This week a video of a couple became very popular in the internet marketing commumnity because they were (allegedly) making 2-5 million dollars per month. Those are astronomical figures, but when you look deeper into exactly how that money was made you see they were making it selling diet patches. Yes diet patches.
Pretty soon after hearing that images were conjured up in my brain of scammy sales people on late night infomercials making slick promises such as "slap it on and the fat is gone!"
I'm not sure why people think diet patches work. Maybe it's the promise for people who are desperate that they can put it on and the pounds will melt away. Maybe it's the copywriting or the fake testimonials. Who knows.
Further investigating revealed reports at the rip off report and plenty of unhappy customers. Now, there will always be someone who will raise the flag on any product- whether or not it is really a scam- but there were so many complaints it was hard to ignore. Immediately red flags and alarm bells were going off.
Further digging also revealed this product had no customer support whatsoever and the FTC was investigating the company and its affiliates. The couple were selling their secrets for a big ticket price at a seminar two years ago. Now it became clear how these individuals made their money.
While looking through my inbox later that day and I saw some very big names in the internet marketing industry promoting this product(possibly as affiliates). I was shocked. Some were individuals I trust and take their recommendations very seriously.
It may or may not be their fault they are promoting that certain product. Maybe an assistant sent those emails for them. Maybe they sent it themselves without checking the facts first. Whatever the case due diligence should have been taken before recommending something.
I am not immune to this. Earlier today I came across an email from a well known video site informing me of an upcoming teleseminar promoting a big ticket course on how to leverage your business with press releases and the media. The commissions earned on this product are a couple hundred dollars per item sold. That sounded good enough to me. I had never heard of the individual promoting it but he looked and sounded professional enough.
I put up the offer on this blog and went about my activities. An hour later I decided to do some research on the guest of this teleseminar. I came across a couple of websites that didn't exactly have glowing opinions about this individual. Then I came across some videos at YouTube.
After watching the behavior of this individual in a couple of videos and how he treated guests on national television I immediately scrambled to delete the post promoting the teleseminar. I am not going to promote that teleseminar or any products it offers- no matter what the commissions. If this individual was treating guests on his show like that I can only imagine what he would treat affiliates and customers like.
This reminded me there is a marketing responsibility of making sure your customers actually get value out of the products you recommend them. It also reminded me whatever your do online reflects on you. Make sure the products do what they say they do. If you wouldn't recommend something to your own family then why would recommend something to your customers? You are putting yourself at risk for trouble, not only in the form of a ruined reputation but also lawsuits. You are also putting your customers at risk. It doesn't benefit anyone.
The internet allows us to see individuals in 3D. No one is one dimensional on the internet. People can do a Google search on you, go to internet forums and get opinions about you and your products, etc...
The internet also allows marketers to do this same kind of research on products they are about to promote. Just basic scanning of the website can give you clues. If it doesn't have customer support or an email that customers can reach someone if they need help, don't promote it. Save yourself a tarnished reputation and more importantly save your customers from headaches.
I'm not always the best marketer and today I slipped up a bit but I do have a conscious and know a fundamental rule of business- always do the right thing.
Showing posts with label Ethics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ethics. Show all posts
Tuesday
Don’t Try to Be Someone Else, Be Yourself
In the past few years many more people have jumped on the Internet marketing bandwagon (that‘s an understatement). As it spreads across the globe many of these people present themselves online as “gurus” due to the anonymity of the Internet and the false sense of comfort that anonymity leads to.
This is where trouble starts and the people who start listening to fakes get further from their goals. I believe everyone is an expert at something but I know everyone is not an expert at Internet marketing.
Let me ask you a question, if you were to have open-heart surgery would you want someone who has absolutely no medical experience operating on you? I hope not. Why then, would you want someone to give you advice of how to make $100,000 if they haven’t even made $1 themselves? Hopefully you wouldn’t want that either.
For anyone trying to make money online before you take the advice of anyone online you need to check them out first, run a Google search of their name or website and browse around warriorforum.com to see what other marketer’s have to say about them. Do a whois search to see if they are who they say they are.
When new Internet marketer’s try to market themselves as successful guru’s who have years of expeirence, this is not only hurting them, but it is also hurting the people who listen to them or buy their products. Here’s how.
When your visitors or customer’s find out you’re not the real deal, they will flee and will not return. Ever. You’ve now lost their trust and have also ruined your long term reputation. People will avoid any future products you offer. It’s not only risky to present yourself as someone your not; it’s also unethical. You are essentially lying to everyone and committing fraud. In the real world people usually don’t impersonate a paramedic or a college professor or city councilman. If they do there's serious legal repercussions in store for them.
Now, there are some people who will lie about their profession at social gatherings and say they’re a lawyer or stockbroker, but that’s stupid too because they don’t know if they're talking to a real lawyer or stockbroker. There are serious consequences for impersonating someone you’re not in the real world and there are also serious repercussions for impersonating a guru online.
They may not happen right away in the online world but they will happen. The ripple of repercussions first starts with the people who buy your products or take your advice.
The sad thing is some people just don't care. The scammers and spammers will just continue under a different alias, depending on the ignorant for a quick buck.
What's more sad is the person who listens to them or buys their product will now be worse off than they would have if that individual didn't pretend to be someone they're not. This doesn't only happen to only one person it happens to hundreds even thousands. Then when word of you or your product reaches someone who is the real deal you'll soon be out of business very soon.
