Affiliate Managers with their own websites

It's not working like that. There are a lot of tricks on how to hide PBN/301 redirects, so the only thing you can see is a cool post from strong websites. SR and Ahrefs will give some tips on the strategies of small websites, but it will be much harder to predict what going on on Google's TOP 10.

 

explain this part please?

 

With gmail account you can have multiple aliases.
Lets say you email address is affiliate@gmail.com. If you send email to af.fil.i.at.e@gmail.com you'll stil get the email. But it's very hard to keep track on who gets whata. So the alternative is to register with suffix on the user part affiliate+gowild@gmail.com, affikiate+AGD@gmail.com all emails will be sent to the same mailbox. Now you can apply filters and labels on the sent to address

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Eventually you email address is going to leak. Whether it's by your account manager or by some hackers. So separate work from private and that's it

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We have experienced this. We worked closely with a casino manager at a ComeOn. Six or so months down the line, we discovered this affiliate manager who we trusted and had met in person, talked them through our ideas etc etc had gone behind our back and bought slightly different version of OUR domain - all whilst still being our affiliate manager.

He copied our name, our domain- word for word and launched a rival site, our name, our tagline, our ideas.

 

Way back in 2007 when I decided to target the AU market (no one was back then), I formed an alliance with Fortune Lounge Group. We came to an agreement where by they'd supply me with a kick-ass bespoke website, and I'd exclusively market their brands. By 2010, that site, along with another 30 or so others (all targeting AU), were kicking some serious butt. It wasn't usually for nine (9) of my sites to hold 9 or the 10 (sometimes 10) Google page 1 serps. It was akin to shooting fish in a barrel.

Back then I was a serious commodity, must have been, cause programs would fly out here to see me.

In Oct 2011 had a visit from FL's new business development manager. Working with these guys for so long, and being treated not like an affiliate, but more so like a bona fide business partner, the thoughts of being used, or milked for info didn't come to mind. There was no reason not to trust them.

So the new business development manager flies in from Sydney for the day. We discuss a heap of things, and seeing FL had always treated me well, the secrets about the AU market etc., etc., were openly shared.

Instead of letting him catch a taxi, I drove the guy to the airport. Just about to drop him there, he turns around and says... "You certainly know your market. But since I now know all that info, what do we need you for?!"

I was dumbfounded, flabbergasted and speechless - all rolled into one gut wrenching emotion. I'd been shafted!

The relationship went sour. I couldn't trust them again.
In hindsight, I shouldn't have given them 100% trust. That was my regretted downfall.

How many affiliate managers call you "mate"? Or how many treat you like your their best mate?

Affiliate programs hold ALL the ACES. Embracing that knowledge, you'll sleep better at night

With regards to SEMRush, aHREF et al, my money site blocks that shit at the front gate. I don't use it. Some may say I'm nuts not using it. Maybe. Then again, maybe the key to my 20 years of success in this gig, is the fact I don't follow trends.

If your AM pushes you for info, tell em anything except what your actually doing. Remember they'll do exactly the same to you!

 

Medium affiliates are making sometimes amounts in a month that they don't even earn in a year. Big affiliates ask flat or listing fees they don't even make in a year. And also small affiliates sometimes make more in a month than an affiliate managers. And that's than just one program, while affiliates are promoting dozens of brands.

I think it's difficult to not try it as an affiliate manager. Affiliate managers are seeing the revenues earned and processed to affiliates.

When I talk to an affiliate manager I suppose he's running affiliate sites or thinking about it. So I am not giving any information that is not relevant for handling my affiliate account.

 

Thats excatly my mistake also. In early 2005 -> 2010 i was treated like a friend, many am`s sent gifts, christmas presents, traveling voutchers etc.
I trusted all of them, giving them info not only of some kw's or what tools i use to optimize my pages but also how other casinos was doin and what money i was making.

Came to a point of "awakening" aroundish 2010, when over a dinner and getting waisted with a am i felt was my friend all over the sudden in the bar, dropped the bomb showing hes own site of mistake on his phone for 0.5sec, and took his phone quickly back and said "not that, wait, i show you" and next day i remembered the name of the site -checked it out and all my consepts was used on it - from top to toe.
Did a domain whois on it that returned not so much info but i checked his affiliate trackers and found his name/alias on some of them and that was it.

After that i went into a silence mode never ever talked about my stuff, lost contact with many am's and ofcource stoped reciving gifts.

The worst thing nowdays is that you cant trust any am, since most of them knows each other!

 

Yes the competing site is live and the person still works at ComeOn. At the time we were new, it was our first site and we didnt have any reason not to trust this person.

They have since left the UK market so we do not deal with them anymore but yes very frustrating for us.

Their website has 0 organic traffic... so not as easy as they think it is to make it work.