The reading level for this article is Novice
Another in the long, long list of affiliate programs flooding the web with home based business opportunity promises. SFI, founded in 1998 by Billy Carson, is essentially a product and service broker (a storefront).
Affiliates are provided with a clone website where a small link in the upper right hand corner of the page identifies you as the SFI sponsor. The navigation bar provides a video overview of the store, how compensation works, testimonials, and how to join. You will also find the SFI products tab on the navigation bar. This tab will take you directly to the Veriuni™ Store page where you will find all the store departments and be able to make purchases.
Within the Veriuni™ Store you can purchase closeouts, books, food, a membership to the International Association of Home Business Entrepreneurs (IAHBE), magazines, natural cleaners, personal care, pet care, telecommunications, and wellness/nutrition products. Within the store you will also find the refund policy (30 days), the contact us, and the about us information.
Why do I have a problem with this? As all of you are aware, I am not a fan of affiliate programs. That doesn’t mean that there aren’t some good ones out there, but I have never found one that could get around all the little things that make working on the Internet less than successful for the affiliate, like the clone website, the impossible URL with the affiliate number, etc.
While Billy Carson may be getting rich, flooding the web with this type of marketing makes it almost impossible to deliver on the promises the program makes. And, SFI Marketing Group is promising to be all things to all people, a principle that has never produced success for me. If you sell telecommunications, nutritionals, books and food can you really know your markets or products as an affiliate?
Maybe you don’t want to. Maybe the fact that this is a hands off, I don’t need to be involved business opportunity is what makes it attractive to some of you, but your customers will feel betrayed if the promises of SFI aren’t honored. So, you need to check out the customer service, the refund policy, and the effectiveness of the products before you recommend them or refer someone to your affiliate site. The question here is how involved do you want to be in your business?
SFI Marketing does have some affiliates that are trying to differentiate themselves on the web. They have an original homepage that links to the clone site. This home page however, usually is only one page of originality and then the process is repetitive.
What SFI is promising is lifestyle freedom. You can’t argue with that. But, success on the Internet usually isn’t as easy or as hands off as this. You are promised that you will learn how to build a business that produces money from home with a copyrighted system, how to work globally round the clock, and how to get that residual income that makes life so sweet.
The trick here is driving traffic to your clone site. Affiliates are told that by simply referring people to their site that they can create hundreds or even thousands of dollars a month when these people purchase the products and services. And the referrals are supposed to be free!
What if someone doesn’t purchase from you on the first, or even the second visit, but comes back to SFI Marketing later. How is this tracked? Can you guarantee that you will be paid? With all the sameness, how does an affiliate known only as a clone affiliate number get credit? I will email you the questions you should be asking before joining, if you just contact me for them.
So, what SFI Marketing Group will do for you, if you want an Internet business where your involvement isn’t necessary is host and maintain your website, take the orders, handle all product shipment, and provide all customer service. It sure takes the fun out of being in business from my point of view. Isn’t a relationship with your customer the most valuable component of business? Call me old fashioned, but I like knowing how my customers are treated.
Everything mentioned above is provided at no cost to you.
This is not my idea of a business, though, it may be yours. I would most certainly check out the levels of customer service because it better be excellent if it represents your good name, verify the ease of refunds and the refund guarantee, and really research what becoming an affiliate will mean. SFI Marketing should welcome these questions.
The valuable bonuses you will receive for free if you join SFI Marketing Group as an affiliate are Six-Figure Income Newsletter for life, and Internet Income®Course.
Best of all, I now have several students that are involved with SFI Marketing Group and I will be able to post our discussions to Home Biz Critic. I am currently reviewing the bonus materials.
