Ethics or Money? (17)
Hey guys,
Need brainstorming with you in this post. I am promoting hair care products on Facebook ads and I made a page of doctor because I thought it can increase the results by that profile. But whenever any user texts me personally to ask about the effectiveness of the product I used to communicate as a doctor and tell that "many of my patients have used this and got the results so I think you should also give it a try" (though the product doesn't have any side effects) and whenever I tell them this, somewhere inside I didn't felt good like immediately one thought comes that this is something wrong going on. But from one side I feel that if I don't tell that then I wont be able to get any sales. Or else I can tell them to go and check the review of the product online but I am not sure because there can be negative reviews too which can lead to losing them and any marketer wont let this happen.
I am confused because I feel that this is not my ethics and I don't want to make someone fool but then I am unsure that will it result in my loss? Then one day one thought arise that do I need to fool people in my AM Career (as I am 19 yet so it's a long run)? And my parents always tell me that don't ever do such things which questions you from your inner soul. Personally I feel that the money earned without the ethics wont bring peace to one's life. And I know here some guys will be doing it with their ethics too so I am here to get some ideas in which my ethics cannot be hurt and I can do best with this career too.
As far as I know there are two kind of marketers 1). Be like yes this product is damn effective and will give you 99.99% results and 2). Be like strongly convincing but never lying or taking guarantee like the 1st one. So I am tired of being the 1st marketer and searching for the advice being the 2nd marketer who is a super marketer with ethics. At last I'm in search of a way which doesn't result in money filled with guilt and loss of ethics.
What about actually promoting a product that works, or building your own that meets your criteria? Sure, you will make less margin because more money is spent to develop the product, so less in comissions. But at the end of the day, you know that what you sell can help people.
This has got to be one of the biggest dilemmas of being an affiliate marketer.
You basically have a choice to make, among these options:
1)Ignore that voice in your head and heart, and make decisions strictly based on stats.
2)Stop promoting affiliate offers altogether.
3)Promote products in a way that is acceptable to you. E.g. Promote products that can truly benefit people's lives, in a positive way, without having to mislead to get the sale.
Basically 1) and 2) are two ends of the spectrum, and 3) includes a million shades between the ends.
Only you can decide where on that spectrum you want to stand. What I can do to help is offer some alternatives.
For your hair care products: Being misleading will most likely lead to a ban anyways (not trying to jinx, but FB does not like fake endorsements or unfounded claims). Why not refer the product as a user? If you're promoting this product profitably, it would be worth the time to order it, and either use it yourself or ask family/friend to try it and give you feedback. That way you can tell people, "hey I use this product myself and THIS is what I like about it, and because I'm a marketer I decided to recommend this to more people" and then proceed to remind them of some of the selling points on the offers page.
You can also choose products/services that are established and have good reputation. Norton antivirus comes to mind. Granted, such products may be a bit harder to promote as they're closer to market saturation than new products. But their reputation (which precedes them) can be a powerful tool to encourage conversions, and they may also have UGC from existing customers that you can use in/as your creatives. Find some new angles or angles that haven't been promoted to death, or even use popular angles but make fresh, eye-catching creatives. It may be harder to get into the affiliate program for some of these established products because they have a reputation to protect, but it can be worth the extra effort.
You can promote products that are transparent in what they do, so that there's no room for being misleading. Games for example. Or physical products that anyone with half a brain can tell what it is they do. E.g. Neck massagers. Exercise equipment. Small heaters / air conditioners. Survivor gear.
You can stay away from products that require some type of claim to sell. For example: Nutra, forex/crypto (or any other HYIPs), biz op that promise minimum work and huge returns, sweepstakes that claim people have won...
Generating leads can be another alternative, but it's kind of a grey area - because you have no control over which businesses the leads will be sold to. But for stuff like insurance and debt, I personally feel that it can't hurt for people to receive a few (or a lot) of quotes - in the end it would be up to them to do research to choose a reliable provider. Your ad may just be the kick in the ass people need to finally get insurance to protect themselves and loved ones, or finally decide to do something about their debts.
I'm sure you will get more advice from other members of the community - I look forward to seeing what everyone else has to say on the topic!
Amy
Easy answer:
Money.
Break all the rules, don't break any laws.
You can worry about ethics after you're rich.
Or you can sell NFT. You know you are selling shit, but the buyer too, so no guilt ;-)
Do whatever you feel good with.
If you do something that goes against your ethics make at least sure that it´s worth it.
Recently I read and watched a bit about NFT and I really tried to see a sense in it but in the end it just sounds like huge bullshit for me.
Stupid stuff for stupid people and few get rich.
At the end of the day, all you have is your word. Just about anything else can be taken from you.
So I would say ethics matter, and they matter a lot. However, not everyone agrees with that. I'll also say you can certainly be ethical and do AM. However, most nutra is just quackery. Now, there is stuff like Goli and is probably ethical. But you've really got to back away from the claims and just promote an image of healthy, natural, and happy versus making product claims. Definitely easier to do as a brand than an AM.
