Affiliate Marketing – Dream Or Nightmare?

To be your own boss; does that sound like a dream? Perhaps, but many of us have set that as our goal, taking the fantasy element out of the task, and bringing it into the real world. The attraction of answering only to yourself, combined with the freedom to set your own working hours, and pursue life as you fashion it, brings many people into affiliate marketing.

Affiliate marketing can be an excellent way for a highly motivated, creative person to make a good living. There are some wonderful affiliate programs, but for every great program there is likely to be a counterfeit. Con artists poison any area in which they can see a profit, and unfortunately affiliate marketing is not immune.

It is because affiliate marketing is a way for people to work for themselves with no risk, no upfront cost, and be paid on performance that it is attractive bait for scammers to use. On a regular basis, people-desperate to make a change–are taken in by promises of easy money with relatively little effort. For them, affiliate marketing becomes a nightmare, stealing the hope of working for themselves.

Let’s see how scams can operate.

When you join an affiliate marketing program, you are either going to sell a product or a service. Clickbank and Commission Junction have a huge range of possibilities for products, in every price range and market. It is also possible to sell a service. Article writing, web page designs, as well as services that increase internet traffic and build lists, are examples of services offered by affiliate marketing programs.

However, there are counterfeits to these legitimate programs. You may have seen an ad on the internet promising huge earnings, like “Earn 1000$ a Day” or “Become Our Next Millionaire.” A closer look at these ads reveals that they are not actually selling anything. Any company that is just selling the opportunity to make money may be a scam. True, some affiliate marketing companies will have the attention-grabbing headlines like the ones mentioned above, but if you go on to read the ad and information, and it is a legitimate program, there will likely be a detailed description of what the company sells.

True affiliate programs are free to join, which is a benefit to an entrepreneur just starting out. Except for the marketing you choose to do, there isn’t a cost to get started, and taking a chance is relatively risk-free. If you have to pay to join a program, you may have stumbled upon a scam or a multilevel marketing program. Multi-level marketing programs are completely legal and some people make a good living with them. The downside with multi-level marketing is the products that may not sell, and end up being stale inventory.

In addition, companies that offer the opportunity to make money without a product, are just passing money from person to person through the levels of sponsorship they have set up. Don’t fall for these! Not only are these scams and you’ll lose what you invested, they are also illegal. What a nightmare to be caught in one of these!

Affiliate marketing, done well, can be a dream business. However, when considering an affiliate marketing business venture, do your homework, check out the product or service, check out the company, don’t hand over your money, and choose wisely.

Source by Ben Curtis