A call for merchants!

Two years ago, a group of affiliates gathered in Albany, NY, in the food court of a shopping mall, to get to know each other and talk some shop.  A common consensus birthed the idea of affiliate advocacy…many affiliates work for themselves, without the safety net of a consistent paycheck, HR benefits or legal support.

This has always been a personal cause of mine.  My entire career is a result of working with people who took risks.  Affiliates build sites, merchants partnered with unmet affiliates, my role is basically connect the right affiliate with the right merchant.  When you’re in this position, you generally want to make sure that everyone is happy.

It’s a tough job, and many times, the solution goes beyond a network’s jurisdiction.  One example, health insurance.  How many affiliates do you know that have their own health insurance?  Merchants work with affiliates, they treat them as an external sales force, but yet, it is generally accepted that affiliates have to pay for their own health insurance, and they do not benefit at all from their merchant relationships. It is simply unfair.

So a couple years ago, a few affiliates met in Albany, and realized they had the same common goal.  From this food court conversation arose Affiliate Voice.  It’s not a big organization.  In fact, it is run by exactly one woman, Melanie Seery, a former affiliate who wanted to better the industry.  But the idea is to provide as much security as possible to an unsecured niche.

I personally got involved with Melanie’s cause, and I serve on the board of Affiliate Voice, an affiliate advocacy group in its very early stages. I joined because I want to make sure that self-employed affiliates have access to the same resources as the traditional 9-5er. That kind of arrangement just makes sense to me.

So what I’d like to ask, is if you have something to offer these affiliate, like say, a discount on office supplies, or tax assistance, or graphic design, then please, step up and help the industry as a whole.  There are a lot of affiliates out there who would benefit from this assistance, but don’t know how to get started.  If you have something  you’d like to offer, chime in.  The affiliate industry is very karmic, if you can offer something to the community now, I have no doubt your investment will pay off in spades.  We are still a nascent industry, please take a leading role by contributing now.  It simply takes a decision to help.