Why I Stopped Posting Affiliate Marketing Content.

And why I’m on the fence about continuing.

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about what I’m truly contributing to.

If you’re like me and care about your impact, you’ll look into what companies you’re spending your money on, recommend, and overall what you’re supporting.

Over the past few months, I’ve learned A LOT about food companies, cosmetic companies, software companies, apparel, etc. So many of these companies are using and abusing people, and I’m tired of contributing my hard-earned dollars to them — it only encourages them to keep doing it.

As inspired and motivated as I may be seeing successful affiliate marketers, I’m on the fence about giving a product recommendation that supports a company that uses, for example, child labor, unsustainably sourced ingredients, slave labor, workers working under unsafe conditions, you name it.

These worries have made me take a step back and reconsider pursuing affiliate marketing because one of my values and beliefs is what I choose to support with my recommendations and money.

I would be a huge hypocrite, saying I care about making an impact and people yet purchase and recommend products that overworked, underpaid, and unsafe employees make.

I’m not saying there aren’t good companies that care about paying a fair wage and providing safe working conditions, using safe methods and ingredients in their products.

There are; they’re just hard to find and may not even offer an affiliate program.

Regardless, I’m happy to recommend a company like that because I would rather make no money, show my support by purchasing a product, and hopefully, a new customer that can contribute to the growth of an ethical business.

With all the madness going on in the world, it’s more important than ever to audit what and who we’re giving our money.

Are we giving our money to the billionaire Waltons at Walmart, who refuse to provide their employees with enough working hours so they don’t qualify for health insurance benefits (allegedly)?

Or are we supporting our local farmers by purchasing organic, pesticide-free veggies and fruits that are much better for the environment and our health and supporting a small business?

Going forward, I want most of the money I earn, if not all, to go to a family business, a small business owner, a woman-owned business, a POC-owned business, etc.

I want to support the people doing their best to offer value ethically and fairly, not just to line their pockets at the expense of another human being.

I think it’s time we realize that we are NOT doing as much as we can.

We are not taking the time to figure out what people and companies we’re funding and their activities.

So many of us say we want to do something to change the world, and I’ve realized this is the first step many of us can take right now that can have a significant impact.

Vote with your dollar.

Give your money to people and missions you want to support.

I don’t mean to contribute to your local charity. Although it’s good to do, it gives you a false sense of contribution.

I know that making the switch to local takes work. It takes time and maybe a little more expensive or less convenient. But think about the long-term consequences of supporting a corporation because of convenience.

You may get, for example, your groceries at a better price. But they will keep underpaying you, your family, and your friends, and even though your groceries may be a little bit cheaper, they may be of lesser quality and have little to no nutritional value — are full of chemicals and pesticides, which only makes you and your family sick.

Hit these corporations where it hurts most — their pockets. If you work for them, take the money they pay you and use it elsewhere.

People deserve to have food on their table, a roof over their heads, access to health insurance, good clothes to dress themselves, and leftover money to successfully plan their retirement, help their kids through school, and take a few family vacations.

We’re in a period in history with more wealth and resources than ever. We can more than afford to give everyone on this planet what I mentioned above, but all this wealth and resources are hoarded — I don’t want to be a hoarder.

I want to give of the affluence and resources I have. After all, I can’t take any of it with me when I die.

I’m still figuring out a different way to make a living through content creation where I can contribute to the betterment of others and not have one dollar be made off someone else’s back.

If I make a buck off of someone, I want that person to be fairly compensated for their work, not worrying if they can keep a roof over their head and feed their family.

Thank you for coming to my rant. I know I went off on a tangent, however, I want to be honest about the reasons why I’m hesitant to pursue digital marketing.

I understand we all need to make a living to support ourselves and our families. Still, the way we’re going about it by supporting large corporations with our money, we’re working against ourselves.

These executives have made it very clear they do not care about the well-being of their employees, let alone a person who doesn’t have ties to their company.

I believe there’s another way for us to make a living and support other people and causes who genuinely care and will show us by giving back to their communities.

We need to make this change by putting some effort into educating ourselves.

We need to do our homework and find the companies and people worth supporting and giving our money to.

Let’s think about something for a moment. These corporation owners and executives are millionaires and billionaires.

Can you wrap your head around how much money that is? I know that much money cannot be spent in one lifetime.

So why are we supporting these people who have enough money to care for themselves and their families for generations?

They’re all set. They don’t need us. They think they do because their greed seems to know no bounds.

It’s up to us to decide to educate ourselves and go out of our way to find a small business owner, farmer, or family that needs our help and monetary contribution.

If we collectively make this decision, imagine how much we could change the world we’re living in for the better.

I’ve come across a few companies that I think are worth supporting because of their mission and the work they do to better people’s health and the environment — if you’d like a list, please let me know in the comments.