You know how sometimes you learn a new word and then all of a sudden it seems to show up everywhere? You wonder why a billboard for hot dogs has this word that you just learned, for example. And you know how the same kind of thing happens when you’re wrestling with an issue? How it seems to literally haunt you?
That’s me and affiliate marketing
This all started, I don’t know, about a month ago, I guess. Chris Brogan posted about how he approaches affiliate marketing, and I commented, “Well that’s all fine and dandy, but affiliate marketing…I don’t know. It rubs me the wrong way.” I may or may not have been chided for being an agency woman who struggles with product placement.
Ever since that conversation, I have been wrestling with the whole affiliate marketing thing, and that debate, ever since, has seemed to pop up everywhere. Matt Shaw talked about the advertising on Chris’s site (among others). In Third Tribe, there is tons of information on how to do it. There are conferences for it. Everyone I talk to says it’s absolutely worth it.
Still I struggle.
I found the nut
I finally realized the problem, and I thought perhaps you are experiecing or will experience similar debates, so I thought I would talk it out.
So…I’ve been blogging professionally for about 7 months now. Not even a year. I am getting a lot of support. In terms of traffic, it is building, but it is certainly not huge. I have carefully framed this blog as a place where (hopefully) people feel they can be directed to helpful information, discuss things that are going on in the marketing world, and share with me their own insights on same. That’s really what my main goal was setting out. Mission accomplished, but I still feel I am building. I am still so new that I don’t even know the ways that I need to improve yet.
I think that affiliate marketing works for people who have established long-time credibility with their blog community. Everyone knows that the stuff being recommended is being recommended for the community, and the blogger just happens to get a bit of money if you click that link and buy from there. I don’t know if I’ve established enough credibility with you, my readers, to go down that road. I don’t know if I have offered enough content to merit peppering in affiliate links now and then.
So I thought I would ask.
If you are reading this, maybe you are someone who has been reading my blog for a few months now. Maybe you know me from Twitter a little. Would you be put off if I became an affiliate marketer? Obviously, it would not be an every post kind of thing, and I wouldn’t shove it down your throat. I think you know that about me.
Maybe the more broad question is what do you think about affiliate marketing in general? It’s difficult for me to believe that I have thought of something that Brian Clark, Darren Rouse, Chris Brogan, Sonia Simone, and countless others missed when they grew with the assistance of affiliate marketing. I don’t think folks like that would direct people how to do affiliate marketing and then snicker and say, “Heh, they’re evil now.” I mean, right?
Help me roll around this little nut in my brain. I am open to any and all perspectives (and am hoping for them).
Image by Richard Dudley. http://www.sxc.hu/profile/bluegum
Marjorie, go for it. Just stick with two guiding principles. Stay true to your brand and shun the cheesy. Your blog is always a terrific read. Why not build on what you’ve built? Public television isn’t non-commercial (PBS affiliates have “underwriters”). Hell, church isn’t non-commercial (clerics pass around a basket right in the middle of the show).
Those are good points. I guess “time” as it exists in the world of Social Media is confusing. I’m used to 7 months being a fairly short period of time, thinking about it in traditional terms. Perhaps I’m already a grizzled veteran over here though 🙂
Thank you for the vote of confidence – I would of course be highly respectful and would not promote anything unless I thought it would be a way to enhance something my community would be interested in.
Tough to forego those gag gifts though. Hmm. hehee 🙂
I’m on the same page with Bob on his two guiding principles.
I see no problem with affiliate marketing as long as you stay true to who you are and your audience.
Thanks. Hey, aren’t you supposed to be taking the weekend off, my friend? Get off this blog! 🙂
I am off for the weekend…sorta.
I still am using the mornings and occasional little moments here & there to make sure I keep up with my reading on some of my fav blogs and media sites…like yours. 😉
Hi Marjorie,
Here’s another perspective for you to consider and I will try to be as objective as possible…
I think that affiliate marketing is a tricky issue for a marketer who is also a blogger; which is different from a blogger that tries to become a marketer. The difference is the expectation your customer has from your brand.
Think about some of these questions in relation to your brand and your agency.
– Who are my customers and how do they perceive affiliate marketing?
– How do my customers connect my blog with my agency, Clayman Advertising?
– Will my endorsing products and services affect the perception of me or Clayman Advertising?
– What value does affiliate marketing contribute to my customers or readers?
– Are you blogging to drive demand for your core business?
My subjective view is quite contrary to your other readers however…
I think affiliate marketing is only right for bloggers who try to become marketers because their customers have the perception already of their endorsing products, services and people as most have done since the beginning of their blogging career.
I personally can’t stand affiliate marketing. I think it detracts from the credibility of the person doing it with very few exceptions. I could never imagine going into a client and discussing enterprise marketing challenges and knowing they have checked out my blog/website to see ads hawking products/services that have little to do with who I am or who they are.
