For me, the online world has become my salvation, but I so very nearly gave up on it until I was introduced to a genuine program that finally gave me what I was looking for. Actually, that’s not quite true as I was looking to make money – period. I wasn’t too fussy as long as it was legal and ethical.
I found out the hard way, but luckily not too hard, that scammers online or offline have no ethical guidelines, walk a fine line between legal and illegal, have no pity, respect, scruples, compassion or whatever you want to call it.
Like many people, the time when I was at my most vulnerable was when I got hit hardest. and this is when these scam artists thrive. To say I was pissed off is an understatement. The word scam is easily changed to scum, and that is what those people are.
When starting out we all need a little help and thankfully there were many good folks who helped me along the way, and as a way of saying thanks to them, I hope that I can help people such as you avoid being taken.
I will later add details of specific scams we need to watch out for, but I want to start with a couple of tips, as you start to search for a legitimate way to get stuck in to this exciting world of affiliate marketing.
Get Rich Quick Schemes
Let’s get going with something that will, if it has not already, become blatantly obvious to you.
Any “Get Rich Quick” scheme is almost definitely a scam.
Think about it, if these were legitimate, you should ask yourself:-
a) why don’t they either just keep it for themselves or,
b) nobody can keep their mouths shut these days anyway so why isn’t everyone doing it?
They will offer you a totally unrealistic timeline in which you, even with absolutely no experience, will start earning thousands of dollars, maybe within weeks or even days. Some will go so far to say that you’ll be a millionaire in months! You will not!
This type of scam usually starts off with a training plan where you will learn a “secret formula for success”, and you only pay a small fee up front. This training is usually something that you can find for nothing by doing a few Google searches, it will have no substance and of course, no support.
If you’re really unlucky, you will get sucked into buying “upgrades” at a specially reduced rate, such as one on one mentoring, or special “elite” training courses to give you a fast track to success.
There is no “secret formula for success” being offered to anybody. Before you know it, your upfront fee has gone, along with the scammers and you will be back to square one, only poorer.
All the truly successful affiliate marketers will tell you the same thing – “I had to work hard to get this going”. You know what? That is the only way to do it and the only way you will learn, but the best part is that you will learn and you will be successful – you just need to avoid the scams, and that is what I am trying to help you with.
What Are They Selling? Are They Selling Anything?
This is something that you need to be aware of and give thought to. Usually, what they are selling is the fact that you will have to recruit people to sign up for the same program that you purchased, much like a multi-level marketing (MLM) scheme, except there is no real product being sold.
Their “product” which is usually nothing more than maybe a poorly produced CD, download or perhaps an ebook with little or no useful information, will also have no support for the training anyway. You will get a high percentage commission to sell this to other people, but in reality the majority of these are nothing more than a pyramid scheme. By the time people figure it out, the scammers will have moved on to avoid being caught by the police.
Two Important Points
- Generally most affiliate marketing networks, legitimate or not, will claim that you do not need experience, nor special skills as all this will be provided. This is usually true and is what makes this so appealing to many of us.
- Also most will require some payment at an early stage or even up front – this does not always mean that it is a scam but I highly recommend you avoid paying anything without a free trial first.
Check Things Out
What you need to do is to take some time, do some research and try and check things out for yourself.
Not all training programs are scams, in fact there are some very good ones that will definitely speed up the process to you having a profitable business but build your own knowledge base first or you will fail – it’s as simple as that! That is why I am trying to point you in the direction of Wealthy Affiliate to build that base.
By way of disclosure, Wealthy Affiliate which is the organization that I promote on this site, does have it’s own affiliate program that rewards members who introduce new clients but there are never any requirements to promote it, nor is there any pressure to do so, because that is not their main purpose. Also, there is absolutely no charge to try it out, no credit card required, no requirement to cancel within a certain number of days – all you need is an email address. When I started I wrote a review myself, which you can check here
As mentioned above, I will start detailing specific systems that fall within the “scam” category, but in the meantime please take a few minutes and have a look at a legitimate way to learn new skills and ultimately make money……
As ever, please feel free to leave a comment below……