REMOVE Your IM Niche Product From The Clickbank Marketplace!

50 replies
Hello Warriors!

Most people in the IM niche know that someone can grab a CB hoplink for any given product and replace their own CB ID in it to get the commission themselves (AKA Commission Theft). This might be good for your overall sales, but it is really hurting your affiliates!

Since I want the best for my affiliates of course, it is better to provide a closed doors affiliate program for customers only (and JV partners) where the hoplink and publisher name cannot be found anywhere.

Here's how to do it.

1. Install a link cloaking script in your website (I use Sam Stephen's HopGuard) that will encrypt your affiliate's ID with a URL to your site.

2. Send an e-mail to accounts@clickbank.com so they remove your product from the CB marketplace listings, that way, people can't generate their own hoplink.

This means that a regular "hoplink" cannot be generated and your publisher ID cannot be found, so affiliate links are truly cloaked and commission theft is close to impossible.

There is always people that know code and such inside out so they will be able to figure the hoplink out, but there are not many and at least you are minimizing the chances of commission theft the most you can.

WARNING! Again, this might hurt your overall sales, but you will be helping your affiliates squeeze the most profit out of your product and frankly, I prefer to have great affiliates than to make an extra sale or two.

Best of luck,

Daniel Molano

P.S: I haven't tested this with other affiliate programs outside of Clickbank, but I am sure it can also be done.
#clickbank #marketplace #niche #product #remove
  • Profile picture of the author Chris Lockwood
    Great, more tips for reducing sales! Keep them coming.

    As a side benefit, this will save you lots of customer support time, since fewer sales means fewer problems.
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    • Profile picture of the author Daniel Molano
      Originally Posted by Chris Lockwood View Post

      Great, more tips for reducing sales! Keep them coming.

      As a side benefit, this will save you lots of customer support time, since fewer sales means fewer problems.
      Whatever, but I prefer to place ethics before profits.

      And if my affiliates are not getting what they deserve for promoting my product, I must be doing something wrong.
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      • Profile picture of the author Eric Lorence
        Great tip, but business and ethics just do not mix.
        A most unfortunate point of view.
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      • Profile picture of the author ecoverartist
        It does...but good businesspeople are hard to find sometimes!

        About as difficult as finding an honest lawyer..
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        • Profile picture of the author Steven Wagenheim
          Well, here's how I look at it...

          I have no affiliates

          So, somebody who might not have paid for my product at full price, MIGHT
          pay for it if they know they can get a few bucks off of it.

          I make many sales from people who just plug in their affiliate IDs.

          And they're so obvious about it because their IDs usually match their last
          name or something in their email or whatever.

          It's the cost of doing business with Clickbank.

          Having said that, all my future products are being sold through PayPal
          including several that I've already started selling that way.

          Affiliates? Who needs 'em LOL.
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          • Profile picture of the author Daniel Molano
            Originally Posted by Steven Wagenheim View Post

            Well, here's how I look at it...

            I have no affiliates

            So, somebody who might not have paid for my product at full price, MIGHT
            pay for it if they know they can get a few bucks off of it.

            I make many sales from people who just plug in their affiliate IDs.

            And they're so obvious about it because their IDs usually match their last
            name or something in their email or whatever.

            It's the cost of doing business with Clickbank.

            Having said that, all my future products are being sold through PayPal
            including several that I've already started selling that way.

            Affiliates? Who needs 'em LOL.
            LOL Steven, I thought you said in one of your posts you were finally going to give affiliate marketing a shot.

            P.S: Great 9,000 post you did yestarday by the way.
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            • Profile picture of the author Steven Wagenheim
              Originally Posted by Daniel Molano View Post

              LOL Steven, I thought you said in one of your posts you were finally going to give affiliate marketing a shot.
              Yes, I do TONS of affiliate marketing of OTHER products AS an affiliate.

              For my OWN products, I don't need affiliates.

              I can sell them just fine on my own.

              Two completely different things.
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              • Profile picture of the author flnz400
                Originally Posted by Steven Wagenheim View Post

                I can sell them just fine on my own.
                Errrr, why not leverage other people's time to work for you?

                Not trying to pick at ya, but in order to scale a business, you need to have a plan of relinquishing responsibility and leveraging your time.
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                • Profile picture of the author Steven Wagenheim
                  Originally Posted by flnz400 View Post

                  Errrr, why not leverage other people's time to work for you?

                  Not trying to pick at ya, but in order to scale a business, you need to have a plan of relinquishing responsibility and leveraging your time.
                  Hey, if somebody wants to promote my products, I have no problem with
                  that, but I'm not wasting my time trying to educate a bunch of dumbass
                  affiliates who don't know their butt from a hole in the wall how to promote
                  an affiliate product, because most of them don't have a clue.

                  I'd rather concentrate my efforts on selling MY stuff.

                  I can do it better than anybody else.
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                  • Profile picture of the author Daniel Molano
                    Please don't turn this thread into an affiliate marketing debate, it is not what this is about. Steven's point of view is perfectly valid and I quote him:

                    "2. There's More Than One Way To Skin A Cat

                    Don't let anybody tell you that there is only one right way to run your
                    business, advertise, make sales, make a sales page or whatever. I
                    have gone against the norm in so many areas it's not even funny. I've
                    done things that people have told me were crap and I still succeeded
                    with them. My first sales page was the worst looking thing you ever
                    saw. It still made me over 200 sales monthly for almost a whole year.
                    The blasted thing started off with a STOP sign right at the top of the
                    page. I mean talk about corny. But it worked. So try out your crazy
                    ideas. If they don't work, fine. But you never know what will turn out
                    to be a winner for you."

                    There are a million ways to do things, and if something works for someone then great! Like he said, don't let anyone tell you there is only one way to do business.

                    Please back to topic.
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                    • Profile picture of the author Frank Donovan
                      I don't see such a great conflict with this.

                      As a publisher, if someone purchases my product via their own affiliate link, it's all the same to me.

                      As an affiliate, if I'm going to seriously promote a product, I'd never do it without first cloaking the link - that's pretty basic.

                      It would be the casual, semi-serious affiliate who'd potentially suffer from commission theft. If you're concerned about that, you could maybe include a brief tutorial with your affiliate promotional material/tools.

                      Frank
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                      • Profile picture of the author Daniel Molano
                        Originally Posted by Frank Donovan View Post

                        I don't see such a great conflict with this.

                        As a publisher, if someone purchases my product via their own affiliate link, it's all the same to me.

                        As an affiliate, if I'm going to seriously promote a product, I'd never do it without first cloaking the link - that's pretty basic.

                        It would be the casual, semi-serious affiliate who'd potentially suffer from commission theft. If you're concerned about that, you could maybe include a brief tutorial with your affiliate promotional material/tools.

                        Frank
                        Even if you cloak your affiliate link, a LOT of people (especially within the IM niche) head to the CB marketplace, look for the product and generate their own hoplink to get the commission themselves.

                        That is the whole point of this thread, it would prevent that from happening.
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                        • Profile picture of the author Chri5123
                          Hi Daniel

                          I can understand your point however Clickbank marketplace is too valuable a place to actually get the affiliates in the first place!

                          If i were to remove my product i would have to find a way to get more affiliates to see my product.

                          Very good point though, and I wish you luck with doing this.

                          Chris
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                        • Profile picture of the author peteinoz
                          Originally Posted by Daniel Molano View Post

                          Even if you cloak your affiliate link, a LOT of people (especially within the IM niche) head to the CB marketplace, look for the product and generate their own hoplink to get the commission themselves.

                          That is the whole point of this thread, it would prevent that from happening.
                          the fundimental mistake youve made is to assume that the majority of your customers understand 1 what a hoplink is and 2. that they would be bothered about creating an account to save a couple of bucks and 3 that they would know that they can do that.

                          sure theres a % that can and will do it.. though its only small and not worth worrying about, especially compared to the amount of sales you will loose.

                          I know how to and never have used my code to save a couple of lousy bucks..

                          Maybe the ones that do it, think they are being smart and purchase your product using their code, and would pass on it otherwise..

                          For the life of me I don't see why you would bother using CB at all and not just paypal.. the only reason to use CB is for the exposure to affiliates anyways, that is the ONLY upside to it.

                          Using paypal you can set your own commissions and no chance of theft at all.

                          Cheers

                          pete
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                        • Profile picture of the author Frank Donovan
                          Originally Posted by Daniel Molano View Post

                          Even if you cloak your affiliate link, a LOT of people (especially within the IM niche) head to the CB marketplace, look for the product and generate their own hoplink to get the commission themselves.

                          That is the whole point of this thread, it would prevent that from happening.
                          I understand the point, but this only really works for regular CB users. The terms and restrictions regarding paying out commissions, mean that a casual buyer isn't generally going to get the benefit of any saving.

