover the topics that matter once you start to make a little money. Like what do you do if someone rips off your landing page? What if you get angry customer emails that should have gone to the original merchant? What if your site gets hacked? They’re all issues that many of us will deal with, which is why I wanted to start talking about the topics you don’t always get in training courses.
To start off, let’s talk about something extremely common – the reversed commission. This is especially common on networks like Shareasale or CJ where the merchant actually manages the affiliate program. With CPA networks like Azoogle or Clickbooth, the network has in-house people managing things, so you’ll probably only get reversed if there is a serious problem with something you’ve done, or if the advertiser doesn’t pay the network (and most networks will eat losses from advertisers who don’t pay).
To begin with, you should figure out why your commission was reversed. Shareasale makes this easy because they require advertisers to choose a reason when they void your commission. If you don’t understand the reason, though, or if you aren’t given one, you should contact the affiliate manager directly to figure it out. That’s the only good way to ensure that you know what’s going on so you can prevent it from happening again. There are a variety of common reasons:
- Self referrals (many merchants do not allow this)
- Unapproved method of promotion (such as bidding on the company’s trademark)
- Non-qualified sale or lead. Many merchants do not allow you to receive commissions on their existing customers.
- Returned order. If the order was refunded, returned, or refused for delivery, you can expect to see your commissions reversed.
Whatever the reason, check to ensure that the reason was covered in the merchant’s terms of service. If not, you may be able to politely point this out and get your commissions back while still maintaining a good relationship. If the merchant is unwilling to provide a good explanation and stand by their policies, however, you may want to ask the affiliate network to step in and get your money. In this case, hurting the relationship is probably not a big deal, as you don’t want to work with a company that doesn’t pay you like they promise.
Have you ever had a commission reversed unfairly? Let us know in the comments!
Getting Approved for CPA Marketing Networks
Many affiliates start out with networks like Shareasale and Clickbank, which are relatively easy to get approved to. What’s harder, though, is getting approved to a CPA Marketing network like Azoogle or Clickbooth. These networks often run lead-based offers that are prone to fraud, so they have to be especially cautious about who they approve. That lets them ensure that their advertisers receive the highest quality of leads possible, and it makes the payouts higher for everyone.
Still, the process can be intimidating for a newbie. Even worse, a lot of networks are starting to become more strict about the type of legitimate affiliates that they approve. Some are starting to recognize that it takes a lot of manpower to help newbies and that the bulk of their volume comes from established affiliates, anyway. So, what’s a new affiliate marketer to do? We’ve created a handy list of tips that can help you get approved.
- Make sure your application is in order. Don’t list any fake information, and make sure that you list a phone number that you answer regularly. They WILL call.
- Make a sample landing page, even if it’s only a landing page template. This helps them to see that you know what you’re doing.
- Get a referral. Often, it helps if a more experienced affiliate is willing to vouch for you. Some training programs will even do this through special arrangements they have with affiliate networks.
- Be professional when they call. Don’t talk about how you’re just getting started or how you want to quit your job. They don’t need to know your life history, and it won’t help your application. Just tell them how you promote products and what kind of traffic you use.
- Attend industry events. If networks meet you in person, they see that you’re real and that you’re serious about what you do.
Above all, you just want to make sure that the network gets the impression that they can trust you and that you won’t need so much help that you’re a drain on their staff. You may not have success with the first network you try, but if you persist, you will be successful.