Third Tribe Affiliate Program and Review of Third Tribe Program

I joined the Third Tribe Program as soon as it launched along with thousands of other bloggers.

After the first month an affiliate program was offered for members only. Other membership sites do this as well, for example the Wealthy Affiliate University, also asking for nearly $50 a month to be part of their affiliate program.

Third Tribe…a big (and growing) middle tribe, one that avoids spammy IM approaches while having no problem asking for the sale and making money.

* * Updated 21 March 2010 * *

Although I am no longer a Third Tribe member, it is a great forum for some people. Read on…

** You can create your own tabbed page like the Third Tribe home page with Premise for WordPress created by members of the Third Tribe team. **

Making Money with the Third Tribe Affiliate Program

The Third Tribe was launched by very savvy marketers.

Thousands of bloggers signed up to see what it was all about in the first month for just $27, refundable if they wanted to complain that they got nothing out of it. (I really enjoyed my first month but had difficulty justifying monthly membership fees … more on that later).

Charter Members knew that the membership fee was going up to $47 per month and if they left they would be locked out of the cheaper monthly membership fee of $27. (A sophisticated fear tactic but also a genuine pricing strategy to get membership numbers up at the start.)

The affiliate program was hinted at from the very beginning and was not launched until after the first month, so everyone had to pay their second month of membership dues to still be considered for the members-only affiliate program.

• Commissions are 33% monthly recurring – so you keep getting paid for every month your referred member maintains their monthly membership with Third Tribe.
• Deduct your $47 per month membership fee ($27 if you were a lucky Charter Member) that you must maintain to continue to be part of the affliate program.
• If you make 1 affiliate sale you make about $15.50, therefore you need to make 3 affiliate sales per month to recoup your monthly membership and 4 to make net affiliate commissions of about $15 per month.
• What this means is that you don’t join this program just to join the affiliate program unless:
  • you are referring and converting at least 4 new memberships each month, as many members leave after their first month (the only time they can claim a refund); or
  • you love the Third Tribe Program.

What is Third Tribe?

Third Tribe is a membership site created by 4 top bloggers who make money online today:

• Darren Rowse, founder of ProBlogger
• Brian Clark of Copyblogger
• Chris Brogan, co-author of Trust Agents
• Sonia Simone, senior editor of Copyblogger.

Valuable insights also come from other Third Tribers like John Jantsch, Leo Babauta, Pam Slim, Naomi Dunford, Johnny Truant, Chris Garrett, Dave Navarro, Jonathan Fields, Hugh MacLeod, Laura Roeder, Mark McGuinness, Chris Pearson, Aaron Wall, and many more as time goes on.

The Three Tribes

Internet Marketers… use aggressive hype and obnoxious tactics to fool people into believing there really is a “get rich quick” magic bullet.

Social Media Cool Kids… reject hype and aggressive sales tactics in favor of relationships, community, and value . . . and yet seem to have taken a vow of poverty along the way.

Third Tribe…a big (and growing) middle tribe, one that avoids spammy IM approaches while having no problem asking for the sale and making money.

Third Tribe Membership

The Third Tribe is a private community where like-minded people help each other out. It’s based on a combination of education and interaction that takes everyone’s Internet marketing skills to a higher level. This is what you get as part of your monthly membership you get:

Education

• Each month will feature at least one expert audio class or webinar on an Internet marketing topic.

The Quick Start Guide to Making Money Online

• Johnny Truant spent 9 months doing what everyone says you’re supposed to do to make money online, and made a whopping $111. Then he changed his strategy to a Third Tribe model, and quickly started having 5-figure months.

Building a Business Around a Blog

• In this 3+ hour seminar series, Darren, Brian, Chris, and Sonia reveal in-depth just how each of them has built a strong business model around a blog.

Interaction

• Often the greatest growth in your business comes from interacting with instructors, mentors, and other entrepreneurs.

Live Q & A

• Each month will feature two live Q&A calls with one or more of Darren, Brian, Chris, Sonia or other featured Third Tribe business owners.

Interactive Forum

• The true lasting value of this private community comes from the networking, deal-making, support and insights that come from the interaction among members.

