Affiliate ethics

Status
Not open for further replies.
I don't promote promote porn. Other than that I don't see very many unethical offers. Obviously ebooks, get rich quick, and penis englargement and obvious stuff like that but everything else is pretty much good by me.

Growing up my dad always told me there was no such thing as a free lunch. (He didn't know about affiliate marketing though haha) I find it interesting that people repeatedly think they can get something for nothing. Nobody is going to give you free ringtones, nobody is going to give you a free credit report. If your to stupid to read the fine print and look around first, you deserve your $9.99/month subscription.

If someone comes to google looking for a free credit report. I am going to show them a free credit report. If they don't see the * by free when they put in their CC... who cares.
 


A lot of you guys seem to be trying to justify what you do by bringing up what you deem to be worse 'real life' examples. Let's not kid ourselves here, we aren't getting paid up to $30 for a $1 sign up for nothing. These offers are shady as shit, yet the money is good. I promote anything which will make me money (apart from porn, which I don't touch). Having said that, most of the products I promote either have legit refund policies and don't screw the customers, or are quite simply my own products.

I do agree with HarveryJ's first point to an extent though, I have become a lot more desensitised by being in this business.
 
GoogleSearchSux said:
Ashley Madison was recruiting affiliates pretty hard at ASE. There is just something inherently wrong in creating a dating site that helps people cheat on their spouses. I guess thats where I draw the line.
Click to expand...

LoL - I saw their name and I first thought it would be female targeted dating. I was in for a bit of a shock. :eek: I guess there's True on one side, who supposedly screens out marrieds, so there's the opposite. It's just seriously messed up if you ask me. Worse than get-rich-quick ads which only take $50 for an eBook, not you're whole marriage.

Speaking of "get rich quick" schemes as well as miracle cures. There's a demographic that will KEEP buying that stuff. If someone can tap into that market, they can get rich. Maybe not "quick" but there's money to be had from people that just keep signing up for the latest pill, or business fad, only to move on to the next one after they fail. I know because I'm related (by law, not blood) to some of them. People who make affiliate marketing, real estate, "work at home" and other schemes just keep selling the same dream over and over.

I'm not saying there isn't money in affiliate marketing or real estate, but they are two industries that seem to have a low enough barrier to entry that "anyone" can get started -- so a cottage industry arises to sell that hope.

Wow. Rambling. Sorry about that.
 
coglethorpe said:
Speaking of "get rich quick" schemes as well as miracle cures. There's a demographic that will KEEP buying that stuff. If someone can tap into that market, they can get rich. Maybe not "quick" but there's money to be had from people that just keep signing up for the latest pill, or business fad, only to move on to the next one after they fail. I know because I'm related (by law, not blood) to some of them. People who make affiliate marketing, real estate, "work at home" and other schemes just keep selling the same dream over and over.
Click to expand...
Congratulations. You've now learned how 'gurus' like Mike Filsaime and Chris MacNeeny make their riches.
 
Ever seen Mike Filsaime's face? He looks like he could suck a mean cock, and probably does it on a daily basis.
 
Care to elaborate more?

majorbta said:
I will never promote a payday loan
Click to expand...

I know the interest rates are bad (still not as bad as overdraft fees IMHO) but my understanding is the borrower generally has awful credit and would not have access to funds any other way.
 
GoogleSearchSux said:
Ashley Madison was recruiting affiliates pretty hard at ASE. There is just something inherently wrong in creating a dating site that helps people cheat on their spouses. I guess thats where I draw the line.
Click to expand...

Draw the line if you want, but don't kid yourself. That program is like a handgun. It's only bad if some asshole pulls the trigger. Let's say you have a gun shop. Should you beat yourself up if one of the guns you sold kills a cop? Some people would...but I wouldn't.

If I caught my chick using that program, I'd want to thank them for helping me find out she's a piece of shit.

* I just reread that and I probably shouldn't post when I'm buzzed. Nevertheless, I expect that there will still be plenty of people that agree with me.
 
GoogleSearchSux said:
Ashley Madison was recruiting affiliates pretty hard at ASE. There is just something inherently wrong in creating a dating site that helps people cheat on their spouses. I guess thats where I draw the line.
Click to expand...

A good idea is to promate the Ashley Madison offer and also promote another affiliate offer that helps people catch cheating spouses at the same time. That way, the more leads generate for Ashley Madison the larger the market becomes for the other offer. :D

Kind of like the story I heard of a company that makes land mines and also makes fake limbs for people who lost arms or legs due to land mine explosions.
 
Mosleydeaf said:
I know the interest rates are bad (still not as bad as overdraft fees IMHO) but my understanding is the borrower generally has awful credit and would not have access to funds any other way.
Click to expand...

I personally wonder if the scammier offers with the highest payouts are looking to scam the affiliates, in addition to the poor suckers that sign up for them.
 
smaxor said:
I talked to ashley madison the program sucks. They don't pay on men, only women.
Click to expand...

Speaking of affiliate programs that suck, I think I had more than one discussion that went like this:

"We have a great affiliate program"

"What do you pay?"

"5% of sale"

"Whats your average order size"

"$75"

For all the time and effort companies spend trying to recruit affiliates, they'd do a lot better figuring out what the market value of their traffic is worth first.
 
No morals and no ethics.

I wouldn't sell a puppy to someone that is about to die, or promote payday loans (even I draw lines) but when it comes to sales.. I'll do whatever the rules allow.
 
Mosleydeaf said:
I know the interest rates are bad (still not as bad as overdraft fees IMHO) but my understanding is the borrower generally has awful credit and would not have access to funds any other way.
Click to expand...

Also, what if the person needed the money to feed their starving children? Would you rather let children starve or rather their parent take a small credit hit?

Therefore, I see it as my duty as a person to aid starving children by pushing payday loans as hard as possible.
 
climed said:
Also, what if the person needed the money to feed their starving children? Would you rather let children starve or rather their parent take a small credit hit?

Therefore, I see it as my duty as a person to aid starving children by pushing payday loans as hard as possible.
Click to expand...
Feel more confident than you already do. I had a friend that used to get payday loans to buy baby formula. If she didn't have that, her baby would probably be dead.

No BS.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom