Alison Guise - Commission Junction

I need to learnt his tech stuff:)

Doug

I have to say that it was great to hear something from CJ, but I have to say they really need to improve as a network. I have tried so hard to work with them - they ignore emails and just don’t want to help.

Some of her answers about being a publish company really don’t wash with me because all the other networks are too.

All I use them for is ebay, argos and pricerunner. So I wasn’t suprised to here that ebay are managing their own program as I have requested access to the pricerunner feed several times and finally when I got a response it was that they no longer want to work with new publishers (I was already signed up). I have to say if some of the prgrams were on other networks I would not use CJ at all.

I think cj.com is an innovative and exciting marketing opportunity for keen bloggers. You are bound to find some companies to promote via banner advertising that suit your blog niche, and the banners add a colourful look to your sidebar, whilst conferring the impression that worldclass companies wish to advertise with you!

You can also promote via email to your subscriber list, either as an ad within an email/newletter meesage, or as a letter of endorsement. I feel cj.com’s wide range of worldwide brands adds some excitement to my marketing strategies: I don’t expect to earn much with them but they do add colour!

It is much more convincing, however to promote the more traditional affiliate prodcuts such as ebooks or specialist software packages because your endorsement will be really hands-on and your niche will appreciate the advice you offer on this kind of item more readily. I just like to have many coals on the fire and applaud cj for this!

Thanks for all the comments.

Riz - perhaps Alison can pick up on your comments here?

Thanks for the information about Commission Junction - I am always on the lookout for new ideas, and new developments in the field of affiliate marketing. I am interested to see that there is a Commission Junction University every year.

I actually spoke to CJ today and its the best response that I have ever got. I really don’t mind being told that I can’t join a program for a reason but I hate being ignored then beiin told inaccurate facts.

Today the CJ member of staff was very helpfull and has told me he will start to look into my needs. Thats more than I was expecting. So thanks CJ. Fingers crossed he will get back to me.

They don t charge for feeds! who ripped me off of £200 ???

Kamal - you had to pay the £200? When did you pay that?

Hi fraser,
It was I think a couple of years back. I was told if your sales are not higher than a certain amount, you pay £200 to get access to the feeds. Having just started back then, I could not see how sales could be over that amount.

Kamal - that’s interesting that you did have to pay when I was starting to think that it was a myth that CJ charged for feeds. I’ll ask Alison to reply to you.

Hi all,

It is correct that years ago Commission Junction UK did charge publishers for product feeds for UK merchants and it sounds like this request must have fallen into that timeframe. The datafeed subscription has been free of charge to UK publishers for around 2 years.

Anyone interested should let us know what feeds you would like to receive from which advertisers and we will set it up for you. You will be able to choose the data feed format, delivery method and frequency (how often you want to receive it).

Best place to start is to get in touch with the CJ team – some useful contacts below. Please contact someone from the publisher team in the first instance but equally the advertiser team will be able to help or ensure you are put in touch with the right person.

Jason Baker – Publisher Account Director – 020 8785 5859 – jbaker@cj.com
Yagmur Guven – Publisher Account Director – 020 8785 5875 – yguven@cj.com
Matthew Ware – Publisher Account Manager – 020 8785 5873 – mware@cj.com
Greg Endean – Publisher Account Manager – 020 8785 5406 – gendean@cj.com
Zhanna Kobzeva – Publisher Account Executive– 020 8785 5476 – zkobzeva@cj.com
Ross Carder – Publisher Account Representative – 020 8785 5426 – rcarder@cj.com

Daniel Powel – Head of Account Management - 020 8785 5825 - dpowel@cj.com
Sallie Rance – Head of Account Development - 020 8785 5874 - srance@cj.com
Linda O’Connell – Head of Client Services - 020 8785 5897 - loconnell@cj.com
Karianne Timraz – International Account Director - 020 8785 5829 - ktimraz@cj.com

Thanks
Alison
GM Europe, Commission Junction

Let me correct something:
1-what I paid was $200 and not £200 but still I paid for the feeds.
2-”did charge publishers for product feeds for UK merchants”. CJ charged for ALL the feeds and the proof is I asked for feeds from a variety of countries mainly US merchants.
I think this was a strategic mistake for CJ and it gave other networks a big advantage. CJ might have made some money from it but long term it meant them losing some affiliates.
The second strategic mistake that CJ and others are making is the “Closed groups”. When Alison says: “it s a win-win”, she’s right. CJ wins because they get the sales and the closed groups win because they get the commission. The losers are the affiliates that are not aware of these “closed groups” and in the long run, CJ because affiliates will go elsewhere besides the fact that this is not transparent, is uncompetitive and simply not fair to exclude some affiliates from bidding on keywords/brands and their variations (misspellings…) and at the same time to allow some affiliates to do just that.

Glad to see your podcasts back Fraser

CJ rulezzz. How much money have you earned with CJ? I’ve earned more than $10k for 1 year. Thanks for Podcast. Very interesting and useful.