How does one become an affiliate manager? :)

[Magnifico740]

Maybe some of the affiliate managers here would like to share their experience and how they became an affiliate manager.

[Anthony-Coral]

A lot of affiliates have looked at me and asked the VERY same question, Magnifico!

[DaftDog]

Where do affiliate managers come from?

I think that when second-hand car sales men die they are reincarnated as affiliate managers.

[Louis - Income Access]

I'm not sure where we come from, but here's a snapshot of what we do once we get here:
http://blog.incomeaccess.com/3813/20...liate-manager/

[universal4]

How does one become an affiliate manager?
Maybe some of the affiliate managers here would like to share their experience and how they became an affiliate manager.

I heard you had to sleep with some of the other affiliate managers...

Many of you might now be saying, Gee that doesn't sound so bad, some of the managers are beautiful.

The problem is, the last time I saw the list of requirements, they were all men....and none of them were cute....

So you female managers out there....get yourselves put on the list please....lol

Rick
universal4

[baldidiot]

I heard each aff program was like a fraternity where you had to pledge (eg: streak naked past a bee hive covered in honey and then get spanked whilst wearing a gimp mask).

Or was that a dream I had?...

[Magnifico740]

Hehe, looks like we got the ball rolling here. Affiliate managers are like Black Holes. Nobody knows where they come from.

Actually I was thinking more education related. Have you guys studied marketing, info technology, informatics? I mean you cant just apply for this kind of job without related education, or can you?

I am studying civil engineering myself & I am a small time sportsbook affiliate, but I find the affiliate scene interesting and would maybe like to become a affiliate manager in the future. But how would that be possible, if I dont have any related education?

[GFPC]

Hi Magnifico - Believe me you do not need any special education to be an affiliate manager.

[Renee]

Hi Magnifico - Believe me you do not need any special education to be an affiliate manager.

This is probably more true than not

I studied computer science at uni, and have an advanced diploma in IT.
I taught myself web coding and was a web developer before I started working for rewards.

I have no prior experience in marketing or sales. I was hired based on my technical skills (and probably because I can talk the back legs off a donkey )

[Maria F]

Hi Magnifico,

I think you will get different answers from each affiliate manager. There isn’t a course called affiliate manager 101. We all come from different backgrounds and got here via different paths.

10 years ago after a short technical course with the OU, I found a customer support position with a large gaming company. After working long night shift for over a period of 2 years, I stumbled into my first Affiliate manager’s position. To tell you the truth I didn’t know what I was doing at fist.

If you are planning to become an affiliate manager, I would advise you to start getting any gaming positions you can (e.g customer support) in order to enhance your CV. It definitely helps to speak a European language + English. You should try to contact as many online gaming job agencies as you can and update your CV with them and check from time to time if they have any available positions. I would be happy to give you few contacts.

I wish you all the best!

[AE-Martyn]

Most affiliate managers come from "The Academy". Here are some at the spawning stage...



Some attend the classes - who come good, others hang around with the wrong crowd, skip class and drink booze.

Personallym I did a degree at university in business management with sport (to make it fun). Part of this included marketing, accounting, law and a few other bits on the sports science side.

I got a job in sales at a friends web design company then got taken on and trained up in basic web design. Playing poker as a hobby at the time got me interested in online gambling.

I changed jobs and started working in the affiliate industry for a loans and car finance marketing agency (well boring) which led me on to a job with a large UK based Sportsbook, poker, casino and bingo company.

So I guess mine was a bit of a journey to get to this point, but an enjoyable one I guess.

[Anthony-Coral]

I heard each aff program was like a fraternity where you had to pledge (eg: streak naked past a bee hive covered in honey and then get spanked whilst wearing a gimp mask).

Or was that a dream I had?...

that wasn't a dream, that was the plans for the Calvin Ayre sponsored party in Amsterdam!

[Anthony-Coral]

There isn’t a course called affiliate manager 101.

Actually, Income Access have just started a training and accreditation for Affiliate Managers... http://pressroom.incomeaccess.com/35...tation-course/

[Anthony-Coral]

My background is all sales, retail and customer service so I wouldn't describe myself as being steeped in technical know-how in the way that Renee is.

Mt wife and I decided that we wanted to live in Southern Spain, and not speaking Spanish meant that the work opportunities would have to be in Gibraltar, which is English-speaking and dominated by Finance and online gaming. I'm not much of a mathematician; I have to take my trousers off to count to 21 - so gaming it was!

I started in the Customer Service team at mansion.com in 2006 answering phone calls from drunk american poker players and replying to their emails. Mansion launched their affiliate programme in the summer of 2006 but thanks to a technical screw-up, the affiliate manager didn't get access to his mailbox till October and by that time there were about 8,000 emails waiting for him alone to respond to.

The marketing team decided they needed help quickly so asked if there was someone who could transfer from the CS team and my name was put forward. I knew absolutely nothing about Affiliate marketing so mostly kept quiet to see what I could learn.

For a long time I worried about all the technical stuff that I didn't know - I could answer the phone and write nicely worded emails but there was so much i didn't understand. Eventually i came to realise that it was important to focus on what I did know and my background in the CS team had given me a very thorough product knowledge of what was available at mansion and the kind of questions and problems that the average customer there had.

So I would say that the majority of AM's come from a similar route to myself and Renee; either commercial or technical. Truth is that the most important thing is honesty and the trust between the affiliate and AM so if you have an interest in helping people out it doesn't really matter what your background is, the chances are that you can use it to be a good AM.

You could say that I owe my entire career to a screw up by the IT team at mansion.com as without that I would almost certainly never have got into marketing - God Bless Inefficient Desktop Support Departments, Everywhere!

[moranpob]

I've been affiliate for few years before becoming AM, really cool to see things from the inside now...

[Christiaan]

I've been affiliate for few years before becoming AM, really cool to see things from the inside now...

Now you can start sharing all your "inside information" with us!

[HBKKH]

To qualify one needs to be able to hold their drink.

[thebookiesoffers]

May be going down this route myself in the very near future. Can't say too much at the minute but excited about it all

[AE-Martyn]

May be going down this route myself in the very near future. Can't say too much at the minute but excited about it all

Don't do it....it's orrible!

[AE-Stephen]

Only been an Affiliate Manager for 2 weeks so Im n00b.

I was working in Customer Support for the Brands we promote for around 2-3 years, I was then promoted to the Cashier team where I worked for 3 years, in that time I'd say I gathered a lot more knowledge of the Gaming Industry then any course could give you so I think that helped.

Martyn spotted my potential and decided to give me a shot. Either that or he found me incredibly good looking and wanted to groom me, I'll let you guys come to your own conclusions.