identity
05-16-2006, 07:38 PM
I'm interested in getting some feedback on the idea of adding some kind of reporting function. There was a small bit of discussion before on this in another thread and I think it merits some exploration.
I've brought up the idea with Geo, but at the moment, I think they are swamped with other things, but also think they are uncertain of the interest in this or that an affiliate script of one flavor or another handles things already.
The actual specifics of what would/could be created remains open for discussion... my main focus is to test the waters of interest.
For sake of discussion, what I am envisioning is some way to output sales by members (or in total) for a timeframe (at least monthly) by group.
An affiliate script may be fine for an affiliate program... it relies on cookies that may or may not always be reliable, but then again, most people involved with affiliate programs are used to this and consider it part of the territory.
However, I think this is needed and would be valuable for moving beyond an affiliate program. What I'm talking about, and you can all let your own minds run with this, is more of a partnering or revenue share model.... serious partnering that could involve serious money, beyond the average affiliate program. Perhaps you negotiate with other businesses or organizations and assign them to a group, or you have your own sales people, etc., but in all cases, they get commission or revenue share based on sales reported under their group.
This goes beyond just slapping up a link somewhere or sending an email with a link. This is where others actual invest time, money, or advertising on a short term or long term basis... therefore, you can see why the idea of letting everything rest on a cookie may not be a real deal closer. What if someone follows their link and joins while at work. Sure the cookie gets set and they end up in the right group.... but when they actually place all their ads from their home computer, they end up in the right group, but no cookie, therefore, no commission.
Ideally, this should be integrated into the admin, but for now, I think either a standalone page or even a query to be run through phpmyadmin could be created, just change what is needed for the timeframe, and then output everything to Excel and handle everything there.
Right now, not even factoring in whether this could or would be available for all versions. If it was standalone, quite possibly I would assume.
So, what is the interest?
10 - absolute must, I'd even pay extra for this
5 - might be nice, I'd take it or leave it
0 - absolutely not, no need, no use, no way
and of course, share any additional thoughts or anything else.
I'd like to actually run this up the flagpole with Geo, at least if the results are favorable :wink:
I've brought up the idea with Geo, but at the moment, I think they are swamped with other things, but also think they are uncertain of the interest in this or that an affiliate script of one flavor or another handles things already.
The actual specifics of what would/could be created remains open for discussion... my main focus is to test the waters of interest.
For sake of discussion, what I am envisioning is some way to output sales by members (or in total) for a timeframe (at least monthly) by group.
An affiliate script may be fine for an affiliate program... it relies on cookies that may or may not always be reliable, but then again, most people involved with affiliate programs are used to this and consider it part of the territory.
However, I think this is needed and would be valuable for moving beyond an affiliate program. What I'm talking about, and you can all let your own minds run with this, is more of a partnering or revenue share model.... serious partnering that could involve serious money, beyond the average affiliate program. Perhaps you negotiate with other businesses or organizations and assign them to a group, or you have your own sales people, etc., but in all cases, they get commission or revenue share based on sales reported under their group.
This goes beyond just slapping up a link somewhere or sending an email with a link. This is where others actual invest time, money, or advertising on a short term or long term basis... therefore, you can see why the idea of letting everything rest on a cookie may not be a real deal closer. What if someone follows their link and joins while at work. Sure the cookie gets set and they end up in the right group.... but when they actually place all their ads from their home computer, they end up in the right group, but no cookie, therefore, no commission.
Ideally, this should be integrated into the admin, but for now, I think either a standalone page or even a query to be run through phpmyadmin could be created, just change what is needed for the timeframe, and then output everything to Excel and handle everything there.
Right now, not even factoring in whether this could or would be available for all versions. If it was standalone, quite possibly I would assume.
So, what is the interest?
10 - absolute must, I'd even pay extra for this
5 - might be nice, I'd take it or leave it
0 - absolutely not, no need, no use, no way
and of course, share any additional thoughts or anything else.
I'd like to actually run this up the flagpole with Geo, at least if the results are favorable :wink: