If you’re tired of the cold realities of being undervalued, under appreciated, and exploited in your 9-to-5 job, you might be ready to give affiliate marketing a try.
Affiliate marketing can seem hard at first glance, especially when you’re just getting started, but this line of work is very attractive to many people.
It’s no wonder why – start up costs are low, you set your own hours, and it’s passive income, meaning that your affiliate website works and earns money long after you’ve stopped working on it.
Unfortunately, frauds and scammers are out to exploit the enthusiasm of people just like you. These people are savvy and experienced and prey on the newbie marketers. Pushing emotional buttons and encouraging hasty choices is their stock in trade.
Since affiliate marketing is constantly changing, it would be impossible to tell you about every scam that exists out there. But if you want to avoid affiliate marketing scams, you’ll need to stay mentally alert. Asking yourself these questions before you start will help.
Is It A Good Deal?
There are a handful of fly-by-night con artists in affiliate marketing, but more often, there’s low quality content and the vague feeling you could have done better. There are plenty of people who want to pay you lower commissions, give you outdated training, or make you push an inferior product.
It’s always important to shop around as an affiliate, the same way you would as a customer.
What Did the Testimonials Say?
Spend a little time reading testimonials before you take the plunge. A few negative review shouldn’t scare you away, because everybody doesn’t understand what they’re buying before they buy it. But you may find a flood of negative reviews, reviews that are light on specifics and heavy on marketing buzz, or no reviews at all. In those cases, be wary.
Know the strengths and weaknesses of any plan or product before you buy, and know the exact contents of what you’re getting instead of falling in love with a promised result.
Do You Have To Pay To Participate?
There’s nothing wrong with paying for coaching. But if you’re paying to join an affiliate program, odds are that you’ve stumbled upon a scam. There are plenty of successful affiliate programs out there that don’t require a financial investment – your willingness to sell a product makes you a very valuable asset.
An MLM plan that requires you to buy inventory could leave you holding the bag, but real affiliate marketing is risk free.
How Good Is The Support?
You should always send a short e-mail before joining an affiliate program. Find out how long it takes for a real person to contact you and explain the basics of their program to you. It is easy to make a flashy website and catchy advertising copy. It’s harder to create an active community that gives help to affiliates that need it.
There are some companies that are harder to contact. That doesn’t mean that they can’t help you, but they should be examined more closely.
What Forms Of Payment Do They Accept
For me one of the biggest concerns when it comes to affiliate marketing scams is companies that only accept credit cards, they will tell you it is because they have had problems with payment processors such as PayPal or ClickBank and want a seamless experience for their customers.
However for you as a client it is much safer if when making a payment for a product or service you have the security of a company like PayPal or ClickBank. There are others but this is used solely as an example of using third-party payment gateways, I find it keeps everyone honest.
If there is a problem with the transaction or you never received the product or service you paid for you can simply open a dispute ticket with PayPal and they will follow-up for you and help to either receive the product or get a complete refund.
Leave a Reply