ClickBank Exposed: 3 Affiliate Scams Not to Fall for When Promoting ClickBank Products Online
For affiliates who are looking to make money online, discover 3 affiliate scams you should not fall for when promoting ClickBank products on the Internet.
You and I both know how awesome it feels like to get paid 25%…. 50%… even a whopping 75% in affiliate commissions. The question is: do you know what are you promoting or are you doing it solely for the irresistible payout?
Can you go that far and promote anything just because people don’t know you?
In nowadays Internet society, trust is a precious skill. It takes years to build it, and seconds to lose it. That is why I think you should never promote scam artists or their programs.
We have seen those red-screaming sales letters, heavy-graphic oriented: large mansions, flashy cars, ClickBank screen shots.
I close the page each time I smell one of these.wr
Now, let’s take a close look on the 3 affiliate scams you should not fall for when promoting ClickBank products.
These are shady tricks product vendors are using (can you imagine the hugely insane smile on their face?) to fool clients (and affiliate) put money into their pockets.
#1 – Misleading sales pitch (you don’t know what they are really selling)
They tell what the product is not, what you don’t need to know or buy, but they give no clues on what is it they are really selling. Just to “whet” your appetite and waste your time.
EXAMPLE:
- You don’t need a blog
- You don’t need html
- You don’t need any previous experience
Some go crazy enough to claim: “you don’t need any computer skills” yet you have to download their ZIP file, unzip its content, save it on your computer, remember where you downloaded it, phew. For most newbies this sounds like Chinese, until they learn it.
#2 – Fake Deadlines or Limited Offers (if you don’t buy this now, sky will fall)
Way too many affiliate marketers are falling for this one. I have seen similar tricks being used to attract JV (Joint Venture) partners and get them on board for whatever “BIG” prize contest.
Look, if you have an honest product and affiliate program available, emphasize that, but don’t claim it’s the best thing on earth and if I don’t buy into it, I will lose big time.
I think that’s a pretty deceptive tactic and leads me to believe the guys behind this program are nothing but scam artists or shady marketers.
Don’t misunderstand me: I like fair deadlines and real limited offers, but I am anti-hype in all cases.
If you and I both feel the same way, imagine what people you refer to such web sites feel.
You wouldn’t send your best friend to buy from a scammer, do you? In fact, you advise him to run from one.
#3 – Hard sell frenzy (on-page up sales, pop-up down sales, $1 trial deals)
Don’t’ get me wrong. I sometimes use up sells and cross sells and all these strategies to enlarge the sale and offer my customer a better buy/deal. But using the entire arsenal at once is too much and will scare most of the visitors.
These tips help prevent scam deals and avoid promoting ClickBank products that are not worth it.
Next step would be to start writing product reviews. I will cover this topic in future posts.
About the author:
Codrut Turcanu (the most productive Internet Marketing copywriter) shares free affiliate marketing tips and product review templates on his super affiliate marketing blog to help affiliates looking for the best ways to earn money online
If you want to leave your feedback, comment below. I’m looking forward to connecting and talking with you…
Before I recommend any ClickBank products, I always check them out. First check, is to see how high their refund rate is. I've written a blog post about how to calculate the ClickBank Refund rate here: http://getmoneymakingideas.com/157/how-to-find-th…
After that, I either ask for a review copy or I buy one. Often it's a bad sign, if the author doesn't answer or doesn't give a review copy. In most cases, I've found that the product was rubbish.
Lately, we asked for review copies for a product, we considered promoting. We didn't get any answer. Then we bought the products (there were 3), and those were the lousiest products I've ever seen. Of course, we chose NOT to recommend them, and asked for our money back.
Reply
Codrut Turcanu
Reply:
April 1st, 2011 at 21:07
That's awesome Malka. Thank you. I've read the post and now I wanted to ask you:
How does promoting affiliate products through YouTube and Viddler working out for you?
P.S. Maybe that turns into a post on your blog
Reply
Good advice and thank you, but…
In your #1. 'Just to “wet” your appetite'.
No!
No!
No!
The word is 'WHET', 'not 'WET'.
It's a verb
1. Sharpen the blade of (a tool or weapon).
2. Excite or stimulate (someone's desire, interest, or appetite).
Cheers,
Reply
Thanks for your advise, Codrut. Recently I was trapped into a dollar trial which clearly stated for a month, but in 3 days only my card was charged into monthly payment of $97.00.
Before the purchase I was very convinced with the powerful sales letter. But later on the video, I was very annoyed when he just mumbling without knowing head and tail what's he is talking about.
So now, I'm very careful with promoting the products and what more into buying it.
Reply
Codrut Turcanu
Reply:
April 1st, 2011 at 22:25
hi Ruslie, thank you for sharing your experience. I think I should prepare a post on how to avoid "trial" programs (and cancel them for real). Be aware. I've been into similar programs myself and they re-activated my subscription (they said it was just a mistake) after I canceled it into paypal already.
So, for how long did you blog now and how is it working for you?
Reply
Ha ha! If you fall for this kinda sales pitches I'll probable be able to sell the Eifel Tower to you, ha ha! Just to imagine that you can become succesfull only if you buy their program shows how stupid they really are.
Do yourself a favour, make a plan, sort out what you need and then try to make your first dollar online. If you can do that you can then multiply it, again and again and again…
Regards,
Antonius
Reply
Antonius
Nah, I don't think they're stupid but devilish clever, eager for money – or both… all they want is to take advantage of new (not idiot) people and go to the next victim.
Reply
A year ago this winter, I bought Blogging To The Bank plus the upsell of having my blog created by the seller's team. They never did create my blog, and I cancelled. This past winter, I bought an AutoBlogging package: four niches of my own choosing, plus hosting for $297. A month later, they emailed me saying "they were still working on it." Two weeks after that, another email declaring "your blogs are ready!" Boy was I excited. Problem was, they weren't! Only 20% of the pages showed and there were no scroll bars in the right hand margins. Adding insult to injury, the blogs were loaded to gillls with ads…and contained only one, skimpy article apiece. When I wrote to lodge a complaint and request a refund, the seller cut off email access. Paypal couldn't help due to 45 days having passed since the date of purchase. Employing a trick that I learned back in my "direct mail" days, I contacted the seller's post office, obtained his name and address, then left a message on his phone to either pay up or face me in my local small claims court – over a hundred mile trip for him, one way. The bugger paid up!
Reply
Codrut Turcanu
Reply:
April 3rd, 2011 at 07:02
K-man, that was a good strategy to take your money back. I dislike when people don't honor refund requests, then why are they still offering a guarantee on their site? I heard some companies and individuals making a standard to neglect refund requests and fool their customers.
Thank you for your comment and story exposing. Were you in direct mailing? What are you doing now in your spare time?
Reply
Pretty good post. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Personally, I think it has become harder (and easier) to participate in the "right affiliate programs". Harder, because there sometimes seems to be nothing left but spam. Easier, because the lovely Gravity factor exists
Reply
Talking about scams. can you still beleive they have that one where you be cashing checks for people in Nigeria. They even come from the FBI. I can't believe it's still goin on. I was one of the stupid, desperate people that invested 4.97 for the clickbank trial. After reading your posts and getting an email with a link that crashed my hard drive everytime I opened it, I closed my debit account. The whole world is sick.
Reply