An affiliate programme is to create a new source of revenue for online marketers — freelancers, influencers, bloggers, review sites, content creators.
They will introduce affiliate products to their followers, and they will earn commissions when followers make a purchase through their affiliate link.
In the previous article, we talked about how you could make money even while you sleep with affiliate marketing, and we believe that you understood the concept.
However, we also want to protect you.
Therefore, you must be aware that there are scammers in the affiliate marketing niche, just like every other business type.
Here are 4 affiliate marketing scams you should look out for.
1. Fake Training Opportunities
As a newbie in affiliate marketing, you will find that many people will start offering you training on making money through affiliate marketing.
They will come with e-books, online lectures and training. Many are nothing but scams.
Don’t get us wrong. We are not saying that educating yourself is a bad idea.
However, we are saying, “why pay for what you can get for free?” Instead of signing up for a course or training with so much money, you can use Google to educate yourself with the same knowledge.
There are a lot of valuable tips on how to kick-start affiliate marketing online.
Our free articles are an excellent place to start your course!
> Check out our Affiliate Marketing guides here
2. Get-Rich-Quick Programme
When the deal looks too good to be true, there’s usually something fishy lurking around.
Don’t get carried away by programmes that promise to make you a millionaire overnight.
Affiliate marketing is a real business. Therefore, you need time and strategy to make money.
Before you sign up for any affiliate programme, ensure that they a defined and realistic payment plan.
3. Paid Affiliate Network/Programme
Here’s a quick overview of how affiliate marketing works.
Affiliate networks are just like a marketplace.
The companies will post their products or services there, and affiliate marketers will then go in and pick the products or services they wish to sell on their website/blog. It’s that simple.
Therefore, paying to join any programme doesn’t make sense.
No legitimate affiliate marketing programme will ask any marketer to pay to join their network.
In a way, you will be doing the company a favour by helping them sell their products or services. Why pay someone to sell their products for them?
You can join many affiliate programmes for free, including the most famous SEMrush, ManyChat, and Amazon. Just make sure to do your research.
If the affiliate programme is newly launched, you will need to check the following:
- How long has this company been operating?
- Do they have a good payment record?
- How long has the domain name existed?
- Are there any reviews you can check that validates the company?
If you can find the answers to these questions, you will immediately understand this company; and if its affiliate programme is legit or not.
4. You Do Not Understand What You are Selling (MLM/Pyramid Scheme)
The goal of joining an affiliate programme is to sell, promote a product or service and make money in the process. Forget about those who make the programme like pyramid schemes.
In the typical “pyramid” scheme / MLM programme, participants make money solely by recruiting a batch of new participants. The terms they usually use were;
- The recruiter promises a high return in a short period of time(get rich quick)
- No no need to sell any genuine product or service
- The main focus is on recruiting new participants.
The pyramid scheme or MLM programme is not only illegal (some are legal such as Amway, always do your research first), but they are also a waste of time and money, and eventually, you get nothing.
Besides, if you choose to promote a product because the commission is high, you may hardly earn any good money from the programme without understanding what the product is all about, even if the pay is as high as $1000/sale.
There are 2 ways to go about this:
- Promote the products or services that you are familiar with. It could be something related to your hobby, something you love.
2. Educate yourself properly on a particular product or service to have a thorough understanding of what you are selling.
Time to Make Some Money
The goal of this guide is to show you the kind of affiliate marketing programmes to avoid. Always do your research thoroughly, be curious about everything, always ask why!
Platforms like Facebook and Linkedin allow you to join groups with affiliate marketers. You can learn a lot from them so that you can avoid costly mistakes.
If you are passionate about digital marketing, online marketing, website design and development, you may be interested in joining our affiliate programme.
Also, check out other excellent tips for affiliate marketing here.
