GoDaddy Almost Drops Me As An Affiliate

Posted by Mitch Mitchell on May 12, 2010

Okay, this time I have to admit I’m stunned.

I got a letter on Friday saying that as of the 14th I’ll be dropped as an affiliate from GoDaddy because of low sales. This one shocks me because over the years I’ve probably made the most money as a Commission Junction publisher from GoDaddy than I have from anyone else. I get all my domains from there. My friends mainly get their domains from there. I’ve recommended to my clients that if they want to get a new domain to go there.

Now I’m irked. I mean, if I’d made no money from them I still wouldn’t like it because, after all, it’s not costing anyone anything for me to help promote them. But when I’ve made some money for someone, and for myself, and then have them want to drop me… that just seems disingenuous. They did say I could write a letter explaining why I shouldn’t be dropped, which I did, but when someone only gives you a week to respond and you’re responding by email, and it has nothing to do with you as a customer, well, I don’t expect much.

Or at least I didn’t. I got a response back from them, saying they weren’t going to drop me after all. They appreciate me as a customer and publisher, and were looking for those who were no longer participating in the program. Whew! Talk about timing; this part is a rewrite of the original article that was going to post at this time, and I’m glad because I’ve always been a fan of GoDaddy, and for once it’s an affiliate that I’ve made money with.

So now I don’t need to find someone else who markets links, because I don’t work with anyone who decides I’m not good enough for me. I did that with Brookstone and have never gone into their store. I thought I was going to have to push domains through 1&1 instead, since that’s where I host my site. Nope, guess I’m good.

I’m glad it’s worked out for once in my favor. Now, let’s buy GoDaddy!

Tags: 1&1, Affiliates, Brookstone, Commission Junction, GoDaddy

22 Comments »

Scott Thomas:

Okay, admit it, you like their commercials, too. GoDaddy is easy and fast to use. Their best selling point for me.
.-= Scott Thomas´s last blog ..Assignment 7: Creative Exposure =-.

Mitch Reply:
May 12th, 2010 at 10:52 AM

I can enjoy the commercials, but I knew about the site way before I knew about the commercials.

May 12th, 2010 | 10:07 AM

Rose:

I can’t believe a company would drop a person as an affiliate for a lack of sales. That’s just crazy.
.-= Rose´s last blog ..Lake on the Mountain =-.

Mitch Reply:
May 12th, 2010 at 10:46 PM

Happens enough to me, Rose. Not sure you saw when these weasels dropped me as well.

Simon Novak Reply:
May 15th, 2010 at 4:11 AM

Rose, but how is this unbelievable? Everything is about the money. But it’s said cos if you partnered them for so many years they would have to give you some credit.
.-= Simon Novak´s last blog ..Bing prevajalnik proti Google prevajalniku =-.

May 12th, 2010 | 10:02 PM

Online Printer:

LOL yeah if they did that then they would only be stuck with like a handful of people, and that is not good.

Mitch Reply:
May 13th, 2010 at 3:45 PM

That was my thought, Michelle. At least I’ve made them, and myself, some money here and there.

May 13th, 2010 | 2:39 AM

Dennis Edell | Direct Sales Marketing:

I wish their reseller program was a little cheaper, I’d go for that instead.
.-= Dennis Edell | Direct Sales Marketing´s last blog ..Warning: 8 Posts Coming Back to Back =-.

Mitch Reply:
May 13th, 2010 at 3:45 PM

Well, overall it’s not costing me anything up front, but would have cost me money with folks buying domain names and the like. I have a friend who does the reseller thing, but I’m not sure how well he does with it.

May 13th, 2010 | 12:45 PM

Sire:

I’ve had a couple drop me but I reckon it’s more their fault than mine. Heck, if I’m sending them customers and they can’t convert then I reckon I should have dropped them first anyway.
.-= Sire´s last blog ..Does Your Blog Provide Value To Your Readers? =-.

