This is a guest post from Greg Walker.
Build a brand around your identity.
It was literally about 10 minutes ago I noticed that Randy offered to accept articles from affiliates for his SEO blog. I knew that I’d be a fool to miss out on this opportunity, so I thought I’d write a little something that I was thinking about the other day.
So anyway…
What do other affiliates think about you when they see your name?
Not necessarily your real name, but your screen name, website URL or anything to do with the things you do as an affiliate?
Do they think; quality, informative, beneficial, useful and inspiring? Or do they think; spammy, low-quality, dodgy and generally someone that offers very little value in everything they do?
For example, deep down we all have an idea of what to expect from certain affiliates when we notice that they were the last to reply to a forum thread on PAL (or whichever affiliate forum you frequently visit). Sometimes I even look forward to reading the reply as I know that there will be something informative (or possibly even entertaining) on the other side of the egg timer.
On the other hand, I may not even bother to open a thread if I can see that the last reply was from a handful of certain affiliates. That may sound a little harsh, but we both know that we do this and I’m not going to name any names, so saying this isn’t going to come back to bite me! But at the end of the day we automatically form an idea of the level of quality surrounded by each and every affiliate just by looking at something as simple as their screen name.
So what difference does this make and why should you even care?
Well, put it this way. There are a handful of affiliates on my MSN list (yeah, I know I don’t go on there much any more but that’s besides the point!) that could ask me for a link exchange and I would instantly say “yes” without them even to send me the URL of the site they want to exchange links with.
On the other hand, I would have to go through the site with a fine nit comb to see if it’s actually worth exchanging with for a few other affiliates that I care less for. I’m sure that many of you react in the same way depending on who’s asking for an exchange.
Even though we might not actively go out of our way to rate others (or portray ourselves) as “awesome” or “high quality” affiliates, it’s easy to spot the hard working affiliates from the ones that cut corners and build pretty worthless sites. We all quietly form our own opinions of each other, and depending on how highly others regard us as affiliates it can often work to our advantage.
If you’re a solid affiliate, other webmasters are going to be far, far more responsive to your requests for link exchanges or content offers in return for a link. This may sound like a pretty tame sort of benefit, but it’s so much easier to build a healthy list of contacts to chat and do link exchanges with if they already respect you because of the way you conduct yourself and the way you do business.
Imagine how easy it would be to get your new site off the ground if you knew that you could get at least 5 quality link exchanges from a few people on MSN or Skype? Now compare that to only having the option of posting comments on a bunch of random do-follow blogs or spinning a $10, 300 word article with your link in it and sending it out to a few hundred directories. I know which I would prefer!
But how can you change the way others regard you as an affiliate?
Easy. Put effort in to every thing you do and surround yourself with quality. Make genuinely useful and informative websites, post thoughtful replies on forums and don’t try to cut corners for the sake of small gains.
For example, I could write a piss poor 350 word article and send it to Randy in the hope that he posts it with my a link back to me. Sure, assuming Randy posts every article he receive I get the extra link regardless of how good the article is, but then my God-awful work is on show for everyone to see and to judge me upon. I bet it would be the last time any affiliate with a half decent site accepts an article from me in exchange for a link!
(I guess that this now means that I’m going to have to meticulously check through this article for spelling mistakes ha ha).
Putting 110% effort in to everything you do is a lot easier said than done, but I personally would not attempt do things any other way. I recommend you try doing to same thing.
Apologies for the length of this semi-informative rant, I only intended for it to be around 650 words but I guess I got a little carried away. I just want you all to remember that you are going to get judged for everything you put your name to, but then that doesn’t have to be a bad thing. Putting effort in to your work reaps more rewards than you may think.
So tell me, what are people going to think the next time they see your screen name?
This article was written by Greg Walker of ThePokerBank, which is a funky little Texas Hold em Poker website that aims to help players improve their game and subsequently also help them win money from Texas Hold’em. Enjoy!
Good advice, I wish I had read it 2 years ago.
It reminded me of how having a nich or name that is non-English can make it more difficult to build that trust with other webmasters, simply because they don’t understand it, and as a result have a hard time remembering it, in much the same way that a lot of people have a hard time remembering phone numbers but not names – Names make sense, phone numbers “don’t”.
For a long time I used my middle name as my nick, and actually got a decent good reputation on a couple of small poker forums – Unfortunately it is difficult to pronounce in English, which made it difficult for many people to remember it. Just take a look at these two names “Greg Walker” and “Eyvindur Tryggvi”. Unless you are from Iceland, you would probably start recognizing Greg long before Eyvindur.
While it certainly is possible to build a brand around a “weird” name or nickname, it will make the beginning more difficult, since the odds are stacked against you. There are people who have build very good reputations using names and nicks that are pretty weird, but most of them tend to be remarkable in one way or another.
Awesome post Greg.
Thanks guys, fwiw you are both on the “instant link exchange” list haha.
Unknown: Eyvindur is a pretty damn cool name. I can’t say I’m ever going to bump in to another Eyvindur Tryggvi in my lifetime. I do so your point though. I think that “non-English” names connote communication problems, which could be the reason behind initial trust issues.
Either way I believe that over time your true value shines through, regardless of how unique your name is.
I think this relates to programs as well. An affiliate who is constantly bashing and bitching daily about this that and the other is less apt to get the attention they may deserve from programs than someone who is, I guess you could say respectful.
Took me a bit to see that. Its not just how your peers view you it’s the community in general which includes the programs that your supposed to be working with.
Nice post Greg!