Using Black Hat Tactics for Affiliate Marketing

For today’s Marketing Monday, I cover an important topic that you’ll want to seriously consider making part of your affiliate business. Simply put, that's to avoid affiliate marketing black hat tactics. As you make your way through the affiliate marketing business model, you'll hear a lot of advice. Unfortunately even though it will be from a number of different sources, not all of it is above board. They refer to these as grey hat or black hat strategies, and you should avoid them like the plague. They become quite temping to implement as well. This is especially true if you've been online for some time and are struggling to make a living. Maybe even to make your first online sale.

What are grey-hat or black-hat tactics?

Anything unethical, borders on spammy, or possibly outright illegal puts your online reputation and your affiliate income at risk. Even though you might be tempted to try it “just for a little while” until you start seeing profits – Don’t! It’s simply not worth it. Besides, all of your online activities leave a footprint. So if you ever get caught, most affiliate programs will shut you down instantly! And very few will listen to what you have to say to excuse your behavior. Not only will you lose your account, but if there are funds waiting in it, you lose those, too. You can scream and shout all you want! But it will make no difference. Because when you signed up to become part of an affiliate program, you also agree to their terms of service. And believe me, you can be assured they’ve covered any bad tactics you just employed. It is always best to employ white hat business practices (the ethical, above board tactics) – even though it might mean taking a bit longer to achieve success. The efforts you put in to it will be worth the reputation you gain and give your business a better chance of longevity.

What sort of tactics are considered “Black Hat”?

One of the tactics black hat marketers use in the affiliate game is doing shady things like tricking customers. A prospect will be sent to a site different from the one they think they’re on when they buy something. Black hat affiliates may do things like inject cookies onto people’s computers without permission, or override other affiliates’ cookies unethically when they’re not meant to get credit for making the sale. Other black hat techniques used by affiliate marketers are just flat out fraudulent, which not only get you banned, but can even lead to you being investigated by the authorities – possibly prosecuted, too. examples are ones who use stolen credit cards and hack into people’s accounts to get their commission. Some black hat marketers will go as far as impersonating truly ethical marketers. They may create a Twitter account or Facebook fan page similar to a white hat marketer to siphon off traffic of unsuspecting followers and customers who buy through this link thinking they’re buying from the original person.

Final Thoughts

It’s always better to rise above the scummy tactics of black hat marketing that others use to temporarily boost their income in an unethical way. You started online to build a secure business, not to become a rip off artist so you can realize a short- quick profit and hide behind the computer. By remaining white hat, you can be proud of all that you accomplish online – and your business can last a lifetime. What struggles are you currently facing with your online business? Leave me a comment below… I just may have a solution and I’d love to help!