How To Recognize a Poor Affiliate Marketing Program

Affiliate Marketing

We discussed the 12 criteria that define a good affiliate marketing program. Now let's take a look at the opposite. What signs are there that shout, "Stop, joining this affiliate program puts your e-business at serious risk"?

- Slow and/or poor support.

- Unethical conduct of any kind.

- Reports of late (or lack of) payments.

- Allow spam, or seem to spam themselves.

Keep digging...

- Support or are slow to condemn scumware programs ("browser hijacking") that deprive hard-working affiliates of their commissions.

- Defective affiliate-joining process.

- Clauses in the agreement that you find unacceptable.

Example #1 -- If lifetime customers are important to you, then a clause that allows unilateral termination or modification of the agreement at any time by the company, without just cause, effectively makes the lifetime commitment of no value.

Example #2 -- Exclusivity (i.e., you should be allowed to represent more than one book vendor).

- "The dark side" of affiliate marketing programs. This is perhaps the most worrisome of all. Is the program really just a way to legally bribe folks to recommend overpriced, UNDERdelivering products in order to collect excessive commissions?

So what's your bottom line?

There is a commission that is "just right" for each product. If the commission is too low, it is not interesting enough for affiliates. If it is too high, it's a consumer rip-off. (Excessive commissions also push the price of the product up to levels that cannot survive for long in the competitive online marketplace.)

Your job as an affiliate is an important one. You deliver high-value content that gains the confidence and trust of your visitor/reader. You include recommendations and referrals to your loyal readers as part of your service and content. Recommending anything less than sterling products is simply sophisticated, subtle fraud.

Don't allow yourself to be bribed into recommending such products. In the long run, your reputation will be ruined. And so will your business.

On the other hand, when your visitors are rewarded repeatedly by your rich recommendations, their increasing like and respect of your judgment will keep them coming back for more!

Affiliate marketing is a low maintenance income model that suits almost any website. How can it improve your current or future e-business?