Hey everyone, I have what seems to be a problem with an obvious solution, but I want to have a discussion about it, and the options I could act on. I have a website, and I accept private sponsorship. The only sponsor I have so far is promoting a very relevant affiliate Ebook product that I myself at times promote and do very well with. I am currently running his ads sitewide in 3 locations which gives him plenty of exposure. I estimated (and he confirmed) that he is making around $800 / month, and I only charge him $200. The actual exposure he is supposed to get is about 1/3 or that which should result in around $266 revenue and $66 profit. So I could, and probably should: State a policy that I only accept sponsors promoting their own products. Politely end the contract and then engage the exact same campaign he is. That would quadruple my revenue instantly. I would like to discuss what other options I might have like: Increasing his fee to a reasonable profit level. Decreasing his exposure (but then I can't compete with the same affiliate/campaign. What do you think?
I think it depends upon who you consider this person to be to you. If their a jerk, I'd cut them off right away and wouldn't even bother. However, if you believe that their worth keeping and potentially setting them up in a situation to do work that you wouldn't want to do and increase your own rev, then that would definitely be something worth considering. Either way, whatever you decide to you do just make sure its not going to burn you in the end. Sometimes its good to see that someone's jumping on stuff like that because it shows incentive, which also means that they're looking to increase their bottom line. Just make sure your not burning any bridges and only extending them to increase your own
+1. Reminds me of some CPA network ripoffs... where they see you have a profitable campaign, clone your campaign and disable you from promoting the offer... Not cool.
Sounds like he knows what he is doing. Advertisers advertise to make money too. You didn't think it through at the start and he took the risk. Now he is making money you want to capitalize on his risk. Not really ethical. You owe the guy to keep your original deal... then do a better job of screening based on your own affiliate efforts for the new guys. Live and learn. At least your $200 is guarnteed.
In all fairness, the website owner should receive fair market value for the ad space. If the value of the ad placement goes up, it is only fair the price does too. Raising the asking price is an alternative. The website is responsible to live out the current contract or agreement, but when renewal time comes, it is not unethical to change the terms. In comparison, I can not lock in the price I pay for gas. I have to pay what the market worth dictates at the time of sale. "Godfathering" is not a term commonly used in business today.
I think you sound like a conflicted amateur. You haven't stated what the terms of your contract are, but you admittedly offer privately brokered placements for a fixed fee. You wrote the contract - fulfill it. What do you mean by this? are you giving him unsold inventory as a bonus - if so then very nice of you, don't complain about it. And I hope you don't think you can split up your ad space and assign equal ROI to all placements for the given vertical, it doesn't work that way. And if you are talking about his revenue / profit; as a traffic broker your only interest should be his continued satisfaction with your traffic - how much he makes off it is not to be held in contempt. If you want to adjust your pricing for future IO's, that is your prerogative. People will pay what the market can bare. You could have used the space for your own campaigns but chose to sell it off. And your buyer obviously has the talent to capitolize on the placements. Discussing the idea that you would consider kicking his ass out the door to rip his campaign shows a very weak business ethic.