Have I been singled out by LinkWorth?
Do you still remember LinkWorth? The promising money making alternative to TLA, that I suggested few months ago? I am sure many of you do, because you had subscribed to it, right? Well… how has it been performing? Probably not so good, huh?
For me it’s been working great. Last month, it made me $908 (see screenshot) including the paid review that I wrote. No complain there…
However I have noticed something strange. Almost all of my links came in the first and second month after I signed up (through invitation by LW), and virtually none in the later months. So my question is, “Have I been singled out as a marketing tool for LinkWorth?” In order to know the answer to this question, I want to ask you my readers (who have signed up for LW) to tell me if you earned any money? If it did work for you?
Because if it didn’t work for any of you, and worked for me alone, then there is something wrong about it. I might have been purposely fed lots of links, so that I could be marketing (talking how great LW is working for me) on my blog.
If they (LW) did resort to such dirty trick, then it’s indeed a very bad thing to do. I hope they didn’t, and I hope that some of you are making money through LinkWorth. But let’s hear it from your own words, just to clear up this suspicion. Because I saw many of the familiar sites inside “LW Control Panel” had “zero” links for sometime already.
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32 Responses
to “Have I been singled out by LinkWorth?”
2 Trackback(s)
- Dec 4, 2007: AdesBlog.com » Blog Archive » How to handle untrue info about you
- Dec 31, 2007: AdesBlog.com » How you can charge premium prices for your ads
By CFernandes on Nov 3, 2007
I have been with them from day one and have yet to make one pennie. I do make about $300 a month with TLA…
By kuanhoong on Nov 3, 2007
Yup,
So far not a single link for me.
By Lori on Nov 3, 2007
I’ve received money for linkinpost but not linkintext. I just had a friend ask me about this because she heard that noone was making money from them. Dunno??
By chipseo on Nov 3, 2007
That is very interesting. I would really like to know the results as well since I have not yet signed up for it, but was thinking about it after reading your post a while back. I try not to sign up for everything the second it comes out so I held off with this one.
I do have a blog that is using TLA’s and it isn’t much, but they have paid me each month. I would have to give LW the benefit of the doubt but more stats would sure help. Please post your results when you get a chance, thanks for the post. Scott
By kucau on Nov 3, 2007
nothing from linkworth for me :(
By emigre on Nov 3, 2007
I have done 4 or 5 paid reviews over the last 8 months but no text links at all. None.
By xBrain on Nov 3, 2007
me too..sign up for LW for a long time and until now didn’t received any ads. maybe because I didn’t update my profile and sites. Today I try to update it - who knows - will keep posting
By Michael Woo on Nov 3, 2007
wow! $900 is alot of money! :D.. i never got a single link from them i guess that they just want blogs with high PR to monetize them.. my PR4 got nuts from them :(
By Wayne Liew on Nov 3, 2007
I am not making anything out of LW yet, waiting…
By StockTube on Nov 3, 2007
nothing for me yet … so i guess linkworth qualified into the SCAM program :)
cheers …
By Ron on Nov 4, 2007
Oh come on now. I have never personally asked you to write anything about us nor have we singled you out for any reason. I encourage you to remove everything you’ve written about us from your site if you honestly feel that way.
In the beginning, after I invited you to join LinkWorth, you emailed me and said you would give us a try and once you were familiar, you would write something about us. I told you I would suggest your site to our account managers and that is what I did. Checking your account, you’re still making good money, so it’s not like we gave you business and then took it away. This whole suggestion is ridiculous and I just don’t understand why you think we would single you out just for marketing purposes. I felt you have a good site to be included so I invited you.
With that being said, we openly tell partners that we pay attention to who writes about us and we try to spread the love to those who help us like you have. (blog.linkworth.com/want-to-earn-a-little-more-with-linkworth/) So this isn’t a secret or anything that we reward people for talking about us. And it definitely isn’t some sort of “trick”!
What it boils down to is this: the theme of your site compared to the advertisers we buy ads for. Search engines are changing and we have to make sure we build campaigns correctly for our advertisers or they will not work. Remember that we are not spending our money, we’re spending other’s money and most of them hand select the sites they want to be published on and remove any they do not. We also have some that give us control of it, but unless it’s a quality text ad, they’re not happy and they leave.
