The Value of Product and Merchant Reputation
Wednesday, December 26th, 2007 at 10:33 am by Gracie Browning
I live in a small town so maybe I am more aware of just how important a reputation is than those who live in large cities where you can be more anonymous. There isn’t any such thing as anonymity in a small town. Everybody knows everybody and the entire family history of every individual is common knowledge. Little babies are instructed in the cradle about maintaining a reputation for honesty and reliability.
The internet is just a small town on a larger scale and each niche is an even smaller community so your reputation is going to go before you. Everybody is going to know whether you are an honest merchant who delivers what is promised or if you are a crook that should be avoided and your reputation is going to depend to a great degree upon the reputation of the products and services that you represent if you are an affiliate marketer.
Before you choose a product (and therefore a merchant) to represent with your affiliate marketing business, you need to know what that product and that merchant’s reputation is on the internet. You can do searches using the search engines to find reviews about products as well as about merchants. You can visit blogs and forums to search for any disparaging information about both. One unhappy customer doesn’t mean much but if there are a lot of unhappy customers, you should probably find other products and merchants to represent.
I think that it is an excellent idea to visit the merchant’s website, buy a product and then complain to find out first-hand how customers are treated. It really is a good idea to buy any product that you are considering and try it yourself before you recommend it to your list. This isn’t always possible but it is the best option and remember that the reputation of the product and the merchant that you represent will have a direct bearing on your own reputation on the internet.
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