How To Spot A B**L S**T Artist & Save Yourself Money
Anyone here that knows me, has seen any of my posts etc knows that i'm naturally a fairly cynical person. Call it whatever you want but it runs deep in my genes and I like to think I have a great nose for BS artists.
I once ran a product review site and can tell you the Make Money Online genre of Internet business is one of the most susceptible to scams. I have a pretty good feeling the likes of the Google and the FTC have the same educated opinion.
I hate seeing scams and worse hate seeing people get scammed.
Here is a free list of things you can do to ensure you dont get scammed. This is a simple list I usually run through. It doesnt mean that I email the person and ask them 101 questions I just use these laws of common sense to help me decide whether I should buy something or not. Whether I should invest or not.
I once ran a product review site and can tell you the Make Money Online genre of Internet business is one of the most susceptible to scams. I have a pretty good feeling the likes of the Google and the FTC have the same educated opinion.
I hate seeing scams and worse hate seeing people get scammed.
Here is a free list of things you can do to ensure you dont get scammed. This is a simple list I usually run through. It doesnt mean that I email the person and ask them 101 questions I just use these laws of common sense to help me decide whether I should buy something or not. Whether I should invest or not.
- Remember that good sales copy is meant to make you feel good, it's meant to make you want the product and its designed to make you want to buy right there and then. My rule is SLEEP ON IT! Before making a purchase especially if its a significant one, always go away and sleep on it, speak to your significant other, have a general think about it and then come back to it and see if you still feel the same way. This method alone has recently saved my $1500 for an local SEO program that some of you may have heard of.
- Ask questions. This sounds like it should be common place occurrence but unfortunately it's not. Some people ask a hundred questions other's dont ask a single question and then end of buying something that is either a scam or purely not suitable for them. Dont hammer the seller, but read the FAQ and if something doesnt make sense ask the question, it doesnt hurt and you could save yourself from investing in something that doesnt offer the benefit or feature that you assume comes with it.
- Do the numbers. When looking at MMO products and services always, always, always run the numbers in your head and see if it is actually realistic for you to make the kind of money they are saying and if that kind of money is what you are looking for at that time. Let me give you an example, I see these "I make xxx amount per day, week, month, hour etc" That sounds great at first but lets break it down, lets say someone is telling you their method, system or service can make you 6K a month! Sounds great right? Well you have to remember from a copy writing perspective, if this person was making more than 6K and or had a customer in the course making more than that then they would market the higher figure, so its safe to say that 6K is pushing toward the peak turnover for this particular system and you would have to be at a fairly expert level to get there. Secondly the word "turnover" is a great adjective to use right now. Never ever assume that what they are promoting is pure profit. 99.9999% of the time what they will refer to is turn over and not profit. What that means is that if you asked that person what the profit V turnover looked like and then asked them to expand down the list of overheads you would get a very different picture. Its like the Flippa strategy, ever notice on Flippa people always ask about the break downs of the finances. Well thats what you need to do. If the seller cant or wont give you a decent break down of their turn over, profit and over heads then you need to stop right there and walk away. Here is why: 6K turn over with overheads for PPC, SEO, Content, Product Creation, Upfront Purchase costs, hosting, design etc may cost you 3K for the month, then you have taxes to think about too, accounting costs and other general business costs which may leave you with 2.7K for the month in pure profits of which you may have to re-invest... ALWAYS DO YOUR NUMBERS, AND THEN DO THEM AGAIN!
- Ask for independent reviews and testimonials. Forums are so easy to do this, if you scroll down a forum and see someone has made a purchase, hit that person up on the PM line and politely ask them for a review of the product. Search product review websites, complaint boards etc. You may find a very different view from people online as compared with what the seller has published because any smart person will always publish his/her best reviews and testimonials.
- Look for the profit ETA V refund policy time frame. I have seen some clear and obvious scams where the seller will offer a 30 day money back guarantee but will clearly state it takes about 30+, 60 or 90 days to see profits. If this is not clear ASK THE QUESTION.
- Never be afraid to ask for a refund. it's not rude, it's just business ad you dont owe anyone anything. But dont be rude either. If you think something is not working or is not as described you are well within your consumer rights (in most countries) to ask for a refund.
- Do your research into the business/seller/merchant. If they are claiming they will show you how to make money online and coach you to success by doing web design yet you find they make the majority of all their money from doing ebooks, courses and coaching programs it may be an alarm bell, it may not either. For all you know they where doing design work for 10 years and then got out of the business to offer expert consultation and training services. You wont know unless you do your research and if your research comes up empty well ASK THE QUESTION.
- Look for sustainable opportunities. Im going to be very honest and say that 80% of the MMO offers are see are not sustainable businesses. Im sorry but writing articles with affiliate links placed in them is not a sustainable business. Build it up as much as you like, hire writers, seo people, doenst matter... at the end of the day your going to hit your peak proritabilty and usually that is not that profitable. Why do I say that? because when your in a business that relies on so many third parties your volume of sales needs to be massive in order for you to consider it a real business, there is also the risk of the third party making a change that completely effects or at worst disrupts your business. Whats a good example? Remember Affiliate PPC businesses, well so do I. How many people do that currently and remain profitable over several years? None. usually the smart ones get out and begin offering coaching courses, ebooks etc.
- Compounding on the above i'd lie to go out and suggest never getting into any business that relies on a third party solely. If someone iss selling you their super duper method for making $100 per day (in pure profit
yet the method relies 100% on a third party, you should run for the hills. SEO is the perfect example, if you rely solely on SEO as the only source of traffic to your site, your asking for trouble. Why? Its a third party and you have no control. What is another example? Products. If you re-sell a product, dont rely on one product alone, hell dont even rely on 2, 3 or 4 products. Make sure you have a nice little portfolio. If that product or service supplier makes a change it could be devastating to your business. - Finally. Use common sense. When thinking and talking about money it's all too common to let emotion get in the way. Set the emotions aside and think about every investment like it where your last. This investment could make you or break you. Or it could just cost you $20 and may not be that serious. But how many of these $20 losses are you making per month that is resulting in you not having the capital for the good investment? At the end of the day you put a certain amount of time, effort and money into making that $20, $100, $1000 or $100,000. If you feel uncertain, use common sense, get a second opinion and make an educated decision after sleeping on it, doing your research and all the other things on this list. If it doesnt feel right, dont do it!
yet the method relies 100% on a third party, you should run for the hills. SEO is the perfect example, if you rely solely on SEO as the only source of traffic to your site, your asking for trouble. Why? Its a third party and you have no control. What is another example? Products. If you re-sell a product, dont rely on one product alone, hell dont even rely on 2, 3 or 4 products. Make sure you have a nice little portfolio. If that product or service supplier makes a change it could be devastating to your business.
My free ebook on pancreatic cancer: http://ow.ly/nPVhm Let's help my friend Courtney Reagan strike out cancer!
Are you WORRIED about what wheat is doing to your waistline and your health? You SHOULD be! http://ow.ly/jSIY9 Internet marketer, copyeditor, copywriter, content creator, author - http://www.joechengery.com
RIP Dad Oct 14 1954 - Mar 14 2015.