Where Did All The Good Affiliate Programs Go?

Recently my good friend Jim Kukral made a video expressing his concern and annoyance with affiliate networks on the "BIG" networks, such as Commission Junction and Linkshare. Jim wanted to promote an offer through BestBuy, which is run through Commission Junction. Unfortunately CJ likes to automatically delete accounts once they go inactive for a couple months. The happened to Jim’s account, so he had to make a new one. Once signing up again, he had to apply to the BestBuy affiliate program and had to wait four days to get a response back… and the response was, "your application was not approved".

I can relate to how Jim feels and I have experienced the same thing several times over. I have not used Commission Junction or Linkshare for nearly three years now because I hate the way their networks are setup. Back when I first was starting out running my own affiliate programs, I had several merchant accounts on CJ and one master affiliate account. Through CJ I had paid out several hundreds of thousands over the course of around two years. In addition to paying out a ton in commissions, I was also earning a ton too. My affiliate account had earnings in the six figure range… but apparently that didn’t matter to CJ. Once I stopped using that affiliate account for a few months, it was deactivated. I contacted CJ and they told me to create a new account. So what about all my data and awesome stats!?.. they didn’t care, it was now lost.

Several years later and I have experienced the same thing multiple times. I find a new offer that is through CJ that I want to check out, then I post a few links here and there, then log in a few months later and my account is deactivated again. I think my latest account with them is my fifth.

So last night I was setting up my new office room and it has a lot of furniture in it from Bombay Company. I decided to check out the site and saw they have an affiliate program, through LinkShare. I really wanted to join the program since I would promote the offer and also buy some furniture through the site as well. It’s been a while since I logged into my LinkShare account, but it was nice to see they didn’t delete my account like CJ does. I logged in, found the offer and and applied. I also added ZacJohnson.com as a new site to my profile, thinking any affiliate program would obviously see my site and how it says "Super Affiliate" and would easily accept the application.

This morning I received a response from Bombay Company’s affiliate manager, and (not) to my surprise, they have denied my account, stating my web site was one of the following: Inability to access Web site, Web site not yet live, Traffic levels too low, Inappropriate material on site. I assume they did find relevant content, as none of the above apply. It’s a shame to have affiliate management in place that would deny a site which states it’s a "Super Affiliate", and has a previous post showing $10k in earnings with another network.

In Jim’s video he talked about how he just wanted to go to BestBuy and other large companies directly. I completely agree, but unfortunately most site and companies do not have the management or knowledge to do so… so they pay too much and outsource to larger networks and miss out on possible opportunities to work with big players like Jim and myself, just because they don’t know better, or provide better and more personal support. The moral of this is posting is that no matter how big or small your branding name or company is, you can always improve your affiliate management and support. As for other large affiliate networks out there, I’m sure deleting accounts saves you some costs on data storage, but deleting accounts of big earning affiliates is just ridiculous. I’ve been in this game long enough to understand how things should be run and so many companies out there are way under par.

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Thanks for Missing My Package DHL!

I’ve spent the day getting ready to leave for Affiliate Summit in Florida… but I’m still waiting for my awesomely wicked new business cards I ordered from VistaPrint earlier this week. I made sure to pay the extra $36.84 for shipping so they would arrive in time. At the end of placing my order it said my package would arrive 7/6/07 at the latest. I had been anxiously awaiting the arrival of my new cards so I can finish up my packing and not have to worry about not having them. I kept checking the tracking number on the DHL web site and it’s been listed as "7/6/2007 7:41 am Depart Facility Niles Regional Hub, MI" for the most of the day now. Quite concerned, I decided to give them a call.

Once talking to a representative, the girl says the package was misplaced and left at the DHL Depart Facility in Michigan! She also apologized, but what good does that do for me? When asked about a refund she said that they bill VistaPrint directly and I have to talk with them. (Which I definitely will.) This is quite ridiculous as this was an important package… and the only purpose for DHL in life is to DELIVER PACKAGES! I was told I will have my business cards tomorrow by noon. Lastly I asked what’s the guarantee on that… I was told there was none…

I’m not happy about this. What if my flight left today or tomorrow?…. the business cards are just as important as anything else, if not more important! VistaPrint and DHL management will hear from me on this… as well as my readers. This is powerful blogging at it’s finest!

