Writing this guide because too many companies & plugin developers, and affiliate marketers & bloggers don’t know the unspoken expectations of affiliate marketing.
- What should companies expect of bloggers?
- What should bloggers expect from companies?
What is a fair deal and what makes sense? How should they treat each other?
My personal blogging experience
The joy of blogging
Being a blogger gives you tremendous freedom. You can say whatever you want to say, and there’s actually people in the world who love hearing EXACTLY how you say it. I can’t think of a better way to feel loved and appreciated by strangers.
And should your blog ever grow to a sizable amount, it seems companies start to “love” you too. They can’t wait to get you on the phone, be your new friend, chat online. Oh yeah…tons of free product and review samples…ALL FOR FREE! After all, they’re your new best friend…right?!
For a moment, these companies might even love you more than your average fans. Why else would they give you free “expensive” products when your average fan won’t even buy your $20 t-shirt?
Companies only care about profit
I’ve ran enough successful blogs for nearly 2 decades to know most companies are quite predatory. While a handful are well-intended, run by visionary individuals with soul, and actually hoping to make the world a better place (with their product)…the majority are simply looking for profits and nothing else.
- When they’re smiling and acting nice, they’re doing it for profit.
- When they’re giving free samples and review copies, they’re doing it for profit.
- When they talk fancy and use words like “business partnership”, they’re doing it for profit.
They really don’t care about you. They don’t care about your blog. And they don’t care about your readers either.
All they care about is their profit. They are here because they think you can increase their profit. Get that into your naive little head.
What should bloggers expect from companies?
1. You should expect companies to make a good product.
This is paramount. Before we even talk about any deal between companies and affiliates, we need to talk about the product. Is it special? Is it unique? Does it have its own soul rather than just copying the big players in the market?
The product has to be worth being talked about. Remember…it’s YOUR reputation that’s on the line with your readers. Bring in some crappy product and your readers may NEVER forgive you for it. It’s like the friend who recommended a shitty restaurant. You’ll literally never trust their word again.
2. You should expect free product and lifetime software license.
Free product and software licenses are the very minimum. If a company won’t even give me access to the paid version of their product, I don’t even take them seriously. I am definitely NOT going to pay to review your product for you.
If it’s a software license, I expect it to be at least a lifetime license…not some bullshit 1-year license!
- How does that help me? I spend a month reviewing it and maybe a few more months answer questions on it from my readers, basically acting as a 3rd-party marketing for you. And then I lose access after a year while you still benefit from my favorable comments and SEO backlinks?
No buddy, lifetime license or stop wasting my time.
3. You should expect money upfront.
I am constantly amazed by how out-of-touch or exploitative these companies can be. They come to me (Johnny from WPJohnny), asking for a review and when I ask them what are they offering me, it’s the usual…
- “Affiliate commission on every sale, potentially thousands of dollars!”
- “Free license for 1-year worth $500 dollars!”
- Sometimes even…”we’ll link to your review from our website!”
At which point, I usually respond with…”Thanks for the free license, I’ll post the review when I get around to it. I’ll be focusing my time on paid clients in the meanwhile.”
- Of course they’re not happy with that.
- They’ll insist “but your review will make so much more money from affiliate commissions.”
And that’s how they tell you your real value. That your work isn’t actually worth paying real money for. They want the free exposure, your time writing and making videos to market their product to your community.
Their product isn’t free, it costs real money. So do your bills and every other life expense. But they don’t want to pay you in a real-world currency. They want to pay you in friendly chats, likes, shares, and limited free license.
Yeah…my answer to all this is F**K YOU. Of course, I don’t say that. I just tell them I’m too busy and go back to working on real life clients.
The best companies never get to this point. They have no problems offering some amount of money upfront.
- Their product is good and they know it.
- Their product makes real money and they know it.
- Your blog has real readers and they know it.
4. You should expect transparency and open communication.
A worthwhile company is going to be honest and open with you along the way. They let you know what they’re hoping to achieve, what they want. And likewise, they also want your feedback. They want your honest opinion (whether or good or bad) to take into their next development cycles and make the best product…rather than just looking for blind praise for the sake of affiliate marketing.
The best companies have always had very open communications with me. We don’t always chat much but we understand each other very well. And whenever we can, we help each other. We try to make this relationship easy and mutually beneficial for each other.
There’s even been companies that I’ve helped promote several products for, and when the time came that I asked for extra money or benefits…they turned out to be the stingiest ones. They immediately stopped talking to me and revoked licenses. Then came around 6 months later asking if I ever got around to doing the free review yet. Yeah buddy, the answer is NO because I don’t even have enough access to review it. I love when it’s a product they want me to review that’s complex and should be tested on multiple sites, yet I only have a 1-SITE license.
What should companies expect from affiliate marketers & bloggers?
1. Honest experience
An honest blogger stands right out of the pack. You’ll know because they have their own opinions about everything, because they’ve actually tried everything. They’re not just article-spinning from other sites and copy-pasting secondhand opinions. They actually tried many products for themselves and know what features they value most.
Without honesty, the affiliate blogger becomes a soulless entity…only blogging for views or for profit. What an evil, manipulative, waste of time!
2. Quality of content
Honestly, affiliate bloggers owe this to themselves…their readers and their brand. Creating good written content and videos helps everybody, and makes for a better world better!
Content quality traits in no particular order:
- unique viewpoints and personal opinions
- detailed summary of features, benefits, competitor comparisons
- answer community comments and questions about the product
3. Time expectations
When companies have been generous to bloggers…offering free product, upfront commission, and whatever other benefits…it’s fair that bloggers should produce content on time.
And if the blogger isn’t on time, then at least do what I do…which is offer some extra high quality content and community follow-up. If I was a company waiting for a blogger’s review…I’d prefer it late but high quality than on-time but rushed.
I agree. Most companies only care about profit. Also, some bloggers only care about their affiliate profits, still suggesting Yellow-Blue-Daddy-host to host WordPress websites (and they also say the best) just for affiliate money.
I understand their values, but regardless I’m going to make things that I know would help people just like me. Profits be damned.
Jonny, Honestly, most companies and bloggers are focused on profit, which is clear when you look at web hosting reviews. I saw your post listing web hosting options, and it was great! I hardly ever see posts like that, maybe only one in a hundred.
I’m sorry to hear that and I hope we can all be part of the movement for a more useful internet (rather than a more profitable one).
Yes, you’re doing great work. I’ve read both your hosting and theme roundups multiple times because they give more useful info than other blog posts. When I’m looking to change my theme or hosting, those are the articles I go to. Most other posts I’ve read seem focused on affiliate profit.
Great article johnny. Affiliate marketing is a technique that never going to expire as companies need affiliates/bloggers/content creators to sell. But do you think Artificial Intelligence (AI) can bring change in the way affiliate marketing is happening currently.