Internet Marketing Strategies and Marketing Tips by Neil Shearing

Best Of The Web (BOTW) are offering a coupon for May 2010 for $25 on all Web and Blog Directory Submissions. The coupon is 25BUCKS.

They say…

Add your site to the Original BOTW Directory!

Submitting your site to Best of the Web is a fast and easy way for you to increase visibility with major search engines as well as generate targeted traffic and leads. Take advantage of the $25 discount and get listed in a relevant category within the internet’s oldest directory!

Add your blog to BOTW Blogs Directory!

The BOTW Blog Directory applies the same editorial rigor we’ve used for our original directory, creating the Internet’s most authoritative directory of quality blogs. If you have a blog and need it to pop, get listed today for only $50!

It’s not nice getting messages like this from a company who’ve been paying me regular commissions for years, but what can you do?

Paridox Ventures, Inc. sent you $xxxx USD

Note from Paridox Ventures, Inc.:
Dear Affiliate, As indicated in last months email and payment, we regretfully inform you that due to the changing business climate, we have closed the ThirdSphere Affiliate Program. This is the last payment you will receive. This payment is for commissions you earned in March 2010. Thank you for all your effort no matter if you just joined or have been with us for the last 8 years. Best Wishes for you continued success Dean Church and the ThirdSphere team

So much for that, then! I earned over a thousand bucks from them in 2009 and nearly $10,000 in total since 2004!

I wouldn’t mind as much if the company had gone bust, but simply closing the affiliate program, continuing to trade and pocketing the cash I would’ve earned in commissions seems to me somehow more annoying.

Thirdsphere is still active and, as I write this, their affiliate program signup form is still there.