What do YOU want from a CB Vendor?

Hello,

I know the majority of you on this section of the forum are clickbank affiliates, so I wanted to ask you for your opinions - I was curious to know what you as affiliates look for from a vendor? In other words, what makes you choose a vendor (their product); what entices you to one offer instead of another, similar offer?

I am a firm believer that we vendors depend fully on you affiliates - you make or break us. Ever since day 1 as a vendor I always did all I could to support my affiliates, and I do believe this has been the crux of my success - providing all kinds of tools and accommodating any requests for new ones, running affiliate contests and giving new affiliate bonuses, offering one to one support and making sure I reply to all emails in 24 hours or less, constantly split testing the sales pages to ensure affiliates are always getting the best returns for their efforts, offering special commission rates (over 75) to high volume affiliates to attract super affiliates, etc - however - I was curious whether there was anything you affiliates want that maybe I never thought about.

I'd really appreciate it if you could spare a few minutes of your time to let me pick your brains (and I believe this would benefit not just me but all vendors on this forum, and in turn, better vendors = better products = more money for you affiliates

Basically, what I'm asking is: how important are the following to you in deciding whether or not to promote a particular vendor's products?

1. Affiliate tools - and which are the most important to you - banners, ecovers, ppc keywords, articles, rebrandable reports, emails, anything else?

2. Bonuses for making your first sales (eg $50 bonus after the first 3 sales; what do you consider an - attractive - new affiliate bonus?)

3. Affiliate contests (prizes to who makes the most sales in a specific time period; and any specific prizes you prefer - cash, objects eg laptops, holidays?)

4. Special commission rates (above 75%) to who can generate good sales number

5. Vendor support and response time (and what is a good response time for you - 12 hours, 24 hours, 2 business days, etc?)

6. Regular updates and improvements on the website

7. Whether or not a video sales page is used (vs text sales pages) - do you automatically like one more than the other, or you reserve judgment until you see the conversion rates?

Anything else other than the above?

Thank you for your time!
Mancar

For me personally, I just need affiliate tools (banner ppc, rebrandable report & VIDEOS)
& a damn good product, I don't wanna spend hours wasting time&money promoting some shitty product to make some sales but start the refund process the next day if you get what I mean...

Most of CB vendors are'nt serious, in fact they're just some BROKE **** tryin' to bank some $$ by scamming ppl & disapear (next few months new product new website & so on)

The point, if you take your time working on a god damn good product, it worth it for both of us...

Hope you understand My point/English...

Have a nice day.

most important to me is the landing page to have a "wow" factor.. to be interesting even for me as a IM marketeer to feel convincing about buying the product.
It can be eighter a very good sales copy or an amazing sales pitch video..

other then that .. some promo stuff might be a bonus, but i am not too shabby to make my own promo material.

If am sending cold traffic to an offer either through banners or PPV traffic, i think the conversion rate would be higher if the product had a test period of say 3 days at 0 cost whereupon the remainder of the price is charged.

2,3,6 & 7(video sales page)

Landing page options, that is the only thing I look for beyond the page being good and the niche and so on. If all that is okay and you don't give me options then I won't promote your product (sometimes because I literally can't due to PPC regulations).

Options like:

Turn on/off exit pop
Video autoplay on/off
VSL vs text

On the VSL vs text I would rather have 3 options. VSL only, text only, and then video above text (may not have to be full text here it depends on the video I guess). All with the first two options above.

I think it's important for the affiliate to do the split testing with their traffic for vsl vs text, I generally prefer text actually but really it depends on what converts best.

Thank you all for your input.

HelloInsomnia - you make a very good point re the options. I am always surprised when I see big vendors not offering the options to have a page with autoplay and pop ups disabled, since practically all big PPC platforms have these restrictions in place.

You also make a very good point re "I think it's important for the affiliate to do the split testing with their traffic for vsl vs text," - although the vendor will split test on the overall traffic, it is important for affiliates to remember that every type of traffic behaves differently. So for example, traffic coming from a video (YT) will behave differently than one coming from an email blast (an even for eg traffic from one type of video to another will behave differently)...this will affect behavior on different types of pages, eg text vs video...hence why it is always a good idea for affiliates to test on their own traffic.

Anyone else wants to chime in, I'd welcome your opinions. I'd also like to hear how important vendor response time and general helpfulness is to affiliates.

Thanks
Mancar

Email Swipes, Demographics (BIG one), proof of conversions (so I don't waste money lol), multiple landing pages (exit pop, no exit pop, text sales letter, timed buy button, no timed buy button, etc).

