by: Chet Brzezinski

Affiliate programs are a great way to earn extra money or even a
good living if you do things right. But unfortunately, there are
alot of people out there that know this and will do everything they
can to swindle you into selling their products while not having to
pay you a dime. There are some merchants that view affiliates as a
source of free traffic and free marketing.

Here are a few things that should draw up a red flag when you come
accross an affiliate program:

No Contact Information
If they don't post their contact information on their site then you
should not bother with them. To me this tells me they are trying to
hide something.

Commission To High
Yes, it is great when we find affiliate programs that pay high
commissions. But you also have to be careful that they are not just
trying to draw you into their affiliate program by using big
numbers. It wouldn't be good to earn alot of money just to get
scammed. If it is to good to be true then most likely it is. A
merchant will never pay more on a commission then they would get for
the sale. It is just not business smart.

No Replies To Your Emails
If they do have their email address on their site and you send them
an email but they never reply then you should drop them like a hot
rock. If you can't trust them to take one minute to give you a reply
then you shouldn't trust them to spend a few more minutes cutting
and mailing you a check.

Returned Affiliate Payment Checks
If they do send you a check and your bank returns it then this would
be another reason to draw up the red flag of being scammed. Of
course you should always contact the merchant to try to resolve the
issue, it could be an honest mistake. But if it happens in
conjuction with no email replies and lousy affiliate support then I
wouldn't waste anymore of my time with them.

The bottom line is that you should always use your gut feeling when
dealing with affiliate programs. If you are not sure about an
affiliate program then search the search engines for the merchants
name. If they are known for scamming affiliates you are sure to find
it in the search engines and affiliate forums.

About the Author
Chet Brzezinski has been in the affiliate marketing and affiliate
management industry since 1997. View more affiliate program related
articles at any of Chet's sites below:
http://www.affiliate-program-review.com
http://www.proudmedia.com