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Casual Articles - Interview with Lily Shen - Senior Manager of eBay's U.S. Affiliate Program
I was fortunate enough to spend a weekend in Monte Carlo recently and being surrounded by the luxury yachts and other symbols of extreme wealth got me thinking about retirement :-)Ok, I know, I am far too young to retire but one day I may well have had enough of working online (or indeed working!) and may want to sell my website businesses and of course, this is the case for any other business owner.Which brings me to the subject of this article - the ideal time to think about selling your business (and this applies to an online business as well as offline) is long before you actually want to sell it. Preparing a business for sale is not as straight-forward as you may first think, especially if you want to get the best price possible. A business that has been set up in a formal and structured way, with specific operating procedures etc in place is always going to be more attractive to a potential buyer than one which is run on a more 'informal' basis.Usually the easiest time to put these structures and procedures in place is when the business is first set up - of course, you can always add to them as the business develops and grows but a bit of time spent on this area in the beginning will pay huge dividends later on.One of the biggest problems tha
Shawn: So is that available to all affiliates or just a select group of affiliates?
Lily: This is currently invite-only.
Shawn: OK. Gotcha. As far as engaging the eBay affiliate community, are you using any kind of Web 2.0 methods for communication or have any events or any kinds of things to get in touch with the affiliates and keep in contact?
Lily: Yeah, absolutely. We have a dedicated team of account managers both here at eBay and on the Commission Junction side, and we m
Have you ever heard the phrase, 'PREPONDERANCE OF PROOF'?I recently heard it to describe a situation where a person was backed up against a wall (legally speaking) and needed a way out of the mess.The legal guy came in and said, 'I feel we may win this case'. The defendant was furious with his lawyers. I want you to have an abundance, a 'preponderance of proof' so that we bury them in evidence. I want them to 'surrender' because of the unending proof we can give them!That real life example helps to reinforce the fact that generally we're a nation of sceptics.But, if someone was able to win us over, with just amazing proof, reasons and credibility to back up what they say, we'd be pretty much sold on whatever they were trying to persuade us with.To illustrate things, let's say were planning on selling our car and we want to give the prospective buyer enough evidence to buy from us.The question is "what can we include in our written communication that'll help cement a sale?"How about we start with...Photocopies of the logbook that details the full service history. Then, we could send ...A copy of a Tax disc that has been fully paid up for a year. And, what about...Photographs of where you've been on holid
Lily Shen: Thanks, Shawn. I'm definitely excited to speak with you and definitely look forward to sharing some more information. We have a lot of exciting things going on, so, yeah, definitely looking forward to it.
Shawn: Great. One thing that I am curious about it, if you could let me know and the rest of the audience, what sets eBay's Affiliate Program apart from the other affiliate programs that are out there?
Lily: Sure. I can't really speak for other affiliate programs per se, but I do have to say that the eBay Affiliate Program offers a really competitive payout, very easy to use tools, and the unparalleled breadth and depth of products that are currently on eBay.
In terms of our compensation today, we pay out on both ACRUs, what we call Active Nearly Registered Users, and we pay anywhere from $12 to $22. We also pay on the rev share side anywhere from 40 to 65 percent of revenues generated to eBay buyer affiliates, and that launched just late last year and it's proven to be very successful for many of our publishers.
In terms of the marketplaces, we have an amazing breadth and depth of products with over 50, 000 categories, and even just in Q3 we had 584 million new listings added to eBay worldwide. We also have a global presence in over 33 markets with users from every country around the world, so we definitely provide a great playground for our affiliates and our publishers to be successful.
Shawn: Great, sounds fantastic. Can you tell me a little more about some of the tools and resources that eBay has innovated to help affiliates to succeed?
Lily: Yeah, absolutely. We actually have a dedicated team here just looking at products, tools, and infrastructure for the eBay Affiliate Program. We have a number of tools that our affiliates employ to really get them up and running quickly.
