Not exactly. If you are going to run a successful affiliate program, it is vital that you build internal support and it comes down to three basic tenets: activate, educate, and organize.

Activate program Before you can manage your program, it has to exist. Your first move should be to make fast friends with IT folks. They've got a lot of stuff on their plate, so if you hope to get proper attention during implementation process and after program has gone live, you'd better have an in with them.

They're people just like you and me… they get hungry in middle of day. So offer to take them out to lunch to discuss your technical needs. You know how Milton Friedman said there is no such thing as a free lunch? Well that's not strictly true, especially when you're trying to get your program up and running.

You will also want to establish a rapport with finance department. After all, they are going to be cutting checks to pay your affiliates. Whether it is asked of you or not, create an aggressive budget that covers commissions, service provider fees, education and marketing for your program. The finance crew does not like surprises.

And write up a detailed plan with short and long term goals for your program. Just how are you going to produce all of those amazing results? What methods will you be using to market your program and acquire new affiliates? If you want VP of Marketing to take your program seriously, they have to be able to take you seriously.

Educate yourself and your co-workers Odds are that majority of people in your office do not have a clue about affiliate marketing. By way, how much do you know? One of best ways to learn about your affiliates is to become one yourself.

The plain fact is that very few affiliate managers are bothering with majority of their affiliates. According to findings by affiliate metrix, top reason why affiliate managers neglect their affiliates is a lack of time. Affiliate managers do not plan to fail, rather they fail to plan. A little time management can translate into a lot of longevity for an affiliate program.

Who are your affiliates? The super affiliates are a finite group. You are already communicating with them, but you've got to shift your paradigm a bit and fit in ample time for others, that critical mass of producers that will be with you from month to month. If you step one rung below super affiliates, you've got Up-and-Comers: targeted sites that do well enough with your program to generate multiple checks each year. With a little help, they could be next big thing in your program.

Also, you've got a large segment of Onesies: low traffic and low revenue sites that will earn one (maybe) check from you per year, hence their name. And lastly, you've got one's to avoid… Untouchables: banner farmers, under construction sites, no focus, no content, and no traffic sites.

Time can be on your side Sure, we all have time constraints, which results in our inevitable focus on building and maintaining relationships with our super affiliates. However, it's easy enough to create shortcuts for yourself, so that you can service all affiliates, without neglecting top affiliates.

One habit of successful affiliate managers is to compile canned answers to frequently asked questions of their affiliates. Yes, these questions should be answered in your FAQ (frequently asked questions document), but if affiliates are asking you, they obviously do not know answer.

Every time an affiliate asks a question, write out a thoughtful answer to that affiliate. But never re-write same answer twice. Instead, create a file in Notepad where you will house all of your eloquent answers. Save file to your Desktop, and next time you are asked a banal question about your program, don't hit delete button, hit your answer page, copy answer, and shoot it off to affiliate.

For starters, answer following questions on your answer page: