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[Nathan Isaac Company: SendOutCards Contribution Level: 3]

Many of you probably have seen this in a forum post, Someone asks:

"I'm Looking for an Article Submitter... Which one?"

Then a few people come and answer the persons question,
but then there's always that one person who throws on their
red plaid salesman jacket and gets ready to 'Lure Them In'

In a needy desperation of an income, they provide an answer like:

"Hey Tom, I have been using an article submitter that has increased
my income by three times. It's super easy to use and gives great results!

PM me for more information "

This is where they hope to 'Make The Sale' by telling them all about the
great FEATURES and giving their affiliate link.


So should this be against the rules or what do you think?



P.S. Don't try and sell someone something on features...
Always provide the person with benefits

[Richard Bravo Company: Life Force International Contribution Level: 9]

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It's a great point Nathan.
And a hard one to give a black and white answer in my opinion.

On one hand someone did ask for suggestions.
In this scenario it would seem perfectly logical that someone would offer their affiliate link to a product they recommend and are using, along with a review of some sort explaining why they are recommending it.

On the other hand there are those who lurk in the shadows just waiting to pounce on the slightest opportunity to drop a link. They bring zero value to the community and all they do is constantly pitch their crap.

The problem is that in both instances dropping the link is considered spam.
So what do you do?

Everyone wants to make money.
If they say otherwise I think they're not being honest with themselves and the community.

So what are you supposed to do ... Just give away all your advice, experience, suggestions and knowledge for free? It seems to be the prevailing idea these days. That anyone with knowledge of something is expected to give it all away and you're evil if you think of making an income.

Yet everyone is looking for ways to make an income and looking for help on how to do so. They come to places like this where it's well known that there are professionals here with a knowledge base that can and will help you build a business if you study and apply the things that are taught.

But the second you bring $$$ into the conversation .... all hell breaks lose.
It's very frustrating from both perspectives.

For me I always look at the individual and the event in question.
If someone brand new, a total unknown in a community jumps in and starts shucking their junk all over like its a swap meet, I think that is blatant spam and is intolerable.

But then you have community members who I think have earned the right to drop links. And I'm sure that's not something people want to hear. But the difference is that there are people who've invested hundreds of hours helping people and freely shared things with the community that cost them thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours to learn and test and refine.

Not only that but they've invested themselves considerably to build rapport with the community, to nurture relationships and actually give a shit about the people in the community and aren't just here for a quick buck.

In these cases I think dropping the occasional affiliate link, if that is one of their income streams, should not be looked as spam, but as a way to say THANK YOU. Thank you for all you do and of course I will support you and your business in return.

I think we'd all expect the same.

Like I said I can't give a black and white answer; yes or no ... merely make an observation.
At the end of the day it's up to the site admins to make those type of decisions as to what is and what is not allowed.
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[C. Imanon Contribution Level: 2]

I know this post is kinda old, but I wanted to throw in a couple of pennies on the subject. I agree with Richard when he says that the 'tenured' members should be given a pass when it comes to dropping their affiliate link in a forum. My reasoning behind this is that most of the time when a veteran marketer drops his/her link in a forum, they are usually offering some type of service sweetened with a freebie of some sort. Newer members like me can actually benefit by clicking the link and learning something for free from a wily veteran. Us new guys are not only strapped for knowledge, but we're also strapped for dollars. Any free resource that we can use to help build our business is definitely appreciated!