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Resorts Casino Sucks

As mentioned earlier, I love casinos and gambling and visit Atlantic City often. I have been playing at the Borgata since they opened a few years ago and avoid most of the other casinos along the boardwalk. At the Borgata you don’t have to deal with the walk-in crowd that come off the boardwalk and it’s a much nice atmosphere. On June 6th, Reena and I went down to Borgata for the night and went decided to stop by the casinos on the boardwalk the next day. We just happened to stop and the Resorts Casino and played there for a bit. It was my first time there so I decided to get a players card for the time I was to play there. A few hours passed and I had accrued over $550 in comp dollars from my game play. I was playing my usual betting, but a $1500 bet on RED (Roulette), probably helped a bit. New to this casino, I went over to the players card area to talk to someone about what I could do with my comps. I met with a very informed member there that insisted I get my own casino host, since my game play was so high. In addition to having over $550 in comps, I had went from a Red Player card (that everyone gets), to an ULTRA Players Card (passing right past their 2nd tier ELITE card). So within a few hours of game play I already had their highest players card. The players card attendant told me I would be able to use my comps in one of their Destination Rewards gift stores, or also in any of the Atlantic City outlet stores, which are pretty high class. I was also assigned a casino host, which I talked to over the phone since he had already left the casino. In the end, we listed to the woman at the Players Club area and saved the comps for our next visit, and I would talk to my casino host to setup our next trip to the casino. I always wondered why anyone would go to these old crappy casinos on the boardwalk over the Borgata… after receiving over $500 in comps in my first visit I soon found out why. The woman in the Players Rewards area also stressed how much of a rewarding casino they are high rollers and how much they offer.

Over the next two weeks Reena had been extremely sick with strep throat and various high fevers and being nauseous. We were both excited and looking forward to our next trip to Resorts, since we had a nice amount of comps waiting for us. I also promised Reena I would get her a nice Coach purse from the outlet stores with our comps. I called up my casino host on June 20th and asked for two nights stay for Friday and Saturday. The Sopranos cast was to be at Resorts for promotional pictures and a meet and greet with special guest. My casino host also offered this option to me earlier in the week, but when I called to make reservations, he said it was now full… and they were almost full on rooms. He called me back a few hours later and confirmed the rooms, but nothing on the Sopranos.

Friday came and we finally were at the Resorts Casino. Before arriving, I called my host and told him we were almost there. He said to meet him in the VIP Lounge check in room. He also asked where we would like to eat, and we setup reservations later that night for their Asian Spice restaurant. First we went up to the room, (hoping for at least a suite!). The room was decent sized, but NOT a suite, though it probably was better than their cheap rooms, however definitely not up to par compared to the nicer rooms of the Borgata (where I usually get free suites!). We were only in the room for about half an hour before we headed off to dinner at Asian Spice.

On the way down to Asian Spice I decided to check my comps from my previous visit. I went to the players card machine and it said "Your comp minimum is not available at this time".  We tried several times, hoping this was an error but kept getting the same result. My host was to meet us at Asian Spice to make sure we get there fine, so I would ask him about it then. We met up and I asked about the comps and he explained to me that I shouldn’t use the machine to track my comps and that he is handling them and I should ask him if there is anything I need. I went on to tell him about how I had $550+ in comps and how I was told I can use them at the Destination Rewards shop and at the outlet stores…. he said this wasn’t the case. His phone started to ring and he had to make errands elsewhere… I’m still not sure on the game plan. Besides the dilemma with the comps, the food and service at Asian Spice was great, I had no complaints at all. It was actually very nice because it was very quiet and not busy at all. At the end I received the bill for $75, which also came with a comp receipt that was to cover up to $160 worth of food. (was this taken out of my $550+ in comps???)

After dinner Reena wasn’t feeling too well so we went up stairs for a bit. After watching some TV I headed down stairs to play some table games, while Reena stayed up stairs. I came back about two hours later and Reena told me about how horrible she was feeling and that she couldn’t sleep. She also mentioned how hard the bed was and that the pillows were flat and uncomfortable. I soon realized this as well, because it was the first time I had actually laid down on the bed as well. It was like laying on stacks of cardboard and the pillows were old and flattened. The Borgata has large glamorous beds with several big fluffy pillows. I can not stress how uncomfortable this bed was… even the covers were like thick sheets of layered paper.

