Shady dealings in Internet marketing?
I mentioned before that I was interested in internet marketing in general. Well, I finally broke down and bought one of those $9.95 e-books, mainly because it was recommended by an internet marketer I have known and followed for several years (I used to be fairly active on her forum). I got the book, and I downloaded it, intending to start reading it the next day. I should add that I bought it despite the corny pitch in the video on the sales site, where the author gushed about how the internet had been so good to him that he wanted to “give something back”.
The next day, however, I got a note from Martin Avis (whose free newsletter, KickStart, is well worth reading, even though he resides in an anti-gun-rights country), along with a similar warning from Lynn Terry (the lady that had recommended the book to me in the first place), warning me of the sneaky play that the e-book seller had pulled. You see, the guy selling the $9.95 e-book had a provision in the sale that you were automatically enrolled in a newsletter subscription to the tune of $29.95/mo, and to opt out, you had to call a phone number. While the notice met the letter of the law, it was carefully crafted to be easy to miss — which I did.
I immediately tracked down the customer service link and demanded that my $29.95/mo ’subscription’ be canceled. In my cancellation demand, I mentioned that I did not like the way that the “forced continuation” was sneaked through.
He did respond with an acknowledgment of my cancellation, along with a condescending letter about how I wrongly accused him of under-handed dealing, and pointed out that his offer ‘clearly’ states that the subscription is optional. Yup, it does now, after he got caught.
In case you are wondering, the name of the e-book is “Adsense Secrets 4″ by Joel Comm. The feedback that I have seen from several sources indicates that since Joel has “mended his ways” (in response to a very acrimonious exchange on his forum), that the e-book is worth buying and reading.
Maybe. I haven’t read it, and I may not ever read it. This sort of tactic leaves a really bad taste in my mouth, even if I am only out ten bucks. To be fair, I really should have seen it coming. First of all, the only method of payment accepted was a credit card — no PayPal or other 3rd-party payment system. Second, the offer was suspiciously “too good” — Joel offered a 100% commission for referrals on the e-book, which obviously means that he was planning to make his money off of the “back end”. I just overlooked the possibility that the “back end” was actually built-in to the original sale. And I totally ignored the fact that my bullshit detector pegged it’s meter when I heard the self-serving tripe about “giving back”.
Despite the 100% commission, I will shy away from recommending the e-book, and I will definitely pass on the ‘affiliate’ program, which smells just a little like a Ponzi scheme (whether it is or not). Note that this blog entry has no links in it. Once burnt, twice shy. And I will be checking my credit card statements very carefully to see whether my ’subscription’ is actually canceled. If you really want the e-book, you have enough information now to Google it, and provide someone else with the commission, if that’s what you want to do. You might even make some money in the ‘affiliate’ program that I’m giving a pass. If you do, you are entitled to consider me a fool, but my conscience is clear, and I sleep well at night.
I will be a lot more careful in the future.