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Affiliate Marketing Scams – Are They Real?

February 17, 2013 by 35 Comments
Michael

Michael

Hi, I am Michael Wong and a recent father. I have been figuring how to make affiliate marketing money 7 years ago. During the process, I have gained some success, learn the process, loss money and failed the business. But I refuse to give up. I stayed on and worked my bud off. I continue to look for better ways to make things happen. I can only say you will learn a lot when you want to build something without resources. In the process I also learn about branding, managing finance and became a better marketer...
Michael

@AMBM9

Michael
Michael
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rel="nofollow" href="http://cdn.comluv.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Affiliate-Marketing-Scams.jpg">affiliate marketing scams - affiliatemarketingblogmalaysia.com

Looking at the picture above, do you call the world renowned fast food chain a scam? Probably not. Yet many people still look at this business as affiliate marketing scams.

In some countries, the customers often don’t get what they really see. To joke about it, is common to hear that “if the image looks good, you might want to think about it.”

If you look at many promotional brochures, it is common to see fine print as “products shown are for illustration purposes only.” These fine prints are there to protect the merchant if there were any dispute to the product. So that they will not be refer as scam artist.

Come to think of it, it is kind of weird to have something so minute to protect the huge organizations’ benefits instead of the larger population buying their product. But the weirder part is that you seem to accept it. You do go back to your prefer fast food restaurant right?

Anyway, when come to affiliate marketing, people who fail to make money with affiliate marketing will seems able to ignore the fine print (refer as the earnings disclaimer) and comment that they fall into affiliate marketing scams.

You Have Been Programmed

Understanding how humans behave, merchants always get customers hyped up or take action with their products. That is what you experience with a sales letter and walking into a fast food restaurant. Every bit of your experience has been programmed. And many customers, being hyped always regret or doubt their decision after the emotion subsides. But because they have paid for the product or still somehow believe that making money with affiliate marketing is possible, they will continue to build their online business.

But after a few months of hardwork and money spent and still not seeing the desire result, many will throw in the towel.

Angrily!

But to be frank, you probably are already less devoted building your affiliate marketing business before you give up. Instead of engaging in your daily marketing effort, you probably procrastinated to do what you are supposed to do. You probably already have the excuse to justify why you drag to publish the article that you have written.

But know this. When you are in affiliate marketing, you need to consistently work on your business. Particularly when come to building your online presence.

What do you think this guest post is for besides sharing affiliate marketing tips?

And you probably didn’t hear that from the affiliate marketing merchant you get your product from. Even you got that, the line just somehow gradually disappear from your mind as you are struggling for your affiliate marketing business.

When people get into the business, many will think that affiliate marketing is their silver bullet to slay the werewolf to their financial problem. However, that is not always the case. You need time to make money with affiliate marketing.

You probably didn’t hear that from the merchant you bought the product from. Well, that’s just one of the affiliate marketing secret you have to learn. If they were to tell you that you need time to build your online business and that the time is determine on how focus and financially prepared you are, they might not make any money with the business. In the end they might be joining the crowd to scream that they hate affiliate marketing scams.

You have to know that the affiliate marketing merchant will not tell you the whole truth about the business and they might never will. Just like the example of the fast food chain. It did provide you with a chicken meal. Just that not as how they have painted it.

Not to be harsh, but if you can accept some businesses taking your money everyday without showing you the whole truth, you should be able to accept the fact that sometime, that is how the affiliate marketing game is being played.

So, is affiliate marketing a scam?

Truth be told, there are indeed scammers out there preying your money. But most of the times, you need to be aware of what you are buying into, the journey you are going to take and the person you are following. But one thing for sure, if the merchant told you that you can make money with affiliate marketing overnight, then you seriously want to think whether this is an affiliate marketing scam. 

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Comments

  1. Moin Ramiz says:
    February 17, 2013 at 12:59 pm

    i have been myself scammed by a guy claiming to be affiliate marketer.

