ClickBank - Would You Click?

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By shibashake


Baby Girl Pink "My First Piggy Bank" Great Gift Item For New Baby. From Amazon.com
Baby Girl Pink "My First Piggy Bank" Great Gift Item For New Baby. From Amazon.com

There are many online and HubPages articles that extol the virtues of ClickBank.

Affiliate links are apparently the way to make fast money online, and according to some, the best way to get access to high paying affiliate products is through ClickBank.

I am no ClickBank expert, but I did join several months ago and started perusing the site. I was not impressed. First of all, most of the ClickBank affiliate links are to e-books. Second of all, when you click on the ClickBank affiliate links you often get directed to a gaudy page with large red fonts, and large red buttons, asking you to buy, buy, buy.

Seriously, would anyone truly click to buy such things? Would you?


ClickBank Products - Should I Buy?

ClickBank only allows the sale of digital products, and as such most ClickBank affiliate links point to electronic books or e-books. Most of these e-books are self-published.

Personally, I think that having a marketplace for self-published e-books is great. It allows anyone and everyone to write about whatever they choose, without kow-towing to the rules and preferences of publishing companies. In addition, the exceptionally gifted will also reap good rewards for their unique and valuable content.

As a consumer, however, I must confess that I have never bought anything from ClickBank and probably never will.

Why?

Why buy from ClickBank when you can buy from Amazon?

1. The vetting process.

Published books have gone through a vetting process. The publishing companies go through thousands of book drafts every day from aspiring writers. Only a small number of drafts get approved.

These books presumably have the content and quality that the publishing company feels will make them a lot of money. Even then, many of these books fail, and only a small percentage of published books make good money. As a consumer, I have a greater chance of buying a good e-book by getting it from Amazon than I do by getting it from ClickBank.

2. The editing process.

Published books also go through a long, multi-step, editing process.

Publishing companies have a whole slew of editors that help ensure that the writing is grammatically sound, well organized, and easily readable.

Self-published books are not required to go through such a rigorous editing process. It is not surprising that many are riddled with spelling and grammatical errors, and are often poorly organized.

Precisely because of this, ClickBank offers all purchasers a 2 month money return guarantee. While you may get your money returned, the hassle of filing a return request and the time spent on ordering and reading the ClickBank product still adds up to a relatively high, end consumer cost.  


Have you bought a ClickBank product? Were you happy with it?

  • Yes, I was completely satisfied.
  • Yes, but it was a piece of sh*t.
  • No, but I have been tempted.
  • No, I don't ever plan to.
See results without voting

3. The price.

ClickBank books tend to be priced relatively higher than Amazon books. Why is that?

ClickBank authors sell fewer copies than Amazon authors, and therefore try to make up for their labor by charging a higher price. In addition, ClickBank operates on a commission basis. To get good sales, ClickBank authors must offer better commissions to their resellers, so that more people will include their product as a ClickBank affiliate link.

As a result, web marketing costs tend to be high, and that cost gets passed on to you, the consumer.

4. The review process.

Amazon products often have many customer reviews associated with them. In contrast, there are none associated with ClickBank products, or at least none that are truly believable.

With Amazon, I get to rely on the experience of many other consumers before me. With ClickBank however, I mostly have to purchase products sight-unseen, based on reviews by people who just want to make a sale.


ClickBank Affiliate Links - Should I Sell?

Ok, so maybe the majority of people will not click on a ClickBank affiliate link. However, the potential is still there right? After all, adding ClickBank affiliate links into an article is free, so,

What harm could it do?

It can actually do a fair amount of harm. What it harms is your readers' trust in you and your reputation.

As a consumer, I have many choices for my information sources, and my product sources. People often say that "content is king", but in actuality, the customer/consumer is the true king or perhaps the high king.

When a consumer reads your article or visits your site, he is placing a certain amount of trust in you. Trust in your honesty, trust in your knowledge, and trust that your recommended solutions will actually help him with his problems. When there is a breach of this trust, your customer will move on to the next information provider.

