The thing is I do end up being sucked in by the excitement and perhaps to an extent hype that surrounds the Christmas shopping period. Plus as the site does do ok it does seem a tad bit silly to not at least try and make some effort with it.

However the site does suck out a lot of the Christmas spirit (there’s something slightly depressing about writing about Christmas in September) and makes this affiliate want to hit the other Christmas spirit earlier than usual.

1. We’re Totally Unprepared!
Yes it’s only September, but content for Xmastime 2008 should be already in place. It isn’t! A few bits of content added throughout the year would have saved a lot of time and hopefully picked up SEO. Every year it’s the same so one day we’re learn and listen to John!

2. It Needs Updating!
The one major drawback with a seasonal site is that last year’s big present ideas may not be around this year. This means going through popular pages and updating content, images, links, datafeeds and anything else that is important.

3. So That’s What That Database Was For?
Whilst making a start on updating up old pages it soon became evident that one database that “wasn’t needed” some time ago and therefore got deleted in fact was quite important. So for the last few months several pages have been down with errors. Ooops!

4. Choppy Changing Merchants
Going back to an old site (or a seasonal one you’ve left unattended for several months) highlights just how many merchants get itchy feet and chop & change networks. At least most of the links redirect to “alternative shop” landing pages now, but it does mean going back and fixing any problems.

5. Seasonal Banners
Here’s where banner overwrites can be a pain! The pages you have featuring Christmas offers look kind of strange when there’s a “Mother’s Day” banner sat alongside them! This means you either have to hope that merchant’s will switch them back soon or find alternatives…

6. No Seasonal Banners
A big frustration! You try and get organised for the shopping extravaganza but few merchants are ready as well at this time. This means you’re stuck with last year’s banners (or their overwritten “Mother’s Day” friends) unless you use contextual ads…

7. They’re The Wrong Contextual Ad Sizes, Gromit!
One day a network will come up with a contextual ad unit that can be resized to fit any space! Amazon, Google, Affiliate Window… come on give affiliates the choice of a flexi height and width contextual ad unit…. please!

8. It Always Takes Longer Than You Think!
This applies to any site, not just a christmas shopping one! What started off as a five minute see if it’s ok soon becomes several hours of recoding (did we really miss out so many meta tags? And why do edits always look ok in Firefox but not IE?) and whilst on the surface there’s a pretty-ish site, there’s still a lot of work left to do.

9. We Knew All This Already!
This is perhaps the biggest frustration of them all. Every year we go through this exercise and encounter the same issues. Every year we also vow to make sure the site is a bit more “future-proof” and be more organised in keeping it up to date. Improvements to the site CMS are always made and even small things that php-ing the year (so that Top Toys 2007 automatically becomes Top Toys 2008 for SEO) are done.

It’s not too late for you to get ready for an Affiliate Christmas, but with people already shopping for presents it’s best to get started asap! My advice about what christmas and affiliate marketing can be found on Affiliates4U.

Anyway the Xmastime site is in place and hopefully over the next few weeks we’ll be ready to make some sales.

If not then at least the site will be in better shape for next September’s pre-Christmas panic due to us being totally unprepared again (it’s as annual as Santa)!

I had hoped to go this year, but unfortunately it was cheaper to get flights over to Spain for a few days in the sun, rather than pop on a plane for one night of bevvying with Buy.at. One night in Newcastle or 5 nights in Spain? Guess!

Yes – it was Spain! Earlier this month myself and Jude popped over for a bit of sun (bit of sun being very accurate as it was bloomin’ cold in the evening). Normally November is a work flat out month, but this year a week off has made very little difference to what we’d usually do and what we’ve now done – so having a break was a good idea.

However, it does mean another year away from Newcastle and another missed booze up networking opportunity. If you’re going, have fun! If you’re not, put on a party hat, open a can of lager, grab a bag of peanuts and sit in front of your buy.at stats page for 5 minutes at around 8pm on the 29th November. You might look daft, but at least you’ll be safe in the knowledge that you’re not the only one!

1. Be selective – pick merchants you trust, now’s not the time to experiment with an unknowns in prime positions
2. Be organised – get banners, code, offers in place now!
3. Be concientious – check your links and pages regularly! You can’t earn commission if they don’t work.
4. Be observant – keep an eye on the papers/magazines for useful gift ideas you can promote!
5. Be wary of incentives – don’t get sucked in by merchant incentives, they can detract you!
6. Take a break – if you’re a sensible affiliate Christmas should be a time to earn extra income, not all your income, so look after yourself and don’t spend the next few months worrying about festive sales.

Does anyone else have any useful suggestions?

Ok, I’m being slightly sarcastic and I know I shouldn’t complain about the last item. After all, better to be prepared before Christmas with merchant creative and offers than say on the 24th December when some merchant’s feel it’s a good idea to release it!

Christmas in affiliate terms isn’t picking up any trees, getting juices flowing or in fact generating any excitement…. and the announcement by Buyagift of their incentive to affiliates who promote them this year hasn’t lit any afterburners either (sorry Graham)!

That’s not to say it’s not a great incentive – if you like Las Vegas (check), want to be a Fighter Pilot (erm, no) and fancy a spin in a NASCAR (erm, maybe) then it’s worth taking a closer look at the Buyagift Christmas Incentive.

Just as an aside the affiliates winners over 18 stone will not be able to take part in the experiences… so that eliminates a few people (only kidding guys)!

All said it’s a nice incentive and a great prize for those who want to win it. I have to say though that I’d prefer something I could do with Jude, that’s also easy to split with my business partner and that actually doesn’t involve being around other affiliates if it’s holiday related. Nothing personal, but my holiday time has to be a break from affiliate marketing! As much as I love the industry sometimes it’s just nice to getaway from it all.

I’m sure in the next few weeks the old Christmas spirit will kick in and I’ll start wanting to get those festive banners in place across various site. I also expect more merchants to offer incentives too (although I feel I’ve read about Historical Newspapers promo in almost every other email) and that may or may not inspire some kind of competitive streak, especially if they are affiliate incentives that work.

Don’t be put off by my lack of excitement. If you’re gearing up for Christmas then you should really be a lot more organised than me and a lot more enthusiastic.

If you’re going to give it a go then here’s some useful tips.