How to Spot the Scams
This is the second post in a three-part guest post series about making money online and avoiding scams during your search. It’s by Joe and Steve of I’ve Tried That. They still maintain they are separate people. I still maintain they are not. Read part one here — How To Make Money Online and Avoid Scams.
If you’re new to this race—the “making money online” race—consider yourself lucky to have made IttyBiz one of your first pit stops. (Editor’s note: Remember the other day, when we were saying that in order to get a guest post on IttyBiz, you have to use the word “shyster”? Additional rule: Please suck up, but do so intelligently like Joe/Steve.) As you’re about to discover, there are LOTS of bogus money-making programs making false claims in an effort to take your money. One thing that’s in your favor, though, is that they all use the same or very similar tactics. Snake-oil salesmen are never original, it seems, and that’s a fact you can use to your advantage.
Warning Signs That You’re Being Misled
At I’ve Tried That, we sign up for programs and products that make claims and then publish the results. We’ve found that the following are reliable warning signs that the page you’re looking at is at best misleading, and at worst, selling you a bag full of bullshit and claiming it’s gold bullion.
- Stock photos of pretty people, cash, mansions, and cars. This red flag is the online equivalent of a used car salesman calling himself “Honest Vinnie.” What, everyone making money online is a model? Aren’t there any guys with bellies and women who don’t wear makeup? And the cash! I challenge you to find just one genuine business with photos of cash on its web site. There aren’t any. That’s because real businesses don’t have to rely on that cheap tactic. It’s a tacky practice meant to push your emotional buttons.
- High-pressure sales tactics. There are only three positions left! Act now to get the special price! You see the ticking clock?! Give us your money before it runs out or you might not get in! Folks, there is not a limited number of positions available. The price isn’t about to go up. Again, these tactics are meant to push your emotional buttons and get you to make a decision with your heart instead of your head.
- “Anyone can do it!” Have you ever seen this? “No special skills required. If you have a computer, an email address, and an internet connection, you can start making money today.” Honestly, why is it that people looking to supplement their income leave their brains in a jar in the fridge? In what alternate universe can you get a legitimate job or start a real business with no skills? My seven year old can check his email and do the two-finger peck to type, but he’s not going to be pulling in $1,000 per day any time soon. Online as in real life, you need marketable skills to earn money.
- “Proof of income” images. These are images of Clickbank or Adsense accounts showing lots of sales, lots of clicks per day, in a bar graph format. These images can be faked, but honestly, I don’t think most of them are. We’ve seen some that were copied from other sites, but also, the scammer may very well make the kind of money shown in the image. That problem is that he makes it by selling the very scam he’s pitching to you.
- “We’ve researched 4,237 online opportunities, and 99% of them are scams. This one is legitimate.” This announcement, or something like it, is almost always a prelude to selling you an “opportunity” that is misleading and can’t deliver what it claims. These self-appointed watchdog “researchers” tell you a truth (”99% of them are scams”) to earn your trust, and then they give you their affiliate links to the 1% that is “genuine.” You think they’re researched, so you sign up. The watchdogs earn a nice commission. See our posts on watching the “watchdogs,” in which we call two of them out. One of these “research” groups is even promoting processathome.com—the most blatant scam of 2008.
A Little Common Sense Goes a Long Way
Finally, consider this parting bit of advice: If a program really does generate thousands of dollars per day, GUARANTEED OR YOUR MONEY BACK, why would the owner sell it for $49.95? Here’s the math:
$1,000 per day (a conservative claim, by what we’ve seen)
x 365 days in a year
= $365,000 per year!
And some guru will sell you that secret for $29 out of the goodness of his heart? I don’t think so. Here’s a promise from me: when we discover a guaranteed method of generating even $200 per day, we’ll sell it here at IttyBiz first. And how will you know it’s legit? Because we’ll sell to only 5 buyers, and the opening bid will be $50,000, which you’ll earn back before your first year is out!
