A Great Affiliate Incentive From IWOOT

Following a series of cool affiliate incentives, IWOOT has set the bar higher with their latest affiliate competition. They’ll take 6 very lucky affiliates on a 10-day action-packed adventure on a luxury boat on the coast of Malaysia. All that affiliates need to do is do a great job this Christmas and dig out their swimming shorts. Interested? Read more on IWOOT’s affiliate blog.

What Has IWOOT Ever Done For Us?

It’s my last day at IWOOT tomorrow and I cannot resist the inevitable nostalgic post. Here goes.

If I have to pinpoint the highlights of my two and a half years here, they would probably be our events with the affiliates. It’s such a simple recipe – mix a healthy dose of company’s budget with a half-baked idea for a thrilling activity, then sprinkle thoroughly with affiliates. Oh, and serve with lots of beer. Now not only do you get to have a great time, but you also build a relationship with your affiliates. Even your MD realises the subtle but important benefits of this as affiliate revenues grow. He even starts asking you where you would like to go on holiday next, please, if you wouldn’t mind. What a beautiful win-win situation.

On top of this, it’s weird to note that all affiliates in all events we’ve had were nice guys. Some may be quieter, others have a strange taste for shirts, but they’re always great people to hang around with. All of them. Every single one. Is this possible? How come? Is the affiliate community genetically modified? Hmm..

Below are four of the bigger events that IWOOT organised. I can let a little secret out and say that IWOOT plans something big for 2010 as well. But other merchants also do a fantastic job at showing affiliates a good time – check out Buy A Gift and PrezzyBox for great examples.

Bob Dylan At The O2

April 2009

Credit-crunch-tight budgets were used wisely on boose and music for this latest affiliate gathering. IWOOT took 20 affiliates out for a gig at the O2 Arena making this more busy and networking-friendly than any previous event. The gig itself recieved some terrible reviews and quite rightly so – mister Bob Dylan definitely wasn’t in shape. The unlimited amount of drinks supplied, however, made it all hillarious and we had a great night out. And a terrible morning in.

Paintballing

October 2008

We’ve always wanted to shoot some affiliates, but the law makes it illegal apparently. Well, the next best thing is paintballing. Or it seemed that way, untill IWOOT staff realised they’re dangerously outnumbered by a troop of affiliates. Still, a few hours of good old paintballing is the best fun you can have in a field of mud wearing a stinking pink dungaree.

Silverstone Grand Prix

July 2008

It was great to find out that our obsession with motor sport was shared by many of IWOOT’s affiliates. So we swiftly grabbed as many Grand Prix tickets as we could and shared them amongst the petrol heads of the affiliate community. Hamilton provided a true spectacle by driving magnificently, almost as fast as the taxi driver that got us to the track. Brilliant! Disclaimer: No Ferrari fans were hurt during this event.

Snowboarding In Whistler

March 2008

The first and most famous of IWOOT’s events took place in the breathtaking mountains of Whistler, Canada. We got off to a bad start with a pilot failing to turn up at Heathrow and me not being able to wake up (with everyone’s tickets in my possession), but this only resulted in a surprise diversion through beautiful Toronto. Eventually we enjoyed a week of non-stop snowboarding and skiing, foolish experimentation with cocktails, endless birthday celebrations, and buckets of general fun and laughter. You can read all about it on the dedicated IWOOT In Whistler page .