Disqus - Latest Comments for mikeallen

Re: Epcot Wine Festival Opening with Gary Vaynerchuk

mikeallen — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 10:57:05 -0000

Gary is very good at what he does. I also like his positive, "can do" entrepreneurial attitude. He lives the American Dream and encourages others to do the same.

Re: Beach Sunrise

mikeallen — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 11:07:46 -0000

Nice pics, Tim. I think the one with your silhouette is especially good.

As for thinking, nature is a great place for thought I agree. I also find the daily time showering and shaving especially productive. Another great way to generate ideas is during a conference. It seems the concentrated immersion in a specific subject area provides lots of spin-off ideas for me. Driving and air travel can be helpful if I'm alone and are great times to prepare for or reflect on the materials from a conference.

Re: DIY In The Digital Age

mikeallen — Fri, 22 May 2009 13:42:18 -0000

I've used a digital camera or my iPhone for the same kinds of things. Other great uses are 1) to "remember" where I parked by snapping a pic of the lot number and location in the parking garage at the airport and 2) to compare products and prices between stores. Of course there are many, many more.

Re: Cafe Press Fail

mikeallen — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 11:40:39 -0000

I've been dissapointed with CafePress as well. They dropped "coupon sites" several months ago which I found frustrating. I've not bought from them since then but I have bought from Threadsmith several times including a big order last week.

Re: Plan of Action

mikeallen — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 10:35:15 -0000

Thank you for what you are doing in this vital effort, Stephanie. Keep up the good work!

Re: Take a cut in pay, stop selling so much or we will drop you!

mikeallen — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 14:59:35 -0000

This is about as senseless as it would be to say the following: "The affiliate channel is performing better than we anticipated. Since we don't want to earn more than [insert value here] per month, we will have to cut back our marketing efforts. We know affiliate marketing works and so we are reducing our efforts there since we can track exactly how much we have to cut to avoid exceeding our earnings limit."

Re: Ten Years in Affiliate Marketing

mikeallen — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 13:07:47 -0000

Thank you so much, Stephanie, for those kind words. It has been a very interesting 10 years to say the least. The industry has changed and matured so much over that timeframe. Of course, there are many remaining growth needs and opportunities. I am, however, very optimistic about the future in this space.

I expect we'll see you named affiliate manager of the year in the near future since you do such a great job! Thank you again for this complimentary post. It has been a joy to work with you as well.

Re: Linkshare and Overstock Part Ways

mikeallen — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 14:20:14 -0000

Angel Djambazov wrote a detailed piece on this split at Revenews - http://www.revenews.com/angeldjambazov/overstoc... - that lays a few rumors to rest.

Re: Describe me in one word

mikeallen — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 14:47:53 -0000

Stephanie, this is such a creative idea. I really like it. Too bad you can't trademark and sell it since it's that good. :)

Re: Loyalty Sites, Toolbars and Networks Oh My!

mikeallen — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 15:39:03 -0000

I applaud ShareASale for hosting this forum and allowing an extended debate over this issue. I too expected fireworks at the Roundtable -- Jamie Birch wrote a detailed summary of this Roundtable at http://www.revenews.com/jamiebirch/shareasale-t... -- but am confident that Brian and team will do what is right.

I have no problem with the notion of toolbars as long as they don't interfere with affiliate links and the purchase process. Some toolbars are very helpful for search, accessing multiple webmail accounts, and so forth. The problem comes when they interfere with what you and I have done to attract and convert customers and they inject their affiliate links over ours. That should never be allowed.

Re: Clean Data - Why it’s important to honor coupon policies.

mikeallen — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 13:41:34 -0000

Friend and Family coupons are fine for small groups but they are often sent out to a broad base of potential customers. (From an affiliate's perspective, we know the merchant can offer a bigger discounts directly when they don't have to pay us commission and also pay affiliate network fees.) For true Friend and Family coupons, I would suggest single use individualized coupon codes sent to a small group of people. That protects the merchant from them being spread around. If the F&F base is small, it doesn't discourage affiliates as much.

Coupons are marketing tools and should be creative and sophisticated to maximize their effectiveness. They should be somewhat limited or else customers think "ah, they just raised their prices so they could offer us a coupon discount." True, coupon links do require some sophistication on the merchant side of things but the improvement in sales and prevention of tracking leakages would probably more than make up for the development costs. For starters, coupon code boxes should be intelligently displayed and hidden when a coupon link is used. Obviously the discount should be highlighted in the shopping cart but there is no need for a code to appear.

As for compliance, nothing seems to beat policing and following up threats with real action. Three strikes and you're out or some policy even more aggressive will get attention. The death penalty (permanent removal) is needed sometimes but temporary removal can also be very effective. Of course, any action should be preceded with clear policy and communication which is why transparency of affiliates is so important because it enables merchants can know who they are dealing with. I think long-term transparent relationships should be rewarded on both sides (affiliates offering better placements and merchants offering better commissions and/or exclusive coupons). And one final thought -- about exclusive coupons, if a merchant makes a policy that only the affiliate the exclusive coupon was issued to will receive commission for sales that used that coupon then they remove incentives for other sites to scrape and republish that exclusive coupon as their own.

Re: Clean Data - Why it’s important to honor coupon policies.

mikeallen — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 18:24:22 -0000

Great article, Jamie. I have a few things to add having been in this industry 10 years now.

