I hear a lot of affiliates ask this question, wondering why their applications to some affiliate programs are declined. As an affiliate manager, there’s a lot of reasons why I might decline an application. I’m a very responsive affiliate manager, and will always answer this question when asked, however I know there are many managers out there that are, shall we say, less than stellar in the communications department. In an effort to bridge this gap, here are some things affiliates should consider when their applications are declined.

Are my website URLs correct?
I’ve seen instances where affiliates have misspelled their domain names accidentally, added an extra http://, left off the extension (.com? .net?). Many affiliate managers are, of course, savvy enough to just omit the extra http:// or try adding the .com to see if a website comes up, but I know some are not so diligent, so it’s best that you make checking your websites as easy as possible for the affiliate manager.

Have I been declined a lot?
There may be a bigger issue at hand, like your website’s hosting company being down or your pages not loading correctly. If you’re experiencing a lot of declined applications, you should check to ensure that all your sites are up and running and displaying properly. Try viewing your website in different browsers (Firefox, Internet Explorer, Chrome, etc) to see if something isn’t loading correctly. Some affiliate programs are very sensitive to the content and look of a site where their advertisements will potentially be seen.

Do I have any unprofessional or questionable content on my website?
Some brands are much more sensitive when it comes to the content on a website where their ad will appear. For example, the Apple Store has very strict guidelines relating to website content and where you can and cannot place the banner advertisements for the Apple Store. Larger brands tend to have more guidelines regarding their advertising, and may choose to decline you if your websites do not convey a likewise professional image that is on par with the brand. You can consider changing your website, removing the possibly unprofessional content, or finding an alternative merchant with more lenient standards on the website content.

Are all my websites listed in my profile?
Of course, some networks like Linkshare and Google Affiliate Network give you a separate profile to apply per website, so this isn’t necessarily a blanket issue. But in other networks, this may be a detriment not to list all your sites. Often affiliate managers are checking the affiliate’s websites and looking for a good niche or category fit. If you’re applying for a sports gear affiliate program and only have your knitting website listed, the affiliate manager may not see a good fit and choose to decline you. Having all your websites listed shows the affiliate manager that you work in different verticals and they can see more potential for appropriate promotions. Personally, I don’t know why an affiliate would ever not list a website unless it was less than ethical, but please comment if you have a good reason for not listing all websites.

I’m sure there are hundreds of other individual reasons why you might be declined. Some affiliate managers really check content for a good niche fit, while others allow multiple categories in. It all ultimately depends on the merchant and if their product would appeal to a wider audience or a more narrow audience of customer. Always attempt to reach out to the affiliate manager if you’ve been declined for a program you really want to promote. Most of the time you should receive some kind of response, either explaining why you were declined or giving you a chance to promote the program.

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Twitter lists seem to be the greatest thing since sliced bread lately.  I have to say that I do love them.  I read a post by my former lovely co-worker Manda Otto about what lists she’s on.  I have to admit that got me thinking and wondering what lists I’m on.  Vanity, and all.  So I looked it up.

28 Listed… Pretty Sweet!

• @mcbrundage/affiliate
• @startpoken/poken-fans
• @Route53/affiliatefriends
• @Garth_OBrien/social-media
• @stefaniehutson/internet-marketing-women
• @Happy213/viewaskew
• @LisaP/affiliatemarketing
• @LisaP/coolsfpeeps
• @FredericPrigent/affiliation
• @JudiM/marketingwork
• @karengarcia/affiliate-marketing
• @CRschilliger/etc
• @LindaSherman/geeky-girls-to-love
• @latenitecoder/affiliatebiz
• @jangro/affiliatorati
• @danielmclark/geekcast-fm-podcasters
• @sharonmostyn/amazing-affiliate
• @Rexanne/affiliate-marketing
• @MarketLeverage/friends-and-fans
• @brettbum/affiliateindustryinsiders
• @jgoode/affiliate-pals
• @toddfarmer/affiliate-marketing
• @TFNDina/orlando
• @TFNDina/too-awesome-for-titles
• @nikkixbee/irl
• @nikkixbee/friends
• @drcool73/awesome-affiliate-people
• @angies91/affiliate-marketing

So let’s examine the stats… 14 mentions of affiliate… two mentions of awesome, one mention of amazing.  As you can tell, I seem to have done a pretty good job branding myself as an affiliate marketing professional.  I’m sure I probably reside on more lists that users have chosen to keep private.  I think my two favorite are Dina’s “Too Awesome for Titles” and Linda’s “Geeky Girls to Love”.  Thanks a lot ladies!  Thanks to everyone who thought to toss me onto a list, for that matter.  I know that, personally, a lot of my lists are private because I just don’t feel like making them public.  I know when Twitter lists came out, I went through my entire list and categorized EVERYONE.  And if I didn’t know what category they really belonged in, I cut some.  I think this is a great development for Twitter… much better than the new retweet function!

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I’m excited to announce that I’ll be speaking at two different affiliate marketing conferences this summer. One I applied to speak at with some dear colleagues of mine back in March after getting the idea in February, which has lead to a build up of excitement. The other came rather unexpectedly recently and I’m very happy to be speaking at both! So come hear me talk about cool stuff!

Affiliate Convention – June 18th & 19th – Denver, CO
Friday, June 19th.  10:15 – 11:15 am.
Super Affiliate Room I: Social Media Marketing

Do you Tweet? Have you found Facebook useful for fun and profit? Wade Sisson, David Snyder, and Trisha Lyn Fawver take this session through the various social media applications and teaches several ways to successfully harness the power of speaking to a massive audience of friends, followers and fellow social media users.

I’ll be speaking along side: Wade Sisson, Director of Marketing for PartnerCentric and David Snyder, Co-Founder of Search & Social

Affiliate Summit East 2009 – August 9th – 11th – New York, NY
Sunday, August 9th.  12:00 – 1:00 pm.
Classroom D: Getting Noticed FAST

Regardless what your role in the industry is, it’s important to be noticed within the industry. Learn the networking and social media techniques that make it possible.

Our panel will be moderated by Lisa Picarille, Online Marketing Consultant at LisaPicarille.com.  I’ll be joined by Mike Buechele, Founder of Comic Book Fury, Jen Goode, Doodler-in-Charge of JGoode Designs, and Stephanie Lichtenstein, Affiliate Program Manager for Andy Rodriguez Consulting.

Some come on out!  I’ll have plenty of good things to say and you’ll be able to meet me live and in person!

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