For Affs, how much over an affiliate lifetime?

[mojo]

It's impossible to tell but it's curious to think about how much earnings we have lost over our affiliate lifetimes due to error.

Things happen and this is not an ideal world so not picking on anyone lol. To me it's the cost of doing business and the benefits outweigh the loss usually.

Some affiliate program issues:

Human Error
Technical Error
Stats Error
Infinate link changes/rebranding
Switch to new Stats Progam
Mismanagement
Fire Sale
Out of business
Close and Take the Money and Run
Improper bonus dedutions
Cookie issues

Thinking about it it's really hard to say. I'm not large but have been doing this a long long time so I would have to be in the six figures of lost commissions over the years.

[Smoking]

what about the cross promoting ?

[mojo]

Yes, that too. I'm sure I didn't cover them all.

Add: Level 11 Microgaming

[Doolally]

What some of the gaming companies don't seem to remember, is that all the extra work and expense hits us directly in our pockets.

We invest lots of time and money to advertise, maintain and add new content to maintain our sites, working hard to send some new players their way for a slice of the profits.

It's not something we do purely for the love of it. Although being an Affiliate can be great, we have to take the financial risks, ride out the tough times and work our fingers to the bone when things aren't going as we'd like. We have families to feed and a roof over their heads to provide.

Some of the programs seem to forget that we're real people with real lives.

[mojo]

Well said Dool. Good to see you btw.

I took the plunge and made this my full time job for years but recently, with all of this, I decided to have another source of income. I simply cannot depend on these programs to have the stability to support affiliates.

It is a huge relief not to depend on these programs anymore and I am proud of myself to have been successful at it, and still am, although at a 'pay cut' since I am down from what I did last year by about 20%. I just did my taxes LOL.

Some of the programs seem to forget that we're real people with real lives.

I think they are trying to survive too. Unfortunatly it is at our expense. We rarely know until the last minute that a program has has gone south.

[Chips]

Don't forget the other ways we loose out...

- eWallet seizures by the doj... Neteller, eWalletXpress, Quicktender, EcoCard

- "lost" funds in cyberspace