[jbresee]

Hello,

I'm really psyched to have found this awesome resource. I'll try to be an active and useful member here.

Here's a quick bio...sorry I posted this in reponse to Haiko's thread as well:

BackcountryStore.com was founded in 1996 by Jim Holland-two time Olympic ski jumper-and John Bresee-former editor of Powder Magazine-with the purpose of providing winter adventure gear to the hard-core recreational athlete.

Holland and Bresee began the company without investment, intent on selling cool gear over the Web and found if the content is good the people will come. Nowadays it succeeds because of the hard work of Utah athletes who answer phone calls, e-mail and keep the company up to date with the latest gear.
BackcountryStore.com offers a wide array of the best gear on the planet: Avalanche safety, backpacking, camping, backcountry skiing, mountaineering and more all at competitive prices.

Currently BackcountryStore.com is expanding at a rapid pace with huge year over year gains and expansion into new categories. We will be hiring motivated gear fanatics to meet our growing needs.

We use the gear we sell.

[Gordon]

I don't doubt for one minute you are expanding at a rapid rate John, but my question is HOW and at whose expense?

This year I have sent you 652 targeted clicks, I had one sale for a good few thousand dollars that was instantly reversed. I have no complaints about this as your guy did say it came from Indonesia.
But as far as the rest go, nill sales from 652 visitors tells me either you are not much good at converting hits to sales or somewhere along the line the CJ. tracking question rises its ugly head again.

It doesn't seem to matter if you pay 50% comish or $1.00 per sale, non = non whichever way you look at it.

Do you have any feasiable explanation why so many hits converts to so few sales?

BTW. Welcome to Abestweb John, I am sure you will learn a lot here.
Another BTW. Are you related to GlobalSports.com? If not I will change all my SportsChalet.com links but I need to know how you will convert first.

[ 05-02-2002: Message edited by: Gordon ]

[ 05-02-2002: Message edited by: Gordon ]

[Cedric]

John, Welcome!

I recently signed up for BackcountryStore, but it's not really my area of expertise -- are you willing to provide some info on top sellers? That would be a big assist to people like me who rarely go outdoors. /infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif

[jbresee]

Yeah, I would be happy to. Also, Bryan will be logging in here soon and he is our affiliate guru.

Any Oakley product, but specifically sunglasses are huge sellers. But they also draw tremendous fraud.

Your next best bet might be to look at The North Face. That stuff sells all day long. The North Face Denali jacket is a tremendous seller.

Thanks for joining our program. Please let us know if you have any problems.

Thanks, John

[jbresee]

Gordon,

As you can see from our EPC that you are getting subpar results. Could be any of bunch of reasons. If you give me some data I can try to figure it out.

What is the average conversion with other merchants you work with?

What's your url? I'd love to take a look and see what might be causing the problem.

Where is your traffic coming from? We focus on high-end outdoor gear. We really target the best stuff made for serious outdoor athletes.

The affiliates we have that do the best are able to send traffic that is along those lines.

Maybe it's a tracking issue but it might also be a targetting issue. If we get to 2,000 clicks with no sales then it's in both of our best interests to look elsewhere. It hurts our EPC when we have non-performing affiliates and it hurts your bottom line. We want this to work for both of us. I'd be happy to work with you however I can to make things go better.

Our conversion has been solid and growing for a while now. We will be releasing a new ecommerce platform soon that should really rock our conversion.

Thanks,

John

[Gordon]

John.
Take a look at my site by all means. BackpackingMall (http://www.backpackingmall.com) I am always open to improvement suggestions. As for the average conversion rates, GlobalSports.com says it all. Two years ago when I first started I was getting a good conversion rate now it is pathetic, it has gone lower and lower until now it is almost zero. I use a couple of other merchants outside of globalsports that convert fairly well but they do not have the type of stuff I am looking for, it seems globalsports have some kind of momopoly over sports equipment.

I look forward to your reply

[jbresee]

Gordon,

Bryan our affiliate manager is reviewing your site and will give you some feedback. I think the site looks great. It should definitely convert, but Bryan will probably have more specific advice. Keep the faith.

