Anybody and everybody in internet marketing says your “list” is worth gold.  If you don’t have a list, you don’t have a chance at making any real money…so they say.

While I agree that a list is very important, I think it’s equally important to treat your list with TLC.  And yes, I do mean Tender Loving Care.

I belong to A LOT of email lists.  I have the blogs I follow, the internet marketing gurus, forums and network marketing geniuses.  All in all, I get about 20 – 30 emails a day.  One thing I’ve noticed though is how differently each group treats their list – especially when it comes to affiliate marketing.

Affiliate marketing in principle is a great idea.  You get paid for recommending goods and services.  I like to think about it as if I were getting paid to recommend someone go to a movie I like.  We all “refer” people to services and to buy products everyday; from groceries to cars, referrals are what makes the economy chug along.

But, I have noticed (a personally challenging) trend.  I have seen some owners mistreat their list by promoting every program, course and service they can sign up for.  There is one list in mind that sends me at least 2 affiliate emails a week for a course I should take or a service I should purchase.  Now normally this wouldn’t bother me except for one thing – this person lies.

I know this is a strong accusation, but one that is unfortunately true.

In the email they send, this person says, “I have done xxx or I have used this product for xxx years and it’s great!  Now you should go get it too so you can succeed like me.”  Well, not exactly in those words but you catch  my drift.  The problem is on 3 separate occasions, I know for a FACT that this person has not used the product or services.

I can even understand how this happens.  When you sign up as an affiliate, you get a bunch of tools to use to get people to buy using your link.  Sometimes you get banner ads (like the ones on this website), text links, sample tweets and even blog posts and emails.  A great affiliate manager will provide all these tools for you to use to make the process easier for you.  But, they are meant to be tweaked with your personal experience and information – not copied word for word if it doesn’t apply to you.

We all know that a testimonial for anyone is a great referral, but only if it’s true.

So please, if you have a list of subscribers, please treat them with TLC.  Make sure you provide valuable content that you use and know to be of great value and good service.  I can only hope one day to have a large list of subscribers.  But whether I have 10 or 100, I will treat them with the respect and gratitude they deserve.

What do you think?  Has affiliate promotion to other people’s lists gotten out of hand?  What has been your experience?