Program owners: if an affiliate emailed you asking what your top affiliates earn...
 

how would you respond? Would you be honest or tell them to fuck off?
Is that a rude question to ask a program owner or good business?

I'd respond with mouth watering high numbers and follow it with promises of low conversion ratios

umm, its really none of your business..:2cents

I'd tell him to fuckkkk offfff !

:1orglaugh that is every affiliate managers first thought when we get that!


I don't feel that is a good question to ask and I tell people I don't think it is right to say our top affiliate makes $500,000 a week .. jk

I'd be interested to know, sort of a benchmark to see how you're doing overall.
WG

From an affiliate perspective:

I would never ask such a question, but the best line I was ever given by an affiliate manager was "many of our top affiliates make six figure incomes off our program alone".

He didn't specify how many, what time frame or if it was low, middle or high. I can understand the curiosity, but it would be a violation of the affiliate's privacy to divulge specific numbers.

One sponsor I promote actually lists exact dollar amounts for the top 30 or so affiliates. The numbers, to me, are disappointing at best.

My unsolicited :2 cents:

I like sponsors that rate affiliates on a number scale such as I am the #101st highest sales site, thats kinda cool like WG said its sort of a benchmark and can help to determine my traffics value for a particular niche or sponsor.

As long as they did not think I was going to give them names I would tell them.

I have shown links to screenshots that affiliates have posted.

I think its bad manners to ask - but the 'none of your business' line dosnt hold up either.

Of course its their business! By definition thats exactly what it is.

A diplomatic 'ball park' figure would be the best answer I would have thought. Then the affiliate could halve it and be somewhere close. :)

It's a bit of a tricky qn to answer. If I was the affiliate I would be more interested in knowing what number ranked I was $ earnt wise.

At least that way each month I can check in and see how I'm progressing. Climbing higher up the ladder at least proves that I'm growing my bottom line.

-N

None of their business....

I always ask, to know who I have to beat :)

Not really, knowing what the top affiliate does will not affect your income in anyway...

plus knowing more about said affiliate can lead into harming him...so no point in releasing such info that is IMHO deemed private to other affiliates

Numbers dont hurt but never give out names :)

thats how I feel. I dont need to know names or any info, but knowing that some of their top affiliates are making around xxxxx a month is really helpful to me.

Why is it a big deal to give that out? like im asking for someones social security number or something.

Probably one I started, because I asked this a long time ago. But I had a new situation where I promoted something, lost a lot of money doing it and got pissed and pulled my links, the affiliate manager called me on the phone to get me back and I was like How much money are your top people making? Because I'm not going to spend more money to pump a well if its dry. I want to know what other people are making.
and he told me.

I'm just too cranky and tired to go off on wild goose chases.

Want to be bowling partners?

It does help me cause it motivates me like crazy. I'm super duper competitive. When I talk to a buddy on icq and they tell me I got so and so many sales, I will dedicate my life to submitting and whoring all fucken day until I get close to them and beat them, I will work 7 days a week holidays included. I am extremely competitive. It's like a game to see if you can beat them.

If someone makes 50k a month with one pogram I probably could never beat them but if I know a particular person like a friend is doing a bit more than me, I won't rest until I get more sales.

Or if they give me a range like "our top aff is making around 500 sales a month" at least I know where I stand if I ever want to beat that person.

Life is a competition...

Id be more open to promoting a strange niche if I knew that some of the other people promoting it were making bank.

wtf? board burp?