Real-life data (and anecdotes) from 189 affiliate marketing managers at mid-large merchants including eretail, gambling, finance and travel sites. Discover how your peers are running their affiliate programs.

• 56 color charts from Jan 2006

There is a review of MarketingSherpa.

The fourth edition of the report is about the affiliate marketing industry. One hundred eighty-nine affiliate managers from a cross-section of merchants were surveyed on their overall statistics, as well as practical aspects of their affiliate marketing channels.

Staffing, affiliate recruiting, and management are some of the areas covered in the 2006 report. A section where affiliate managers sound off in their own words on a variety of industry issues, a guide to affiliate recruiting, and resources for affiliate managers with 32 hotlinks to affliate marketing message boards are included in the 2006 report.

There is a table of contents.

The survey is in section 1. There are models of the program. There are pay per sale programs. Pay per lead programs. There are bounty affiliate programs. The compensation of the affiliate manager.

Their words are in section 2. Managers speak out.

Section 3 deals with recruiting. There is a profession of prospecting software. The structure of the commission. The program directors are affiliates. There is bulk affiliate recruiting. RSS and Blogging. There is atextual ad affiliate recruiting. There are affiliate Verticals.

Section 4 contains resources. There is a Glossary. There are message boards. There is a Blogs. Newsletters. There is outsourcing.

There is a complete list of charts and graphs. Section 1.

There are models for the affiliate program.

• How Does Your Program Determine Commissions

Pie Charts based on survey results can be found in Pay Per Sale, Pay Per Lead, and Bounty Affiliate Programs.

• Does Your Program Have Dedicated Management
• How Many Affiliates Do You Have
• How Many New Affiliates Do You Acquire Per Month
• How Many Click-Throughs Do Your Affiliates Generate Per Month
• What Is the Conversion Rate for Your Affiliate Program
• What Percent of Your Affiliates Are Active (Defined As Having Generated at Lease One Click Last Month)
• What Percent of Your Affiliates Earned Commission Last Month
• What Percent of the Total Transactions on Your Site Are Generated through Affiliates
• Do You Approve Affiliates Automatically or Manually
• Which Network(s), Solution Provider(s), or Software Program(s) Do You Use to Track Your Affiliate Program(s)
• Do You Have a Blog for Your Affiliate Program
• What Was the Largest Commission You Paid to an Individual Affiliate in One Month
• Do You Permit Your Affiliates to Bid on Your Trademark Name(s) in Pay Per Click Search Engines
• What Types of Rewards and/or Incentive Do Your Offer to Your Affiliates
• What Is the Biggest Challenge in Affiliate Marketing
• What’s Your Most Effective Method for Recruiting Affiliates
• Do You Manage the Affiliate Program In-House or Are You an Outsourced Program Manager

  The compensation of an affiliate manager.

• What is Your Annual Salary (Including Incentives and Bonuses) as an In-House Affiliate Manager
• What is Your Total Monthly Compensation for the Affiliate Program You Manage (Including Percent of Transaction if Applicable)

Section 3:

• Daily Traffic Rank Trend
• How Do You Most Often Find Out about an Affiliate Program and Then Join

About the author.

Shawn Collins has been an affiliate since 1997 and an affiliate manager since 1998.

One of the top per lead affiliate programs was built by the Director of Affiliate Marketing for ClubMom. He handled more than 120 affiliate relationships with brands such as Barnes & Noble.com, Dell, and the Gap in his role at ClubMom.

His best selling book is considered to be required reading by affiliates.

Shawn is a co-founder of the Affiliate Summit, which sells out every year and features the biggest names in performance marketing. Shawn has been quoted in a number of publications, including Internet Retailer, Inc. Magazine, the New York Times, and the Washington Times.