Top 4 Affiliate Program Technologies I Am Recommending to My Retail Merchant Clients
By Durk Price

When beginning a relationship with a client I am always asked: “What affiliate tracking programs do you recommend?”

It’s a little like asking what car do you like to drive: “Ah the good old days before kids… when I could put the top down on my Porsche and I would go blasting around town…”

But I’m not dreaming and clients need succinct and thoughtful answers that show that I understand the market and I understand their needs and that I can recommend a solution that fits their retail product line and expectations for a return on investment (ROI).

As an affiliate program manger for 7 years, I have a substantial amount of experience with virtually every major affiliate program marketing, management and tracking technology. Basically I have found that I am recommending the same solutions over and over again.

So to streamline the decision making process I created a pricing specification sheet for my client’s use, as follows:

Affiliate Technology Options

Commission Junction

• $2,250 setup fee
• $3,000 prepaid commission
• Monthly: 30% of affiliate payout or $500 whichever is greater
• Market to 1.5M affiliates

ShareASale

• $350 setup fee
• $100 prepaid commission
• Monthly: 20% of the affiliate payout or $25 whichever is greater
• Market to 200,000 affiliates

DirectTrack

• $995 setup fee
• $100 a month for bandwidth
• No commission payout to DirectTrack
• No affiliate marketing provided

AvantLink (New)

• Datafeed conversion to search engine friendly RSS feed which affiliates can customize- very smart technology and great customer and affiliate support
• $500 setup fee
• $500 escrow commission
• Monthly: 3% commission
• Market to 500 high value affiliates

From this point in the discussion I tell the client: “Affiliate programs are marathons not sprints. Plan for the long-term, learn in the short term.” If they are receptive to this approach then I know I can bring them a solution that matches their goals.

Durk Price is a professional affiliate manager with 12 years of online experience as well as seven years of creating, launching and managing affiliate programs. He has launched and managed affiliate programs for large retailers like LimitedToo.com, BeautyTrends.com, WeShipBabyGifts.com, Stanford Social Innovation Review Magazine and others. His primary focus is managing affiliate programs for retail companies. To learn more about his services of putting top-level affiliates together with top quality merchants, visit http://www.affgoo.com. You may also email Durk at [email protected].