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Things We Need to Fix
Today we launched a new mini-site to allow everyone to drop us anonymous feedback … called “ShareASale Needs to Fix This“.
As part of our “Fix It” campaign – we will be posting some of the things we fix as suggested by everyone here as comments on this blog post…
Check back often or subscribe to the RSS feed at http://blog.shareasale.com/feed/ to keep track. We’ll also be posting some of the larger fixes on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/shareasale
By Brian Littleton
Brian is the Founder and President of ShareASale - a 13 year old Chicago based software firm that helps connect online retailers with bloggers and webmasters. He can be found online at @brianlittleton and on brianlittleton.shareist.com Brian writes about internet marketing, College Football (CF Show), golf, hockey, social media, and cartoons!
Other posts by Brian Littleton
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RE: Reapplying to Merchants
As promised, I’m going to post some thoughts here on the requests that have come in… Thanks to everyone for your thoughtful suggestions and commments so far – we really appreciate it!!
We had a comment about re-applying to a Merchant program if an earlier application had been denied. My recommendation here would be to visit the Activity Summary page, where you can “Quit” an individual program.
At that point you’ll be able to re-apply.
Please be sure to be respectful to a Merchant’s decision on this as well… if they decline you, there is probably a reasoning behind that and it isn’t ok to just continue to quite/reapply over an over again. I’ve posted a screenshot of how to “Quit” a program here:
http://blog.shareasale.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/quitprogram.jpg
Screenshot of how to “Quit” a program
RE: Deals Database Content
We had a request involving the Coupons and Deals Database, specifically that some of the content was not really a “coupon” but instead centered around continuing sales, or shipping deals that were everyday, etc…
I agree that the Deals Database should be kept clean of things that truly aren’t consumer focused … but I’m not sure I agree on “sales” not being coupons. If I were a consumer on a deals related site I would want to know about sales and promotions. With a database of that size we have to rely on each individual affiliate to make a business decision as to whether or not do display a merchant’s coupon… An affiliate could even remove that Merchant entirely if they decided that the content continually was not to their liking.
I do agree that the Deals Database is occasionally misused by Merchants who either flood with marginal content or just flood in general.
We’ll start working on a feedback system to discourage this – we do want the Deals Database to be full of great content – and the feedback system is a good way to encourage Merchants to act in good faith.
Thanks for the comment – it’s a good one and one that we’ll start working on.
-Brian
RE: US Based Affiliates
There was a request for more information on US based affiliates – as to whether or not they are truly located in the US or if they are using P.O. boxes or mailing services.
We’ll take a look at it we may be able to provide a little more information there such as whether or not a true US Tax-ID is on file for that specific affiliate, or if there is a non-US tax form, etc…
Thanks!
RE: More information on Applications
Along those same line we had a request for more information about an Affiliate at the time of the application. Requests were made concerning network data such as how many programs they are part of… how long they’ve been a member of ShareASale, etc… I’ll take a look and see what more we can provide there…
RE: Tracking Referrals on Sales
We had a question about not being able to track a referral for every affiliate sale… I am guessing that this is in reference to the “Page Banner was Clicked From” field on each affiliate sale…
Unfortunately, this isn’t one that we’ll be able to correct easily. That data comes directly from a users browser and some Affiliates like to hide that data. There are also some circumstances where the data is hidden with no fault to anyone… In the cases of links coming from email, new window links, and other types… the data can simply be blank in a users browser.
If you need help on this issue further, please email me brian @ ShareASale and I can explain some more technical detail – as well as give some ideas to you on how to effectively police your affiliate program even if this data is not present in some of your sale transactions.
XML Product Feed Upload
We had a request to be able to upload an XML based product feed (as opposed to the current method of a pipe-delimited flat file.
A lot of our technology has been built out on the flat file upload … I wouldn’t want to go backwards there… but it is possible we could write a tool to take an XML file and turn it into a delimited file.
If you want to work with me on some brainstorming on this one, email me brian @ ShareASale and we’ll try to come up with a plan.
RE: Banner Performance
A request was made regarding the banner performance page and lack of conversion statistics… Thanks for the suggestion – it is something that we are working on now and hope to have a solution for soon. As q4 started today – I would expect something on this more towards q1 of 2010
RE: Toolbars
A comment came through regarding affiliates who utilize toolbars and how they are allowed to operate within ShareASale.
For clarification – we do not allow Affiliates to utilize their toolbar in order to display any type of ShareASale creative, or to display any type of notification to the consumer that might divert traffic away from one Affiliate – and towards the Affiliate using a toolbar.
If you would like any further clarification – please feel free to email me Brian @ ShareASale … obviously it is a complicated issue that is an industry wide issue, but we do feel that our policy protects Affiliate traffic, and their commissions both earned and potential. If you feel differently, I would love to hear more from you.
