Warning: It Doesn’t Pay To Be A MarketingSherpa Affiliate
Update: This afternoon I received a personal call and email from a MarketingSherpa staffer hoping to repair the damage done to this relationship. I sincerely appreciate their effort and I’m optimistic about this leading to bigger and better things for both of us.
Original post follows…
I hate writing posts that call out people or businesses. But I need to warn unsuspecting marketers: MarketingSherpa has done everything in their power to avoid paying affiliate fees.
It has been so long, and the deception so shameful, that MarketingSherpa needs to understand that this is no way to run a business.
This is the story of how I added over $1K to the MarketingSherpa coffers and was scammed out of hundreds of dollars in affiliate fees.
Sound unbelievable? Believe me, it gets worse. Here is the story, more than a year in the making.
The Beginning
I was actually recruited into the affiliate program in May, 2008 (you can read that email here). My contact there was someone I will call Affiliate Manager 1 (AM1).
Emails from AM1 were always sure to include a mention of how much money affiliates could make in the program. Here’s a typical example from 6/10/08.
They always made sure to dangle those commissions in front of affiliates. It must have worked, because I continued to advertise their reports.
First Sale…And First Concerns
I made my first sale on 10/31/08 and sent a message to AM1. He replied as follows:
Needless to say, the Reports and Guides Manager never followed up, but who cares? I was making money…right?
I increased the MarketingSherpa ad load on my site considerably. The center column increased to 3-4 160×600 ads and I started including MarketingSherpa banner ads within my posts as well. My readers didn’t mind and the potential payout was quite nice.
I made a second sale on 12/31/08 and was feeling good, even though I still hadn’t been paid for that October 2008 sale. An established, reputable business like MarketingSherpa was good for it, weren’t they?
The Hounding Begins
AM1 left MarketingSherpa, replaced by AM2 on 1/14/09. She sent an introductory email complete with the many ways to earn money through MarketingSherpa’s affiliate program.
There was another change around the same time. The payment schedule seemed to go off the rails as well.
You can see from this payment report that MarketingSherpa was documenting my sales. But pay special attention to the “payment dates.” After the first sale, the “payment” was supposed to be sent at the beginning of the next month, as per their affiliate payment schedule. But you’ll notice the second “payment” is delayed by almost 3 months (sale on 12/31, “payment” due 3/27).
Strange, right? A few days prior, I’d been given my first reassurance that payment would be made. AM2 concedes that MarketingSherpa understands no money has been sent.
It’s disconcerting enough that the President needs to be involved in one small affiliate sale, but maybe that was to reassure me. On 1/16, I was told why:
I could understand – we were in the middle of a recession, right? Unlike bloggers who depend on affiliate sales for their sole livelihood, I have a day job and could wait, thinking it would only be a matter of weeks.
I checked in again 2 months later and was told (again) that another new hire would get me a check soon (see below). I made another affiliate sale in April and continued giving MarketingSherpa the benefit of the doubt.
I continued to act in good faith. I even did posts prominently featuring their reports or solely discussing their findings.
The Last Straw
So, let’s review. It had been over a year since I was recruited for the MarketingSherpa affiliate program in May of 2008. I’d added $1,242.20 to their coffers. I was owed $352.81.
I had been paid exactly $0. I’d been getting excuses for over half a year.
In my mind, I had only a few options:
- Do nothing: Based on prior past experience, I knew this would yield no payments for me.
- Complain yet again: Again, I wouldn’t receive payment and would make myself sound even more pathetic than I already had. MarketingSherpa could assume that I would continue to post their ads and it would cost them nothing.
- Go public: I wouldn’t receive payment, but I might help another marketer avoid the trouble and indigestion that this relationship had caused me.
Going public is distasteful to me, but being treated like a fool is even less appealing. I gave MarketingSherpa one more chance, sending this email to AM2 on 6/25/09:
If not a payment, surely I would receive an apology or an acknowledgment of wrong-doing.
Their response: total silence.
On 7/1/09, I sent one final follow-up, saying “Not even a response to this email? I expected better.”
Again: nothing from MarketingSherpa.
So, I had no other choice but to go public with their refusal to pay. I can’t recommend a company on my blog that cheats its affiliates. And I can’t keep my dignity when I’m being ignored or rebuffed.
Hence, this post. What a shame.
What Do You Think?
Have you been scammed by MarketingSherpa? We’d love to hear your story.
I’d also like to get your opinion. Should I have continued to sit on my hands or did I wait too long to bring MarketingSherpa to task? How soon should an affiliate wait before taking steps to get the money they’ve earned?
I would love to hear your reactions to this story. Also, be sure to pass this along to your marketer friends so they can avoid this scam. Don’t let them fall for it like I did for so long.
