Menu

• Dictionary
• Hot Shots

Directory

• Sponsors
• Billing Options
• Content Providers
• Web Hosting
• Traffic Counters
• Website Designers
• Resource Sites

Here in Australia it's early Sunday morning as I write this. It's an absolutely beautiful morning that started with a stunning sunrise that was really inspiring to watch. It was even more special because, for the last two weeks, we've had nothing but gray skies, lots of rain and the continual threat of a tropical cyclone forming almost directly off the coast from where I live.

Now though the rain has gone, the skies are blue and the threat of a cyclone has drifted away for the moment. And that sunrise was like a reminder that there is something more out there than just gray skies and lots of rain.

In lots of ways it's a reminder to us in this industry that there's a lot more to life than what we see through the computer screen. I know that right there on the computer screen is where our business life might be centered but it's not reality ... the real life that we should enjoy is out there beyond the window ... out there where the birds are singing, the sun is shining and real people are enjoying life.

Even if what you're seeing out your window is totally different to what I see you still need to get out there and experience real life. The longer I stay in online marketing whether it be in mainstream or adult the more I think that this is a very nasty business to be in and it's so easy to be tainted by what we do. While there are plenty of us who want to do business in an ethical manner there are so many around us that don't.

They would rather lie, cheat, steal and con their way to whatever their slimy goals might be and there is no doubt that they do have some influence on many affiliate marketers.

Last year adult online marketing had the issue with Zango and they way they popped ads over the top of smaller affiliate marketers. What surprised me at that time was not that there's a business like Zango out there, with their grubby little ways of scamming everyone who uses a computer, but that there were so many adult webmasters who thought that the way Zango does business was perfectly legitimate.

Now Zango has resurfaced again, this time they're infecting Facebook and some experts suggest that Zango has managed to infect about a million Facebook users with their grubby little downloads. Not only are Facebook users now getting mainstream advertising popping up on their computers but they're also getting more adult marketing as well.

I guess it won't be long before Zango gets hit with another hefty fine but that's not going to stop them. And for many marketers, stuck in the unreality of this online world there must be a real temptation to emulate Zango. Even small-time webmasters are going to be looking at crossing the line simply to make a buck when they see others getting away with it.

When your only view of the world is what you see through your computer monitor then I guess it's easy to lose your perspective and think that any marketing method is justified if you want to make money but seriously folks it's not. It's not acceptable even here in adult online and if that's the only way you're going to make money then it's a definite indication that you shouldn't be in this industry.

If the only way you can make money is by scamming someone then you're a very poor specimen indeed and maybe you should go back to flipping burgers because sooner or later you're going to get caught. Zango has been caught and fined already and there's no doubt they'll get caught again. They had the financial resources to be able to pay the hefty fine that was imposed on them last time but would you be able to cope with a fine like that?

And even if you could handle a hefty fine what if they change the laws before they do catch up with you? What if you faced a term of imprisonment as well as a fine?

Did you ever get those spam emails suggesting that you should jump into the share market and buy up a whole bunch of penny stock in a company you had never heard of because the company's shares were about to skyrocket?

There was a time when those emails filled inboxes across the planet but have you seen one lately? It seems that most of those emails came from just once source and now he's been indicted and is facing some serious jail time. Even if he doesn't get a big sentence there's every chance that he'll lose all the money and assets he's amassed.

Would you really want to risk jail and the loss of all your wealth simply because you went over to the dark side of marketing? For many people who think that what they see and deal with here online every day is reality then the dark side must look very inviting and if that's happening to you then step back ... get out into the real world and see what a real life is like

Seeing life through your office window is one thing, seeing it through your computer monitor is something else, seeing it through a cell window is something that you never ever want to experience.