Are Free Trials Worth A Try For Affiliate Marketers?

With the ever increasing competition in the internet marketing arena, more and more affiliate programs are turning to gimmicks or incentives to wrestle affiliates or representatives away from their competitors.  Many are turning to free trials as a tool to attract affiliates.   Basically, they are allowing those interested a chance to “test drive” their affiliate or online opportunity for free for a designated period of time.

Even with these “no risk” offers, most potential affiliates are still wary when it comes to joining such opportunities.  In a lot of cases, their apprehension is justified.  The Internet is littered with tales of people joining an affiliate program on a trial basis and, then cancelling before the trial period ends- only to have their cancellation process linger in seemingly endless red tape.

Their credit card maybe charged for several months before a cancellation is ever processed.  And once the cancellation is actually processed, they may still find themselves fighting to get any unwarranted charges removed.  With nightmarish scenarios like this being so common, is it any wonder that most are still hesitant to try a so-called “risk free” affiliate opportunity.

You’ve probably assumed from the first three paragraphs that I am dead set against free trial offers in respects to an affiliate program.  Well, you’d be 100% wrong in that assumption.  I actually am a huge supporter of giving free trials a try when offered by legitimate affiliate or internet marketing companies.  In the above paragraphs, I just wanted to illustrate some of the real risks of “risk free” offers especially from those unscrupulous opportunists only interested in making a fast buck.

Free trials offered by affiliate programs are a great way to test drive an affiliate marketing opportunity while greatly minimizing any associated financial risk.  What more can an online marketing skeptic ask for?  You get to test your online marketing skills without spending a dime on any upfront fees and monthly charges.  If at the end of the trial period, you decide affiliate marketing (or this particular affiliate program) isn’t for you, you simply cancel and move on without the feeling of being duped into paying for an affiliate program that wasn’t right for you.

As with anything on the Internet, thorough research should be done when considering any free trial offer from an affiliate or online marketing opportunity.  There are certain questions that must be answered before test driving any affiliate or online business.

Of course, the first question should be-- how long is the trial period?  This is especially critical since most online or affiliate programs (for obvious reasons) don’t provide you any warning as the deadline approaches.  It is up to you as a potential affiliate to know exactly how long a trial offer lasts and when it ends.  Trust me, you will be charged as soon as the trial period expires!

The second question you want to ask is—are there any other requirements attached to the offer?  Sometimes online marketing trial offers come with cleverly hidden requirements that catch potential affiliates or reps off guard.  For example, I’ve come across free trial offers that are contingent upon the potential affiliate or rep actually recruiting a certain number of sub-affiliates.  If that number of recruits isn’t met, guess what?  You’re charged whatever the fee for joining and/or maintaining a membership may be.

After the above questions have been answered, you then want to do your due diligence on the company offering the trial.  Find out how long the company has been around, what their reputation is, and has their free trial offer campaign been littered with cancellation problems?  All of this should be easily accessible on the Internet.

I personally have tried numerous affiliate trial offers.  I liked what I saw with a couple of the programs during the trial period and therefore allowed the trial to expire without cancelling.  I’m still a happy affiliate of both companies to this day.  Of course with a couple of the other trial offers, I actually did cancel and I’m happy to report no issues with the cancellation process.  My credit card was never charged and I would honestly recommend using those trial offers to anyone considering an affiliate marketing opportunity.