Balance of Power

If enough examples don’t exist already, no shortage of others exist to highlight just what a unique industry in which we work. And, it was a visit to a fast food restaurant that really brought this home. On many levels, I have an immense respect for the fast food industry, and for that matter any chain store. Let’s use McDonalds or Bed, Bath, and Beyond for examples, since most people have some familiarity with either if not both places. Despite their seeming like different environments, McDonalds and Bed, Bath, and Beyond have much more in common than they do different. One of their most striking similarities, if not innovations, comes from their ability to create a specific quality of atmosphere, one of consistency and affordability but not necessarily cheapness. They do this across all stores despite their employing some of the most average help around. That they can do this amazes me, because most profitable and scalable businesses rely on hiring the best talent possible, just look at Google or Microsoft who have almost legendary interview processes. Our industry falls somewhere in between. Many of the companies in the performance space do have rigorous hiring standards, but quite a few have simply looked for people who show potential. And like the publishers they service, took a chance that the new employee could figure out the new industry. We owe our start in the space to that.

At both the fast food / big box stores and our industry, outside of the select few roles, almost everyone has a manager. Where our industry starts to distinguish itself from others who take decently capable people and fit them into roles, lies in the upside that our industry’s employees have, specifically their power. Granted, it’s a word with multiple connotations that often means different things to different people, but what people (non-managers, founders, etc.) in our industry often don’t consciously realize is just how much of it they have. Think to the average chain employee, even one that has achieved some level of success. Power for them might mean being able to do favors for other employees or customers. It might mean getting to delegate certain unliked chores to less senior people, but objectively, it doesn’t mean that much. Those roles might have some career path, i.e. continued advancement or enough minor ego boosts to keep someone happy, but none will have the option of leaving and immediately going to open up their own chain as an example. Yet, that is just what can and often does happen in our industry.

Before we go any further, we must say that comparing an account manager to a junior to mid-level person at a chain store isn’t truly an apples to apples comparison. Those stores wouldn’t hire half the people we do in our space. Just kidding. It’s more the reverse. While those in our space might hire people without a particular set of experience much like a chain store can, what makes our space special is what happens in the process of working in one of the "entry" jobs, e.g. account management. You might start thinking you wanted to work in the Internet, and you may or may not relish the idea of a sales-based job, but hardly any other similar sales-based jobs can provide what those in the performance-based industry can. You aren’t just recruiting publishers and trying to get them to run campaigns, you are really gaining invaluable insight into how people make money online. By cultivating those relationships, you start to understand the broader landscape of the major players and how they fit together. And that translates into real power. And here is why.

Typically, when thinking of power we think of the people who make the money or own the company, but in our space, how did those who own the company get to be the owner of the company? This isn’t Silicon Valley and the world of high-tech, high investment. This is the world of relationships and knowledge. Many of those who now run the companies began as either affiliates or by working at another network. In fact, our industry is unique in that it’s almost like a right of passage to leave a network or company with an offer/platform only to venture out and carve out a niche for yourself. Yes, owners have more power than those they hire; they can decide the direction of the company; they get the big money when it comes, but unlike so many other businesses, they don’t have a monopoly on the power. If you are an account manager for example, you have so much influence over the business it is truly amazing or scary depending on your perspective.

While still not perfect, perhaps the most apt analogy to our space comes from the world of hair care, namely hair stylists. In the early days of one’s career, the place you work provides more than you provide it. The salon provides the infrastructure for building the career – clients and the ability to service those clients. As the relationship advances, leaving alone the ability the above average stylist and especially the superstar to craft a personal brand, it hits a point where the value the salon brings diminishes. Or, put another way, once a stylist has built up a base of relationships, the very real possibility exists for them to leave the salon and start their own. And, in fact, that is the common dream and expected route for a successful stylist. It’s also the path by which almost all stylists took, so when doing so, the departure is not personal so much as it is an expected part of the business cycle. They don’t all succeed because the skill sets for running a business differ from those that helped them become skilled stylists. During the building of their careers though, the budding stylist, probably doesn’t stop to consider the level of influence that they actually have.

Once people do realize the power they have, they become human and must deal with temptation.

• Do you cut side deals?
• Game the system for fake referral dollars? For a side company that becomes an advertiser?
• Help get a campaign live at a price that someone else couldn’t because it gets you something?

The ways are plenty, and were we in politics, we wouldn’t have enough people left to fill the continually vacated office.