Hmm...a few of them are faked if it's sounds too good to be true! Anyway if a screenshot seems to good to be true, then that screenshot is fake!!


Stefan Ion

When I see these proof videos, I always assume its real. I mean, is it even possible to fake a video?

It still amazes me that potential buyers ask for income proof because its pointless and tells you nothing.

Let me give you a little senario,

Johnny is selling an info product and he has video proof of him logging in to his Clickbank account to "prove his system works"

Low and behold is Clickbank account is about to burst with all those affiliate commissions.

Now consider this.

He earned that money 1 of a million ways that had nothing to do with his system.

Its not even his account maybe its his and his partners and his partner did most of the work.

Maybe he spent more to get what he actually earned and he is operating at a loss.

etc etc

Im sure you can think of many more. Point being you will have absolutely no idea whether that money was earned using the system Johnny is flogging unless you actually sit down beside him and watch a campaign from start to finish.

Yes, some are fake and yes it is very possible.

But only shady people do things like this and usually won't succeed in the long run.

Something else to watch out for is not just faked proof elements, but misrepresentations of where the income comes from.

A lot of these guys may generate all their clickbank income from selling information products on how to make money on clickbank, but then they show off their stats as though they were generated from the affiliate scheme they're selling at the moment.

Does this mean you should not use Clickbank proof to sell your product or service?

Maybe. If your audience is indeed skeptical and jaded, then you may show more details to prove your claims are legitimate. Show the video or stats have not been tampered with. Alternatively, you might focus on other proof elements, such as case-studies from successful students, your own case-studies, real-life examples, other income statements, endorsements from credible folks, and have more believable and realistic claims in the first place.

Put simply, don't just have proof elements because you think this is what you have to do. Do so in order to back-up your claims. Every part of your sales message should add to it.

Video's can be faked with alot of hard work and knowledge, see when we sell our sites now, we give that clickbank account with the site, not only that we also let interested parties to watch us log into the said clickbank account via teamviewer.

Screenshots are now outdated, it's a shame some people ruined buying sites by faking screenies and ruining newbie buyers confidence to purchase a site again.

I know of people who make close to 10k/month, and they have far less cash than I do after paying
-the affiliate commissions
-JV/Launch expenses
-Copywriters (top notch copywriters charge tens of thousand for sales letters, and couple few hundred per autoresponder email copy, I know cause I personally got quotes from a few that did major guru product sales letters)
-Graphics designers, video editors, web designers
-Article writers/submitters
-Video marketing (some have dozens of accounts on youtube and they hire VA's to create/post all that stuff)
-Customer support outsourcers (esp. if they have continuity programs)
-And of course the dreaded refunds.
Not to mention the heavy tax bills.

I have seen high rollers living in dismal apartments. Some people go as far as renting an expensive car for a day to shoot show-off vids ( I ain't naming any names, you wouldn't believe me if I did anyway).

I have seen some marketers who claimed to make millions but they ain't living the millionaire lifestyle at all - and this is not cause they are non-materialistic spiritual people

Why do they go to a cheap 3rd world country as soon as they 'make it' why don't they go live in some Mediterranean paradise or Hawaii?

I believe a lot of those figures are heavily inflated, and even the 'real' unadultered ones do not account for taxes and expenses.
No wonder FTC cracked down on income claims left, right and center.

You can make a decent living by marketing, but product launches are costly and short lived. You are much better off doing low profile stuff that lasts longer.

I made it policy not to make income claims in any of my info products, I only show possibilities and verifiable solid real life examples people can go and check themselves on well respected reliable web sites. That may make me a bad marketer but I know for a fact that not everyone is capable of coming up with the same things to make the same money, so I'd rather be a bad marketer than a dishonest shyster.

I have never seen that people have fake videos, but it always depends on the person. Gurus and BIG players do not use fake screenshots and fake videos. They always show their real earnings.

First, thanks Giles, you saved me a lot of explaining.

Second, just to back up Giles and reinforce what he said: Videos are very easy to fake. I took one course in video making, actually I'm only through 14 lessons out of about 60, and already I could fake a video if I chose to. Unfortunately, it's very simple!

And in case anyone is thinking of asking ... no, I won't fake one for you and won't teach you how.

[DELETED]

You know what's sad?

If folks gave themselves permission to actually research out the potential product, AND approach it with a healthy dose of skepticism...they might get burned far LESS in the future.

But the seduction of buying the dream always lingers...

Wow... I just watched that video, Crew Chief, and I admit... I didn't realize it was that easy for them to play around with the text on the screen, it's almost shocking to me, although it's well-known that some people are faking cb screencaps/shots.

Any ideas on how to adequately tell if the screenie is fake or real? I don't pay attention to 'em' much anyway, as I don't buy products that make big claims.

I don't trust any of that info anymore.
What does it all mean at the end of the day?

It's not easy to make a buck using a lot of the products on offer.Proof or no proof.
Just another shiny object that will allow us to sit on a beach with our laptops while the cash rolls in. Duh!!

I rely on the Warrior Forum these days for my products especially when the product owner gets grilled by the members.
There are some some smart cookies in this forum.
So thanks guys. It's all about trust for me.

Terry

Regardess of whether an income video is faked or not, it still doesn't conclusively prove that the income was made with the method or system that the seller is pushing, now does it? When viewed in that light, asking for income proof is pretty useless, but I guess there are still many out there who still fall for it.

[QUOTE] The point being...

Stop expecting others to pick you up out of your *whatever* situation.

Stop blaming others when they say they will they don't.

Snake oil doesn't cure cancer.

You...

.... you ....

.... .... .... .... YOU are the one who determines your ultimate destiny!

And if the life you're living ain't quite the one that you want it be...

... do something about it.

- Paul Barrs [END QUOTE]

This made so much sense to me - Thank you Paul for saying what I wanted to...but so much nicer than I could

I never do income proofs for any products I sell because I have always known that a lot of the possible "success" or otherwise is dependent on the one factor I have no control over - the paying client. So I just have faith in what I sell, and if others feel the same way then I guess they will buy - because I sell business ideas, not get rich quick schemes

Now is any of that swampland left and do you sell to international buyers, lol

Lisa

So even if you see someone logging into their clickbank account (entering their name and password) and their earnings come up, and the proper url is there too (not this javascript thingy)...then that could conceivably be faked?

Check for strange mouse movements and you'll see it's faked.

Most of the time you'll see the mouse cursor move off the page then back onto the page.

Fake videos, fake revies, fake proof, fake promises that is why I dont buy unless there 20+ pozitive reviews

How about this?

On the salespage the product owner gives out his username/password so visitors can log in to their CB account for themselves to view the sales?

Obviously for security reasons there would have to be a way to block certain pages (personal address/payment pages) and prevent change of password but I'm sure CB could come up with something.

So someone could log in and ONLY view the sales stats.

I'm beginning to think of asking product owners to show me a screenshot of how much they spend instead of how much income they make.

Maybe my bad but I'm sick and tired of fake income screenshots.

[DELETED]

Jack

There was a video doing the rounds about 6 months ago that showed that with some software you could change the sales on the page to look like you have made more then you have , I will try and find it for you and PM you if I do

Jason