AffSphere Review – Why I Won’t be Submitting Articles to AffSphere

August 18th, 2008 | 51 comments

affsphere review A week or so ago a new article directory was launched called “AffSphere. AffSphere was created by Anik Singal, who is also head of “Affiliate Classroom.”

Obviously everyone and their brother is promoting this, hoping to earn some affiliate cash, and of course most of the people who are promoting this either don’t understand what article marketing is all about, or just care more about commissions than they do about preserving (or building) an honest reputation.

After going through the videos, here are my thoughts.

What is AffSphere?

AffSphere is a new “article directory,” which is more or less a creative marketing technique to upsell it’s authors into Affiliate Classroom.

It’s just like you’re typical article directory, but there are “8 ways to make money,” which I’ll go over in a minute. Most of these 8 ways are nothing new, and I predict most authors will make little money with it and those who do, could have made much more by doing good keyword research and submitting their articles to established article directories.

One thing that was mentioned over and over and over again in the prelaunch videos was the fact that others can syndicate your content from AffSphere on their own sites/newsletters etc. This is was many people believe the “real” advantage to article marketing is, but those of us who have been marketing online with articles for years know that good syndication doesn’t happen very often at all.

Articles are syndicated allllllllll the time from article directories, but they aren’t syndicated to quality sites 99% of the time; they are scraped onto splogs.

I’ve had articles syndicated to quality sites, but it doesn’t happen very often at all and when it does, it’s syndicated from an authority site like EzineArticles, not AffSphere.

AffSphere says there are “8 ways to make money”

1 “Traffic generation” – Same as all other article directories. The only problem is that AffSphere is brand new and has very little authority in the Search Engines. I’ve run several article directories in the past and I can tell you with 100% confidence, the real traffic with article directories comes from the thousands of long tail articles ranking in SE’s and that doesn’t happen over night.

Sites like EzineArticles can get our articles top 10 rankings because of years of strict quality guidelines, which equals trust with G and Y.

2 “Ad Credits” – Nothing new, usually equals very little exposure. You get double credits if you’re an Affiliate Classroom member. (upsell) You’ll be competing with every other affsphere member. How much exposure will that realistically provide?

3 “Trade credits for adsense impressions” (adsense revenue sharing) – There have been loads of revenue sharing article directories and sites pop up over time. None of them ever make it anywhere because they’re spammed with trash content from authors trying to make a quick buck. Once again, how much money will you make realistically when you’re competing with every other author? Same goes for #7 below.

4 “5 tier downline” – Good for people with decent exposure, not for the average article marketer. AffSphere promotes other products/services and your commissions for 5 tiers deep. Neat, but just anther affiliate program. If you can send exposure you can make money… do you have enough exposure to send them in order to make a decent amount of money?

5 “Viral AffSphere Recruiting” – Your affiliate link for AffSphere goes into each of your articles. Most of the traffic to your articles (if there is any) will be coming from search engines and that traffic will be targeted to the topic of your article… this will make you very little, if any money.

6 “Affiliate Classroom Commissions” – Once again, upsale for Affiliate Classroom. Your Affiliate Classroom affiliate link goes into your articles.

7 “Affiliate links in articles” – Some article directories have allowed this, but ultimately they restrict it for the same reason revenue sharing article directories never go anywhere. People submit loads of crappy, PLR content with hopes of making a quick buck.

8 “Commissions on sales” – uhm, there’s a 5 tier affiliate program, which is why there are so many stunning reviews, which are more of “I love this” than they are reviews.

My Conclusion

The above review may sound harsh. I actually have no problem at all with Anik and the overall idea is a smart one from a marketing point of view. I’m sure it will bring in loads of new clients to Affiliate Classroom.

But it’s simply not going to help my article marketing efforts, not for a long while at least. I also think Anik and his team have bitten off more than they can chew in regards to their extremely loose article acceptance guidelines. It’s A BUNCH of work to maintain standards with an article directory and unless the Author Guidelines are tightened up soon, AffSphere will never see the kind of traffic EzineArticles, Buzzle etc. see.

