How To Avoid Clickbank Commission Theft
Business is a numbers game.
We toss out industry terms and abbreviations all the time to illustrate this. ROI, CPA and PPC reflect our concern over numbers. So do phrases like “conversion rate”, “opt-in rate” and “click thru rate”. We track advertising, analyze stats and base decisions on projections.
Business is a numbers game.
How that relates to “avoiding Clickbank commission theft” is coming in just a moment. But before I get to that, let me back up just a bit and tell you a true story that prompted me to get to the simple strategy that I’m going to share with you.
It’s an important lesson to learn, so let it sink in.
A few days ago an internet marketer contacted me to request a complimentary copy of my Small Reports Fortune course. He indicated that he’d like to promote it to his list but wanted to preview it first. I agreed, sent him a copy and awaited his reply.
The next day he wrote me back to ask if there was any alternative to Clickbank for processing the orders. When I told him that no other options were currently available, he replied, “Unfortunately since that’s the case I’ll have to pass up this promotion.” He also said, “I stopped promoting Clickbank products in the IM niche a few years back due to up to 30% losses in affiliate commissions (customers clearing my aff. cookie and replacing with their own.)”
Notice the “up to”.
“Up to 30%” could simply be 1%.
“Up to” means the absolute worst case scenario I’ve ever experienced in my life is 30%.
So, it’s unlikely that there would be 30% loss in any promotion of MY product.
But, let’s ASSUME that there would indeed be a 30% loss in promoting my product to his list because his subscribers have a history of cheating. Based on that assumption, when this internet marketer chose not to promote my product he avoided a 30% loss of commissions.
Want to know what else he avoided?
He avoided 70% gain of commissions!
Listen, this isn’t even a case of “is the glass half empty or is the glass half full”. Worst case scenario, this glass is 70% full!
In avoiding a 30% loss (absolute train wreck worst case scenario) this guy is also avoiding a 70% gain. Business is a numbers game.
Let’s continue this thinking a bit farther.
Let’s suppose he could have generated 100 orders of Small Reports Fortune through his affiliate link. He’s an experienced marketer. He’s got a list, traffic and influence. It’s certainly not unreasonable to think he could refer 100 customers.
100 orders X approximately $50 in commission per order = $5,000 in commissions.
IF (and that’s a strong IF) indeed 30% of those who ordered decided to bypass his affiliate link and order through their own, he’d lose $1,500 that he was rightfully entitled to.
BUT, he’d GAIN $3,500!
So, in avoiding $1,500 in theft, he also avoided $3,500 in gain.
You can stand on principle. You can refuse to let others “cheat” you. You can decide to go with other options. You can explain it away with any language you want. But at the end of the day the result of this scenario is easy to see…
He lost $3,500 in profit that could have easily been his.
Business is a numbers game.
I’d rather have $3,500 in my pocket than to be afraid of promoting something because a percentage of people might try to cheat me and as a result of my fear have $0 in my pocket.
It’s a numbers game: which would you rather have, $3,500 or $0?
Now, having said all of that, let’s talk about how this 30% affiliate theft could easily have been avoided in the first place.
It’s actually quite simple to keep people from bypassing your affiliate link to order through their own when you are promoting products sold through Clickbank.
Here it is…
Offer a compelling incentive to all those who order through your link and require them to submit their receipt in order to obtain the incentive.
If you have a compelling incentive (special report, coaching, service, advertising, PLR content, access to a membership site, etc.) that you offer as a bonus when people order through your affiliate link you remove the overwhelming majority of the risk because the only way to access the bonus is by using YOUR affiliate link to order.
If they want the bonus, they gotta order through you. End of story.
Business is a numbers game.
And I guarantee you that 100% of the time you will reduce affiliate theft by using this simple strategy. You may not completely eliminate it (not everyone will want your bonus) but you will certainly reduce it.
The better your bonus, the better your reduction.
The two takeaways from this lesson are clear…
1. It’s better to make 70% than 0%.
2. You can get closer to 100% if you offer a compelling incentive.
Business is a numbers game.
———-
Speaking of “numbers game” – how would you like to grab 27 ways (yes, that’s twenty-seven!) to increase your affiliate commissions? Visit http://www.AffiliatePayraise.com for complete details on more than two dozen simple ways to earn bigger commission checks for any program you’re promoting.
