Don't Make Me Call You "Mud"
Have you ever tried to check your stats for an affiliate program
and discovered either the website no longer exists or the owner
has changed the affiliate script and your link is no longer
valid?
Isn't it annoying, frustrating and *absolutely maddening,* to
say the least?
You've promoted a product, possibly even made some sales, and
you may never get paid. Your efforts may have brought the
program owner some cash, but there's no cash for you.
Whatever happened to common courtesy? How about business ethics?
It seems they've gone down the drain when it comes to doing
business on the Internet.
Don't get me wrong. Not all Internet business owners are that
way. But those who are can give affiliate programs, and
marketers who promote them, a bad name.
I don't know how many programs I've belonged to over the last
couple of years that have gone belly-up or changed affiliate
payment processors and I was no longer an affiliate or wasn't
sent the new link to promote.
And who knows how long I was promoting, sending traffic and
possibly sales to the owner's domain, before I knew my affiliate
URL wasn't valid!
All I know is, there are program owners out there, somewhere,
who owe me $10 or $20 here and there and I'll probably never see
that money. It might not be much, but it's mine.
Why didn't I e-mail them about it? I did! Guess what? No reply!
I'm sure they "conveniently" didn't receive my 6 or 8 e-mails.
Am I on a rant while writing this? You bet I am! I'm an honest
person and I like to think I'm dealing with others who have high
levels of integrity, too.
I have a few things to say to all affiliate program owners who
operate in such an unethical way:
1. If you change your affiliate script, why the heck don't you
move your affiliates to the new script?
2. How about sending an e-mail to let your affiliates know
there's a new link for them to promote? If you need them to sign
up again, just say so.
3. And here's a novel idea - pay your affiliates all money due
them *before* changing or closing the affiliate program! I don't
care if it's only $1 - it's *their* money for gaining you a
customer!
4. As if it's not bad enough that I got screwed out of my money,
what do I look like to my subscribers for recommending something
they joined, then they got shafted? There goes *my* credibility
and I don't appreciate it at all!
Whew! I feel better getting that off my chest.
So what can any of us do about this situation?
Unfortunately, it's not always easy to judge whether or not
you're joining a *good* affiliate program. Perhaps the best
thing to do is keep an eye on your stats on a weekly basis. It's
not a perfect solution, but hopefully you'll be able to correct
the problem within a short period of time.
And for Heaven's sake, if you run your own affiliate program,
now or in the future, don't fall into the same bad habits. Treat
your affiliates with respect and your name will never be "Mud."