ReveNews
Baby Bottles, (1/2) Seth Blog, Simplenomics, Aff.Links and PPP Rants
Mike Sigers at Simplenomics.com blogged today about the use of affiliate links in blogs. It was actually about an affiliate link used in a blog Seth Godin talked about that caused the “issue” and required clarifications.
Several Readers pointed out the fact, that the blogger who wrote the post that was referred to had an Affiliate Link pointing to a specific product at Amazon.com. They did that via email (comments are still disabled at Seth’s Blog 
which makes it sound like an absolute evil thing to do as blogger.
I hear Mike’s comments loud and clear and also Seth’s comments are good. Nice and friendly with the need to use brain cells for a few seconds longer, than usual, to get it. That is not unusual for Seth’s posts either, it’s his unique writing style ;).
Both types of comments show the bloggers Internet Marketing and Sales Background. There were a lot more posts about it from other Internet Marketing Bloggers, to which I will not refer to.
I read the comments first, before I finally found the original post as well. The post that started the controversy. It turns out that the blogger has one link in the post to Amazon.com, to a specific product, the whole post was about. It is located at the very end, after the post content itself without even trying to make a cheap sale. It simply stated:
… post about “Dr. Brown’s Baby Bottles”….(ed.)
– James Quinby$13
Three-pack of 4 oz. bottles
Available from AmazonManufactured by Handi-Craft
Please note that the link to Amazon IS the affiliate link of the author (no censorship here at ReveNews hehe). Also note the non-affiliate link to the manufacturer (evil!).
The Link itself is certainly not worth the number of Blog Posts it spawned, but it fits into the current discussions about Blog Monetization in general, be it via AdSense, Affiliate Advertising or the controversial pay per post.com business model which pays bloggers to blog about products and services of paying advertisers
Here is my take on this.
Lets start with Affiliate Links on sites/blogs that are personal in nature, where the owner or writer is expressing a personal opinion about it, being it a Positive one, a recommendation or a negative one to rank it next to Dog Poo on the personal like/dislike scale.
Is it a problem to use affiliate links to products and services you do recommend? A lot of people seem to think exactly that. Mhhh..
I created a resources site at the domain with my name (and not a stupid keyword stuffed and multi-hyphenated domain) where I provide information and resources for Internet marketers and web developers.
The resources are available for free, no membership or indirect sale is being made (offer free bait, capture email, sell). I created the site not because I want to make a living off it. It’s a “pet” project or hobby. I basically published my 1,500+ browser favorites I collected over the years.
You will notice that a lot of links are affiliate links to the resources although non affiliate outbound links are in the majority. Because I don’t make it a secret nor want to deceive anybody or fake a sales pitch,, did I write in detail about the issue on a page that was created just for that.
The short version of it is, that people should remember, that a personal recommendation is a personal recommendation, regardless if sent to the recommended site via affiliate or direct link. Recommending junk to people and use an affiliate link, will certainly generate some commission. but at the same time cause the loss of good reputation reputation.
A good reputation is not cheap and it takes a long time to establish it. I don’t know any program that pays a commission that would cover the lost reputation would like to know what the commission would have to be in Seth’s case to compensate for his ruined reputation after making fake recommendations.
I am an Affiliate Marketer for years and because of that switch direct links with affiliate links if I find them because an affiliate program is available. I am not a person that throws money away just for the fun of it.
Because of the fact that I am an Affiliate Marketer, am I noticing quickly if an affiliate program is available on any given Website or not. It becomes second nature and is only human. If you are a specialist or professional for something, you do see very specific stuff, normal people do not. A Carpenter that enters a room will usually detect any little glitches and uneven areas of windows and doors almost instantly, because that is what he does, what he is good at.
For the same reason am I not (or very rarely) clicking AdSense Ads anywhere, regardless if I am on my own site (what is prohibited btw.) or on somebody Else’s sites.
Next time you get a recommendation from somebody you trust and uses an affiliate link, click it and buy the product if you think it could be right for you . If you like it and the recommendation was great, consider the commission as a thank you gift card that has actually value for the receiver too .
If the recommendation is bad and you can’t return the product for a refund, go back and ask the person who recommended it for the commission as partial refund and compensation for the bad recommendation.
If it was an honest recommendation, he will give you most likely the commission and ask you what you did not like about it and what you expected to get based on the recommendations he had made.
If it was a faked recommendation, you will not see a dime and should never listen again to any recommendations from this individual. You probably would do even more and start recommending to others not to trust that person for the obvious reasons. Bad news travel the Internet faster than ever, thanks to blogs.
The time somebody has to rip off people and make commission before people figure out the scam and get the word out about it, is getting shorter and shorter. So would it be worth to make dishonest recommendations because of the possible commission ?that could be earned? Of Course not. You can do that kind of stuff without attaching your name to it. If you have to.
To expand it to the problem people have with PayPerPost.com.