Our third and final post will tell you about some of the most common scams and about real moneymakers we’ve found.
Next Post: Moral of the Story: Reveal Yourself Edition
Love it. Also brings to mind another huge problem in the online marketing-ey world: namely, how few models there are of how to do it right.
So you get to the point where you want to distill your genius teachings into a product so you can help more people, but it’s hard to find someone to emulate. And then even if you find someone who’s *not* actually a total sleazeball they’re still using sleazeball-centric tactics because that’s what was modeled for them or that’s what they’ve “learned” is successful.
When I produced my first product I had to explain over and over again to pretty much everyone I knew, except — thank god — my designer that no, I was not going to follow their suggestions to put stacks of money on the website or anywhere for that matter, and that they shouldn’t either. Next time will just send them to this post.
You guys rock.
I love Havi.
That is all.
>>Folks, there is not a limited number of positions available. The price isn’t about to go up.
In a major portion of my business (online training), there’s always a limited number of positions, to keep the community manageable at first. And the price does in fact go up as promised, often several times, in order to get people to make a move.
And it’s very effective and ethical. We treat our charter members extremely well in all my programs as a reward for taking early action.
Qualify your advice, or stop giving it. I’m sick of hearing blanket statements like this from amateurs. You’re doing more harm than good to people who are more clueless than you are.
Naomi, you can do better than this for guest content.
Brian — take it in context, please. Joe’s talking about a very different reader than your reader, who has a very different goal than your reader. Your products/services are kosher; what Joe’s warning against are not. It’s not a blanket statement, it was made in context to his series of articles, warnings, and experience — just like your advice to your readers is made in context.
Joe’s not an expert in your field, and you’re not the expert in his field, but all of us readers can greatly benefit from both of your PsOV. Your POV and experience with limits and price raises are a great example of how to do it right… not everyone is ethical like you are. Which is Joe’s point.
Naomi does a swell job of vetting and choosing her guests, and you do a swell job of furthering the conversation — “comment in context” helps avoid blanket complaints and nastiness, which is only fun to read if it’s of the whining and snarky variety — !
“There is not a limited number of positions available..” = never; “The price isn’t about to go up” = never. What context makes those statement appropriate?
These are absolutist, unqualified statements. Even my 6-year-old knows that we don’t say “always” or “never” when making statements, because more often than not, that makes them wrong.
Look, these guys can do what they want and say what they want. But if they try to pass themselves off as authorities rather than two guys with apparently strong opinions about what they personally prefer, people more qualified then they are allowed to poke holes in what they say.
Welcome to the party, guys.
@Naomi I hope you still feel exactly the same way after you read my latest post in which I first profess mad love to you and then completely steal and subvert your best technique …
@Brian It sounds like (if I’m understanding right) you’re feeling upset because you know that you’re in integrity and you want to know that people are going to recognize that and not be led off track by a series of absolute rules. Which makes sense.
I think that in general (and maybe Joe/Steve thought this goes without saying and maybe they should have said it anyway), that as long as you (in general, not you specifically) mean what you say, then it’s legit. If you have a reason for only offering a certain number at a certain price and then you’re actually going to do that, it’s legit. If you stick to your word, it’s legit.
The way I understood it, they’re talking more about the context of having enough information to understand when deliberate dishonesty and emotional manipulation could be coming into play. And, frustratingly, a lot of people don’t have those skill sets. It absolutely didn’t occur to me that someone would understand it differently, and since you obviously have, it would be interesting to see it/ how they qualify stuff in the future.
@GirlPie Nice mediation. I agree with your “bring back the snark!” battlecry (that should totally be someone’s tagline if it isn’t already).
I’m sorry Brian, I must not have been clear when I wrote “take it in context please.” The statements, in the context of this post of warning signs, in this series of articles, discussing this type of scam, are valid. They are not absolutes because they’re referring to this one warning about this one type of hype in this one type of scam.
