We were travelling back from Gower this afternoon and had Nation Radio South Wales playing. It’s a decent station because there’s not much talk and plenty of decent music. Today though they had a phone in from someone who sounded uncannily like Zak from Prezzybox asking “Is online shopping safe and is it legal”.

The legal question was dismissed fairly quickly, although the listener didn’t seem to take the answer of “yes it is” on board. The issue of is online shopping safe though sparked some interesting debate and had myself and Jude laughing at the advice offered.

The DJ asked the expert how to be safe when shopping online. The expert (who’s name we missed) said “use a .co.uk website” (so that’s play.com, firebox.com, hmv.com, prezzybox.com amongst many others dismissed), “look for a padlock” (he didn’t explain this too well) and “look for a visa card symbol” (obviously dodgy sites can’t forge these then!).

If you thought that was bad… it got better!

Another suggestion the expert came up with was “go to the warehouse”. Yes, if you’re unsure of an online site you should jump in your car and drive to their warehouse. That makes sense! Oh and if you’re really concerned “pay cash”.

It’s at that point even the DJ started to question the credibility of his expert “you pay cash online” he asked!

However, he should really have known that this segment of the show wasn’t going to go well. As part of the discussion his expert suggested that you don’t just go into a normal shop and buy something. Instead you first check out the “shelves”, “if the staff had uniforms”, “engage in a chat with the manager” and “test the sturdiness of the counter”.

Even the bewildered caller was bemused at this advice and said quite firmly that when he goes into a shop he doesn’t worry too much about the quality of the counter and the attire of the staff.

In affiliate marketing we often forget that there are still thousands of shoppers who aren’t comfortable with using online stores. It’s up to us to make sure visitors to our sites understand how things work, even more so in the light of sites being closed down.

However, all online activity is hindered if media use complete idiots to explain to readers or listeners how things work and make ridiculous comments. Nation Radio please stick to the music in future (although to be fair it was damn funny radio).

The A4UAwards are back for another posh black tie event in 2010. They’ll be taking place at The Grosvenor House Hotel in London on June 9th and there’s a few changes in award categories from 2009. The mix of awards seems to be well thought out, but it’s a shame that some of these affiliate awards won’t be on offer….

The Affiliate Guru Award
This could could to the person who’s knowledge of affiliate marketing is so immense they’ve no time to actually do anything other than be a guru and tell other people how to do AM or online marketing. To qualify the nominees must have loads of followers, be well known and demonstrate what it is they actually do or have done – ah, so that’s why this award won’t work then!

The Ethical Affiliate Award
We should be celebrating those affiliates who are whiter than Snow White, Mr White from Reservoir Dogs and Gandalf the White at a Winter Wonderland Party at White City all being serenaded with White Wedding by Billy Idol. They must be clean, transparent and can sit up and boldly say “we’ve done nothing wrong”. Any suggestions for this one?

Pushing The Boundaries Affiliate Award
This could go to the affiliate who’s looked (or not looked) at the terms and conditions of various affiliate programs or networks and then bent them in to a boat like shape so that they can sale as close to the wind as is possible. Some in AM insist affiliates should stop moaning and start innovating… so perhaps it time to reward those who are really pushing the boundaries and challenging the very foundations of the marketing channel?

The Brand Bidder Award
What better way to expose the best in brand bidding than with an award? Of course those affiliates who are allowed to brand bid wouldn’t be able to qualify for the award. On awards night when the nominees and winners announced everyone would be made aware of who the naughty brand bidders are! Hooray!

The Doctor Who Network Regeneration Award
David Tennant’s Doctor is about to regenerate into Matt Smith’s version and it could either be brilliant or a pigs ear… hence the title of this award. It could be awarded to the network who have gone from pants to brilliant in the last 12 months, or as in the case of (put in your own suggestion) has turned into such a Turkey they’re actually worrying about ending up on the dinner table on the 25th December.

The Champions League Agency Award
Once upon a time to qualify for the Champions League you needed to be the Champions of the First Division or Premiership. Now you can win the overall title by finishing fourth. As Existem AM will most likely win “Best Agency” this award is an opportunity for other agencies to get their hands on something. Whilst essentially they’ll be second, they can still claim to be first.

The Affiliate Duck/Latin Brand Name Award
Why this never made the cut I’ve no idea. Seems a perfectly reasonable idea!!

Of course all the above are purely tongue in cheek and any resemblance to anyone living or dead is purely coincidental.

Fortunately for the affiliate industry there’s a nice bundle of sensible awards on offer including Innovation Awards, Best 3rd Party Affiliate Application (ECU please), Best Advertiser Incentive, Best New Entrant in Affiliate Marketing, Best Paid Search Partnership and Best Lead Generation Campaign.

Find out more and submit your entry at A4UAwards!

The voucher code debate is back in focus again this month with an interesting discussion on an interview with a well known VC siteowner and another about having some kind of register for merchants who give exclusive codes. The former has a link to what can be best described as a case of seeing the truth from a selective viewpoint whilst the latter got me thinking.

Is there more to exclusive voucher codes than meets the eye?

We all know codes get shared around the internet on places like Moneysavingexpert and Hot UK Deals. Now if “exclusive codes” are posted in those places (by users or even seeded perhaps) and then used by consumers who gets the commission for the sale?

