 | Everything Changes But (A4)U! |
Change - good or bad by Existem’s Claire Hoyland makes for interesting reading. As I read the blog, she basically suggests that we should embrace and accept change because change is inevitable.
Online affiliate marketing has been evolving since it’s inception. Once upon a time Amazon’s affiliate program consisted of a few search boxes and and banners - now it’s web services and widgets! DGM were UKaffiliates, Buy.at was merely a glint in someone’s eye and Affiliates4U occupied a free proboard forum service.
So anyone who has been involved in AM for sometime will have seen many changes.
However, one of the biggest changes has been within the affiliate community itself. Long gone are the late night chatroom sessions amongst virtual friends, who eventually go on to become real mates. That’s not to say friendships are no longer formed, it’s all just, well, different… and I don’t think I’m the only one who is sad that those days are now long gone.
Claire suggests that “the objective of everyone operating within Affiliate Marketing should be to create/develop professionalism”.
I would suggest that the affiliate community has been doing that successfully for years.
In her analysis of change, she also posts some quotes for change but there are also quotes that question change…
“There is nothing wrong with change, if it is in the right direction” Winston Churchill
“If you want to make enemies, try to change something” Woodrow Wilson
“All change is not growth, as all movement is not forward” Ellen Glasgow
The point here being you can pick and choose quotations to support any theory, but any quotation has the power to stop and make you think!
So does this mean I object to change?
You don’t last for 10 years in any business without evolving or embracing change. Loquax’s path is perhaps different to many other affiliates, and I hope we continue to go our own way - but that’s not to say I relish the “new affiliate marketing industry” (say this like Tony Blair says “New Labour”).
I will, with Loquax, battle on but one can’t help but feel particularly sad when a long term affiliate comments on the UK’s central affiliate marketing resource that they “don’t feel part of the new industry anymore”.
Affiliate marketing used to be a “no barrier to entry” industry, where new ideas could spring from nowhere… I do wonder if that is still the case, especially if long term affiliates are feeling pushed out?
Change is good if you’re involved in the decision process - it’s not good when changes you dislike occur, regardless of inevitability. However, in my opinion it’s also important to question change, not just accept it - and those moving things forward, even if it is done with the best intentions, need to realise this…. after all that was how the affiliate community used to work (cf Spyware)!
It’s an ever changing affiliate world and we all have our own views of what’s good and what isn’t, but that should never mean we stop questioning or discussing things.
And finally… a change quote that is great for everyone!
“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference” Jude’s tattoo (but in Spanish), and an AA prayer…. hmmm?
Be good to yourself … and each other!
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on February 9, 2008 at 1:58 am Scott wrote:
I was a gaming affiliate way back in 1997 and I formed many friendships back then that I still have today even though none of them are affiliates anymore. It was a great time. I have come full circle back to being an affiliate again and am certianly finding a change in the way affiliates interact with each other and also the way affiliates are treated by affiliate programs in general.
Perhaps it has a lot to do with the fact that many affiliates aren’t generally sitting on a computer in their bedrooms anymore and have the pressures of staff and office space and affiliate programs and managers are now heavily driven by targets and their bottom line (this wasn’t always the case).
My opinion is that the main advantages that affiliates have over the companies they promote is that they are smaller and much more dynamic operations that can react to change a lot faster. With that comes a need for LESS professionalism in many ways, otherwise tons of affiliates would not survive.
All of that being said, I have made many more great friendships with other affiliates recently but they are certainly different to the ones I made 10 years ago.
on February 9, 2008 at 3:23 pm Philosophical About Changes » Affiliate Marketing Blog wrote:
[…] Everything Changes But (A4)U! by One Little Duck […]
on February 9, 2008 at 4:00 pm Clarke wrote:
Hey a clever use of a Take That song title, very good.
I think you and I have been around for such a long time, we know what change is and we have always managed to deal with it, converting from CPM to CPA all them years ago was bloody hard but then it turned out CPA was not so bad accept for the Networks making a mint from the spyware scum, but we sorted them out and it stopped in the UK, yes some still try it on but it’s not as bad as it could have been. However now we are faced with new challenges to overcome. I have been thinking that “professionalism” is just another way for taking money from folk and pretending everything they do smells of roses, don’t question the hand that’s feeding you type of thing.
I have always looked at people I meet as potential friends but sadly it seems more are interested in what they can make from “being my friend” than actually being a friend. It’s a weird industry alright and I know who my real friends are and I am pleased to have made such good long standing friends like yourself back when we where not apparently “professional” or at least that’s what we are being force to believe as each week passes. It’s weird how most of these people are the ones that talk about, move and shape the industry, so unprofessional of them to have blogs and actually challenge things.
Change is going to happen but please don’t parcel up rubbish changes and hide the truth about shocking things that go on just to look “professional”, that will be the death of what this industry is actually about.
I guess in a marketing industry like this it was only time before we had to start making up our own BS, then say it over and over and hope people believe it’s true and for some people they have even started to believe their own hype, I guess when you have networks lying to people so much that you start to think it’s true, it was only a matter of time before the rest of the industry followed suit.
So speak out, stand up, challenge big network (and the small ones) root out the merchants that couldn’t give a flying (insert your own swear word here) about giving you a bad deal and don’t forget the Affiliate that’s out for himself and is doing everything underhand to get it, make these people a target, it’s the only professional thing to do
on February 9, 2008 at 5:18 pm Keith Bond wrote:
Nice post Jason.
Reminds me of a Taoist quote
“The only thing that doesn’t change, is change itself”.
on February 11, 2008 at 11:10 am Joe Connor wrote:
In my personal experience changes have generally been a healthy thing BUT I’m also left with the feeling that nothing changes.
For example, it was getting on for a decade ago when I first discovered how a simple affiliate marketing text link works and these still bring in the lions share of our income.
So yes, everything changes, but (with a nod to Led Zep) The Song Remains The Same.
on February 11, 2008 at 12:43 pm Antony wrote:
I dont really get what all the fuss is all about to be honest
Matt seems to want to give the industry a corporate feel and some people dont want to be part of that.
Those that like it can go, and those that dont want to go can just go to all the other less formal things that are organised or even organise something themselves if they want to.
on February 11, 2008 at 3:44 pm jdmobile wrote:
It’s not just the awards though Antony, but your point is valid.
I personally don’t see why a “posh do” adds any more credibility to something - stick a pig in a suit and it still grunts - however if business is still so shallow as to discriminate good from bad by how corporate one person is from another then that’s a pretty sad day for AM imo.
Jason
on February 14, 2008 at 4:41 pm Eamon wrote:
‘My opinion is that the main advantages that affiliates have over the companies they promote is that they are smaller and much more dynamic operations that can react to change a lot faster’ - good point.