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Affiliate Marketing - The 10 Keys To Success
Copyright 2005 Michael Gates
Where can an average person start a home business without investing any money? The wonderful world of affiliate marketing.
For those looking to enter the world of affiliate marketing, there are some key concepts...
Best Affiliate Guide Online
The name Rosalind Gardner brings a smile to most. This Internet
Queen has created a guide that is truly your complete source for
learning how to become a successful Internet Marketer. I
purchase e-books regularly through ClickBank.com...
How to Choose an Affiliate Network
You've built your website, and you're generating sales. You recognize that starting an affiliate program will bring in even more business, but you don't have the time or technical capability of setting up and maintaining an affiliate program by...
Is Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) killing your affiliate sales?
Have you noticed a drop in affiliate sales since Microsoft's Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) was released? I have and I didn't really know why until my wife, kids, and friends started asking me why their computer wasn't working right. While using...
Niche Affiliate Marketing
Copyright 2005 Brian Beshore
What is 'Niche Affiliate Marketing?' It is a catch-phrase or
brand that I have come up with to describe a system of
marketing, really. Niche Marketing is generally understood as
finding and selling products that...
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The Red Flags of Affiliate Marketing Scams
Thanks to the legitimate business model of online affiliate marketing; many people are earning a good living working from home. Unfortunately there exists a series of affiliate program scams masquerading as genuine Internet marketing opportunities. These scams are designed to make their creators wealthy without providing value to their customers or associates. Email scams and work at home scams don't have any chance of long term success, so any time spent promoting them is largely wasted.
So what are the characteristics that reveal an Internet scam attempting to disguise itself as an honest affiliate opportunity? Since the nature and complexity of these scams change as quickly as technology, it's almost impossible to create a comprehensive list, but here are some strong indicators that a program should be avoided or at the very least examined with a fine-toothed comb.
No affiliate support contact. When an affiliate program includes a toll-free telephone number, it's a good sign that things are on the up and up. However, the lack of a phone number does not necessarily mean the program needs to be avoided. The Internet lends itself to email contact, and most websites structure their contact support system accordingly. If the website for an online income opportunity does not include an email or a contact form, though, you are probably looking at an affiliate program scam. Once you locate the email or contact from, it's a good idea to send a message with a simple question to see how long it takes the company to respond. If you don't receive a response addressing your question within a few days, tread lightly. The company might not be intentionally trying to scam you, but if they can't quickly respond to emails, they are doing something wrong.
No web site. Similarly a contact email without a website shouldn't instill much confidence. A legitimate online income opportunity will have a detailed web site, providing information and showing some time and energy has gone into planning. A simple website is not difficult to create, but leaves a slightly larger trail leading back to the creator than that left by a mass emailing. Again, while the presence of a web site is not a guarantee that a program is trustworthy, the absence of a web site should definitely be viewed with a healthy dose of skepticism.
No product or service. What is the company selling? If the only product is a chance to make money, you've probably stumbled onto a pyramid scheme. In order for any referral marketing organization to make money, someone on the outside must pay money to the organization. If the only people paying are joining the organization, than no income is being generated. The members are just passing money around between
themselves with everyone hoping to be holding the bag of money when the music stops. Above and beyond this fundamental flaw in the business model, pyramid schemes are also illegal in the United States.
No free participation. If you have to pay a company for the privilege of trying to sell their product and increase their profits, you aren't looking at an affiliate program. You've found an example of multi-level marketing (MLM). Not all MLM opportunities are scams, and some people are extremely successful at MLM. Unfortunately, if you aren't one of the few who can make it work; you'll usually spend a fair chunk of change discovering this MLM program doesn't fit your needs. True affiliate programs are free to join. If things don't work out the way you expected, you haven't risked any of your money.
No positive testimonials. Even though there is no financial cost for an affiliate program, you will be investing quite a bit of your most precious commodity, time. Before making that sacrifice, it's always a good idea to spend some time scouring the Internet for people who have some experience with your program. Don't rely on the testimonials a company provides on their website to give you a complete and accurate picture. Head to your favorite search engine and see what kind of dirt you can dig up. A search with the program name and the word "review", "scam", or "experience" is a good place to start. Even high caliber programs will likely have some negative reviews from people frustrated the program wasn't a good fit for them, so don't immediately condemn an opportunity for a little bad press. Unless a program is brand new, though, you should be able to find a few positive experiences and success stories.
