9 Simple Ways To Avoid Affiliate Marketing Scams For Ever

Hello, my friend and a very warm welcome back. In this post, I’m going to walk you through 9 Simple Ways To Avoid Affiliate Marketing Scams For Ever.

I have been scammed for the last time! say lots of people before they go off looking for the next shiny object!

There are so many great programs out there on the net that work and do exactly what they say they will. However, finding them can be a hard graft.

It is far easier to find a scam than it is to find something that is legit. You know what I mean, don’t you?

Affiliate marketing is an awesome way to make money online in fact it’s what I earn money from every day. 

The industry grows at an alarming rate every minute.

Unfortunately, that opens it up to unscrupulous people who want to take your money and deliver very little value in return.

This makes it harder for the industry to survive. 

We are fighting back by making online users more aware of opportunities around them that are all kosha.

This post may contain affiliate links. This means if you click a link and make a purchase I will receive a commission. The price you pay will not be affected.

Let’s now dive in and cover the 9 Simple Ways To Avoid Affiliate Marketing Scams In A Second:

1. Program Reviews

This happens to be my personal favourite.

I get an email offering me a new product, program, or software. First of all, I copy the name and paste it into Google + the word review.

Then I go through and read the reviews and watch the Youtube videos.

You can tell if they are from affiliates of the offer by the way they are written. Usually all gushy and positive.

When writing a review I always say if I’m affiliated or not. Even if I am I’m not all gushy! If it works I say that If It is a scam I say so!

Loophole 2 Profits Google Search Results

The above image is a google search result of a program. Read the top 2 blogs which are most likely to be from people selling it and watch the Youtube video which gives it 2 out of 10.

Doing this will give you a better understanding of how it really works in order to make a better decision.

2. Is the Vendor/Creator In A Mansion?

One of the oldest tricks in the book is hiring a mansion and a Ferrari for the day to get you to believe the creator has made millions with their products.

Things like this are majoritively found on high ticket programs that start at a minimum of $1,000.

The sales page is likely to start off with ” Dear Struggling Marketer” For many years I was in the same shoes as you, in debt to my CC and nothing was working!

Spending money on promises that never materialized. 

Now I have discovered the true way to make money online and I’m going to share it with you today for not $10,000, not $7,000, not even $3,000.

For the next 3 days, it will only cost $1,500.

I know for a fact that you have come across this type of offer at some point.

Now don’t get me wrong here they are not all scams, some are very legit. But make sure to do your research!

3. BeWare Of MLM’s

MLM’s are multi-level marketing companies. Not to be confused in any way with affiliate marketing.

If an MLM company says they do affiliate marketing then run for the hills as there is no way that is going to be a true statement!

The way MLM’s work is you have to recruit others to join it in order to make money. (my pet hate is MLM’s)

The FTC ( federal trade commission) has very strict rules about MLM’s and they are stamping down and closing them quicker than ever.

Pyramid schemes is another term that the FTC uses and they are illegal in many countries.

Just be aware some companies try to hide behind legitimate business options to avoid detection!

4. Look At The Disclaimers

Head to the foot of every sales page and read the disclaimers as they can tell you an awful lot and raise the Red Flag!

Example Below:

Take Note that it takes really hard work to make a substantial income in this business and some affiliates make no money at all. Success in this business requires leadership, hard work and dedication, and it totally depends on your work ethic just like anything else you do in life”

The start of the page will make wild income claims on how you can make $1,000 in just 3 hours with this 3 step process and the bottom of the page admits you may make nothing!

I would rather believe what it says in the disclaimer, how about you?

Business in a box

5. The Done For You Business In A Box

This can be a very tempting one. I get it lots of people don’t want to work and they really believe it can all be done for you!

Sorry to burst your bubble but it cannot be done for you in the affiliate marketing business.

In my opinion, this is the biggest scam in the playbook and one that many vendors take full advantage of.

Suitable for newbies has a totally new meaning for certain creators it means ” I’m going to suck you in and bleed you dry to line my own pockets “

The want to be marketers are the most gullible and that’s why they get taken advantage of.

Examples to look out for:

1. The training is not about SEO it’s all about paying for ads.

2. You won’t learn any skills of real value.

3. Cloud-based programs that can disappear tomorrow taking everything you have bought with them.

If you seriously want to make money online you have to work very hard at it and don’t quit when the going gets tough.

There is no magic solution and there very well may never be one.

