I saw a post in the Warrior Forum where the writer listed the link to an article showing a way to make $100 a day online advertising on Craig's list using an affiliate dating site.
The thing is the person is a guy posing as a girl wanting to meet people. They go for pay per click income by setting up a bogus account with a dating site.
I found it interesting that the writer was excited about this idea, but the people who were replying did not feel comfortable doing it.
This got me thinking about ethical marketing and how important is it when it comes to making money online. Some people will think of this as ethical behavior or ethical integrity and these words are searched in various forms on Google everyday.
WHY?
You run your business online everyday that requires you to make ethical decisions in how you deal with your customers. Most of us never give it a second thought because we understand the golden rule....
"Do unto others as you would want them to do unto you"
If you promote a product that cheats people or takes their money is this the correct way to behave? With the explosion of social networking and the impact it can have on your business do you feel a certain ethical social responsibility to treat people the way you would want them to treat you.
How about selling a product that you know will not deliver what it says it does, but it has a great sales page and converts well. You also make high commissions on it. Is it o.k. to continue to sell that!
How about this? You buy a report that comes with no resell rights, yet you give it away as a bonus for joining your mailing list. You think so highly of it that you feel people must have it, so you give it away by justifying the good it will do.
What kind of a vibe will you get back for this kind of marketing. Is that ethical to do? This does cheat the author out of commissions, but you are helping the people who will read it.
Ethics in the workplace have long been a part of almost every orientation a person gets when they start a new job. However, I have never seen any kind of a course offered online teaching this very topic to internet marketers.
Most of us adopt a let the buyer beware mentality in our own individual Internet marketing ethics.
So I would like to suggest that if you are going to do anything in your business and you question if what you are about to do it morally correct, do not do it. Error on the side of caution.
Ethical marketing is a personal choice, but one that will reflect on you long after your time on this earth is over.