1. Merchants would be wise to work with and not against human nature. If they are doing a test of their catalog channel, it would be helpful to offer an equally valuable coupon through the affiliate channel. That is especially true given the fact that user-input coupon sites exist where no one will edit the coupon codes posted. From a human nature point of view, though, it is very tempting to dishonestly post a better coupon when you know you have only been authorized to offer an inferior one and your customers are expecting you to deliver the best. Remember, we don't want to lose our customers, especially our repeat customers, to a less than reputable coupon site.

2. Use coupon links instead of coupon codes. Coupon codes can be copied, scraped, republished and so much more. They are fluid and difficult to track. Coupon links or coupons embedded in a specific URL are fixed and easy for merchants to manage. They track well and can be authorized to specific affiliates. They give the merchant control over the landing page and provide very specific data that can enhance decision-making for merchants.

3. Police and communicate. You said it above but I must restate how very important this is. It is unfair to play by the rules and watch others abuse them and get away with it. Even user-generated sites should comply with coupon guidelines. I also like the idea of sending a list of forbidden coupon codes so affiliates can confidently know they are in compliance. That is a great feeling since the waters can appear muddy when managing hundreds of programs with varying terms and conditions.

4. Build personal relationships with your top players. People are less likely to mistreat those they have a professional relationship with. Reward transparency and compliance with better and exclusive offers. Take care of those who take care of you. It's a win-win situation that way.

Thank you for this article, Jamie. We take great care to follow coupon policies and promptly remove when asked (which is very rare). I would also suggest that merchants verify their coupon codes or links before sending out and re-verify frequently because there are a surprising number of errors in this space. Coupons should be verified after every site or server change. Also, be sure to submit exclusions, expiration dates (and the applicable time zone) and any other terms and conditions. Early submission is a real plus as well and can even get premium placement before our space becomes crowded.

Re: Obama’s Inauguration

mikeallen — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 18:19:27 -0000

Good advice, Tim. I especially liked the part about getting out of debt. Debt is so enslaving as we are seeing so much these days.

Re: My Affiliate Summit Recap

mikeallen — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 13:32:34 -0000

Great visiting with you at Affiliate Summit. It wouldn't surprise me if you're an awards nominee next year! Nice report.

Re: My Guide to Affiliate Summit

mikeallen — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 01:42:16 -0000

Thank you for this detailed guide, Stephanie. I look forward to this jam-packed event. Of course, it will be great to see you and the ARC Team again.

Re: Coupon Use - more stats from Internet Retailer

mikeallen — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 01:31:47 -0000

Looks like many retailers are getting more creative and doing what works. Good to see this effort.

Re: T-Rex Hidden Mickey?

mikeallen — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 13:40:46 -0000

Looks like a hidden Mickey to me! Good find for you and very clever on Disney's part I might add.

Re: Coupon sites becoming increasingly important - #3 in series

mikeallen — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 13:30:29 -0000

Here's my theory of coupons. Coupons are only needed for items with very elastic demand curves -- items where the influence of price is strong on the likelihood of purchasing or not. That's why we don't see many coupons for gas, bread, milk, healthcare and other essentials.

If there are lots of competitors (Pizza Hut or Dominoes, for example) or alternatives (pizza or chicken) then coupons become an important marketing strategy. Coupons essentially allow the retailer to charge two different prices for the same product and attract a broader segment of the population. In economist terms, coupons shift the demand curve since they lower the price and thus increase consumer demand for the product.

The rest of the equation is to develop a strategy that optimizes coupon delivery and effectiveness. That requires testing and measurement to get right.

Re: Coupon sites becoming increasingly important - #3 in series

mikeallen — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 13:16:29 -0000

"About 85 million Americans are expected to shop online today as they seek savings through Cyber Monday sales" (InformationWeek - http://poprl.com/6n9). Interestingly, they reported that Black Friday was the busiest day of the Thanksgiving holiday weekend with 73.6 million people visiting stores and web sites for sales. Takeaway: More are expected to shop online today (Cyber Monday) than all shoppers combined on Black Friday.

Re: Creating Lifetime Customers

mikeallen — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 00:00:42 -0000

I like to say that with our customers we're looking for a marriage and not just a date.

Re: Google Makes Blackberry’s Usable (and Enjoyable)

mikeallen — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 17:06:08 -0000

In some ways the iPhone is playing catch-up here (and I'm an iPhone user). Well, at least for Windows users it is. I had to buy Outlook just to sync contacts and other tasks required apps like Zenbe and Evernote to do well.

Re: My $36,000 Disney Cruise

mikeallen — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 11:15:55 -0000

Good thing you checked first. That would have been a nightmare.

Re: Contact Management System

mikeallen — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 17:40:32 -0000

I like my CardScan. It quickly scans business cards and then converts the text to a database entry (keeps the card image also). The CardScan system allows me to archive the database safely online as well which makes it easy to move from machine to machine. Been using it for years now.

Re: Will You Lead, Or Follow?

mikeallen — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 23:30:19 -0000

Good post. I tell people to find a way to make yourself absolutely indispensable. Usually that means uncharted territory and not-on-the-job-description behavior.

Re: One Year with ARC

mikeallen — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 18:28:54 -0000

It's been great working with you. You have quickly become one of the best affiliate managers in the industry! You can tell Andy I said that too. :)