Have you ever wondered why online marketing businesses have such a bad reputation? Well, if you have ever been a victim of a dishonest so-called Guru you probably already know the answer to that question. But, the question really is how to get rid of a bad reputation?
I will be the first to agree that there are many unscrupulous internet marketers that are without a doubt tarnishing the reputations of honest, legitimate affiliate marketers. It’s time the community of affiliate marketers remove the stain that degrades the reputation of genuine, upstanding and lawful online business owners such as affiliate marketers. It’s time to fix a bad reputation.
Building Trust is the Key
Legitimate affiliate marketing companies will need to be able to build trust and credibility with potential customers to overcome bad reputation. Marketers need to actually try products themselves and if they promote a product it should be because they really like it and find a value in the product or service. This way the customers don’t have to wonder if the affiliate marketer really likes the product or if he is promoting it only to make the sale to earn a buck.
Your customers should always feel that you value them more than you value the small commission you will make from a sale to them. Consumers have not always felt that they were valued in the past. That is why we need to begin to show consumers that our goal is to help them, not to just sell to them.
Damage Control
If done ethically and honestly, affiliate marketing is the very best way to go when advertising a product or service. But, to dispel the bad reputation it has been attached to, affiliate marketers must learn to walk away from a product or service if it is not helpful or wanted by the consumer.
You must believe in and like the products that you promote. This way you can build an affiliate relationship with the consumers, your customers because you are creating value for them.
Take caution to always remember that your website is not supposed to be about selling a product to people. It is about being helpful to them. Promoting only products and services that you can also find useful will help you remember that.
Disclosure is a Must
Another way to dispel the bad reputation is to always let consumers know if you will benefit from the sale of a product. So, be honest and place a disclosure statement on your website that you will earn a commission. Place it where it will be clearly visible on your site.
Always make known the relationships you work under apparent. If by chance you promote something just because you like it, but are not promoting it as an affiliate marketer, you should make it known that you do not have a business relationship with those particular people. This shows consumers that you are not promoting them for any monetary exchange.
Disgruntled Affiliate Marketers
There are many disgruntled affiliate marketers who have contributed to the bad rap that has been pinned to affiliate marketers, whether it was purposeful or not. These are the former affiliate marketers that were sold a dream of getting rich overnight, but never made a red cent! Therefore, the former marketers believe that affiliate marketing is a scam because they were unable to make a sufficient income from it.
The real truth is that they were duped by the dishonest “Gurus” that promised them a pipe dream and didn’t provide them with the proper training. On top of that, they didn’t have the patience needed to put in the work or the commitment it takes to grow an affiliate marketing business, which does not happen overnight.
Keeping it Real
Affiliate marketing can be very stressful. It is easy to see why it can get frustrating very quickly. At some point, many of us, including me, become frustrated and start to ask ourselves why in the world did we ever get ourselves involved in it in the first place! Affiliate marketers should not be maligned because some did not learn how to approach affiliate marketing properly.
Good affiliate marketers clock hours and hours of researching, writing articles, tracking campaigns, keeping websites and social media sites updated and current. They are patient and committed to being successful and to helping others.
Affiliate marketing is the real deal and it works when the job functions are performed correctly, and honestly. Affiliate marketing takes roughly about 12 months to begin seeing success. There was a time when affiliate marketing was pretty easy and you could begin to make money rather quickly, but those days are long gone thanks to Google.
Google is not very easy to fool in this day and age and they have increased the requirements to get page rankings. This forces marketers to put a concerted effort in creating content-rich articles that are informative and interesting. More market research is needed and more planning ahead, checking out the competition. So yes, it takes about a year to see real revenue.
If you have the best business plan, spend 40 hours or more a week on your website and a great niche, it is still going to take you no less than a minimum of 6 months to really start seeing good traffic to your site.
Even if you are doing everything correctly, creating a quality website the people will gravitate to takes a lot of time. You just can’t get around it. That is why much patience will be required as an affiliate marketer. This is the time you need to hang tough and not let frustration get in your way. Remember, you can’t reach success if you quit.
