Affiliate Marketing and Signs of a Scam

Because so many internet based businesses are pursuing affiliate marketing, it is easy to get pulled into some "opportunities" that aren't what they claim to be. There are many warning signs to be aware of when you find any entity offering to give you a piece of their pie. Here are some of the big red flags you should be aware of.

What is Being Marketed?

Those who have internet businesses that offer affiliate marketing opportunities may offer many different types of products, both intangible and tangible. If an ad does not clearly indicate what is being marketed, it may be a pyramid scheme that will prevent you from getting any profit from the experience.

Those who want their products sold are very quick to let you know exactly what the products are; how else can they entice you to sell them? Know what you are selling before you participate. Your reputation is on the line.

Pay Up Front

Some schemes require money from you, and you'll want to shy away from an affiliate marketing plan requiring up front cash. It is a simple concept; you advertise a product, make a sale, and you receive a portion of the sale price as a profit.

When you are asked to put money into software products to help you make sales, or invest in a product itself up front, it is a strong indicator of a scam. If the opportunity is an MLM, you might expect to invest, but not in an affiliate marketing situation.

We'll Contact You

Any legitimate company that has a product is going to have a way for customers and affiliate marketers to get in touch with them, and a dead giveaway that someone isn't legitimate is that they don't want you contacting them. If you only have an email address, send the company a message and see how long it takes before they get back to you.

A business will have people ready to reply to inquiries; that's the way they get orders. If you cannot contact a company about their affiliate marketing plan, you won't be able to contact them for your commissions either.

Pride in a Website

If a company is successful enough for you to consider selling their wares, you can bet they have a decent if not great website. A little investigation into links on the website, the value of the printed word, and overall professionalism of the site are indicators of whether it is a legitimate business or not. Scammers will throw sites up hurriedly with the sole intent of making them look legitimate.

Do Your Research

If you want to be sure you are looking at a legitimate affiliate marketing program, you must be a bit of a detective and look behind the scenes. Don't feel pressured into joining something until you have checked out all the information you can find using Google. If it isn't legitimate, there are bound to be those who have already wasted their time and money on the ruse making comments to warn others.

Checking out the success of any company you consider affiliating with is one of the first moves to make to assure that you know what you are getting into. Scammers have their ads right beside the legitimate companies making offers, so without running the checks, you stand to be the biggest loser.