By: Raymond Hackney
Quick Chat with Caroline Temple
Today I am chatting with Caroline Temple who is one of the nicest and smartest people you will meet in the domain industry.
Caroline heads up the Affiliate Marketing department at Name.com ( an advertiser on Hybrid Domainer).
I wanted Caroline to give us a look into the Name.com affiliate program and how domainers and webmasters alike, can earn money with the program.
1)Tell us a little bit about the Name.com affiliate program Caroline, things such as cookie life and the % affiliates can hope to earn with the Name.com affiliate program ?
Name.com affiliates enjoy a 30 day cookie life, 15% commission on most products, customizable reporting, monthly payments, and a real live human being for support. That's the general rule, but we are starting to have fun with the program with unannounced bonuses and new offers. For example, last month we ran a special bonus for our affiliates sending qualified traffic. The goal was to reward and incentivize our affiliates for reaching new bench marks in the amount of conversions they received. It was out of the blue and we'll do it again. As far as offers go we just released a special offer that allows your referrals to search for a domain right from the banner. They are then directed to a page with the domain pre-populated in the cart. This offer is already beating some of our former conversion rates! Later in April, we plan to release a limited time offer on our new RapidPress product. This one will offer around a 66% commission for each RapidPress sale! (by the way – RapidPress is our 1-click install WordPress hosting)
2) How long has Name.com been offering their affiliate program and how many affiliates do you currently have ?
Can you believe our Name.com Affiliate Program has been around since 2010! It started with a very simple beta version and has been through a lot of changes since then. Originally, the work was outsourced. Mid 2011, we realized with a Name.com team member dedicating part of their day, we could really develop the program's potential. That's where I started the long road of recruiting and developing the program. We now have an official Name.com Affiliate Program Page, multiple offers, an official AffiliateBlog with resources for online and affiliate marketing, and even a Name.com Affiliate Twitter with general affiliate tips and news as well as program announcements. To date we have not used an affiliate network and organically are enrolling 20-30 new affiliates each week.
3) Since Go Daddy dominates the domain industry and has a wildly popular affiliate program, can you give us some areas where Name.com may be more advantageous to the affiliate marketer ?
Certainly, we pay attention to the market in terms of our competitors' affiliate programs, but have focused more on what our affiliate needs rather than how we can one up our competition. Ironically, maybe that is our advantage!
I've found success by catering to the affiliates' specific website and audience. The Name.com website appeals to our target audience, but the website of the affiliates may have a different audience. I work to understand the specific audience for a given affiliate and help them increase their conversions. This can be through tips on placement of banners or text links, supplying information for Name.com specific blog posts, or even helping to create new banners that speak to their audience. We have chosen to be dedicated and tailor specifically to different types of affiliates unlike a giant program like GoDaddy. I work to keep you motivated in your web presence – because honestly – if you're getting more traffic, you're happier and we're happier too with the increase in conversions! In short, we hope to develop mutually beneficial relationships with our affiliates. Even if that means going outside of our basic offers.
4) How is customer support for affiliates ? Do they have an account manager, is support limited to just email or is there a person available to speak to if needed ?
We provide as much support as possible for our affiliates. Upon joining the program, each affiliate is assigned an account manager and provided with resources for keeping in touch. Most support is handled via email – it seems everyone is shy on the phone these days – but there is also phone support. I believe that support is not restricted to when you need something, so I provided extra resources for education. Our Name.com Affiliate Twitter and Name.com AffiliateBlog are additional resources that proactively support you as you develop your web presence.
No matter if you choose to go through your account manager or Name.com support or our additional resources- we'll work to get you what you need.
email: affiliates@name.com
phone: 720.249.2374
blog: http://affiliateblog.name.com
twitter: http://www.twitter.com/namedotcom_aff