Sometimes, the breach of trust is small. Perhaps the exact information was just not there, or perhaps there is a difference of opinion. In these cases, there is little harm done, and your customer may even return in the future.

When a consumer actually decides to purchase a product from your site, he is not only investing his time, but also his money. Thus, the trust placed in you increases significantly. If there is a breach of this large trust, then ...

  • You have lost a valuable, paying, customer; probably forever.
  • You have probably lost many future, valuable, paying customers.
  • You have lost many eye-balls.
  • Your reputation is damaged.

True, in online venues you could just return under a different profile name and profile picture, but all the earlier work you have done in terms of promoting your previous profile would have been lost. Likely, most of your previous writing would also be wasted.

Trust Photography Framed Art Poster Print, 38x26. From Amazon.com
Trust Photography Framed Art Poster Print, 38x26. From Amazon.com

Don't get me wrong.

I do not think that all ClickBank products are bad; just most of them. To preserve your readers' and customers' trust, you must only promote those few good ones or not at all.

Unfortunately, most ClickBank product re-sellers pick products that offer the greatest commission, regardless of quality. Products are "reviewed" and resold pretty much sight unseen. This results in many unsatisfied ClickBank customers, who will have a negative bias towards all ClickBank products.

Often, I leave a page as soon as I come across a ClickBank affiliate link. The pages I dislike most are those that start off as being extremely sincere, and then hit you with a ClickBank affiliate link at the end, camouflaged as a free, useful, resource.

If you have truly found an outstanding ClickBank product, then do not be shy about re-selling it. Do not camouflage the ClickBank affiliate link.

Advertise it as it is.

If it is truly valuable, then shout it to the world, and be honest about it. You may lose a few sales from customers who may not be exactly right for the product, but you will gain much in terms of trust, loyalty, and goodwill from your readers.

ClickBank a Scam?

If you are still interested in selling ClickBank products, then be aware that ClickBank has a fair number of rules regarding payouts; to protect themselves, and their customers.

Many ClickBank participants have complained about not receiving payouts or having smaller payouts due to service fees.

Would you sell ClickBank products?

  • Yes, I only sell the FEW good ones. *nudge, nudge, wink, wink*
  • Yes, I only sell the FEW good ones. Cross my heart, swear to die.
  • Yes, most of them are great and you don't know what you are talking about.
  • I am not sure.
  • No.
  • ClickBank? Can I go back to watching t.v. now?
See results without voting

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Comments

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Will Apse profile image

Will Apse  says:
7 months ago

I joined clickbank a while ago because they had a reputable company that sold used textbooks and what looked like a good affiliate opertunity. That company disapeared from clickbank almost as soon as I joined! It has a scammer feel about it the few times I've looked since and the kind of products that would appeal to blackhat SEO marketeers. On the hand, if you are new to the net they will take you on provide opertunities, no questions asked.

shibashake profile image

shibashake  says:
7 months ago

Thanks for your comment Will. I was wondering if I was really missing something with this whole ClickBank thing.

The free marketplace for distributing digital content is a very nice idea; but the implementation seems a bit faulty. I wonder if it will be possible to come up with a commission scheme that would reduce the number of Snake Oil Salesmen ...

quicksand profile image

quicksand  says:
7 months ago

Clickbank is one of the goodest online merchants. They have well over 10,000 products of which you could select one or more to promote. Some products have a guarantee period up to 45 days whereas others go up to 60 days.

I guess you published this hub a few hours ago. I did not get an e-mail alert for this one either.

Whikat profile image

Whikat  says:
7 months ago

Hi Shibashake, I am with quicksand on this one. Clickbank is a very reputable processor. There are some great products that are sold to help people fulfill their needs. The trick is to never sell someone anything that you, yourself have not bought or at least have done a lot of research on. Yes, you may get a customer who had a different opinion about the product than you did, but the wonderful thing about clickbank is that they will refund you promptly if not satisfied.

