My Clickbank Review I'm an affiliate marketer get me out of here!
Me: Where is my affiliate link for this event that I just signed up for?
Support: I don't understand what you are saying, I'm treating the case as solved.
3 days Earlier: I discovered one of the coolest events of the year is coming up but they are using a different affiliate platform that I hadn't used before, Clickbank. I was being told I needed a Clickbank ID in order to access an affliate link and they had a link for me to join CB right there, hm, there's a reason I hadn't joined them in the past but I jumped in this time to join this program. That is where it all went pear shaped very fast, as in 3 days after my site was accepted STILL no help to find my affiliate link...
I found myself in a maze of information I can't actually make any sense out of or navigate in any way:
- No, I'm not here to be a vendor, why am I even reading this.
- Wtf is Premium membership, didn't know I was in training, I came in for something else
- Where's my link that I came in for?
- FAQs and training and info links seem to go round in circles and not answer my questions
- The link generator for that program did not work after I'd got my ID and after my site had been accepted.
- I found it so confusing that I put in a support desk ticket just to be told they were confused too, so they decided to call it 'solved'. Ahem.
Now I'm getting emails from them saying to up to Premium membership...wtf...I just want one link then to slink the hell out of there asap. Yes, it's a jungle, nope I'm not quite a celebrity, but I do want out of CB and hope other affiliate programs I'm interested in don't use them.
I'd heard a bunch of stuff in the past about them from fellow affiliate marketers who'd joined them in their search for an education in all things online before coming to WA and it was never a glowing review, they'd say things like:
- It was twice the price but half the information
- Or most of the products there are fraud
- One person, a superaffiliate here, had said he had made good money there. The words sand and Arabs comes to mind in his case
- I did hear a good story where another person said he'd bought a product but it turned out to be his own course that someone had packaged and resold to him...
In the past I had watched a few videos by the two young owners who seemed to be obsessed with selling themselves as better than 'another affiliate marketing platform' that point by point bore an uncanny resemblance to all the resources here at WA. Yes, they sort of listed out all the resources of WA without actually mentioning the name 'Wealthy Affiliate' eg the technology [the WA owners are constantly coming out with new tech for secure hosting, the speed, etc.], but that they were basing their Clilckbank community on something else, I'm still not quite sure what. And I can't say what they were trying to teach people because it was like a truck backed up and dumped a bunch of irrelevant stuff on me.
*That may be a lesson to all of us though, when people land to get something specific don't think it's an opportunity to dump everything you've got on them or sell them something they aren't there for...and certainly don't waste time getting to the point.
Well, the amount of confusing information, and the links that went round and round and the unwanted education in gawd knows what, the out of date blogs - if someone out there knows how to swim in Clickbank then please throw me a life buoy cos I'm drowning...update: Marion Black to the rescue! :)
So I'm 3 days trying to extract my link for the EMF Health Summit even though their event page for affiliates had a link that brought us straight to Clickbank to sign up for an ID if we didn't have one already, even though I now have an ID, and even though my site was accepted somewhere along the line...
Any other summit and I'd say sod off and keep it, but EMF is a rarely discussed topic - and the speakers advertise actually giving us information on how to deal with the exposure from smart meters, wifi, and other things. However, I notice one real expert has not been invited to this party... Michael Neuert of emfcenter .com who I wish had been on the guest list
Good luck with clickbank, for those of you getting money with it.
Mary
UPDATE: Marion Black to the rescue - she is WA's secret weapon LOL!
In my defence I had tried what she said and nothing came up but it is coming up now - however, that's a huge difference between clickbank and WA, the ability for a knowledgeable experienced and friendly member to jump in with an answer and throw you that life buoy, over and over and over again :D
Recent Comments
42
I use ClickBank regularly with no problems. It really depends what you are using it for.
As an affiliate, I use it mainly for products that I know are good. There are many bad products so you need to do your due diligence.
Derek
I hear as many bad things about Clickbank as good. Kinda the same with Google AdSense. I think I will skip both and finish my training here at WA.
Yes, concentrate on the training, tons of affiliate programs to choose from when you're ready. It will come down to personal preference, some people doing well with both of those and without both of them too!
Ok I literally just had an issue with them yesterday. The lady wanted to Skype to approve me so we did. And then that wasn't good enough and I spent about 5 hours trying to please this woman in hopes of getting approved. Finally I just told her this was a joke and to forget it I would look elsewhere. I feel your frustration with this one!!
YIKES! That was seriously crazy alright!
You make me feel like I had a very lucky escape despite my frustrations there!
Yes, plenty of other affiliate programs out there!
Wow! That's top get approved for CB? I didn't think they'd be picky. They seem to promote mainly low-quality (nudge nudge) products (ok, but you need to dig deep to find the good ones) and I'd have thought they'd want as many people on board as possible.
Ian
Hello Mary
Thank you for your adventure with Clickbank. "Beware of Greeks bearing gifts".
This is not a knock on Greeks,It is only a old saying.
LOL! Yes, I too am learning to explain old sayings in this online world where stuff is so easily misinterpreted! :D
Oh my Mary...I feel your pain! Your frustration comes through so clearly in this post. So awesome that Marion Black came to your rescue.
Luckily for me, Click Bank is not open to working with South Africans (couldn't sign up, if I recall correctly).
Thanks LaurenJean! It was amazing how quickly Marion sorted things out here! From what I see many of the very big affiliate marketing platforms are an absolute nightmare when it comes to trying to navigate your way around them especially for the first time, people can make money with them with some good programs but yes they've earned it!
Thanks Marion, I tried that and nothing came up for emf so I got stuck, but I see it came up for you so I'll try it again!
WOOHOO! I'm in at last - the last time I typed in emf health summit and nothing came up, this time it is coming up and your shorter search term was better as there is another program underneath it, which despite its mad name the author is pretty good
See, 3 days with no link and going round in circles and all because there was no Marion Black answering questions on CB!!!
as in 'he could sell sand to Arabs'...could sell anything, an old saying this side of the pond
ps it's probably the equivalent of selling green grass to the Irish
I've lived in the Middle East, there's a whole lot of sand...
Or ice to an eskimo eh? ;-)
Thanks for sharing your experience, awful as it was. Glad Marion threw you a Bouy! She's good at that!
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Clickbank sounds like a frustrating experience. I've heard mostly bad things about them before reading this doozie. No thanks, I'm not searching for new forms of frustration!
Erica
If you find a plum program and slip in without any hassle then it may work, but clearly from the experience of others here too it can get frustrating for sure and I'm glad there are so many other affiliate programs out there to choose from! :)