These guys are not passing themselves off as authorities in your or any business but, as the title of their site explains, as normal people who try out the seems-too-good-to-be-true stuff and write about their experiences so their readers don’t have to make the same mistakes (unless they want to.) Like a consumer advocate in the local news…
Hopefully, we’re also teaching our children to take into account that the words/concepts of ‘always’ and ‘never’ must be taken — as all things — in context.
Thanks for sharing your qualified experiences too, since your work is not in the scam arena — it’s great to see examples of a marketing approach used by the good guys.
Havi — delighted to be typing at the same time as you were! HA! Good points — Naomi always has such interesting people to her parties!
Fuck. Now I have to go back to commenting on my own blog and mingle with the commoners. Watch out, I’m about to beat a dead horse.
First off, I sympathize with Brian. Having used and enjoyed Teaching Sells, I can say with certainty that it’s not a scam. It must be frustrating to read something like this and seeing presumed absolutes… always, never, and the like.
At the same time, the big red text said “Warning Signs”. It didn’t say everything that promised a price increase WAS a scam, although I could see how it could be read that way. I think, though, anyone whose kid came home and said, “Mommy, I have to buy this right now because the price is going to go up tomorrow” would have reservations. The reservations may be unfounded, but they would be necessary to protect the ones you love.
To Brian specifically, while I respect you, your blog, and your course immensely, I don’t think you’re in a position to criticize the use of absolutes. As a writer who has no problem writing stories like “10 Sure-Fire Headlines…” I think it’s not fair to start criticizing “always” and “never” synonyms.
To everyone — all 8 of you? :) — I stand by Joe/Steve on this one.
If you are buying from someone you know and trust, if someone you know and trust is recommending something, if you have done your due diligence, feel free to safely ignore warning signs. But warning signs are there for a reason.
When you use sales strategies that are the same as those used by scammers, you run the risk of being assumed to be a scammer. This is unfortunate, but realistic, and it means you will have to be extra vigilant in your efforts to let people know you’re the real deal.
*buys popcorn and finds a good seat to watch the show go down*
* unveils the smuggled candy and joins James
Why the fuck does James get candy? I don’t get candy! If I’d known there would be candy I would’ve started some blog shit months ago!
Oh, I see. We’re commoners until we have candy.
Yes. That is the hierarchy in place here. No candy = commoner. Candy = close friend.
Wow, I feel like I’m late to my own birthday party and all the cake is gone. Just a few remaining thoughts:
@Havi: Regarding models on how to do it right, I couldn’t agree more. Our ebook is a case in point. We started with no sales page, but are now using a traditional, longish sales page using some of the same techniques we trash in our posts. We’ll soon dump that model for what we hope is a completely new and awesome one. Minimalistic. Sparse (No, really! The background image is a desert.). But if sales tank, we’ll go back to what works.
(We freely admit our existing sales page sucks. Especially the big-ass picture of me [that would be not-Steve]. And don’t buy the book. 2.0 is close to being finished.)
@ Brian: It sucks that scammers have copied the techniques of respectable online marketers and copy writers. We make generalizations because our readers are relatively inexperienced at making money online and are often desperate, which is a volatile mix. When they Google “make money processing rebates,” they are not yet asking the right questions, so they need the blanket rules. We teach the rules, not the exceptions. By the time they’ve educated themselves enough to even know the right questions to ask (such as, “How can I learn to write copy that sells?”) and are led to Teaching Sells, they’ll be able to make the distinction between the legitimate use of a tactic and the snake-oil variety.
When I read the post before reading any comments, I disagreed with these overly broad assertions immediately. There are far too many legitimate operations using all of these proven marketing techniques for these assertions to be believable. This is like saying that since thieves usually come from broken homes, drive beater cars, and live near the places they rob, we should beware of everyone whose parents got divorced that lives near us and drives a rusty old Buick.
