Does AFFILIATE MARKETING have a bad reputation?

[Vimmy]

Affiliate marketing is often compared to a multi-level marketing or a pyramid scheme.

A lot of negative comments cast doubt on this way of making money on the Internet, due to unsuccessful personal experience or ignorance. And there is no smoke without fire!

Beginners who are just starting their journey in affiliate marketing may be worried - is this type of income a scam?

Let's take a look at why affiliate marketing has such a bad rap and if everything that is written on the Internet is true.

Easy fast money

There are many opportunity seekers around who want to quickly and easily make money on affiliate marketing, although they themselves just googled what affiliate marketing is.

Without understanding, the newcomer launches a campaign for the first available offer. Without tests, in pursuit of a quick profit, most likely drains the budget, the money is spent, but there is no expected result.

Frustrated and angry, they write everywhere that affiliate marketing is a scam. In our society as a whole, it is more common to talk about negative experiences than to go and write laudatory comments. Therefore, it seems that people only lose their initial capital in affiliate marketing.

The essence of the matter is simple - in order to make money on affiliate marketing, you will have to read a lot, learn a lot and do more.

There is no single algorithm that works for everyone. Register and become a millionaire in three minutes, without confirmation email and SMS. Haha, if that were the case, then everyone would already be rich.

Pyramid

For some, affiliate marketing revenue can resemble a pyramid, when a cash flow does not come from sales of a product or advertiser, but from beginners that enter the industry. As in any business, there are unscrupulous partners. But affiliate programs with a Name that value their reputation and clients are definitely not a pyramid that pay out “experienced” affiliates at the expense of the minimum deposits made by beginners.

Uncertainty

There are those who say that the industry is dead or the competition is too high, so working in affiliate marketing is unpromising and that you will lose money.

Again, competition is everywhere, except perhaps in the innovative industry.

If the industry were dead, no one would continue to launch campaigns, traffic and organize huge conferences in Dubai, Bangkok, Barcelona, Moscow.

Income uncertainty is another reason not to trust affiliate marketing. There is no guarantee of constant and stable income, with a specific date of transfer of salary to the card and to the Pension Fund.

Nobody can guarantee success. Everyone chooses for himself which of the ways to generate income is closer to them and what risks they are ready to take.

Courses

There are plenty of marketing fraudsters in any field, affiliate marketing is no exception.

The internet is full of advertisements like: “Learn how to earn $1,000 in just one week!” or
“Has anyone heard about affiliate marketing here? It was EPIC! I made 20 thousand dollars in the last two months, I want to teach you too"

Many affiliates sell their tools and courses, promising to teach how to easily and consistently make a profit on advertising campaigns.

Most of these courses (of course, not all) are simply scams, most often the main profit of the seller is formed precisely from the sale of courses, and not at all from advertising campaigns launched by them.

Lack of control

The affiliate has no power over commissions, pricing or payouts.

Surely there will be those who worked with an unverified affiliate program and their payment was delayed or not paid at all. Such cases do not inspire confidence in the industry.

Therefore, you need to work only with reliable partners who are trusted in the market, and not with those who opened yesterday, offering mountains of gold and minimal commissions.

Questionable methods

We are all bombarded with a ton of advertisements for various goods and services every time we pick up the phone or turn on the computer.

Some of the ads are outright lies, and it's infuriating, you download an epic battle game, but instead you get a scanword. This is because some affiliates use questionable advertising methods. We expanded on Why Misleading is bad here.

In general, things can be done “correctly” and within the framework of general agreements, or not quite honestly, as means of trying to make money faster. This is how you get the myth that affiliate marketing is just another scam.

Conclusion

At the beginning of the journey, you will encounter a ton of negative information about affiliate marketing.

Affiliate Marketing is not a scam if you begin to understand what's what.

The business model is simple, but the implementation and obtaining results is a long way of training, mistakes, tests and, finally, success.

This business model is working. The problem is different - the people who are looking for a quick and easy way.

Therefore, to start in affiliate marketing, choose reliable partners. And don't give up at the first setback. It took time and training to learn how to walk and keep a pencil. Isn't that the case?

Have you encountered negative comments about affiliate marketing and affiliates?

 

[T J Tutor]

All businesses have both good and bad reputations. The industries of law, medical, religion, military, etc., etc., etc. Everyone can find the good and bad in everything.

In our industry, there is a very healthy white hat segment, but those of us in the business are very aware of the sorted and questionable practices of the liars, cheats, and thieves our industry produces.

Most of us have explored both and those with integrity choose to put the effort in to have a very white hat approach to business. I can sell my white hat business. If I had a black hat business, it couldn't be sold.

 

[Graybeard]

When it comes to affiliate programs and advertising networks, there is a lack of transparency in how they work. This lack of transparency can be frustrating for those who are trying to figure out how to make money online. There are a few reasons why this lack of transparency exists. First, these programs and networks are designed to make money for the companies that run them. They are not necessarily interested in helping people who are trying to make money online.

Also, there is a lot of competition in the world of affiliate marketing. Companies are always trying to find new ways to make money, and they are not always interested in sharing their secrets with the competition.

There are affiliates that employ fraudulant practices to cheat the affiliate network and the brand.

Most affiliate programs terms and conditions are meaningless and one sided in favor of the party that a contracts with the internet public --they are called contracts of adhesion. These agreements are not negotiated (usually) between the parties and usually have the words *for any reason* and the phrase *any time* at the *option of _company name_*. These are "weasel clauses" when you see the proceed with caution. They really do not matter if you feel the intent and goodwill of the parties exist.

So your epc rules --always. If the program or the advertising network produces progress or an acceptable (or better than average) return for the traffic you pay for or work hard for (SEO) etc --run with the winners ad dump the losers real fast.

I believe that affiliate marketing can be a great way to earn money. If you're careful about choosing the right products to promote, and you're transparent with your audience about why you're recommending them, then I think affiliate marketing can be a really valuable tool.

Affiliate programs are a great way for brands to widen their recognition and reach a larger audience. However, some affiliate programs abuse the affiliate system by not paying the affiliate their commission, or by offering a lower commission than what was originally agreed upon.

Brands should make sure to pay their network agents and affiliates fairly, and to live up to the original agreement. Doing so will ensure that the network agents and affiliates are happy, and that the brand's reputation is not tarnished.

There is no easy answer when it comes to affiliate programs and whether or not they shave sales from affiliates. While some programs may be more likely to do this than others, it really depends on the individual program and how it is set up.

Many affiliate programs offer sales incentives to their affiliates in order to encourage them to promote their products. Sales bonuses can take the form of increased commissions, bonus payouts, or other rewards. By offering sales incentives, affiliate programs are able to shave sales from their affiliates.

Cookies and especially "return cookies" are only 90% to 40% accurate in tracking and accrediting sales to the correct referring source --even if the affiliate program or affiliate network is being 100% honest. All parties should know this and assume this risk then factor that in in the compensation rates.

 

[Vimmy]

All businesses have both good and bad reputations. The industries of law, medical, religion, military, etc., etc., etc. Everyone can find the good and bad in everything.

In our industry, there is a very healthy white hat segment, but those of us in the business are very aware of the sorted and questionable practices of the liars, cheats, and thieves our industry produces.

most of us have explored both and those with integrity choose to put the effort in to have a very white hat approach to business. I can sell my white hat business. If I had a black hat business, it couldn't be sold.

You make a great point!!