                          And most people, even on IM lists, are not regular CB users (unless you solely recruit your subscribers from IM forums) so avoiding the huge benefit that a CB listing would give your product is a disproportionate response to your perceived problem.

                          Frank
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                  • Profile picture of the author jasonl70
                    daniel-

                    I think you might be able to have it both ways.

                    Your still using CB for your affiliate program 'behind the scenes', right? But using your own links, which simply cloak the CB hoplink, correct?

                    Well, you could still leave your product in the CB marketplace using the normal hop links, and get the exposure to new affiliates, as well as offering the alternate links to your internal list.
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                    • Profile picture of the author Daniel Molano
                      Originally Posted by jasonl70 View Post

                      daniel-

                      I think you might be able to have it both ways.

                      Your still using CB for your affiliate program 'behind the scenes', right? But using your own links, which simply cloak the CB hoplink, correct?

                      Well, you could still leave your product in the CB marketplace using the normal hop links, and get the exposure to new affiliates, as well as offering the alternate links to your internal list.
                      Hey Jason,

                      Yes that could work, but then the affiliates who start promoting through the CB marketplace would still be exposed to commission theft. Unless you clearly state that there is another affiliate possibility, but sometimes people just overlook those statements completely.

                      And yes what I am doing is running the affiliate program through Clickbank 'behind the scenes'.

                      Daniel
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                  • Profile picture of the author peteinoz
                    Originally Posted by Steven Wagenheim View Post


                    but I'm not wasting my time trying to educate a bunch of dumbass
                    affiliates who don't know their butt from a hole in the wall how to promote
                    an affiliate product, because most of them don't have a clue.

                    you are not serious are you? LOL

                    thats one of the dumbest quotes Ive ever seen on this board mate

                    Sheesh..

                    Is that how you refer to your customers aswell?

                    The web is the ultimate leverager.. and your discounting one of the larger properties of it in relation to IM? And insulting a rather large audience on this board at the same time?

                    Coming from someone who posts so frequently on this forum, I think you should exercise a bit more discretion before laying out blanket comments like that

                    Cheers

                    pete
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                    • Profile picture of the author Steven Wagenheim
                      Originally Posted by peteinoz View Post

                      you are not serious are you? LOL

                      thats one of the dumbest quotes Ive ever seen on this board mate

                      Sheesh..

                      Is that how you refer to your customers aswell?

                      The web is the ultimate leverager.. and your discounting one of the larger properties of it in relation to IM? And insulting a rather large audience on this board at the same time?

                      Coming from someone who posts so frequently on this forum, I think you should exercise a bit more discretion before laying out blanket comments like that

                      Cheers

                      pete

                      Pete, it's a sad truth. Most people who start out promoting other
                      people's products don't have a clue. They look for the top selling product
                      at Clickbank, forgetting that the competition will eat them alive, they use
                      the same canned ads that all the merchants create and they use the
                      same tired advertising methods.

                      In 5 years, I've had one affiliate who knew what he was doing without
                      me having to spend countless hours training him. His name was Stephen
                      Crawford and sold hundreds of units for me.

                      I don't have the time to train people how to do affiliate marketing properly.

                      I'd rather spend that time selling my own products. I find it is much more
                      profitable for me.

                      So while you may see it as a dumbass statement, I am speaking from 5
                      years of busting my ass trying to get people to promote properly and I'm
                      done doing it.
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                      • Profile picture of the author Daniel Molano
                        Originally Posted by Steven Wagenheim View Post

                        Pete, it's a sad truth. Most people who start out promoting other
                        people's products don't have a clue. They look for the top selling product
                        at Clickbank, forgetting that the competition will eat them alive, they use
                        the same canned ads that all the merchants create and they use the
                        same tired advertising methods.

                        In 5 years, I've had one affiliate who knew what he was doing without
                        me having to spend countless hours training him. His name was Stephen
                        Crawford and sold hundreds of units for me.

                        I don't have the time to train people how to do affiliate marketing properly.

                        I'd rather spend that time selling my own products. I find it is much more
                        profitable for me.

                        So while you may see it as a dumbass statement, I am speaking from 5
                        years of busting my ass trying to get people to promote properly and I'm
                        done doing it.
                        Steven does have an interesting point, the more reason to remove it from the Clickbank marketplace.

                        On the other hand, Pete also has a great point, there are a lot of smart affiliates out there, the more reason to keep the affiliate program. Never overlook the possibility that maybe both parties are correct (because in this case, both Pete and Steven have very valid points).

