1. Affiliate marketing can irritate a community

   Twitter is already burdened to a degree with spam and excessive posts on one link by one account, but they are managing the phenomenon as well as anyone. What is more interesting is the process of ‘extinction’ that occurs around such spammers. The idea of ‘extinction’ is a term used by people responsible to assisting the developmentally disabled. Many of their clients commonly exhibit behaviors that are counter-productive or disruptive. Often times, the restraint or interdiction of these activities becomes a game for the disabled client and it kind of feeds on itself. What workers later discovered was that without that intervention and consequent attention, the behavior dissapears.

2. Selling in social networks must be done softly

   Many of the affiliate sales efforts immediately visible on Twitter take the form of an outstanding claim and a link direct to the ‘buy now!’ button. This is rarely effective and only serves to illustrate such a point for others who may be have been under the false impression that such tactics work. What does work is not a sales tactic at all, it’s a total strategy. That is, if you are running a business or promoting an application, your Twitter stream is the perfect place to point out the need for such merchandise or services. It is a place to talk about the problems in a niche or industry that your application helps to resolve or stream line. This can be done without having to spend much time explicity mentioning your product. In the social media space, being found is how people are getting conversions. Not by pushing something, but by allowing potential customers to discover your value proposition during the course of their work or recreation related activity.

3. Rush to buy tactics may be out now, but there is reason to believe they will return.

   Of course, the above is also untrue when one factors in the huge hysteria-creating potential of social media. Since it is build on trust, and since people are less and less inclined to believe in main stream media talking heads of any persuasion, there is now the real risk that a false alarm will spread, unsubstantiated and supported by pseudo-logic across the Internet like wildfire. There will, no doubt be a landmark incident like this in the near future. Hopefully it will take the relatively benign form of an artificial bubble that inflates a single commodities value to unrealistic levels. When this happens, that buy now pressure as well as the parasitic marketers who thrive in this environment, will make my point quite eloquently.

4. Affiliate marketing is a core part of the web economy.

   For a vast number of people, affiliate marketing IS their web-based livelyhood. We have accept commercial advertisements as a part of televised sports and entertainment, the shift to new media will no be characterized by it’s departure. People who provide valuable content and services should no be expected to provide them for free.

5. Thoughtful implementation of affiliate marketing can actually add value. For example, mini-courses.

   When affiliate marketing is done well, it’s pitch to purchase comes after something of value has been added to the product. This is commonly in the form of a useful article, additional resource or community that continues the discussion about other products and interests in a given niche. The result therefore, is more useful content and interaction.

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