A few things that come to mind:

A GOOD landing page design, with optional customization such as color schemes different designs the affiliate can choose, no video or with video, etc.
Product samples to affiliates when they request it, so you can actually see the product and make better promotional material.
A GOOD video on the landing page that isn't shit. Seen a lot of horrible audio, animations, etc.
More credibility, reviews about the product from actual people on different forums, review sites, etc. That aren't obviously spammed.
Few upsells are always good, just nothing stupid or expensive. Hell, add most in the main package itself, and leave the REALLY good shit for separate add ons.
Some trial promotion, where you try and close the page but you get offered a $1 trial or test period that renews itself and charged the full price after a month for example.
A product that ACTUALLY WORKS! Again, this would be more credibility, and can be seen by real reviews on related websites, and review websites for products.
Good communication with the vendor to the affiliate

Thats all I can think about for now...

For me its 6,2,5 in descending order.
Also I'd like a modern sales page. 99% of CB product page designs look like it's from the early 2000s. And not too many big yellow screaming ORDER NOW! buttons.

Really enjoyed working with this Vendor and i hope to do more in the near future. It was pretty sweet how this vendor will send you $50 after the first three sales, so definitely keep that there as it can be attractive as well as motivational for new affiliates. Though i don't think it's needed to go higher than that.

The tools and such provided are useful so you are doing great there. I think when a vendor has it nice (design) and organized with tabs and such it makes it easier to find and get to the needed items/documents. That's just me of course.

Give aways and contests would be pretty nice, as they enable affiliates to push the product harder which may bring more sales and a continued partnership.

I also believe it'd be nice if top selling offers were translated for many different markets and languages so that all the markets available can be tapped into as they can be very profitable.

In all honesty i'd rather make my own products to promote with various traffic methods and i hope to do so as soon as possible, though for now it's nice to work for vendors who actually care for their affiliates as they are the lifeblood
of the business and continue to bring in sales. Vendors who take the time effort to assist existing & new affiliates deserve the success they will get.

You are doing a good job and i hope to see more products from you!

Cheers

I could be wrong but I think email swipes are a waste because they are used so much by other affiliates. I think vendor support and prizes are important to affiliates like me who already know how to promote products, reaching out to my vendor for any support is important. Also, offering prizes make me more motivated to sell that product.

Thank you so much for all your replies.

It's nice to get feedback and you've all made very good points.

Acidol - you mention color customization etc. Good point, sometimes a streamlined experience from a lander to the vendor's page does help. In fact we offer high volume affiliates custom pages, to cater for customization requirements etc... Also very good point about upsells - they add value both to the vendor and to affiliates. A decent first upsell will convert at about 40% so that's a significant bump in revenue.
You also stress about credibility, and this is obviously important as it builds trust and in turn improves conversions. We are currently experimenting with getting real doctor endorsements on our health products, as we believe this will help greatly and will also safeguard our customers.

1337Indain - good points too especially re order buttons. I think more than 2 order buttons on a page are overkill, though this obviously needs to be split tested

Natedogg - I agree re email swipes being somewhat redundant, but I guess affiliates can use them to get ideas on the content and then they can re-write them etc to have a unique swipe. Also it depends on the niche - eg MMO niches will often target lists that are already heavily spammed, but if it is a micro niche, it is likely that if you send a swipe to your list, it'll be the only swipe they ll get re that product.

hateandbreak said:

Really enjoyed working with this Vendor and i hope to do more in the near future. It was pretty sweet how this vendor will send you $50 after the first three sales, so definitely keep that there as it can be attractive as well as motivational for new affiliates. Though i don't think it's needed to go higher than that.

The tools and such provided are useful so you are doing great there. I think when a vendor has it nice (design) and organized with tabs and such it makes it easier to find and get to the needed items/documents. That's just me of course.

Give aways and contests would be pretty nice, as they enable affiliates to push the product harder which may bring more sales and a continued partnership.

I also believe it'd be nice if top selling offers were translated for many different markets and languages so that all the markets available can be tapped into as they can be very profitable.

In all honesty i'd rather make my own products to promote with various traffic methods and i hope to do so as soon as possible, though for now it's nice to work for vendors who actually care for their affiliates as they are the lifeblood
of the business and continue to bring in sales. Vendors who take the time effort to assist existing & new affiliates deserve the success they will get.

You are doing a good job and i hope to see more products from you!

Cheers

Click to expand...

Wow hateandbreak thank you so much for your kind words, I really appreciate it!! Also appreciate you taking the time for your input; very good point re translations... we will be focusing on foreign markets in the next few months as many of them are indeed still untapped.

