Of course you shouldn’t believe everything you read, right? This is especially true in internet marketing. There is a lot of good information out there but quite a lot of misinformation is out there as well. People fake their ClickBank earnings to sell you a product, people have their ‘friends’ or professionals write testimonials for them and people online are occasionally out to scam others.
But, not all internet marketers are painted with the same brush. In fact, most people working online are looking to make an honest dollar and enjoy what they do. Many are just like you and are considering the law of attraction and karma and paying it forward in the way they conduct their lives.
The benefit of the doubt should be the case when dealing with your loved ones but when dealing with strangers, it is wise to do your due diligence.
Tips for Checking Out The Integrity of a Person or Program Online
The great thing about the Internet is that you can find stuff out quite easily. Behind the rhetoric you’ll find most people are fairly transparent. Here are some places to check to find out if someone is for real or a program really will do what it says:
- Rip-off or scam report sites: Like it says, it talks about rip-offs. Be careful though…not everything on the list is truly a ripoff. Disgruntled customers aren’t always right although finding more than one piece of evidence saying someone or something is a scam is worth paying some attention to.
- Consumer review websites: If you’re planning on buying a program, there are bound to be reviews about it. Some will have affiliate links so look for a review site that offers more than just a glowing review about everything listed on the site.
- Community forums. If you’re buying a product for website design, check webmaster forums and if you’re buying something that has to do with affiliate sales, check out an affiliate marketing forum. Chances are, there will be information listed or you can ask a question about something specifically.
With anything that requires an investment of time or money, just do some due diligence research before taking the plunge and you’ll typically make the right decision in the end.
About Sean Rasmussen
I just joined your community through mybloglog..I want to learn more marketing techniques..by the way how do I start a community on mybloglog? Would appreciate your help.
Hi Wi Ji,
On mybloglog, join and then add your blog and it will automatically create a community for you. Once you add the widget to your blog site, there’s a button on mybloglog that says, “Go to community”. Voila.
Best of luck.
Hi Sean,
This is really great advice. I think we should take our time when we’re deciding who to give our money to. There are quite a few scams on the internet and they prey on vulnerable people. I think if we do our homework though, we will be okay.
Just one question though, what happens when you come across someone who presents as being a trustworthy Internet Marketer but they really aren’t? These people have great lawyers. Is there a safe place to express my opinion that won’t see me in court?
I wish I had this advice a little while ago it would of saved me a lot of heartache.
I am now in a great community which is very supportive.
I was duped by some so called reputable marketers which iIcannot name
It always pays to be careful and check out what other (independent) people have to say about a product or a service. Thanks for the reminder.
Hi Sean,
It would be very naive for anyone to believe everything they read online about Internet Marketing or about anything for that matter. I’ve read that “everyone” as far as MLM’s go has something negative said about them online. Can’t find anything about yours truly though.
Community forums are a good source of information.
Hi Sean
Most people starting out on a new venture such as Internet Marketing start by asking questions, usually wanting to know if such and such’s you beaut program delivers what it promises, and looking for customer reviews for some indication that it is as good as it says it is.
This article is very important because you can be scrupulous in your due diligence of a product or company and it can still be a rip off. I like the check list for tips.
I have always bought products by going to seminars and then talking to people who have had the product and looking for related forums on the net. There are sites on the internet that list fraudulent
people which is also a help.
I got caught out once, but it was a learning curve and it made me much more careful.
I have since discovered that many others have lost a LOT more than I did.
I was lucky and if you look at it as I paid for the lesson in Due Diligence, then I have learnt it
Hi Rita,
I think when we get taken once; we’re a lot more careful the next time around. I’ve learned a lot from that experience and I’m much better at spotting something shady now.
In a lot of ways, I’m lucky I didn’t lose a lot more.
Should newbie marketers have faith in everything they read? Definitely not! As in most things where you are thinking of investing some money, you should check out the integrity of the individual or service before committing. This is a reasonably easy task now with access to the Internet. Utilise the search engines to track down comments, accolades, complaints, legal actions, etc.
Do your homework before getting involved, especially when your money is involved.
I always research a product…….and unfortunately got burnt severely last year as there was not enough information out on the internet about the product which turned out to be a dud! – Lesson learned!
I am though skeptical when you have these gurus making so much money and want to sell their secrets – if they are making millions – why do they want the competition. There are some who genuinely do want to share and have moved into a different place in their life like Sean Rasmussen has, but there are also those who put time and money in, it didnt work so Clickbank could be a great way to recover costs.