1) Be sure to give the contest plenty of time and conduct it when you have plenty of time to provide very detailed feedback.

2) Be aware that many of the contestants who are very good designers may not speak english as their first language - again good feedback and patience can solve this hurdle. (i.e. I asked for a stonger “call to action” on a site and a designer literally created a box that read call to action as though it were a phone number link)

As an affiliate I want my affiliate managers to have my contact information. I have nothing to hide about my promotional efforts and have found that working closely with affiliate managers often results in higher payouts and special arrangements that allow me to bid on trademarked terms that otherwise wouldn’t be an option. I make sure and list my email on my profile page so that I don’t have to rely on CJ messaging and I also include a phone number where I can be reached.
I am a CJ Performer but still find I get turned down for many programs - having seen the management side of the game I think I know why this happens. Affiliates are limited to a small number of categories when describing their sites - many affiliate managers choose to auto reject or only auto approve affiliates from certain categories not realizing they are declining many search affiliates who couldn’t list every category. Affiliate marketing is about relationships - if you are an affiliate who is trying to become a super affiliate the best advice is massage those relationships. I hope many affiliates continue to believe it’s best not to share their contact information - it makes it that much easier for the rest of us to build relationships and establish superior payouts.