Is it worth sending traffic to affiliate programs, these days?
 

I don't know too much about traffic generation, anyway.. but I notice these days I can barely do 1:5000 with sites that were converting 1:1500 a year or two ago. And the sites I promote, I don't think they became over saturated, or anything like that.

This is what I got from a couple of tgp galleries I sent

Totals 14155 10786 2 5393

Is tgp submission completely dead? The only one that would ever list me the last few years is The Hun... he's a great guy, they all are over there. What about "tube submissions" - is that shit even for real? Tube site owners will actually list videos for you?

Starting a tube site seems kind of pointless since 9,000,000 other clowns already jumped all over it

Blogs, I don't know how to make one believe it or not.. what's the point everything is blog blog blog when I first heard about them being used to hawk adult sites I thought google would catch on and it'd only work for a week. But I hear that many people had great success with them and still are? What the hell is that all about?

Just some random questions.. see if we can have an actual biz discussion on GFY

Can I be banned for inciting a business oriented dialogue? :1orglaugh

you've been here since 2005, that's 6 years ... and these are the questions you ask? what have you been doing for 6 years?

What are you busting my balls for? What? I've been busy, you know? LoL

Some one has to drink a-lot and roam around the country aimlessly and do all kinds of crazy eccentric shit not to mention all of the time I spend fixing everyone elses problems

Short answer: I suck at teh internets :disgust

I have tested many affiliate programs that also do 1:5000, as soon as you see it's going that way you've got to test another one; rinse and repeat. These days my best tend to be around 1:1100, though I've also found an unsually good sponsor at the moment that's making around 1:300 (roughly). I'll certainly be sending a lot more traffic down that road.

TGP submission isn't completely dead, it can appear that way if you compare it to what it used to be, whereas if we view the glass as quarter full then there's still a lot to play for. These days the best TGP submissions are partners only, so you can look out for people around here selling them or even post up a thread asking for submission partner accounts. For example Shemp will sell you an account for $40 per month and he'll send you good traffic over. (do a search for him in GFY if you don't know him)

Some people are doing well from tubes, I haven't gone down that road myself, but it's clearly an easy way to pull in a lot of traffic then if you stick some Juicy Ads up you can monetize. It'll cost you more money for hosting than a blog though, for my blog I only pay $15 per month.

I started my blog back in 2007, though at the time it wasn't strictly a blog, I changed it to a Wordpress Blog around 18 months ago. When I first switched over sales plummeted and it took them a long time to return. It brings in plenty of Google traffic, I update once per day and I'm very happy with the sales I get. I also started another blog a few months ago, I haven't done much with it and haven't promoted it at all, but Google has already started pumping traffic over, so I see no reason why a new blog can't be set up in 2011; it can still work for the right person.

This is why GFY has gone so far downhill. The guy asked some pretty straight forward questions and he gets drilled. You guys are fucking slow.

As far as tubes and TGP submissions go I haven't really touched either in a while. My blogs still do well. The ratio's will never be what they used to be but sure you can send traffic to affiliate programs and make sales. I'd stay away from the drive by programs though and stick with the guys that have been around.

Traffic Summary for ******* from 2011-02-16 to 2011-02-28
66367 52 1:1276 $35 $1820.00

No, the reason why gfy has gone downhill is because the IQ of the average adult webmaster has dropped by about 20 or 30 points in the last 5 years or so.

Blame it on the tubes.

thanks for the mention ...

blame tracking by cookies, the increase in obvious traffic leaks (A couple of days ago I even noticed "follow us on twitter" links on FHGs! :( ), floaters that are almost impossible to close and are designed to sell some other site instead of the site you are sending traffic to,...

I am too tired to read, right now ... all I can say for now is that Mickey D's won't work for me because I've never worked for anyone (except for 3 months once) and I can't afford to own a franchised location

Also Mr. Shemp is always A+ in everyones book ... I even had one of those $40 gold pass things and always made some sales .. he's great to work with. I don't like many people, so me saying this, it means something

I'll read the rest of the thread tomorrow
It's getting light out and I have to get some rest

WHERE DID THE NIGHT GO?!

Credit where it's due, I've been really impressed with what I've seen since I signed up! :thumbsup

I agree, Shemp's traffic is golden.

only 2 sales with that amunt of traffic, you should switch sponsors.

affiliates take it in the ass at every turn. With all the traffic leaks and opportunities for your cookie to be lost, you're basically an unpaid salesman. These days you alamost better be planning your own product if you want to be a full-time webmaster.

There's nothing to stop affiliates from approching sites direct, especially ones that don't have an affiliate program.

if you want to get paid yes

what other option do u have ?

Go direct to sites without affiliate programs and strike deals

There are still sites out there that do sell and have better conversion rates but I do admit time are still tough although definately getting better.

Maybe look into something that is still selling well and hasnt been hurt by the amount of free porn and tube sites.
Herbals are still doing amazing - www.oainternet.com if you want to check us out :)

no but maybe for being extra extra extremely late to the blog party:1orglaugh

did someone forget to tell you that porn is free now?

Please don't tell the over 50's crowd that as I rely on those Internet Dinosaurs

What a sad state of affairs where we stand with the adult industry. Free porn available everywhere and no one does anything to crack down on it. The regular horny surfer doesnt understand that there will be no more free new porn one day if the companies making it go down!

I used to rack up with my affiliate sites, had a couple of huge producers, the only thing keeping me well off is the fact that I have so many sites and always kept adding to my network. But if I was starting today with my first site, affiliate is not where I would go.

