Quote:
Originally Posted by JA$ON
(Post 20242622)
(For anyone looking for work in this biz)
This is how I see things when hiring someone new?..
There are 2 types of employees in this business. I call them "direct" and ?support".
Direct: Someone DIRECTLY involved in profit generation who's worth to a company can very easily be quantified. What do they cost, how much profit do they generate?.simple. They are usually Affiliate reps, media buyers and people who can generate traffic. Aside from affiliate reps, anyone who is good at the other stuff will usually do it for themselves and become an affiliate as they will generally make FAR more (if they are decent) than any company will pay them in salary.
Support: Necessary for a company to operate, but who's value can't be directly quantified in dollars and cents. Programmers, Designers, sys admins, assistants etc
Which one are you??? If it is Support (which sounds like you are not) then getting a job is much more straight fwd. If it is Direct, there is some good news and some bad news.
Affiliate reps: 90% of affiliate reps in this business could be replaced tomorrow. Having a rolodex of affiliates means very little. We ALL know each other and no good affiliate if going to point their traffic to a program that makes less money than where they send it now because they are friends with the rep. It may get you a test, but affiliates go where the highest EPC is, period. And the chance that a decent size affiliate has not tested the new program you are at, if it is in the same vertical, is slim.
The affiliate reps that are worth their salt and deserve, and get, big salaries and commissions, are the ones who are true marketers. Ones who don?t just try to get affiliates to switch over to their program, but are able to look at the traffic, view ALL the pieces of the puzzle and find way for the affiliate to generate more sales from the same amount of traffic. Or to recognize where the affiliate may be leaving money on the table. Maybe there are additional sales to be had above and beyond what he / she already does coming from areas they never thought to look. THAT is what makes a good rep.
Media buyers / traffic generation: Like I said, MOST people able to generate a profit doing these things do it for themselves, but if you can show you have the ability to generate profits (hard numbers, P&L?s from previous jobs etc) There are not to many companies that wont at least give you a shot with a average salary + commission. ANYONE worth their salt wants as much of their money to come from commission as possible. Nobody will pay a media buyer 250k salary, but I know more than a couple that make that and then some from commissions.
The Problem: I know a LOT of people that have been around for a long time that jump from program to program asking for high base salaries. 6 mon ? 1 yr later, the owner realizes that they are costing more to have around than they are generating. They leave on ?good terms?, then jump to the next program. Each time the program and salary get a bit smaller till they disappear from this biz.
Only one thing matters to people hiring an employee??.PROFIT
If you are a ?direct? employee, you need to be able to show your prospective employer that having you around will make them more than they make now. Know a little about their operation. What skills do you have and how can you fit in. If you have a variety of skills, take a look at areas that they may be lacking and explain how you can fill that hole and how that will ultimately mean more money to the bottom line.
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This is extremely informative and things I have done and tried to do and so on - because I have in my head that the majority, if not every single word, that you are saying here are tools I have used and continue to.
The trouble is, and this is not to say some of the newer startup companies I have settled in with are bad, some are very good, mean well and have every good intention - and some couldn't be further from any of that. But, having said this..
Some of us know what the hell we are talking abut - MY end game is to always be a team player and work as hard as I can and run as hard as I can toward branding and making it my life's mission to know as much about them as I possibly can, about their business, genre and so on - so I don't have to be one f those reps that have to go ask someone over every little thing.
I couldn't agree more also with the getting the current people to leave their very high paying deals to come over and pay attention to me - they need incentives and some of these new upstarts I have worked with a) either do NOT want to hear it, or b) they don't have the funds or staff or whatever to do that very thing - or c) they somehow think that because they built it, they will come - even if they have absolutely NOT one incentive to work with for a Rep worth their salt - if this one is the case, NO rep can push that program/company to the future of profitability.
The program owners and reps have GOT to get on the same page and listen and learn, none of us are perfect or we'd all be millionaires, it takes a TEAM f people and a team that can function as a team and not as a bunch of arrogant fools that spin their wheels in one place to the point that when they look up after the foot stomping, they are broke and have nothing to show for it.
They ALSO have to learn and listen that when you get a Rep, the best rep in the industry cannot turn a total upstart of people that are not known by ANYONE and make it turn into black overnight or even in a month or 2 months, it takes TIME. All of the threats, all of the stomping feet and all of the money in the world isn't going to make a program produce profits in a matter of a couple of weeks - no matter how much screaming and yelling is done.
In closing, I couldn't agree with you more on almost literally everything you say - and if you have a good and cohesive team of people, which is needed - ONE person can't do it, no matter what! But you put a team together that can work together and support one another, you can brand and sell literally ANYTHING, but without that, you may as well go sit with your pennies in front of the tv and get a big fat ass, because that's all you will accomplish. A good TEAM!!
What I am seeing a GREAT deal of right now and have started and stopped a few jobs because of it are a) people thinking it is a get rich quick thing (HAHAHAHAHAHA) - b) people thinking they can hide and cheat and scam and they won't get caught - c) people who think that they can rule with an iron fist and threaten people to make them money - d) people who just don't take it serious and realize this is porn, sure, but it is a LOT of very very hard work and a LOT of discipline is needed and patience - so they all walk or they lose perfectly good reps - and then there are just sometimes when you have a perfectly good company and a perfectly good rep - but for whatever reason, they didn't mesh together so they part ways and remain good friends and in some cases, they get down the road and find a perfect way to work together.
Either way it goes - I am just a little over being the Industry Washing Machine - so I am at a point now where you are going to have to show ME that you are legit - and that you aren't going to take another single one of my affiliates for a ride and that is getting tougher and tougher - in some cases..
But what doesn't kill us, makes us stronger - as reps and human beings - I've been tested and tested again and I somehow manage to stay steady - I don't run and hide - it's not my style - I love this industry and the people in it, even the bad ones, they test me and keep me on my toes. lol
I (Reps in General) are your front people, they know what's going on, they know what is needed, they know who will do what, when, where and how - if they even wake up in the morning, they know this and if they don't then they need to go learn it - but if they are your front, it is their JOB and they should have the respect of knowing what your people want and need, they are the ones in the trenches, so to speak!
