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An Open Letter to the Affiliate Marketing Industry Leaders

June 22nd, 2008 Posted in affiliate marketing

Generally speaking, I would post something like this at Abestweb, but I feel in this case, because of the nature of my comments here, that wouldn’t be appropriate.  And again, in posting it here instead, it will be seen by MANY less people, and might give some people the impression that I don’t want it seen there.  That isn’t true either.

As one man, with a modest background in affiliate marketing, and without the resources, information, and full range of knowledge that many in this industry are privy to, I don’t pretend to have all the answers, nor do I even know all the right questions.  But here goes.

The time has definitely come for those that have positions of authority in this industry to check their egos at the door, and either back the PMA, or start an organization that they feel will make sense.   We can’t afford all the chest thumping that is going on presently.

With merchants setting commission levels to zero whenever they feel like it, OPMs using predatory practices to recruit and bolster their coffers and standing, affiliates casually and repetitively ignoring network and merchant terms and conditions, and networks just sitting by watching it happen, this industry is in trouble.

Yes, it’s been going on for years.

Now, however, it has been brought to the forefront by people speaking at conferences, spewing out truths, half truths, and negative spins.  We need look no further than the last Affiliate Summit, or the most recent Internet Retailer conference.

Our industry is deeply fractured, both ideologically and in organization.  Due to how some people feel about “community A”, they won’t post there.  Due to how the others feel about “community B”, they won’t endeavor to post there either.  And that list goes all the way to “community ZZ” I’m sure.

In part, that’s the nature of the internet, and has little to do with our industry in particular.  At the same time, we’ve all failed to appropriately communicate to the outside world what affiliate marketing should actually be about.  Buried in all the rants, the slanders, and the self promoting clap trap that gets penned on the net each day is a strong message.  A good core.

But it’s so far buried beneath our own self importance that no one will ever see it except ourselves.

So my request to all of you that have sway in this industry:

Lower your ego and your guard.  Lock yourselves in a virtual room or a real one.  And get this thing done.

Whether each and every affiliate, from the stay at home Mom to the Pepperjam’s of this world, realize it or not, we are all counting on you.  The NY tax was just ANOTHER in a myriad of reasons to show that this industry needs a collective voice, and a collective dialog.

We will never all be moving in the same direction, with the same set of ethics, values, and goals.  At the same time, we need to task our leaders with developing a framework for the outside world to see, and we need to do it fairly, openly, and honestly.

Now get to it.

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This entry was posted on Sunday, June 22nd, 2008 at 3:00 pm and is filed under affiliate marketing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.


Viewing 4 Comments

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    Please elaborate about "people speaking at conferences, spewing out truths, half truths, and negative spins" at Affiliate Summit.
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    • v
    Excellent reflection.

    I agree that the time is now for our industry to come together under a common voice.

    In the past other attempts at creating an affiliate marketing trade / advocacy organization have failed for various reasons, including lack of financial resources and failure to find leadership dedicated to taking on the challenge full-time with the support of the industry.

    Finally, people are coming together and putting differences aside.

    While deciding on the actual leadership of the organization is still in process I am confident that this time things are different.

    I appreciate your willingness in expressing a "call to action" and I think it is timely.

    The only thing against us right now is time since New York has already taken action and others will follow soon if PMA or another organization don't step up soon.

    Finally, I'd like to thank Rebecca Madigan from Affiliate Classroom for all her leadership (and her great timing) in putting together the initial structure and organization that is likely to become our much needed trade organization.

    BTW - For those who haven't seen it Performance Marketing Alliance has a Web site at http://www.performancemarketingalliance.com/

    Thanks,

    Kris
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    Kris:

    I think it's fair to note that I mentioned Pepperjam for a reason in this post. To me, PJ is diametric when considering the stay at home mom (or dad).

    I can all but guarantee that you and I don't see eye to eye on many things, and actually, that's great.

    It's one of the things that I welcome about an organization, especially one with a backbone and teeth. While I certainly wouldn't wan it to become a witch hunt in any fashion, I would hope that things that PJ does, things that I do, and things that Shareasle does alike will all be visible to the members, and eligible for debate and discussion.
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    Thanks for the comments, folks.

    Shawn, I was speaking specifically about the well documented speech given by Mr. Calacanis. In it, I think he showed a tremendous level of misunderstanding, even though in some regards he was correct in indicating that there's a lot of bad with the good when you break down what tactics affiliate marketers, email marketers, and loyalty marketers are currently using.
 
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