I was digging through some old files, and I came across a few of the postcards I used to recruit affiliates for the ClubMom.com affiliate program between 2000 and 2004.
The first one I mailed was from a company called Web Cards back in 2000.
Their thing was to take a screen capture of a site and make that the front of the postcard. Then I got a few lines to write copy at the bottom.
Web Cards was good at the time, as I didn’t know of other vendors that provided such a service, I don’t known that I was aware of how to take a screen capture myself at the time, and I didn’t have a graphic designer available to me.
That all changed over the years.
I was able to sell the affiliate program with the left side of the back of the postcard from Web Cards.
I don’t recall when this postcard came out, but I’m guessing it was late 2001 or early 2002. I think this one was printed through VistaPrint.
This piece of mail was different from the previous one, as it had value propositions for the affiliate program on the front, and then I just put my contact information and how to apply on the back.
Finally, I sent one around Christmas 2003 with a New Years resolution theme. I’m pretty sure this was also from VistaPrint.
This postcard added more contact information on the back side, including my AIM (at that time) and home phone number.
While there are a variety of ways for an affiliate manager to contact affiliates directly, I found that direct mail was the most effective for me, based on surveying affiliates over the years about the reasons they came to apply to the affiliate program.
But still, I have gotten so few pieces of mail from affiliate programs over the years.
I’d highly recommend to any affiliate managers to test direct mail to recruit affiliates. The fact that nobody else is doing it is one of the best reasons for you to try – you’ll really stick out.
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Some of our clients use direct mail very successfully, and it doesn’t cost them any extra to do it. When sending out affiliate commissions by Chexx Inc. check (to Canada, US, UK, or wherever their affiliates live) they insert a personalized branded message, advising about other programs that might interest their payee. Chexx Inc does the printing and inserting at no added cost, so the program is essentially free – great for US and International. The URL is http://www.chexxinc.com in case you’re interested.
I used to go to the WHOIS for their domains – back then, there were always some who were private or had junk, but a large portion were there at the time. Not sure if that has changed since then.
Back then, I would have been very happy to have every affiliate update their content site once a week!
My favorite is the New Year’s Resolutions… “Update site once a week”. I remember when I had just one site and it actually was enough just to update it once a week. I think that was about 2003 (No YouTube, no Facebook, etc.) This post provided me with a fascinating look back at my own perspectives and changes. Thanks Shawn!
How did you find the prospect’s mailing address? I usually have to contact prospects via email or their site contact form because I can’t always find a phone number, much less a mailing address…
Yes, I always handled all of the calls when I was managing affiliate programs. I was usually the only one on my team.
The people I was targeting with direct mail were typically already affiliates. But when I first got started managing affiliate programs in the 90s, I spent a lot of time explaining affiliate marketing, because everybody was new to it.
Did you answer all the calls yourself? If I try this, I am sure I will get calls from people who have no clue about Affiliate Marketing and the others would be the ones who just want to make some easy money. Was it difficult to make these people understand the concept? Maybe you can write a blog post about it.
Great Tips Shawn,
I do direct email for recruiting affiliates, but have not been very successful, Let me try the post card method…
Thanks for sharing this nice information….
Cheers,
Harish
Thanks for stopping by, Devon. Yeah, it’s amazing how few people use tried and true methods offline, because they think everything online has to be promoted online.
Hey Shawn,
interesting site you have here. it looks like you’ve been involved in this industry for a long time now. i like how you’re talking about including offline marketing strategies to increase traffic online. I also like the direct mailing for affiliates, I’ve done that myself and it’s worked a few times.
I’m gonna take a look around the site. glad i dropped by.
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