May 19th, 2009 at 10:44 am
Terrific logic. And we still don’t know what his real “losses” were? There’s not a salesman on the planet who wouldn’t celebrate a 70% closing rate either!
May 19th, 2009 at 11:14 am
Excellent article. I also think the merchants could help out a bit. For example, they could use a simple PHP script to eliminate the /?hop=blahblah bit at the end of the URL, which is a dead giveaway (to experienced customers) that they have just been through a hoplink.
But your way is pretty much the *best* way I can think of for securing the commission.
Paul Hancox
May 20th, 2009 at 5:05 am
Nice post Jimmy
Willie Crawford
May 20th, 2009 at 12:44 pm
Thanks Jimmy, great article.
As a newer affiliate marketer I found another wrench that is ClickBank instituted. Which can redirect your focus from the big picture if you let it.
They have a policy that says they will withold payment of commissions until there are 5 different charge cards used and PayPal payments do not count towards those 5. So little guys and start ups can count on having commissions held for some time.
I personally found that EVERY ONE of my customers have paid with PayPal. Heck thats the primary way I purchase anything online.
So while I was going to fire off a nasty gram to ClickBank and avoid affiliating with anyone who used ClickBank for their product distribution and affiliate processing…it became very clear…when I cross that threshold…I have a really nice check coming. And, not sucking up, I like your products and find them extreemly value conscious…So no lost baby with that bathwater for me…
May 21st, 2009 at 10:50 am
Jimmy,
Would you please stop making sense. lol
I”m tired of the competition.
Paul
May 21st, 2009 at 5:09 pm
[...] This post was Twitted by CoachGogo - Real-url.org [...]
May 21st, 2009 at 5:40 pm
Hi Jimmy:
You are so right - better 70% than 0%. Besides, hasn’t he ever come across a clickbank cloaker?
There are many ways to cloak links so it is not so obvious. Oh, I forgot, one you press the buy button you are automatically going to see that it is clickbank. Still, up to 30% is not bad at all. And how would he know that?
I await your insite.
May 21st, 2009 at 5:41 pm
Thanks for the logic lesson, Jimmy! As always your clear thinking gets to the REAL point that should be under discussion.
–
…/Paul
May 21st, 2009 at 5:44 pm
I always use a cloaking script for my affiliate links. It is very simple to set up on my website and works fine. No, it is not tinyurl but some folks do use that if they don’t have their own website.
May 21st, 2009 at 5:47 pm
I am always amazed at how you make lemonade out of life’s lemons.
Thank-you for sharing yet another money making “golden nugget” with us, and for helping us to look at the right side of the picture
May 21st, 2009 at 5:49 pm
Excellent information as usual. I have not had that happen to me yet but I use a budurl.com url to cloak it somewhat. Asking for a receipt is a very good idea.
May 21st, 2009 at 5:54 pm
I’ve also heard that if you make your clickbank ID NOT your name or something recognizable could help reduce theft. So instead of using something like “joesmith” as the ID, use “8893jjdhfg” instead.
I’d be interested in knowing your opinion on this, Jimmy.
May 21st, 2009 at 5:59 pm
The incentive idea is going to be one that will be around for years to come. As more people are going thru financial crisis and choices on what to buy become more thoughtful, being able to get something “extra” just for clicking thru on your link will begin to outweigh the commission they can make stealing your link. Also, as incentives become more creative and appealing, the impulse to get that “next” will lure people to the “do the right thing” side and leave you link intact as their “guilt ridden” way of saying thanks for the bonus I will let you make a little off of me so I can get your bonus.
Thanks again for another “leading the way” tip for internet marketers.
V. Holland aka CHRONIC PAIN HERO
May 21st, 2009 at 6:00 pm
Leonard,
Just read your comment and said to myself… where did it say he was getting 70% closing rate? lol Dude, that is crazy talk!
May 21st, 2009 at 6:06 pm
Excellent post about thinking outside the box. It really is all how you look at it. The idea of offering an incentive to have customers buy through your link is simply: brilliant.
thanks, Jimmy.
Albert Grande
May 21st, 2009 at 6:07 pm
This guy probably quit his job because the tax man was taking up to 30% of his earnings
May 21st, 2009 at 6:10 pm
Hi Jmmy,
Great post Jimmy you’ve always provide valueble info. thank you so much!