6. Low Frontend and Ridiculous Upsells

If the front end is a very small figure you can pretty much guarantee there will be upselling also known as OTO’s.

you start out at $13.00 and before you know where you are you have racked up $800. Ouch!

You are inside the funnel and have to make a quick decision and creators know people always want more so they concentrate on the greed factor.

The big problem for you is you are unaware of whether you need these or not?

Which upsells not to buy:

  • Any done for you materials like building your pages for you.
  • promises of more traffic by attaching pixels to their sales pages.
  • Reseller licences

By the end you set everything up only to find out half of it doesn’t work or you are stuck with training that doesn’t explain in enough detail to help you.

Note. Not all low front ends in the affiliate marketing niche are scams. Money-back guarantees don’t cover upsells. If in doubt say no thank you.

7. No Free Trial

After being scammed a few times you will start to look out for 2 things.

1. A trial for seven days for a small nominal fee of say $8 to try before you buy. If you decide this is not what you are looking for make sure to cancel the payment before you get re-billed.

2. The free trial where you don’t get charged at all ever!

I can assure you they do exist and joining one 2 years ago was the best decision I ever made!

8. No Money Back Guarantee Offered.

As long as there is a free trial or a small trial for x amount of days then I don’t worry about this.

However, if none of those exists then I’m very wary of parting with money if no guarantee is offered.

Affiliate marketing is about customer satisfaction and I feel anyone who offers training in this field should stand by their product with a guarantee.

It states on the sales page if a money-back guarantee is available. If there isn’t one then don’t make a purchase!

red-bull-sponsored

9. You Need A Sponsor

If you cannot sign up without a sponsor then you are not joining an affiliate marketing program.

It is that simple.

Having to be referred sounds more like an MLM.

Personally, that is a program I would not join if it was the last offer on earth!

Bonus Quick Tips To Run From

  • Make money fast with no work involved.
  • The offer has multiple layers.
  • Compensation plans you don’t understand.
  • All Done for you.

What A Legit Affiliate Marketing program Looks Like

  1. Clearly defined prices.
  2. Easy to understand commission structures.
  3. Training on every aspect of affiliate marketing.
  4. No hyped-up advertising.
  5. No layers inside and no compensation plans.
  6. Has a free trial for you to see if it is for you.
  7. No Useless upsells.
  8. No Ridiculous income claims were made in one day of no work.
  9. No sign of Fake testimonials
  10. Not having to be sponsored in order to join

How I Work Full-Time Online From Home

For many years I searched for a legitimate way to make money online. I knew it was possible and I just had to find it!

The search actually took me 6 long years and I got into some terrible programs in that time and spent absolutely thousands of dollars.

Last year I finally found exactly what I was looking for!

It’s called Wealthy Affiliate and as soon as I joined I felt completely at home because the community within is very welcoming.

I didn’t need any special skills as expert training is supplied, what did I have to lose.

Suitable for beginners like I was as well as experienced marketers.

You can read my Wealthy Affiliate Review. Including the pros and cons.

Affiliate-Marketing-Diagram

The Reasons I Chose Affiliate Marketing

 I work In the world of Affiliate Marketing. There are many positive reasons for this:

  • You can start today (with my #1 recommended program) If you want to build your own successful business it is best to upgrade to the premium membership.
  • There are no expensive tools or software to pay for
  • You can work on this a couple of hours a day in your spare time alongside your other work.
  • You don’t need to make your own products
  • You will learn  all about SEO which is the organic and sustainable way of driving free traffic to your site
  • No need to recruit others to join unless you choose to
  • You don’t need to be concerned with customer support
  • No special skills are needed (which is good because I don’t have any 🙂
  • You can still earn from whatever you are writing today for many years to come, a truly passive income
  • Everything you need all in one place.

I Quit My Job!

After starting with this training program 14 months ago and learning all I needed to know for a fraction of the money that some courses are charging I quit my hated day job at the 10-month mark.

Affiliate Marketing is a simple business model that just takes a lot of work to get started in the beginning because you are getting traffic organically instead of paying for it.

Now I spend my days writing reviews to stop innocent people like yourself from being scammed like I was!

(If you want to make your new business work better upgrade to the premium membership for $49 a month or $1.63 a day that’s less than a Starbucks costs!)

Thanks for supporting me to the end of this post I appreciate your time.

Have a question for me then please leave it in the comments below and I will get back to you as soon as humanly possible.

Did you get value from this post? If you did then please share it to help others not to be scammed by using the social media buttons provided. Thank you.

Lisa. 🙂 Founder and CEO of mistakesbloggersmake.com

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