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Tags: Affiliate scams, MarketingSherpa scam, scams
Have you heard from other bloggers in a similar situation?
Sorry to hear about your situation and I have to say I’m quite surprised. MarketingSherpa have some very good products, and it’s just a pity that they don’t recognize the importance of affiliates…
… and now, the negative effects of word-of-mouth.
MarketingSherpa, if you are in the wrong, then the smart thing to do would pay to pay him DOUBLE the commission he’s owed, and issue a profound apology.
And if you can’t handle your own affiliate program, outsource it!
Not yet, Vanessa, but I’m hoping this post will reveal others in the same situation.
I didn’t talk about the problem because I was still playing by the rules I thought were mutual (respect, discretion, etc). Now that I realize I was being duped, I hope this post can be a lightning rod for other folks fooled by affiliate programs.
Wow. Those affiliate fees sound a bit high to me.
Sounds like the exact definition of a pyramid scheme to me.
Sorry you got all caught up in that DJ. Needless to say I won’t be purchasing or recommending any of their products…
-Nick
Wow I’m really surprised. They really seemed liked a legit company with useful products. Way to stick it to ‘em! Is it possible though that they’re just totally dysfunctional and not actually trying to scam you? It’s strange that a company savvy enough to use affiliate marketing would not be leery of pissing off people with the ear of their potential customers. If you can find others who are in the same situation, we’ll find out more, I’m sure.
The next step is to take your comments to all the marketing forums if you really want to be heard. Thanks for posting this.
I’ve always had a high opinion of Marketing Sherpa and own several of their products. I’ve been receiving emails from them for some time.
I think you gave them every chance to make good before going public. Quick question: did you ever try to talk with someone over the phone?
In my experience, matters of conflict are best handled in real time, and if face to face isn’t available, then use the phone. Just a thought…
That doesn’t discount the fact that they broke their agreement with you. I’ll be interested to see how this gets resolved, hopefully in a satisfying way for you. I’m sure the venting was therapeutic but the cash would be even better.
Thanks for giving us an insider’s look at what’s REALLY going on.
Marc
Wow. This has left a permanetly poor image of MarketingSherpa in my mind. Perhaps this has even left the “poorly run business” debate, into something more legal. Have you considered reporting them to the Better Busisness Bureau or are you expecting a reply from them still?
I’ll be sure to send this to my colleageus.
I am sorry to hear that this happened to you — but, I am so grateful that you are coming out and sharing your experience.
I agree that the professional (not to mention ethical) thing to do at this point would be a very public apology, and double the commissions. Not only does this bring into question the manner in which they treat their affiliates — but how can you trust marketing advice from a company that isn’t paying their bills?
Perhaps the folks at MS should stop hawking their products, and instead sit down a read a few of them.
Thanks for all the comments everyone.
Like I mentioned in the update at the beginning of the post, I did get an apologetic call and an assurance that my check was in the mail. It’s a start, at least.
Sorry about what happened bro but thanks for alerting us !
Hopefully they have realised how much power word of mouth has! Please let us know if and when you get the money.
I thought that name sounded familiar. I have only heard of their practices here: http://twitter.com/portentint/status/2192145676
Going public with it got him a check suddenly. He said last week he’s waiting for it to clear.
Yup, I went through the same ridiculous cycle. While they apologized and paid (finally), I doubt I’ll do much more to sell their stuff. It’s a shame, really.
[...] Warning: It Doesn’t Pay To Be A MarketingSherpa Affiliate [...]
This is damage beyond repair, what has been shown is that they really don’t care about their affiliates and are only interested in reacting when they’re being pushed against the wall and being forced to take action.
They don’t even have the insights to add a formal correct public apology comment on this post to even try to repair the damage.
Or provide more information on how this type of amateurish affiliate program abuse/mis-management could have occurred in the first place!
They need to save face big time! and a quick update alone on a blog post like this isn’t going to cut it…what it takes is to show measures are being taken to prevent this from happening ever again to you or anyone else.
A message to MarketingSherpa’s President Bob Lorum:
Don’t be a coward and let some staffer do what you needed to do in the first place! – Take the responsibility and make that personal call yourself…make a public comment on this post with your apology and offer some credible solution to prevent this from happening again.
You can continue your pathetic destrcutive behavior or step up to the plate and do what’s right.
I’m actually surprised that a apologetic phone call from some unimportant staffer is enough to convince you anything is going to change for the better…it just shows you this isn’t taken seriously enough.
A start?
Not even close…
[...] Online Marketer Blog: This is the story of how I added over $1K to the MarketingSherpa coffers and was scammed out of hundreds of dollars in affiliate fees. (DJ Francis) [...]