Related Posts

51 comments

Neels Theron - Non-Guru Road To Making Money Online (9 comments.)
18th August, 2008 at 4:44 pm

Thanks for your take on this, Josh. I haven’t had time to take a close look at AffSphere. Will do so soon and keep your post your post in mind then. It is good to get the other side of the story after all the hype of the last few days. You are absolutely right – if their quality control isn’t up to scratch, the long-term results won’t come near the quality directories.
Rich Hill (5 comments.)
18th August, 2008 at 4:46 pm

Josh,

All good common sense as usual. I never go for these revenue sharing deals where the first thing they want is your account information. Nope.

I write articles and submit often also but have never had anyone email me that they used one of them. I have used a couple as fillers on one of my slow traffic sites and I always let the author know with thanks.

Do we really need another article directory?

Thanks.

Rich
Alex Newell (11 comments.)
18th August, 2008 at 4:53 pm

Well I’m generally sceptical about anything connected with Anik Singal having bought a couple of his products and finding them wanting.

I think it will attract lots of low quality articles and perhaps the established articles directories will get less article spam!.

But I’m sure it will attract the “Bum Marketing” niche – it’s quite a clever idea to have an article directory at the top of your marketing funnel.

Thanks for straight talk Josh – there ain’t many around on the Net that don’t jump on every promotion.

All The Best

Alex
Alex (1 comments.)
18th August, 2008 at 4:57 pm

Great post,thanks for sharing this info…i think ezinearticles is one of the best,so time is money and submit articles on unknown directories,i think is time wasted-my opinion.
John (1 comments.)
18th August, 2008 at 4:58 pm

Thanks for your thoughts on this Josh. To be honest I am reluctant to jump into these promotions where everyone is promoting just to get a affiliate check.
Charles marriage (6 comments.)
18th August, 2008 at 5:00 pm

I laughed – what an excellent review.

I registered, and was going to get around to really looking at it, but it all seemed too complicated.

It had a whiff of the perpetual motion machine about it. And 8 ways of making money ??@@@*** – I need just one good one
Kris (19 comments.)
18th August, 2008 at 5:01 pm

Josh, I know people who run a business need to make money, and selling new products is one way. But honestly, there are so many make money and affiliate marketing products out there, you get blind to them. This one just seemed too complicated for a simple process to entice me to buy.

Kris
Nnamdi Iregbulem (1 comments.)
18th August, 2008 at 5:04 pm

This is exactly what I was saying when I heard about AffSphere a couple months ago. Just a way for the guy to make money off us.

No real benefits for actual article marketers.
Arun Pal Singh (10 comments.)
18th August, 2008 at 5:10 pm

Whether you make money or not but one thing is sure.Affsphere is getting many a visitors, backlinks from various reviews and promotions.

I am getting good traffic from my submitted articles.

BTW I occupy third positions in Top Authors.

Josh,

There are some good points in your ebook about keyword research and submission.

Keep up the good work.
greg cryns (2 comments.)
18th August, 2008 at 5:10 pm

Jason,

It’s a good think I follow you on Twitter else I would have missed this excellent post.

I, too, shy away from revenue sharing. I do have one going with Squidoo but that is hardly spit money and I have a LOT of Squidoo lenses.

I would rather not speak negatively about these things but the truth needs to be told here and in other areas of our lives.

Thanks for this cogent post.
Narayanan Hariharan (1 comments.)
18th August, 2008 at 5:11 pm

Hey Josh! Thanks for the heads up on this Saved me and a whole lot of others who follow your blog a lot of time and I hope some money too!
How to Do Anything (1 comments.)
18th August, 2008 at 5:18 pm

All I want to say is, hats off to you for being honest and calling a spade, well, a spade.
Steve @ Mens Health and Fitness (3 comments.)
18th August, 2008 at 5:26 pm

There sure has been a bunch of stuff about this. Even UAW sent out a thing on this site this morning. Like you say, most are going for the affiliate commision and not much of anything else.
Thanks for the critique,
Steve
Brian Foley (8 comments.)
18th August, 2008 at 5:35 pm

Ei, Gudde, wie?!