No track record. A good affiliate program is going to continue to be a good affiliate program for a while. Resist the temptation to be swayed by marketing hype that urges you to "get in on the ground floor" of a brand new opportunity. Of course, there's something to be said for being the first to market with a new idea, so you shouldn't be afraid to immediately embrace an affiliate program that you feel good about and doesn't set off any of the other red flags described here. If you are on the bubble trying to decide if a program is legitimate, though, you're better off waiting. In six months dependable affiliate opportunities with quality, high-demand products will still be around, and they'll still be plenty of money to be made. Meanwhile, most of the affiliate program scams will have collapsed.
About the Author
Clay Mabbitt writes articles about online income opportunities. He is the founder of a community of Internet entrepreneurs sharing knowledge and experience at http://www.affiliatescreen.com
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Affiliate Programs - Your guide to the best web affiliate programs. |
Your guide to the best web affiliate programs, associate programs and profit sharing. Our affiliate directory is ideal for both webmasters and merchants ... |
www.affiliateguide.com |
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Affiliate - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
An affiliate is not the same as an owned and operated station, ... Affiliate marketing typically refers to this Electronic commerce version of the ... |
en.wikipedia.org |
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Affiliate marketing - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
As per market statistics [citation needed], affiliate marketing in terms of ... By linking Geffen Records to CDNow, the affiliate marketing format was born. ... |
en.wikipedia.org |
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CafePress.com : Affiliate Program : Affiliate Overview |
Enables individuals and companies to sell a wide variety of products online with zero upfront costs. |
www.cafepress.com |
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Amazon.com Associates: The web's most popular and successful ... |
Launched in 1996, Associates is Amazon.com's affiliate marketing program. ... As one of the first online affiliate marketing programs, Associates has a ... |
affiliate-program.amazon.com |
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Casino Affiliate Program - InterCasino.com |
The world's first and largest online casino. Voted Best Online Casino 2003 by Gambling Online Magazine. |
www.intercasino.com |
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AffiliateFuture.com |
AffiliateFuture are performance-based marketing specialists, providing sales solutions and marketing services to advertisers, publishers and agencies. ... |
www.affiliatefuture.com |
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affiliate registration |
Programr.php3: () is not a programmer id nor a Form! |
https: |
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BidVertiser - Pay Per Click Advertising On Sites Of Your Choice. |
Pay per click affiliate program. |
www.bidvertiser.com |
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Apple - iTunes - Affiliate Program |
Now you can be part of the excitement by joining the iTunes Affiliate Program.* ... Apply to the Apple Store Affiliate Program, with a wide selection of ... |
www.apple.com |
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Affiliate Programs Directory |
Affiliate Scout is your source for affiliate programs. Our affiliate directory is composed of high quality advertisers that are looking for affiliates to ... |
www.affiliatescout.com |
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eBay Affiliate Program: Welcome to the eBay Affiliate Program |
The affiliate program on eBay pays web designers, internet publishers and affiliates to drive users and leads to eBay and for bids and buy-it-nows; ... |
affiliates.ebay.com |
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AffiliateFuture |
There are no set-up fees for becoming an affiliate with AffiliateFuture. ... Affiliates please login below. If you are a merchant click here. ... |
www.affiliatefuture.co.uk |
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Affiliate Network - Affiliate Window |
Affiliate network offering tracking and management solutions for maintaining an affiliate program. |
www.affiliatewindow.com |
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webmasters affiliate programs |
Webmasters earn money with today's most effective online advertising technology, contextual advertising at a cost effective metric of CPC, PPC, CPM or CPV. |
www.clicksor.com |
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UK Affiliate Marketing Forum - a4uforum.co.uk |
UK Affiliate marketing industry forum from affiliates4u featuring news, discussion, and affiliate program resources. |
www.a4uforum.co.uk |
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Affiliate programs directory - Associate Programs.com |
A searchable directory of rated affiliate programs. |
www.associateprograms.com |
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Affiliate Summit 2007 West - Affiliate Marketing in Las Vegas ... |
Affiliate Summit 2007 West at Bally's Las Vegas, January 21-23, 2007. Keynote Speaker will be Michael Sanchez, CEO and Co-founder of ClubMom.com. |
www.affiliatesummit.com |
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Affiliate Programs Marketing Training |
Most recent up-to-date developments in the affiliate marketing industry. ... The Affiliate Classroom is a step by step training program to help you easily ... |
www.affiliateclassroom.com |
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Affiliate Programs Directory - Affiliate Match.com |
Affiliate programs directory with searchable, categorized listings. |
www.affiliatematch.com |
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