                        And Chri5123, every single buyer of my product has access to my affiliate program and it is very clearly visible, it is just only opened to them. You will find that any potential affiliate (the good ones at least) will purchase or contact you for your product.
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                      • Profile picture of the author peteinoz
                        Originally Posted by Steven Wagenheim View Post

                        Pete, it's a sad truth. Most people who start out promoting other
                        people's products don't have a clue. They look for the top selling product
                        at Clickbank, forgetting that the competition will eat them alive, they use
                        the same canned ads that all the merchants create and they use the
                        same tired advertising methods.

                        In 5 years, I've had one affiliate who knew what he was doing without
                        me having to spend countless hours training him. His name was Stephen
                        Crawford and sold hundreds of units for me.

                        I don't have the time to train people how to do affiliate marketing properly.

                        I'd rather spend that time selling my own products. I find it is much more
                        profitable for me.

                        So while you may see it as a dumbass statement, I am speaking from 5
                        years of busting my ass trying to get people to promote properly and I'm
                        done doing it.

                        mate Ive spent a longer time and never had the misfortune youve encountered.

                        I could go on, though its time for bed..

                        Cheers

                        pete
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                        • Profile picture of the author Steven Wagenheim
                          Originally Posted by peteinoz View Post

                          mate Ive spent a longer time and never had the misfortune youve encountered.

                          I could go on, though its time for bed..

                          Cheers

                          pete
                          Pete, I'm very happy for you. There are lots of folks out there who have no
                          problem getting competent affiliates. Such has not been the case for me.

                          Hell, one affiliate almost got my domain shut down for spamming.

                          But that's okay, I've come to accept that I'm going to have to sell my
                          stuff on my own and I have no problem with doing that.

                          And as far as my comment about affiliates, it was a general statement
                          and not directed to anybody here at this forum. It's no different than
                          saying product creators create sh*t products. I understand that it's not
                          directed at me personally. Some do. Hell, many do. The Clickbank
                          marketplace is littered with them. I've got a review site that is filled
                          with crappy products and programs I've reviewed. It's no wonder IM gets
                          such a bad name.

                          Are there good product creators? Yes. I've bought many of their products.

                          Are there good affiliates? Must be. The Clickbank marketplace is littered
                          with 300 plus gravity products, so must be so. Hell, I placed 20th in the
                          Nitro Marketing Affiliate contest, nearly beating out Mike Filsaime with his
                          list 100 times the size of mine. So sure, there are good affiliates.

                          I just can't find them or they can't find me.

                          Like I said, I don't have the time and energy to go hunting for them and
                          then training them HOW to promote an affiliate product the RIGHT way.

                          I hope I've finally made myself clear on this subject.

                          Nothing personal was meant towards any particular affiliate marketer here
                          at the forum.
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                          • Profile picture of the author Daniel Molano
                            Originally Posted by Steven Wagenheim View Post

                            Pete, I'm very happy for you. There are lots of folks out there who have no
                            problem getting competent affiliates. Such has not been the case for me.

                            Hell, one affiliate almost got my domain shut down for spamming.

                            But that's okay, I've come to accept that I'm going to have to sell my
                            stuff on my own and I have no problem with doing that.

                            And as far as my comment about affiliates, it was a general statement
                            and not directed to anybody here at this forum. It's no different than
                            saying product creators create sh*t products. I understand that it's not
                            directed at me personally. Some do. Hell, many do. The Clickbank
                            marketplace is littered with them. I've got a review site that is filled
                            with crappy products and programs I've reviewed. It's no wonder IM gets
                            such a bad name.

                            Are there good product creators? Yes. I've bought many of their products.

                            Are there good affiliates? Must be. The Clickbank marketplace is littered
                            with 300 plus gravity products, so must be so. Hell, I placed 20th in the
                            Nitro Marketing Affiliate contest, nearly beating out Mike Filsaime with his
                            list 100 times the size of mine. So sure, there are good affiliates.

                            I just can't find them or they can't find me.

                            Like I said, I don't have the time and energy to go hunting for them and
                            then training them HOW to promote an affiliate product the RIGHT way.

                            I hope I've finally made myself clear on this subject.

                            Nothing personal was meant towards any particular affiliate marketer here
                            at the forum.
                            Steven we all know you are a master at promoting your products and others as well. Have you ever considered creating an e-book or something that outlines your promotion strategies and tricks, to then attach it as a bonus especifically directed to your affiliates where they will be automatically trained?Just a thought, I'd definately buy it and it could work.

