Program Visibility Enhancement Services
In an earlier post, I speculated about a webmaster bbs where kids make money bumping threads. This HBM operates within that same theoretical scenario, and further presumes that senders of traffic (webmasters) make their decision (yay or nay) as regards particular affiliate programs based on what they read on the bbs. The Sig Whore’s MO is to sport a program’s banner in his “sig”. A sig (short for “signature”) is a display area that appears underneath the posts you make on a bbs. Your sig may contain text, images and outbound links.
Because it provides a clear visual identification, the sig may be used to build the brand of a program or a person. Sigs are an important aspect of one’s board persona. Some board members are strongly associated with a program (perhaps because they are an owner/employee or a Sig Whore with consistency).
Some board members like to appear “program agnostic” (meaning that their sig does not relate to any program), and may display in their sigs a unique image/banner or irreverent text. In spite of what may appear to be the case (based on the contents of their sig), most board members, nevertheless, give allegiance to certain specific programs…and this fondness is expressed in their beahvior on the board. Perhaps they are friends with the owner of the program, or maybe the affiliate manager has great tits. Whatever the relationship, or the cause of the favoritism, there is a benfit to the recipient program. And this may reflect mere casual affinity, or it may relate to a more formal benefit sharing arrangement.
“Board friendliness” may include less obvious thread bumping (perhaps in the guise of thoughtful rhetoric) or coming to the defense of the program when there is need. In the case of established board personae, with good reputations for knowing what they’re talking about (and who are generally thought to be “top notch guys”), it should be possible for them to earn an income simply for “being friendly to” some program on the board.
Absurd?