I have no problems recommending and endorsing products that I have tried or have done my research on. I know that if it does not work out for my customer, they are guaranteed a refund. As far as I know with copy write laws if you purchase a book from Amazon, and are not happy with it. You cannot send it back for a refund, you are, in fact stuck with your purchase and out of money. That's just my 2 cents on the discussion. :-)

Misha profile image

Misha  says:
7 months ago

LOL yeah, I am having an extremly hard time trying to find something to sell on Clickbank. There are a few legit products there, but as you noticed too the vast majority is outright scam.

What puzzles me the most is that scam sells way better than good products. People buy scams and don't buy genuine stuff....

Lgali profile image

Lgali  says:
7 months ago

good hub Thnaks for sharing

shibashake profile image

shibashake  says:
7 months ago

Quicksand and Whikat, thanks for your input.

I am not sure what to think of this whole ClickBank thing, and personally, have not had much luck with it. I am very glad to see that the both of you have had more positive experiences.

Can the both of you point me to some ClickBank products that you would recommend? It would be great if you could point me to the article where you are promoting the product so that I can get your views on it as well.

Did you spend a lot of time perusing ClickBank for these products, or were they relatively easy to find?

Are these products mostly unique in their content? Or were they just better than competing products from say Amazon?

I am still learning on this, so any additional information would be very helpful. Thanks a whole lot!

ledefensetech profile image

ledefensetech  says:
7 months ago

Clickbank is much like anything else and let the buyer beware.  I do disagree about two of your points concerning print publishers.  First, those companies publish all sorts of dreck.  They take a spaghetti cooking approach to publishing.  Throw a bunch of it on a wall and hope something sticks.  Second, much of the quality is up to the individual skills of the publishers and editors, but after a time, they can become the worst judges of what will sell because they become so jaded.  How many times have you bought a book for a bookseller that just became an expensive paperweight because it didn't live up to its promise?

Misha, the reason so many scams sell so well is due to the marketing.  People say they don't respond to hype in promotional pieces, but when you actually test their behavior by sending hyped vs non-hyped copy to different groups of people, the people getting the hyped copy always do better than the non-hype copy.  The thing to remember is that if you do not meet your customer's expectations, they will never buy from you again.  So flashy copy is only the beginning.  You have to deliver on your promise and satisfy your customer's wants and/or needs if you want repeat custom.  That is critical to success in business.

Scams of all types are found out in the end.  Just remember that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

shibashake profile image

shibashake  says:
7 months ago

Ah ledefensetech, I definitely agree with you that traditional publishers *do* publish all kinds of drek. I have purchased many pieces of drek myself. :)

However, they at least have an initial drek filtration process. As a result, I speculate that the "useful to drek ratio" is much higher at Amazon, than at ClickBank.

You make a very good point in that sometimes, the traditional publishers are not the best judges of content. As a result, many gems may simply be thrown out and never make it to the consumer.

I also agree with you on this, and that is why I think that the general idea of an open, digital content marketplace is a good one. However, the question still remains:

1. Is it worth it (from a time, price, and quality perspective) for regular consumers to buy products from such a marketplace.

2. Is it worth it for sellers to sell products from such a marketplace, given its quality ratio, and given what you and I have said on the importance of customer trust.

ledefensetech profile image

ledefensetech  says:
7 months ago

1. Depends on the type of information looked for. It's rare to be able to tell right off the bat what will be useful and what won't. A lot of it depends on the individual consumer and what they're looking for. A free market doesn't imply immediate results, but over time a free market will guarantee the best quality.

2. Sure it's worth it. Clickbank is just another channel to get the word out about your product or service. You can never have too much of that. As for quality, well that's the wonderful thing about free markets and competition. As people realize what is crud and what isn't, the people who sell crud will go out of business. Reputation matters. Good reputation comes from trust and that comes from giving your customer what they want. Therefore the good products on Clickbank will see better numbers and, over time, will outperform the scams.