Thanks, Josh. I was wondering about this, and am glad you have saved me a lot of time. With everyone under such pressure and overwhelm, you’ve done a good service of saving us from yet again investing time in something that does not have great ROI on effort.

Brian (a.k.a. Professor Homunculus)
Jay (1 comments.)
18th August, 2008 at 5:36 pm

Josh, I have been at this awhile (you know, the internet thing”) and appreciate someone being honest in a real review. I just can’t jump on ALL the bandwagons but good ideas do come with the ride so— not many are ever without value. Learn something from everyone–even if it is to learn what not to do.
Anik is a smart cookie and I will never shy away from learning from him or anyone else. This is worth revisiting once the kinks are worked out.
Mike Rogers (3 comments.)
18th August, 2008 at 5:44 pm

A really well thought out post, Josh.

Most of the time it is a whole lot better to just sit back and see how things work out before jumping into new and untested systems.

This one seems no different.

Mike
Joan Mezger (1 comments.)
18th August, 2008 at 5:47 pm

Anytime I see a whole bunch of “I just love……”(fill in the blank) or “This program is knocking my socks off!” or “I’m making a mint from XYZ” type testimonials, I back up and take another look or just run as fast as I can.

I may miss some good programs that way but so be it.
used wedding dress (1 comments.)
18th August, 2008 at 5:50 pm

You now its funny you wrote this post i was thinking the same thing. Again your style shines through as honest and professional.

Being in the IM world for about a year now i have witnessed all the hype for every new product and after the recent batch of “Bad News” I view most lists I am on as worthless and unsubscribed from most of them except your and 2 others.

This product turns out to be just the same massively pushed crap thats popping up every week.
Mark McCullagh (8 comments.)
18th August, 2008 at 5:59 pm

I got a few emails regarding Affsphere and my thoughts were fairly similar to yours Josh.

The funny thing is, I was interested in your opinion and here it is. Nicely done!

I think you said it best here:”…could have made much more by doing good keyword research and submitting their articles to established article directories.”
Patrik Berggren (1 comments.)
18th August, 2008 at 6:16 pm

Excellent Review!

The site must have been online, searchable and indexed, for atleast two months or soo, since it has a PR 3. As I remember the last PR update was a couple of weeks back. So, brand new it isn’t, or they have put it in to build trust in SE before the launch.

The time will tell if it is going to be a good article archive, well worth to keep in mind and also test it out …
Rhonda Holland (2 comments.)
18th August, 2008 at 6:32 pm

I am so glad someone took the time to actually analyze this program and lay out the facts and not just the hype.

Two thumbs up.
lexi (1 comments.)
18th August, 2008 at 6:45 pm

thanks for your comments josh. i was just about to begin doing article marketing for my newly acquired website, and i did sign up for affsphere (but not for affiliate classroom). i also reviewed your “article marketing commotion” report and as i did, the same thoughts occurred to me as the ones you mentioned in your blog.

thanks for the thoughtful comments on affsphere.
Final Expense Leads
18th August, 2008 at 7:06 pm

Josh,

I think your article is well written and your points quite reasonably made – I’m a fan!

My quibble is with the misstatement of your email solicitation to read this post. You claim that “And as usual, I reward frequent commentators with live, followed links to their site.”

This seems somewhat misleading as all comments on this posting are “nofollow-ed”. What is your “dofollow” policy?
Brian (6 comments.)
18th August, 2008 at 7:26 pm

Hi, Josh

Thanks for the Affsphere review. Much appreciated…

I was also wondering what your opinion is of another recent article directory launch… Google’s Knol…

Worth submitting to? Take care…

Brian
Chris (5 comments.)
18th August, 2008 at 7:50 pm

I agree with an earlier commentor in that I was amazed to see Noel Swanson at UAW get into bed with this – his product is way ahead so I suppose money must be tight.

As soon as I read the blurb from Anik I also saw straight away that it was really only a barely concealed entree for Affiliate Classroom, and a pretty complex one at that – it read to me very much like an MLM.