To start, we have a flexible destination tool which instantly allows affiliates to create trackable affiliate links to any eBay URL. We just this year launched an RSS feed generator that obviously creates RSS feeds that include affiliate links. We offer free APIs for our affiliates, and just a couple of months ago we launched an API plug-in tool that allows affiliates to conduct some research and become more familiar with eBay's API data in Excel.
We also have hub pages, very vibrant discussion boards, and community newsletters et cetera. I don't know if you are aware of this, but we are actually looking to launch in probably the first half of 2007 a product called AdContext, which is a contextual advertising product that will allow affiliates and our publishers to basically take some code and put the product on the site, and we'll essentially call the content from the site and surface up the most listings that will help our affiliates be most effective. We're currently in beta mode at the moment.
Shawn: So is that available to all affiliates or just a select group of affiliates?
Lily: This is currently invite-only.
Shawn: OK. Gotcha. As far as engaging the eBay affiliate community, are you using any kind of Web 2.0 methods for communication or have any events or any kinds of things to get in touch with the affiliates and keep in contact?
Lily: Yeah, absolutely. We have a dedicated team of account managers both here at eBay and on the Commission Junction side, and we ma
Franchise business is being part of a successfully proven business that has a name or trademark that is well known and profitable. Franchise businesses are strategically tried and marketable with options to expand by offering products and services that appeal to the consumer. Having to make the decision on which franchise business to buy can be challenging. Franchise business consultants can offer assistance to evaluate current franchise opportunities with valued insight. A franchise business consultant may also be able to offer assistance to the business owner who wants to make a current business franchisable.Franchise businesses encompass many industries, offering variety of products and services. Before making a final decision in purchasing a franchise, evaluating skills and experience is a good idea in determining the right industry to indulge in. Is there a demand in the economy for these products and services? What kind of competition is out there? Is the franchise business a successful and reputable company? There are many questions to ask and answer before coming to a final decision on franchise businesses. Talking to a franchise business consultant will help with determining factors on what franchise businesses are the best to invest in.One of the drawb
Lily: Sure. I can't really speak for other affiliate programs per se, but I do have to say that the eBay Affiliate Program offers a really competitive payout, very easy to use tools, and the unparalleled breadth and depth of products that are currently on eBay.
In terms of our compensation today, we pay out on both ACRUs, what we call Active Nearly Registered Users, and we pay anywhere from $12 to $22. We also pay on the rev share side anywhere from 40 to 65 percent of revenues generated to eBay buyer affiliates, and that launched just late last year and it's proven to be very successful for many of our publishers.
In terms of the marketplaces, we have an amazing breadth and depth of products with over 50, 000 categories, and even just in Q3 we had 584 million new listings added to eBay worldwide. We also have a global presence in over 33 markets with users from every country around the world, so we definitely provide a great playground for our affiliates and our publishers to be successful.
Shawn: Great, sounds fantastic. Can you tell me a little more about some of the tools and resources that eBay has innovated to help affiliates to succeed?
Lily: Yeah, absolutely. We actually have a dedicated team here just looking at products, tools, and infrastructure for the eBay Affiliate Program. We have a number of tools that our affiliates employ to really get them up and running quickly.
To start, we have a flexible destination tool which instantly allows affiliates to create trackable affiliate links to any eBay URL. We just this year launched an RSS feed generator that obviously creates RSS feeds that include affiliate links. We offer free APIs for our affiliates, and just a couple of months ago we launched an API plug-in tool that allows affiliates to conduct some research and become more familiar with eBay's API data in Excel.
We also have hub pages, very vibrant discussion boards, and community newsletters et cetera. I don't know if you are aware of this, but we are actually looking to launch in probably the first half of 2007 a product called AdContext, which is a contextual advertising product that will allow affiliates and our publishers to basically take some code and put the product on the site, and we'll essentially call the content from the site and surface up the most listings that will help our affiliates be most effective. We're currently in beta mode at the moment.
Shawn: So is that available to all affiliates or just a select group of affiliates?
Lily: This is currently invite-only.
