affiliate manager on comission?
 

i might be offered a position to work part time from home as the affiliate manager on a comission basis only - this would be for a fairly prominent company so the brand name is reputable, what are some of the considerations i should have on why or not i should accept the position? thanks in advance,

Commission only? It already sounds like a shitty deal. You'd really have to be more specific as to how the commission breakdown works.... on the surface it sounds like you would be better off working as an affiliate, and be your own boss. That is if you have any skills or experience.

by commission I'm assuming you mean a percentage of what whoever you bring in generates.

If the company is fairly well known, good chance allot of experienced webmasters have already signed up at some point.

so that leaves slim pickens

So you basically would be working for free tending to the current affiiates with no based sallary for it, and only get paid something when, and if, you bring in someone yourself ?

Is the correct ?

Pay them a few K and 10%

Fuck that, dont give them free branding, you wont earn shit on commissions if most people already have an account.

Dude ask for a fixed weekly salary, time is money, even if you dont bring in anyone you need to be compensated for the time you take out to help and or tend to current affiliates. end of story

Tho details are not quite set, I'd imagine I'd earn the comission on current and new affiliates, in essence being tier 1 as a broker to anyone coming in. The company is prominent in its niche, but it's a relatively small one (a subset of dating), and they're just now starting to grow their marketing department. So what appeals to me is the idea of working from home, part time and being 'the broker' for any affiliates that happen to join, regardless of wether i bring them or not.

Still - keep up the criticism, I'd like to hear the other side some more!

You are getting a lot of advice from people who do not seem to understand how these jobs typically work, how well they can work out, and that you can often still do your own thing on the side.

Commission only can be fine. Some salary and commission can also work.
You may want to be asking also who may own a program, who has been or is a rep, who has hired reps before, etc. Along with the advice they give.

These jobs are typically high turnover. Just the nature of it, since they generally produce little to no results for the company or employee. Unless they are an amazing sales person or in the right place at the right time, it's a waste of time. But unless proven otherwise I'd imagine this person has zero skills in the first place. There was no mention of actually creating traffic, and the reply before yours make him sound lazy.

I want my 5 minutes from reading and replying to this thread back. :helpme

Not sure about the poster.

I do know that the perception may be that these jobs are high turnover. I would disagree and say certain people seem to be high turnovers. You may see people (often the same) saying I am no longer with so and so it has been great we leave on good terms blah blah blah. You really do not get to see or hear from those that have been with companies for years. Those who do well, have the skills to perform the job and so forth.

I agree some affiliate managers are nothing but glorified customer service, or sales person. As far as 'sounding lazy' you're damn right! Lazyness makes the world go forward, or we'd be carving stone tablets or sending messenger pigeons!

The reason the 'work from home, part time' issue came up is only because the company is located across the state and relocating for a full position would be impractical. They would be willing to work with me working for them remote, if it was on a comission scheme. This on top of my regular 9-5, my own side projects and just to rub it in, my training for a half marathon. ;)

I also have an offer for affiliate management at a local company, but this time it's a no name brand, and I told them 'no affiliate manager would work on a comission basis' because i know a lot of the work involved would either take several months to bring in any significant revenue, or be 'maintenance' work that doesn't convert directly into profits.

The key here about the initial offer I'm inquiring about is the positioning of their brand - if the offer is for a comission on any and all affiliates that come in, this could be a significant amount, or so goes my thinking. To be fair I need more details on exactly the terms would be, and a mixed offer of salary + comission could be something to be put on the table (in fact, preferable).

If you're working commission only you better be damn good, no, spectacular at bringing in sales.
WG

I think it might work pretty good for you, if you can do what they want you to, and meanwhile you can get more useful connectins.