It was around 2 am now and at this point I was very angry and Reena was upset. We were both looking towards this weekend for a while now. Now we are both just thinking about leaving. But first… I thought, "Hey, I’m a black card holder and this casino should actually go out of their way for me". I headed back downstairs to meet with someone in the VIP Lounge to see if they can help. I waited their for about a minute and no one was there. I then went to VIP Check In… same result. I ended up at the front desk and asked if any VIPs or hosts were available for me to talk with. I was then told they all went home… what kind of service is that!? I then asked who I could talk to… they gave me the phone and forwarded me to marketing services. I told the woman on the phone how horrible our the bed in our room was and I wanted to be updated to a suite or another room with better beds. I also told her I was an ULTRA card holder. At first she told me they were booked, then put me on hold for a few minutes while she checked again. Same result when she came back, and told me I should talk to my host tomorrow or see if they have any room openings then. I then told her I probably wouldn’t be here.

Very pissed off now I went back up stairs and told Reena to get everything ready as we were leaving. We headed downstairs and checked out… even had to pay a lousy $7.58 for tax on the room we were barely in. If the Resorts Casino and Hotel was a decent place at all, I would be there right now, instead of telling you about them. I’ll be sure to pass my frustration off to the casino, my host and the player rewards attendant that told me where and how I could use my comps. In the end… Resorts Atlantic City Sucks!

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RegisterFly Sucks

Your domain is a very important part of your business… heck, it is your business! Without your domain you don’t have a site! Imagine if you suddenly lost your domain? What would you do? Well, this scenario is probably all too familiar for anyone that has used RegisterFly. At one point they were my main registrar for my domain portfolio, where I had up to 120+ domains at one point. I first signed up to RegisterFly a few years ago. In the beginning all was well, but then they went to hell. They basically have no more customer support, they will not renew domains, they will not help you in any domain transfer or even acknowledge you as a member… but I’m sure they will still gladly take your money!

I’ve been wanting to write this post for a while now, but wanted to try and pull away all of my existing domains with RegisterFly before doing so. Let’s first take a look at their customer support section. Here you are supposed to setup "support tickets" with any questions or problems you may have with your account. I just logged into today and saw that my last two tickets were changed to "closed"… yet they were never even answered. As you can see there are several other support tickets as well… they were also unanswered and I unfortunately lost a couple domains because of them. I especially like the section that states, "Normally support issues are handled within 2-3 hours"… a complete comedy and it usually took days… or would simply just remain unanswered.

The last domain that I had to pull from RegisterFly was an important one and I was desperately working with GoDaddy and eNom to have either of them pick the domain up anyway possible. GoDaddy was able to do so, and I praise them for it. When I logged into my RegisterFly account today to pull more information for this post, I also noticed a new update to in the "Customer Service Center". A screenshot from the customer service center is shown below, along with the notice that was on the following page.

TITLE: RegisterFly.com Arranges for bulk transfer of names under its accreditation. DATE: 5/30/2007 NOTICE: Registerfly arranges for bulk transfer of names under its accreditation to Godaddy.com. This only affects domain names listed under Registerfly.com, inc. accreditation. Registerfly became operational as an accredited registrar in late January 2006 if you have purchased a name or transferred a name after that date your name may be included in the bulk transfer to Godaddy. To learn more about the bulk transfer please refer to http://www.godaddy.com/welcomeregisterfly If your name was purchased prior when we acted as a reseller for multiple registrars this will not be included in this bulk transfer and we will continue to support and you can manage these names via the RegisterFly.com interface located at https://registerfly.com/scripts/account.php If you have further questions please do not hesitate to contact us via the support system. Regards Robert O’ Neill Operations Manager

Looks like RegisterFly is getting enough complaints to actually do something for their customers. (By the way… good luck trying to conact them through their support system!) RegisterFly had recently become their own registrar and was no longer a reseller of domain registration to other networks. Everyone on RegisterFly has had problems and the other domain registrars were also well aware. Even GoDaddy and some of the other networks were running promotions specifically targeted towards unhappy RegisterFly customers. You can do a simply google search for "RegisterFly Sucks" and you’ll see over 27,900 pages come up. Just type in "RegisterFly" into the search and the adwords advertisers are well aware of the frustration on RegisterFly customers.