Shawn: OK. Gotcha. As far as engaging the eBay affiliate community, are you using any kind of Web 2.0 methods for communication or have any events or any kinds of things to get in touch with the affiliates and keep in contact?
Lily: Yeah, absolutely. We have a dedicated team of account managers both here at eBay and on the Commission Junction side, and we m
The senior flight attendant on the WestJet flight was starting the routine safety talk: the bit about flotation vests and emergency exits that we ignore at the beginning of every flight.“If we could have your attention, please, we would appreciate it - in fact we’d be downright shocked,” she said. The passengers and the rest of the crew laughed along with her and then, having captured our attention, she went on with her instructions.That event, on my second flight with the airline, may have been the point when I became a fan of this upstart, discount carrier. The flight attendant’s small joke was just one of many good-spirited remarks I heard from station staff and cabin crews.Guess what? I like travelling with people who enjoy their work. And that point is made, too, by Lance Secretan in an IndustryWeek article (May 15, 2000) that argues employees should be treated as well as customers.Using Southwest Airlines as his example (and WestJet modeled itself on Southwest), Secretan says management needs to put the same commitment and resources into internal marketing to employees that it puts into external marketing to customers.That’s not an unreasonable idea, considering that companies sometimes have to fight harder to get and keep good employe
Shawn: Great, sounds fantastic. Can you tell me a little more about some of the tools and resources that eBay has innovated to help affiliates to succeed?
Lily: Yeah, absolutely. We actually have a dedicated team here just looking at products, tools, and infrastructure for the eBay Affiliate Program. We have a number of tools that our affiliates employ to really get them up and running quickly.
To start, we have a flexible destination tool which instantly allows affiliates to create trackable affiliate links to any eBay URL. We just this year launched an RSS feed generator that obviously creates RSS feeds that include affiliate links. We offer free APIs for our affiliates, and just a couple of months ago we launched an API plug-in tool that allows affiliates to conduct some research and become more familiar with eBay's API data in Excel.
We also have hub pages, very vibrant discussion boards, and community newsletters et cetera. I don't know if you are aware of this, but we are actually looking to launch in probably the first half of 2007 a product called AdContext, which is a contextual advertising product that will allow affiliates and our publishers to basically take some code and put the product on the site, and we'll essentially call the content from the site and surface up the most listings that will help our affiliates be most effective. We're currently in beta mode at the moment.
Shawn: So is that available to all affiliates or just a select group of affiliates?
Lily: This is currently invite-only.
Shawn: OK. Gotcha. As far as engaging the eBay affiliate community, are you using any kind of Web 2.0 methods for communication or have any events or any kinds of things to get in touch with the affiliates and keep in contact?
Lily: Yeah, absolutely. We have a dedicated team of account managers both here at eBay and on the Commission Junction side, and we m
Recently I was talking with Fred, a new manager, who said he couldn't win for losing. When he delegated and checked up, his employees would get annoyed, stubborn, and resistant, claiming he was micro-managing. If I don't check, he said, they don't do it. In either case, I'm not getting what I need, and what our clients need. Clients are complaining and my manager thinks I'm not producing.When we looked at a specific example, the problem started to get real clear.Upper management had asked for an upgrade for an existing service. They wanted additional features, requiring new technology. The technology was common in the industry, and should have been easily implemented. Implementation was slated for the end of the quarter, an easy 3 month project.In the past, Fred would have delegated it to the appropriate junior employee, then checked in regularly, like a couple of times a week, to see if it was done. His employees were understandably annoyed. They hadn't had time to source a vendor, let alone implement any changes before he was asking if they had finished.So, this time, Fred delegated the task to Grant, told him when to be done, and then didn't mention it, except in the weekly staff meetings. Each week
We also have hub pages, very vibrant discussion boards, and community newsletters et cetera. I don't know if you are aware of this, but we are actually looking to launch in probably the first half of 2007 a product called AdContext, which is a contextual advertising product that will allow affiliates and our publishers to basically take some code and put the product on the site, and we'll essentially call the content from the site and surface up the most listings that will help our affiliates be most effective. We're currently in beta mode at the moment.
