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Affiliate Marketing Training -- Affiliate Marketers A PayPal Target?
PayPal is arguably THE most visible brand name on the Internet. If you buy or sell on line, you have, or will at some point use PayPal. Here is some VERY valuable information regarding Paypal policies and YOU, the Internet Marketer.
Who online has not heard of or used PayPal? For many, PayPal is a clearinghouse which facilitates buying and selling items on the internet, very similar to online banking. For most, this is all they need to know. However, for those involved in Internet Marketing, nothing could be further from the truth.
The author owns a report and is an affiliate to a system called “Really Fast Money”. Like many systems, the individual components are not unique, but put together they create a dynamite package for raising considerable profits in a relatively short period of time. The report was purchased via PayPal. The author of the report is Willie Crawford, a well known and highly respected veteran internet marketer.
Some time ago, Mr. Crawford received a notice from PayPal informing him that his account was frozen, and that the “Really Fast Money” program was suspended at paypal. Having the integrity that he is known for, he contacted all of his affiliates and granted master resell rights to retool the program for individual marketing if so desired. (HIGHLY recommending NOT using PayPal, of course.) :-)
After an extended period of trying to resolve the problem and regain access to his assets, Mr. Crawford learned that several of his affiliates in the “Really Fast Money” program were “overly aggressive” with their marketing and in violation of PayPal’s “acceptable use policy.”
The issue here is paypal’s vague “acceptable use policy”. These policies, as it relates to Internet Marketers, cover the areas of Multi-level marketing and Pyramid and Get Rich Quick programs. This policy includes affiliate programs that pay more than “one tier” of commissions.
Herein lies the important difference between your local “Bank of America” and PayPal. Where the Bank of America handles your money and will report suspected illegal activities to the proper law enforcement authorities, PayPal may, at its discretion, take action on your account if they deem your actions are in violation of their policies. In effect, they ARE the enforcement, whether your actions are legal or illegal.
In their own words, “PayPal prohibits as a Multi-Level Marketing plan any business in which payouts occur at two or more levels (both by the individual who actually sold the product, as well as by the person(s) “upline” that recruited the selling individual). PayPal prohibits Multi-Level Marketing plans whether or not they are legal under the laws of one or more jurisdictions.”
Hence, PayPal does not merely serve as a custodian for your legally earned monies, but they also serve as discretionary monitors of what they perceive to be socially and/or ethically improper behavior.
“What they perceive” is the important point for consideration. This author will freely admit that he has products in his tool chest that could be teetering on the tightrope of PayPal’s ‘acceptable use policy’. Do these products offer benefits through intentional deceit or misrepresentation? Absolutely not! However, is it just a matter of time before PayPal drops the hammer? Is it time to investigate and fully understand these policies? Yep!
Someone once said that “to live in fear is to not live”. Well, that certainly may be true, but what about “Ignorance is no excuse”?
Being a man of action, Willie Crawford has put together a 50 page report which, this author believes, is REQUIRED reading for any current or prospective online affiliate marketers. Furthermore, this report is FREE ... Mr. Crawford’s gift to those Internet Marketers who ARE making ethical bussiness decisions.
This article, and Willie Crawford’s report ARE NOT indictments against PayPal ... to enter into a position of mud slinging would be cowardly and totally ineffective. Remember, PayPal is a subsidiary of eBay ... they are HUGE. It is not uncommon in the corporate world for a business, any business, to reach a point where prompt, individualized service is just not practical. If they have rules, it is YOUR responsibility to learn them and abide by them ... especially if you are coordinating your business finances through them!
Willie’s report includes a section devoted to taking a look at the very popular $7 Script through the eyes of PayPal. This is must have information if you are using the script.
Hopefully, this is one case where you will choose to take action. This report,“How to avoid PayPal’s lethal game of “Pin The Tail On The Internet Marketing Donkey” is available, at no charge to all. Don’t let this report collect dust on your disc ... read it and take it to heart. (See resource box). Don’t place all of your bets on the infamous “It won’t happen to me” ... Doubts? ... Ask Willie!