By: The Managing Editor of Cutting Edge News

Readers familiar with AffiliatePaying.com know that their industry interviews typically include this question: What’s the difference between a super affiliate and an average affiliate.

I recently posed this question to our affiliate management team and wanted to share their thoughts. (Don’t worry, they checked your campaign stats at least 3 times while drafting their answers).

A Super Affiliate is Someone That:

• Is incredibly knowledgeable about the industry as a whole.
• Knows their metrics based on traffic sources and creative.
• Has the traffic resources to scale an offer.
• Is hard-working, responsive, and provides substantial feedback.
• Willingness to test is key!
• Keeps lines of communication open.
• On demand traffic is critical!
• Is open about their goals and what they are looking to accomplish.
• Works with you to “think outside the box”.
• Works with you to get the most out of an offer for both themselves and the advertiser.
• Cares about how things are being promoted.
• Cares about the longevity of the relationship.
• Talks openly about what he or she is doing.
• Actually does what they say they are going to do…or follows up if they can’t!

Now that you’ve heard from our affiliate managers, let’s list a few qualities the rest of the industry uses to determine if a publisher is considered a super affiliate.

• Traffic quality.
• Ability to catch and stop fraudulent traffic.
• Earning a minimum amount of money per day with one network.
• Easy to contact by phone, aim, email.
• Understanding of network processes.
• Consistent.
• Willingness to promote a network to sub-publishers or peers for a referral fee.

By: The Affiliate Management Team

We recently welcomed a new hire onboard in our marketing department. To help him get up-to-speed on our industry and business model we sent him a list of our preferred blogs and resources. 

Are you curious who we trust for performance marketing news and insights?

Digital Moses | www.DMConfidential.com

We admit this first link may seem suspect because our banner and blog are promoted at http://www.dmconfidential.com/blogs/CuttingEdgeOffers/.

However, we assure you that DM Confidential is a great daily digest of happenings in the affiliate marketing industry.

Adotas | www.Adotas.com

Despite the broad nature of this interactive advertising newsletter, it is still an invaluable resource for online advertising as it pertains to Cutting Edge Offers.

ClickZ Newsletters | www.ClickZ.com

Whether you are hoping to fine-tune your email marketing or learn analytics and SEO, Clickz offers a newsletter track for every interest.

Exhibits / Summits / Affiliate Marketing Conferences

The list of annual conferences we attend is growing steadily. Two of the longest running include: Affiliate Summit and Ad Tech.

We’ve exhibited at both over the years. We find their websites and blogs to be helpful tools for any affiliate hoping to network with other publishers, advertisers and networks.

Publisher Forums

Despite the often raunchy, rough, and argumentative nature of affiliate forums, we find these two contain helpful information:

www.WarriorForum.com

www.AffBuzz.com