New Forums and Affiliate Managers

[mojo]

Glad you found us kimcyp. Forums are always a part of my day too. I work in sessions and between them I usually read the forums. I think I'd be in the dark if I didn't. Plus, there may be a laugh or two.

Jeremy has started a thread here about the new affiliate program forum if anyone wants the scoop:


An Open Letter To The 65+ Operators Attending The “Secret Meeting” - The Forums At Poker Affiliate Listings

[CK]

This is a great thread, but some affiliate managers do read here all the time, just terms and conditions set forth by forum owners, may not allow us to participate as much as we would like. I read this "family" of forums 3 - 5 times a day to catch up. Looking good, but I wish there was the radio broadcast last week, I missed that ;-)

Well I dont know about that really. I enjoy when managers participate and those that do without the obvious attempt at spamming their own program gain the attention from other webmasters. We see this and take note. I know at CAL and PAL the programs are welcome to participate with the community but and this is just speaking in general, I don't think it's right to go to someone's site and self promote your own products.

Posting to blantantly self promote really isnt any different than the affiliate programs who spam our blogs or affiliates who spam our forums for signups. Most programs have T&C's against spamming to sign players and I think the programs should follow the same guidelines for themselves.

Regardless of whether you are a paid sponsor, a certified sponsor or just the new guy on the block...participate with the community and you will see a return for your time. I have signed up with I dont know how many programs and later referred others to that am because they are active and show that they care about the industry and want to work with affiliates. I am sure you guys dont have all day to sit and read one forum after another, I am just saying that there is no reason why you can't communicate with affiliates and discuss issues like everyone else.

I know there aren't any limitations on either CAL or PAL in regards to actively participating on the forums but just like us affiliates, the forums need to draw a line when it comes to what's participating and what's considered spamming.

btw welcome affcorner!

[mojo]

I know there aren't any limitations on either CAL or PAL in regards to actively participating on the forums but just like us affiliates, the forums need to draw a line when it comes to what's participating and what's considered spamming.

I differ here kaus. Since you quoted affcorner I will say that I would appriciate very much his input here. Are affilate programs allowed to have a siggy and post their latest newletter? Can they answer aff questions? Is this a paid only board?

It is a fine line on forums what is allowed to be posted. So understandably it's best for them not to post at all. Except for the most generic of things.

This is not what I would like to see here. Managers are much to busy to simply come on here and chit chat to gain any sort of status.

I may not be popular for saying this but are the doors open or not? I need programs here to interact with.

[RockbetJohn]

This is a very touchy subject.

To start not all affiliates will spend their time on forums and I think it is safe and fair to say that programs can survive without having to sponsor an affiliate community which I thought was proved by Cap. With the implosion of CAP there are a lot of new communities out there. I think for places like GPWA, PAL/CAL and AGD there shouldn't be any worry of competition. As long as these places provide value to affiliates and of course the programs then nobody should worry about competition.

The unfortunate issue of cap is that is it going to water down the affiliate communities and I know myself I have been posting less but maybe it's a good thing. Affiliates ultimately care if the programs will pay, give them great value/$ for their traffic and this is why I like affiliateguarddog.com so much. They list the good and bad programs for affiliates to see and it's not about buying your way into the top spot. They do have platinum sponsorship but I think this is a good value for operators.

When it comes to sponsorship there are too many things to consider. From an operators point of view we need value and a good ROI. The problem with places like CAP are after you spend 1 year there you have already acquired all the affiliates you could. After year 2 what happens, they charge more but you are not getting any more affiliates and I don't see this as retaining them either since many big affiliates have said they don't care if they paid for sponsorship or not, rather that they pay and are worth promoting. As time goes on the sponsorship value tends to decrease. Also the more an operator posts on a forum the more value they provide to that forum. I think with the issues at CAP operators and AMs will be posting and participating less. Personally I'll make my appearances here and there but will spend less time on forums and more time recruiting and focusing on the needs of existing affiliates.

John

[mojo]

Excellent post John. There really isn't much I could add to that.

I don't really see a problem with more forums. In fact, I have some, well fear of another big controlling forum like CAP. I think many of us make the rounds and post at what interests us. Forums are valuable for affiliates in many different ways. For example, if I am having an issue with a program and cannot agree via mail, I can put it out there for discussion with the manager jumping in and we can clarify it for everyone. Once in awhile I am wrong. I know, hard to believe LOL, and others will chime in, you are being unreasonable mojo.

Sponserships are a touchy subject after CAP. After a time we will settle in more I think. Meanwhile, I would encourage free speech like we have here and participation for everyone.