It has been some time now since Commission Junction introduced a platform called “CJ Pay Per Call” – you probably see it every time you login into your publisher account.

I have signed up for the pay per call deals but have done much with it until last night. One of my big disappointments is how few merchants are participating or take advantage of this new product.

So how does pay per call works? In a few words, a merchant offers you creative to use with an 800 number assigned to them (just like the one you see for eFax to the right). When a potential client calls that specific 800 number you are credited ones required time elapsed. This creative can be clicked on and the clicks are tracked (as far as I know) via your regular CJ publisher account.

As I mentioned above the limited number of participating merchants is not encouraging so I don’t plan to sepnd much time or money promoting these offers. What about you? Have you been successful with CJ’s pay per call?

PepperJam Affiliate Network just introduced new feature called PepperJam Store Builder. It allows affiliates to create quickly (literally under one minute) a store front page that can feature thousands of products:

Similar widget was introduced by LinkConnector back in April. As with LinkConnector’s widget PapperJam Store Builder’s widget is a javascript code, so you have to make sure there is additional content on your page/website if you want to rank for any keywords.

I find PepperJam’s solution to be extremely quick “snappy”. You can see it in action on one of my websites. Great Job PepperJam!

In the past, if you needed datafeeds form Google Affiliate Network (former Performics) you had to e-mail such a request to the support. And in some cases, you would have to wait indefinite amount of time before your request was processed. My first request was processed about 6 months to the date I requested it and only after I commented on a prominent affiliate’s blog about the issue.

I believe there are few things that each affiliate should have easy and free access too. Some affiliate networks have done it (PepperJam Network, LinkConnector, Share A Sale and now Google Affiliate Network), some still have ways to go (CJ and LinkShare).

On October 11, Google Affiliate network has upgraded the user interface by adding and option to subscribe to datafeeds straight from the interface:

You can specify which advertiser’s datafeeds you would like to receive:

Configure the “delivery method”:

Currently you only can configure one FTP account where all your datafeeds will be delivered to. So I highly recommend to choose file names carefully. At the time of configuring the delivery method, I have chosen to name my files after the advertiser’s ID. It is probably want cause you any problems if you have one or two merchants datafeesds. But it will save you a lot of time if you subscribe to large number of datafeeds.

I have got hoocked on datafeeds about two years ago. They give you an opportunity to develop websites with thousands of products. I yet to code my own website. Until now I have been using products like Affilistore and WordPress Datafeed Import.

I doubt that any one from Google Affiliate Network ever read my recent rant. However todays e-mail from Larry Adams, the network’s product manager, caught me off guard. Just as I made a decision to concentrate on other affiliate networks that provide easy access to product data feeds, Larry shares that Google Affiliate Network, is introducing few changes:

On October 11, we plan to release a new feature in our user interface that will enable you to sign up for and configure data feeds.

If you have missed his e-mail make sure to dig it up as you may need to act and update some of the settings in your account.

I personally welcome this change, as it will definitely make things much easier for many publishers.

Starting on October 11, you will be able to subscribe to merchants data feeds via FTP. While you will have to point all your data feeds to one location. It looks that this option will be available to every publisher and will be configurable from within your account.

After receiving few dozen of e-mails via the contact page on this blog, from affiliate managers to join their “in house” programs, I added an entire paragraph on that page. Trying to explain that any one who in the future attempts to use the contact form for the similar purpose, maybe in fact wasting their time. This post should serve as a further explanation why I am not interested in any “in house” affiliate programs, as I plan to link from the contact form back to this article.

So here are just few reasons why many affiliate marketers may not be interested in your program. But all of my reasons can be summed up in the following statement: “Give us a brake, and join one of the networks!”

I am not sure what keeps you from joining one affiliate network. Many of us, affiliates, have accounts at least with major affiliate networks. I personally have publisher accounts with six affiliate networks: PepperJam Affiliate Network, Commision Junction, LinkShare, LinkConnector, ShareASale and Google Affiliate Network (formerly Performics). Surely one of these can satisfy your needs.

1. I want to know I will get paid. Yes I know you have a wonderful program with “unmatched” commissions and perks. But at the end of the day all of it means nothing to me if do not get paid. I am not saying that you will not pay me. The above listed networks have been working with merchants and affiliates for decades and have established their reputation. Why not to build your own reputation on it?
2. It is quiet a task to learn how to navigate the interfaces of each network. Do you really expect me to learn every interface in the universe?
3. Let the networks do the recruiting. They have it down. They also can do much better job than you can. It will free your time for developing relationships with your affiliates instead.
4. Lastly, it is has to be said that a few hundred dollars script you have which allows you to implement your in house program is probably good. But is it good enough to match the linking and reporting capabilities of the affiliate networks?

Yes, joining a network may not be as cheep as implementing your own affiliate program. However if you care about the future of your business, this investment is well worthed to undertake.