Affiliate Management: Outsourcing Assessment Tool

Instructions

Introduction and Purpose

1) to assess the likelihood that outsourcing some, or all, of your affiliate management process will be beneficial to your company/web site.

2) to serve as the basis for a 1-on-1 phone interview whereby Your Affiliate Team and the respondent can more effectively discuss the questionnaire findings to determine whether it makes good business sense to work collaboratively. By doing so, you will more likely ensure the continued success of your affiliate program.

BENEFITS: With the ever-changing on-line marketing environment, product and service owners must adapt quickly to developing trends in affiliate management to remain competitive in their chosen market niche(s). This questionnaire will help you understand and improve your affiliate management process, whether or not you choose to outsource some or all of your affiliate management function. This survey provides a comprehensive examination of the many factors that weigh into effective affiliate management.

PROCEDURE: The entire survey questionnaire is located on this page. You should be able to complete the survey in less than 20 minutes. Once you have answered the final question, simply press the SUBMIT button at the bottom of the survey, and your responses will be collected by Your Affiliate Team. Your responses will be evaluated for 1) outsourcing readiness 2) affiliate management sub-processes that can be optimized when outsourced and 3) compatibility with the capabilities and expertise of Your Affiliate Team.

CONFIDENTIALITY: All responses will remain completely confidential, and they pass through a secure environment and are stored on a secure server with access to no one but the researcher. We pledge that Your Affiliate Team will not release any personal or corporate data to anyone. Questionnaire responses will be known ONLY to Your Affiliate Team, and used solely for assessing your affiliate management process and plans as it relates to working with Your Affiliate Team. This is not a typical survey questionnaire, rather a questionnaire designed to assess YOUR company's specific affiliate management program.

NAME AND CONTACT INFORMATION OF RESEARCHER: Jim Musselwhite, survey (AT) youraffiliateteam.com. To learn more about this researcher, visit http://www.youraffiliateteam.com/aboutus.htm

REPORTING: Upon submittal of a completed questionnaire and a follow-up phone interview (approx 30-60 minutes), you will receive a complimentary Assessment Report ,in pdf format, within 7 days of our phone interview. There is absolutely no charge for this service, as it helps Your Affiliate Team learn about your business and objectively determine if we can be of help to you.

Please provide the following (*required)

First Name*

Last Name*

Company*

Address*

Zip*

Phone*

Email*

Background Information

This section establishes some general understanding of your company's market, products, and current market position. If your company has several websites and offerings, limit your answers solely to the PRIMARY website and its primary product/service offering for which we will evaluate your affiliate program.

1.	What is your primary role in your company?

	Owner/operator
	Affiliate Manager
	Sales/Sales Management
	Product Developer
	Webmaster
	Other (specify):

2.	Which of the following BEST describes your company? (one response allowed)

	We only sell digital products via the internet
	We only sell physical products via the internet
	We sell BOTH digital and physical products via the internet

3.	In what form(s) are your digital products delivered to your customers?

	(Select all that apply.)
	Do not sell digital products
	eBook
	CD/DVD
	Video
	Audio
	Downloadable software
	Other (specify):

4.	Indicate which ONE of the following most closely fits your primary market

	Business to Business
	Health & Fitness
	Home & Family
	Computing & Internet
	Money & Employment
	Marketing & Advertising
	Fun & Entertainment
	Sports & Recreation
	Society & Culture
	Other (specify):

5.	How many employees (full and part time) are in your company?

	One
	2 to 5
	6 to 9
	10 to 19
	20 to 49
	50 to 99
	100 or more

6.	(Optional) What is your company's average monthly revenue over the last six months? (use your best estimate if necessary)

	Under $5,000
	$5,000 to $9,999
	$10,000 to $19,999
	$20,000 to $49,999
	$50,000 to $99,999
	Greater than $100,000

7.	What is your company's typical sales price for your front-end (entry-level) product or service?

	$27 or less
	$28 to $47
	$48 to $97
	$98 to $197
	$198 to $297
	$298 to $497
	$498 to $997
	Over $1000
	Explain:

8.	What is your company's typical sales price for your back-end (most expensive) product or service?

	$27 or less
	$28 to $47
	$48 to $97
	$98 to $197
	$198 to $297
	$298 to $497
	$498 to $997
	Over $1000
	Explain:

