Originally Posted by LiLi

My affiliate earnings average have been incredible stable for the past 6 years. If you are not doing so well perhaps consider finding a better strategy, better traffic. So many affiliates will place the blame of low conversion rates and poor spending squarely on the shoulders of the sponsor instead of doing your job and finding the right traffic/approach.

Some things to consider:

1) No whale lasts forever. The top three origin stories for whales are these: (1) Middle income man with poor impulse control and a brand new credit card. Average 3 to 6 months spending until he burns through his credit (around $60k) (2) Trust fund adult child. Spends a lot of money he didnt earn until his family finds out and cuts the stream. Average less than a year spending. (3) A 60 year old spending everything he can before his divorce papers are served so his harpy ex wont get it. Average 3 months spending. (4) Romantic type with tons of extra income or a very padded savings account and in love with a camgirl. These are the longer lasting, it will depend on the treshold of bullshit resistance the camgirl can put up with until she bans him. Could last for years.

Case 4 is extremely, extremely rare. The vast majority of whales will fall under scenario (1). If the whale poofs out of your stats in all likelihood he burned through his credit and is done. The idea that he was lured into someone else's affiliate program is very comforting as it frees you from any blame for the loss of income, but in most cases its unrealistic.

Your signups will not pay forever. Your job is to keep finding quality traffic and keep making signups because users dont spend forever and there is a turnover and your accounts age and age badly. Its better to get used to it and work harder than to look for scapegoats. On the other hand... conversions can take years. I have fresh spenders today that clicked on my link in 2018 and only now started spending.