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5_top_things_that_set_off_my_BS_Alarm
| 5 top things that set off my BS Alarm
The web is overflowing with scams. Thousands and thousands of
otherwise normal people are looking for ways to make big money
by doing NOTHING.
Still, we have faith that there are some legitimate
opportunities on the web. But how do you tell the scams from the
real things?
Here are five things that set off my BS Alarm.
Number 1 BS Alarm Tripper
"You can make thousands of dollars a week, almost
immediately." There are thousands and thousands of sites
that make claims like this. But this kind of BS is not limited
to the web. The other day I saw a TV ad where the testimonial
guy said he was soon going to be making $20,000 per week. Think
about that for a minute. That is more than a million dollars a
year, selling products of questionable value. This guy is going
from zero to a million dollars in just a few weeks. Maybe Donald
Trump can pull that off (at least in his own mind), but not your
average Joe Trump.
Click!
Number 2 BS Alarm Tripper
No actual product is being sold.
This is not always easy to detect. Many "marketing" schemes
claim to be selling "valuable information", but in fact are only
selling you the "rights" to resell the same program (ebook,
etc.) to other suckers. This is what you might call "the 24 hour
plan": I'll sell you a "report" for $5, then you sell it to all
your friends and relatives, then they can do the same. You
aren't buying my report because of the information in it. You
are just buying it to resell it. The actual content of the
report is irrelevant. It could just be a blank report or a page
of nonsense.
Click!
Number 3 BS Alarm Tripper "We will throw in a bunch "e-books"
worth "thousands of dollars"
Generally speaking, nothing of value is ever given away free.
This is an immutable law of the universe. But web
"entrepreneurs" are always telling us they will throw in a
valuable set of info products, worth thousands, if you just buy
their $50 product.
Does this make sense? No it does not. These info products are
usually available many other places for free. And the chances
are you will download them and then forget about them
completely. In fact the whole concept of the "valuable e-book"
has been so corrupted by this practice that it devalues
ALL e-books. Giving away worthless stuff is not
necessarily a bad thing. But it tells me the seller is a hustler
and cannot be trusted.
Click!
Number 4 BS-Alarm Tripper
Any time I see the term "downline" I immediately think
"scam".
Why? Because this is a term used in the MLM (multi-level
marketing) "industry", and generally indicates you will not
be selling products, but rather, trying to get other people to
sell stuff for you.
This is the dream of every salesman and would-be entrepreneur:
"To make money by getting other people to do all the work." I'm
not saying MLM schemes never work. Some real world MLM schemes
are notoriously successful. But these schemes generally sell
real products that we all need -- stuff like toilet paper and
whiz wipes. Aunt Minerva is going to buy this stuff somewhere,
so she might as well buy it from you (or your "downline").
But by its very nature an MLM scheme runs out of suckers very
quickly. And since most web schemes like this are not selling
real products -- that would be too complicated -- the sucker
pool is even smaller. The only people interested in buying into
these things are suckers like you -- you know, other
"opportunity-seekers" prepared to sell their friends and
relatives $5 "memberships". And most people (not surprisingly)
are not interested in doing that.
Click!
Number 5 BS Alarm Tripper
"We will do all the work for you."
I've already implied it a few times, but in case you've missed
my main point it is this: There is no free lunch on the web
or anywhere else. If somebody tells you they can make money
for you without ANY work on your part, they are either nuts or
simply lying to you. Think about it. Why would somebody set up a
website, stick your name on it, and then start sending you
checks just because you let them use your name? Wouldn't it be a
lot more profitable for these guys just to make up names and
send the checks to themselves.
Yes, it would. What they really want is get you on board
so you can start buying their "products" (more BS), and
promoting the system as a member of their "downline". Sorry. Not
interested.
Click!
I can think of many more BS Alarm stimulators, but these five
eliminate at least 90% of the "opportunities" I've run into. If
you have any comments, I'd be pleased to hear from you. Check out my website
and drop me an email.
About the author:
Rick Hendershot is based in Conestogo, Ontario, Canada. He spent
many years as an advertising consultant, and small business
owner. He currently publishes several small business websites
and ezines, and provides web design and online marketing
services to small business owners wanting to jump start their
online marketing efforts. He can be reached at
rh@small-business-online.com.
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