For a while GoDaddy was a big boaster of getting RegisterFly users to move over and had a special promotion on their site. I went to the site just now, planning to show you the ad copy, but they have already adjusted to the new transfer flow of RegisterFly users onto their network. Right on the main page at the top it shows "Welcome RegisterFly Users! Your domains are safe with us."… Never did I think I would see "RegisterFly" and "Safe" used together and actually believe it! I have been using GoDaddy for a while now and have no complaints with them, they actually call you weeks before a domain is expiring, so you can renew! RegisterFly customers will think they died and gone to heaven with the new support offered by GoDaddy. (eNom has also been a great help during the domain process and I highly recommend them as well!)

In the end, after months and month of stresss and the loss of a few domains, I now have my remaining domains safe and secure with GoDaddy and eNom. (GoDaddy even has an affiliate program through Commission Junction if you want to promote their service and make some money.) Domains are precious and if lost can turn a company from making millions per day, to nothing the next. Make sure you track and renew all of your domains cautiously and keep them with a well known host. As for the future of RegisterFly?… it will be hard for them to re-brand themselves as a reliable company with such a horrid reputation from past customers.

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To Sell or Not to Sell…

As webmasters and bloggers, we sometimes are fortunate enough to be given the opportunity of a merger or a buyout of one of our web sites. In most cases this raises a whole new set of questions and is usually not an easy decision to make. About a year ago I was given the opportunity to sell one of my very fast growing web sites for near seven figures and a revshare for a two year period. After the two year revshare, I would lose total ownership of the site. This was my fastest growing site, and was less than six months old at that point. What would I do?

Since the founding of MoneyReign I have always worked for myself and have never had any other staff members. Sure, I outsource some programming and web designing jobs here and there, but they would not be considered part of the company. Being president, CEO or founder of a web site that grows dramatically can be very stressful when deciding whether or nor to sell part of your company, and in essence yourself. Will the new company care as much about your web sites as you? Will they maintain the standards you have held in what gets published to the site? You will need to ask yourself many questions like these, should you be approached with the opportunity to sell.

After going over many figures associated with several offers, talking with my attorney as well as close friends who also were at some time in the position to sell, I ultimately made the decision to not go forward with the merger and keep the site in my network. Financially, the opportunity did not make total sense, as they were offering only what the site had nearly grossed already. The potential upside was in becoming part of their network and the rev share growing while cycling their own network traffic into mine, as well as being able to say I was bought out by another company!

Almost a year has passed now and this same company has gone on and partnered with several other sites, some of them fairly large. I cannot stress how happy I am that I never went forward with the acquisition. Every couple of months a new rep from their company still sends an email to me or messages me on IMer, trying to influence me again into selling. They even tried lowering their new offer for the site by 50%… not very intriguing at all. I will never work with this company in the future, just for that fact that while I was in a chat conversation with their main M&A representative (I can only assume he was frustrated by me not wanting to sell the site) he started going off on a tangent about me lying about my numbers and quickly left the chat window I thought this was hilarious and so unprofessional… further justifying that I made the right decision to not work with these guys.

Regarding other mergers/buyouts by this company, I’ve noticed skanky (almost adult) video clips added to sites they purchased (to increase click throughs).

The moral of the story is, if you are ever in the position to sell or go into a merger, don’t rush into it. Find out about the company. I know it sounds obvious, but make sure all possibilities are thought through thoroughly. Understand what you will be giving up in the process, mainly control. I would be so disappointed today if I no longer owned what remains one of my hottest sites and something I’ve put so much time and effort into, just for another company with some funding to buy and ruin it with trash ads and treat it just as another source of traffic.

My friend Jim Cramer would probably not agree with me on this, but all business decisions are not simply the bottom line when it’s your own company or web site at stake, the decision to partner or sell goes well beyond dollar and cents. I am still hopeful that at some time I will be able to sell off a web site or two for a nice profit (who doesn’t), but I feel I will know better when it is the right thing to do, based on the experience I have described here. I hope it makes you think twice before “selling out”.

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