Marketing techniques in and of themselves are amoral. Do not confuse a low-quality opportunity with a scam.
James, pass me some popcorn, dude.
@ Charlie - Dude… You fucking snuck that in. Way cool. *unveils small flask of whisky*
I have to agree with Brian. Using sweeping statements is a hard call. I try to avoid that as much as possible, but we’re so used to adopting an authoritative tone when we write that it’s easy to forget. I probably have far too many blog posts that use quantifying statements like that.
Cheers for Teaching Sells. They apply all the techniques in a way that respects my intelligence and my money - and it works.
That’s not this blog’s audience, I’m afraid. But I see where you’re coming from.
I had the same response Michael M did. Urgency messages don’t just belong to scammers. Sometimes the limited availability is real and sometimes it is not. Is it being used to make you want to buy? Of course it is, whether the seller has a worthwhile product or not. Creating a (non fake) reason to buy now is crucial, because it’s in our nature to procrastinate, and procrastinators do not pay our mortgages.
Any effective marketing technique is going to be pushed to the breaking point by con artists. When you have no product, your marketing has to be pretty damned effective.
Along the same lines, ugly (but very readable) sales pages look a lot worse because they’re overused by creeps with crappy products. But that doesn’t mean that ugly (but very readable) sales pages don’t work, and from the perspective of a marketer, they’re often the smart way to go.
I entirely sympathize with Brian’s frustration, and at the same time, I think wimpy-watery “sometimes” and “usually” statements are the verbal equivalent of cream-of-wheat. Sometimes you need to come out strong even though what you’re saying isn’t right in every case.
It’s probably safe to say that Joe & Steve don’t know shit about direct marketing. I’m going to guess (but I don’t know) that Brian C. doesn’t have much experience helping people get their money back from scamming asshole con men. Each is giving excellent advice for the folks they are trying to help.
I think Joe & Steve’s advice in aggregate is smart for consumers looking to buy information products about how to make money on the Web (which we’ve got here), but not smart for copywriters trying to sell stuff on the Web (which we also have here).
>>These guys are not passing themselves off as authorities in your or any business but..
GirlPie, this article itself is a marketing piece for an anti-scam site, which I presume they want to treat as a business.
They are talking about scams powered by… wait for it… sales and marketing techniques.
They are speaking in absolutist terms about which sales and marketing techniques are legitimate and which are not.
What business am I in again?
I’m really not trying to be a smart ass, but this seems a bit obvious. Others see to see the problem as well.
As far as context goes, I subscribe to Naomi’s blog, and I read the last article. Again, which context am I missing?
Naomi, point taken. But I’ve worked really hard to become an authority through hard work and many mistakes (just as you have), so I can speak with authority (just like you can). These guys are speaking with authority, but at the same time using the “we’re just folk” approach. Choose one or the other, guys, and you won’t piss people off (then again, maybe you will).
Joe, your generalizations at this blog can cause small business people to take what you say to heart, and screw up their own marketing. They can also cause people to pass on legitimate learning experiences. I view it as intellectual dishonesty (which is a scammy form of marketing, generally) or laziness (which is a character trait that many scammers possess, generally).
See how dangerous generalizations can be when they’re pointed back at you?
Movie over, nothing to see here. And pick up yer damn popcorn boxes. :-)
@ Brian: Yes. Indeed. Etc.
@ Everyone: I would like to state for the record here how hard it was for me not to say, in response to James and his popcorn:
“Act now! The good seats are almost gone! Only three boxes of popcorn left!”
At the time, that would have been wildly inappropriate and I think we all know that this blog is known for it’s appropriateness and hard hitting journalism. Now that the movie’s over, I feel safe.
Just want to add here (because we’re also known for sucking up to people with bigger blogs) that the only reason I only said three words to Brian is because I have nothing intelligent to add.
Please do not worry — we’re still friends and we’re still going to make out in front of God and YouTube at SXSW.
