Astrid has started a full time job. She "retired" from modelling over 12 months ago but a further decline in business this year meant other income was required.
As JS69 says, it's not our pay sites that are the issue. They are all level or up on last year - even without Astrid. it's our affiliate business that's gone to shit. Whether it's an increase in "direct traffic" to our sponsors, less good sponsors or whatever, sales are just not the same.
I do believe that as more sponsors do in-house promotion, especially re-activating lapsed members, it's seriously impacting on affiliates. I was always amazed how many former lapsed members of our sites "re-activated" via affiliates. You would have thought they would always be checking back on the sites but that didn't seem the case. So with regular newsletters from the sites and discounted re-activation promos, affiliates obviously suffer.
Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining. Just saying. To be honest after the boom years of the affiliate business, and taking the strategic decision to focus on it, I am reaching the conclusion that more pay sites, with good fresh content, is the way to go!
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