Affiliate Programs That Fail Affiliates
Affiliate Programs That Fail Affiliates
Sometimes I don't even wanna think about how long I've been online and had websites. The good news is that I have learned a few things along the way. My first lesson came offline.
In the 80s I had a neighbor who was all into Amway. I ordered some stuff from her and I liked the products. What I didn't like was how she kept pressuring my wife to become an Amway IBO (Independent Business Owner). That meant she would sell their products and sign up new IBOs, making money from both ventures.
Apart from the fact that my wife was working with me and had already been a success as a swimsuit model featured in numerous catalogs and print ads, there was no way she was going to wanna become a soap salesperson. Plus, my neighbor would over-sell the company by explaining how much money could be made as long as you kept signing up new IBOs. Each new IBO would become part of your revenue stream.
Now don't get me wrong. I have nothing against companies like Amway, Avon, Mary Kay and the others that give people the opportunity to make honest, quick cash. What I don't like are the IBOs that use and unfairly interpret graphics to convince people they'll be rich in a year or two.
While I was growing up our neighbors had Tupperware parties. People made money and everyone loved the products, so I know that some of these systems can work.
Fast Forward to the dawn of Affiliates on the Web. It seemed like a wonderful way for businesses to market their products and services, and many website owners also benefited from those programs. Then came the glut which produced outrageous claims and little else.
I have many Web pages which I use to freely share my hundreds of articles and sell my books (some are free as well). This gave me an obvious opportunity to place Affiliate ads on all of them. I initially signed up with Shareasale (soon to cease operation), Commission Junction, Linkshare and Amazon.
I made a few dollars and didn't complain because, once I placed the ads, I really didn't have to do much more. Then, after looking at my website statistics, I realized that these ads were getting tons of exposure without properly compensating me for my high traffic. Either their tracking was off or someone was fudging the figures. Just so you know, I was careful about which programs I joined. I stuck to known and successful products that I was sure would produce nice commission checks for me. What I didn't consider was the validity or competence of the middle man that ran the programs.
My biggest disappointment was a large company which ran its own program that will go nameless. I placed their ads and received virtually no commissions. I signed with them because I had sold some products through their website a while back. They took a big bite out of my price, but sales were good until…
I began receiving emails saying I couldn't get paid because the bank information I provided was not correct. I double-checked my information and it was correct. I re-entered it a dozen times and still got the same response. I was tired of giving so much of my product price to them and dealing with what was either incompetence or outright thievery, so I just marketed my products on my own website. I sold less, but made more without all the hassles.
Regarding their affiliate (Associates) program, the same thing happened. All of a sudden they began sending me those ‘incorrect bank information’ emails again. I wanted to contact them and see if I could just receive checks, but then another problem popped up.
I changed my phone number because I changed my service provider. Out of nowhere, this lovely company began requiring a two-step login. Because my email was not good enough for them to identify me, they wanted to send me a text or call me. Since they didn't have my new phone number and I couldn’t log in to change it, that choice wouldn’t work for me.
There was another option. They wanted me to send photocopies of my Driver's License and another I.D. to them as proof that it was me. Yeah, I'm gonna send that kind of information to them??? They knew full well that my I.D. would be accessed by anyone who looked at it for any reason. In the wrong hands it could easily be used for the purpose of identity theft.
I ended this nightmare by dumping all their ads and leaving them with my earnings as the price I had to pay for even bothering to try to deal with a big, heartless and wealthy company which, obviously, made some of its money off of little guys like me who were just trying to scrape by.
BUT WAIT… THERE'S MORE!
Affiliate programs that contacted me hoping I would join them made claims even bigger than those of my Amway neighbor. They would send emails telling me about ‘Joe in Chicago’ who was finally able to retire after joining their program.
I did not create my websites to exclusively or aggressively promote affiliate links and I never used pop ups which I despise. One guy actually called to tell me how some of his affiliates were making over five thousand dollars a month… he was selling dog health supplements!
Lately I really wanted to join one or more affiliate programs because I reorganised my home page so that my site now has more pages. I feel like these would be good places for affiliate ads. When I went to sign up, most of the registration pages were so convoluted, complicated and annoying that I just gave up. Others made it almost impossible to obtain ads, creatives or links.
It's not just the programs that are the bad guys. I didn't create web pages for the sole purpose of promoting specific programs or ads. My pet peeve is being lured to pages by hard sell, false claims like “Bad NEWS about Joe Hollywood TODAY”. Even worse are the articles that tell some of the story, then want you to find a link in the comments, or like and subscribe to get the rest. When and if you finally get there, it's just more ads and pop ups.
I have a Bookstore to sell my books. It, too, would be a good candidate for affiliate ads. My articles are written without the idea of promoting specific products or businesses. If I suggest any, they probably have no professional or personal relationship with me. I do place small text ads for my bookstore and such below each article. When I criticize, I do so honestly because I believe it is deserved (as in this article).
If you're happy or unhappy with an affiliate program, please let us all know in the comments, or use my Facebook. I have 4,500 friends. Just like in real life, time is money on the web; don't waste it with bad or dishonest programs.
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