People here suggest that I am too picky or being unreasonable but you really do need to be picky about who you send traffic. Even if they are running a fair 50% revshare program you need to realize you are probably getting only 40% in actuality because of how tracking typically works. You have to understand that. If you send traffic to people with a bunch of leaks, cross sales on rev share without affiliate credit, no credit mobile redirects, non-credited backup processors or that other stuff you need to realize you are being fucked out of money. I don't care what you say. If the program were more fair you would be making more money. If you and every other affiliate support programs who do these things then more sponsors are going to try to do it and you will continually make less as it goes on. This is partially what is happening and why it isn't worth it with most programs anymore. Only a select few are worth the bother.

Yes, affiliate programs - some of them at least are still worth doing business with if you approach it in the right way. If you want to throw up a few FHGs on a blog and hope for the best then probably not going to work out well for you but if done right, affiliate programs can be a great source of income.

TGP traffic is shit. Was 5 years ago, still is today. So if those are your numbers that is no surprise to me.

Tube traffic is bigger shit and your numbers would no likely be even worse with that kind of traffic.

As far as blogs go, while some people are making money blogging, they are far and few between but mostly because people are lazy. They don't want to put in the work required and write unique posts. But that's another issue for another day. LOL

I think there are still big openings for good programs to sweep in and offer a nice deal to affiliates and a great product to consumers. If you look back in history (minus the tubes) this is how most of the big guys got big. They paid their affiliates well and they built up a brand. Affiliates would send them some traffic and see great ratios and then think "Holy shit these guys convert great!" and send them as much as they could. It was a partnership with both parties benefitting near equally. Unfortunately a lot of these companies got greedy and decided that their affiliates were earning too much. They decided to take out more of the cut by using various slick tricks. They no longer are a good deal for affiliates but they choose to rely on their momentum and the stupidity of affiliates.

There are openings in 2011 for good programs like this to take over. They just have to shun all the common tricks their peers are using and offer the affiliate and customer a good deal. Sure many affiliates are stupid and will fall for the tricks others are pulling but there will be some who will realize a good deal and in the long run the numbers should speak for themselves.

Do you think I won't send you traffic if you offer me a fair program which converts 30% better and rebills 30% better than the other clowns at the same price point? Of course I will. But all your marketing means jack shit. I'm actually looking at the numbers and I'm checking your program for bullshit. I'll notice if you are better than the other guys both pre-signup and post-signup. Affiliates are running businesses too. We're not a bunch of idiots sitting on the couch jacking off to your sites and looking to make some beer money. Please quit treating us as if we were.

This is so true. Like the AWE scam. Like the spanking programs who do nothing but drill members with ads for their other sites (without crediting you) or link to C4S blatantly on affiliate referred tour pages or how about the ones who hijack FHGs quietly

on and on and on

Yeah
To further the point.. we all know that members leave and come back later without affiliates being credited

I've always been curious about that kind of a program. I sent some traffic to, I think it was called "more niche" once.. Never saw any results. But that's almost the kind of thing I could promote through ms tubes without too much trouble

That is the whole thing, though, so many businesses have been so successful with the "free model" (pun intended)

Everything is going to go to being free, I believe, you know? Free with premium options.

As an example I personally always thought the $30/mo model was ridiculous. Why not give everything away in low quality and charge for high quality?

I would like to know how to go after the ones who'd pay for quality (quality content OR quality picture)

The aff will always be the PMO's bitch, because the pmo spent a fortune developing the site and buying content and marketing it and everything else. The percentage they paid me was a marketing expense, but better than that because it was "unprepaid" marketing, you know? So it's all cool, until they get tricky and motherfuck around with slippery shit. Only thing supposed to be slippery is the hoes on the sites... right.. well that's not how this business works. It comes down to a good aff will ab test and whoever best monetizes the traffic will get it.

You're right about billing too... I've tried to tell sponsors, before, you need to implement a cascade.... um well we can't spend the money.. okay 30% of your sales are going down the toilet, I'll pull my links

Yeah TGP has never been great - but I could convert Hun traffic 1:1500 - CONSISTENTLY between 2006 and 2009..

I would imagine that tube traffic would be more like 1:15000 with garden variety sponsors... am I about right?

Yeah.. a-lot of the big boys got fat by having affiliates put their brand in front of everyone on the whole internet. Having a swarm of affiliates promoting your brand is a wonderful thing, if you think about it. You pay them this or that when they generate a sale, but even if they get it every time without question - you're still getting your brand out there in a BIG way.

You are so right about affiliates not being stupid. If I ever know how to generate traffic again, it's no bet that I will always be ab testing ... always. Whoever pays more for the traffic: "Gets it" (double meaning)

It's true that the farther out from '98 we get, the worse tgp traffic gets:

This is what I did with one sponsor on occasional hun listings

'06
Total: 246730 176698 0 185 1:955 0 0.00 $5,473.18
'07
Total: 68545 48853 0 29 1:1684 1 1.65 $3,735.65
'08
Total: 106123 87211 2833 26 1:3354 0 0.00 $2,211
'09
Total: 33864 26141 893 17 1:1537 0 0.00 $1,190.18

(The dollar amounts, don't go by that - I sent galleries very sporadically)

I vote this the longest business related post without any big scandal or contests in gfy history.. I am a mastermind, for creating it. Choke on my superiority!!

of course it is!

YES YES AND YES

But you got to dig the niche, the sponsor and get traffic for it.
The weardiest, the best but of course it's harder to get traffic and if you get a deal at 60/40 revshare, now you're talking !

Anyways, it's not about quantity, it's about quality.

If you send 225 qualified surfers and make 3 sales out of it, which will rebill at least 3 times. IT'S WORTH IT !

On the down side.
Making a fucking tube, costing you a fortune to run to make the same damn money but you're send 60 000 + surfers to the sponsor and they won't rebill, worst, ask for refunds or chargeback is a pain in the ass !

Yes of course it's still ok to send traffic to affiliate programs..!