Ethics of Writing a Sales Hub

On HubPages we can rougly put all hubs into several categories: informational hubs and sales hubs, also known as product hubs, and a category with all miscellaneous hubs such as poems. I want to talk about the second category today, namely sales hubs. These type of hubs discuss a single product or multiple products by giving information, the pros and cons and the price. The text is always accompanied by Amazon ads in the hope of getting the reader to buy the product.

What is wrong with that? In principle there is nothing wrong with that. If you can genuinely help people with making a choice for a particular product then that's fine. But there is a fine line between writing a helpful sales hub and a hub that purely stems from your own greed. Many sales hubs are not an effort to help the reader but rather to help the writer's bank account.

When you write a sales hub, you should provide a service to those who read it. Have you made a genuine effort to analyze and review this product or are you spamming as many "reviews" as you can to earn cash? When you need more info on a product that you want to buy, would you want to read something like you've written?

Perhaps your ethics are not as strong as mine. Perhaps you feel that anything goes as long as you get your cash. I think such an attitude will not get you far in life. Do you even care about the people who read your "reviews" or do they merely serve as clickers and buyers to get your money from Amazon?

• Many similar "reviews" that have exactly the same structure but with product names substituted.
• Fake testimonials that cannot be traced to an existing online shopping website, such as Amazon.
• Every sentence contains laudatory words like amazing, great, really nice, brilliant, et cetera. Was it made by God himself or what?

The sad part is that it didn't take long to compile this list. Just hopping some hubs here on HubPages is enough to see clear examples of this type of hubs.

Take the time to review and discuss the specifications of a product rather than stating the obvious facts. Summarize real people's opinions rather than claiming every company in the world delivers flawless products. If you cannot write from personal experience with a product, make an extra effort to make sure your comments are accurate.

I have seen some Hubbers here on HubPages who indeed make an effort to descibe a product and compare it to similar products on the market. This does not have to take long if you are familiar with the type of products that you are reviewing.

I know you have to be positive about a product in order to get a reader to buy it or at least to click your Amazon ad. I get that. But at least be honest: if a product has a serious flaw that can detract from a user's experience, mention it upfront and clearly. Focus on the good things of a product and provide all the information a reader needs to decide whether it is the right product for him / her. Yes, as you can see this takes more effort than what you are currently doing. But somewhere deep down you know I'm describing the right way to earn money online with review articles.

Let me be very clear that I am not against sales or product hubs. If I decide to venture into writing sales hubs, I'll be very careful to provide a genuinely helpful article to my readers. I also think these type of reviews and comparisons can earn me more money than crappy reviews but I do not have any empirical data to substantiate this claim. I will earn money online but I will do it in such a way that I can honestly look anyone in the eyes when confronted with my work. There is no reason why you cannot do the same.

This article was written by Simeon Visser. I am earning money online by writing here at HubPages.com. Would you like to earn money online as well? Read the success stories and sign up today to get started!