Imagine you are a newbie affiliate entering the industry today. Which vertical would you choose? What would be your strategy for success?
My strategy for success would involve learning as much as I could about the industry, choosing a vertical and traffic source, and then signing up to a reputable network like MaxBounty.  From there I would try my best to stick to a singular strategy until I find success, testing and scaling whenever possible along the way. No one’s path to success in this industry will be identical. The key is identifying what works best for you and honing the skills that will allow you to continue to improve on that.

Affiliates have been using content to drive conversions for years but now even the most traditional of newspaper publishers have adopted native advertising. Is this increase in competition good or bad for our industry?
Evolution in digital marketing is inevitable.   How you adapt to those changes will determine whether or not you perceive it as good or bad.   I don’t see the fact that more mediums are utilizing native advertising having much of a significant impact on affiliate marketing.  Like you mentioned, it’s something affiliates have been using for a while and have found success with. I suppose oversaturation of in-content advertising could be a potential concern, but I don’t think we’re anywhere close to that yet.

Does the difficulty in predicting which creatives will be accepted to run by Facebook and other social platforms make them still useful or too much bother? Why?
Social traffic will continue to be an important source for attracting surfers, so Facebook and other social platforms will definitely remain useful.   If there’s potential for our affiliates to obtain quality traffic and make money on CPA, then that source is undeniably useful, even if it’s a bother to get ads approved.

About
JP Sauve is the CEO of this year’s Blue Book #1 ranked CPA network, MaxBounty.com. He co-founded the network with his brother Steve in 2004, after seven successful years as a super affiliate. JP has three children and lives in Ottawa, Ontario.

Blue Ribbon Panel: Q&A with JP Sauve