And as for quality control read again about what he said he’d accept. I don’t think there’ll be too much quality to control with what he’s likely to be flooded with…
Charles
18th August, 2008 at 8:30 pm

Josh,
Thanks for this post.

I’ve recently had a VERY bad experience with Affiliate Classroom PPC. They’re just too damned “slick” for their britches and those of us whom they’ve “gotten over on” are so angry–pissed that we’re telling anyone who will listen. Here’s my story: I recently took them up on an offer for a (FREE) $29.00 & handling charge only for their PPC Classroom. I could NOT order just the so-called FREE sample. Their order entry program, after I had ordered the sample, WOULD NOT let me complete the final authorization without signing up for the $497.00 program and $50.00 per month forever.

I clicked off their site without final authorization.

They sent me the package. Only 2 of the, I don’t remember how many, CDs worked. I assumed they were crippled because of my $29.00 trial. That would have been ok with me for $29.00. I didn’t expect a full blown program–I didn’t expect the world. Even though I WAS VERY SURPRISED when their material arrived in the mail when I thought I had aborted the order by clicking off their site.

The 2 CDs that worked were simply a poorly done recording of a phone interview that basically said nothing new.

Their printed material was of the same inferior caliber. Not only did it not say anything new or useful, it was a cheap photo-copy of various materials from several sources. They charged me $497.00 plus $50.00 a month for that “SHIT”? No Way!

I immediately contacted my credit card company and explained the situation. They said it was a FRAUDULENT transaction and advised me to CLOSE MY ACCOUNT IMMEDIATELY which I did.

I have returned all materials to PPCClassrooms. It cost me another $11.00 plus my time and not only my time but my angst and aggravation.

I can’t imagine the successful future of any company that employs tactics such as this. Do they really think EVERYONE is STUPID?
Trent Brownrigg (14 comments.)
18th August, 2008 at 9:24 pm

Thank you very much Josh! I almost jumped on the AffSphere bandwagon last week but decided to hold off for a while until I knew more about it. After reading what you had to say I think I will pass on it for now.
Gary (4 comments.)
18th August, 2008 at 9:51 pm

Thanks for another great article/review Josh!
I think there is a point when everyone knows hype from real information but in some cases, it can be quite obscure. It takes a real pro to bring it to light.
I have been on the internet for years trying to figure out the best way to make money online. I use to fall for all the scams, I was buying ebook after ebook without any or very little success at all. I was surely spending way more than I was taking in and I was frustrated to say the least. Now I look at it as an investment in my education and a hobby and if some day, I start making decent money, GREAT!
I feel like I know who to look for when I need help though and that to me is an accomplishment.
Mike McBride
18th August, 2008 at 10:06 pm

Josh,

Thank you for reaffirming what I felt from the moment I received my first email promoting Affsphere. It made absolutely no sense to me, and I’m glad to see I wasn’t missing something. Anik is a sharp cookie and seems like a decent guy whom I wish well, but this didn’t seem like a true win/win situation for article marketers.
Josh Spaulding
18th August, 2008 at 10:16 pm

@ Final Expense – I’d advise before leaving another comment like that on another blog, you read their comment policy first! http://ez-onlinemoney.com/blog/comment-policy/ After reading mine you’ll see why I’ve also stripped your URL.
Michelle Adams (11 comments.)
18th August, 2008 at 10:52 pm

Hi Josh, Thanks for your thoughts on this new bandwagon. I’m so new to all this that every piece of advice is precious. Again you have given your opinion in an honest and logical way. Thanks so much.
Free Website Graphics (2 comments.)
18th August, 2008 at 11:07 pm

Hey Josh,

It’s not hard to develop thick skin after being online for more than a few years!

It’s interesting to watch those who have been online for a good number of years….most become hardened to the explosion of promotions that come on launch day. And then there are those that are fairly new that jump on the bandwagon and promote every opportunity that comes in their inbox.

I can’t blame anyone who tries to make money by promoting a product or service as an affiliate….experienced marketer or newbie.