Albert Hallado
May 21st, 2009 at 6:11 pm
Nice post! I think offering the incentive if someone purchases via your aff. link is still the best game in town.
I’m sure that if you put a video as well - telling them what to do and what they will receive will enhance the conversions even more:)
May 21st, 2009 at 6:17 pm
Jimmy, you always overdeliver with some of the best blog content I have seen online. Your straight to the point honesty is exacty what we seek. I love your logic on this post. I find your posts informative, encouraging, and many times down right funny. I appreciate all you do!
May 21st, 2009 at 6:18 pm
Perfect logic, Jimmy! Who wouldn’t want 70% of the money?
Your post brings back the motivation to Clickbank affiliates in promoting IM products.
Ian del Carmen
PS: Yes, giving bonuses is a proven strategy I always use at http://BiggestBestBonus.com and I always cloak my affiliate link. A free one is at http://FireURL.com
May 21st, 2009 at 6:19 pm
I used to set up book sections for small newspapers
and I never paid for a book I reviewed or advertised.
I see no big deal in people replacing their ID with
their own and cloaking your affiliate link ain’t going
to stop it because you can’t hide the clickbank order
page. In fact the only reason, I see, to cloak a link
is to encourage the click
If people take the time to read Jimmy’s products and
use his methods of promoting affiliate programs - the
question becomes moot.
I am not going to spill the beans here but I assure you
Jimmy’s methods are magic bullets. I use them in the
traffic exchange community where it seems everybody
is promoting the same stuff and I have no problems
picking up $50.00 to $150.00 in commissions per
broadcast with an embarrassingly small list
Jimmy, thanks for all the great products. I wish you
and your family the very best
May 21st, 2009 at 6:21 pm
Your suggestion makes sense, Jimmy.
Of course, there must be ways to automate the delivery of the incentive gift.
May 21st, 2009 at 6:22 pm
I noticed just the other day that Clickbank has changed their encrypting, so that when you click on the generate links button, you get an already encrypted link.
This should reduce the commission theft, as you’d have to scour Clickbank for the actual listing, and re-generate another link to have it changed to yorus (as opposed to say, just changing your affiliate name for theirs)
I use tinyurl as well, so it’s harder to get that initial url when they are looking at my link - you can find it on Clickbank, but it’ll take some work!
Andrew Larder
MarketingSharks.com
May 21st, 2009 at 6:22 pm
An excellent post and a very good suggestion re thebonus/receipt idea.
I personally use Hits Connect to cloak my ID and also track my hits
at the same time.
May 21st, 2009 at 6:24 pm
Like Charlie, I use a cloaking script to conceal my affiliate links.
However, it is worth pointing out that customers not in the IM niche probably don’t have much of a clue about affiliate links, much less know how to steal them. For them, I think it is more important that the link looks relevant to the item that they are interested in, rather than a crazy-looking affiliate link, which they may be reluctant to click on.
May 21st, 2009 at 6:30 pm
Great information as usual. You’re right the glass is more than half full.
May 21st, 2009 at 6:36 pm
Hey Jimmy.
Love this article! Just when I thought it was going to be a post about some complicated workaround to the whole clickbank theft issue — you just put the entire matter into a different light.
The only way to truly profit doing what we do is to go into it from a position of positivity and optimism and not fear. I absolutely rather take my chances and lose a little, then to not profit from the biggest affiliate marketplace on the web. Great job!
May 21st, 2009 at 6:43 pm
Makes logical sense. 50% of 100 is better than 100% of nothing.
May 21st, 2009 at 6:49 pm
Hi Jimmy,
I really enjoyed your post. I too use a web based script on my server to cloak links and offering your own bonuses greatly increases the conversion rate and protects your commissions at the same time.
Have a great one!
May 21st, 2009 at 6:51 pm
Great post and I agree.
It’s almost the same as saying I don’t want traffic to my website as only 1-5% are buyers and i don’t want the 95-99% that don’t buy eat up my bandwidth
Cloaking your affiliate id is as simple as what and if you can’t do it yourself there are scripts that costs almost nothing. The bonus is good thing and will up the score. It’s all about how you look at it and what you think you see. Better have a half full glass or better yet take an other (bit smaller) glass, poor it over and make it full.
