Welcome to the Meet the IA Team series, where our team shares their tips, tricks and resources that help them complete daily tasks, stay organised, increase productivity and meet their goals.

Chris reflects on his first year on the Income Access team

What is one tip you would give a new affiliate manager?

Find a way that works for you to be organised, or you’ll lose track of all the little pieces that make up the big puzzle of affiliate marketing!

The best way to do this is to employ your standard organisational tools – lists, brainstorming, calendar segments, etc. The key as an affiliate manager is to use these tools systematically and consistently to make sure that nothing falls through the cracks! I have to make sure that my schedule and priorities take into account the needs of affiliates and our clients, which is a delicate balance.

What is one thing that you wish someone had told you on your first day of training for this job?

Just how big of a world affiliate marketing really is!

I had expected the affiliate channel for most brands to be relatively small, probably because a lot of affiliate marketing activities happen behind the scenes so you don’t necessarily see them. It was exciting to realize that the affiliate channel is actually pretty huge and influential – a lot of companies and brands, especially in the iGaming industry, make quite a lot of revenue from it. It’s an international channel that is used worldwide – the amount of data being transferred on a daily basis is huge.

What skills have you developed during your time as an affiliate manager for Income Access?

I think the most important skills I’ve developed in order to do my job well are multitasking, time management and negotiation.

Multitasking

Multitasking really depends on staying organised, like I mentioned earlier. It takes time to figure out how to do it effectively because you need to understand the needs of your clients and affiliates well enough to carefully prioritize your tasks.

Time management

Time management is incredibly important because you need to be able to anticipate not only what your clients need, but how urgently they need it! I’ve found that as I’ve developed better relationships with clients and affiliates this becomes easier because they’ve given me insight into the driving factors behind their day-to-day activities – the goals of their brands, the demands of their superiors, how they measure success, etc.

Negotiation

Negotiation has probably been the most important skill I’ve had to learn on this job, because it is a part of nearly everything we do on the affiliate team. Every day I have at least one issue to negotiate, whether it be the timeline for a task or the delivery date for a small project. My role as an affiliate manager is to negotiate with affiliates on behalf of clients, but I am also a middleman in the sense that my goal is also to make sure that affiliates are satisfied. If a deal works well for a client but is unappealing to an affiliate, it ultimately isn’t a good deal for the client because an affiliate will be less likely to promote their brand. So I’ve had to learn to find the fine balance between meeting both client and affiliate expectations.

So, tell us about yourself! Where were you, and what were you up to, before you found Income Access?

Well, I was born in the UK and came to Canada a few years ago. Before starting at Income Access last September, I lived in Banff, Alberta for 2 years, which was great! My time in Banff was a great kick-start to my Canadian adventure – I spent a lot of time outdoors, with great skiing at places like Lake Louise in the winter and tons of hiking to do in the summer.

I’ve managed to keep some of those hobbies up since I’ve come out to Montreal, thankfully. I’m quite happy that I’ve gotten to experience different parts of Canada from east to west; in a place this big, there are so many different and exciting experiences to take in.

And a fun fact about myself: I can make a very realistic Dolphin sound! You’d have to hear it to believe it.

 

Speed round!

What is your favourite…Movie: Interstellar – the soundtrack is amazing.Sport: Cycling, I road bike at least a couple thousand kilometres per summer. (There’s only about 12 weeks of summer weather for it in Canada!)Hobby: In the winter I’m big on skiing, whether cross-country or downhill, and I’m a fan of camping in the summer.Colour: GreenFood: Is it wrong to say salad? I try to be a vegetarian where I can.Animal: Giraffe – being 6’5” I can sort of empathise.