                            And Frank, this is directed to prevent commission theft from the 'regular' CB users because, like you said, they are not majority, but there are still legions of them. And everyone knows, a LOT of people use their own CB ID to purchase products, wheter they are really saving something by doing so or not, it doesn't really matter, the point is, a LOT do it.
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                            • Profile picture of the author Steven Wagenheim
                              Originally Posted by Daniel Molano View Post

                              Steven we all know you are a master at promoting your products and others as well. Have you ever considered creating an e-book or something that outlines your promotion strategies and tricks, to then attach it as a bonus especifically directed to your affiliates where they will be automatically trained? I'd definately buy it and it could work.
                              Been there, done that. Ironically, they use the stuff to promote OTHER
                              people's products. Guess because they either pay more (mine are usually
                              only 50% or 60%) or are in a different niche than mine.

                              Like I said, it doesn't matter. I've lived without affiliates this long so
                              another few years won't kill me.
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                          • Profile picture of the author Ricky Ticky Toc
                            Good Tip but its up to my affiliates to protect themselfs theres programs out there they can use
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                            • Profile picture of the author Mike Hill
                              Originally Posted by p1a1u1l1 View Post

                              Great tip, but business and ethics just do not mix.

                              paul
                              Originally Posted by Ricky Ticky Toc View Post

                              Good Tip but its up to my affiliates to protect themselfs theres programs out there they can use

                              Ricky is 100% on the money.... It's my job to create the products and all that jazz. It's the affiliates responsibility to make sure his links are cloaked and secured properly....

                              Mike Hill
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                              • Profile picture of the author Keith Boisvert
                                Hey, if somebody wants to promote my products, I have no problem with
                                that, but I'm not wasting my time trying to educate a bunch of dumbass
                                affiliates who don't know their butt from a hole in the wall how to promote
                                an affiliate product, because most of them don't have a clue.
                                Steve,

                                I must say I am dissapointed. Little harsh aren't you? If you did have any affiliates you prolly don't now.

                                I won't sit here and debate the "to affiliate or not to affiliate" argument. To each his own. But the last time I checked as a product owner it wasn't your responsibility to train affiliates. They have books for that.

                                As a product creator, you could make some banners, give affiliates some tools to help them help themselves and let them go.

                                You obviously have had some poor experiences, but to come out with a statement like this is absolutely uncalled for IMO, especially from someone who does usually does deliver some great content and people look up to.

                                I know my opinion means nothing, and I don't have a cult following, but come on! Honesty sometimes needs to be filtered.

                                JMO

                                Keith "dumbass" Boisvert
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                                • Profile picture of the author Mike Montgomery
                                  Just so you know there are still ways around
                                  this for affiliate marketers to be an affiliate for
                                  your product through CB.
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                                • Profile picture of the author Steven Wagenheim
                                  Originally Posted by Keith Boisvert View Post

                                  Steve,

                                  I must say I am dissapointed. Little harsh aren't you? If you did have any affiliates you prolly don't now.

                                  I won't sit here and debate the "to affiliate or not to affiliate" argument. To each his own. But the last time I checked as a product owner it wasn't your responsibility to train affiliates. They have books for that.

                                  As a product creator, you could make some banners, give affiliates some tools to help them help themselves and let them go.

                                  You obviously have had some poor experiences, but to come out with a statement like this is absolutely uncalled for IMO, especially from someone who does usually does deliver some great content and people look up to.

                                  I know my opinion means nothing, and I don't have a cult following, but come on! Honesty sometimes needs to be filtered.

                                  JMO

                                  Keith "dumbass" Boisvert

                                  Keith, you're right. It was a dumb remark made in the heat of the moment
                                  from 5 years of pure and total frustration with affiliates. Hell, one guy
                                  almost cost me my hosting because he spammed my link all over the
                                  Internet. My host almost shut me down because of it.

                                  But you're right, I should learn to put a lid on it sometimes.
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                                  • Profile picture of the author Keith Boisvert
                                    Keith, you're right. It was a dumb remark made in the heat of the moment
                                    from 5 years of pure and total frustration with affiliates. Hell, one guy
                                    almost cost me my hosting because he spammed my link all over the
                                    Internet. My host almost shut me down because of it.

                                    But you're right, I should learn to put a lid on it sometimes
                                    It's ok Steve, we have all been there, I know I have said things I wish I didn't, or they didn't come out right.

                                    No biggie, glad to see you started that other thread too.

                                    Keith
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                                    • Profile picture of the author Josh Anderson
                                      Daniel,

                                      If this is your strategy you are way better off moving your entire affiliate program to a better solution than clickbank... and there are a ton that are better for this kind of strategy.