That sure would help. But if he is getting a % of all the generated revenue from all affiliates regardless if they come through him or anywhere else and from the ones allready affiliated then it can potentially turn in some nice coin if It's a decent company.

hey man, if you haven't ever been on commission only you may want to consider this bit of advice...

it is not for everyone but for those it is for it is very lucrative. same can be said about being your own boss, it just isn't for everyone so it really depends on you and your work ethic. being on commission only is not easy either is working for yourself, hence not many do even the very top of whatever profession

if you are getting some commission off current affiliates then that is promising, because you are given a "farm" but you have to break down the numbers in terms of how much $ will be coming into from that, compared to how much you are expecting to bring in AND how much the company is expecting you to bring in.

one thing you might consider is asking them not for a salary but a ramp up period for you which can serve as a trial period for them. maybe like small X amount for the first and second month so you can build your pipeline + lower commission. at the same time you can both evaluate how you will do and maybe at the end of the period convert to full commission.

if the company values and wants to invest in you because they see potential in you, this is a way for them to minimize risk opposed to offering a full salary at the same time it minimizes your risk jumping into a fully commissioned position

i havent had a salary for 8-9 years now (my first two jobs were salary) then only commission and eventually profit sharing only and i've hired both salaried and commissioned sales people (mainstream).

:2 cents:

You're better off as a selfemployed affiliate or whatever, rather than working for someone on a commission only basis.

twocents.

Just my two cents, ask for a base amount, specially if you are only getting a cut from affiliates you bring in. I cannot see any program giving you a cut of existing affiliates since they've already either paid a commision for new webmasters to someone else, or are contractually still bound to pay a former affiliate manager it's cut of those webmasters. Depending on the number of hours you are expected to work each week, make sure to get a base and fatten it up with a lower cut of what your affiliates bring in. If it really is a reputable company they should not have a problem working that way. Don't forget, working from home means less overhead for the company you are representing. You bring your own office, office space, etc to work which means less costs for them.

Get a fixed salary plus a bonus based on comission.

In this business, commission only is not lucrative at all. If you are part of the bro club and go to shows though, you might make some good $ at it. Salary plus commission is only fair. You do the work, you get people to sign up. There's no way to know if the person you referred actually signs up and credits you as the referring person and then all that work is for nothing. This happens A LOT so you're screwed. So salary is necessary to make up for the hard work you do that you do not get credit for. Do not take a commission only job unless you know A LOT of webmasters and go to shows.

Say NO and Go! You will be making a bad mistake to work off just comish.

I'm fully aware of this - that's why I would expect commission on new and current affiliates. It's not just sales and recruiting here, it's about the whole program management, from arranging from creatives, special deals, promotions, landing page testing, reporting and data analysis. right now their affiliate program is an afterthought - there's absolutely no pitch for any affiliates to join, even if they were interested. It would be more of an affiliate program management position, rather than affiliate recruiting exclusively. The master "plan" would really to be able to take a position like this part time, to where affiliate commission would make a decent size of the pie, ditch the 9-5 work (which involves a horrendous 1h15m commute each way) , and have more time to work on my own project, which ironically, is a broker-ish based idea as well :-)

Thanks everyone for the input. It may be that all is for naught and I don't get offered anything, but it's good to come in with a clearer understanding of the dynamics of a position like this.

pretty much any deal where you have to count on others to fullfill their end of the deal in order for you to get paid is not worth your time

commission deals 99% of the time are a waste of time...

haha. good luck. in this economy you're fucked. the affiliate pool is drying up and people don't give a fuck about you or your program anymore. this is an easy way for a sponsor program to get a free slave for a while as you flounder around and make spam posts and cold email people all day for 3 months until you realize its a dead end opportunity. you're better off starting your own traffic network.

say no. You need a salary, at least $200 a week or so, plus commission, mostly in these times of economic trouble

thanks guys - I'm not a fool - bottom line is i ain't quitting my regular job unless this pans out very quickly.

I would never recommend anyone to accept a commission-based payout. You need a fixed a mount of money a month and then you can add a bonus or % on top of that. Dont accept a commission only deal

with commission only it is gonna suck if it is a well known brand already as you really wont get that many new guys under you

the brand is well known, but they don't have an affiliate program to speak of (unless you call a signup and login links an affiliate program). So I could clean house real quick, show that the company's there, and grab the new/top guys.

Don't count on grabbing the "top guys", that takes time and dedication and that without without pushing it too hard on them.

If the sites look good and are in good niches and you can work with a decent set of affiliate tools and FHG's etc you can get some love right away but don't expect it to bring 10's of sales a day right away.