I’d really like your comments on this post for reasons that will become clear.
Your favorite A-List blogger recommends another A-Lister’s new product launch.
Soon, every A-List blogger is jumping on the bandwagon to promote the launch.
Each A-List blogger who helps promote the launch gets a piece of the affiliate commission pie.
It’s kind of how the blogging community networks. And networking and supporting one another is great …until it begins to hurt people.
My Question – When does enterprise become prostitution?
Blogging is a community, to be sure. It’s one of the best things about the blogosphere. Almost anyone can host a blog and build an online community of readers.
Take a unique stand on a popular area of interest and you’ll likely attract a following. Yes, community is a good thing.
In the strata that compose the blogosphere, there are those at the top of the heap and then there’s the rest of us. The tip of the pyramid (if you will) is pretty crowded.This is where the A-List bloggers reside. The base of the pyramid is where the rest of us fall out.
There’s nothing wrong with either position.
Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with being at the top and nothing wrong with being in the crowd.
Here’s the ‘unless.’
Unless… you use your position to unfairly influence those not in the higher blogging echelons to invest in the A-List product-of-the-month solely so that you can make some cash from their belief in your recommendation.
When Enterprise Becomes Prostitution
Is there a point where online networking among A-List bloggers hurts the rest of us? It may a question as debatable as the legality of prostitution itself. When does free enterprise border on the illegal or the immoral?
I strongly lean toward a position of only promoting a product when you’ve paid for it or used it personally. If a blogger gave you a copy of their eBook or product in exchange for a review, that’s fine as long as your review is based on actual use of the item.
How else will you really know how beneficial it is?
I mean, just because Darren Rowse of ProBlogger promotes Yaro Starak’s Membership Site Mastermind program doesn’t mean you should buy it.
Yes, A-list blogger recommendations are beneficial, but only to a point. 
Does the act of promoting a colleague’s product or membership site -simply because you’ll benefit financially from the affiliate sale- really serve your readers?
Not long after I published Becoming Irresistible, I was floored one day when an A-List copywriter contacted me to ask if he could promote it on his website.
I quickly recovered from my dead-faint and said , “Yeah, Baby!”
Then I realized, that this guy promoted everything under the sun. He hadn’t read my book at all. Ok, so I was a publishing virgin.. 
..but I have to think that after a while, other bloggers are just plain tired of seeing this too.
Am I wrong?
Is it cool to pimp the A-List stuff in hopes of cashing in even if it doesn’t serve your readers? Does reading the same email more or less from your favorite A-Listers bother you? Does it make you an Internet Floozy to do what they do?
What do you think? I’d really like to know.
Personally I feel that I’m enough of a grown-up to make my own decisions regardless of whom is promoting a product – I won’t sign up for something that costs simply because it’s promoted by anyone, A-List blogger, or whomever. If I’m paying for something I’d better be sure I’m going to get the benefit, and be able to “stay the course”, before I sign up. On the other hand, if I trust someone from past association I’d take their assessment seriously.
I think there are 2 ways to promote a product:
1) know the product from using it yourself
2) know about the product from what you’ve seen and read
I think your question is whether it’s OK to do the latter when you are getting a financial gain. I do think a financial gain should be disclosed. Or should we just assume that an A-List blogger benefits from any paid item they write about? When we go into a store we know that the salesman gets commission from us buying something and we pretty much assume they’ve not used the item themselves. The question is, would we buy the item anyway, and, if not, do we trust their judgment?
Wow! Interesting – I was sent here by one of my readers and I can see why – we are in accord over this. I’m more than a little frustrated at the moment with the whole merry go round surrounding these massive product launches, and the fact that I end up getting the same email from six different people, four times a week, telling how wonderful the product is. I’ve been writing extensively about it on my blog.
The biggest issue I have with it, is the massive commissions that are paid, which means the product effectively ends up being twice as expensive as it should be, and therefore pushes it beyond most people’s budgets.
Enjoyed the post. Thanks.
Alison – Thanks for your comment on this post. I, too, feel that an affiliation should be disclosed when recommending another’s product or service. And I also think that most ‘bloggers’ understand that it’s an affiliate relationship the A-List blogger is engaged in. Most of do the same. I guess my issue is the sheer num ber of A-Listers who jump on the bandwagon and flood my email with their unique recommendation.
I think I’d love to see the following: “Hi Baz, It’s _____. My associate, Mr. A-List Blogger has a new product and I want to help him gain new customers by recommending it to you. Of course, I’ll get a piece of the pie so-to-speak in a affiliate commission, but you probably knew that. I haven’t used his product personally, but I believe in the quality that is ___’s hallmark. I’ve used other products of his/her’s like _________ and found it to be fantastic. So while I haven’t used this new product, I feel confident in recommending it to you.”
I’m happy to wait.
Mike – Great to see you ’round these parts.
Your point about the commission percentage is a good one. I know that most affiliates expect 35%-50% of each sale they refer. Which begs the question of the product’s inherent worth as you mention. I know that $47, $67, $97 and common price points for information products. I don’t mind paying these prices if my trust in author and his/her guarantee is of equal amount.
But $397 begins to make me really uneasy and begin harboring thoughts like your original question of the overpricing issue. Some things to ponder yet. Thanks for weighing in!
Actually I didn’t even realize that affiliate commissions were being paid for this kind of launch, probably because there isn’t a disclosure. If I see an advert in a sidebar I assume there is an affiliate commission, but unless a blog article states a relationship I thought the blogger was just being helpful and spreading the word.
Have I earned a greenie badge? Needless to say I don’t have the blogging budget to pay for a $97 class right now, never mind a $397 one, so there’s not really a temptation. I’d no idea that commissions were as high as 35-50%. And here am I trying to earn a few $ with Amazon’s little 4% commission. I don’t even feel comfortable recommending higher priced items which I do use – I feel that caring about the environment kind of precludes encouraging others to buy, unless maybe I’m promoting an E-book. It’s a dilemma.
I’m getting really sick of all these big product launches. I just ignore them now, but the blogger who promotes these products also loses some respect and credibility with me.
It’s also all the hype that puts me off.
Has anyone read Seth Godin’s book “Unleashing the Virus”? He uses the idea of sneezers, people who will talk about your idea, book, etc. Then he talks about the Promiscuous sneezers, people who are big names in their fields, who will tell about your idea, book, etc, as long as they can make money from it. This sounds a little about what going on with the big product launches.