and why the greedy old bat

We'll dispense with the "why" part first....

Because (like you) I have a family to support and bills to pay. 

I dearly love the internet.... especially my FIB family.... and while I would like nothing better than to spend all my time here and not have to think about money, it isn't likely to happen in this lifetime. 

These affiliate programs are how I support this little site.  I work my tail off at it, and I don't peddle anything unless I believe in it at least 100 percent. 

I answer a ton of emails about the products I promote here.  That takes TIME.  I maintain the site and the board.  That takes TIME.  And as long as I count myself among the working class, TIME is MONEY.

A link to your own web site is just dandy.  If someone finds their way to a competing affiliate site as a result.... or if they decide on a different product altogether.... that's a big "Oh well." 

But to allow direct links to competing affiliate sites....

(I link to www.whatever.com/1234 and you link to www.whatever.com/6789)....

is not unlike Sears spending megabucks for a full-page ad in the Sunday paper and giving Walmart a quarter of the page.... or like Circuit City buying space to run an ad for a great deal on a big-screen T.V. then saying, "Buy this at Dow, just one block east!"

I hope that clears things up.  If not, feel free to slap me around with a wet noodle.

AND NOW THE LIST:

Subject to change (in other words, if your link mysteriously disappears, you might want to check back and see if something new has been added):

• All Corey Rudl Products
  
• All Yanik Silver's Products
  
• All Paulette Ensign's Products
  
• All Milana Lishinsky's Products
  
• All Jim Straw's Products
  
  
• Domain Name Registration Services
  
• Web Hosting Companies
  
• For the record, I don't get a dime for promoting The World's Best Web Hosting Company or telling you to Register Your Domain Names Here.  The company scrapped their affiliate program long ago... but they're the BEST and I owe a huge part of my success to them, so ALLWEBCO is the only company that gets promoted on FIB, now and forever.  (No, I'm not lying to you.... you still go in through my old affiliate link because I want them to know I'm doing my best for them, like they have done for me.)
  
  
• FriendsInBusiness will be undergoing an overhaul in the not-so-distant future, and when it does, this list will also undergo an overhaul, so please check back occasionally.