Billy Kay Bio

[Billy Kay]

Billy Kay - The Affiliate

Last summer, while cleaning out my files, I found my original DBA for The Mail Order Shoppe. It was dated September 7, 1989. It was filed in Beverly Hills, CA.

I immediately thought "20 years! Time to retire!"

So I did!

In those 20 years, I maintained 54 affiliate websites. Encompassing just about every business model - from product sites to coupon sites to rebate sites to niche sites to price comparison sites.

By trial and error - and tons of research - I found things that worked... and millions of things that didn't.

My business model was to surround myself with the best people in the industry, and learn from them... then try things out... test... test... test.

When something worked, I incorporated it into my sites... and tried to improve on it little by little.

The most important thing I learned is that a website is never "done"! It is always evolving.

Even something as simple as when I started in this business, everyone had desktop PCs, meaning they had square monitors. Nowadays, my stats tell me most of my visitors are on laptops, so I had to change all my sites dimensions to view best on long narrow laptop screens.

The 2nd most important lesson I've learned is to always cater to the customer - give them what they want and they'll return.

One of the early incarnations of my site was the color scheme of hunter green and wood brown - like a hunting lodge. A manly site!

My stats indicated that over 80% of my visitors were women, yet I forced them to go to a manly-man site.

The very first lecture I attended at my very first Affiliate Summit was a speaker telling us that different colors affect people in different ways, and women have preferences to certain colors (none of which were Hunter Green or Wood Paneling).

So even tho I thought at the time I had a completed website, I had to go back and change the color schemes to please MY demographics.

I've been very successful in affiliate marketing over the years. I eventually branched out to becoming a merchant and to consulting.

Debbie asked me if I'd share my knowledge here and I agreed (for reasons I'll get into at another time).

All My Best,
Billy Kay

[Billy Kay]

I've had many posts over the years on several affiliate forums, and they all had the same themes:

"This merchant doesn't get it"

"This Network doesn't get it"

"Here's a video of a bad affiliate stealing my commissions and nothing is being done"

LOL - My posts weren't as polite as they are now

There are sooooooooooooo many things in our industry that aren't fair that no one ever fixes, it drove me crazy - because they each cut into my bottom line.

There are only so many web surfers I will attract to my sites. There are only so many that will click thru to a merchant and make a purchase. Of those, I would actually like to get PAID on each one. I did my job. Pay me.

Some examples:

Cookie Durations: A merchant on Linkshare has a ZERO cookie duration! If a visitor wanted to order those little umbrellas you put in drinks, but waited until her husband got home from work that evening to confirm how many to order, I lost the commission!

Linkshare actually has a report that tells you how many sales you didn't get paid on due to cookie duration lapses. Page after page of non-pays was frustrating. I saw it as me doing all the work to give free money to the merchant.

The owner of this company has been in the Las Vegas papers recently. He's the largest whale (hi-roller) in Las Vegas' history. He lost $169 million dollars in a 3 month period to Harrahs and they're suing him for not paying a $14 million dollar marker.

Well, if "I" had millions of affiliates sending me free sales, I could be a whale too!!!

Commission Rates: Are so unfair. The turning point for me was selling a $1000 computer system at 2% commission (I earned 20 bucks). The same day I sold a $70 tie at $35% commission (I earned $24.50). I earn more on a men's tie then a computer???? Which will I probably sell more of???

A current example: I'm an authorized reseller for a merchant. I pay my affiliates 15% commissions. The actual manufacturer has their own affiliate program... and they pay FIVE PERCENT commissions!

How is it even possible that a reseller offers a higher commission then the actual manufacturer?

Bad Apples: The turning point for me was when Kellie Stevens of Affiliate Fair Play asked if she could use my website as an example for a session she was giving at an upcoming Affiliate Summit. Free publicity! Sure!!!!!

At the time, I was the photographer for Shawn and Missy and they told me to make sure I got shots of all the speakers. I entered Conference Room C just in time to see my website on a large screen TV... and a loyalty affiliate popping up and stealing my commission. I was so upset, I forgot to take Kellie's picture!!

At the same time, a major network had their Best Affiliate of the Year Award. Every year, within nano-seconds of announcing the winner, affiliates would document that the winner was using dirty tricks, and the Network would eventually rescind the award and claim to have fixed the problems. The following year they'd announce a winner/they were shown the use of dirty tricks/rescind the award... and repeat each year.

It became clear to me that even though it's called AFFILIATE marketing, affiliates were there just to be taken advantage of by all the other parties.

Debbie and I have known each other for eons, and we shared the same views on affiliate marketing. It's possibilities, and it's flaws.

We fought many public battles together trying to clean up the industry. Even when we won a battle and a bad apple was removed from a Network, there was a line of bad apples ready to take their place.

About two years ago she asked me if I'd become a merchant and she could run the affiliate program. We wanted to give fair commissions. Fair cookies. Fair policies in the Terms of Service. A manager with a NAME - as opposed to the generic email from the "team". Not allow parasites into the program. No CPA firms posing as affiliates. No reversals. (An affiliate's job is to drive the sale. If the merchant does something that causes a return or cancellation, the affiliate shouldn't be penalized for something outside of his control)

A merchant that understood the merchant, the Network and the affiliate were all EQUAL partners - none would survive without the other. No one would ever be just a number, just a click. Run it as a family.

Basically, knowing there were many affiliates that shared our ideas of what made a good merchant program... give these affiliates an opportunity to be PART of the program, not just the recipient of an automated email.

So we made a list of everything WE would want to see in a program, added suggestions from our friends... and I became a merchant.

Personalized gifts is not a huge niche - we will never be the next Wal-Mart, but I go to bed at night proud that we accomplished it. And when I get those emails from Shareasale saying "An affiliate transaction has taken place", I'm proud that it shows it works!

When I see WHO the affiliate was, I glow because it's always someone I know.

All My Best,
Billy

[TrishaLyn]

This thread should totally have been called "Billy Kay - The Man, The Myth, The Legend"

[PandaMarketer]

I'm with Trisha. This is an awesome bio!

[godbrick]

Billy Kay, you are an amazing man it seems. I found the bit of advice about a website never being finished and always evolving very helpful. It seems that it true not only for websites but everything in life. Thank you.