Further, there is the risk that if someone who visits my blog does follow my advice on an affiliate and has a bad experience, they are going to come to me, not the affiliate. They trusted me and i can’t be sure that an affiliate will carry on that trust.
In the end, is it worth the couple shekels it will make you? I think you are a gifted and insightful marketer who can use blogging to drive demand for your agency or yourself for speaking, publishing, etc.
Affiliate marketing does not have a good reputation. Just play the tape all the way to the end to identify all of the potential risks.
Cheers!
Jeff – Sensei
Hi Jeff,
You’ve hit on a central question for me that I’ve blogged around, but I probably need to get more pointed about it.
A lot of folks are using Social Media to start and grow a new business. I have a job, our agency has existed for 50+ years. So I don’t really need to depend upon things that start-ups do. I am doing this to enhance my understanding of Social Media, to be able to pass knowledge to our clients, and to help other folks along the way. If my networking leads to forming new relationships (as it has) or new client relationships, that would be great!
I think that a lot of the advice that’s given viz-a-viz Social Media is targeted at the person who is starting something from the ground up, but there isn’t a whole lot of guidance (in my opinion) for someone who may not need at this time to make a living off Social Media but rather who wants to drive out knowledge and specific expertise while also enriching the client experience and expanding the business that already exists. What is your perception on that?
Thanks for your comment.
Jeff makes a valid point. Your brand (your content, anyway) is integrally linked to your family’s agency. (I had not considered that.)
Yeah, and that is the biggest thorn in the idea for me. As Jeff notes, when you are approaching this from the agency part of the business, I think it would look potentially fishy to have [affiliate link] or especially ads. “Is my business not enough for you?” A client may well ask. “Are you looking to do something else?”
That is really one of the two kernels that has made this such an issue for me. The other is that I want people to feel like they can come here and converse without feeling like they are joining the cast of the Truman Show. By the way, have you tried that hot cocoa yet?
If your blog represents the cornerstone of your livelihood, I think that’s an entirely different matter, and I don’t frown on those folks doing it. it just doesn’t seem quite right for me, and Jeff did a good job of explaining further why I hesitate.
Sounds like you have made your decision Marjorie.
I think for folks like you and me, it hinders/hurts more than helps.
Cheers!
Jeff – Sensei
It’s not offensive, in and of itself, in my opinion—I’m experimenting a bit with it, although not on any of my blogs so far. I’d say the keys to doing it right include being very picky about what you promote—it needs to be in keeping with the subject matter and tone of the blog—and doing so in a way that’s not going to wind up distracting from the content of the blog itself. I like Chris Pirillo very much, but I have a very hard time looking at his web site, for all the ad content that’s been thrown on there.
I think ads are a different conversation altogether, although in most cases, neither action is going to really rake in the bucks for the blogger.
I’ve heard the “picky” thing from a lot of people too.
I don’t really understand the debate about affiliate marketing being ethical or appropriate or what. I just don’t get it.
I mean to me an affiliate is simply a salesperson for the company. And affiliate marketing is so much more passive. Meaning there isn’t a pushy guy in my face telling me to buy something. In general affiliate marketers give useful information in exchange for a commission – I see absolutely nothing wrong with that as an affiliate marketer or as someone being marketed too.
To me as a buyer if I’m paying $70 for a product do I care if all of it goes to company X versus it being split between company X and affiliate X – I don’t see why it should bother me? Also – in most cases I WANT an affiliate to get a commission. If I’m reading your blog and you give me some useful info that can help my business I’m happy if you get paid for it without ME having to pay you – so I’ll ASK you for your affiliate link!
I get that some affiliate marketers are unethical and they recommend crap for a buck but I would like to think that my market (and your market and everybody’s market!) is smart enough to pick out the scammers from the legitimate marketers. Scammers are lazy. Real affiliate marketers are not.
Anyway, guess this topic hits a hot spot with me. I am an affiliate marketer and proud to be so. I represent some of the top companies in internet services and I get paid to tell you about them – I see no problem or shame or issue with that. I hope you don’t either and can see how affiliate marketing is not something to do in the shadows – be loud and proud and let your market make the choice!
By the way – I have to say it allows annoys me to no end when marketers say something like “And that’s NOT an affiliate link” — To me that propels the thinking that actually using an affiliate link is a bad thing – UG!
I definitely don’t think affiliate marketing is bad – I just have qualms about whether it’s right for my particular situation. I am here as an agency woman learning on behalf of our clients. There is already a soft sell present on my blog, which is “by the way, we can help you do all of this stuff.” I feel like a client who would come to a blog post might be confused/potentially put-off by seeing me trying to make money on the side, or maybe I would just feel like it wouldn’t look quite right.
Does that make sense?
Yep that makes sense. And sorry I did go on a bit of a rant.
But I don’t know that anyone would or should be put off if they are genuinely interested in any products you might have some extra knowledge about as it’s simply a value-add to them if it’s something they need.
