My thoughts on affiliate mangers.  Take note that I am fairly new to everything, so this is just my opinion.

Affiliate managers are supposed to support you or motivate you on some level, any level, to promote their offers.  My understanding is that affiliate managers make a percentage of what the affiliate makes, so this is why they should strive towards bettering their affiliates.

I understand that affiliate managers are busy people.  Affiliate managers manage, as you might have guessed, affiliates…  So it is no wonder that they are probably receiving a ton of e-mails on a daily basis.  This is a bad thing for affiliates who are trying to contact their manager for something they desperately need.  If the lines of communication break down, people start to let their anger get the best of them, and in the end make assumptions about the other party.

I can assume that most affiliate managers don’t put too much effort into newer affiliates for a big reason- a new affiliate will most likely not do much of anything for them.  If someone is not giving you anything, they why should you give back?  Affiliate managers probably invest X amount of time into new affiliates, but do not invest 100% in the hopes that the affiliate will become a super affiliate and make them big money.

Room for Improvement for Both sides

Yes, I may have to prove myself by giving something to the company, but I want to see the initial open arms from my affiliate manager.  E-mail and tell me that you have some offers I might be interested in.  E-mail and ask me what I’m doing.  Or better yet, answer my e-mails and I’ll ask all the questions for you.

In conclusion, I think I understand how and why the affiliate manger does what he/she does, but I just expect a little more.  I expect what I get from most customer service - even if you don’t want to, try to treat me like I am your best affiliate.  Who knows, I might surprise you and turn out to be some day.