Hype, misinformation and people who just don't care for others are ruining Internet marketing and giving it a very bad taste. Doing any kind of business that way is a surefire way to self destruction.
Why continue the cycle of bad advice, false claims, false hope, false persona and lead to your self demise when you'll have more success being truthful?
If that question doesn't make you think here's a question that hopefully will. What would you do if you found out a marketer was falsifying their income claims or worse photoshoping earnings screenshot's in a desperate attempt to get sales? Would you like learning too late you've been scammed and your most likely never going to get your money back?
Do your research first to see who someone really is before you take advice from them and especially before you buy anything from them. I tend to follow experts who really know what they are talking about; some are the pioneers of marketing online.
There are all kinds of know it all's out there also. You don’t want a know it all telling you what to do; you want an expert to actually show you the way. The fastest way to guarantee your success is by following the ways of the one’s who are already successful at what you want to do because they have done it all and know what works.
I will admit though, when I started out a year ago I fell into the trap of listening to people making ridiculous claims and were self appointed guru's. I wasted months following their advice. Please don’t make this mistake. When in doubt, check them out.
I will also add just because someone is new to IM doesn’t mean they are a copycat or a wannabe with no value to offer. Just because they aren't well known doesn't mean they don't know anything. There are some great up and coming Internet marketer’s out there worth listening to who bring fresh ideas to the table.
So the bottom line is this, be honest online at all times. Everything you do represents you. It should go without saying but a newbie who is honest will go further than someone who is hiding behind a fake identity and because of that false identity will get themselves into all kinds trouble. Not to mention ruin their reputation.
Finally, when you’re starting out no one expects you to be perfect; you have to start somewhere after all. Just be yourself, treat others as you would want to be treated and watch you business grow and succeed.
This is where trouble starts and the people who start listening to fakes get further from their goals. I believe everyone is an expert at something but I know everyone is not an expert at Internet marketing.
Let me ask you a question, if you were to have open-heart surgery would you want someone who has absolutely no medical experience operating on you? I hope not. Why then, would you want someone to give you advice of how to make $100,000 if they haven’t even made $1 themselves? Hopefully you wouldn’t want that either.
For anyone trying to make money online before you take the advice of anyone online you need to check them out first, run a Google search of their name or website and browse around warriorforum.com to see what other marketer’s have to say about them. Do a whois search to see if they are who they say they are.
When new Internet marketer’s try to market themselves as successful guru’s who have years of expeirence, this is not only hurting them, but it is also hurting the people who listen to them or buy their products. Here’s how.
When your visitors or customer’s find out you’re not the real deal, they will flee and will not return. Ever. You’ve now lost their trust and have also ruined your long term reputation. People will avoid any future products you offer. It’s not only risky to present yourself as someone your not; it’s also unethical. You are essentially lying to everyone and committing fraud. In the real world people usually don’t impersonate a paramedic or a college professor or city councilman. If they do there's serious legal repercussions in store for them.
Now, there are some people who will lie about their profession at social gatherings and say they’re a lawyer or stockbroker, but that’s stupid too because they don’t know if they're talking to a real lawyer or stockbroker. There are serious consequences for impersonating someone you’re not in the real world and there are also serious repercussions for impersonating a guru online.
They may not happen right away in the online world but they will happen. The ripple of repercussions first starts with the people who buy your products or take your advice.
The sad thing is some people just don't care. The scammers and spammers will just continue under a different alias, depending on the ignorant for a quick buck.
What's more sad is the person who listens to them or buys their product will now be worse off than they would have if that individual didn't pretend to be someone they're not. This doesn't only happen to only one person it happens to hundreds even thousands. Then when word of you or your product reaches someone who is the real deal you'll soon be out of business very soon.
Hype, misinformation and people who just don't care for others are ruining Internet marketing and giving it a very bad taste. Doing any kind of business that way is a surefire way to self destruction.
Why continue the cycle of bad advice, false claims, false hope, false persona and lead to your self demise when you'll have more success being truthful?
If that question doesn't make you think here's a question that hopefully will. What would you do if you found out a marketer was falsifying their income claims or worse photoshoping earnings screenshot's in a desperate attempt to get sales? Would you like learning too late you've been scammed and your most likely never going to get your money back?
Do your research first to see who someone really is before you take advice from them and especially before you buy anything from them. I tend to follow experts who really know what they are talking about; some are the pioneers of marketing online.
There are all kinds of know it all's out there also. You don’t want a know it all telling you what to do; you want an expert to actually show you the way. The fastest way to guarantee your success is by following the ways of the one’s who are already successful at what you want to do because they have done it all and know what works.
I will admit though, when I started out a year ago I fell into the trap of listening to people making ridiculous claims and were self appointed guru's. I wasted months following their advice. Please don’t make this mistake. When in doubt, check them out.
I will also add just because someone is new to IM doesn’t mean they are a copycat or a wannabe with no value to offer. Just because they aren't well known doesn't mean they don't know anything. There are some great up and coming Internet marketer’s out there worth listening to who bring fresh ideas to the table.
So the bottom line is this, be honest online at all times. Everything you do represents you. It should go without saying but a newbie who is honest will go further than someone who is hiding behind a fake identity and because of that false identity will get themselves into all kinds trouble. Not to mention ruin their reputation.
Finally, when you’re starting out no one expects you to be perfect; you have to start somewhere after all. Just be yourself, treat others as you would want to be treated and watch you business grow and succeed.
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