May 21st, 2009 at 7:08 pm
Thank God for you Jimmy.
Bonuses are one of the best kept secrets in avoiding Clickbank
commission theft.
You don’t have to worry about the silly stuff…when you add
VALUE to the transaction.
This works well too in other niches outside of IM.
Thanks Again,
Travis Sago
May 21st, 2009 at 7:24 pm
That was such a great post Jimmy. I like the fact that you gave an example of two scenario [the 30% and the 70%]. I would have never thought of it that way if I didn’t read your post today.
Thanks for sharing!
Ibsen
May 21st, 2009 at 7:32 pm
Great post - and I like all the comments, too.
Sometimes I learn as much from the comments as I do from the post. And you always have great material.
May 21st, 2009 at 7:34 pm
Great post! This is an excellent example of scarcity thinking..I wonder what other things that possible affiliate is missing out on by thinking about what he’ll lose instead of what he’ll gain.
May 21st, 2009 at 7:36 pm
Jimmy,
Great article as it put things into perspective.
I can see this applying outside the internet
marketing niche.
What goes around comes around!
Is possible to buy a domain name and redirect?
Cheers
MW Grafstein
May 21st, 2009 at 7:39 pm
Great post Jimmy. It finally makes sense to me.
Andrew
May 21st, 2009 at 7:42 pm
Great post, Jimmie!
Makes a ton of sense when you break it down like that.
Thank you for even more valuable information.
Dan Buckner
http://www.BurnFatForLife.com
May 21st, 2009 at 7:59 pm
Terrific post! I have seen so many people complaining about Clickbank commissions being stolen on various forums. If they spent the time they spend complaining working on improving their business, they wouldn’t have so much to complain about!
Thanks Jimmy!
Tess Tackett
Make Money from Home
May 21st, 2009 at 8:22 pm
Hopefully a win-win solution for both parties came out of this (knowing Jimmy, it probably did
Reason: (although we’re speaking hypothetically about the 70%), not only would the gentleman who contacted Jimmy lose BUT so would Jimmy! That’s why you look for solutions (win-win).
IF and when you have marketers contact you to promote your products/services, have an alternative solution available for them. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and who says $3500 was a large enough incentive for *him*?
May 21st, 2009 at 8:41 pm
Lots of useful information. What puzzles me here is how does one establish these quoted figures of 30% theft.
My method is to buy a domain name and have it redirected with my affiliate code, usually directly to the vendors site. The vendors website does a better sales job than I can for the foreseeable future.
Apart from that, a 70% conversion (unless I got it wrong here) is quite enviable.
Thanks for the help.
P.S. How many of those operators would know how to change the link anyway?
May 21st, 2009 at 9:25 pm
Good stuff Jimmy. Interesting to see Travis Sago comment on this post ( I think he’s one of the best in the business at adding value to the transaction when he promotes anything sold on Clickbank ). The 70% + gain vs 30% max loss side of things just highlights that it’s all about the numbers and mindset as oppose to responding to one of life’s biggest drivers if you let it ( Fear ). 100% of nothing is still nothing. 70% of a lot is still a pretty penny
Dean James
May 21st, 2009 at 9:36 pm
Hey Jimmy;
This is a great post, and I am a huge fan of yours, but I think you got this one only about 70% right. Actually you may only be 30% right. Here is what you missed.
The marketer in question (a friend of mine) was not choosing between $3500 and $0. He was choosing between $3500 made on your product and $5000 made promoting some other quality product.
See, this marketer carefully chooses his promotions and only does a limited number a year. Most of the emails to his list are valuable information with no selling. So when he promotes a quality product, he has to choose carefully.
I suspect he choose your products initially because of their quality. Your products are excellent.
However, since the marketer in question actually turns down JV offers every week (maybe actually every day), he did not miss out. He’ll just spend some extra time finding another great product that will help his list.
I don’t mean to be harsh, because I really respect you. But from my point of view you missed out by not asking superwoman (that would be Nichole) to work out another solution for him (and others) with big lists.
I love clickbank, but they could do a couple of simple things that would avoid all of this discussion.
Bottom line, I agree with your glass-half-full approach — but in this case, the affiliate’s glass runneth over. And using clickbank meant from his point of view that you were not making a compelling offer.