9.	What are the top three (3) methods you currently use to market your website offering?

	(Select three.)
	Search Engines (SEO)
	Pay-per-Click (PPC)
	Online Advertising
	Offline Advertising
	Forums
	Email
	Affiliates
	Joint Ventures
	Viral Marketing
	Other (specify):

Competitive Assessment

There are typically, but not always, an enormous number of competitors within a given online niche market. This factor alone is responsible for creating an enormous amount of market "clutter" in the eyes of the prospect/buyer, often making it extremely difficult for a web marketer to "rise above the fray".

This section is critical toward determining the extent to which your business/website can maintain a "sustainable competitive advantage" within your chosen niche. Though an answer is not required for every question in this section, please provide as much competitive insight as possible. An accurate and through assessment of your competitive environment is absolutely essential in assessing how an affiliate program can fully maximize your revenue and profit potential.

10.	How would you BEST describe the competitive environment within your primary market niche?

	There are a few large competitors that dominate this niche.
	Neither
	There are many small competitors within this niche.

11.	Can you identify one or more competitive alternatives to your own website/website offering?

	Yes
	No

12.	How many competitive alternatives can you identify, by URL?

	One
	Two
	Three
	Four
	Five or more

13.	(Optional) Please identify the url of as many of your competitors as you are willing to provide? (the more thorough your response, the more effective and timely the assessment results)

14.	(Optional) Briefly describe your unique value proposition in no more than three sentences (considering the competition you identified in this section)?

Your Current Affiliate Program

The following questions are intended to get a picture of your company's current affiliate program. As in previous sections, limit your answers solely to your PRIMARY website and its current affiliate program if one exists.

15.	Does your company currently have an affiliate program?

	Yes
	No

16.	Is your affiliate program open (no requirements to being an affiliate) or closed (requires affiliate to buy a product or service before being accepted)?

	Open
	Closed
	Don't Know

17.	How many tiers does your affiliate program have?

	One
	Two
	Three or more
	Don't Know

18.	How many affiliates do you have signed up for your affiliate program, whether or not they have sold or referred anyone?

	25 or fewer
	26 to 50
	51 to 100
	101 to 200
	201 to 500
	501 to 1000
	1001 to 2000
	2001 to 5000
	Over 5000
	Don't Know

19.	(Optional) Estimate the percent of your affiliates that are ACTIVE? (those who have earned $1 or more in the last month)

	Less than 2%
	2% to 5%
	6% to 10%
	11% to 15%
	16% to 20%
	21% to 30%
	31% to 40%
	41% to 50%
	Don't Know

20.	Estimate the percentage of your total revenue that you generate through affiliates?

	Less than 2%
	2% to 5%
	6% to 10%
	11% to 15%
	16% to 20%
	21% to 30%
	31% to 40%
	41% to 50%
	Don't Know

21.	How did you determine your affiliate commission rate?

	Analysis of specific competitors
	Driven by gross margin objectives
	Don't Know
	Other:

22.	(optional) Estimate your current sales conversion rate for your affiliate program (percent of visitors who buy)

	less than 1%
	1% to 2%
	2% to 4%
	4% to 6%
	6% to 8%
	8% to 10%
	10% to 15%
	15% to 25%
	More than 25%
	Don't Know

23.	Which of the following commission types do you have in place for your affiliates? (check all that apply)

	(Select all that apply.)
	Pay-per-sale or pay-per-subscription
	Pay-per-click
	Pay-per-lead
	Don't Know
	Other (specify):

24.	(Optional) Besides paying a commission to the affiliate, what unique benefits does your affiliate program offer, if any?

25.	(optional) In your own words, identify the top 3 things you would like to see implemented to improve your affiliate program.

	(Provide up to three responses.)

26.	Does your site have an affiliate center where they can go to get all their tools and program updates?

	Yes
	No
	Don't Know

27.	Indicate your agreement with the following statement "Our affiliate center is user-friendly".

	Strongly Disagree
	Disagree
	Neither
	Agree
	Strongly Agree

28.	What affiliate network or affiliate software do you use to manage and track your affiliates?

29.	Is your affiliate program managed in-house or is it outsourced to a third party affiliate manager?

	In-house
	Outsourced to third party
	Don't Know

Importance of Affiliates to your Business

For these and all remaining questions, limit your answers solely to your PRIMARY website and that website's current affiliate program.

