A big thank you to Goldsmiths who very kindly emailed me to tell me I won their recent affiliate prize draw via LinkShare. I’m now a very happy owner of one Hugo Boss Gents watch with blue chronograph dial and very nice it is too. Usually when we’re lucky enough to win something (or a merchant just sends something as a thank you) the items tend to get recycled as prizes – but not this time! It does need a little adjustment as it’s way too big wrist wise, but other than I’m well chuffed with this

It’s not the usual iPod or vouchers, but something I’d probably look at in a shop and want to buy but “Mr Sensible Head” would interfere and I’d walk away from it!

So a big thanks to Goldsmiths….

However, there’s more to winning the incentive than just having a nice new watch!

Firstly it made me a look a lot more closely at LinkShare and their merchants – there’s some nice brands, albeit retail based, on board (e.g. House of Fraser, Wyevale, Koodos, Uniqlo and Lego) and they do have product feeds. It’s early days and I have to say that the user interface is a bit quirky but we’ll see how we get on.

Secondly it made me look a bit more at Goldsmiths and hopefully in the coming months we can do some more sales for them. It will be challenge, mainly because time (pardon the pun) is in short supply and the retail sector isn’t always the most profitable one for us to focus upon. However a few commissions from sales of their Corum Gents Golden Bridge Watch would be very nice!

Mission’s Impossible?
Sunshine have had a number of incentives for affiliates in the form of missions. On offer is a chance to head off the Barbados, as part of the Affiliate Future annual promotion, plus additional prizes of holidays. A number of affiliates have enjoyed success with these missions – which is great – but from a prize perspective they didn’t really excite me. As much as I’d love to drop everything and head off to the sun, in reality that’s not always possible – and for that reason the missions were largely ignored.

I don’t know whether an alternative prize would have made any difference here, but as the missions were fairly straightforward (and therefore winnable) it might have been worth an earlier look. That said, the format of the incentive has been well developed (and it’s why we now have a site promoting Sunshine). Therefore as it’s all new, this kind of incentive, prizes aside, is one that was worth being seduced by.

Pie in The Sky?
A VIP day at The British Grand Prix at Silverstone is on offer for the winners of this incentive from Sky (more details). Even if you’re not a big F1 fan, the prize is one of those ‘chance of a lifetime’ prizes that can’t be ignored. Moose on the Loose isn’t exactly enamored by the offer, whilst Kieron regards it as the best incentive ever.

The best chance for the majority of affiliates, in my opinion, is to try for the “Winners Wreath” prize – this will go to the affiliate who’s deemed to have the best promotion of Sky on their sites. However, the ‘judging’ is a little too wishy washy. The blurb tells us that sites will be rated, but there’s no explanation of how or by whom or whether sales numbers will also count. It all just needs a bit more clarity. The rest of the prizes are for most improved, best seller and best newbie.

Pie In The Slums?
A not so VIP day at The British Grand Prix at Silverstone is on offer for the winners of this incentive from I Want One of Those (more details). There are 4 places to be won and all can be won by impressing the guys at IWOOT as they are “keen to create a level playing field for all and encourage creativity and innovation”! There are examples of what they’re looking for, so if you’re nifty with photoshop and the like it might be time to make an impression.

It’s not about the sales, although it would be interesting to know whether this does sway the judging, but if you don’t mind having hot dogs instead of champagne, then this offers a better chance to win compared to the Sky ‘Winners Wreath’ one above.

Just Testing!
Forget about the VIP seats or watching the Grand Prix with hotdogs and just make do with seeing a bit of practice! Vodafone are offering affiliates “the chance to a F1 track testing day at Silverstone on 26th June to watch the Formula One teams testing their cars ready for the Grand Prix” (more details).

This one is easy for all affiliates to enter as it involves adding a widget (posh banner to everyone else) to your website. You can enter as many times as you like as each url the widget is on can count as an entry – provided you email it in. I personally think that these kind of things should be one per domain only – I wonder if anyone sends in 1000s of urls?

Barbados Beckons?
Affiliate Future are once again off to Barbados and the network as well as merchants are offering places on the trip. Qualification depends on the individual merchant (e.g. deliver at least £50,000 worth of sales, increase the volume of sales/leads you generate by 20% etc) so there’s opportunity for all, but for some more than others. Great stuff… well, great if you want to go to Barbados for 7 days on 22nd June, not so good if you don’t want to go to Barbados for 7 days on 22nd June.

If I’m off on holiday it has to be away from affiliate marketing, and unfortunately that includes other affiliates, so this one is a non-starter for me in terms of even considering looking at the incentives. However, this is regarded as one of the affiliate events of the year and those who have gone before have enjoyed the sun, sea and bottles of rum. So, if you can find a merchant with a well laid out promotion and you fancy that trip to Barbados it’s time to get involved.

Interesting Incentives or Just Missions Impossible?
All incentives are great, but affiliates really need to look at what’s required of them and how the incentive is awarded before putting their time and effort into ‘having a go’. Quite often those affiliates already in situ (either via SEO, PPC or cashback) have a massive advantage for the ‘most sales’ or ‘most improved affiliate’ type of offers. This makes incentives ‘mission impossible’ for many affiliates.

Of course there are opportunities for all, but be selective, especially if your time is limited! Look at the merchant and consider a long term relationship with them beyond their current incentive period. Whilst you might miss out on the latest round of prizes you could benefit from a new merchant partnership as well as increase in commissions.

The rose, though, was not a rose, but a pair of frilly knickers bundled up and made to look like the flower. Very clever, but to be honest, after trying them for size they’re not my cup of tea and they just don’t fit….

Joking aside, thank you Figleaves (although designer men’s underwear next time, waist 34) – odd present, but the message was effective! Other merchants take note… you too could have freebies you sent to us pictured with a large yellow rubber duck and posted on the blog… ooops, no what I really meant was that we’ll be more likely to push your programs!

Figleaves are available on both Tradedoubler and Linkshare.