David Fiske Affiliate Marketing & Web Development

Alas, the time of year has come again to stand up and by counted in the UK affiliate industry awards. You've got a few weeks to register your first round of voting at http://www.affiliates4u.com/awards/nominate.php

If you are a forum member, stand up and be counted. It takes a couple of minutes to do.

Here's who I have voted for this year, and the reasons why.
 
Publisher's Choice Of Network 2009

Without a shadow of a doubt, Affiliate Window is my favourite network of 2008/9. They always seem to be a very proactive company and at the forefront of change. Support is usually fast and whilst the system could be made a little easier to use, the entire package offered outranks other networks.

That said, both Affiliate Future and Paid On Results deserve special mentions as together, they make my current top 3 preferred networks.

For me, communication is key. I'm not so interested in the top 10 bestsellers but I am interested in program changes and program closures. I'm also keen to get quick replies and quick merchant approval when applying for closed affiliate programs. I get all of this from Awin. There are some networks that can't even manage this, which is why Awin rocks :-)

Publisher's Choice Of Account Manager 2009

I didn't vote in this one. I tend to muddle along by myself and don't get/want/need that much help/communication from account managers. Naturally, I do come across managers here and there but none have stood out enough to vote for them.

Publisher's Choice Of Affiliate Manager 2009

Probably not much surprise here but my vote goes to Chris Clarkson. Chris has to be the most approachable affiliate manager known to man (or woman). The Sunshine.co.uk affiliate program is pure genius from the outset offering a blend of industry leading commissions, personalised banners, RSS feeds, a WordPress plugin. Chris adds experience and knowledge to this.

I've never met Chris (certainly will do one day) but from Fiske Towers, he seems more a friend than an affiliate manager. Yes, there's a natural division here but Chris fuzzes the line between friend, advisor and manager. He's the "Barack Obama" type of affiliate manager, compared to the industry standard "Gordon Brown" type.

In a nutshell, a model manager, very helpful and always available to answer any question.

Affiliate Management Agency of 2009

As I couldn't name a Publisher's Choice Of Account Manager 2009, it makes sense to to name an agency as the the same reasons apply.

Affiliate Marketing Blog Of 2009

And so we reach the pinnacle of the publisher nominations - the blog of the year. Last year I thought Jason Dale was most suited to winning this prestigious prize.

This year, there has been a consistent succession of high quality relevant articles on affiliate marketing from John Lamerton.

John doesn't seem to have any hidden agenda. He's not specifically writing articles as a vein self promotion tactic. He's not being vague. Instead, he has published long, in-depth gems on all manor of subjects.

His blog stands out as a regularly updated, high quality blog. He hasn't stopped publishing since Christmas as many affiliate bloggers have tended to do (erm, guilty as charged your honour). The quality has been consistent throughout.

Therefore, my vote went to Lammo.