Friday, August 28, 2009
1. Glowing testimonials that you can't check. Most of these will list something like: "D.G. San Francisco" and not give an email address. Even if they do(a rare occurrence), these may be phony email addresses that go directly to the site owner.
2. ANY pressure to buy now or very soon. If you see something like "$27 for the next two hours, after that the price will go back up to $47", just come back the next day. You'll see the same message.
3. You try to click away from the site and you'll get a pop up saying that they will give you the "success kit" for half price. Is that really what it's worth? Maybe even less?
4. Any site that uses pop unders. You'll click away from the site, only to find an offer that has nothing to do with what you were just looking at. The hope is that you will be curious enough to click through and earn that affiliate a small "visitor" fee.
5. Any rags to riches story..."I was an unemployed waiter and hadn't worked in 6 months. Then I stumbled upon..." Yeah, right!
6. The old "do what I do" pyramid scheme, where the only product being sold is sign ups. You'll find there really is no tangible product to sell.
7. Any odd price like $97, $77, $67, etc. You see odd prices everywhere. You have to wonder where they come up with these numbers and why.
8. Any pictures of nice boats, big houses, or expensive cars. This is a dead give away so watch for it.
9. Overly long sales pitches..a good sales pitch should be no more than two or three pages. I often find myself scrolling down to the bottom to see what they want to charge me.
10. This one is obvious: you research the company using a search engine and find all kinds of complaints from previous buyers.
11. Replicated web pages. You don't even have to put up your own web page or blog. Believe me, I've tried these and they don't work.
12. No email address or location given. Watch out for anything coming from another country, where laws are different. Canada, for example, has more liberal laws.
13. The "if I can do this, so can you" line. Not likely. Usually, any testimonials given(if not completely faked) are made by experienced marketers. You will not be able to duplicate their results if you are an average person just looking to make some extra cash.
14. Sites that say "We've set up everything for you. All you have to do is advertise". This is much easier said than done, especially if you know little about internet marketing.
15. Any site that even hints that you will make a lot of money in a short amount of time. Something like "make $1000/week by working just one hour per day". It won't happen.
16. You see anything like: "My friends said I was nuts offering this success kit. They said I should charge at least $100, but I'm not going to charge you anything near that. If you buy now, you'll pay just $19.95".
17. You read: "Why am I releasing this? Why don't I keep these secrets to myself?" Then they'll give you some altruistic reason. Don't fall for this, they just want to make money on their "success kits".
18. Think about this: if they have become so rich with this "product", why do they need to charge you? Why not give it away free? So what do you think they are really selling?
19. Beware of any site that wants your email address for any reason. They just want to put you on their list so they can spam you or sell your name to others who will spam you.
20. Probably out of 1000 unique online business opportunities, perhaps 10 of those are legitimate. These are the ones who sell actual products and give you the opportunity to sell their products as an affiliate. Note that legitimate online businesses make up only about 1% of what is offered online. Do your due diligence.
21. If the site owner does offer an email address and you write to him, see how long it takes him to get back to you. Give the owner at least 24 hours.
22. If the site owner starts sending you unsolicited email messages(usually from aweber or others like it), be very wary.
23. If you click anywhere on the page, and you get a "page not found" error. Why was this page in particular taken down?
Conclusions:
If you really want to sell products online, try Clickbank or Commission Junction. Most of the website owners here are offering a tangible product that you can resell to others. However, you should still perform your due diligence.
If the offer sounds too good to be true or too easy, IT IS! I've seen some very slick copywriting out there that gets a person excited about the "product". Be very wary if you feel excited after you read the sales pitch. Start doing your research first by typing in the product name into any search engine.
Beware of any "Review" sites that supposedly offer an objective review of business opportunities. Often, these are just affiliate sellers who are reselling all of the businesses reviewed! You'll see "Don't buy XXX product until you read this!" or something similar.
Use your common sense and good judgment. You can't get something for nothing or for a small price. Remember, you will have to pay for all advertising. Also, unless you happen to be an expert internet marketer, you will not get nearly the same results as the site owner or any of his "testimonials".
If you have just lost your job or have been unemployed for a while, be very wary of any online business offers, especially if you get them in your email.
