Paul Colligan Interviews Anik Singal

Anik: It's changing because of competition. The eyes have opened up to all sorts of companies, and it's become so cost efficient to launch an affiliate program. Literally, I don't have to have thousands of dollars to program my own script. I can go launch a program for as little as $70 dollars a month through a service like one-shopping cart. So, so many different people out there can have an affiliate program, and because of that competition is increasing, and unfortunately it may not be growing at the same rate that the number of affiliates in the industry is growing at. So, the problem you hit is you got to compete for their attention now. You got to get these affiliates to pay attention to you verses your competition and if your competition is doing anything that's going to attract that affiliate over to them, well then, you can't blame that affiliate for going over there.

Anik: So, yes, if you have a name, and you have a reputation, and you decide to launch a program, OK, it will be a success right from the get-go. But, I doubt if you are a company coming out of nowhere, and you launch a program, and just sit there and twiddle your thumbs, it's not going to work anymore. You really need to get out there, actively recruit affiliates, build those relationships, and continue to do things such as new offers, new products. You got to keep the affiliates excited and engaged, otherwise unfortunately the way it works is that they get bored and move on.

Paul: Do affiliates talk to each other?

Anik: Absolutely.

Paul: Yeah, go ahead...

Anik: No, no, go ahead and finish your question.

Paul: What I was going to say was Program A comes along and it's offering X. Program B comes along, and it's offering X plus something else. Do affiliates who jump from program A to B do they tell other affiliates to bring them with them, do they keep it quiet, can you still do well because nobody wants to share secrets, or do they talk, and that can be your downfall?