My first rant...and probably my last... (UPDATE - I've been paid)
I used to be pretty active on the forum and had to get away for a while and now that I'm back I'd like to start off with my very first rant...of sorts...
I won't mention any names of course as that would be against forum rules...but they know who they are...
I was recently invited to be an affiliate for a launch by an "up and comer" who had teamed up with another very well known vendor. Initially I will admit I was taken aback a little as I had only previously been approached by lesser known vendors (such as myself) so in some some way I felt as though I had made someones radar and it was a nice feeling. The product was one I felt was a good fit for my list but more importanly I think it actually has potential if used correctly so I accepted and promoted it.
The launch was a flop, at least in the eyes of the more well known vendor and the up and comer even appologized to the affiliates for poor copy that didn't convert well. As stated before, IMO it was a good product with lots of potential...but being a vendor myself I know things happen and not all launches are a huge success...such is life.
There was an affilate contest for the launch and I placed 3rd. I missed the required sales for the 3rd place prize money by one sale but did qualify for the 4th place prize (they were paying the top 5)...but still felt pretty good about it considering I hadn't been invited to the party until just 2 days prior to launch and didn't have a lot of lead time to properly promote it to my list (at least not as much as I would have liked). Honestly though that didn't really bother me, as I said I felt pretty good about it all things considered.
Now here comes the rub...
It's been a while since the contest was finished and one of the other affiliates who made the final leader board sent me an email asking if I had received my prize money yet. To be honest I had been so busy with my regular job I had forgotten about it (even though I had just seen the leaderboard email about 10 days prior). I told him I hadn't and he said he hadn't either...
That caused me to contact the up and comer and in the end after some tap dancing he told me that all of the money from the WSO went to the well known vendor and that the well known vendor said (and I quote from the Skype convo he pasted to me):
"the launch was a failed launch. we dont pay out prizes on a failed launch. there was no leaderboard. we sold very litle so nobody gets prizes"
(Names removed for obvious reasons)
After reading that I told the up and comer that wasn't acceptable and he told me he had paid the top 2 affiliates himself. I asked why I wasn't paid and in the end it boiled down to the fact that the top 2 were very well known names and he was worried about upsetting them.
As I said earlier...I'm not a big name so I guess it's OK to screw me over (as well as the other lesser known affilates who also made the required sales for their prize levels)...
So...in closing...IMO....it's things like this, the obvious lack of integrity on the part of both vendors (but more importantly the more well known vendor since he received the money from the sales) that gives IM a bad name. If we as a community (yes I know this is only one example but it's certinaly not the first time things like this have happened) wont even take care of our own then what does that say about us and IM?
I know one thing...I seriously doubt I will ever promote any of their future launches!
OK...rant over...thanks for listening.
Wishing you continued success!
Robert S.
I won't mention any names of course as that would be against forum rules...but they know who they are...
I was recently invited to be an affiliate for a launch by an "up and comer" who had teamed up with another very well known vendor. Initially I will admit I was taken aback a little as I had only previously been approached by lesser known vendors (such as myself) so in some some way I felt as though I had made someones radar and it was a nice feeling. The product was one I felt was a good fit for my list but more importanly I think it actually has potential if used correctly so I accepted and promoted it.
The launch was a flop, at least in the eyes of the more well known vendor and the up and comer even appologized to the affiliates for poor copy that didn't convert well. As stated before, IMO it was a good product with lots of potential...but being a vendor myself I know things happen and not all launches are a huge success...such is life.
There was an affilate contest for the launch and I placed 3rd. I missed the required sales for the 3rd place prize money by one sale but did qualify for the 4th place prize (they were paying the top 5)...but still felt pretty good about it considering I hadn't been invited to the party until just 2 days prior to launch and didn't have a lot of lead time to properly promote it to my list (at least not as much as I would have liked). Honestly though that didn't really bother me, as I said I felt pretty good about it all things considered.
Now here comes the rub...
It's been a while since the contest was finished and one of the other affiliates who made the final leader board sent me an email asking if I had received my prize money yet. To be honest I had been so busy with my regular job I had forgotten about it (even though I had just seen the leaderboard email about 10 days prior). I told him I hadn't and he said he hadn't either...
That caused me to contact the up and comer and in the end after some tap dancing he told me that all of the money from the WSO went to the well known vendor and that the well known vendor said (and I quote from the Skype convo he pasted to me):
"the launch was a failed launch. we dont pay out prizes on a failed launch. there was no leaderboard. we sold very litle so nobody gets prizes"
(Names removed for obvious reasons)
After reading that I told the up and comer that wasn't acceptable and he told me he had paid the top 2 affiliates himself. I asked why I wasn't paid and in the end it boiled down to the fact that the top 2 were very well known names and he was worried about upsetting them.
As I said earlier...I'm not a big name so I guess it's OK to screw me over (as well as the other lesser known affilates who also made the required sales for their prize levels)...
So...in closing...IMO....it's things like this, the obvious lack of integrity on the part of both vendors (but more importantly the more well known vendor since he received the money from the sales) that gives IM a bad name. If we as a community (yes I know this is only one example but it's certinaly not the first time things like this have happened) wont even take care of our own then what does that say about us and IM?
I know one thing...I seriously doubt I will ever promote any of their future launches!
OK...rant over...thanks for listening.
Wishing you continued success!
Robert S.
Gone Fishing....
Do something spectacular; be fulfilled. Then you can be your own hero. Prem Rawat
The KimW WSO