Whikat profile image

Whikat  says:
7 months ago

Hi Shibashake, those are very good questions that you are asking. I do not know how quicksand will answer, but as for myself. I cannot really answer those good questions but I will try my best to explain why.Question 1." Is it worth it (from a time, price, and quality perspective) for regular consumers to buy products from such a marketplace."

My answer is it depends on what they are searching for, if they are searching for a product like how to get rid of acne overnight and there is an ebook that addresses that certain problem and can effectively help with that problem. Then I think a logical answer is yes, then it would be the quickest, most efficient product for them to use, as far as cost it would depend on the consumer. How much is it worth it for them to quickly lose 10 pounds, or get rid of their acne over night?Question 2."Is it worth it for sellers to sell products from such a marketplace, given its quality ratio, and given what you, and I have said on the importance of customer trust?"

My answer is that it would depend on many factors. Are you selling to a particular niche or try to sell it to the general public? How do you plan on marketing? Blogging, article, cpc, etc.. there are just too many factors involved in that question. I wish I could answer those questions for you, but they are up to the individual of what is best for them. I can tell you that I Personally know a couple of people who make over $5000.00 a month selling clickbank products, and I know people who have never made a dime. Maybe Quicksand can expand on this or answer your questions a little more clear. :-)

shibashake profile image

shibashake  says:
7 months ago

A free-market optimist - I like that!

The success of free markets, however, is highly based on perfect information, which we do not have here. Hence the scams. In fact, in the case of ClickBank it is difficult to get non-biased, third party opinions, e.g. Consumer Reports.

As it stands right now, I am unconvinced that the number of scams will decrease. In fact, as Misha pointed out, there may be more money to be made in creating a string of profiles and pushing a string of scams. This is because

1) It is time expensive for people to find good ClickBank products to sell, so the people who are trying to only sell good content have a disadvantage.

2) Commissions tend to be higher for the scams so there is greater incentive to market the scams.

3) There is little accountability, and it is fairly cheap to discard a profile, and re-establish a new one. The time taken for some quick initial promotions may be less than the time it takes to find a good ClickBank product.

ledefensetech profile image

ledefensetech  says:
7 months ago

"The success of free markets, however, is highly based on perfect information, which we do not have here. Hence the scams. In fact, in the case of ClickBank it is difficult to get non-biased, third party opinions, e.g. Consumer Reports."

Ah my friend, but you forget.  Since people need good information about what products are good and which are scams, that provides a business opportunity for a suitably smart entrepreneur, does it not?

After all Consumer Reports itself is a company that rates independently a wide variety of objects, other companies could do this for Clickbank products and people would be willing to pay for such information.  It could be a good way to make money, especially if it seems you find all of the scams and none of the legitimate ones.

Also remember Clickbank is in its infancy.  People are still feeling out how and what is good business in this field.  I also am a great believer in self-organization and find that people will organize in order to benefit the market as a whole because it benefits them individually by making their customers more comfortable with the community agreed upon standards.

As for your third point, I disagree.  A smart businessperson knows that repeat customers are where all the profit is made.  It's expensive to advertise and find new customers.  In fact most of your time and effort when starting a new business should be in marketing and selling for that very reason.  Scammers invariably find themselves working harder for much less return as the continue to try to scam people. 

That holds especially true on the Internet.  I've lost count of the number of times I've entered the name of a company or business opportunity to see if they were legitimate or not.  Of course you can have the opposite happend, where a legitamite businesss is slandered by somone because that person is upset, but legitimate businesses will have more positive reviews than negative. 

shibashake profile image

shibashake  says:
7 months ago

Hi Whikat, You bring up a good point. With ClickBank products there is instant gratification. Amazon's Kindle offers the same type of instant gratification, but then, of course you must own a Kindle.