                                      The benefits are:

                                      1. You keep as much as 5% more profits if you use your own processing like paypal and authorize.net and 7% more profits if its recurring.

                                      2. You can launch products whenever you want without having to ask clickbank's permission or worry about delisting.

                                      3. You can choose an affiliate system that tracks by a combination of cookie and IP eliminating affiliate theft.

                                      And many more benefits too numerous to number.

                                      Affiliates? Who needs 'em LOL.
                                      LOL is right. You'd have to be nuts to think that way.

                                      The only person who does not need them is the person who already has 100% of their prospective market aware of who they are, what they offer, and where to find it.

                                      Or who would rather pay for advertising and do all the work themselves rather than paying for results.
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                                    • Profile picture of the author Colin Evans
                                      Hi Daniel,

                                      Just thought I'd let you know I constructed a ClickBank hoplink from your HopGuard protected page to include my own ClickBank ID...

                                      Untill ClickBank changes the programming of their order page you cannot stop people from creating their own hoplinks.

                                      You can only give the illusion of protecting affiliates...

                                      IMO - The only person losing out is you - You're limiting sales for no real reason.
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                                      • Profile picture of the author chris_surfrider
                                        I second Josh's response.

                                        If you don't see the value of an affiliate force, then this might not be the right business for you.

                                        If you've tried training an affiliate base and it didn't work out - then either your salespage sucks and people ONLY buy as a result of your presell content, or you're literally targeting newbies and simply asking for a hard time.

                                        There's LOTS of very talented affiliates out there with tons of traffic.

                                        Many of them can be found for the top competitive keywords in your niche on Google.

                                        If you have conversion - they'll listen to you.

                                        Either way, if you know what you're doing and if you see your products as the beginning of a FUNNEL - then recruiting capable affiliates is a total no-brainer.

                                        As for the other half of Josh's comment (re: in-house aff program), this is something you can do at your discretion.

                                        CB has no benefit other than the built-in affiliate exposure and the fact that they pay affiliates for you - and collect tax info. (You don't have to collect info from affiliates that do more than $600 in sales annually.)

                                        Personally, I would treat ClickBank sort of like the 7Dollar Script.

                                        Use it as a sales funnel to build a list of buyers with a hot-converting offer. Then sell them related stuff on the backend. The amount of traffic you can generate as a nicely visible merchant can be staggering.

                                        Also, what you can do is have a lower-priced "flagship" product selling on CB, where you'll attract some affiliates. Use your listing to advertise your affiliate page URL, where you can have an IN-HOUSE program for a more lucrative product or recurring program.

                                        This way, you can build both programs simultaneously, if you so desire.

                                        At any rate, you need to see ClickBank as more of a list-building strategy than a payment processor. Unless you're selling something to customers who have no interest in anything else post-sale (such as many of the Society & Culture offers).

                                        Just something to think about...

                                        -Chris
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                          • Profile picture of the author Zach Booker
                            No offense indented but...
                            Do you try something once, fail and than quit?
                            I'm sure something happened in IM where you had a 'failure'...but clearly you didn't quit. So why try affiliates once and than quit?

                            Maybe you didn't try them just once but the point is still the same.
                            Hell I lost 20 000 on the stock market my first go, and since I 'got back on the horse' I have made over 150 000.

                            I'm sorry if I am missing something, but i fail to see the logic in not offering 75% commission to affiliates? Doesn't every dollar count?
                            Especially since it is on virtual auto pilot.
                            Set up an affiliates page and say in big bold letters "NEVER CONTACT ME, JUST PROMOTE!"
                            Give them a basic outline of how to promote, and a basic outline of how NOT to spam.
                            And make sure you stress you never want to be contacted by any affiliates because the product sells it self

                            I'm a straight shooter and I would except nothing else from anyone...
                            So call me an idiot if you wish.

                            But i just fail to see the logic in not taking advantage of using affiliates even if you just get a few thousand more a year.

                            Your obviously a very talented IM eunterpenur...and i think every single person on this forum has a high degree of respect for you.
                            You can only do so much by yourself...sometimes you need to let other people make you money
                            Get back on the horse and try things...it may just pay off.

                            Zach

                            Originally Posted by Steven Wagenheim View Post

                            Pete, I'm very happy for you. There are lots of folks out there who have no
                            problem getting competent affiliates. Such has not been the case for me.

                            Hell, one affiliate almost got my domain shut down for spamming.