For example let’s say my user shops with the infamous Merchant X. They’ve visited recently from my site but whilst on a consumer forum spot what turns out to be an exclusive code posted from voucher site. They go shopping and use that code. Now, do I get the sale or is it declined? Does the VC site get the commission?

To tie in with this The Sun recently published a set of codes, some I’m guessing are exclusive to some of the major voucher code sites. So, what happens if my user is reading The Sun and goes shopping with the exclusive code – again who gets the commission?

Of course there’s an argument that it should be The Sun who “completed” the sale, but then perhaps they should be taking Clarke’s advice to Jason Manford and use affiliate links themselves? However, we’re in last click wins country and for the sake of argument that’s from my site.

Now picking up extra sales (or denying sales to other affiliates) may just be an added bonus of having an “exclusive code”! On the other hand do some of these affiliates know they can pick up extra sales off their site with this methodology?

Also do all affiliates really know how commissions are being paid out and/or rejected when these exclusives are being used? In fact do merchants and networks have rules or guidelines for these scenarios?

One way to overcome any concerns or doubts in this area is for merchants to not issue actual codes but instead make sure an exclusive discount is only activated via an affiliate link on the code site. This would stop seeding (if it happens) and any confusions when it came to exclusive codes being used in association with other affiliate links.

The one piece of good news on the horizon is that Affiliate Window, who have also released a document for merchants called Understanding the Voucher Code Maze, say that they would “always encourage merchants to offer exclusive discounts via a more secure method than a simple discount code” (A4UForum).

Perhaps the times has come for ALL exclusive codes to become activated via links?

To take this a step further, if exclusive codes were to become “click here to activate” then perhaps we could then move to a scenario which would eliminate the need for “click to reveal” for generic “enter at checkout” codes, that are available to all affiliates?

Heading into London for meetings and affiliate stuff just makes you realise how insanely frantic life seems over that way or just how laid back life in Swansea really is! In fact we’re so laid back that we all forgot to see a date for a first ever get together of Swansea based (and surround area) affiliates.

Perhaps it’s because we’re too busy being annoyed about paying to enter the country every time we use the Severn Bridge or we’re waiting for a sunny day so we can venture outside?

Anyway Christmas is coming and so the plan (as suggested by Duncan Thomas) is to try and do it properly this time and meet up for some Christmas cheer. Smingle & Gem are up for it as are myself and Jude. There’s a few more interested including the legend that is Chris Brocklesby.

More details can be found on A4UForum.

Hopefully this time we can fix a firm date, time and location – so if you’re local to the area drop a line either here or on A4U and come and share a Christmas drink with with other local people involved in affiliate marketing.

Four blog posts in almost two months isn’t particularly prolific but it does reflect just how busy things have been since A4UExpo. Well, that and a mild addiction to Bejeweled Blitz on Facebook. In some respects there’s been a bit of writer’s block, in others there’s been little of excitement in the affiliate world to comment on and perhaps surprisingly I’ve let a few things gloss over me which really really deserve exposure to the wider affiliate world.

Fortunately if you’ve been taking the Michael this month, for example if you’re the merchant with a Christmas blog splattered with voucher code and cashback sites and then thought we’d send you free traffic or you’re the affiliate who’s claiming to be giving away cars and holidays but are just inserting third party leadgen stuff and who thought we’d promote you, then you’re in luck as you’re spared a bit of public outing.

However, the main reason for no blogging is that quite simply there’s not been the time!

First up has been trying to figure out why our server either runs really well or as slow as Simon Cowell pondering whether to keep Jedward in X Factor or send home a real singer. Slowly, but surely issues are being identified and with news that page load may be an issue in 2010 it’s something worth spending time on.

Sorting out the back end of Loquax has also been on the agenda. Whilst the pretty side of things for users is usually the main focus, when you have a custom CMS, and especially one that’s been developed, patched up and cobbled together, it’s often worth revisiting it to see if you can make improvements.

Christmas as well has played a part! Now I did say back in September about planning for affiliate Christmas and for the most part have stuck with that. However, there are offers, deals of the days, bargains, codes, competitions, promotions and what have you coming in at all angles. The Affiliate Window Christmas Blog does deserve a mention mind – great idea and well executed.

Staying with Awin you can also blame David Fiske for the lack of blog updates here at OLD. David has written an excellent article on completing your Darwin Profile. I’m amazed it’s not been heavily backed on A4U but it did feature in the AWin newsletter. By taking David’s suggestions the Loquax Darwin profile has been rewritten to be in a more punchier format.

Finally – being organised has taken it’s toll. Over the last 10 years or so of doing this full time there’s been little or no structure to my working week. That’s changed in the last month or so so that specific tasks are being done at roughly the same time. For example article writing for a blog will be done on a single day at a certain time and then scheduled over the week, rather than a haphazard approach previously used.

This “being better organised” initially took the enjoyment away of working.

And a loss of fun and enjoyment of doing affiliate stuff is another reason why this blog has suffered in the content department. However, being organised is proving to a better way of doing things and other than the occasional server blip it does make life a lot easier.

Hopefully it will free up more time for writing this blog.