As a consumer and someone who understands affiliate marketing well even if I was your client I’d be happy to buy from your affiliate link after I’ve done my research and found that I liked the product you recommended to me 🙂
No problem, Angela. I love me some passionate people 🙂
Point well made, and thank you!
First-off; you are a creator of original content. You clearly work hard at it, and are read by people influential in your field. You are adding value. It still amazes me how content creators, long indoctrinated in the inviolability of so-called separation of church and state, (meanwhile their published work appears right next to a full page ad in a traditional magazine) are shy when it comes to approaching monetizing their hard work! You’re a writer, but you are also a business person. You deserve to be compensated for your work. (of course you may want to employ a third party to handle your monetization efforts if you are concerned about the possible appearance of impropriety) Now, affiate marketing is one way to do that. Although seemingly monopolized by content aggregators with semantic keyword recognition software, (who have their special place in copyright hell when the rules for “sharing” content electronically are finally sorted-out) for honest content creators, affiliate marketing, thoughtfully planned to compliment your content is as valuable to your readers as it is to you. (most people buy magazines for the ads; car mags when shopping for a car, stereo mags when…) This way original content creators receive some compensation for their work; and readers are exposed to products (and maybe deals) relevant to their interest. This is the very basis for the old-school publishing model. Of course, now that the need for large publishing houses has diminished as their traditional role as providers of the formerly prohibitively expensive production and distribution functions have become less critical, irrelevant, even. It is only right that this model be inverted; the creators of original content should receive the majority of any profits from their work, while paying for those ad-hoc third party services that they really do need. (such as freelance edit /creative/marketing/circulation services) It’s where professional writers are headed, many just don’t know it yet. I’ve spent the past year looking at this very closely and hope to be able to add-value to this transition. So by all means don’t be apologetic about cherry-picking relevant partners to help monetize your work. But also understand there are other ways to be compensated for your content as well. If you can quantify and more importantly qualify your reader base, there is a an advertiser out there that wants to reach them! Banners, links, embedded rich media, even old fashion paid subscribers (read my clicks: micro-payments and pay-to-play is the way if the future, the way of the future, the way of the… *slap!* oh, sorry, had a Howard Hughs moment” there for a second!…I’m sorry, what was the question? 🙂 ok my finger is tired from tapping on this iphone! cheers and good luck! JJW
Sent from my iPhone – Please excuse the typos!
that’s a very interesting point and perspective, and I can’t believe you typed all of that on your phone! Yikes! Although an iPhone is a bit easier to type on than a Blackberry 🙂
I feel like advertising is something people react very negatively to on blogs…affiliate marketing, if done correctly, seems more digestible. It’s a lot to think about.
Thanks so much for your comment!
Great reply, Justin!
wasn’t that supreme?!?
Marjorie, I went through the exact same struggle a few months back and here’s what I came up with, as simple as it is:
1. People are looking to buy products, so you should sell them.
2. If you don’t have your own products, find others that will add value to your readers and that you can stand behind. What’s wrong with writing a 10 page report and charging $7 for it?
3. There’s nothing wrong with asking for money; it doesn’t damage your credibility. In fact, I think it makes you look more valuable.
4. I built a very successful consulting practice and looking back, I know many of my customers just like being around me. There’s a saying that goes: make customers want to be around you and then bill them for it.
5. If you think one of your brands isn’t right to sell affiliate products make another. My B2B marketing company is http://www.VARChannelMarketing.com and my B2C brand is at http://www.AbdulKarmach.com. They have nothing to do with each other. We’re all different people in real life, right? A father, a marketer, a football player, a musician..
That’s my two cents, anyhow. Hey, I’d buy something from you 😉
Abdul
5.
Thanks, Abdul. How’s about this nice cool class of lemonade? 🙂
You make good points, and I was contemplating starting another blog that would be a bit more…comfortable for me to do affiliate marketing on. but then I’d have to blogs, and I think I’d have to punch myself in the face! 🙂 And that’s just humiliating.
I get your point. I guess I feel like I’d rather people explore how to work with our agency versus clicking on a link where I get a bit of dinero. I’m not in this for individual money-making, I’m in this to help people with their marketing, and to help grow the relationships our agency has with people who want to market better.
Does that make any sense?
It surely does, Marjorie. First and foremost, follow your intuition. It you simply don’t feel like monitizing don’t do it. But, if you were looking for reasons to support your impulse to do it I wanted to help 🙂
I knew exactly how to make money online two years before I felt the intuition to do it. Follow your inner voice and keep up the great writing!
Abdul
I’d say you should start another blog to follow your passion of making some extra money. I’ve been at this for over 5 years, I’ve build many websites, but only recently have I decided to start another blog. I’m going for the weight loss niche, I’ve had my own challenges there, and some successes too. I feel I can speak to that with some authority. Good luck!