“RE: More information on Applications
Along those same line we had a request for more information about an Affiliate at the time of the application. Requests were made concerning network data such as how many programs they are part of… how long they’ve been a member of ShareASale, etc… I’ll take a look and see what more we can provide there…”
Be careful here. An approval or rejection based on the fact I belong to 100 programs – or just one that pertains to my niche – can be made for the wrong reasons.
Same with how long I’ve been with SAS. I could be a 20 year successful veteran in affiliate marketing and just joined SAS this morning because they have a merchant I need. Again, a wrong decision can be made because I only belonged to SAS for one day and have no other SAS merchants.
How I do with another merchant or another Network should be irrelevant to joining a particular merchant’s program. The decision should be based on 1. I applied and therefore I’m interested. 2. I supplied a website that the merchant can peruse to see if I’m a good fit or not. 3. I don’t have a lot of negative comments in the merchant interface.
Billy Kay,
I agree with you on the fact that the information isn’t always relevant… but we do try to give Merchants as much information as we can to let them make a more informed decision. That decision may not always be correct… but we would want it to at least be informed.
Track record on a network can show that you know what you are doing, so to speak… no?
If the Deals database is supposed to be just for coupons, then I would suggest you create a separate feed for just coupons. I have managed and do manage merchants that use the deals database to post true deals that do not use and do not plan to use coupons. The Deals Database links convert *very well* for these merchants, or they wouldn’t put the time into adding the deals. I have spent a lot of time educating affiliates that deals work as well as, or sometimes better than coupons. I would hate to see that education go to waste, and those merchants suddenly not have a way to advertise their date limited deals to affiliates.
Deborah aka Loxly, I agree that sales and deals are, and should be, part of the deals database.
RE: Custom Commissions
A request came in that there was “No easy way to create different commissions for different affiliates” …
There is actually a way to do this – as well as set different “Return Days” or “Cookie Length” for individual affiliates.
If you are looking at your Affiliate List, click on an individual affiliate that you want to edit. That will take you to an Affiliate Detail page for that specific Affiliate.
About 3/4 of the way down the page there are settings for different custom commissions and cookie lenghts… I uploaded a screenshot as well.
http://blog.shareasale.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/customcommission.jpg
RE: Downloading Merchant List
We had a suggestion regarding downloading the Merchant list of programs that an individual participates in. We added an additional report which shows your Merchant list, as well as some interesting data to look at such as your commmission, any special commission being given, as well as a list of holidays that the Merchant may be advertising on within the ShareASale interface.
Screenshot: http://blog.shareasale.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/downloadlist.png
Is there a location as to what my url is for promoting the different companies.
RE:123ink. What I would like to do is get a business card with 123ink and on the back have my url for the people I meet on the street that is interested in getting a better deal on ink. I am a buyer from this company and have 2 companies that buy from them. I just need to know what url to send them to so I get credit for the products they buy.
RE: Group Reporting on the TimeSpan and Weekly Progress Reports
We had a request come in to add the ability to view certain groups within the Affiliate TimeSpan Report, and the Weekly Progress Report … both on the Merchant Interface.
Those have been added in. Enjoy. :)
PerAfftrackSummary Merchant Sort
It was pointed out that the sorting on the PerAffTrack Summary Report made it difficult to find an individual merchant.
That report was modified to hopefully make that a lot simpler. You can start typing in the name of the Merchant in order to find it
OPM Dashboard
An OPM Dashboard was requested to make it easier for OPMs to login to multiple programs. Unfortunately, this has a lot of complicated issues revolving around authorized access… With the amount of turnover that is typical – it is difficult to keep track and make sure that OPMs have proper access to programs that they manage.
Alternatively, we developed the “Multiple Login” Feature which enables a merchant to provide access to their OPM and control the level of that access. They can then remove access whenever appropriate, or make changes.
As an OPM, you should request this access from your Merchant – and then you’ll be able to create a username and password that is more easily managed by you – as opposed to using the general login.
Deals Section Reorganization
There was a request to change the deals section, stating that there had to be a better way. There weren’t any details really on this request, but I understand where it is coming from. We have a few things in the works in terms of re-organizing link building in general, and hopefully those will help out on this one…
Video Player Customization
There was a request to have the ShareASale Video Player customizable in terms of the colours used and how it appears.
We do have plans to offer different colours and different style players… but no current plans to have that be user-customizable. It is unfortunately a little harder than it may appear but I’ll take a look at it. We may be more easily able to take “requests” on colour configurations… I’ll look more into this one.
Grouping Affiliates from Affiliate List
“When grouping affiliates prior to approving them, I would much rather stay on the same page where the Affiliate List is…”
I changed the way this works, and added a link back to the original list upon the grouping action.
This should make it a simply 1-click to get back to the list as you were viewing it.
Direct Deposit Fees
There was a recommendation to make the International Direct Deposit a free service as opposed to charged currently.