Special Deals

• Member-only discounts and access to offers that won’t be publicly available, such as discounts on other related products e.g. Thesis Theme, Scribe SEO – not confirmed when I was a member, but hinted at strongly by Brian Clark, one of the Third Tribe ‘Elders’.

Become a Third Tribe Member

Join over 2,100 (and growing) online marketers Inside the Third Tribe for only $1.56 a day. (Not an affiliate link)

My Thoughts of the Third Tribe after a few weeks…

• I joined believing that this membership site was not just all about the money. So far, I’ve travelled around the forum and have found a lot of genuine comments about helping each other, support and positive energy.
• Here’s to giving back as much as we take – and receiving in the spirit that it should be intended.
• Take your vow now not to sell your soul or lower your values in the name of a dollar.
• Thank you Third Tribe for realising that those who walk the middle path are also / all so powerful.
• I posted a question about Web Hosting and within a few hours I had all of my questions answered by a variety of people, sharing their experiences.

The 4 best things about Third Tribe

1. The forum

Sure, you have access to learning materials – and they’re great, as are the live Q & A sessions – but the community within the forum is overflowing with generosity.

People from all niches are forming sub-tribes to share information, resources and create joint ventures. People are eager to share as opposed to eager to take.

2. Third Tribe is better than Wealthy Affiliate

I can say that because I have tried both. Let me qualify this and remind you of the difference between Third Tribe and Wealthy Affiliate.

• Wealthy Affiliate is from the first tribe…Internet Marketers… use aggressive hype and obnoxious tactics to fool people into believing there really is a “get rich quick” magic bullet.

• Third Tribe… avoids spammy IM approaches while having no problem asking for the sale and making money.

When I joined Wealthy Affiliate for a month in January 2010 I gave everything a trial run. I sampled and used their niche Private Label Rights (PLR) article packs, website templates, article re-writing software, keyword and competitor research tools, learning materials and videos and the over-active forum.

The biggest complaint and warning that even those within Wealthy Affiliate tell you is “prepare to be overwhelmed” and “spend months just reading”.

With Third Tribe Forum you can get started away. There are lots of reports already by Third Tribe members making money (and a nice amount) by trying techniques and entering into joint ventures with other ordinary bloggers who have become Third Tribers.

When I had spent a few weeks on Wealthy Affiliate trying to find like-minded middle-path marketers I searched for ‘spirituality’ in the extensive search engine of everything – not one result. How is it with over half a million members not one of them mentions spirituality. This goes a lot towards the mindset of members.

You also have to be a member to participate in their affiliate program. I understand why now. After trialling it myself I would not recommend it to bloggers unless they are willing to chase a fast dollar, doing something they don’t enjoy (usually) in a way that doesn’t sit well with most purchasers = your customers, readers, subscribers, mother…

3. Ground floor opportunity to work with bloggers who are “Good Guys”

Back to the Third Tribe.

At Third Tribe I have an opportunity to see how bloggers I respect – create, grow and maintain successful online ventures. No rich jerks in here.

I can learn blogging and Internet marketing strategies that fit my ethical standards and online value system. I meet and interact with other like-minded individuals and am able to promote myself as a Third Triber – what I call a middle path marketer.

4. The Third Tribe Affiliate Program

I joined and became a charter member within the first week of Third Tribe launching. I joined not knowing if there was an affiliate program.

