I think a lot of times merchants come up for a little too much flack from affiliates. I know the merchants I work with are constantly looking at ways to improve their programmes. On top of this many of them have a huge number of other issues to deal with that may not be related to affiliates needs.  In a post inspired by Keith’s “6 Effective Habits Of Super Merchants” I thought I would add my opinion from the other side of the fence and look at “6 Effective Habits Of Super Affiliates”. Now by super affiliate I don’t mean a huge affiliate generating a million pound a day, quite the opposite.

1 – Communicate

Much has been written about merchants not communicating with their affiliates and not listening to their needs. Well the same can be said for affiliates at times. Yes I know you are busy and you receive a lot of emails, we all do, but if you do receive an email from an account manager then reply back. Even if it’s to say “Thanks got your email, I will look into it”. Communication is key in any relationship; if you as an affiliate want the most out of that merchant then get back to them when they contact you. Even if it is a stupid question!

2 – Be honest about your activity

It’s not enough to say you don’t know how you are generating sales or that it is none of their business how I get traffic (Its does happen). Being open and honest with a merchant will ensure they come back to you time and time again. Trust is a huge factor in any type of relationship.

3 – Merchant friendly website

Let’s be honest it isn’t rocket science to put up a website these days. I see hundreds each day, some good, some bad, some really bad! Putting up a clean, user-friendly site that a merchant will look at and be pleased to be associated with is a sure fire way to get in their good books.

4 – Keep your site up to date

Affiliates are quick to scream from the rooftops when a product feed is out of date but what about when an affiliate’s site is out of date. Check that the products you are featuring on your site have the correct prices and are linking to the correct place. If you don’t have time to update them all then then use something like Easy Content Units.

5 – Attend events and network

This is an important one. We can sometimes be guilty of hiding behind our computers and instant messengers, but in the real world people are at the other end of those computers. Get out and meet those people. Many a deal has been done over a few beers. Not only that a relationship changes when you meet face to face, more often that not for the better. Agencies, networks and merchants love to meet affiliates and will often by ALL the drinks. What are you waiting for!

6 – A4U isn’t the final word

As much as I love the forum and try and participate as much as I can it isn’t the entire industry. I speak to affiliates every day, affiliates that haven’t ever heard of the forum or A4U and have no interest in it whatsoever. The guys and girls over at A4u have done a great job in publishing our industry and educating merchants, that is a fact. What I am trying to get across is that a lot of affiliates would benefit a hell of a lot more from talking to the network, merchant or agency direct first, before ranting on the forum.

Thanks for reading.