EVERYONE wants to make money, but everyone doesn’t spend money. Or maybe if I put it this way… if you ask 100 people would they rather make $900 or spend $900, how many people would say “spend”. All 10 would say “make”. Part of your “theory” IS right…we reward people who are good to us. But we don’t single anyone out like you suggest. I had zero idea you would write good things about us when I approached you. We have people that write good things about us but we have not been able to give any business their way either due to the site not being strong enough per the advertiser’s request or it just wasn’t a good fit.
@Stocktube - a SCAM! :| I’ll bite my tongue on replying to that comment.
By InvestorBlogger on Nov 4, 2007
… I’ve had some success on one or two blogs with one or two links and posts, but my primary blog hasn’t generated any interest, except from gambling sites (not particularly interested). But other blogs I know have done well, including GeniusTypes.com. Could be that success attracts success.
Kenneth
By Ades on Nov 4, 2007
Hi Ron,
Thanks for your response, it’s very kind of you to reply yourself. Now that you have replied, let the readers decide for themselves. Personally, I just wanted to do my part (even though I am making good money) to question LW and its work ethics. If you are right (which I am sure you are), then there is nothing to worry about. It will only strengthen your relationship with the members.
As for the posts that I have written about LinkWorth, I would like to make it clear that, they were written voluntarily. And I was really convinced that one could make money (lots of it) with LinkWorth, as I was making money immediately after joining, the very first month.
Lastly, we all know that not all systems work for everybody (every blog). However, if the system works for the selected few, that’s not a good sign either. Therefore, the true self of any system will be known only over time, it’s too early to tell about LW at this point in time, whether it works for most of the blogs or not.
But so far, it has been working great for me (unfortunately not to the above readers). Maybe we can discuss about its performance (with my readers) after another 3-4 months.
Cheers.
By Ron on Nov 4, 2007
No problem Ades. Trust me, it is in our best interest to make sure EVERYONE makes money. It’s how we make money too. If no one is making money, then we’re not either and we cannot continue to operate. If I could give every single partner website a grand in monthly business I would in a heartbeat, but it just doesn’t work like that. Those who have been with us for 2+ years are usually our biggest earners. It can take some time for certain accounts, but once you get going, people follow others actions and if they see people buy ads on partner A, they’ll usually follow their lead.
By StockTube on Nov 4, 2007
haha ron, got your attention didn’t i? your response at least shows linkworth is alive … but then maybe you can address why so many people are not enjoying the pie besides that the blog is not attractive enough, more publishers than advertisers, no matching yet, blah blah blah …
cheers ron …
By Ron on Nov 4, 2007
@stocktube… sure I’ll respond to your questions..
–”why so many people are not enjoying the pie” - classify “so many”? We have 10k + customers, we’ve paid out a couple million dollars in past 2 years alone. There’s plenty of people enjoying the pie. ;-)
–”more publishers than advertisers” - of course there are. You can’t show me one money making network that has more advertisers than publishers. It’s like I explained above, everyone would rather make money instead of spend it. Most networks you can bet on around 1 advertiser for every 5 customers. Plus, having more advertisers than publishers isn’t such a great thing. Advertisers want more options to select from. 3.5 years ago we had more advertisers than publishers and it limited what we could offer our advertisers.
Advertisers are usually very selective in what they want. Some want high alexa. Some want high ranking. Some want good content exactly related to their product or service. Some only want .com names. Some will not take any from blogspot sites. Right when you think you’ve heard it all, another curve ball is thrown our way.
Partners want to make money, period! If you guys don’t, then I understand that we’re a failure in your eyes. It is why we offer so many different products to monetize your site. We understand the more people we spread the love to the more people will be happy, so we’re constantly trying to think of ways to help our partners make money.
Anyhow, we’re running a contest that you can participate in and win a wii, one of 5 ipod shuffles or one of 5 account credits…
http://blog.linkworth.com/linkworth-contest-time-how-easy-can-it-get/
By StockTube on Nov 4, 2007
thanx for the response ron …
-maybe it’s due to geographical factor but based on the publishers feedback alone in adesblog, it appears over 90% of publishers here are not enjoying the pie - that’s “how many” …
-of oourse i’ve no problem understanding your justification on â€more publishers than advertisers†… no-brainer, isn’t it?
