subject: Is Affiliate marketing a scam? [print this page] Is Affiliate marketing a scam? This is the question lingering in the minds of hundreds of people. Naturally, anyone will feel it hard to believe you can earn thousands of dollars with minimum effort. The truth is that affiliate marketing is definitely not a scam. It provides steady income to many people in a short time.
But there are lots of companies cheating the customers as well as affiliates. They promise unreasonable profits, creating unrealistic expectations to the affiliates. Here are a few common ways affiliates are cheated. If you are an affiliate marketer,
Companies will promise to pay 50% of the sale price to the affiliate. But they will reduce the amount claiming various hidden taxes. It is usually referred to as up to 50% to conceive the affiliates.
Some companies cheat the affiliates based on the number of sales. If they sell 20 products, they actually, pay the affiliates only for eighteen or seventeen sales.
There are companies which ask you to pay a deposit amount to become their affiliate. It is better to avoid such companies, as there is no point in your investing to earn profit for them.
Not all companies sell quality products. They may send unworthy products to the customers, through your link. This will make the customers lose trust in you. They will not come back to you to buy another product.
Safeguarding against affiliate scams
Always make sure you select a genuine, reputed company. Check with the other affiliates whether the company actually pays you, before signing in with them.
Use good tracking software, which will show clear details of how many sales are made and how much money you should receive. Clear all your doubts regarding tax deductions and bonus money promised, before you sign up.
It is always better to avoid companies asking you to pay deposits. There is no guarantee that you will make more money than the deposit you paid or that they will refund that amount to you.
Check the sample of the product you are selling if possible. Keep in touch with the customers and get regular feedback from them regarding the product you sold them. You will come to know if there is any problem in the product by this and won't lose customers trust.
High expectations
Don't become an affiliate marketer with too much hope. It is true that you can reap a lot of money through affiliate marketing. But it will take some time and lot of contacts and networks to do that. You can get your dream money or even more than that in a year or six months.
There is no shortcut or immediate success in this field as initial sales are hard to make. But never give up because you can learn the trick of the trade only by practice.
To know more about affiliate scams and the methods to handle it visit our website