Let's Not Do This

byideasjosh

222 followers

5 years ago

I Love You Guys

I've been part of the Wealthy Affiliate for almost two years now and have enjoyed every bit of the experience. I love the creativity, passion and excitement the WA family and the larger blogger / affiliate community have in general.

So, to get inspired I write a lot of comments, follow others' blogs and even sign up for newsletters when I like some site.

One Such Newsletter

It was a similar newsletter I signed up for - in all honesty I don't know if the blogger was part of the WA family. Anyway, a few days later, I get an ebook in my mailbox with "Making Money/Getting Rich" ideas. What was in the book, you ask ...

Utter Rubbish

The book was a compilation of the worst products clickbank has to offer. All money sucking products that will not even pay for themselves ... forget making the customers rich. I have no problems making affiliate commissions, in fact that's why I'm here BUT I can't help but wonder what that particular affiliate was going for. Let's just explore the best case scenario.

The Best Case

1. The blogger makes a SAY $20 commission
2. Some hardworking, trusting PERSON somewhere is robbed of $30 or more
3. The subscriber will lose trust in the blogger definitely and probably all affiliate marketers
4. Over time, the blogger will build a reputation of being non-trust worthy and stop getting subscribers

All this bad karma can't be worth for a mere 20 bucks!

My Two Cents

Let me give the benefit of doubt to the blogger and assume (s)he didn't know the products were so bad. Here's what I would do, to protect my subscribers from scams:

• Research the Product: Go thorugh the recommended product in detail. Ideally, you can purchase the product on clickbank and then return it (also helps get screenshots and videos for reviews) . If not at least go through affiliate and sales content - the videos, walkthroughs, swipes and more
• Find Other Reviews Online: Whether or not you're testing the product it's always good to check if other have been scammed by the product you're considering
• Check Relevance: See if the product is relevant for your list. If you're in the niche of woodworking, even an excellent affiliate pixel tracking software is a waste of time
• Best Friend Check: Finally, do a best friend check. Think if you will be happy recommending THAT product to your best friend.

Folks, we are in the business of helping first and making money second (I haven't made a lot of commission yet so I might be wrong:-). We owe it to strangers who trust us and to the larger Aff Marketing community to ensure this industry doesn't get a bad name.

That's my rant for the day ... I'm off to finding some good deals for my subscribers.

Joshi

PS: For every bad product you choose not to market there will be 3 great products you can. I'm not saying don't earn - just earn in a way that helps you sleep better at night.