How can I steal other companies' affiliates?

[webmagnets]

If I think another non-competitor company's affiliates are perfect for my program, is there a way to individually contact them? How will I find them?

p.s. I was just kidding about STEALING. The headline caught your attention though, didn't it?

[Linda Buquet]

Hi webmagnets,

Yep you got my attention with the 'steal' word. Not in a good way though.

What other affiliate managers typically do is a Google search for company name of the affiliate program
you are targeting. For instance if you search for Irv's Luggage, a lot of the top results are going to be affiliates. You need to search the pages to be sure they are affiliate links, then try to find the contact info. If it's a big popular brand like Walmart, you'll have to wade through a lot of news stories and stuff to find the affiliate pages. There is software that can help you automate the process to some degree.

Once you have affiliates you want to contact you need to proceed with caution. Many affiliates consider recruiting emails to be spam, because you really are sending then unsolicited emails. So the only way to do it is to really take your time and personalize everything. You need to use their name and site name and say something that sounds 'real' not like a form letter that reads as if you generically sent the same thing to 500 people.

I never do email recruiting because of the reasons above. You could also try to call them. More time intensive and some affiliates don't like phone calls either, but that's another option IF you can find a phone number.

Hope this helps and best of luck!

[Rob_TID]

Yup, good advice from Linda.

Another thing is when you contact these potential affiliates, you really need to be able to give reasons that they will make more money with your program than the program they are currently promoting. Does yours convert better? Do you offer bonus? Is your commission higher? Your EPC? Can you offer that specific affiliate something that your competitor was not?

People used to come after my affiliates all the time to try to poach them. It's nothing personal, and I expected them to. (Call it "pumpkin pie" if you're not happy with the word "stealing" but the end result was the same). It didn't bother me much, because I was willing to do more for my affiliates than my competitors were. I developed content for them, I made them banners that they asked for, our landing pages converted like mad, our payout were on a par with everyone else. I coded up specific pages that I thought would be good on affiliate's websites. I wrote new and unique content for them. I developed keyword lists for them. I gave them individual technical support. etc etc etc.

Because my competitors were not willing to give that level of service to their affiliates, I don't think I ever lost a single significant affiliate to them.

I welcomed people to try to steal my affiliates. It meant that I had to think of new ways to improve my program. It makes affiliate programs efficient. Only the best survive and as any good economist will tell you, letting the market decide always results in efficiency and quality.

[Linda Buquet]

Excellent points Rob!