Regards,
Mark
May 21st, 2009 at 9:38 pm
I think that 100% of my Clickbank commissions are being stolen at the moment. If I can figure out who is doing the stealing and stop them doing it I will soon be as rich as you Jimmy. Or maybe not.
May 21st, 2009 at 9:41 pm
Hi Jimmy
I certainly would be prefer the 70% and I think the ‘talk’ about commission stealing comes from a small minority who instill this fear in the minds of people who are new and then it becomes a bit of a self perpetuating thing.
I am sure everyone appreciates your advice on delivering a bonus to ensure a bit more of the profit stays in your hands.
Regards
Anne
http://www.experienceseekerstravelclub.com
May 21st, 2009 at 9:47 pm
Great stuff as always.
That yahoo can’t see the forest through the trees. There will ALWAYS be cheats and people trying to beat the system. All we can do is gain the maximum benefit from the “70%”.
Offering a bonus may be somewhat advanced for a beginner but it is a rock solid way to ensure no one steals your commissions. Other effective ways are to use the free link cloakers that are out there. I use them quite often and have great results.
Thanks Jimmy…you’re one-of-a-kind.
John
May 21st, 2009 at 10:12 pm
Thanks Jimmy for showing those that needed it that sometimes it is all in the way we look at things.
I’d prefer the 70% over $0 anyday :0)
May 21st, 2009 at 10:22 pm
Nice article Jim, if you have big list just send out one email
campaign even you lost 30% you still can live with that.
Cheers,
Ken
May 21st, 2009 at 10:53 pm
This is great information and I am an affiliate marketer as well I have removed ids and added my own but I never purchased anything I usually join as an affiliate and promote the product myself. Because alot od products I see are hard to find when I search through my mall. THanks for the information I will keep this in mind .
May 21st, 2009 at 11:18 pm
Excellent posting! Not only will the incentive reduce the theft, but it will also increase the amount of affiliate sales. What a great concept. Thank you!
May 21st, 2009 at 11:18 pm
Link cloaking is one of the first things I learned when I started affiliate marketing. Guess I’m skeptical of people stealing stuff. Then, I stumbled onto the offering a bonus thing with CB receipt (just a couple of days ago - all on MY OWN). Great minds think alike?
Nah, I just got lucky. Great post Jimmy. I am curious, how did that guy know 30 percent of his sales were stolen?
May 21st, 2009 at 11:37 pm
Hey Jimmy,
Your right on the money.
The only way I’m finding to make sale with click-bank is by offering an incentive to those to buy through my link and you’ll get this “AMAZING BONUS”
To many people now know to ad their hoplink and steel what was rightfully yours.
Sad really that it has come to this.
May 22nd, 2009 at 12:07 am
Hello JImmy & Readers,
Thank you for this insightful post. Many of us who use CB also use some kind of cloaking.
My First CB pay check was from my own purchases, so it was a rebate, not a payment from sales to others.
CB has used the exact same kind of hoplink ‘technology’ since the first arrived on the internet and were blissfully ignorant of commission theft.
I joined their blog/newsletter and last year they even posted that they had very little commission theft.
Idiots.
Chris Morris’s Phantom Link Cloaker made a good example of this if you had watched his video.
Apart from that, yes a simple request to forward their Receipt so you can match it is a very simple way to guarantee that they did purchase it from your link.
Rewarding the customer is always a good idea.
Builds rapport!
Kind regards,
Jason
:o)
May 22nd, 2009 at 12:14 am
Hi Jimmy,
I thought this was a great post.
Not so much because of the click bank thing, although that was a stunning example of small mindedness.
But more because of the interest it generated in your program - very clever.
Dean.
May 22nd, 2009 at 2:39 am
I was originally not aware Clickbank commissions could be stolen until a subscriber told me she’d changed my Clickbank ID to her own because she “couldn’t afford the full price” of the product, and would save 50% by “stealing my commission”. Yes, she actually said that.
I’ve since put things in place to cloak links so this couldn’t happen again.
I was gobsmacked that someone would actually tell me they’d done such a thing, but worse still, I realised I could be losing thousands of dollars with no clue of it even happening.
And just to reiterate what Jimmy has said, I recently purchased a product (that I am also promoting) through another marketer’s link because he was offering a bonus that was valuable to me.
