Here is a clip:
Evangelists spread referrals, recommendations and word of mouth freely because they believe in an idea, product, service or brand, not because they receive industry-level compensation.
Just to be clear:
* Affiliate program: Amazon Associates. Get paid for referrals.
* Evangelist program: Maker's Mark Ambassadors. Spread buzz freely.
If PRWeb thinks compensation for referrals is the answer, more power to them. Calling it an evangelist program is disingenuous.
I am having a difficult time swallowing this post.
It seems as though Church of the Customer is saying that all salespeople in the world are disingenuous because they accept compensation for evangelizing a product, service or idea.
A couple of months ago, I went to see Keith Ferrazzi speak at a Microsoft small business seminar. I was very impressed with Keith Ferrazzi. I wrote about Keith Ferrazzi, I gave out Keith Ferrazzi's book to friends, and I talked to dozens of people about Keith Ferrazzi. For a period of time, I was a Keith Ferrazzi evangelist.
So would my evangelism be any less genuine had I placed an Amazon affiliate link to Keith's book on my blog?
I don't think so.
Ty,
I was saying that PRWeb is disingenuous for calling their affiliate program an "evangelist" program. I was not calling salespeople disingenuous. Sorry if that was confusing in my post.
The big difference between an evangelist program and an affiliate program is that evangelists are not paid and affiliates are.
There is nothing wrong with affiliate programs. I just think that PRWeb is using the "evangelist" buzzword more for buzz sake and it's somewhat misleading.
Posted by: Jackie Huba | June 28, 2006 5:02 PM | Permalink to Comment