Scam Or Review: Understanding The Dark Side Of Internet Marketing

By Author: Richard van Beek
Total Articles: 26
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A truly unbiased review of an affiliate program is nearly impossible to find these days. What you encounter most often is either a claim of a scam or review. There are entire advertising campaigns targeted at trash talking the competition, so that people will turn to the program promoted by the person slinging the mud. And then you will find so-called reviews from people who are promoting their own program to recruit you. Wouldn't it be nice if there were customer reviews where you could find the whole truth and nothing but the truth? Sadly, these are lacking, so finding a quick way to get the lowdown on an opportunity, especially if it is newer, often results in more questions then answers. Balancing the marketing copy at the company's website with what other critical reviewers are saying is probably the best bet for getting a balanced perspective before you decide to join an affiliate program. So take a look what at both sides say and sift through the hype and opinions to find the facts. Here are some questions to ask:

Where does the money come from?
There should be a customer base at the bottom who are ...
... buying products with real, proven value. If most of the money coming in is from people who pay to join the program, it may be what some consider a scam, since only those at the top are likely to reap large profits.

How trustworthy does the company seem?
By looking at the website and researching how long the company has been in business, you can have a better idea as to whether you want to join their program or not. A company that is devoting all of its efforts to getting people to buy or join instead of offering reliable information is probably desperate, and that is not a good sign.

What will I be promoting and how will I go about marketing it online? There should be clear and straight-shooting information that tells you what you will need to do to win customers. If the product doesn't seem to be valuable, no one besides the people joining will be buying it readily, and the business may be a scam like a pyramid. There are many of these affiliate programs out there that charge hundreds of dollars to join, cover their bases by offering a product (often things like e-books) as part of the membership.

While you don't want to fall for a scam and lose money, it is important to note that not all scam or review reports are created equal. Some people are just trying to make their competition look bad by saying the rest are scams. It is best to avoid joining up with a program that is producing negative publicity for others. If a person selling a product believes it is truly valuable, others will respond by buying, so long as he or she plays by the rules.