Warning, Read The Fine Print!
Warning, read the fine print! You should always read the fine print on any offer that you come across…
I know a lot of you may read John Chow. I glanced over there today. He has been incentivizing offers for the top affiliate challenge. He has offered cash, entrecredits and much more for completing offers.
Before you do any, read the fine print! All of the $5 or so offers have a recurring monthly charge that is much higher. If you don’t cancel before then you will get hit hard by these charges.
You always have to read the fine print on any web offer. Most have sneaky little clauses that will cost you down the road. I take the logical approach that a teacher one preached to me a long time ago. “Defense is the best offense” (I know the quote is backwards, but you could argue that by defending yourself you wait for a slip up, protect your self, and amass more knowledge to be used in any offensive counters or decisions).
This is absolutely right, by defending yourself against these offers you come out with a powerful weapon, knowledge. Take it slow read what you’re getting into.
Is it really worth your time for $10 to fill out a couple offers then have to cancel them. You can be the judge of that but as I always preach, be prepared.
By the way, I won’t be adding in a single link to John Chow in this post. I feel the last few posts are taking advantage of his readers. Although he is offering something, he is putting his readers at risk of getting slammed by subscription fees.
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Dude… the quote is actually ‘Offense is the best form of defense’.
However I would agree that the Top Affiliate Challenge has shown who in the blogosphere does NOT have affiliate marketing skills.
Jasons last blog post..Leverage Forum Authority To Make Money
@ Jason - Actually, I disagree, I believe in playing defensively, covering my bases (talking chess wise), and waiting for the opponent to slip up. When they do, you go on the offensive, but you’re armed with the knowledge and info you’ve picked up in your “Defensive stage”. I’d be happy to play you any day, but you’re right, the quote is backwards (from the common quote)
I hate deceptive advertising like this. If you have a monthly fee then let everyone know before - in a spot that everyone can see.
I have been hit by a couple of these before and they suck!
Tom - StandOutBlogger.coms last blog post..How Do You Remember Your Post Ideas When Your Out?
Hehehe, John Chow has been scamming his readers ever since he began his blog, yet he’s getting more popular everyday! Pretty weird if you ask me
Rajaie AlKoranis last blog post..8 Great Sources Of Free Traffic For Your New Blog
I can only say one thing here…
Are you really surprised to discover this? I wouldn’t get too mad about it, but like you said, you always need to keep a close eye out on things, especially in the MMO niche. Many people in this niche are snakes in the grass and you’d be lying to you thought differently. Granted, there are plenty of cool cats in the niche, but far far more ppl that aren’t.
When I say these things, I am not attacking individual’s character, I am attacking the way they present themselves online and how they treat their readership and followers. I really believe that John Chow is a nice man. I believe that he cares about his family and immediately friends.
On the flip side, I do not for a minute believe that he deeply cares about his readers the way I care about my own on my blog. And to me, that isn’t acceptable. I hold publishers equally as accountable and responsible as I hold myself with publishing information on the Internet. People fail to realize how much their writing impacts the lives of others. There is no instruction manual for blogging, those can only be written as you learn more about blogging. I think John is great, but I too think he has a lot to learn about ethics and how he manages the volume of people that come and go through his very popular blog.
Garry Conns last blog post..Garry Conn Reader Satisfaction Survey Results
@ Tom - yeah, they sneak up on you, and then hit you. I really despise that kind of advertising to loyal readers!
@ Rajaie - Its a snowball effect. the more readers he gets, they just keep going, due to his size, he’s sort of a default. He is a excellent marketer (at least he did an excellent job growing his blog to its current size) but the content is sub par.
@ Garry - I am not surprised, but continue to be appalled that this sort of behavior. I do also believe Chow is nice in person, but I don’t agree with what he does online sometimes.
His blog is simply one big cash cow. He needs to re assess his ethics and how he presents himself to his readers. I mean he is as stated a default in the niche. If he portrays himself badly, a lot of other great bloggers get put into a bad light as well…
Well, if you have been watching Top Affiliate Challenge, one of the greatest elements in this show is discovering who is and isn’t the real deal.
Ken McArthur and his Pepperjam team have really stayed true to the game and have built from what I can see one web site from the ground up that is bringing tons of cash for their team.
John Chow on the other hand doesn’t seem to be trying at all in this game. He either doesn’t really know anything about MMO and his site happens to carry him well, or he is totally tanking these competitions on purpose.
As I said, I like John, I think he is funny and a likeable person, especially in his YouTube videos. But I am starting to thing that he really doesn’t know much about MMO.
It’s one thing to have a popular blog with traffic. Anyone can make money online with that. Once you are there, it’s not much of a challenge as you can very well see just by visiting his blog.
The real challenge is for the underdogs who work hard. Those are the people with the mad skills. I think my 10 year old son could take over John Chow dot Com and make money on it. The site runs itself.
Garry Conns last blog post..Garry Conn Reader Satisfaction Survey Results
Yeah man, most of those free trial offers definitely have recurring charges, most are disclosed when signing up.
Is it wrong for John to do it…hmmm, dunno. I don’t know much about John or his blog really…but, I think like you say, people should always read the fine print.
Is he using his status and influence to benefit himself? Yes….but, doesn’t every blogger to some degree? Again, I am thankful that I have been exposed to such great bloggers early on….
I don’t know what to think about what Chow is doing….as, I don’t see it any different than what anyone else online is doing. Chow is trying to make money, plain and simple….
Some of us have convictions in how we operate, unfortunately everyone doesn’t share them! All we can do…continue to provide the info….like you have today, in hopes that we can help others amid all the confusion.
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Stumbled:
http://www.stumbleupon.com/url/moneybites.com/warning-read-the-fine-print
and added to my Co.mments:
http://co.mments.com/people/garryconn
Garry Conns last blog post..Garry Conn Reader Satisfaction Survey Results
I guess this goes for promoting offers too!! Sometimes you may end up promoting something that is very bad for your image.
Forests last blog post..Happy Birthday to me!! Can you give me a frugal present?
@ Garry - Thanks buddy, always appreciated!
@ Forest - Yup, most affiliates at one point or another are forced to make an ethical decision about what kind of offers they promote, it all goes with the industry..
I never knew about the recurring charges for those offers. Just another reason why I don’t complete online offers. You never know what you’re really getting into.
Chow’s blog is ok but I haven’t learned anything from him that I’ve applied to my own blog or other sites. I just don’t trust him.
Reading the fine prints is very important.
Never believe what people say when it comes to winning money or winning free stuff..
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For those of you who might not know, those gift cards were all used up in a previous challenge. They are empty. He used them to game Google and Yahoo’s advertiser sign up systems to steal the sign up bonuses.
There are no gift cards. He pulled a similar stunt on Carl on the set when he gave him the empty card packages that he had resealed. He really likes to mess with people, but that is what John Chow is known for!
Thor Schrocks last blog post..Top Affiliate Challenge Finds its Voice
yeah, I always read such things - ever since I got charged $197 at the end of a $1 trial