Comments on: Ethics, Paid Reviews and Affiliate Programs

By: Ethical Affiliate Marketing: Thoughts and Suggestions |

Ethical Affiliate Marketing: Thoughts and Suggestions | — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 03:00:55 +0000

[...] Men With Pens: Ethics, Paid Reviews and Affiliate Programs by James [...]

By: David Walker

David Walker — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 00:06:37 +0000

My wife and I got tired of all the Internet scammers stealing money from us and others. We knew that a fraction of the Internet home business opportunities were really legitimate, but we just didn’t know which ones. So we started talking to people and reviewing a lot (a whole lot) of business systems on the internet. We had many late nights up on the computer. Hard work paid off and we find a dozen or so that seem to work very well with everyday people. So we made a web career blog. Needless to say my wife and I now work from home full time.

By: 25 Awesome Lessons you Can Learn From James Chartrand | Blogging Tips From Jade Craven

Mon, 17 Aug 2009 02:11:14 +0000

[...] gave this advice in a post about affiliate programs. If you promote a product or service that isnâ€™t good and someone buys it, theyâ€™re going to be [...]

By: Monday Morning Link Roundup for 7.14.08 | PureBlogging

Monday Morning Link Roundup for 7.14.08 | PureBlogging — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 16:17:54 +0000

[...] and credibility are worth more than a fast buck,” say the Men With Pens. It’s a lesson many of us could stand to keep learning. Not me, of course. I am a paragon of [...]

By: Alex Fayle

Alex Fayle — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 21:06:46 +0000

@ James (and everyone else) - Yes, I'm working hard on the new design. Thanks for the pointer for the tips. I'll take a look at it tomorrow afternoon. I hope to reveal the new design in a few weeks (with a slightly new direction but with the same theme of getting rid of the Somedays in your life). Thanks for the link love James! Alex Fayle's last blog post..Summer Hours

By: John Hoff - eVentureBiz

John Hoff - eVentureBiz — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 15:32:30 +0000

Ok James, I really liked this post. This is something that has plagued me for a long time and I couldn’t agree with you more. You put your face, your brand, and your company’s credibility on the line when making reviews and sponsoring a program or product through affiliate links.

I’ve finally added an affiliate link to my blog which can start earning me enough money to buy a Starbucks once every few months (if that LOL).

I wanted to choose how to monetize my blog carefully as I didn’t want to just slap up any old thing to start generating some money. I wanted it to be something I know would provide value to my readers.

So I joined Amazon.com’s affiliate network and display a few books I have read and give my stamp of approval on. I’m thinking of also adding a review page where I explain in detail what I liked and disliked about the books.

Hey now that I think about it, I suppose that’s what you guys do! But I’ll still be a jerk and tell everyone I thought of it first

On another note and just thinking in an opposite direction, maybe for those people who write bad reviews (i.e. good reviews for bad products) – maybe they continue to write reviews and get paid because word gets out in the community that “That person there will write you a good review. Just pay him.”

John Hoff – eVentureBiz’s last blog post..50+ WordPress Plugins & Hacks Candy Store

By: Rebecca Leigh

Rebecca Leigh — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 08:07:00 +0000

As Sam said, reviews are so valuable when you are trying to weigh up a hefty purchase. There are so many courses and information products out there and it is sometimes easy to get sucked into the “your business will fail unless you buy this product.”

So I appreciate when respected writers / blogs (like the Pen Men) review these things and get some balanced views out there.

When you have built such a trust with your readers though, it can weigh heavily. When I see ‘sales pitch’ posts it makes me think twice about the writer and I always go looking elsewhere to see what others are saying. Maybe the product really is fantastic.

Personally if I had a group of trusting and loyal readers and I steered them into spending big on something I didn’t believe in so I could make some dollars, well I can’t imagine feeling anything but bad. And really aren’t you shooting yourself in the foot in the longer term?

By: John Hewitt

John Hewitt — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 06:49:42 +0000

As long as YOU are objective, I don't see an ethical problem. Image is another thing entirely. If you don't want to be associated with the product, stay away. John Hewitt's last blog post..A Career in Technical Writing: Workaround

By: Jane

Jane — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 06:10:36 +0000

While promoting the product or writing about the reviews the writer must be aware of the ethical and moral issues. Firstly, he himself must be aware about the product and must believe in that. Money is not everything. Responsibility, a social one is the matter of prime importance. Jane's last blog post..Making Money With Article Writing

By: lornadoone

lornadoone — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 21:06:26 +0000

This reminds me of all those shows on the Food Network where people like Rachel Ray and Guy Fieri take a bite, put on a fakey smile, and tell the camera how delicious it is. If you say "Yumm-o!" every time you taste something, I'm gonna start getting suspicious. Just once I want to see Alton brown bite into something, spit it out, and exclaim, "That tastes like sh*t!" lornadoone's last blog post..Will Working on Holidays Tear the Berry-Brewer Team Apart?