I'll tell you, anytime ClickBank updates their terms of service and makes affiliates read them, it brings out all the paranoia. The latest seems to be ClickBank's clarification, or lack thereof, on offering incentives when promoting an affiliate product. Suddenly, you have all these affiliates screaming that they can't offer bonuses anymore. Okay folks, that is NOT what ClickBank is saying. So let me clear this up right here and now.

ClickBank specifically says, in its TOS, that an affiliate may not offer any incentives such as rebates, coupons or cash incentives when promoting a product as an affiliate. It says nothing about offering an eBook as a bonus for purchasing through your affiliate link. And the ironic part is, this section is not even a new part of their TOS. It has been in their since the beginning of time. You've never been able to offer rebates, coupons or cash incentives when promoting their products. But intangible goods, such as eBooks or even a membership to your site, are perfectly acceptable.

So for example, let's say you're promoting a ClickBank product that shows the customer how to play blackjack at the casinos. You want to get a jump on all the other affiliates, so you offer, as a bonus, your own book on how to play roulette and slots. Since these are other games that many gamblers play, in addition to blackjack, there is a very good chance that they will buy the ClickBank product from you in order to get those bonuses. This is perfectly legit. If you have any doubts, call up ClickBank and ask. You can get it straight from the horse's mouth.

I'm not going to try to even speculate as to why ClickBank doesn't allow rebates, coupons or cash incentives, even if the money is coming from your own pocket. The point is, that's what it says in their TOS and that's the end of it. Don't do it. However, there is nothing wrong with offering that eBook you have, as long as you have the right to offer it, as an incentive. I do this with many of the products that I promote.

In fact, what you might want to do in order to really seal the deal is to write up a review of the product first, so that the prospect can get a decent idea of what they'll be getting and THEN, at the end of the review, offer your eBook as a bonus if they purchase from you. This is a perfectly ethical bribe and one that many of the top affiliate marketers use. Okay, got it? You CAN offer eBooks as bonuses when promoting a ClickBank product.