-so, i guess blogspot should take the back seat then as .com is the preferred publishers … not only linkads but it appears linkpost are not for blogspot as well, regardless of your contents (who says contents are the key ingredient to successfuly money making on the net?) … again, it’s no-brainer to understand this requirement …
at least the consolation prize to be part of linkworth is the opportunity to probably win the wii … cool
By hafreze on Nov 7, 2007
Linkworth not really a performing program for me. I just made a total of 23 dollars for the past one month. I’m quite dissaponted, more they are offering me the gambling, sex and other inappropriate advertisers that certainly doesn’t meet my site’s TOS.
But you are done very well with it, a total of 900+ is a big sum for me. I’m a part timer, so that money can cover up some overhead cost.
By Deelip on Nov 7, 2007
Its my first month with LW and I sold only one link through LW, its 10$. I make 50$ monthly from TLA.
By ron on Nov 7, 2007
@hafreze - I wanted to give you a friendly suggestion that might help you and others too. There were a few opportunities sent your way and the thing that hurts you is your grammar and spelling. Many times it’s a situation of English being a 2nd language, but reading bad grammar and misspellings is a quick turn off for our Account Managers and Advertisers in general.
I know I have typos all the time, so I have others read my posts before I publish. Spell check also helps me quite a bit. (I’m so paranoid I’ve made a typo in this post heh)
By Matt on Nov 7, 2007
Hey guys, I’ve got one other point to consider. Every time I have ever reached out and actually “recruited” a Partner to LinkWorth, I’ve naturally done what I could to push a few ads their way. Why wouldn’t I, right? I mean, I obviously saw something in that particular web site that drew me to it. And what really draws me or Ron or anyone else to a site is the value we think it can bring to our pool of advertisers. (They do pay the bills, after all.) We’re not going to beg someone who owns a PR 0 domain with a .biz extension that is trying to sell Viagra into LinkWorth, if you get my meaning.
Here’s the problem with that. Typically the sites that we like and pursue tend to have at least a decent size following/reputation with lots of loyal readers. And if that site owner actually does say something nice about LinkWorth, inevitably what happens is all of the readers of that site sign-up and begin to wonder why they’re not making the same money as whoever it was that referred them. And to be fair, that makes perfect sense when you think about it.
There’s no scam here. The scam would be on if we were using websites for our client campaigns that we know wouldn’t help them but we did anyway just to keep our Partners happy. ;)
By hafreze on Nov 7, 2007
yeah, I know that sometimes I made the mistake in grammar, since English is my second language. Actually, I try to improve it. But after all, I can make few hundred bucks from another programs, even with the broken english. I think they are looking forward to look at the content, as long as the content is understandable by others.
about the spelling, I’m usually make a double check in the Word, especially when I’m doing the paid post. Thanks Ron for the advice.
By Ades on Nov 27, 2007
Well, it turns out I was singled out after all (refer to Matt’s comments), as I suspecpted… You be the judge (my readers) if this is ethical, if you ask me - I wouldn’t resort to such marketing strategies. Even though, it’s not something totally unacceptable.
By Markk on Dec 10, 2007
After reading Matt’s comment, it looks like you’ve been set up. But at least you were given the opp to make some moolah out of Linkworth. But I can understand how you feel about it.
This is my first “in-depth” visit to your well-informed blog, read up a few articles here, and I think more future visits is warranted. The comments re-this post prompted me to give my own comment.
I was among one of those early sign-ups to Linkworth, probably long before you, and I wrote a review of them several months back. My Blogger site was PR4 within three months of blogging. Now it’s PR6. The site is run on its own custom domain, not blogspot.
Did I earn anything from Linkworth? Nah, zilch, nada! While waiting for them to give me an opening, I’ve made decent income from writing paid posts with the other companies, TLA, and affiliate programs, etc. One of the paid posts companies even wrote to say they wanted me to write more for them because they were impressed by my blog and its content. Of course, I can’t simply write any post that’s not right for my blog. I pick and choose what’s appropriate.
Well, it seems to me now that Blogger blogs are just not on with Linkworth. They can accept most people who sign up, but it’s gonna be a long, long wait for them to come to you. Talk about good English…geez, I’ve seen some Linkworth opp posts on .com blogs that sucks.
