Now before I start, I would just like to say that this is in no way trying to bash NATS, because it truly is a wonderful tool and has simplified my work greatly. This is just my review and I thought I would share it so that other small programs can see if this is a realistic alternative to lack of statistics and affiliate handling (i.e. Paycom). Before anyone asks why I did not talk to john about this in private, let me tell you that its because this shouldn?t be taken as drama.. This is more of a review to help out people that are in the same boat as me, trying to launch a small affiliate program.
Now there are also a few things I don?t like about NATS which I?ll address first so it?s easier.
1.) Conflict of Interest - It recently came to my attention that the owner of NATS also started his own affiliate program marketing solo girls?. At first this never bothered me at all, because I know john is a stand up guy from everyone I?ve talked to couldn?t talk any more highly of him. However the only thing that kind of bothered me was the fact that NATS tech people or whoever ? would periodically log into my admin since they have admin access to all NATS programs. This wouldn?t bother me as much if I knew who it was that was logging into my critical information (I.e. affiliate information, Current member information/emails etc) If it was john, I would have no problem but I know john doesn?t have the time to routinely log into peoples accounts.. that?s just something that stays at the back of my mind because I?m paranoid like that lol.. I just see it as if say the person handling your PPC campaigns started up their own site competing for the same keywords and they had access to your account to see what works and what doesn?t work. It obviously doesn?t mean the person handling your PPC account is going to log in and look at it, but just the thought and possibility is something that can cause you to feel a bit uncomfortable. This is an easy fix though, they could and I?m sure they would work with you on a solution to put your mind to rest (i.e. limiting the tech access the member/affiliate data, or only logging in when you request them to fix something? and not just at random) Again this is not an attack on them, it?s just something that has been on my mind and a few other program owners minds. It has nothing to do with their credibility, just something that after seeing so many stories about messed up stuff happening in this industry, is enough to cause some concern
2.) The Price ? Alright now NATS is a great piece of software, I just personally think that since its only them and MPA3 dominating the market that they can get away with charging a bit more then they should IN MY OPINION. 150/month for running 1 site is a bit steep but its well worth it? now the thing I don?t understand is that if you want to run more then 2 sites, it jumps up to 350/month? more then double your initial monthly cost, but it makes absolutely no difference to them how many sites you run so I don?t understand why the price jump would jump up to 350/month? and if you want to run more then 5 sites, its 650/month? which is an insane amount in my opinion for leasing software? Not everyone can afford to outright purchase the software for 12,000 dollars, but they still need affiliate software to help manage their sites. I understand they put a lot of work into their software and their tech support is top notch, but I still don?t see 650/month a reasonable figure for affiliate software, but that?s just me. For a small site like mine starting out (
www.juliablue.com), if you are doing 60/40 rev-share you would have to be doing 18.75 sales a month to pay for your NATS.. and that?s excluding dedicated hosting costs? also a lot of people don?t have the same business model. Not everyone wants to build 1 site to 10 joins a day then move on to adding another program. Personally I am building up 3 more sites as we speak to launch and can?t bring myself to pay 650/month to have more then 5 sites.
I?ll tell you the honest truth, that if another affiliate software program came along, I would jump ship from NATS and switch over, not because I don?t like NATS? but just because it?s not a reasonable solution for small programs such as myself? so if you are a BIG program, by all means I think NATS is the top choice. However if you are a small program, and your only option of processing is Paycom, sorry to say but you?re a bit shit out of luck as far as tracking and affiliate handling goes.
Okay now that those 2 things are out of the way, I?d like to talk about the positive things about NATS
1.) Affiliate Handling ? NATS makes this a breeze, it is EXTREMELY easy to manage affiliates, set special payouts, give them in depth stats and let them create their own campaigns to track their clicks
2.) Reports ? AMAZING reporting system, jam packed full of charts and other things that I am still learning to use to its full potential, break down stats by day / month / period / year and it breaks it down by Program / by site / by affiliate in a VERY easy to read and simple way? every day when you log in it?ll give you everything you need to know on 1 page, which affiliate is sending the most, the top converting affiliate, the worst converting affiliates, how many sales you?ve made, how many new affiliates have signed up and which of those new affiliates has thrown up links already
3.) Payments ? NATS makes paying affiliates a BREEZE. You can see who has reached minimum payout and select them as paid once you?ve paid them, and it also logs it under your affiliates overview? so if you ever have an affiliate complaining about missed payment or late payment, there will be no scrambling to look up his info because all his info will be stored under his overview
4.) Always advancing ? NATS is always improving and I must say I?m very impressed with how much work they put into it, there are always things being adding and tweaked and its nice to see them putting a lot of effort into their software (please don?t use #4 as a counter-argument about the price, lol jk)
5.) Support ? top notch support system. On top of having a huge knowledge base of tutorials you can search though, they have a ticket system that is bar-none the best I?ve ever had the pleasure of complaining and whining through? and everything is replied to within 24 hours guaranteed? and they are not outsourced tech people who have no idea what they are talking about? as bringer said the other day ?when you ask for promo material and the answer you get is Car Bird Water Hose, you stop asking questions? haha Best support I?ve ever seen
Conclusion: NATS is top notch software, and if they could just fix a couple of those things, it would be the best software available on the market and would appeal to many more people, especially the huge amount of small programs out there currently, and just starting up. Most of the people I?ve talked to who wanted to use NATS said the only thing holding them back was the price. Right now I?m okay with paying 150/month for 1 site? but for the other sites I?m launching I don?t think I will be using NATS unless they work something into their business plan that can work with smaller programs as well.
Please keep the flaming to a minimum regarding ?that?s the cost of doing business, don?t whine? because even though a lot of people portray themselves to be making multi-millions, we are not all as rich as everyone else lol.
Alright? hope some of you take the time to read all that and share some insight
Sonofsam