What becomes offensive is when something is promoted as if it’s the best thing since sliced bread….when in reality that marketer has no idea wether the product is any good or not, since they don’t own it or haven’t read or used it. Bottom line, if you are an affiliate marketer doing this….your credibility is affected because as you can read by the posts in the thread, people are on to your unscrupulous methods.

Affiliate marketing would be a lot more credible if those promoting took the time to become familiar with the product or do a real live analysis like Josh has done as to the viability of a product. If the product is questionable…you can still promote it, but do so with your honest review.

For instance, you could say, you might like to try Joe’s New XYZ product that guarantees you’ll make a ton of money….but I don’t believe it…here’s the link joesxyx.com ……..check it out for yourself.

Or how about this one, send an email saying I can’t recommend this product because I just don’t think it will work…..just as Josh did. Then….maybe those on your list will have a little more respect for you and be more willing to consider your opinions as objective and meaning referrals rather than Leming Speak…..:)

Regarding this new directory….I looked at it briefly since my inbox was bombarded the other day and I thought it might be worth a closer look. Can’t say whether it’s good or bad or inbetween…..but I’m thankful Josh took the time for an honest review, rather than blatantly promoting something just for the cash. Face it, Josh probably has a few readers and if he added an affiliate link, said some nice words…he probably would have made a nice little bonus for himself this month…..but the man has a conscious….do you?

Thanks Josh! Nice to know I’m not alone.

Scott Parat
Evan (27 comments.)
18th August, 2008 at 11:52 pm

Thanks Josh.

I was worried I was being overly sceptical – I just couldn’t see what was all that different.

Thanks for cutting through the hype (once again).
Vern (17 comments.)
19th August, 2008 at 12:23 am

Hey Josh,

Nice review bro. I mean this is real honest stuff talking from a real perspective. I’ve not seen anymore article directories so far being able to get me more traffic than is expected. I’m gonna take a breather and say that wow, I’m glad I initially invested in your AMD much earlier on and your advice was never wrong. God Bless!
Step-by-Step Affiliate Marketing Guides (14 comments.)
19th August, 2008 at 1:06 am

I completely agree with you Josh, I got the info as well, and I was not impressed nor do I believe it will help my article marketing in any way.
John (3 comments.)
19th August, 2008 at 2:30 am

I couldn’t agree more with what you say, Josh.

There are good reasons why E.A. & Buzzle, etc. have tight submission guidelines…wonder when, not if, Anik’s “error of judgement” here will puncture his “Sphere”!
Matt Wood (1 comments.)
19th August, 2008 at 4:40 am

Outstanding review, Josh. Of ezine articles, that is.(chuckle). I’m going to have to look into them again, as it seems to be doing you very well.

I must be the last person on the continent to hear about this new program, but I already know of over 150 article sites- is the world in general ready for another? I doubt it.
Ayo (1 comments.)
19th August, 2008 at 5:07 am

I was offered this promo by someone else but felt it looked too good to be true.
adrian lee (1 comments.)
19th August, 2008 at 6:24 am

So everybody’s giving this a thumbs down then?

Maybe we should see how this turns out. There are lots of people who submit to every directory out there. This is just one more. Good for black-hatters maybe. Personally, I use ezine article.
Peggy (11 comments.)
19th August, 2008 at 12:45 pm

Thanks, Josh, for the review. I had received a promotion but was too busy to read it and get sucked in.

I would be curious, though, to hear from more people who have tried it. Are they getting any results? And I don’t mean from promoting it through their affiliate link.

Thanks,
Peggy
Alta (1 comments.)
19th August, 2008 at 1:51 pm

1. I was surpised by the price. If it was $20 , I would have purchased it because sales letter and presentation is too good.
Josh Spaulding
19th August, 2008 at 2:11 pm

@ Arun – That’s good to hear. Does it compare to EzineArticles, Buzzle, ArticleDashboard etc.? If it does it would be a miracle, but I’d love to hear about it.