$5k a month, is extremely impressive. I would be very interested in reading some of their articles and seeing what products they sell. I would greatly appreciate it if you could post some links or send them to me via e-mail. Thank you very much! :)

quicksand profile image

quicksand  says:
7 months ago

It is unfair to join the masses and start screaming scam. This is something that we refer to as the "herd instinct." Every Clickbank product has a disclaimer which clearly states that you cannot expect the same degree of success as that of the most successful of those who have used the product.

shibashake profile image

shibashake  says:
7 months ago

"I also am a great believer in self-organization and find that people will organize in order to benefit the market as a whole because it benefits them individually by making their customers more comfortable with the community agreed upon standards."

This is actually a very interesting angle that I had not thought about. I would say, however, that in the case of ClickBank sellers, game theory concepts are perhaps more applicable. While all sellers would benefit from a bigger pie, each of the sellers are also competing with each other. A change in any one person's strategy will hurt him, if others do not also agree to change strategies. And all it will take is for some sellers to go rogue, and the "standards" will go out the window.

With regards to trust I agree with you. To truly build a successful, long-term, business, you must have trust and that is not something that is gained easily. However, this makes 2 assumptions:

1. That the participants are smart business people and

2. That the participants are in it as a long-term business.

shibashake profile image

shibashake  says:
7 months ago

Hi quicksand, I humbly apologize. It was not my intention to scream scam or even to join the masses :)

Seriously, in my response to Misha I was trying to be humorous and after re-reading it, I realize it was not very funny after all. In any case, I *did not* mean to say that all online money making guides are scams, and I am sorry that I suggested that.

You get to *thud* me a few times if you want :)

Whikat profile image

Whikat  says:
7 months ago

Hi Shibashake, Well, as I do not have the authority from these people to share their strategies and techniques, I would be more than pleased to send you their video of them opening their clickbank checks and showing their name and amounts of the check all on video. I would also be happy to give you their personal e-mail address if I truly thought that you would be willing to do exactly as they instruct you to do, and if you are willing to invest the time and money it takes to make the $5000 or more each month.

I will be glad to send you that information, but if you are unwilling to do the program and to follow this person's exact advice than not only would you be wasting your own time, but would also be wasting my time and my friends valuable time as well. That is why every product on clickbank has a disclaimer, because they can tell you and show you how to get the results, but they have no control of you to do the exact steps it takes to get those results. :-)

shibashake profile image

shibashake  says:
7 months ago

Yikes! Whikat, I was really not doubting you or asking for proof.

I am truly just interested in what products or what classes of products they are selling, and also seeing some examples of good ClickBank products. Your suggestions would be great as well.

And I would be horrible at following all the steps as I am not very good at following rules :)

But I am very intellectually curious about this whole thing, and would like to learn more about what makes it work, what makes it not work, and who it works for. Since I do not know too many people in the real-world that does this type of stuff, I thought to get opinions, horror stories, as well as success stories from all of you.

Sorry if I came across as "nasty" :) Guess that was clueless nasty :) Thanks for all your help.

ledefensetech profile image

ledefensetech  says:
7 months ago

"1. That the participants are smart business people and

2. That the participants are in it as a long-term business."

I would say those are the two things you need to be a successful businessperson. You need to know what people want and you have to do it in such a way that they become repeat customers.

Will you have people who break the rules, even the written and unwritten rules, when they develop. Sure. My point is that they won't last long. The problem with scamming people is that sooner or later it catches up with you. Not only that, word gets around and people don't trust you and you have to work twice as hard as you would have, had you just dealt with people with honor and their wishes in mind. So really I just worry about doing the best for my customers, everything else will take care of itself.

Whikat profile image

Whikat  says:
7 months ago

No Shibashake, I am the one to apologize, I am afraid I get a little defensive when it comes to affiliate marketing. I hear so much talk about how it is a scam and that affiliate marketers are all about scamming people, while that may be true for some, it sure does hurt the ones who have no intention of scamming anybody.