My thoughts of Third Tribe after my first month trial…

• I chose to cancel my membership just before the first month trial ended. My membership was terminated precisely as the calendar month ended. Unlike other programs that cancel your membership immediately and keep your first month’s membrship fee (= unethical).
• I logged in to Third Tribe most days in the first month to see what was happening and to download my free things (as you do).
• If you have $47 a month to spare and you want to network, the Third Tribe Program is much like many other membership sites with a few notable differences:
  • It is attempting to create a niche for itself in the Third Tribe – what I call middle path marketing.
  • However, there are undoubtedly members who join just to make money and just join so that they can participate in the members-only affiliate program. Posts by these people are obvious and there are still members who are obviously not going to change their hard and fast way of making money online. I personally avoided these threads and posts because it doesn’t ring my bell.
  • Third Tribe ‘Elders’ are probably fresher and more enthusiastic (it is the early days after all) than at other membership sites.
  • There are many ‘Elders’, so they can also share the load and get around the Forum.
  • You don’t feel like you are a bunch of members with the occassional visit from an ‘Elder’. There are regular posts within threads by the ‘Elders’.
  • Many new Third Tribe members and Charter members want to make a bit of a reputation for themselves so they are trying very hard to contribute and initiate meaningful discussion.
  • With all membership sites there are members promoting themselves but generally they are following Third Tribe principles and a membership site is all about networking, asking for help, promoting your efforts and products and recommending like-minded individuals and sites. No surprises here. It is the same but a narrower field of referrals.
• I discovered many like-minded individuals and their sites. I am grateful that I did. This was the best part of my membership – discovering that I wasn’t alone with my repulsion towards pushy, overpowering and less than ethical practices by many online marketers.

Why I Left Third Tribe

• It is not for beginners who want their hand held.
• The Third Tribe Elders do not provide step by step instructions on how to make money online.
• I wasn’t learning a lot that I didn’t already know or that I couldn’t find elsewhere.
• The Third Tribe ‘Elders’ already have their own sites that you can visit for free with lots of the same information already published for free.
• It is basically a forum with a monthly download of a webinar, a worksheet or two and perhaps free or discount offers for things usually created by the ‘Elders’. There are many free forums like Warrior Forum with similar information…but some of it is pushier.
• If you want a place to be with other like minded individuals, you just need to be on the look-out for their sites when you do research and stumble about the web. Bookmark their sites, join their subscription list for free updates, leave comments on their blogs or use their contact form to get in touch and stay in touch.
• Following are some Third Triber sites (in no particular order) that I came across when I was a member… you might like to visit them.
  • A lot of them use Thesis Theme as well because the Third Tribe Forum was promoted to many Thesis Theme users to start with.

• www.boxofchocolates.ca
• www.theblograiser.com
• www.kristidaeda.com
• www.thehomeofficeorganizer.com
• www.thecentsiblelife.com
• www.ecosystemgardening.com
• www.cleancozymysteries.com
• www.billybrew.com
• www.travelinlocal.com
• www.greenertrends.com
• www.futureexpats.com

There is a lot of FREE information on the web about the same things you will read about in the Third Tribe Forum. You just need to know where to look and find the sites to subscribe to or visit regularly. Start with Problogger for example and find recommended links to other great sites.

You can save yourself $47 a month and spend it on other things to grow your blog. For example:

• Aweber for $17 a month and start building an email list.
• Buy some squeeze page creation software for $47.
• Spend $15 on a web publishing or computer magazine that comes with great FREE software to edit images or design your own web pages.
• I can think of plenty of ways of spending $47 on many things instead of a forum that provides the stress of monthly payments just to be part of an affiliate program that I may or may not decide to ‘push’ to make money.

I would recommend it for a month to see what it is like and to set a benchmark for a membership site - which are generally forum sites with videos, transcripts from webinars and the occasional document download for members only.

Third Tribe is ethical in principle and practice. I didn’t like Wealthy Affiliate University very much for example. Too pushy, not genuine enough for my tastes and full of get rich quick thinking.

Third Tribe is about sharing your ideas and getting advice but it can be a huge time sink and time waster.

Do you want to spend hours each day reading other people’s thoughts about things?

If you want to act instead of read about acting you need to manage your time. Make sure you don’t waste your valuable time reading instead of doing – just to get your money’s worth.

Save the money, spend it on something else and ACT…to make money, create your site, build your reputation, make a difference, etc.

I enjoyed my experience and would recommend others try it.

But, remember…

• Third Tribe is not a magic bullet, there is no hand holding and you will not make money just because you are reading about how others make money.
• You can get the same information (or very similar) elsewhere for free.
• You can network on other free forums or directly with great people at their own sites.
• If you aren’t made of money, you probably won’t remain a member for too long.
• What else could your money be spent on with perhaps a greater return on investment?
• There are many other worthy affiliate programs that don’t require you to pay $47 per month to participate in them.
• You need to keep paying your monthly fees to keep getting your monthly affiliate earnings. Does this sit right with you?