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Or, more properly Web Marketing By Dummies!
You may have seen the Google Adsense ads:
I Was Scammed 37 Times!
These sites are absolute scams! I will show
the ones that work!I Got Scammed 27 Times
Avoid Work at Home Online Scames! I will show
You the Ones That Work.Stop Getting Scammed
Do you want a real business. OK. I was amazed.
Testimonials
Now, I’m no genius, but I have to figure someone who’s been scammed an awful lot of times IS NOT the person to warn you about them. I’m more of the old “fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me” school. That scale doesn’t even go up to 37. It only establishes the credibility of the fool, however there are still an awful lot of people who fall for these kinds of things, because they are desperate for the easy way out.
These types of scam review sites have sprung up everywhere, typically clones of each with minor differences, if at all. They have their sad sack story about how they hit a rough spot in life (just like you could, brother!), tried several different money making programs (haven’t you too, friend?), and got scammed almost all the time (woe is me!). But at the end, they discovered a light at the end of the tunnel (and there is hope for you, too!) and now just want to share it with the world.
What you are seeing then is a website designed to market and pimp out affiliate programs, or get rich quick schemes that primarily involve you marketing to other people with an affiliate link that pays them a percentage off of the “programs” that you order. There is no shortage of these types of affiliate programs out there on the net, and some of them are even legitimate. How do you spot the fakes?
- Unrealistic income claims - They tell you that you’ll make an unbelievable amount of money, knowing that the dollar signs will flash before your eyes and reduce your IQ sharply.
- Short time frames - You’ll be making money immediately! Yeah, right.
- Little or no effort involved - As much as we’d all like that to be true, it simply doesn’t work that way.
- Products you have to buy - That makes someone else money. It costs you money. Not a good sign.
- Hype hype hype - There’s lots of information on how great the product is, but nothing on what it is. Hype is the thing that they are selling you. What can you do with that?
- Testimonials - A paid actor standing next to a day-rented sports car in front of someone else’s mansion doesn’t take long to photograph. If they don’t give full names and contact info, that person probably doesn’t exist. If they do, they’re in on it.
- Limited time offers - Hurry! Buy now before you think about it too long and realize it’s a scam!
- Limited memberships - The program is only open to xx number of members, join now before it’s too late!
There are certainly legitimate programs out there. They’ll tell you it takes work and time. Any program that goes on and on about how simple and easy it is will just be preying on you. They’re making money on you in a way that you haven’t picked up on yet, either by you buying a useless product from them designed simply to sell you another product and so on, by affiliate links such that the scammer makes money by selling you web hosting so you can be an affiliate pushing the product that he sold you, using software you buy from them, etc. Ever seen an offer that includes a web site “that only works with SoandSo Hosting”? Think about it.
Want to make money online? Come up with something people want - a widget (fictional or WordPress!), a book, hula doll bobbleheads from Hawaii, consulting on some some subject you’re an expert it, etc. and put the work into it same as you would for any other real world business, but with a larger potential customer base.
* Disclaimer - I’ve got an affiliate link to my long-time hosting provider, but I’m not trying to sell you anything nor convince you to do anything, so it’s ok. 
2 responses so far ↓
1 April Summer // Apr 28, 2008 at 4:22 pm
Excellent post. *stumbles*
2 Tim Stefanko // May 27, 2008 at 8:29 am
I think you hit the nail on the head. What ever happened to the truth? Its there in some cases but not in all. The catch is would you go to a site that bragged about making $10 a month?
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