    Reply
    • Michael says:
      February 22, 2013 at 1:56 am


      Twitter:
      Hi Moin,

      I can relate to how you feel. But don’t be disappointed with the business because getting cheated is just a process to the business.

      Your experience is to prepare you so that you don’t get cheated with more money in the future.

      Cheers…
      Michael recently posted..Blue Lantern OathMy Profile

      Reply
  2. Ravi says:
    February 17, 2013 at 1:02 pm


    Twitter:
    If this is all true then How to Recognize a Proper affiliate Program? I have heard on the Comments of few blogs that some Reputed Affiliate Programs were Duplicated in order to cheat Publishers, can such things happen?
    Ravi recently posted..3 Softwares to Protect data on USB storage DevicesMy Profile

    Reply
  3. D Hayes says:
    February 17, 2013 at 2:00 pm


    Twitter:
    Hi Michael,
    The moral to the story is knowing the niche that you are going to be marketing and realize that it will take time, a lot of time, to be found and get followers.

    If one is wanting to be an overnight success story, affiliate marketing is probably not for them.

    It is no different than selling wares at a local store, other than you will receive pay on a constant basis at the local store.

    Affiliate marketing gives you freedom of voice within your niche, where as the local store, not so much.

    It is a business one can get in to with low start-up costs and therefore test the waters to see if it will be lucrative.

    The best advice is to keep your day job when first starting out and work on your marketing business in your off hours.
    D Hayes recently posted..Discover Increased Sales By Building Consumer TrustMy Profile

    Reply
  4. Robert says:
    February 17, 2013 at 3:04 pm


    Twitter:
    It is so hard to determine which marketing products are the real deal and which one are all hype. Probably the best sure deal is to become a member of a few reputable affiliate programs and learn to market the products yourself.

    Buying into all these making money secrets programs and trying to learn from someone elses success may not be the right road. Of course there are a few out there that will lend very helpful tips, but as we all know, affiliate marketing takes a very long time and lots of patience.

    Question for you: In all honesty, how long did it take you to begin making money with affiliate marketing?

    Thanks Michael!
    Robert recently posted..Meanings for Having Accidents in Your DreamsMy Profile

    Reply
    • Michael says:
      February 22, 2013 at 2:15 am


      Twitter:
      Hi Robert,

      I took 7 years.

      But don’t be alarm because everyone journey is different and I view mine as mainly due to my personal problem. :)

      What I’ll suggest is that you need to be prepared that affiliate marketing is similar to building any form of business.

      You need to spend money, time, effort and patience. :)
      Michael recently posted..Blue Lantern OathMy Profile

      Reply
  5. Rehmat Alam says:
    February 17, 2013 at 3:08 pm

    Interesting post Michael, but it doesn’t mean that all programs are scam. Yes it is a little bit difficult to distinguish between what is legit and what is scam.
    Rehmat Alam recently posted..How to Stop Spam Comments and Spam Traffic to Blogger and WordPress BlogsMy Profile

    Reply
  6. Prakash says:
    February 17, 2013 at 4:32 pm

    Affiliate marketing scams, finding out the scams requires some research. Only web research can make the figure out among the legit affiliate programs.
    Prakash recently posted..Best Free and Paid antivirus apps for android 2013My Profile

    Reply
  7. Dexter says:
    February 17, 2013 at 5:57 pm

    Not ALL of them are complete scams. Some companies honestly DO try but because of these other lamer companies, we lose trust for the good ones.

    Reply
  8. Robert says:
    February 18, 2013 at 2:36 am


    Twitter:
    I think the best way to prevent scams is to buy and use the product itself. You’ll get real experiences and don’t be lured by just some proofs of earnings. They can all be fake.
    Robert recently posted..10 Free and Premium WordPress Themes Inspired By Windows 8 Metro UIMy Profile

    Reply
  9. harshi says:
    February 18, 2013 at 2:24 pm


    Twitter:
    very nice post making all things very clear and very intellactual ! like one always needs toet patented over the use of his product !
    harshi recently posted..How to Convert DVD to iTunesMy Profile

    Reply
  10. Syazrin Rayhan says:
    February 18, 2013 at 2:41 pm

    I think its true. i have been myself scammed by a guy claiming to be affiliate marketer..

