Question: My target market is women, and I�m having a hard time getting them to promote my products. They just seem unmotivated. I don�t get it. Does my affiliate program stink or am I recruiting bad affiliates? Dear Affiliate Manager: This just goes back to basic psychology. Women and men value different things. Car salesmen are taught this in their training. When a husband and wife walk into a car showroom, the car salesman will face the husband when he talks about things like � horsepower and engine stuff. Then, he�ll turn to the wife and talk about safety and color options. Is this condescending? Yes. But, it�s also effective. My eyes glaze over when it comes to horsepower, but I want to know what I�m going to look like in my car! Sunroof? Radio? Now we�re talking. So, what does this have to do with your affiliate program? Simple. Although I can�t speak for all women, obviously, I can tell you the things I value in an affiliate program. Quality. I value my newsletter subscribers and am building a relationship with them. (According to recent studies, women go online to find relationships and support.) If your product or service is junk, then you could offer me 99% commission with a 99% conversion rate and I�m still not going to sell it to my visitors. Affordability. I can�t promote a product that I, myself, would not buy. If you�re overpriced for what you offer, I can not promote your products to my subscribers. Dollars and Cents. Of course money is a factor. It�s just not the #1 factor, as you may be surprised to know. 20% commission vs. 40% -- I�m not as concerned about that as I am the other items in this list. Tools: Yes, tools. This is really big, and so few affiliate managers �get it�. I think I�ve finally pinpointed why this is such a big thing (at least for me). This scenario happens way too often: I find a product I am really excited about and I eagerly sign up for their affiliate program. I log in so I can start telling everyone I know about this great product or service. I can�t wait to see what they have in the �links� section. Will there be articles, or a rebrandable e-book maybe? Or even an informative video? It�s like Christmas morning� what will I find? And, then the affiliate section opens and there�s one measly link and a button. My initial gut reaction is �They�re not even trying!� And now, I don�t feel valued or motivated in the least bit. You just succeeded in turning your biggest fan into someone who stuck a lousy button on her page and knows it�s not going to sell at all. I know what you�re thinking. It�s the affiliate�s job to sell. Yes, you�re right. As an affiliate, I know that writing reviews and recommendations is the best way to sell a product. No doubt about it. All I�m saying is that you�ve got to give us at least an indicator that you�re interested in building a working �relationship�. Is it hokey to want a relationship with an Affiliate Manager? Yes. It is. But, I can tell you that any affiliate program where I get some attention and appreciation is going to get a lot more loyalty from me than an Affiliate Manager who sits on the couch drinking beer and watching football while I�m running around working my butt off... (Hmmm.... did I say that?) So, yes, women are from Venus. You can decide to embrace it and reap the rewards, or ignore it and wonder why your affiliates aren�t motivated. It�s your choice. As an affiliate, I�m challenging you to embrace this information and run with it.