Cheryl
May 22nd, 2009 at 3:33 am
Hi Jimmy
The affiliate markekteer who declined to promote any products through Clickbank is unaware of the new changes at Clickbank.
Clickbank now decode the nicknames of all its affiliates.
I totally agree with you on loosing 30 to gain 70. There is a proverb in chinese “Sacrifice a tree but gain a forest!”
By the way, please accept my humble compliments on all your articles and reports which I enjoyed and followed closely.
Thank you.
rosalind
May 22nd, 2009 at 3:47 am
Sounds to me like a crafty way of getting a free copy of your product! I’d like a free copy too - I haven’t yet thought up my convincing excuse for not promoting it, but give me time!
May 22nd, 2009 at 4:12 am
Has no one ever told this guy that focusing on the negative things in life will only bring negative things?
May 22nd, 2009 at 5:00 am
Jimmy,
As I have stated in my review of you, you are the best of the best. Sounds like someone out there has a tadpole problem.
Great job
May 22nd, 2009 at 5:10 am
Great post great info.
thanks so much Jimmy i love your concepts.
May 22nd, 2009 at 5:24 am
I agree the free report helps overcome affiliate hijacking but I think it has two other benefits also:
1) The free report tends to lift response for the promotion. I find my response with the free report is at least 25% higher than without the free report, sometimes higher still.
2) I always write an additional free report (meaning buyers actually get two bonus items) for products I recommend and for that reason I have to ask buyers to wait maybe two weeks for the second report to be completed. This had an unexpected benefit in that I find fewer refunds for products promoted with the second bonus item. I am sure this is because a lot of people who regularly ask for refunds just minutes after buying will think twice about it when they have been promised a good free report just a little way down the line.
I hope this helps someone avoid the perils of commission loss.
Avril Harper
May 22nd, 2009 at 6:01 am
Excellent post again Jimmy,
you always seem to hit the nail on the head…
this guy is only thinking inside the box and
not outside it.
I cloak my links for any affiliate programs and they look
like this
http://www.roysbookstore.com/recommends/cloaknrotate
an easy script that also rotates.
And yes buy it through my link and i’ll send u a bonus! lol..
May 22nd, 2009 at 6:40 am
Hi Jimmy
This is a very thought provoking post with correctly deduced conclusion Jummy
I belive you’re right as I’ve noticed the same trend. No one wants their commissions taken away from them which at times means another less list name too for the effort but then again you can’t shy away from prommoting an item you believe in based on fear of theft.
The catch though is for those new to this business. Most don’t have a product to offer as a bonus or havent got the knowledge to re-work PLR products. It can frustrate to see site hits with no or very low converstions. The same reason most starting out quite early on or keep jumping from “magic money trick” to the next
I better go review my bonus offerings
Thanks
Susan
May 22nd, 2009 at 7:21 am
Thanks for the post Jimmy. It’s always more beneficial to look on the positive side of things, which I find for many folks it’s difficult to do, including myself at times!
Thanks for showing the positive spin on affiliate theft.
Best regards,
Cori
http://www.writesyntax.com
May 22nd, 2009 at 8:02 am
Nice tip. I know I’ve had Clickbank commissions stolen from me in the past.
I shall take your advice. Thanks…
Carl Willoughby
http://www.HughTraceyKalimba.com
May 22nd, 2009 at 9:37 am
Thanks Jimmy,
I have learned so much since I started reading your materials. I just wanted to encourage you to follow-up with a blog about bonuses. What types of special reports or other products add value to an affiliate transaction?
I look forward to whatever you write?
Marcia Ming
http://www.savvymarketingsecrets.com
May 22nd, 2009 at 9:42 am
[...] the number of customers who order through their own link (taking your earned commission) is to offer a valuable bonus to those who order through your link. Since you make it clear that they much order through your link and you verify, they will be forced [...]
May 22nd, 2009 at 9:48 am
Your analysis is right on the money, as usual. The other guy’s numbers just don’t add up. He could have taken so many steps to protect his affiliate link and earned 70% of the commissions in the worst-case scenario. It doesn’t make sense to me. I think it’s a classic case of “cutting off the nose to spite the face.” I like my chances with the 70/30 proposition and do what I can to improve on it.
As Avril has mentioned, bonuses usually lift response rates. Your method of asking for the receipt makes it almost foolproof. Great tip! Thanks for a thoughtful and informative post.
