There are very few affiliates prepared to speak out, largely I think because they don’t think of it as BUSINESS. They live in the misconception that they had better not speak out against network x or network y because then network x and network y will not want to deal with them. Believe me, make enough noise and network x and network y wont dare to not work with you….

I’ve never held back from saying what I feel, either in public forums, in my blog or at meetings either privately with networks or at public meetings like the IAB Affiliate Council or the e-Consultancy round tables.

If you have the courage in your convictions then stand up and be counted – ultimately, as long as you do it politely and without resort to personal insults or childish behaviour (which to my mind serve only to weaken affiliates in the eyes of merchants) then you will gain the respect of the networks, merchants and agencies – but if you are going to give criticism, make sure it is constructive criticism – destructive criticism helps no one.