See Something? Say Something! Keep WA Safe!

Ok, this might become controversial, so fasten your seat belts:

I don't know where I read that slogan "See something? Say something!" It was either in America or England.
It encourages people to alert the authorities or bystanders when they see something that is not right.
That can be abuse, violence or any other type of criminal activity.

Today, I want to expand this to the online world...and to WA.

We are all supposed to know the anti spam rules:
https://my.wealthyaffiliate.com/training/wealthy-a...

We are not supposed to advertise our own stuff here at WA!

That means no affiliate links (neither openly posted nor cloaked) or any other type of link that sends people to our own offers!
We are also not supposed to send private messages to others with offers that would make us richer!
We are not supposed to send people to other sites to give them the whole information. If you write a blog that teaches something, give them the whole information in that blog.
Don't send them to your own website!

So, whenever I see someone breaking this rule, I will report them from now on!
I used to write them privately and tell them "Hey, this is not ok...blablabla".
And in many cases that was enough.
Especially new folks might not know about this rule.
But I see people that have been here long enough and are still breaking this rule.

Ok, I take one step back from what I just said:

If someone posts and affiliate link, I will leave a comment and let him/her know that it is against the rule.
If that link does not disappear, I will report it.
I still believe in a second chance.

But, if someone does the same via private message, they will get reported instantly.
If he sends me such a link, he is most likely doing the same with hundreds of other people!

I want to urge you to do the same.

WA is meant to be a safe zone where everybody can learn how to make money online.
It is not a place where you make money from the other members!
Don't think that everybody here is your friend.
They might seem nice and helpful. If they send you a link to their own offer, they want to make money from you!
Report them directly to Kyle! He will thank you for it and take action.
Just make sure you are not reporting innocent people.

So, how do you know it is an affiliate link?

While they are supposed to not work here at WA, I have just seen one getting posted.
But links can be cloaked easily.
Everything shortened with bitly[.com] or tinyurl[,com] is most likely an affiliate link.
Or if you see something like "domain[.com]/productname" (without any hyphens) you can be pretty sure that it was shortened with "Pretty Link".

If you click on such a link, just have a look at the URL after you landed on the linked page.
It is easy to see if it is an affiliate link, as it usually has some sort of ID in the URL.

You can check the destination of a cloaked link!

BobBarr just gave some valuable advice in the comments:

"To check out the *real* destination of any cloaked link (bitly, tinyurl, or whatever), copy it and paste it into the search field at the getlinkinfo (dot) com site. You'll get the full URL displayed without having to go there."

This is excellent advice.
Cloaked links can lead to harmful websites. Always check them with this tool.

Stay safe.

Thanks Bob!

The "smart guys" are the worst!

But posting affiliate links in blogs or questions is not the worst.

There are members that pitch people with success posts.
They say that they made thousands of dollars on a day or in a month.

They let it shine through that they are using techniques that are not being taught here at WA.
Of course, they will not go into details.

They want you to send them a private message!
Then, they engage you in a conversation and seem to be pretty helpful.
After one or two exchanges they will send you a long copy/paste message.
Either in that or in the following message you will receive a link to their landing page, including a sign up to an expensive program!

If you see something like this...report it!
They are a bit smarter, but they are still not your friends!
They want you to spend thousands of dollars, because they get at least 50% from that.

Guess how they make those thousands of dollars (if they even make it)....luring people into buying those overpriced products.

What are your feelings about this?

Am I overreacting?
Or do you agree?

Let me know in the comments below.

Oh, and please don't name those people publicly.
This is not a "naming and shaming" post!
Just report them directly to Kyle.

Regards,
Moritz