Well, I hadn't planned on making my “How NOT to Motivate Affiliates” post into a series, but I just received this email.

Copy/Pasted below. Edited to remove identifying information.

WHAT IS STOPPING YOU FROM JOINING (removed) AFFILIATE (removed) LAUNCH?

DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND THE IMPACT OF (removed) NEW LEADS FOR YOUR BUSINESS?

DID YOU NOT GRASP THE CONCEPT THAT (removed) IS PAYING 50% 1ST TIER AFFILIATE COMMISSION – UP TO $(removed) ALONE ON THIS CAMPAIGN?

DID YOU MISS THE FACT THAT (removed) IS PAYING 10% 2ND TIER AFFILIATE COMMISSION ON EVERY AFFILIATE YOU REFER TO US?

YOU CAN GET ALL OF THIS AND ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS SEND 1 EMAIL TO YOUR DATABASE

WHAT MORE DO YOU NEED?

DO NOT MISS THIS OPPORTUNITY!

EMAIL  (removed) TODAY AND RESERVE YOUR SPACE IN THIS CAMPAIGN.

Wow. Wow. Wow. The part you didn't see is that parts of this was written in red.

I actually  had planned to look into this campaign and I was very interested in the proposal and had it on my calendar to look into. In fact, they'd done several very appealing things to make me *very* interested in their product. And, I thought it would be a good fit for my readers.

But, being insulted and “screamed” at in an email doesn't exactly make me feel warm and fuzzy, nor does attacking my intelligence. It's also reading to me like an act of desperation and I will obviously not be promoting this company again. If they treat their JV partners like this, I am afraid how they'd treat my readers if I sent them into their care.

Adios to this affiliate program. My readers deserve better than this, and so do I.

Warmly,
Nicole

PS. Successful JV partnerships are created from a relationship, so do NOT add this to your swipe file.

PS again. If you want to know how to have an affiliate program that KICKS butt, excites your affiliates, and generates loyalty – you might want to check out ContentDrafts.com. Just sayin'.