There is nothing wrong with taking the money and blog about a product or service of a paying advertiser if you do like the product and can recommend it.
There is nothing wrong with that, because the recommendation is honest, regardless of the payment for the post itself or not.
Hey, I could think about stuff that is much worse than getting paid for doing what you like to do and being honest about it.
Now I would like to hear Jim’s take on that one.
The BlogKits Blog Honor Pledge is funny but something I would never add to my site, because I consider what the pledge requires something that is natural and expected by visitors and readers.
Blogging is like reversed political speech. Everybody expect lies in that case and the truth would not be believed no matter how hard you try. With Blogs and Bloggers is it the complete opposite.
You are not blogging anymore, once you start writing dis-honest and faking it. You can call it anything else at that point. People are also less forgiving, because Blogs are somewhat personal.
For those who have been around long enough, you’ll probably remember when some or all of the following were poorly accepted by Internet purists:
* Using the Internet for any commercial reason.
* Charging for anything on the Internet.
* Paid search results.
Now, they’re all very, very mainstream.
Internet purists (or in this case, Blog purists) will be in an uproar, but in the end this too will become mainstream.
What’s so bad with Bloggers trying to monetize their work? I don’t see why it’s even an issue.
Mark at PBS.org has a take as well on these badges.
http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/
Sigh, I think I need to blog yet again on this issue as I fear that marketers don’t get blogging… what is really is, and what it’s really all about at it’s core.
I don’t think you understand PPP Carsten. They want you to write fake and false content for cash, not to write content about a recommendation.
It’s lying, plain and simple. You want to read a blog that is a lie? I don’t.
I’ll blog about again to clear it all up.
Jim, as a marketer I know what the badges are about or at least what it looks like. Why don’t you make a separate site for that instead of those “Blog Honor” badges going back to Blogkits. Good way to get backlinks.
PPP is not making Liars out of People. Who is to blame here? People? PPP? The Advertisers? Money? Capitalism?
Jonathan. Jim is also a Marketer and there is nothing wrong with that. He can’t like most of us not afford anymore to be a “purist” since he has to pay bills himself.
You can be a purist as long as you live at home with mom and dad who pay everything for you. “Mom, is dinner ready?” , “Mom, did you wash my clothes?”.
“I promise to attempt to disclose or clearly mark any content or advertisements or other monetization attempts that help me keep my blog operating”
I don’t know, what it reminds me of is when I was first starting out and I saw this horrible looking site with a site award banner on it. I looked at the site and thought to myself, “How in the hell did that site win an award?” So I applied and got the same award. This was when I was a rookie and my site looked like crap. Then I realized they gave the award to everybody, good way to get links in.
So I think it should have a site of it’s own, instead the links go back to Blogkits, which will help in the SE’s and which is or is not competition to some of the other things out there like PPP? I think Jim was arguing Dan on that one, in the other blog.
“You can be a purist as long as you live at home with mom and dad who pay everything for you. “Mom, is dinner ready?” , “Mom, did you wash my clothes?”.
Coming from someone who wants to start an affiliate organization and that’s just sad. You can do things right and make lots of money.
Carsten: “You can be a purist as long as you live at home with mom and dad who pay everything for you. “Mom, is dinner ready?” , “Mom, did you wash my clothes?”.
Jonathan: Coming from someone who wants to start an affiliate organization and that’s just sad.
How is that? Live is full of compromises and being a purist (we are talking about Internet purists here btw.) is a luxury most people don’t have, unless you have a couple million $ in the bank already or live at home and don’t have to pay anything, no rent/mortage, no groveries, power/gas etc. and most important, Internet Access (unless you are an eternal student).
An Affiliate Marketing Organization will be full of compromises, an Organization I did not plan to start, but spark the idea to get an Initiative going. Unfortunately was the spark pretty much blown out as far as I can tell today.
p.s. I remember those “Awards” too, but that is something deceptive. A Badge is not and If I would be Jim, I would leave the Badge at BlogKits.com, because I am a Marketer after all, as is Jim. Don’t confuse that with “Saint”, because that I am not, nor is Jim I believe, even if he may be protests :).
You either “get it” or you don’t.
I’m passionate about it. If you want to taint it with your idea of an marketing agenda, that’s your call.
Not why I did it though. Bunch of jaded marketers you guys are, geez!
“Bunch of jaded marketers you guys are, geez! :o”
You Guys? Why we? I believe that you are passionate about it and that you honestly believe you are right…. But, you are also a Marketer.
I am a Marketer too. When I move my art stuff away from cumbrowski.com to its own domain to make cumbrowski.com to a resource site did I promote it and even paid some money for the promotion.
The Site will not recoup that money in 10 years, but that is not the point. I did it because that is what I do. I got the backlash of it though. I got more requests for ASCII’s and ANSI’s than I have time do (fyi, I never did and never will charge any money for doing that)