Final Thoughts
This article is intended to be forthright and transparent about being an affiliate marketer. I will not give anyone false hopes. Success will not be easy at first. The work will be slow and steady. But, I will tell you that affiliate marketing is a real business and real revenue can be made when you follow the process correctly.
If you really want the freedom that comes with having an online business, be patient and hang in there. When you first start out it is very difficult, but once everything is in place you will see that all your efforts were not in vain.
As the income begins to come in on a more regular basis and the monthly income continues to grow that is when you will reap the rewards of your hard work and dedication. You can work from wherever you want and whenever you want. Affiliate marketing can give you a dream life and many more people could experience it if they have the motivation, patience and commitment to give it a try.
Please feel free to contact me if you need help with anything. Just make a comment below or you can always get in touch with me through wealthyaffiliate.com (here is a link to my profile).
Hello Verna,
A very interesting angle on affiliate marketing – getting rid of bad reputation. On reading your content under sub-headings “Damage Control”, “Disclosure is a must” andd “Disgruntled Marketers”, I realize you’re making a few points on the steps to be taken to remain “trusted”.
I have to admit that as a consumer myself, I was once a serial online affiliate product buyer. And I didn’t think about ‘researching’ the products or sellers. I just believed in the sales pages. But now I know better …
And this post just reminded me about being more vigilant! Thank you!
Zailinah,
Thanks so much for taking the time to visit my site. I am glad that my article, “Hoe to Get Rid of a Bad Reputation” was able to give you some insight regarding the extra care we affiliate marketers have to take to get rid of that negative image that some bad apples caused. One by one we have to make sure that we conduct ourselves in a legitimate way and do what is best for our potential customers. We need to earn their trust and we do that by being honest and upfront with people. We are in the business of helping people and that should always be in the forefront, not just about making a sale.
Thanks you again for visiting. I hope to see you again. If there is anything I can do to help you or if you have an additional questions, please feel free to contact me any time.
I can imagine how hard It is to overcome a bad reputation when it comes to affiliate marketing. For years potential affiliates have tried doing so the unscrupulous way and failed in front of the whole world in the public forum of the world wide web; which is huge.
To recover from that new affiliate sites wanting to overcome that , have to be above bored and transparent just as you stated. Very nice post.
Thank you Debra for your comments. I am glad you enjoyed my article.
I hope I was able to give you some food for thought. When I first got into the affiliate marketing business, the issue of affiliate marketers having a bad reputation due to some of the marketers bad business practices was really bothersome to me. I thought, why would I want to get involved with a business that did not have the “trust value” of the people they would need to deal with?
I realized that it was not the majority of affiliate marketers that ruined our reputation. There are bad apples in all businesses and in walks of life. I thought that maybe the legitimate, honest affiliate marketers could begin to turn the tide by making sure they put more effort into building our trust again within the business world. We do that by being transparent, honest and putting forth that extra effort to helping the people we come in contact with, especially our potential customers. Over time, we will be able to make a difference in our overall reputation as long as we keep using clean work ethics.
Come back and visit again. If you have any questions of need help please feel free to contact me any time.
I’m such a big advocate for trust, and keeping your respect for your readers above your want for the commissions you will earn through their purchases, if they make any. If you keep your focus on helping people, the commission sales will grow as your website does. Very well written!
Thanks Dara for taking time to check out my article.
I absolutely agree with you. Commissions should never be our main focus. That will come after we have built the trust. Glad you enjoyed the article. Stop by again. Let me know if you have any other questions or if I can be of help to you.
You have a very good site just keep at it it will all come together
Hi George,
Thanks for dropping by my website. I hoped you enjoyed the article. I believe we shouldn’t let a few bad apples ruin it for everyone. If all of us affiliate marketers continue to work in a honest and above board manner we will be able to rebuild the bad reputation that some not so honest marketers have previously create.
I’m glad you enjoyed my website. Stop by anytime and please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
Verna