As an affiliate manager, it is your responsibility to take care of your affiliates. After all, they are the ones who promote your products and bring you customers. They are basically the workforces behind your business. Keeping them informed of changes and upgrades are very important, however addresses their needs and concerns are equally important. Holding weekly meeting with affiliate questions and answer sessions are a great way to connect with your affiliates and to make them feel like their opinions and concerns really matter to you.

Question and answer session are a way for you to address any questions your affiliates may have. Even if more than one affiliate has the same question, you at least know that this may be a concern of all of them and you will be able to put their fears to rest with just one answer.

When you have a group session, it is kind of like a board meeting. Affiliates are allowed to ask questions that may raise more questions by other affiliates. This may seem like it is time consuming, however, covering everything is very important to the confidence of your affiliates, and you will see more productive work from your affiliates.

There are many different ways that a question and answer session can be conducted.

Conference Calls- conference calls have become a necessary part of today's business. There are many different conference calls services on Internet today. Many of these services are free to use, however it is most likely that you will be charged for long distance service. If you have a large business and multiple people will be on the conference call, the conference service may initiate a fee.

Online chats- chat rooms have become very popular over the past decade. They are very inexpensive and anyone can join the conversation. If you do not want to set up your own chat room, you can check with other webmasters to Rent their chat room for a specific amount of time.

Webcasts- webcasting is catching on quickly because it is a great way to let your affiliates know not only that you are a real person, but also that they can look at you and know that you are an honest person. It allows your affiliates to put a face to you and that makes them more comfortable asking questions. If you do not want to webcasting, sending an IM or email is an effective way to have your questions answered.

Start the session by having everyone in the conference introduce themselves. This is a good way to make everyone who is there feel comfortable. It will make it much easier for them to ask questions if they do not feel as though they are isolated.

How Often Should I Have Q&A Sessions?

Having question and answer sessions is very important to your business. However, it is recommended that you have them once a month or every other month. This is because when the same questions are asked and answered at every session, it becomes redundant to have the meetings. Hold small impromptu meeting to discuss changes is important, however do not treat them as a social occasion.

Addressing your affiliates questions and concerns is critical to the success of your business. When you create your question and answer session, it is important that you allow each one of your affiliates the chance to be heard. This will lead to respect and more importantly, loyalty. It will show your affiliates that you care and that in turn will give them the incentive to work harder to bring you clients.