What are the best tools for affiliates?

[Shane_TDF]

I've been evaluating what we are offering right now in the way of affiliate tool. There aren't tons of hosted tools though there are some, and I do put together custom content zips for affiliates to use. Of course theres your standard banners as well but I'm still trying to decide where to go next.
I dont' want to waste a ton of time on developing tools that webmasters won't use or won't convert well.
So I've been considering the following:
RSS
Blogs
Free Sites
Half Page Ad's
Full Page Ad's
video clips for tube sites.

Any of these stand out for you guys or are they all just as good as the other?

Thanks for your feedback!

[TheLegacy]

Great question and something that is program specific. Currently I am doing the same thing with our webmasters asking them what they want from us knowing that each one of them have their own needs. I am also sure your contacting your webmasters to ask them what is needed on their end, but also GEO ads and many of the features your suggesting there. Just keep the content fresh updated frequently and your webmasters will be happy to work with you

[Shane_TDF]

Thanks Robert,
That's good advice! I've been working on an email to send out to our affiliates and I think that would be the perfect opportunity to ask them what tools they want/need.

[TheLegacy]

Thanks Robert,
That's good advice! I've been working on an email to send out to our affiliates and I think that would be the perfect opportunity to ask them what tools they want/need.

Problem is that there are webmasters that honesty don't have a clue what they want - but those that make top dollar are sometimes upset being told what tools are there that they honestly don't use because it simply isn't what got them to the top.

Asking them where the trends are today also helps you plan for tomorrow if you are smart and keep the lines of communication open. What once worked today may not be worth it tomorrow as everyone attempts new venues to make more money

[Shane_TDF]

Don't affiliates get cranky when you ask them all sorts of questions? I ask this because I've heard of stories where an affiliate rep or manager will ask for feed back from affiliates and get a lot of flack for it. Personally I never minded it much when I got emails asking for feedback.

[B O B]

easy affiliate support is mandatory

[Shane_TDF]

I make myself fully available to our affiliates. I want them to come to me if they have problems or questions. The way I look at it is if one person is asking then you have several more that are at least wondering.