On 11/22, filed report with Internet Crime Complaint Center but did not receive a response from any investigative agency/organization yet.
I built my first website through Genesis Consulting Group and pay them $29.95/mo. After I finished setting up the site I had no traffic and one evening this Fall their exec Pat Fields called me and I agreed to pay them another $1,995 for 15,000 visitors and coaching sessions as needed. I've had 3 coaching sessions which were good and now have access to their training center, which has info I already knew. My problem: At the bottom of my Home page it indicates I've had over 1,200 visitors and to date have had no sales. I paid $100 for a PRWeb news release on Nov. 2nd and personally distributed 500 flyers in suburban neighborhoods.
On Friday afternoon, 11/19, I called Genesis Consulting Group and a man (don't have his name) that I had run a news release, etc. And have traffic but no sales. He was almost incoherent and told me he would be emailing Customer Service and said they would call me before the end of the day. I received no phone call and the next day, Saturday 11/20 I called Genesis and discovered my domain name was not entered in my Amazon Associates account, so that problem has been rectified. At that time I asked the support associate if everything was alright with my affiliate banners and he answered there was no problem, "No sales."
I have affiliate advertising on the site through Commission Junction (CJ), ShareASale and LinkShare. On 11/22 I called CJ and was assured there was no problem with my account. I also spoke to a woman I know who works for affiliate marketing experts and she told me I should have had sales considering the number of visitors. My site is not top notch; however, the Home page begins with a list of Christmas gift ideas with pictures of the products and links to bring you to the advertiser sites to learn more about the product and make purchases. And the site is loaded with affiliate banners and explanatory language for jewelry, fireplaces, consumer electronics, computer accessories, etc.
I don't think I'm being a sore loser and suspect foul play. My question, which the rep at CJ dismissed, is whether a website building company could rip you off if they had my CJ account number in the HTML codes? I don't think it's Commission Junction, ShareASale or LinkShare. But maybe I'm wrong. On 11/21 I took down many affiliate banners on the site and encrypted the links and hid the tracking codes in the link. However, the website building company would still know my account number. I don't know much about website security, but hopefully Genesis takes care of this.
I have another theory but I'm not knowledgeable enough about the technical aspects of how a website building company powers/manages a website to answer the question. Is it possible for website visitors to click a banner and it doesn't work properly? In other words, it doesn't go through to the advertiser or it goes through to the advertiser's site but the sale doesn't go through to the website owner's account with CJ, LinkShare, etc.? Is it a technical problem or a willful act to manipulate the website owner's sales commissions? Or perhaps once The website building company sells a package to the website owner, they simply do a lousy job technically supporting the website. I haven't called Genesis again. Is this a matter an attorney should be handling?
The sad part is that my site is promoting all sorts of Christmas gifts, so it's seasonal sales.By the way, my friend who works for the website gurus purchased an item with one of my CJ advertisers, and my one and only commission appeared in my CJ account. You would think that's would be test to see if Genesis is giving me credit for any sales. I don't think so because it's only one quick transaction and not a test over a longer period of time. Also, the number of visitors (1,200) tell you that some of them would have to buy something... Unless of course, the number of visitors is inaccurate.
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