30.	Understanding that no company can do EVERYTHING well...it's a matter of choice and priorities...how important is it to you to have a strong affiliate program?

	Not important
	Somewhat important
	Neither
	Important
	Very important

31.	What percentage of your total revenue would you LIKE to generate through affiliates?

	Less than 2%
	2% to 5%
	6% to 10%
	11% to 15%
	16% to 20%
	21% to 30%
	31% to 40%
	41% to 50%
	Don't Know

32.	Of the following affiliate management functions, rank order the responses by level of difficulty (1= most difficult for you to manage, 8 = easiest for you to manage)

	(Rank responses from 1 to 8.)
	1
	2
	3
	4
	5
	6
	7
	8

Researching potential new affiliates

33.	Do you make any distinction between "super affiliates" and those that aren't?

	Yes
	No
	Don't know

34.	Have you established any criteria to determine the ideal profile of an affiliate for your product or service?

	Yes
	No
	Don't Know

35.	Which of the following criteria, if any, do you use to determine the ideal profile of an affiliate for your product or service?

	(Select all that apply.)
	You have a previously established relationship with the affiliate
	Affiliate's ability to drive general traffic to your website
	Affiliate's ability to drive targeted traffic to its website
	Size of the affiliate's subscriber list
	Affiliate offers product or service that is complementary to yours
	Affiliate targets similar market to yours
	Don't Know
	Other (specify):

36.	Of the following choices, identify those that have proven effective for you thus far in researching potential affiliates for recruitment.

	(Select all that apply.)
	Affiliate directories
	Article directories
	Ezine directories
	Blogs and blog directories
	Forums
	Keyword analysis
	Joint Ventures
	SEO/Linking software
	Don't Know
	Other (specify):

Affiliate Recruitment

37.	How many new affiliates do you sign up each month?

	10 or fewer
	11 to 25
	26 to 50
	51 to 100
	101 to 250
	251 to 500
	Over 500
	Don't Know

38.	How do you approve affiliates who sign up for your affiliate program?

	Automatically
	Manually
	Don't Know

39.	Which of the following methods have proven effective for you thus far in recruiting affiliates?

	(Select all that apply.)
	Advertising in newsletters and E-Zines
	Advertising or posting in forums
	Advertising in affiliate program directories
	Email solicitation
	Direct mail and postcards
	Using joint ventures
	Blogging
	Telephone
	Don't Know
	Other (specify):

Affiliate Training and Communication

40.	Which of the following methods, if any, do you use to train your affiliates? (Check all that apply)

	(Select all that apply.)
	Email sequences
	Blog
	Teleconferencing
	Web Conferencing
	Written manual (paper-based)
	Written manual (electronic)
	Don't Know
	Other (specify):

41.	Our affiliates DEPEND on us to train them

	Strongly Agree
	Agree
	Neither
	Disagree
	Strongly Disagree

42.	Our affiliates VALUE our training program

	Strongly Agree
	Agree
	Neither
	Disagree
	Strongly Disagree

43.	Which of the following methods do you use to communicate with affiliates?

	(Select all that apply.)
	Forum
	Blog
	Email
	Online support desk
	Telephone
	Web Audio or Video
	Teleseminar or Web Conferencing
	Don't Know
	Other (specify):

44.	How often do you communicate with your affiliates?

	Daily
	Weekly
	Twice a month
	Once a month
	Less than once a month

Affiliate Motivation

45.	Do you track how long it takes for your affiliates to make their first sale?

	Yes
	No

46.	Which of the following are reasons that you suspect affiliates do NOT promote your product?

	(Select all that apply.)
	Affiliates have too many choices and become distracted or confused
	Poor timing (e.g. affiliate is involved in other promos or product launches)
	Affiliate perceives poor fit with your market or subscribers
	Affiliate perceives your product or service too difficult to promote
	Affiliate perceives that your commission rate is not enough
	Affiliate perceives that your commission amount is not enough (due to low-priced product)
	Don't Know
	Other (specify):