Have a safe and happy Memorial Day weekend everyone.
Best regards,
Archie
May 22nd, 2009 at 10:51 am
Could it also be that the guy just wanted your $50 report for nothing and used his “list” as an excuse to “review it”?
I get that all the time as well.
Best regards,
David
May 22nd, 2009 at 11:47 am
Oh Oh,
I just spilled the beer from my glass. May as well throw away what’s left in the glass.
Joe Green
May 22nd, 2009 at 12:42 pm
I really enjoyed the article! It has an upbeat message, which is so great after hearing so much negative talk lately about stolen Clickbank commissions.
I’ve always been a person to look on the bright side of things, and if you’ve found a great quality product to promote, then why lose such an awesome opportunity because you’re afraid of losing a few commissions.
May 22nd, 2009 at 4:00 pm
One of the hardest decisions that an ebook author or infoproduct publisher has to make is which program/cart/platform to choose to run their infoproduct business.
It could be because I’m an affiliate manager, but I get asked that question ALL the time.
“Should I choose clickbank, paydotcom, ejunkies, butterfly marketing, 1shoppingcart, amember, wahmcart, etc. etc…”
No one option is perfect, but clickbank does have a lot of things going for it from all sides - for the seller, the affiliate, and the customer. I won’t go into a cart analysis here as it’s not the topic of the day, but…
There are a number of tools that are available to help you with your concerns.
For the affiliate:
- Bonus (as has been mentioned): One resource is Adrian Ling’s new http://www.cblistautomator.com - which sends your affiliate bonus automatically when a customer buys a certain product through your link. It makes it totally automated for you to offer bonuses. Need ideas for bonuses? The Upsell Report will certainly give you many: http://www.srzone.com/upsell.html
- Hide your Affiliate Link: We always encourage the use of redirects. It not only protects your affiliate commission, but it also allows you to see which offers are being clicked on the most.
For the product seller:
- Disclaimer Option 1: I site a warning on my affiliate signup page at http://EasyPLR.com that states that the affiliate program is a referral program and is not intended for self-discounts. We reverse any self-discounted orders that come through although I do understand that many of my customers are also affiliates and may have tested their links at some point and been cookied. My program isn’t through clickbank, but you get the idea.
- Disclaimer Option 2: You can see that Jimmy incorporated a similar statement on the affiliate page for Affiliatenaire that states that he, as the product seller, would penalize customers who self-discounted by withholding additional bonuses. (See it here: http://www.affiliatenaire.com/affiliates.html - which I found very clever of him.)
Of course, I’d also like to comment on Mark Mason’s response as he has given good feedback. Yes, providing an alternative cart for super affiliates who request it is a viable option, of course. We always strive to meet the needs of our affiliates.
This has been an interesting discussion for me to read, as an affiliate marketer, an affiliate manager and a clickbank product seller - so please keep the comments coming!
May 23rd, 2009 at 2:27 am
So I’m thinking - the guy who won’t promote your product because he could lose up to 30% of the commissions to link theft is probably also going to object to giving away something for free (and all that extra work!).
He’ll be saying something like - “That means I’d have to trade a 30% possibility of loss for a 100% guaranteed loss - giving away a free premium to every single buyer.”
Since you’re assuring that you’ll receive virtually all of that “lost” $1,500, you could just as easily consider it a guaranteed $15 upsell on 100% of the orders.
Besides, once they get to your download page, you can show them related offers to buy. Some will take you up on it… and that’s even more profit from an already existing buyer.
As somebody else said, it’s all in how you look at it.
Cheers from warm and smiling Thailand,
Charles
May 23rd, 2009 at 3:39 am
Hi Jimmy,
Offering a bonus is a great way to prevent commission theft in most cases. Hats off to you for this briiliant suggestion. But, has anyone some suggestions on how a newbie can prevent this as he may not have progressed enough in internet marketing to be able to offer a bonus.
Best regards,
Eric
May 23rd, 2009 at 11:06 am
Dear Jimmy and Friends,
Is this an awesome blog or what? The bonus incentive is a great idea for Clickbank products.
Does anybody know how to do something similar with Amazon… without violating their rules? Offering any kind of bonus incentive is against their terms of service and they can grab all your commissions back if you get caught. I asked them about the reasoning behind this and they told me that they wanted to use affiliates to introduce new customers to Amazon, but they couldn’t afford to pay a commission on all their sales, which they apparently think would happen if they allowed bonuses.