As to pretending to be a doctor on a Facebook page? To me that is unethical AND unnecessary. It may even be illegal.
It is unnecessary, because most people who buy nutra and the like are looking for a secret, a hack. Something that the medical profession is hiding from them. Go watch some Clickbank VSLs, almost never do they claim to be a doctor. But some other vaguely related profession who "finds" the secret. Instead, develop a persona of confidence and that you've fought the system and found the secret. Either yourself or get someone to front for you.
Also, it will probably make your life easier on Facebook as you'll no longer be walking that line of "are you dispensing medical advice"
Don't put your name on anything. Also as @jaybot said "You can worry about ethics after you're rich." If you don't run those offers, someone else will and all you doing is missing the opportunity of taking a piece of the cake.
In a capitalistic society, money equals the amount of value you have delivered.
Money is nothing but value.
Thus, there should be no shame in making as much money as possible as to do so, one must deliver as much value as possible by any means necessary.
To your success,
cpablitz
I used to promote an Alkaline Diet offer a few years ago. On the landing page i used to pretend to be a doctor...and i used to make aged women take a questionnaire. I had made the landing page in such a way that...no matter what answers these ladies choose, the result wud always be...."your body is acidic".
I used to sell this product using email marketing. Everyday, i used to get emails for aged women asking me to help them cure their diabetes, hypertension, blood pressure. It went on to such an extend that, some ladies even shared their medical reports with me on email.
And i used to feel like a cheat and a loser.
From that day onwards, i never promoted health offers again.
Turn it around and look at it like this:
If someone did the exact same thing to you (or perhaps your parent or grandparent in this example), would you feel hurt/angry?
If its a meaningless impulse purchase equating to a few dollars, not that big a deal really... (though not saying its fine)... if the other person is likely hurt/angry/financially impaired, then you're creating some really bad karma for yourself.
Its a tough question to manage... I know I think hyperbolic $30 Clickbank vsl's are fine... but there's definitely some things on the outward fringes of "internet marketing" that I think are not okay.
Originally Posted by jack_l
At the end of the day, everyone has a price they assign to their conscience (i.e. how much their conscience is worth). And everyone has their own beliefs regarding karma, heaven/hell, etc. - basically "spiritual repercussions" of bringing harm to people.
I've always stayed away from promoting offers that have the potential of scamming people out of hundreds of dollars or more: Stuff like tech support and HYIP.
But that doesn't mean I haven't done things I regret.
When 1-click offers were in their prime, I was promoting them in a way that users were clicking on the "subscribe" button WITHOUT having seen the offer page. Heck they weren't even AWARE they were clicking on a button!
I was doing 4-5 figures/day and not really pausing to think about the effects my actions were having on people. (Or rather, I didn't ALLOW myself to think about it - you guys know how it is.)
Many many thousands of people - including those from developing countries - had to discover in horror the surprise charges on their phone bills because of my greedy ass. If they weren't checking every month, it may have been months before they discovered the charges.
Some of the offers were adult-related - I may have caused wars between couples - as one side wouldn't even begin to be able to explain how those charges came about.
Since then, I've had a spiritual awakening, which was when I promised myself I'd spend the rest of this lifetime doing good, partially to make up for all the harm I did back then.
I'm sharing this not to speak from my moral high horse. Just sharing a perspective that may resonate with some of you. We all have free will, so we each make our own decisions.
One thing I will say though: If your inner voice is telling you you're doing something wrong, then you should probably listen to it.
Amy
Like I said, get rich first:
Originally Posted by vortex
Also.
Originally Posted by vortex
Remember that little voice is years in the making of how you were programmed since you were born. Sometimes with some shitty code from someone else.
I'm not saying ignore it. I'm saying listen to it. Ask it questions. Try to figure out why it says what it says. Then maybe you can reason with it and reprogram it to something more sensible.
"If your inner voice is telling you you're doing something wrong, then you should probably listen to it."
Yes that's true
Originally Posted by jaybot
And then worry about ethics
Also.
I can't argue with this. But. You can.
Remember that little voice is years in the making of how you were programmed since you were born. Sometimes with some shitty code from someone else.
I'm not saying ignore it. I'm saying listen to it. Ask it questions. Try to figure out why it says what it says. Then maybe you can reason with it and reprogram it to something more sensible.
Worth mentioning is that I no longer feel regretful, as the past cannot be changed and negative emotions like regret would just hold me back from further spiritual progress. But the memory has become a motivator in my doing more good in the present and going forward.
2)My intuition has always been sensible. Thus no reason to "reprogram" or change it.
Again - each to his own. I'm not here to argue or change anyone's views or decisions - just sharing my experiences and thoughts in case they resonate with some.
Amy
EDIT: Look what I came across on FB shortly after I finished replying to posts:
Synchronicities - that's another way the Universe uses to let us know we're on the right track.
Sent from my iPhone using STM Forums
Yes that's true. Actually I am also spiritual person so this kinda thoughts arises quite frequently
Originally Posted by vortex
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