Ethical Promotion - Because it's YOUR Reputation!

Have you ever bought something someone recommended and then thought, "Man, was that a waste of money!".

I certainly have! Did that experience make you less likely to take that person's advice again?

Of Course it did! Why would I want to take the advice of someone who ended up wasting my time and money?

The following principle is very important for continued success online:

You must maintain a good online reputation

You can ruin your reputation with one REALLY bad recommendation or a series of highly questionable ones. For instance, let's say that I have a good reputation for recommending products that really add value to my customer base. Then a product comes along that pays a HUGE commision. I decide that I am going to make a killing if my customers buy that product. Let's say that the product is really below average. It's no better than any other product of it's kind and actually has less features then a free product I know about. Which product should I endorse?

This is a dilemna for many people making money online. On the one hand, you want to make money, on the other hand you don't want to give out bad advice. Some people will choose to endorse the expensive product, because it is bound to make them lots of money. This unequivocally the WRONG CHOICE! A choice that I would not make.
But for the sake of argument let's assume that I did.

Now I have instantly given myself a bad reputation.

My reputation goes down the toilet, with one e-mail to my newsletter endorsing this below average over-priced product. All that work I did to give my customers good honest advice, building up trust from my clients, is now GONE! People will be able to search for my name and find "George Manty, scam artist", or "George Manty scam", "George Manty rip-off", etc. That would be REALLY BAD.

My reputation would be tarnished. My customers might buy the product and some of them might even think it's cool. But then they find about the free product, they find about the other competing products, and they find out they've been had!

After that, my customers will start to question anything they have ever bought from me. They might think, "I wonder what ELSE I have been tricked into buying from him?" Sure sometimes people make honest mistakes when they endorse a product. But, if you ever make an honest mistake about a product, admit it! Write a big apology and never endorse the product again. However, you should really try hard to avoid those mistakes. Make sure to research the products you endorse, BEFORE endorsing them. Only endorse products you are absolutely sold on.

Personally, I will never tell you that so-and-so is unethical or a scam artist. Even though certain people might sell products that I don't believe in, I don't know what motivates them, I don't know whether they are making an honest mistake or whether they are scam artist. That said, I will only endorse products I believe in. While I do make money from endorsing some of these products, I also endorse products that I don't make a penny from. If a product does not have an affiliate program and you can't make money from it, you should still endorse it if you really believe in it. In fact, if you endorse products that you don't make money from, it lends credibility to ALL of your endorsements.

In closing, make sure to promote products in an ethical manner. Make sure your customers will benefit from the product, otherwise find something else to endorse.