The MarketingSherpa delivered another great article today, this time about the eBay affiliate program. I have pulled out a few lines to discuss and relate them to my work. The basic precepts of successful affiliate management dovetail with the recommendations of eBay’s Lily Shen. In other words they are almost universally acknowledged to be what it takes to be successful in the affiliate market. In the early days of affiliate marketing a manager could rely on affiliate technology and the marketing power of the network they belonged to get the word out and grow the program. Now affiliate programs are a lot more “work”. But since work has gone a long way from being a dirty word, why not say it is an acknowledgement of this rapidly maturing online marketing niche. Read on:

“MarketingSherpa has heard anecdotal evidence from so-called ’super affiliates’ that eBay is one of the most respected programs out there. What puts eBay ahead of other merchants? We interviewed Shen to get her practical tips for merchants and affiliate managers:

o Persuade new and old affiliates to target specific categories in which eBay sees unexplored opportunities. “We may pursue people who already have a Web site in that area or [successful affiliates] who don’t but might be interested in building an additional Web site.”

For the entire article, click here.”