Rob Berrisford.com

I have to confess I don’t spend much time on the forum (sorry Matt). I have most of the blogs on RSS and pop onto see if there are any new blogs knocking around.

When I do on occasion go on the forum, a large bulk of the comments seem to be giving stick to some of the networks/ merchants. I am not saying some people don’t deserve it but that is how it appears.

After a quick read about the “Next Situation”, I was thankful I didn’t work at a network any more.

I spent 9 “interesting” months at dgm and still have some good friends there, along with the dgm’ers that have moved to other networks. So I think I have a fairly good view of what life is like both sides of the fence.

I thought I would pop my thoughts on the advantages and disadvantages of both roles down.

Network

Advantages

Constant Wages – one of the main benefits of life network side is regular wages, these are there no matter what happens (within reason). An affiliates income can drop massively overnight through no fault of their own, though on the flip side it can increase overnight.

Infrastructure - I never thought I would miss the infrastructure of a network job, but it is quite comforting. With a board above you making decisions for you and peers watching your back it is easier to rest easy at night without checking your blackberry every 30 seconds.

Disadvantages

Abuse – It is actually quite difficult to do right when you work network side, well at least that is what it feels like some times. Affiliates will always direct their frustrations towards the network and network staff, sometimes wrongly.

During cases of commission drops, network staff will fight hard to stop this from happening because they know it will kill a program and they earn a % override so any drop in commission hits them in the pocket.

Then again I worked at dgm during dgm pro migration so I will never have great memories regarding speaking to most affiliates.

Bonus – Although senior network staff probably earn more than a good percentage of affiliates, their earnings will never be as closely tied to their productivity as an affiliate’s.

As an affiliate it is satisfying to see profits going into your pocket, as a network account manager it is sometimes frustrating to see it going into the CEOs.

Affiliate

Advantages

No Boss – This is still the case for 99% of affiliates, which is a nice thing, being in charge of your own destiny. Though there are some of us that are affiliate side and still have a boss (you wish Chris).

Flexible hours - Again this is still the case for 99% of affiliates, if you want to take the afternoon off, as long as I don’t have a meeting, it isn’t a problem.

Though it becomes more difficult when it comes to taking holiday, most affiliates can’t just swan off without looking in on things every day.

Competitors – I have never been in an industry where I got on so well with majority of my competitors. In my network days it was unheard of to talk to an account manager from another network. Now it is more common, but not as frequent as affiliate side.

Disadvantage

Unpredictable – Things change quickly online, and with no warning. Things like the Google quality score threatened to wipe out many of affiliates. Although this obviously affects the networks too, the staff are all on a wage, meaning that they will be alright for money at least in the short term.

Again this is only a quick post, it would be great to hear from affiliates and network staff alike.

In particular people who have sat both sides, Paddy? Duncan P?

What are the disadvantes of being an affiliate? Any more advantages? Network side? What do you think? Jess Nathan, you are always pestering me to update the blog yet i have never seen you post a comment.

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