I need your help. I’ve been toying with signing up to 3 or 4 affiliate programs but I can’t decide if this is the right thing to do. So I’ll make my case and would appreciate any feedback you can give me.
Why I think affiliate programs might be a bad idea
- Affiliate programs are kind of sleazy. Nothing screams ‘I’m in it for the money’ quite like an affiliate link. But here’s the thing – I am in it for the money.
- Readers get the feeling they’re constantly being sold to. Every time I visit Yaro’s blog I come away thinking ‘he’s just trying to squeeze my Paypal account’. Yes, most of the information on Entrepreneurs Journey is good, but it definitely leans towards getting you to spend cash on the latest ebook/course/membership idea floating around the Interwebs.
- My blog is a trust-building tool. I use this blog to build trust with prospective customers. Would adding a few affiliate links affect my credibility as a WordPress consultant?
Why I think affiliate programs might be a good idea
- I only want to promote 3 or 4 products. It’s not like every single post I write is going to be aimed at getting people to buy my shit. If you like what I have to say about something when I review it, buy it. If you don’t, I won’t talk about it any more. Simple.
- I believe in these products. Judging by the number of products some people are affiliates for, there’s no way they can have tried them all. I am planning on recommending products that I use every day (or at least quite often). I believe they are good value, high quality solutions.
- My blog should be monetized. It bugs me that this pretty little blog is a worthless entity for anything other than lead generation. I’m not asking for much but it would be nice if the site could at least pay my hosting bill.
So there you have my arguments. And here are the 4 products I plan to market on my blog. I KNOW SOME OF YOU ARE GOING TO THINK THESE PRODUCTS SUCK. I don’t. As I said, I use these or have used them, and I think they’re pretty good.
- Dreamhost Web hosting.
- Woothemes WordPress themes
- Thesis WordPress theme (still toying with this one)
- Ittybiz SEO School
If I decide to go ahead with affiliate marketing I will do a full review of each program’s good and bad points. But for now I’d like to know what you think I should do. Please let me know in the comments.
Hello, I’m Dave. I work with web design agencies, freelancers and bloggers to develop standards-compliant WordPress and Thesis themes.
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I don’t think it’s sleazy to use affiliate ads for products that you would actually use. But it was you who told me that if I’m selling my services I shouldn’t be selling other things on my blog …
I think a plugin like this would be useful
http://planetozh.com/blog/my-projects/wordpress-plugin-who-sees-ads-control-adsense-display/
You can set it to only show ads to people who come to your blog via search – your regular visitors won’t see them.
Hey Dave, I think there is an expectation that you’re going to want to start monetizing your work. It’s if you flog readers with Google ads and crappy content that makes bloggers look sleazy. Writing thoughtful and useful posts (as you often do) takes time and energy, and if you’ve tried and believe that these services would be helpful to others, then you should receive your share for recommending them.
@Kim I knew you’d bring that up. And because I’m selling my services here I’ve decided not to pursue the affiliate thing at the moment.
@Chris you bring up the other part of the argument but I think I need to stay true to this project and not monetize it. I’m here to gain clients and don’t want to look spammy doing it.
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