I guess, Linkworth have the right to pick and choose, too. It’s only business, nothing personal.
But let this be an eyeopener for bloggers who had signed up with Linkworth and still tapping their fingers waiting their first opp. You can do much better by focusing your energy elsewhere. After all Linkworth is not the only show in town.
I guess I may have enough ideas to write a post about Linkworth, and how I have good reasons to ditch them. Hmm…we’ll see.
By Ades on Dec 10, 2007
Markk, I think you can do very well with TLA since you have a PR6 blog.
Please see my latest post for more ideas on how to get new advertisers.
I also think that if you shift your blog to its own hosting (from blogspot) and make a nice custom design, it will be a lot more marketable. And I am sure your income from your blog will increase substantially.
By Vishnu on Jan 12, 2008
Hi,
In my case my website has good Alexa and Google ranking. To be frank I do not care for both of these rankings as they are just hype and can be manipulated. I have lots of unique visitors daily, mostly from website referrals and word of mouth.My site is top result in certain search keywords for certain categories.
I applied for both Textlinkads and later Linkworth. I was approved by both and I have placed the ad code of Text-Link-Ads and is waiting for advertisements for the past 10 days. Unexpectedly, yesterday I got an Ad approval e-mail from Linkworth ($100 per Link per month in Home Page). Approved and placed the ad and $35 credited in my account (Proportionate amount for the remaining days of the month). I have opted for the 50:50 plan from Linkworth. Hoping to get more ads from Linkworth. I am Happy. Waiting for Text-Link-Ads too…($80 per link). If the results are not good I will go Directly to advertisers who offer content related with my websites content.
I believe that “Content Is King”. If your website has good content, you will get lot of visitors.Once your website becomes popular, you can monetize your website. There are lot of opportunities. One method which works for one website may not work for another.
I am contented with Linkworth offering me a $100 link within 1 week and I expect to receive more ads from them. I e-mailed to Brock Broser of Text-Link-Ads and he has replied that it will take a few weeks for them. I am sure that I will get good response from them too. To make it short…I am happy :)
Vishnu
By Ades on Jan 15, 2008
Vishnu, congratulations!
By menj on Mar 17, 2008
I make money from them. Last month I got about $100+. Just got a new offer this morning by the way.
- MENJ
By Mike on Jun 27, 2008
Greeting to the blog and thank you for this very interesting topic. However it does remind me a little of the big New Coke advertising program from years back.
I joined LinkWorth about 10 days ago with only a PR4 site. I have received no offer directly by email (if they do that), but I have gotten some really decent jobs by checking the site several times a day.
So perhaps the blogger must look at this as a business not for LinkWorth but also for themselves. Since I have chosen to take on paid reviews then I consider this “my business”. And as owner it is my job to do whatever I can to promote myself, and look for opportunities.
That is how I have gotten my jobs with LinkWorth so far. Ss of right now I have been able to take 3 jobs from the listed opportunities. Each of these jobs the “advertiser” had to approve my site (which they did) and each article has been approved. In fact I just got the number 3 approval as I am typing this.
If this post is part of the promo it’s a good one because you have someone who was very high on the company a few month ago now questioning the ethics. You have the company replying. No problems as I see it.
But my opinion on what the LinkWorth spokeperson said here on your blog is also what one might call “open source” for the business person.
I don’t care if your selling peanuts or high dollar real estate you naturally carter to those who support you. So of course if you have a high traffic site and are promoting them you should get some perks. And I expect LinkWorth carters to the advertiser who spends 1000’s of dollars a month a little more than the one who spends $50. Now I am not saying that the guy who spends $50 bucks does not get his monies worth I am sure he does.
Just as a blogger or site owner we will go that extra distance for those who support us in whatever the endeavor. For example on my site we post blurbs of each article on our main page that includes a small picture of the product or site of the advertiser and we leave the blurb on for a week or so. This is not required by LinkWorth or the Advertiser but it is our way of showing both that we appreciate they chose us.
This is my opinion only. And so you will know this is not a spam type post or (paid post…haha)I am not mentioning the name of my site or anything.
Again great topic and great discussion.
Mike
By retro on Jul 31, 2008
im join LW a week ago, until now i didn’t received add or a penny:). oke this maybe myblog doesn’t had any traffic yet…