I truly love affiliate marketing. My suggestion would be to research what it is that people are looking for, what problems, or advice are they looking to find an answer for. You can find a lot of information of yahoo answers or youtube.com. Then go to clickbank or amazon if that is who you feel most comfortable using, try to find a product that will be a solution to help the people who have the problem. Once you find the product, either purchase it and find out all you can about the product or do all the research you can on the product. You can find out how popular it is, how many affiliates are promoting the product, and what the refund ratio is, all on clickbank.

I hope this helps? Again I am sorry that I got so defensive, and I do not think you are nasty in anyway. Am I forgiven? :-)

quicksand profile image

quicksand  says:
7 months ago

Hi Shibashake, I made a general statement without referring to anyone in particular. This is because the first clickbank product I bought, cost me $99.97, and all it did was put me on the track to exploring what affiliate marketing is all about, for which I am grateful.

I have bought many clickbank products and have found some useful info in every single one of them. :)

shibashake profile image

shibashake  says:
7 months ago

"So really I just worry about doing the best for my customers, everything else will take care of itself."

That is a very good way of thinking about it :)

shibashake profile image

shibashake  says:
7 months ago

Whikat, Thanks for all the information.

Boy, you have to work hard for those affiliate bucks :)I will have to look into ClickBank more, I think. Maybe collect some data on how splash screens, product types, and commission levels correlate with number of units sold.

Thanks for the interesting discussion! :)

shibashake profile image

shibashake  says:
7 months ago

"Hi Shibashake, I made a general statement without referring to anyone in particular"

Of course everything is about me! Everybody *knows* that! ;)

"I have bought many clickbank products and have found some useful info in every single one of them. :)"

That is good to know. I will have to start looking at ClickBank products much more objectively.

Give your little Cujo some doggie treats from me :)

ledefensetech profile image

ledefensetech  says:
7 months ago

It's not just enough to sell and put Clickbank products on your website and hope things will sell. What's key is that you become known as an expert in whatever it is you're trying to sell. In my case, that's self defense products and tactics. One way you can quickly gain the reputation for being an expert is to network with other experts in the field or a related field. In my case that could be law enforcement, private detectives, bounty hunters, martial arts companies, etc.

That's why scammers wil never make it big. They count on dupes and because of that they get only one shot to make a sale. By doing things the right way, you make more money with less and less effort. Unfortunately, people have been raised to believe selling is evil and sellers take advantage of people, so many people get the idea that it's permissible, even expected, to do business that way.

quicksand profile image

quicksand  says:
7 months ago

There is a difference between being an expert and setting the climate to "gaining such a reputation." This is where I disagree with all online gurus. It is deception. Sorry to differ. :)

Shibashake! - That little "Cujo Inu" just walks away hurriedly whenever he sees me!  :)

shibashake profile image

shibashake  says:
7 months ago

Setting yourself up as the expert is one of those difficult areas. You don't want to set yourself up too high, because you open yourself up to greater criticism, and you don't want to set yourself down too low, because then nobody will listen to you :)

This is an interesting topic by itself.

ledefensetech profile image

ledefensetech  says:
7 months ago

It's not all that difficult. You just have to do the research, continue to learn more about your field and, most importantly, get the word out. Having other influential people in the field backing you only adds more weight and instead of having to convince people, you can spend more time learning and improving your products.

That prescription is a bit more rigorous than the "get rich quick" schemes, but the payoff, both tangible and intangible, are greater in the long run.

Research Analyst profile image

Research Analyst  says:
7 months ago

Well one does not have to use clickbank to sell ebooks, one can use e-junkie to sell ebooks too.

shibashake profile image

shibashake  says:
7 months ago

ledefensetech, I think the tricky part is how much and what kind of expert self-promotion you want to do.

I think that if I toot my own horn too much, others may become suspicious, and think that I am a Snake Oil Salesman. If not enough, then nobody will know who I am.

What quicksand brought up is also important. For example, I (the general I) may have a brilliant resume, with some high powered references, but do I actually have the skills to back that up?

