??? As an affiliate marketer do you ever

[Paulawog]

As an affiliate marketer do you ever promote a product or web page that you don't have an affiliate account with or an alliance with? i.e. I Use Bragg's Organic Apple Cidar Vinagar, this company does not have an affiliate program and do not recommend other peoples sites, so I will never get a referral from them. So should I ever mention them in my articles or link to them at all, or is it ok seeing I'm not trying to force "my products" on others? Thanks, paula

[cindybidar]

Amazon sells it, and *they* have an affiliate program. :)

[angienewton]

Paula,
Yes, I have promoted products and services that don't have affiliate programs. I'm usually offered free product in return for a review however almost every time I'm offered I look at Amazon and most times they have the product so I can use my affiliate links.

I think it's just fine to promote companies of products you use whether or not they have a way to monetize the products or not. You could always ask if they would consider starting an affiliate program or find a way to work together on promos.

[Paulawog]

Oh I see, Cindy, As per my example of the Cider, just link it to the Cider on Amazon (which I will affiliate with) not the manufacturer's site that gives me no koodo's at all.

Brilliant!! I just love this site, you guys have figured everything out, having so many brains is so much better then my little one.... Thank you very much. Paula

[lindastacy]

Yes I link to products and services that don't have affiliate programs. There are many benefits in addition to money for referring my market to good resources. It helps build expertise, credibility, and trust. Plus if people know you can refer them if you don't have the resource, they'll come back to you to ask for something else you may have a product or affiliate link for.

[Paulawog]

Linda,

Yeah, I hear ya, good business practice; be honest weather you get a kickback or not. thanx. Paula

[premiumweb]

I say promote what your visitors need to know about whether you will earn a few affiliate dollars on every single item or not. A mixture of monetized and non-monetized content is ideal. If every single thing you recommend is an affiliate link, I'd probably question the motivation. However, if occasionally you link to something directly, I'm more likely to think you are truly sharing information for the sake of sharing information. That's just my opinion. :o

[Paulawog]

I agree with you, I was just wandering because this is affiliate marketing and was just checking, because I have recommended products I am not affiliated with. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't making a mistake.

Premi, I want to check out your report... looks good. Thanks Paula

[premiumweb]

Please do check it out, it's free.

I'm also teaching a marketing course. You can find out more at http://www.premiumwebmarketingonline.com/profit.html and I'd love to have you.

[constance]

I definitely serve my audience and review products I'm not affiliated with. In addition to this, once I was asked to review some software and agreed if the publisher gave me a copy. I was going to spend around half a day doing this, so it seemed fair. In another case, a stock photo site gives me credits to download photos every month in exchange for advertising his site on my blog. To me, it's well worth it!

There are definitely hidden perks that come from increasing your site's traffic. Now if I could only make more affiliate sales!