At current, direct deposits in the U.S.A. are free.
Europe – $3.50
Australia – $7
UK – $7
Canada – $5.50
Our goal in providing these direct deposits is to lower the cost to an affiliate receiving payment. Unfortunately, out of country cheques usually carry a service charge at the cashing bank and those can be upwards of $50. By providing the direct deposit options the costs are significantly lower. Unfortunately, Direct Deposit isn’t free for us to provide which is where we ended up with the cost structure that we thought was fair and that also lowered the difficulty of receiving payment across the world.
Based on your feedback, we’ve changed the fee structure on Direct Deposit to eliminate all of the additional surcharges. Starting on the paycycle for June 20th on May transactions, there will be no additional fee added by ShareASale for you to receive Direct Deposit in Canada, UK, Australia, or the EURO Union. Stay tuned as well as additional countries are being added to the list available for Direct Deposit.
Product Search across Multiple Merchants
We are working on it… hope to be able to provide this soon – it is a bunch of products to search across obviously, and we want to make sure that we maintain stability on the product search through all of it, etc…
Auto Notification of Affiliate Sales (to the Affiliate)
“Was just talking to an affiliate about getting some sort of alerts on sales made. I think it would be a great idea. One method is email…[]…How about an RSS feed of sales for affiliates? ….” cont…
I actually must say that I don’t think this is a necessary addition – sending emails to affiliates on sales generated. I think it would just contribute to an overall huge amount of email that we all have to sort through every day.
I do see the benefit in notification on sale – which is why we have tools such as the API which allows Affiliates to utilize programming commands to bring in sales on a daily basis for example. Utilizing this method allows for a lot more customization and actual use of the data as well, as opposed to simply receiving an email.
The idea for RSS is unfortunately going to run into security problems (we wouldn’t want other affiliates able to see the RSS feed for example, or for the search engines to index them) … these could all be overcome obviously, but for the effort – I think i’d rather help affiliates utilize the API tools available because they are so much more powerful.
Various Stat Requests
- Can’t view yesterday stats in detail by changing the date in “today’s stats”.
//I think that in general you’ll be better off using the “Traffic Report” to get a daterange for Yesterday Stats… The “Today’s Stats” is supposed to be a quick look at the day to see how things are going before stats are rolled up into aggregate… I’d hesitate to change too much of that page. But the “Traffic Report” has much more detail and can be filtered to include only traffic from “Yesterday”
- The daily sales report is very hard to find. You have to click on merchange timespan, run the report and the click on “more details”. This would be an invaluable report to have at your fingertips.
//I agree we need to do a better job of getting that report to the forefront and will definitely consider that fact in future interface upgrade…
- Also in the same report that I mentioned above, there is no “conversion rate” column even though there is sales and clicks. It would be nice if a “conversion %” column was added.
//These were added. Thanks!
Merchant Terms of Use Changes
“When a merchant changes their terms, can you require them to include a summary? The 19-point terms modified by ||removed|| is going to take a while to figure out what changed.
//We do have a box for a summary, which actually is required, but it occasionally happens where something is typed in there just to make the alert box go away. I’ll add some things on that page to indicate how important it is to the affiliate on the other end of the equation, hopefully this will help out a little and if it doesn’t, we can take further steps down the road.
Brian, thanks for updating this. Really shows you guys are on top of things!
I even had one request that I think was an affiliate and even if it wasn’t, he wanted some of the things. I was able to send him straight here.
Well done!
Merchant Timespan Report
There was a request to add Conversion and EPC to the list of choices that the report can be sorted by.
Right now, the way we are getting that data it can’t quickly be done but I am going to work on it for the next release of that report.
There is another option which is to download the report and import into an Excel or similar allowing you to sort at your leisure, but I understand the need to have it done on the site so I’ll look into it.
I’d dealt with the other big names like Linkshare and Commission Junction. I encourage them to do this. By the way, our website got a lot of hits on the Letters To Santa campaign.
Great job guys, keep it up.
Hi,I’d like to ask to add direct deposit payments for Cyprus.
This country is a member of European Union and EuroZone.
And according to the information from Shareasale blog at
http://blog.shareasale.com/2005/04/08/payments-how-do-i-get-em-faster/
all EuroZone countries can get direct deposit. So why Cyprus is an exception to this statement?
This is a good website. I read a lots of comments on this and those were very informative. Good going man..
Is there some way that we can have all of the websites an affiliate has instead of just one? We are running across multiple affiliates with the supplied website as inactive. We need to know if they are, indeed, an active affiliate with other websites that are active. Also, we are interested in where, how, and if our affiliates are posting us on their websites, so this information will be very useful for us.
Thank you!
i like your lines “We know we are not perfect but we want to try it”, nice and great thoughts. your fix it campaign is a very helpful and trust worthy campaign. it is one of the best.