Beware the 'Mobile Affiliate
Farm'
by Stephen Brennan
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Firstly, my purpose is not to
undermine or rubbish the value or quality of some of the ebooks
available on the Internet. There are many valuable and
worthwhile publications available about Home Based Business and
Affiliate Marketing.
Also, there is absolutely nothing wrong with promoting one's
Affiliate links however, I feel that a clear declaration of that
intention should be made, instead of packaging them into an
ebook and representing it as an Instruction Manual or Guide to
success, whether it be free or not.
This is more especially questionable when one considers that
people who are unfamiliar with the workings of Affiliate
programs are those who are more likely to download and access
these ebooks, not knowing of the personal gains and profit which
may well influence a writer's recommendation of a service,
product or facility. |
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Having said
this however, there are a number of ebooks available, both free
(possibly in exchange for registering for a newsletter or opt-in
list of some sort) and at varying prices, which would appear to
be Tutorials, Guides or Instruction manuals on how to go about
starting or operating a home based business, when what they are
in reality is a book loaded with Affiliate referral links to all
kinds of services, products and facilities for which the
Affiliate will be paid commission (in money or credits) for each
client or sub-affiliate they bring on board.
In the extreme case, where the ebook is charged for, often all
the buyer is paying for is a catalogue of more things to buy or
sign up for. In reality, these ebooks are nothing more than a
Mobile Affiliate Link Farm.
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There are ebooks which contain an inordinate number of these
referral links but contain very little in the way of sensible or
useful advice and instruction. The advice seems to be, "Buy this
product and your Home Business will take off" or "Sign on for
this program and you'll see tons of traffic in no time" etc.
Obviously, the sole, or at least major, purpose of these ebooks
is to get the Affiliate links in front of aspiring home based
business people or the budding Affiliate, rather than provide
any real, genuine guidance.
Of course, if the ebook is free of charge (including no
requirement to 'opt-in' for anything), then there is really no
financial damage done and for all intents and purposes, this
could simply be referred to as aggressive or overzealous
affiliate marketing, but where there is a fee or charge, albeit
nominal, the practice must be seen for what it is.
** This 'Author's Resource' must be published intact with links
active when copying or publishing this article **
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