Who are these people that say they will pay you money? Most of us would be pretty lost in this business if it weren’t for sponsors.

"Remember that flowery promises and fancy design aren't a replacement for honest-to-goodness paychecks."

It seems like there is a natural order to the evolution of online adult. We go from newbie, to affiliate webmaster and many of us strive to make it to the level of at least paysite owner and perhaps even affiliate program owner. The goal for all of us is to become self-sustaining entities.

Just the same, the majority of us will make the majority of our incomes by selling the products and paysites offered through our sponsors. It’s pretty good setup really. We don’t have to buy anything. We don’t have to gas up the car or go shopping for a sturdy pair of shoes. All we need is a computer, an Internet connection, a little knowledge of HTML, a website and a sponsor. Well, that’s almost all we need.

Before you go off wasting bandwidth take a little time to get to know your adult affiliate sponsor.

First of all, where did you find your sponsor? Were they the first result you found on Google? Did you receive an advertisement for your sponsor in an unsolicited email? Did you hear about them from a friend of a friend? Maybe your desired sponsor had the flashiest banner. Wherever you found them did you take the time to look around for other similar sponsors? Did you visit the webmaster resource sites like Cozy Frog?

Second, why did you choose this particular sponsor? Were they offering the highest payouts? Did you join because of their free content for affiliates? Were they attractive because that sponsor had a famous name or the best looking webmaster pages? Did you ask your fellow webmaster’s opinions on your intended sponsor? Do you believe that this proposed sponsor has the kind of sites or services that will fit the personality of your traffic?

Thirdly, now that you feel you’ve got the right sponsor for your needs, are you sure? Have you taken the time to fully read and comprehend their affiliate Terms of Service? Do they have a FAQ page? If your question isn’t listed on the FAQ or help section, can you find a phone number, ICQ number or email address you can use to contact them? Have you tried to contact them? Do they answer?

We’re all basically in the advertising business and affiliate sponsors are no different. They all have webmaster pages that contain swell looking graphics and textual promises designed to make you join up. They all claim that their sites and their services convert. They all claim to have the best payout system. They all say, “You can trust us.”

Just remember that flowery promises and fancy design aren’t a replacement for honest-to-goodness paychecks. If you ask other webmasters on a message board about a certain sponsor, and 75% of the responses are negative, maybe you should heed the warning. If you have searched your sponsor’s page for a simple contact phone number or mailing address with no luck, take that as a bad sign. If you’ve talked on the phone to a sales rep and gotten the feeling that you know more than the rep does, consider it an omen.

Good sponsors run their businesses both responsibly and professionally. Good sponsors explain their programs and rules on easy-to-locate pages. Good sponsors want to you to call them on the phone and ask for assistance selling their stuff. Good sponsors are out in the open. They don’t have to hide behind killer layouts and extraordinary claims.

Here’s a tip from Tit:

If your sponsor lists a phone number and you can afford the call, then drop the dime and do so. If they list an ICQ UIN them get them on your list and get to the questions. If all they offer is an email contact, see how long it takes them to reply to your introductory missive. When you got them, ask them the questions you have about their program. Tell them the methods you want to employ to sell their sites or services. If they answer your questions, good. If they give you additional suggestions, even better. If they ignore you or treat you like crap, run.