What To Do When Getting Rejected From Affiliate Programs
I've seen too many posts here on WA and even elsewhere, when people get discouraged when getting rejected from applying to a particular affiliate program. I'd like to ask veteran WA'ers how many times you've been rejected from affiliate programs. Actually, I take that back. I don't know if the WA server can handle all the responses stating how many times this has happened to these veterans. It's certainly happened quite a bit to me.
But one thing veterans can tell people who are concerned with this is, did you give up? My guess by the fact that you are still here after all these years is that you didn't. Rejection by affiliate programs is a cost of business for our type of business. The most important thing to understand is that it is not personal, it's business. But there are steps you can take to possibly reverse it.
I have told several people here on WA blogs to call the affiliate managers that rejected them. And you should do the same. In many cases, they would love to hear from you. They just want to know that you are on the level and are going to promote in ways that best represents their company's interest. There are too many scammers and spammers out there that give the affiliate company a bad name. They want to make sure you are not one of them.
Also, don't be afraid to resubmit later down then line. Affiliate companies often have multiple managers and when you resubmit later, you will be reviewed by someone different that will actually take the time to review your application. They will see that you are legit (you are aren't you?) and will approve you.
But let's say you do all this and they still decide that they reject you. What do you do? Move on! Seriously!
There are literally thousands upon thousands of affiliate programs out there. And by the way, just because there is not an official affiliate program doesn't mean you can't contact a company and ask if they can make an affiliate arrangement with you. Maybe the mega corporations won't do that but they're not they only game in town. Talk to people. You'll be surprised at the results. Yes - this is allowed!
If you get rejected from an affiliate program, don't take it personally. Affiliate managers have their motivations and there are things you can do to counter as described above. But if they don't approve you after every effort you try, simply move on. There are plenty of affiliate programs in the world that will be more than willing to work with you.
Rejection from affiliate managers should be the LAST REASON to give up this business!
Best Regards,
Jim
Recent Comments
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I was banned from Adsense for life for breaking TOS that I didn't understand, and banned from a different one when they changed the TOS without telling me. That cost me $2,000. I've been rejected by a few too, and it can feel 'insulting' in the beginning, like "Hey, I'm trying my best, man", but there's not much you can do.
Think of it from their perspective, there's probably millions of people applying per day. As you said, get some personal interaction, and you can probably convince them. I think lots of times with the smaller programs, rejection is part of an automated process an can be manually overridden. Things like Amazon and Google have too much on their hands to care, so it might be harder to convince them.
In the end, it's the question of whether you want cut off your nose to spite your face. You can be mad about not getting in a program and quit, but at the end of the day, you are the one that loses out because of the decision. They will not remember you and feel bad later. It's important to move on, suck up your pride, and engage 'plan b'.
I am a newbie to all this. TOS, Terms of Service; is that what that stands for? I just want to know so I can be sure I read and understand all the terms of agreement for use of Adsense or other affiliate programs. Thanks for the headsup.
Thank you so much. This is very encouraging to me and especially timely for one of us who posted his intention to give up yesterday. I hope he reads this post. Thank you once again.
Thanks Techhound! I found this helpful and encouraging.
When I am at the point in my website creation process that the faffing and fussing has ended and I actually have reviewed and promoted something, I will consider it an honour and privilege to actually get to the point of being rejected! It will mean I've made a lot of progress!
And when and if I get rejected I'll think of Dr Seuss who submitted The Cat in the Hat to I believe over 70 publishers before it was accepted. ( A librarian proudly told me that story.)
I do have a question. You mention that you can set up affiliate arrangements with companies directly, without going through an affiliate programme.
When I'm reviewing egg incubators (for poultry hatching), for example, would I just contact directly the company that sells a given incubator? Could I set up a one on one affiliate arrangement with them?
There's one particular company that just sells amazing incubators. That's all it does, and they run special offers twice a year. It's one of the few instances where you're better off not buying on Amazon, because the original manufacturer has far cheaper prices. This is why I feel an affiliate arrangement with the manufacturer directly would be more beneficial. It would simply save my readers far more money to be led directly to the incubator company rather than to a reseller on Amazon to make their purchase.
I expect there is a lot of info on WA about affiliate programs but, having read your post I just thought I'd ask for any quick answers anyone has.
Many thanks!
I would absolutely contact the company and see if you could set up an affiliate arrangement. What have you got to lose? Sometimes manufacturers don't even realize that this type of concept exists. They will need to use a company to manage their affiliate arrangement otherwise tracking sales for you could become a bit cumbersome. So as a help to them, you can point them to various affiliate management programs like cj.com or linkshare.com, etc.
Also, I have always found it helpful to let them know what my promotional methods are going to be, website content, email lists, PPC, etc., and that I only adhere to white hat methods.
Best Regards,
Jim
Thank you Jim! I'm going to make a note of your suggestions right now for future reference!
I've got my name down for a few. I applied for one and keyed in "starting out" when I didn't have website. They emailed me back explaining that they like to see your website. Others you're just not good enough for, unless you're a super affiliate. Actually you think they'd be grateful you want to sell their product. I bet they were VERY grateful when THEY first started out.
When I used to do affiliate marketing, I was rejected a few times because of where I live. This was particularly the case with PPA networks. I usually ended up finding something better so as Jim says - don't give up.
I've had this happen to me. One thing I did is sign up for a whole bunch of them! I mean more than you think you're going to use.
For example: If you're going into Electronics as a nice, or Computers..don't just pick the ones that are like Tiger Direct, Newegg, etc...Pick stuff like Walmart, Microsoft, etc.
There are literally hundreds of affiliates, if not thousands.
Try this one out. I hope this one will help you out: http://www.linkshare.com/
Another great WA"er helped me out with them.
Let me know how it went!
Eric
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I was rejected once and I just thought 'tosser' and moved on!
Hey Beverly, if it's a program you really want to work with, I would still give them a call. If not, like you said move on.
Best Regards,
Jim
Oh - it wasn't. I found another one I preferred.