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Old 08-07-2008, 01:06 PM  
harvey
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sarah_MaxCash View Post
Even as an account rep I will say that it is true that most webmasters don't even have a clue when it comes to micro-niche. As my own webmaster, the vast majority of what I do is micro-niche and 'real' fetishes.

The prime reason I got into doing AVS so long back was because most webmasters or companies don't properly understand those niches and if I took the time to actually learn what those surfers wanted I could put up 200 pages on a very amateur looking AVS site and outsell any paysites in the micro-niche/fetish that might happen to exist (often many didn't).

That isn't just a rep thing it is a webmaster thing overall and I am kind of glad (from a webmaster perspective this time) that my micro-niches and 'real' fetishes aren't widely understood by other webmasters or it would harder for me to stand out as one of the few sites that do 'get them'.

I started in this industry in the BBW market and even to this day the vast majority of BBW sites put out by big companies don't really understand the market and put up insulting tours and the like. So, I get the frustration of trying to be 'sold' sites that miss the mark with your niche or fetish.

Where I do think it starts to come down to the rep or affiliate support is if they try to lie to you about understanding the ins and out of a niche or market when they don't. If I am promoting a fetish and somebody doesn't know a huge deal about it I would rather they be honest with me.

That is the stance I will always take with my Max Cash affiliates. We don't have many niches I haven't worked with enough to understand but I am never going to pretend to know the total ins and outs of every aspect of every niche.

For example, with the Ebony stuff (just grabbing something out of my head)..I had done some sites in the past and played enough with the traffic to get the basics. Yet, I know that there is a whole other layer to the market where I might not know the names of all the hottest ebony pornstars, or all the micro-niches within the larger market. Since taking this job I have researched those aspects more so that I can help my accounts but I will never lie to them and say I am a total expert.

What I am an expert on is what ebony sites we have, how they do for various types of traffic, what tools we have and what wording has been working for those I have helped,etc. If I put that on top of the aspects of traffic generation and SEO that I am knowledgeable on and which cover sites in general then hopefully I am going to be able to help when needed even on a niche that isn't my Mastermind subject.

Now, dare somebody ask me about the niches that are my Mastermind subjects and then the problem might be getting me to shut up (like now) ;)

If more affiliate support reps were more honest then perhaps there would be less feeling of them trying to pull something on you for an extra couple hits.
well, you're right and I know you're a knowledgeable and experienced person in the business, however, the honesty part you mention at the end is a toughy. I mean, it isn't a problem for you, but most aff reps aren't in your position, and what are they going to say? "sorry, I have no clue"? In any case, problem starts when program owners hire people because of professional achievements like a high GFY post count or posting Tube Girl or whatever. You can make any question to MOST (NOT ALL!!!) aff reps and they won't have any clue but neither will have the program owners.

I think the ultimate example is Epass: you have Michael O and then a bunch of ignoramus who aren't able to tell even the date they're living on. However, they're still working there. I'm mentioning this because in another life I was a marketing manager for Citibank, Deutsche Bank and VISA (yeah, that was ANOTHER life ) and it amazes me what Epass let their people do. I wouldn't let them stary more than a week, nor any of my bosses would let me stay more than a week if I allowed what Epass allows. They even do things against their own interest, so how can you blame the soldiers when the generals are as knowledgeable as them?
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