You should Thomas - it's hilarious. A fantastic 4 minute intro to a Roald Dahl story. You'll love it. Do connect on FB if you want to - link above.

lol, "if affiliate marketing is dead, then why the heck are they promoting someone else's product?"

Well said. I often have wanted to add up how much money it would cost me to purchase all of the programs that are being promoted to me via email in one day. However, I'm too lazy to do that.

That's a scary thought! I reckon it'd easily total several thousand dollars over a year. Some offers are just $4.95, others $497. Add the subscription fees for some products (I know of one costing $497/MONTH) and you'd pass out when you get your credit card bill!

Hey Folks,

How about this? Whenever you see an attractive deal, consider the following...

* Is it a per month deal and way below the $495/month offer you referenced?

* What are the cancellation and refund provisions?

* What are the extras--generally, bonus reports--offered to hook you in, and if you cancel do you keep them?

Sometimes, if these three questions are addressed, you might make out ok. If it is a per month deal and not that expensive, you can cancel and get a refund and not tie-up funds for a lengthy period. Make sure they write that it is an unconditional refund upon cancellation, and they specify the time period allowed to cancel. Finally, usually if you cancel, you get to keep the bonus reports. But, make sure you have immediate access to the reports, to have them in hand when you cancel.

Just some thoughts. True, they are playing a game with you, so why not play a game back at them, and I remain,

your most Humble Servant,
Steven

There is someone who sends me emails like that. I haven't unsubscribed from his emails because I want him to be a permanent reminder of how not to do it. Recently, he sent me a series of emails about one site, dizzy testimonials, hysterical claims - the usual guff - and then he goes quiet. A week later another batch of emails arrives; but this time it is another product. He gets out his soap box, rants and fumes like a biblical prophet - but lo! behold! it is another 'promised land'. Clearly, he had wearied of the previous Eden he was peddling. The thing is AnnieB, with every email this poor misguided fool loses more and more credibility.

That's why we have to avoid these cyber-prophets like the proverbial biblical plague. They are prophets for a profit and we are one lost tribe that ain't following.

You heard it here...

Oh those shiny objects! I give out an alias email for any offers I do actually like. This is easily done with outlook. Free, subscription or paid, they do not go to my "real" inbox. In the event that anyone should give me problems, then I could easily delete this "secondary" email address and my legit emails are safe. So far no problems unsubscribing from anyone. Once I know I can trust them, then I change my email contact to my legit one.

These people we have been discussing either don't care that they are a nuisance, or, they are misguided and have not been taught proper etiquette of building the know, like and trust factors. Thank goodness we are here at WA and learning our "online and website manners".

Let's spread the good work and the message Centominer: we only market what we know. Let that be are guiding light.

Lack of knowledge, base avarice and a misunderstanding of the function of the internet is at the root cause of a lot of this. Lack of knowledge: many people want to 'know', they have a desire to fill out the gaps in their understanding of e-commerce. But they end up fatally conflating this need with the understandable desire to make money online. The two are actually separate. If you need to know something, then that should be the sole motivation. However, once this is conjoined with avaricious impulses, the mind goes into a fatal tailspin. Hence why a lot of this scamming sites use basic NLP techniques in their sale's pages or video; you know, the emotive images and rhythmic words that play on sub-conscious desires for personal engrandisement - that last word sure didn't come up in the spell checker! - and emotional security. Nonetheless, through a trial by fire and error, the nascent marketer begins to learn: their desire for financial gain is separate from the realities of web infrastructure and function. That's when they are ready to really learn. Of course, the unethical stake their claims in Goldrushville along with all the other snakeoil men. But we all know what happens to goldrush towns in the end.

Yeah, they become "ghost towns" and there are many of them out there. That is why we have always taken the approach of showing people how to create a REAL business here at WA and promoting the idea that yes, this will take some work and effort, but it is absolutely worth it!

Well - and this is odd as I am responding to a dog to go by the profile pic - I think you're absolutely right. And they are bastards! Marketing is about integrity. P.S. Is that your dog or are you, in fact, an entrepreneurial, highly evolved canine? LOL

lol my pooch. She's my own personal anti depression help :) even though she does try to "help" me work

They end up being exposed in the end Darlene. There are many in this industry whose names are like dirt due to previous behaviour. They are left to count their diminishing returns in the widening deserts of their own isolating greed. And then there remains people like me and you - we pass the torch down the line.

That's their fundamental mistake. In time peoples' views of them will count. It is a slow drip-drip process. Mu advice to all affiliate wannabes is - never lie or upsell without knowing the product. It's a sales-karma thing...it comes around...

That's their fatal mistake Meredithlonestar - in the end they are found out. And what does it gain a man if he wins the world but loses his soul?

get your point but I don't really agree. If you are going to write a thorough review which is founded on an authoritative position, you have to know the innards of the product. People soon find you out otherwise.

I think it all depends and there has to be a balance. Some products/services won't necessarily require first-hand experience for one to be able to give a reasonable honest and unbiased review. Of course, if you do have first-hand experience for everything, that would be the ultimate best still!

I don't buy every product that I review but I do thorough research and seek out the experiences of others and base my reviews on those.

I always say that "you don't have to drink the poison to know what's going to happen to you".

For example, I've written a review based on the red flags from the sales video of a recent product and it's one of the most popular pages on my site and people are thanking me for writing it. And not just people who are trying to get the review but people who themselves have first hand experience with the product and have found out the hard way that its a scam.

But you do have a point. It is much better to experience the product first hand if you're going to write a thorough and authoritative review.

Agreed totally.

It's unreal Posinfo. They all do it and you're right, they act out there devotion and knowledge. But there is a wind of change blowing and the goldrush is over. People want reality and meaningful content. The fastbuck will one day end in the nobuck. Here's hoping....

The insults from the French guard in Monty Python and the Holy Grail comes to mind right about now! LOL

What one have you chosen tech hound? I am intrigued.

It's yours. In the post. Congratulations!

I thought number 8 would appeal to people - something about a bunch of fiendishly clever dolphins that does it every time. Welcome to the show Angelsway.

Keep up the fight for our cause! Were behind you all the way! Judy