It’s understandable, just how appealing it might seem to be able to get an easy commission from a big sale, but should an affiliate be able to claim such a referral fee for a product or service she hasn’t any experience with?
I must admit that I’ve posted affiliate links for products I’ve not even tried and it’s never really bothered me before as any money earnt could be considered a introductory fee. That might be about to change…
I was recently ‘offered’ a chance to purchase an Internet marketing product for the princely sum of $397. When I say offered, the affiliate regurgitated a testimonial and directed me to the product site. After failing to understand what the heck was actually on sale, I quizzed the affiliate, “What the heck is it? Have you used it? Is it any good?”.
The response was a very disappointing, “Here’s some more description from the product site and no I’ve not used it.”
The first question that popped into my head was, “Why, then, are you suggesting I spend almost $400 on something that I still don’t understand and that you’ve not even used it enough to be able to tell me it’s worth having?”
Is there any chance of me buying through that affiliate’s link? Absolutely not! The affiliate didn’t add any value to the proposition at all.
It has to be said, the best affiliates are always going to be those who have first-hand experience with a product or service because they’re the ones who can provide that extra value that potential customers sometimes need to justify a sale.
I agree and have both trackbacked to and given you your proper credit for the “copy&paste” I did of a excerpt.You are right that only by questioning will you be able to determine any knowledge or experience with what there trying to sell. Depending on the amount of money it might be useful to do a search for any problems connected with this person..
I have just come across your site and I love it!
This post in particular has really hit a chord. I agree 100% and it p*sses me off when affiliates sell products that they are obviously not using themselves.
Now obviously my link here is an unashamed plug for my promotion of Project X which I HAVE BOUGHT and am using. It is really excellent but the thing I particularly like is that the techniques involve telling your potential customers of the benefits that you have achieved from the product with a presell. Now I’m not sure whether the author lies about this but he is very convincing and if he does use the products himself successfully, and they are good then by recommending them, he should get a commission.
I reckon that all potential purchasers of a product from an affiliate should maybe email him/her and ask some probing questions first, they’ll soon know whether they are using the product themselves!
Jeff
Hi Jeff,
Thanks for the kind words
I haven’t finished reading Affiliate Project X, but I can already say that it’s one of the best ebooks of its kind I’ve ever read. Real nittty-gritty stuff! Although I haven’t used all of the methods described by it, I have used some with much success so it bodes very well for the rest of it.