I think a lot of sponsor programs assume if an affiliate does not perform well for them its the webmaster’s fault and not theirs.  While this is certainly true with some, it’s not the case for all.  Just because a webmaster has signed up with a program doesn’t mean he/she is, or ever was, actively promoting it.  Of the over 200 sponsor programs I’m affiliated with, over half get little or no attention.

Aside from the webmaster doesn’t know what he/she is doing, has no traffic, or your site does not perform well with his/her traffic, I can think of several reasons for poor performance.  They can all be placed under one heading - Why the webmaster is not actively promoting you.

• Leaky site tours
• No promotional materials other than banners, or no new materials after the initial site launch
• Undesirable promotional materials, such as over cropping, poor quality, lack of text descriptions, or nothing to excite the consumer
• Not on the webmaster’s radar - out of sight, out of mind
• Promotional materials that are too difficult to work with when so many others are not
• The sponsor’s payout structure is not competitive
• A perception that the sponsor can not be trusted
• The sponsor’s business practices/ethics are unacceptable
• Poor customer service resulting in the webmaster getting pissed off and dropping the sponsor

As for the webmasters that don’t have a lot of traffic.  What is the difference between 20 webmasters making one sale a month and one making 20, as long as they don’t ask for anything more than can be gotten from your competition?  How can you possibly know which ones will eventually be 20 sales a month webmasters?  Piss them off now and you will never know!

It’s a lot easier to hold onto existing webmasters than recruit new.  Some sponsors need to pay better attention to what their webmasters are saying, both directly and in the forums.  There are way too many other programs out there competing for my and every other webmaster’s traffic.  What are you doing to be one of them?