                            But that's okay, I've come to accept that I'm going to have to sell my
                            stuff on my own and I have no problem with doing that.

                            And as far as my comment about affiliates, it was a general statement
                            and not directed to anybody here at this forum. It's no different than
                            saying product creators create sh*t products. I understand that it's not
                            directed at me personally. Some do. Hell, many do. The Clickbank
                            marketplace is littered with them. I've got a review site that is filled
                            with crappy products and programs I've reviewed. It's no wonder IM gets
                            such a bad name.

                            Are there good product creators? Yes. I've bought many of their products.

                            Are there good affiliates? Must be. The Clickbank marketplace is littered
                            with 300 plus gravity products, so must be so. Hell, I placed 20th in the
                            Nitro Marketing Affiliate contest, nearly beating out Mike Filsaime with his
                            list 100 times the size of mine. So sure, there are good affiliates.

                            I just can't find them or they can't find me.

                            Like I said, I don't have the time and energy to go hunting for them and
                            then training them HOW to promote an affiliate product the RIGHT way.

                            I hope I've finally made myself clear on this subject.

                            Nothing personal was meant towards any particular affiliate marketer here
                            at the forum.
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                            • Profile picture of the author X
                              Unless the merchant has made some effort
                              to disguise they're in CB and provide some
                              link protection, I will not promote them.

                              Period.

                              Carey Paris did a nice job on his recent
                              launch, and with minimal effort it's doable.

                              And I have to say, this thread contains
                              some of the dumbest shit I've ever read on
                              this forum. Absolutely asinine.

                              X
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                              • Profile picture of the author Daniel Molano
                                My tip is intended to reduce commission theft, I'm not saying it makes it impossible, but you can reduce it by A LOT.

                                1. By making the affiliate program closed doors and not linking to it so that only your customers and JV partners have visible access to it.

                                2. By removing it from the CB marketplace so that no hoplinks can be generated.

                                3. By a using a link cloaking script (like HopGuard) that allows you to generate an affiliate link WITHOUT giving away the hoplink or publisher ID.

                                Colin Evans, only my customers and JV partners have access to that HopGuard page, so only the people who have purchased it or that I told them where to find that page have the ability to generate the affiliate link.

                                Of course there are loop holes and ways around it, but the majority of people cannot figure out the hoplink or publisher ID this way. Like I said, this is about reducing commission theft from CB users as much as possible, you can't stop it completely unless you use some other type of affiliate program like Josh pointed out (thanks for the tip Josh).

                                And X is right, now that I am aware of this, I as an affiliate, would never promote an IM niche product that does not disguise the fact that they are using CB neither, and I bet there are many affiliates that think like X and I.
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                  • Profile picture of the author mdunn123
                    Originally Posted by Steven Wagenheim View Post

                    Hey, if somebody wants to promote my products, I have no problem with
                    that, but I'm not wasting my time trying to educate a bunch of dumbass
                    affiliates who don't know their butt from a hole in the wall how to promote
                    an affiliate product, because most of them don't have a clue.

                    I'd rather concentrate my efforts on selling MY stuff.

                    I can do it better than anybody else.
                    Always the man to tell you how it is...hehe

                    Go Steve!
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                  • Profile picture of the author bhlehr
                    Originally Posted by Steven Wagenheim View Post

                    Hey, if somebody wants to promote my products, I have no problem with
                    that, but I'm not wasting my time trying to educate a bunch of dumbass
                    affiliates who don't know their butt from a hole in the wall how to promote
                    an affiliate product, because most of them don't have a clue.
                    Steven,

                    As one of those dumbass affiliates of yours, I was just wondering if some of your sites are down. I noticed yesterday that your honest income program and secret articles sites were no longer working. Let me know if this is permanent, so that I can remove the links and list other products in my ebooks and emails.

                    Brian
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                    • Profile picture of the author Steven Wagenheim
                      Originally Posted by bhlehr View Post

                      Steven,

                      As one of those dumbass affiliates of yours, I was just wondering if some of your sites are down. I noticed yesterday that your honest income program and secret articles sites were no longer working. Let me know if this is permanent, so that I can remove the links and list other products in my ebooks and emails.

                      Brian
                      Brian, my web host has had a major crash and these sites have been down
                      for about 36 hours with no sign as to when they'll be back up.

                      And I was not referring to you with my post. I was speaking in general.

                      Yeah, you might as well remove them because I have no idea what's going
                      on with this hosting company. I may have to have everything moved.
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                      • Profile picture of the author bhlehr
                        Originally Posted by Steven Wagenheim View Post

                        Brian, my web host has had a major crash and these sites have been down
                        for about 36 hours with no sign as to when they'll be back up.