@ Jay – Very true. Like I said, it’s not a bad model, but it just needs time. The main purpose of this post was to let people know that most of this is simply hype. It’s not a scam, it’s just not the money maker Anik is making it out to be, not yet anyway.

@ Joan – That’s how you know when it has a good affiliate program

@ Patrik – Just because it has a TB PR doesn’t mean it has any authority. I have sites with 1 incoming link that hold a PR3.

@ Brian – Google Knol is more of a Wiki type thing than an article directory. It’s very similar to Jason Calacanis’s Mahalo. I’m sure it can drive traffic if worked correctly. I haven’t messed with it yet, but I know some have.

@ Charles – Ouch, sorry to hear that. There are always two sides to a story, but your side hurts!

@ Scott – Wow, that’s a long comment I completely agree and that is one thing people just don’t seem to understand. If you promote everything under the sun, and you’re not even trying it yourself, noone is going to trust you… it shines through eventually.

@ Peggy – I haven’t heard of any, but you never know. I seriously doubt anyone is getting much traffic at all and I would ask for proof from anyone who says they are. It simply doesn’t have any authority in the SE’s and it takes a bunch to get authority deep into a thick article directory.
Walt (1 comments.)
19th August, 2008 at 5:52 pm

Actually, this is the first I’ve heard about this particular program. But now, because of your informative review, I won’t have to waste any time looking into it when the hype does roll my way. Thanks for the time saver!

I appreciate your honesty and integrity.
Brigitte Smith (1 comments.)
20th August, 2008 at 6:12 am

Thanks so much for this INDEPENDENT review (unlike 99.9% of review that we see).

It’s really appreciated, Josh.

I had received a lot of info about this program and had not had a chance to digest it all. But your review is comprehensive but to the point.

Thanks again.
Paula (4 comments.)
20th August, 2008 at 7:08 am

AffSphere seems to be everywhere. More often than not people will review something postively just to get a commission so it is good to see an unbiased review.
Jim O'D (2 comments.)
20th August, 2008 at 9:50 pm

Josh:
Thanks for your thorough explanation of all this. As a newbie to Article Marketing, your review has saved me a lot of time.
Thanks.
JIm O’D
Jeff (1 comments.)
24th August, 2008 at 10:26 am

AffSphere is not as widespread as it seems. Google is only showing about 20,000 pages on this.

However, being that you have given them adequate attention. Your experience with them is very helpful and will caution others.

Thanks
Tom Lindstrom (6 comments.)
29th August, 2008 at 2:19 pm

I have to be a little different.I joined, re-wrote a few articles and submitted them.Affsphere is still in beta-mode so lets see how it goes.
Elisabeth (3 comments.)
31st August, 2008 at 2:52 am

Thanks for the detailed review, Josh! I hadn’t actually heard of this site before, and now, especially after reading all the comments, I became kind of curious.

So while I agree with a lot of your caveats, I also agree with your statement that it’s really quite a smart idea, especially from a marketing point of view.

And I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. Wish I had come up with it

And in terms of submitting articles there… I don’t think of it as an either/or proposition. I’ve got plenty of articles to go around, and what with being able to publish them in multiple directories anyway, I figure, why not publish a few over there too, and see what happens.

As I said, now I’m curious. I want to see how this pans out and where they can take it. I’m not exactly counting on this to make me rich, though, quickly or otherwise. But I’m open and receptive to all good things that may come to me.

As far as the competition is concerned… that strikes me as no different than in any other directory, so I won’t worry about that. If I can earn some credits and get my banner ads posted there, it means more exposure, and that sounds pretty good to me.

So thanks for alerting me to this opportunity while also helping me keep my wits about me as I give this a shot.
Sum Content (2 comments.)
24th September, 2008 at 7:27 pm

Working on an article directory right now so this def helped me a lot to switch up our editorial guidelines we are working on. Still trying to figure out whether we want to let people include affiliate links or not.
Charles marriage (3 comments.)
25th September, 2008 at 6:27 am

Switching up ? What did the comment mean, overall ? Totally incomprehensible to my ears I’m afraid.