what is the appeal of fly by night johnny come lately programs?

[Far-L]

Serious biz questions...

What is the appeal of new programs that have nothing new to offer, no corporate accountability, and nothing to show other than a few anons giving them the "thumbs up"?

How many times do webmasters need to be taken before they realize how to actually perform due diligence on the companies that they choose to promote?

What are the best warning signs that a company, either new or longtime established, is falling apart? When should any halfway intelligent webmaster jump the ship and surf to another program?

[CIVMatt]

uber micro niches of new content?

[stocktrader23]

Better conversions for a period of time. Easier to obtain traffic for the lazy.

[Far-L]

Originally Posted by CIVMatt

uber micro niches of new content?

Valid. But how many new niches are there really? For example, the Dancing Bear style stuff where one male stripper is getting worked by a bunch of women in a club - I get that as a micro-niche and see where that would be catchy... but on the other hand... how much difference is there really in another anal euro teen or brazilian anal site? Am I the only one who thinks all that stuff looks the same and is completely ubiquitous to the fans?

[myneid]

Originally Posted by Far-L

Serious biz questions...



What are the best warning signs that a company, either new or longtime established, is falling apart? When should any halfway intelligent webmaster jump the ship and surf to another program?

having a good development team on hand is a good sign, when they arent there, thats when things fall apart easily. maybe its a little self centered view, but i would not invest in an internet company without a strong technology team behind it

[Far-L]

Originally Posted by myneid

having a good development team on hand is a good sign, when they arent there, thats when things fall apart easily. maybe its a little self centered view, but i would not invest in an internet company without a strong technology team behind it

Well, you are one of the few people I know who could actually do this sort of due diligence on a company, not just because you run a dev/software company but because you actually have the connections to get backgrounds on an area that most companies keep very close to the vest... any advice for those not in your position?

[Far-L]

Originally Posted by stocktrader23

Better conversions for a period of time. Easier to obtain traffic for the lazy.

Ok, I get that from the SE perspective in terms of marketing the site... but does a surfer really care if the site is brazilianasssluts.com or assslutbrazilians.com once they have hit the site or is the sign up more about how hot or not the models are on the tour... and unless we are talking about a PPS prog then having some sort of compelling reason to rebill is key.

[myneid]

Originally Posted by Far-L

Well, you are one of the few people I know who could actually do this sort of due diligence on a company, not just because you run a dev/software company but because you actually have the connections to get backgrounds on an area that most companies keep very close to the vest... any advice for those not in your position?

not really. i can usually tell by if they use all boxed software its not likely they have a strong technology staff. like if i go through nats/ccbill for an affiliate link, and log into the members area and its all leased content or just a few hardcoded html pages, probably not somebody that can maintain membership.
you can always ask them to do something custom like a custom join page, if they can do that they either have the correct knowledge or have a good programing staff that can whip it out fast.
but thats just some suggestions as i have seen good companies that break those guidelines.

[Far-L]

Originally Posted by myneid

not really. i can usually tell by if they use all boxed software its not likely they have a strong technology staff. like if i go through nats/ccbill for an affiliate link, and log into the members area and its all leased content or just a few hardcoded html pages, probably not somebody that can maintain membership.
you can always ask them to do something custom like a custom join page, if they can do that they either have the correct knowledge or have a good programing staff that can whip it out fast.
but thats just some suggestions as i have seen good companies that break those guidelines.

Well the catch-22 there is that programs that don't use boxed solutions tend to make people leary as they are measured suspiciously of maintaining complex shaving mechanisms. Which makes me ask... how much do affiliates really bother looking into the ownership and staff of the companies that they work with? Especially in light of online and offline personalities usually differing so greatly, the need for some sort of references and accountability should mean something but all too often, at least it seems to me, affiliates completely ignore that as a deciding factor in what program to promote.

[stocktrader23]

Originally Posted by Far-L

Ok, I get that from the SE perspective in terms of marketing the site... but does a surfer really care if the site is brazilianasssluts.com or assslutbrazilians.com once they have hit the site or is the sign up more about how hot or not the models are on the tour... and unless we are talking about a PPS prog then having some sort of compelling reason to rebill is key.

I said for the lazy. The smart people are marketing their own site about brazilian ass sluts and can test their traffic to dozens of sponsors with no problem. Assuming that the average webmaster is intelligent is where you went wrong.

[minicivan]

Simple, this is a business full of dysfunctional, anti social people who thrive on swimming against the current of common sense and good business sense.

[Far-L]

Originally Posted by stocktrader23

I said for the lazy. The smart people are marketing their own site about brazilian ass sluts and can test their traffic to dozens of sponsors with no problem. Assuming that the average webmaster is intelligent is where you went wrong.

lol, yep.

In any event, I had this dream, totally absurd and unattainable, that hopefully by inspiring the kind of feedback here that can actually improve the knowledge base that we might improve the program/affiliate relationship which results in more profitability for the worthy, those that actually want to attain some measure of success beyond the luck of a few bucks to afford buying beers.

Crazy? I know, but I can dream can't I?

[Far-L]

Originally Posted by minicivan

Simple, this is a business full of dysfunctional, anti social people who thrive on swimming against the current of common sense and good business sense.

As an homage to your profile pic... as Marc Anthony might have said himself... a bunch of sisyphean wannabees instead of a bunch of herculean profit earners.

[myneid]

Originally Posted by Far-L

Well the catch-22 there is that programs that don't use boxed solutions tend to make people leary as they are measured suspiciously of maintaining complex shaving mechanisms.

This is a perception that was perpetrated mainly by TMM years ago. It is something i find very sad but it is a good sales technique. Truth of the matter is that with the boxed software affiliate programs out there, people can still shave with them and always have been able to. There is no difference with that matter if they use MPA3/NATS or their own homebrew affiliate program.
The onus is on the program owners to spread the truth of the matter, but instead it was always easier to just keep spreading the lie.

Originally Posted by Far-L

Which makes me ask... how much do affiliates really bother looking into the ownership and staff of the companies that they work with? Especially in light of online and offline personalities usually differing so greatly, the need for some sort of references and accountability should mean something but all too often, at least it seems to me, affiliates completely ignore that as a deciding factor in what program to promote.

this is the core of the matter. being an affiliate you are in essence being a partner with teh person you send traffic to. probably a good idea to know who this is. doing business with teh right people will pay off in the long run

[Far-L]

Originally Posted by myneid

This is a perception that was perpetrated mainly by TMM years ago. It is something i find very sad but it is a good sales technique. Truth of the matter is that with the boxed software affiliate programs out there, people can still shave with them and always have been able to. There is no difference with that matter if they use MPA3/NATS or their own homebrew affiliate program.
The onus is on the program owners to spread the truth of the matter, but instead it was always easier to just keep spreading the lie.



this is the core of the matter. being an affiliate you are in essence being a partner with teh person you send traffic to. probably a good idea to know who this is. doing business with teh right people will pay off in the long run

Yeah, I remember that - one of the more epic debates on GFY that I can recall.

I agree too that any program can shave regardless of boxed solution, gateway/processor etc. Anyone that thinks otherwise is simply delusional. (waiting for the usual response - someone to say it is impossible for anyone to shave CCbill revshare...)

This also illuminates another conundrum - affiliates that think they are ready to run programs and programs that think they are ready to drop affiliates. Certainly there are great examples of affiliates that do start up successful programs, Bangbros is the best that comes first to mind, or on the other side of the fence Mac&Bumble, but for every one of those success stories, there are over ten times the failures.