I just want to know if Brian reads MY blog.
And you can’t make me pick up my popcorn if I don’t want to :P
Dude, no-one reads your blog. I can’t believe you have enough money to pay all those people to subscribe. :-D
Naomi, thanks for reminding me: James, where’s my $20, man?
@ Michael - Sorry, dude. Had to pay the guy to sweep up the popcorn for me.
When my wife and I get into an argument, and she uses a “never” or “always,” I immediately proclaim that she’s wrong and I won the argument. I win!
…which is how I got this black-eye.
Moral of the story, while I hate absolutes as much as the next guy, I understand that many people use them to make their message less cream of wheat (thank you, Sonia) and more..umm…spicy breakfast burrito. I think we’re all guilty to some extent, so I don’t have a problem with the usage in this scenario.
Side note: Naomi, how many of your readers are looking for get rich quick opportunities? I always assumed that your audience was umm…smarter than that. If I’m mistaken I’d like to guest post again. This time I’ll include a call to action on some swamp land for sale in Florida.
@ David - Forgive me, but aren’t we ALL looking for get-rich-quick opportunities? I mean, sheesh.
“Hey, here’s an opportunity to get rich quick!”
“Um, no thanks, dude. Pass.”
I think what you wanted to say was get-rich-quick SCHEMES should be passed up. Because damned if I’ll pass up an opportunity.
And I’m a pretty smart guy ;)
Hey, David, let’s join forces in a JV partnership! If you promote my bridge for sale in Brooklyn, I’ll pimp your swampland. The affiliate sales will be KILLER.
@ Michael - Deal. This could be big.
@ James - You said “all.” I win. : )
Really though, I stand by my word choice. The point was that my impression of Ittybiz readers was that they were people actively pursuing (or at least thinking about) long term, build it from the ground up, type home businesses as opposed to working programs or systems. Of course, that was just my impression; I could very well be wrong.
PS. If you are in the market for an opportunity, e-mail me at GetRich@FloridaBargainsAndNewYorkBridges.com
@ David and Michael — I think that since I’m the one who brought your JV partnership together, it’s only fair that I get a cut.
Seriously, though, in answer to David’s question, yes, most IttyBiz readers are doing the home biz thing as a long term plan. But with half the world barking on about residual income and income streams, it would be totally retarded NOT to look for ways to augment cash flow.
In our case, we’re doing some website flipping stuff and some affiliate marketing stuff and some other ebooks. (Including and not including ones for IttyBiz reader consumption.) It’s like a little mini stock portfolio of things that bring in the cash.
I, and most of my current/long-time readers, have been around the block enough times to know a scam from a non-scam. But our subscriber base is getting bigger and the percentage of our traffic that comes from search engines is going up. It’s not just the few and the proud anymore.
Kind of like James said, we’re all ready for an opportunity. A scheme, not so much. But some of the newer and/or more desperate will have a difficult time differentiating between the two.
@ Naomi - Makes sense. Thanks for the explanation. I was just curious.
BTW, I only have three more bridges available (and the prices are about to go up). : )
I think there are a lot of folks looking not so much for get-rich-quick as for pay-my-mortgage-quick. And that can make a smart person suddenly, well, not so smart.
**For the next 24 hours only**Fantastic money-making coaching website for sale! Hurry only 1 available** The price goes up to .99 cents if you don’t act within 24 hours.
I’ve moved on to “envelope-stuffing” it’s gonna make me filthy rich!
I have to confess that I have been one of the silly ones who have believed in all the scams previously. I’ve not made a dime more from many of these programs; sad to say. I’ve wisen up, only after spending thousands of dollars.
[...] Tried That. Haven’t read the first few? How to Make Money Online and Avoid Scams and How to Spot Online Scams [...]
[...] posts before listening to any internet business pitch online or offline; How to Spot the Scams, Can You Tell a Scam from the Sales Copy? and How to Make Money Online and Avoid [...]