John Soares
Here's how to research an online busopp
Investigate the person behind that online busopp
2. ANY pressure to buy now or very soon. If you see something like "$27 for the next two hours, after that the price will go back up to $47", just come back the next day. You'll see the same message.
3. You try to click away from the site and you'll get a pop up saying that they will give you the "success kit" for half price. Is that really what it's worth? Maybe even less?
4. Any site that uses pop unders. You'll click away from the site, only to find an offer that has nothing to do with what you were just looking at. The hope is that you will be curious enough to click through and earn that affiliate a small "visitor" fee.
5. Any rags to riches story..."I was an unemployed waiter and hadn't worked in 6 months. Then I stumbled upon..." Yeah, right!
6. The old "do what I do" pyramid scheme, where the only product being sold is sign ups. You'll find there really is no tangible product to sell.
7. Any odd price like $97, $77, $67, etc. You see odd prices everywhere. You have to wonder where they come up with these numbers and why.
8. Any pictures of nice boats, big houses, or expensive cars. This is a dead give away so watch for it.
9. Overly long sales pitches..a good sales pitch should be no more than two or three pages. I often find myself scrolling down to the bottom to see what they want to charge me.
10. This one is obvious: you research the company using a search engine and find all kinds of complaints from previous buyers.
11. Replicated web pages. You don't even have to put up your own web page or blog. Believe me, I've tried these and they don't work.
12. No email address or location given. Watch out for anything coming from another country, where laws are different. Canada, for example, has more liberal laws.
13. The "if I can do this, so can you" line. Not likely. Usually, any testimonials given(if not completely faked) are made by experienced marketers. You will not be able to duplicate their results if you are an average person just looking to make some extra cash.
14. Sites that say "We've set up everything for you. All you have to do is advertise". This is much easier said than done, especially if you know little about internet marketing.
15. Any site that even hints that you will make a lot of money in a short amount of time. Something like "make $1000/week by working just one hour per day". It won't happen.
16. You see anything like: "My friends said I was nuts offering this success kit. They said I should charge at least $100, but I'm not going to charge you anything near that. If you buy now, you'll pay just $19.95".
17. You read: "Why am I releasing this? Why don't I keep these secrets to myself?" Then they'll give you some altruistic reason. Don't fall for this, they just want to make money on their "success kits".
18. Think about this: if they have become so rich with this "product", why do they need to charge you? Why not give it away free? So what do you think they are really selling?
19. Beware of any site that wants your email address for any reason. They just want to put you on their list so they can spam you or sell your name to others who will spam you.
20. Probably out of 1000 unique online business opportunities, perhaps 10 of those are legitimate. These are the ones who sell actual products and give you the opportunity to sell their products as an affiliate. Note that legitimate online businesses make up only about 1% of what is offered online. Do your due diligence.
21. If the site owner does offer an email address and you write to him, see how long it takes him to get back to you. Give the owner at least 24 hours.
22. If the site owner starts sending you unsolicited email messages(usually from aweber or others like it), be very wary.
23. If you click anywhere on the page, and you get a "page not found" error. Why was this page in particular taken down?
Conclusions:
If you really want to sell products online, try Clickbank or Commission Junction. Most of the website owners here are offering a tangible product that you can resell to others. However, you should still perform your due diligence.
If the offer sounds too good to be true or too easy, IT IS! I've seen some very slick copywriting out there that gets a person excited about the "product". Be very wary if you feel excited after you read the sales pitch. Start doing your research first by typing in the product name into any search engine.
Beware of any "Review" sites that supposedly offer an objective review of business opportunities. Often, these are just affiliate sellers who are reselling all of the businesses reviewed! You'll see "Don't buy XXX product until you read this!" or something similar.
Use your common sense and good judgment. You can't get something for nothing or for a small price. Remember, you will have to pay for all advertising. Also, unless you happen to be an expert internet marketer, you will not get nearly the same results as the site owner or any of his "testimonials".
If you have just lost your job or have been unemployed for a while, be very wary of any online business offers, especially if you get them in your email.
John Soares
Here's how to research an online busopp
Investigate the person behind that online busopp
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