Thanks,

John

[Gordon]

OK John,
I will hang in there, thanks for your help. I look forward to seeing what Brian has to say.

[iucpxleps]

Hi John,

I'm interested in your program but some odd reason that I dont remember now I'm being rejected by backcountrystore. I'd be happy i f you can check it again and tell me why and hopefully accept me in /infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif

[jbresee]

iucpxleps,

We'd be happy to review you again. Can you post your url or company name?

The problem with applications is they don't really include enough info. Sometimes new sites get dinged because they haven't finished construction and there is no way for them to communicated what they are doing.

Or sometimes we just screw up. Do you feel your traffic is targeted toward our outdoor enthusiast market?

If so, could be a good match. Let me know and I'll get right on it.

Thanks a lot for talking to us,

John

[Haiko de Poel, Jr.]

John,

FYI - many affiliates will not post their sites because others may (and some have) copy them. It is preferrable to Private Message (PM) the information as it is 100% secure and private between the respective parties.

To view your PMS click on "my profile" (up top) and to send one click http://www.abestweb.com/ubb/priv_message.gif

Haiko

[canfree]

Gordon: In the Last Year ( over Winter)
900 clicks 5 SAles.

[iucpxleps]

Hi John,

I'm PMing you the necessary info about my site, btw I'll target my site after I join your program /infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif

[webmarm]

I've had a North Face sleeping bag for 17 years. Love it.

[Bryan Rhodes]

Cedric,

First of all, get outside. You'll like it! To answer your question,

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Cedric:
I recently signed up for BackcountryStore, but it's not really my area of expertise -- are you willing to provide some info on top sellers? That would be a big assist to people like me who rarely go outdoors. /infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Check out the new thread, "Bestsellers for Spring 2002"

[Cedric]

>>First of all, get outside. You'll like it!

You haven't spent a lot of time in Tampa, have you? /infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif

[Bryan Rhodes]

/infopop/emoticons/icon_frown.gif

Sorry, didn't realize you were in Florida. I've never been to Tampa, but I spent a month in Ft. Lauderdale fixing a sailboat. Couldn't wait to get out of there.

[Cedric]

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Florida and wouldn't live anywhere else -- it's Tampa I despise. A failed living experiment I intend to rectify by late this year/early next.

[Gordon]

John
Before I start to change my links could you tell me where you stand on this subject please. Please take a look at this http://www.abestweb.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=21&t=000089 and let me know.

[fixed link]

[ 05-05-2002: Message edited by: Haiko ]

[Haiko de Poel, Jr.]

Gordon,

John publicly asked for more info in the other thread in the ParasiteWare forum and I immediately called him, while I was on the phone with him he dropped Morpheus/buyersport, we talked a bit and I was impressed with them/him ... I opened this forum for them et voila.

John and Bryan want to help us make more!

Haiko

[Gordon]

That's good enough for me Haiko, thanks, I will start changing the links tomorrow.

[marinbob]

I just joined, but I have to say that the thing that really bothers me from an affiliate's POV is the prominent display of the 800 number at the top of every page. That's a huge drawback, so I'm not sure I'll really push this merchant. I'll do something, but probably only dip a toe in the water to see how it goes.

[Bryan Rhodes]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by go60guy:
I just joined, but I have to say that the thing that really bothers me from an affiliate's POV is the prominent display of the 800 number at the top of every page. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Regarding the 800 number,
With the technical gear that we sell, people have a lot of questions that we can best answer over the phone. We do take phone orders, but people usually call looking for information, not to place an order. We've recently started a "Live Help" chat that has reduced phone calls even further. And when a phone order is placed our customer service reps ask "How did you hear about us?" If it's through an affiliate site, I credit the sale in CJ through a manual transaction. I know it's not a perfect system and understand your hesitation, but our longtime affiliates have been happy with our program. I hope you'll do a little more than "dip a toe in the water." I'd be happy to review your website and recommend products and banners that match your target viewers.

Thanks for joining our Affiliate Program.

[ 05-06-2002: Message edited by: Bryan Rhodes ]