An Integrity Dilemma - CPA Advertising

Hey Guys,

I've got a bit of a dilemma right now. Recently, I've met up with a group of amazing CPA marketers in my area. These guys are probably the top in their field. Many of them make $20,000+ a week, some even make over $20,000 in a day. Needless to say, these guys are really something.

I had the great fortune of meeting up with these guys and becoming friends with them. A couple of them are crashing at my friend's place. Had dinner with them last week. Played frisbee a few weeks ago. Gonna go flirt with girls together later.

Basically, just "chilling" with these guys.

One of the guys has offered to teach me how to do what he does. Of course, I'd be thrilled to learn how to make even just $200 a day doing what they're doing. However, here's my dilemma: I think CPA marketing is unethical marketing.

Let me explain. The majority of CPA offers are forced continuity offers. For example:

Ringtones: You get "free ringtones," but you get billed $9.99 a month thereafter. All the ads say "get free ringtones," but in the small print on the bottom it tells you you'll get billed until you tell them to stop.

**** Berry: **** berries are one of the most popular CPA offers. Again, the hook is usually "Two free bottles" or "15 day free trial!" type of offers. Again, if you don't cancel in 15 days, you'll get billed $40 a bottle for a total of $80. Then you'll get billed $80 a month.

Government Grants: Probably the one I have the biggest issue with. Promises to teach people how to get $10,000 checks from the government using grants. You get to learn for "free," but again you actually get billed $90 then $90 a month if you don't cancel. This one I definitely have a problem with, because they actively target people who're already in debt or having trouble paying their mortgages.

So here's the dilemma. There are offers I know I won't touch, like the government grant offers. On the other hand, offers like the **** berry are an ethical "borderline" for me. On one hand, I don't really like this type of marketing. On the other hand, if they're the type of person who'll spend money on diet pills anyway, I don't feel like I'm actively hurting their life.

Basically, the dilemma is that there's the offer to learn how to make a lot of money on the table. I'm not sure if I want to do it though, because I don't support the products and the business model which I think is a bit unethical.

However, for the borderline products I have the chance to make a lot of money "without really hurting anyone." There are also so many CPA marketers that me not participating wouldn't really make a difference. The rationalization goes something like ... "If I'm not hurting anyone, or if they'll buy anyway, or if people are going to promote it anyway ... Then why shouldn't I make some money doing it?"

Before you guys post your comments - Really think about this. What would you do if you could earn $20,000 a month? I know a lot of people are going to want to shoot right out the gate with "100% stick to your values" type of responses, but before you do I just ask that you really try on what it'd be like to have an offer to earn that kind of money on the table.

Thanks for reading. I'd really appreciate your thoughts, comments, reflections and responses.

Best wishes,

- Derek