In the beginning, all the talk was about rebill offers and how bad they are for the customers. Months later and we are seeing the same thing happen to a few networks, affiliates and companies, but in a different backlash.
With such a high payout per free trial, the affiliate networks and supplier companies have to pay out a ton in advance… in hopes they can scam keep customers paying for an extra 2-3 months. But what happens when the overflow is too much and it starts to go the other way. In most cases, you the affiliate, or network won’t be getting paid.
A friend of mine has been running a weight loss rebill offer for a while now, directly with a company. This was outside of an affiliate network and means they would be paid directly and invoice the company for all leads. As an affiliate, most of us use networks as we feel they are the middle man, and most will make good if their advertiser doesn’t. A lot of networks have taken a hit when their advertiser doesn’t pay, but they still pay their affiliates. Unfortunately in this scenario, the affiliate didn’t walk away with their full commissions.
Here is the email notifying the affiliate on the current situation:
The only thing worse than finding out you are only going to receive 33% of what you are owed, is to see the company continue mailing out the same offer for weeks after they told you they won’t pay in full. The email shown below has still been circulating and keep being sent out, despite “suspended operations“.
For anyone who was owed money by Vitrasun, LLC, it looks like it’s already too late. Search “Vitrasun LLC” on Google and you will barely find anything… go to their site at Vitrasun.com, and you will find even less.
Unfortunately there is only so much an affiliate or affiliate network can do in this situation. It costs too much to go into a legal battle, and in most cases there is no money left in the company. Even worse, the majority of companies that play this game, close up shop only to start up under another name and do it all over again.
Free trials and limited time offer gimmicks have been around forever, and the reason is simple… they work. With the recent rapid rise of free trial and rebill offers (acai, weight loss, government grants, biz opp) hitting the affiliate space, and their massive $40+ commission payouts, it’s no wonder all of these companies on the backend are cashing in. They are getting people for a quick buck up front, the billing them out the rear later on (some offers in just a few days!). Whether you run these offers or not, they are all still based off the marketing principles listed below.
Sometimes an offer just seems to good to pass up. “Act Now! Try for 30 Days for Only $1.99“. Though the testimonial (whether its real or not) seems too good to be true, the mere cost of only $1.99 to give it a try, pulls a great percentage of people in. Then before you know it… you forget to cancel, and get auto subscribed.
I’ve personally never had a “real job“, so I haven’t experienced the full effect of having to work for someone or being a number in a huge company. However, I have experienced seeing what happens to friends and family, working “for the man” and having to drag themselves to work everyday, and hating every minute of it. Nothing is worse than the thought of going into work every day with the one goal of clocking out at the end of the day and counting down how many more years you have till you can retire.
Who does your boss/co-workers think they are? Why are they so much better than you, that they think they can talk to you that way? This is probably the biggest reason for having your own business. No longer do you have to take crap from anyone. You are the boss and there is no one to talk down to you, or tell you what to do. If you do expand your business out and hire employees, remember how much you hated your boss and make sure not to do the same.
While “not having to take crap from anyone” may seem like the best benefit to working for yourself, you’ll soon find that having more time for yourself and your family is what really matters. No longer will you have to wake up in the early morning and drag yourself through that horrible commute to and from work everyday… but instead you can focus on spending quality time on your business, while having more free time for more important things. Time is precious, and before you know it… it will pass you by.
The last point I will stress is one that may be more disturbing than anything else. Take your average salary, then work out the numbers and cost it takes you to maintain your job. How much are you spending daily on gas for your commute to and from work, your daily lunches, work attire and the most expensive of all… your time and stress levels. Work out these numbers and you may find you are “taking home” a lot less than you think… which makes it even easier for you to over take your current salary, working for yourself.
