Amongst all the spam I get on a daily basis, the one with the subject line of "Advertising on emeraldbayphoto.com" did quite effectively catch my attention. Mostly because I couldn't figure out why anybody would want to advertise on my site. But hey.

The email turned out to be from a lady called Linda, a rep for "InfoHub Specialty Travel Guide", asking if I were interested in becoming an affiliate. I followed the link to their program page, and as I read, I recoiled in horror.

To keep it short, here's the email I sent back to the rep:

Hello Linda,

I am not and never will be interested in working with InfoHub. Why? Read on.

1. I greatly dislike the way you want to present your advertising to my site visitors.

On your affiliate program page it says: "When browsing through travel packages, the "InfoHub" logo remains invisible. Your web site visitors will therefore think that all the listed travel packages are offered by you!"

Why would I want that? I'm not a travel agent, I'm a photographer. Wrong target market here, lady.

2. "Each time a visitor of your web site orders a Free Brochure, you earn $2.00."

Please. That's pathetic.

If I wanted to pollute my website with advertising (which I don't) I'd more likely go with GoogleAds. Not only would I undoubtedly make more money, but at least they're honest about labeling their efforts as advertising. And my visitors wouldn't have to give up address information (which you undoubtedly resell), get their mailboxes crammed with dead-tree spam, and most of all *wait* for your information to arrive. Why bother? When all the information about traveling to any location in the world is available ONLINE.

So in short - no thanks. Please take me off your list of potential targets.

I sometimes honestly wonder about the schemes companies dream up (and base their business plans on) to make money. InfoHub's seems to be especially idiotic. I can't wait for Linda's response.