Regards
Mancar

As a beginner (in taking action) to IM & CB i want THE BEST (for best conversion) :
1. Affiliate tools
2. Vendor support and response time
3. Bonuses for making your first sales
4. Regular updates and improvements on the website
5. & of cource you Mancar as a vendor because you are THE BEST ...

Thank you ..


eWebmaster

Landing Page & Affiliate tools are Top Priority.
Prefer landing pages with a short & crispy video about your product followed by usual sales letter format.
Affiliate tools should provide numerous ways and twists to promote a product. I mean number of landing page variations, lot of squeeze pages with different ebooks etc.,

1,4,5,7 important for me

For me a few tools, some decent articles that can be spun, and a strong sales page to send people to. So number 1 more than numbers 2 to 7.

Thank you every one for your inputs; it's a great help for me (and other vendors reading this) to be better at what we do.

And eWebmaster - lol you cracked me up with point 5! Cheers buddy I appreciate it; I do try my best to be the best vendor I can be, as I know that I owe my success to loyal and hardworking affiliates. Affiliates are the reason why so far all our launches have been an instant hit, with our last two reaching top 10 CB bestseller status literally weeks after going live! Thank you.

Mancar

eWebmaster said:

As a beginner (in taking action) to IM & CB i want THE BEST (for best conversion) :
1. Affiliate tools
2. Vendor support and response time
3. Bonuses for making your first sales
4. Regular updates and improvements on the website
5. & of cource you Mancar as a vendor because you are THE BEST ...

Thank you ..


eWebmaster

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You're welcome Mancar,
Point 5 is the truth and you deserve it .
I learned alot from you in past 3-4 days and i'm sure i will learn alot more from you in the future .
I'm working on building my IM business with CB based on your thoughts and instructions .
I want to be your affiliate and want my first sale (and of course future saleS) with your products .
I will be in touch with you when i'm done with creating my website & affiliate sales funnel .
Fortunately i have good experience with wordpress & moreover i have alot of time to put on .
Thank you again .

eWebmaster

mancar487 said:

1. Affiliate tools?and which are the most important to you - banners, ecovers, ppc keywords, articles, rebrandable reports, emails, anything else?

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Rebrandable reports are the best. Emails are a big bonus. I don't care about anything else.

mancar487 said:

2. Bonuses for making your first sales (eg $50 bonus after the first 3 sales; what do you consider an ?attractive? new affiliate bonus?)

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I don't need any bonuses to start with. Its not about bonuses, it is all about how much money overall I can make. I have enough subscribers that I can guarantee a substantial number of sales, so I need consistency, not one-off bonuses.

mancar487 said:

3. Affiliate contests (prizes to who makes the most sales in a specific time period; and any specific prizes you prefer ? cash, objects eg laptops, holidays?)

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I have a substantial list but not enough to win big affiliate competitions. My preference is always, ALWAYS cash. I'm far more attracted to smaller launches I can win. Unfortunately those often have terrible offers. Competitions only get me interested because big ones are usually the sign of a slick, well-tested offer. The only competitions I win are lead competitions, because few affiliates are willing to mail for them, so I'll compete in those.

mancar487 said:

4. Special commission rates (above 75%) to who can generate good sales number

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That would greatly motivate me to up my promotions on an offer that I know I can convert highly.

mancar487 said:

5. Vendor support and response time (and what is a good response time for you ? 12 hours, 24 hours, 2 business days, etc?)

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Not very important but if someone replies fast it definitely makes me feel more secure in promoting the offer. Long-term I'd be interested in actually meeting the vendor or affiliate manager face-to-face.

mancar487 said:

6. Regular updates and improvements on the website

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Very important, conversions and income potential are key for me.

mancar487 said:

7. Whether or not a video sales page is used (vs text sales pages) ? do you automatically like one more than the other, or you reserve judgement until you see the conversion rates?

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I want to preserve my reputation to my list and so don't want to promote anything that looks tacky even if it converts highly. As long as it isn't tacky (stock images, especially stock images of people holding wads of cash) I'll promote it if it is relevant. The key is that it is high-converting. My biggest offer I bypass their sales page altogether, and have set up my own sales page, then link direct to the cart. My own page converts way higher than original page, but the offer itself is really good and worth going to the trouble to do it for.

At the end of the day, its all about how much money I earn from the offer and the quality of it so I don't sell my subscribers garbage. Its not about the support. Its not about the resources. I have the capacity to put together my own emails and my own reports. They are bonuses but I'll still be heavily modifying them to suit my brand. I care strictly about the offer - how much it makes and how much it benefits my subscribers.