And when you are an expert, another thousand experts will crawl out and challenge you.

As you say, the best scenario in self-promotion is to have others toot your horn for you, but *that* requires some initial success and self-promotion, which leads you back to the beginning :)

Also, sometimes it may be better to be the underdog.

Woof, woof :)

shibashake profile image

shibashake  says:
7 months ago

Research Analyst, Thanks for the link. I will have to look them up as well.

quicksand profile image

quicksand  says:
7 months ago

You CAN get rich overnight! There was this guy who bought a used computer for $25 and cleaned it up and sold it for $50. Then he bought two more used computers for $25 each and cleaned them up and sold each of them for $50. Then his father in law died and left him $2,000.000!

ledefensetech profile image

ledefensetech  says:
7 months ago

You'll only look like a snake oil salesman if you fail to deliver.  Plus you never stop learning.  To give an example.  Several days ago there was a horrendous tragedy involving two sheriff's deputies, an ex-National Guardsman and a Taser stun gun.  They deputies went to a gun range to arrest this guy on suspicion of domestic abuse. 

Sometime during the confrontation, one of the deputies used his Taser and stunned the ex-Guardsman.  Now comes the part I have a hard time believing.  The suspect then drew his weapon and shot the deputies.  Now I've always maintained that a person shot by a Taser cannot act.  You literally have no control of your body.  It's amazing to me that this guy could do that.

Now one of two things must have happened.  One, the Taser was defective in some way.  Right now I'm leaning towards this explanation.  It happens and if that Taser had not ever been used, it may never have worked in the first place.  Second, less likely, but still an option is that the suspect was able to fight off the effects of the Taser and draw down on the deputies.

We'll just have to wait and see what the Taser investigation brings to light.  Does that mean I'm wrong in advocating the use of Tasers as self defense tools?  Does that make me a snake oil salesman?  No.  Believe me, I don't want people to have bad information, so when I learn anything about why this happened, I'll be the first to post about it. 

Another thing I've advocated is not to rely too much on one defense tool.  Self defense is made up of several techniques and strategies.  I'm a big proponent of backup tools and using several tools for maximum protection.  Those poor deputies proved that point. 

If there are any believers reading, please say a prayer for the families of those poor men.

roseflr profile image

roseflr  says:
7 months ago

Shibashake, thanks for this very well reasoned and informative discussion. My neighbor recently urged me to try clickbank, and I had always been dubious about it. Fortunately, I came across your Hub at just the right time.

Admittedly I've had limited experience with ebooks, but I'm getting a whiff of useless scam so far. Your point about the vetting of real published books is well founded. Of course I have bought my share of "real" books which I've disliked, but that's a matter of literary taste. I may not enjoy the plot or the author's outlook, phrasing, or voice, but at least I can count on getting something that's been proofread thoroughly and is understandable on a basic level.

The few ebooks I've read have all been essentially babbling, semi-illiterate drivel, presenting nothing but marketing hype. In every single case, I've given up in disgust after several pages, and decided the ebook was worthless.

It appears that any idiot looking to make money can attempt to fill white space with repetitive, meaningless b%&* until they think the book is long enough, and then market it. I'm speaking here about the type sold on sites like Clickbank, not genuine literature sold electronically for Kindle.

Sadly, I agree that people eagerly buy scams, but given the tainted state of internet marketing in general, I think I'd prefer to strive to be above reproach and earn a solid reputation by steering clear of the snake oil segment.

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shibashake  says:
7 months ago

lol. Sometimes I wonder how well the snake oil segment does. LDT argues that they only do well in the short-term, and will eventually go away - I hope he is right! :)

In the meantime, I remain skeptical of ClickBank. However, based on what Quicksand and Whikat said, I plan to do some further research, and maybe collect some data. Whatever ClickBank is, it is certainly an interesting system and marketplace.

Thanks for your kind words roseflr :)

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