to serve mind

Having read the post at the following link will help before proceeding: http://toservemind.com/remembering-the-reason-why/

If one is to lend complete support to the people promoting one’s product, how does one do so without being perceived as a competitor of those promoters? This question does not suggest such competition is bad. It is simply an exercise in attempting to answer the question. Especially for those who, like myself,  want to pursue such a marketing environment where the benefits of promotion go entirely to the promoters.

A classic example of this is online with the affiliate management services of the information product transaction handler Clickbank. And no, this example isn’t about swapping “hop links” between affiliates. It is the fact that while a link may be used that includes affiliate information so an affiliate may receive a commission, a link may also be used with no connection to an affiliate, and hence no commission. So independent of an affiliate swapping “hot links” or not, what is still in play is the possibility of an affiliate doing much to promote a product and the prospect delaying the purchase until a day when they use a direct link with no affiliate-related information. In that scenario, the product owner reaps all of the benefit. And that is what the “longest least” marketing method attempts to address.

It really boils down to that moment in time when the prospect clicks on the PayPal “Buy Button”.  What merchant name is going to appear? The product owner or affiliate? (Note: in this scenario affiliate and reseller are synonymous and are rewarded (unlike Clickbank) with 100% commissions deposited directly into their PayPal account).  How does one insure it is always an affiliate?

In the distant past (6 years 😉 ) one would see things (gimmicks really) called “randomizers”. Where it was literally a “crap shoot” who would get the commission. But presenting what is really nothing more than a casino scenario does not provide enough incentive here. One could also try rewarding the top affiliates by collecting all non-affiliate related transactions into a pool and in some ceremonial fashion, distribute the performance-based rewards. But if you think about it, those affiliates will tend to be at the top anyway, given their competitive nature and leveraging their circumstance (list and marketing savvy). And without diverting here into the topic of “positive thinking”, it does nothing for those at the “bottom of the affiliate rung”.

So what if you could do something for those at the bottom? I’m not talking about “something for nothing”. I’m talking about a real algorithm that comes into play and considers those who have, for whatever reason, found themselves “at the bottom”? What if you could create a marketing environment for them to say look, even if you bust your butt marketing this product and wind up with one sale (if you’re “lucky”), you have a “fail safe mechanism” in play that should at least give you a good shot at another sale.

And that’s what is at the heart of the “longest least” marketing method. Let’s consider an example of using the “LL” (“longest least”) method to define who “gets the sale” when a link is “adrift” with no affiliate data attached. Imagine if you will (thanks again, Rod) a group of affiliates. Now order them in ascending order of sales per affiliate with the least number of sales at the top. Now imagine at the top a group of 5 affiliates that have had 3 sales each. Those are the affiliates with the “least” number of sales, right? Well, who amongst them gets the sale? Perhaps you’ve already guessed it. 😉 It’s the one that has been an affiliate the “longest”. Hence, the “longest least”: the affiliate with the least number of sales and the highest seniority. Once that affiliate gets the sale they of course are no longer part of the group of 5 affiliates at the top of the list, and hence no longer qualify as the next “LL” candidate. That title falls to the next affiliate in the (now) group of 4 that has been an affiliate the longest.

One can consider “longest least” marketing as a “bootstrap” method of helping those at the bottom of the “affiliate rung” get a “kick start” with little in the way of advertising expenditure in either money or time.

I know of no one who is doing this.

Until now. 😉 Instant Cash Rocket