                        And I was not referring to you with my post. I was speaking in general.

                        Yeah, you might as well remove them because I have no idea what's going
                        on with this hosting company. I may have to have everything moved.
                        Yeah, I know you weren't speaking about me. I was just kidding. :-)

                        Sorry to hear about the server crash. What a pain. Now I've got to find some quality products like yours (is that possible?) and replace the links. :-(

                        Brian
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                • Profile picture of the author jasonl70
                  Originally Posted by flnz400 View Post

                  Errrr, why not leverage other people's time to work for you?

                  Not trying to pick at ya, but in order to scale a business, you need to have a plan of relinquishing responsibility and leveraging your time.
                  Steven already has an entire thread somewhere devoted to this debate
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      • Profile picture of the author Daniel Molano
        Originally Posted by p1a1u1l1 View Post

        Great tip, but business and ethics just do not mix.

        paul
        I'd love to hear what someone like Willie Crawford and his salary would say about that.
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      • Profile picture of the author websitemoneynow
        This is a great tip , foremost you want to take care of your affiliates , taking care of your affiliates is very important to success
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      • Profile picture of the author Chris Lockwood
        Originally Posted by Daniel Molano View Post

        Whatever, but I prefer to place ethics before profits.
        Cool, maybe you should quit marketing and study for the priesthood.

        You can be as self-righteous as you want, but don't smear others just for using Clickbank as it was intended.
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        • Profile picture of the author Daniel Molano
          Originally Posted by Chris Lockwood View Post

          Cool, maybe you should quit marketing and study for the priesthood.

          You can be as self-righteous as you want, but don't smear others just for using Clickbank as it was intended.
          Yeah, tell that to my 5 figures a month IM salary.

          And I'm not smearing at anyone, I'm just pointing out an interesting possibility, if you are not interested, then why are you even still on this thread?
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        • Profile picture of the author Jason Dolman
          Originally Posted by Chris Lockwood View Post

          Cool, maybe you should quit marketing and study for the priesthood.

          You can be as self-righteous as you want, but don't smear others just for using Clickbank as it was intended.

          There was nothing wrong with Daniel's suggestion and he definitely wasn't smearing or looking down on people who don't do things the way he suggested.

          It's a perfectly viable way to stop Clickbank affiliate account holders from following another affiliate's link and then substituting their own when completing the purchase, yet still benefiting from the ease of use and popularity of Clickbank.

          It's nice to see you working diligently towards ban #2 Chris aka "King of the One-Liners... or is it Two-Liners now?"

          I would think you would have learned the first time, but it won't be long until you're banned again.... thankfully



          Jason
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    • Profile picture of the author Eric Lorence
      As an affiliate, yes there are certain kinds of promotions one should stay away from on CB.

      Especially ones that direct to outside payment pages, and those with numerous overt links drawing away commissions.

      Many publishers could care less about affiliates loosing sales, the goal is to have as many clueless rookie affiliates driving traffic to their page as possible.

      However there are many honest marketers running simultaneous affiliate programs in addition to CB.

      I don't think CB is going anywhere, but by all means do start your own program.

      It is good to see honest marketers that care about affiliates.

      Best!
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  • Profile picture of the author MADMONEY
    Hello,

    What I have done to track my affiliate sales and to make sure that the click bank, advertiser is honest with me, is I Always offer my own bonus to the person purchasing and have them e-mail me their receipt number.

    If I am not paid on the sale through its normal process. I will e-mail the click bank, advertiser and send him a copy of the customer's e-mail to me. If the click bank, advertiser will not pay me, once I e-mail him. Then I will do my best to let everyone know that they should not do business with that company.

    I will also e-mail Click Bank and complain about this publisher.Hope that helps as well is what was offered earlier

    Madman
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    Mad for Money!

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  • Profile picture of the author ExRat
    Hi,



    Chomp!
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    Roger Davis

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  • Profile picture of the author Mike Bogowski
    This seems a little counter intuitive to me.

    I love to snowboard, and sometimes people bust their knees snowboarding, but I will still give snowboarding a good effort and wait and see if my knees give out.

    Wait for something to be a larger issue before you shoot yourself in the foot. The marketplace serves as a great way for you to gt affiliates to sell your product, thats the whole point of clickbank.

    If you are going to remove yourself, why not simply use another processor where the fees are lower.

    Just my 2 cents
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