    Reply
  11. Jacob Arvin says:
    February 18, 2013 at 5:08 pm

    It seems to me that you are missing some of the benefits of dealing with established affiliate programs. For example, Clickbank makes a deposit into my bank account every single week, and they’ve never been late. Stick to the large digital marketplaces and you won’t have a problem.
    Jacob Arvin recently posted..RealWritingJobs.com Reviewed: A Freelancing DreamMy Profile

    Reply
    • Michael says:
      February 25, 2013 at 2:57 am


      Twitter:
      Hahaha Jacob,

      Don’t worry, I am not complaining about Clickbank. I too am making good income with it. Just that we can’t rule out that there are people who make money scamming us.

      You are lucky that you never experience it and I am not asking to experience it. :)

      Just that affiliate marketing beginner need to be aware that there are people or business out there are ready to scam your money.

      Reply
  12. Justin Musiker says:
    February 19, 2013 at 1:41 pm


    Twitter:
    Hey Michael,

    My rule of thumb, if it’s too good to be true, it probably is, and there is no such thing as get rich quick.
    Justin Musiker recently posted..CommentLuv Premium Detailed ReviewMy Profile

    Reply
    • Michael says:
      February 25, 2013 at 3:00 am


      Twitter:
      Hi Justin,

      Well said.

      Maybe you have not experience it before but when you are desperate, those too good to be true offer just sound so convincing and assuring.

      Sometime, some people just have to learn the lesson the hardway. :)

      Reply
  13. wazz says:
    February 20, 2013 at 12:50 pm

    no not all of them are complete scams i guess but how can one differenciate between authentic progams and fake ones thats the problem
    wazz recently posted..Yeah !!! You can workout at home !!!My Profile

    Reply
    • Michael says:
      February 25, 2013 at 3:02 am


      Twitter:
      Hi Wazz,

      That’s why it is important to have a network you can trust and when things like this happen, you can always refer to your network for sincere review.

      Never believe all the review you can get from Google.

      Reply
  14. Keith Burch says:
    February 22, 2013 at 7:30 pm


    Twitter:
    Which the more benefit to choose the product to promoted? The product that has a medium popularity but offering us high commissions OR the product that has high popularity but offering us low commissions?
    Keith Burch recently posted..Commission Cheat Exclusive Privat BonusMy Profile

    Reply
  15. shafeeq says:
    February 27, 2013 at 5:30 pm


    Twitter:
    but there is so many real so many real programers like click bank,cj and share sale. then why should we go with another programs.
    i am also a affiliate marketer from last year with cj and sharesale
    shafeeq recently posted..How to make money from facebook : 7 top ideasMy Profile

    Reply
  16. Suraj says:
    March 15, 2013 at 10:51 am


    Twitter:
    In addition to your post another scam i feel is when you buy a drink or something to eat though there are ingredients mentioned behind we can never know what we are actually having..but it can hardly be proven..
    Suraj recently posted..Suffer with me in COD Black Ops 2My Profile

    Reply
  17. Keral Patel says:
    March 24, 2013 at 6:29 am


    Twitter:
    Affiliate marketing is getting saturated and getting a bad name due to some people’s actions. Black hatters, cookie stuffers and runaway merchants are just some of the highlights of affiliate marketing.
    Keral Patel recently posted..How To Get The Most Out Of Your PPC Landing PageMy Profile

    Reply
  18. Sudipto says:
    April 29, 2013 at 11:22 am

    Hey Michael,
    nice post and Thanks for sharing this important with us. Yes, these days lots of scams are running outside but it doesn’t means that all program are cheating. Yes, due to some program, affiliate marketing decreases its reputation.
    Sudipto recently posted..Best Android Phone Under 10000My Profile

    Reply

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