Curiously, this restriction doesn’t seem to apply to authors. Case in point is Bob Bly’s great promotion earlier this month for his new book. He offered 35 bonuses, which drove him to the top of the best seller list for his category during the promotion.
Anyway, it sure would be great to figure out how to open up the Amazon faucet instead of the trickle I currently get.
John C Bishop
http://www.roofingsecrets.com
May 23rd, 2009 at 7:57 pm
Great point there Jimmy,
I find it’s a lot profitable, in every of life, to focus more on the things we want rather than what do not desire. I often say that ‘every penny earned makes me a penny richer.’
Offering bonus for affiliate products certainly boost conversion but many fail to realize is that the more valuable (filled with great content) you make your bonus, you also set in motion the law of reciprocity, which works like a charm, plus your prospects form a link in their mind of you being an authority figure in the market place.
I found out the hard way, that fastest way to success is helping other people get what they want.
Chat later
-Paul
May 24th, 2009 at 9:35 am
Really good tip. But I think not for the reason you stated.
Honestly, I’ve only found in the IM industry that commission theft happens. The market is too savvy. I work in the health market a lot, and I doubt 0.5% of the market even understands the concept of an affiliate link — no less how to hijack it.
But the real big advantage to your suggestion is that it simply creates MORE sales. It sweetens the pot and gets more people buying through you. It also avoids the problem of them skipping the affiliate and going straight to the source.
May 25th, 2009 at 7:09 am
The freeincentive is a great idea. wish I had thought of that … thanks for the outstanding advice, Jimmy. One thing with the coaching idea is, if one was thinking of offering a coaching service or amemebrship site you could nmke the free incentive a free trail offer and then you’d get some sales from people who signed on there to, so instead of losing 30% you could easily wind up with way over 100% profit on the original promotion.
One thing for sure, more psople lose by worrying about theft that buy actual theft … if you wait until you are ‘dead certain’ before making a move, you might be ‘dead’ before you are ‘certain’.
May 26th, 2009 at 12:57 pm
Hi Jimmy, Great post. I agree 100% 70% of something is always better then 0% of nothing. Kim
May 28th, 2009 at 5:32 pm
As usual, this is a great post. I haven’t been at this affiliate business stuff very long, but I have already heard many times about “commission theft”. I’m just a country boy, but I’ll take a reduced level of commissions over zero commissions any day. I will have to remember the bonus incentive idea.
June 3rd, 2009 at 8:51 pm
Right now- I would almost kill for a 70% sales rate. I have sporadically used affiliate marketing, but I am now approaching it more aggressively. You know what you know. It pays to pay attention to those people, like Jimmy and Willie Crawford, who have paved the way and have the good info to share.
I made one affiliate sale last week for $13.50 and that was from just 46 clicks to my link. I think that is a good start. Now if I have that multiply many times I will be happier still.
June 5th, 2009 at 3:15 pm
Jimmy, great advice. Thanks a bunch for sharing.
Can I ask, in order to offer an incentive, how does one go about the set up for getting the buyers receipt once they purchase? And, how to verify the receipt is legit?
Thanks in advance for your help.
Cheers!
Michel Jayne
July 24th, 2009 at 5:41 am
[...] the number of customers who order through their own link (taking your earned commission) is to offer a valuable bonus to those who order through your link. Since you make it clear that they must order through your link and you verify, they will be forced [...]
August 20th, 2009 at 1:17 am
[...] the number of customers who order through their own link (taking your earned commission) is to offer a valuable bonus to those who order through your link. Since you make it clear that they must order through your link and you verify, they will be forced [...]
September 1st, 2009 at 6:28 pm
[...] Jimmy D. Brown » How To Avoid Clickbank Commission Theft http://www.jimmybrown.com/how-to-avoid-clickbank-commission-theft – view page – cached Jimmy D. Brown Practical Tips For Running An Internet Business Free Membership to Revenue Newsletter — From the page [...]
December 26th, 2009 at 8:20 pm
Hi Jimmy,
I am yet to succeed on clickbank but your information is helping. I guess when you are new it is hard to get products to give away. Lucky you have some rebrandable reports for this
Keep the info coming