Although I like my job, the problem with being salaried staff is that no matter how hard you work or how ever much overtime you do, the only way to get more cash in your pocket is by getting a pay rise (hint, hint boss).
Because I like money I’ve been setting up a few sites and blogs with ads on to try and get some extra cash. So far I’m really happy with the way Google AdSense is performing on the various blogs and other sites they are on.
I did want to create some articles on a particular site called Opportunity Club and then put some specific ads with the content. I headed over to Tradedoubler and found the various programmes I needed and applied for them.
Every single one of them came back “Denied”. Now I can see why various companies might not want to approve this site, even though it is trying to make them more money directly. The problem I’ve got with Tradedoubler and the way they do things is that it’s not just that domain I’ve had problems with.
I’ve also been refused for numerous programmes for the Medicology site which is surprising since it’s a well designed, corporate site with high PR and traffic.
I’ve also been refused for various computing and technology programmes for this site. What the hell do they want? “XYZ Computers are great!” in a H1 tag on your homepage with the banner underneath? It’s stupid.
Now I realise that some of this isn’t Tradedoublers fault, but there’s other things that annoy them about me:
- The half a dozen “newsletters” they seem to send me every day
- The absolute uselessness of their website and reporting tools
- The fact that their ads either don’t work or slow your site down so that you loose visitors
- Some of the bizarre rules and restrictions they have
Well, I’ve decided to give Commission Junction a try for a while since they seem to be approving my requests to join programmes and I’ll obviously be sticking with AdSense.
I’ll probably update this in 3 or 4 months when I get a feel of what CJ are like.
I'm a web developer based in the East Midlands, UK and if I keep up the current rate, I might have developed 3 million sites by the time I retire
Hi
At the outset, I am not affiliated with Tradedoubler in anyway, I simply use them in many of my affiliate projects. I have never had any problems with TradeDoubler, in fact it is my network of choice mainly because I find other network sites such as CJ and AffiliateWindow so difficult to use, whereas the TradeDoubler one to me is intuitive.
Of course I have had my fair share of merchants that have rejected my applications, but I find that this is minimised if you do the following:
1. Make sure your site is relevant
2. Make sure you have a good description of your site on your profile
3. make sure your site is up and running and there is something to look at before applying.
4. If there are any contact details for the account manager of the merchant you are thinking of applying to, drop them a polite introductory email about what you are planning and get their feedback before you apply, thus enabling you to take on any comments they may have and change your strategy to suit.
I agree they do send a load of newsletters, but if you are running an active site these can be a gold mine as they contain merchants latest deals and offers which you can pass onto your users and thus increasing your commissions. You can always opt out of these emails.
In term’s of slow serving of ads, the approach I take with all networks is to have my own local copy of the images, be they a banner advert of product image on a site created from a datafeed. This way I know that my site is the only site calling that image and I also know that the image will always be there even if the merchant removes it, therefore no broken images.
Anyway, good luck in your project, it looks to be an interesting site, I will make sure I check back here soon!
Matt Houldsworth
http://www.Earningfromaffiliates.com
Hi Matt,
Thanks for the comment. That’s good advice. I’ll take it on board for the next time I apply to one of their programmes and hopefully someone else will find it useful too!