Mitch Reply:
May 15th, 2010 at 11:16 AM

That’s always kind of my thought, Sire. Publicity is publicity, even if it generates no sales right?

Tia Reply:
May 15th, 2010 at 6:42 PM

That is amazing to me, though, that a company would drop an affiliate. Whether or not the affiliate is making them any money, he/she is most certainly extending their brand and getting in front of eyeballs. And they are not paying per impression, so they should be grateful.
.-= Tia´s last blog ..Common Sense Blogging: BizChickBlogs’ Guide to New Post Ideas (5 Ways) =-.

Mitch Reply:
May 15th, 2010 at 7:31 PM

I fully agree with that one, Tia, especially since it costs them nothing to allow us to promote them.

Sire Reply:
May 15th, 2010 at 8:19 PM

You see, and some men say that women have nothing worthwhile to contribute. Lucky we have Tia to set them straight.
.-= Sire´s last blog ..Stand By Me And We Will Become Better Bloggers =-.

Mitch Reply:
May 15th, 2010 at 8:45 PM

Which men have been saying that, Sire? Certainly not me, as much as I rely on my wife to keep me out of trouble. lol

Sire Reply:
May 15th, 2010 at 8:52 PM

Oh, you know Mitch (as I wave my hand aimlessly) men in general Certainly not us.
.-= Sire´s last blog ..Being Real BloggerLuv And Huge Breasts =-.

May 15th, 2010 | 6:31 AM

Dennis Edell | Direct Sales Marketing:

As I write this, I am ending a messenger conversation with a friend and I have an answer for you!

You are so not gonna like it, apparently it’s all about the numbers.

Here it is copied from my messenger window…

“Because they want to make their numbers look better to attract power affiliates. And for their internal “appearances”.

There is stats used to evaluate how good a program is and inactive affiliates skew those numbers
So bean counters get rid of them to improve their numbers

And you know Corporations – they feel the need to measure and evaluate everything so no doubt they judge their managers on those numbers too – another incentive to get rid of affiliates

That is what always happens when people focus on stats instead of substantive results.”

She also mentioned this, although I don’t think YOU did it…

” if you bid on trademarks that will get you canned quickly. Big no-no”

There ya go; better or worse, those are the primaries.
.-= Dennis Edell | Direct Sales Marketing´s last blog ..Oops I Lied-HAHA =-.

Mitch Reply:
May 16th, 2010 at 1:11 PM

That’s interesting, Dennis. I kind of get it now, but I still don’t like it. And no, I’ve never bid on any terms like that, as I rarely use Adsense, but you’re allowed to optimize your site for those terms if you’re marketing that stuff.

Dennis Edell | Direct Sales Marketing Reply:
May 17th, 2010 at 1:54 PM

Told y you wouldn’t like it. lol

it makes sense from their business POV, but yea, a crappy thing to do.

Their referring to adwords and it’s counter parts, not adsense. You can optimize posts with the KW’s, just don’t try buying them.
.-= Dennis Edell | Direct Sales Marketing´s last blog ..Oops I Lied-HAHA =-.

Mitch Reply:
May 17th, 2010 at 3:35 PM

Yeah, I knew about Adwords; sometimes in talking points I mix the two of them up, but we all know you can’t bid on Adsense words.

May 16th, 2010 | 1:07 PM

Gillian:

I don’t understand why they’d drop anybody that was making them money, even if their reason was “low sales”. Like you say, even if you didn’t make them money, it’s not costing them anything, and they aren’t losing money. This is probably the reason why newbies out there get so frustrated with these kind of offers.

- Gillian

Mitch Reply:
June 9th, 2010 at 8:32 PM

I fully agree with you, Gillian. Why some companies want to drop you, or others decide not to add you, is beyond me. I know it’s their prerogative, but it certainly doesn’t engender good feelings.

June 9th, 2010 | 7:55 AM

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