Do You Click on Affiliate Links or Just Avoid Them?
We all have them. At least anyone who is trying to make a little money from their blog(s).
The question is do we, as bloggers, click on other peoples affiliate links? Or do we go look up the service ourselves in Google and join through the back door?
I’m sorry to say I have actually done it both ways.
When I first started out, I would look up whatever service was being offered, join the service and hope someone would click on my affiliate link. No excuses, I just didn’t trust the posts I was reading at the time. Granted, I didn’t really know that much about blogging and how it is a community. When no one clicked, I would wonder why. Were they doing the same thing I was doing? Did they go get the information themselves rather than click my link? Didn’t people trust me and my recommendations?
After a while, I started learning from the people whose blogs I was reading. They built a trust through their posts with their honest approach to their readers (me). I started commenting on posts where I thought I could make a contribution. And they actually responded to my comments! That for me was a big suprise at the time. I started feeling that I was a part of their community. And as part of that community, I tried to think of ways to repay their kindness.
Since I was looking for ways to monitize my blog anyway, I decided to use the affiliate links that were recommended by the blogger friends I had met, read and trusted. I know they have no idea that I used their affiliate links to join various services, but I have reached the minimum amount for each one in the allotted time for them to get their “bonus”. In other words, we all made some money because I trusted what they said about these programs.
In keeping with that philosophy, I will now click on affiliate links for books, CD’s, services etc that are recommended by my Trusted Blogging Friends (if it’s something I wanted). If you can’t trust a Blogger, who can you trust?
How about you, do you click on affiliate links? Why? Why not?
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If the affiliate link is something I’m interested in, I click on it. Same with other ads. The commission should go to the person who let me know about it.
Input by Rick Cockrum | July 9, 2007 @ 4:53 pm
Hey Rick,
It took me a while to learn that but I’m glad I did. I used to avoid those links like the plague, but now I feel much better clicking them, knowing the people and how hard they work.
Input by Joe | July 9, 2007 @ 5:04 pm
I do click them, if I am interested in the product. I try to avoid it though because I am broke.
Input by Jennifer | July 10, 2007 @ 7:55 am
If I’m interested in the product and the blogger/website owner has managed to make it through my BS Detector then I’ll certainly click an affiliate link. In my mind the person has introduced me to a product or service the benefits me so why shouldn’t they be rewarded?
Input by Mike | July 10, 2007 @ 8:48 am
Hey Jennifer,
That was one of my bigger problems in the beginning, No money.
Mike,
I have since decided, like you, that the person who introduce me to the product or service deserves to get something too. As long as they have built my trust in them.
Input by Joe | July 10, 2007 @ 9:09 am
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