Shawn: So is that available to all affiliates or just a select group of affiliates?
Lily: This is currently invite-only.
Shawn: OK. Gotcha. As far as engaging the eBay affiliate community, are you using any kind of Web 2.0 methods for communication or have any events or any kinds of things to get in touch with the affiliates and keep in contact?
Lily: Yeah, absolutely. We have a dedicated team of account managers both here at eBay and on the Commission Junction side, and we m
Document shredding. Document Shredder. Paper Protection. You must have frequently heard such terms thrown about on the subject of document security and destruction and you are wondering just what the big deal is anyway about paper shredding. You have never done it before and you don’t see why you should either. Paper shredders and their ilk, shredding methods like centre line document shredding, Carleton document shredding and others are just an unnecessary expense. Or so you think. Well, think again!In an era that’s becoming increasingly marked by a proliferation of information, the competitive advantages that an individual or a business entity enjoys today could so easily vanish tomorrow should this information be lax in being protected, i.e. no document protection either real or virtual. Each day newspapers are abound with cases of identity thefts and the subsequent damages caused purely because sensitive documents were not protected. Several cases of bank fraud and credit card misuse are resultant incidents purely because somebody somewhere did not take enough care to protect vital information. Forget shredding techniques like centre line document shredding and concord document shredding, many corporate executives and business entities alike are even unaware of the
Shawn: So is that available to all affiliates or just a select group of affiliates?
Lily: This is currently invite-only.
Shawn: OK. Gotcha. As far as engaging the eBay affiliate community, are you using any kind of Web 2.0 methods for communication or have any events or any kinds of things to get in touch with the affiliates and keep in contact?
Lily: Yeah, absolutely. We have a dedicated team of account managers both here at eBay and on the Commission Junction side, and we manage many, many of our top accounts. We actually do have a monthly newsletter that goes out that provides best practices, trends, product information to our publishers. As I mentioned before, we have very active discussion boards, and we also hold an annual invite-only affiliate summit for our top publishers, and we run this in parallel with our developer's conference. This year we are looking to build that out even more and have an affiliate track at the developer's conference, too.
In addition to that, we have very comprehensive pages on the affiliate site that provides best practices for our affiliates who are really looking to pursue almost any type of business model. We are always looking for new ways to share information and allow affiliates to really communicate with each other as well.
The community is really the bread and butter of eBay's business, and that is absolutely the same thing for eBay's affiliate community. We feel that it is really important that we develop the relationships with them directly and learn from them.
Shawn: Great. As far as the different types of affiliates, there are so many types of affiliates out there, is there a particular kind of affiliate that is usually more successful with your affiliate program?
Lily: I wouldn't say it depends on a business model, per se. We have a very diverse portfolio of affiliates ranging from content and portals and SEO, shopping comparison sites. We have auction tools, loyalty incentive affiliates and obviously paid search affiliates.
We found what makes most affiliates successful is less about the model they engage, as a matter of fact many of them employ multiple models, but what really determines there success is there level of dedication to innovating: finding new things and really optimizing what works. The space is constantly changing as well as the marketplace, so we find that those who are really dedicated to it find huge success in it.
Shawn: Great. For affiliates from the newbies up to the experienced ones, do you have any particular tips and tricks to help them maximize their revenue with the affiliate program?
Lily: Yes. We really encourage our affiliates to always think about the end customer and stay abreast of not only industry trends but also product trends. Obviously for this holiday season it would be the PS3, Wii, the Xbox, etc. Some new top affiliates just this past month have solely built sites around these products and have simply turned the traffic to eBay. That's pretty interesting. We really encourage our affiliates to keep on top of that. I would say it's really tough to try new things and to really optimize space on the results that you see in the data that we provide you. A lot of our affiliates have been successful that way.
Shawn: OK. I know you have affiliate teams all around the world. Do you have any tips for affiliates that want to expand beyond the US borders as an affiliate?
Lily: Yes. We hav
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