Internet Marketing Smoke And Mirrors

Posted by Steven Wagenheim on September 09, 2010 in General

I have absolutely NO doubt that this article is going to strike a lot of raw nerves. The truth usually does hurt. In this case, the truth has to do with a lot of smoke and mirrors that some, not all, but some Internet marketers use to create the illusion of success and wealth. And the smoke and mirrors that they use cover a wide variety of things. This article is going to touch on a few of them. Warning, this is going to shock some and come as no surprise to others. Read at your own risk.

Let’s start with one of the oldest sales tactics in existence…proof of income. You’ve all seen the screen prints on the sales pages. Well, there are two things you need to know about these screen prints. One, they can be easily faked. Yes, a little Photoshop can do wonders.

But what about the screen prints that are actually REAL, not that you can tell the difference? Well, the problem with the REAL numbers is that you don’t know how they were attained.

For starters, you don’t know if the money this person made was actually from using the product they they’re selling to you. They may have very well made that money from selling the product itself and NOT from any technique IN the product.

And even if they DID make that amount of money, you have NO idea what they spent to get it. For example, they could have spent $10,000 in Adwords costs to make that $8,000 income…thus leaving them $2,000 in the hole. I mean really…how do you know for sure? You don’t.

But income proof is only part of the smoke and mirrors illusion. You also have testimonials. You know, all those people who say how great the product is. Well, for starters, and this is especially true for testimonials with vague names and no photos, how do you even know these people are real? You don’t. And even with video testimonials, you don’t know if the person was paid to say what they’re saying. Yes, people PAY for testimonials.

And even if the testimonial is legit, you don’t know what the person did to actually make that income. You don’t know what prior skills they had. You don’t REALLY know if this is something any average person can duplicate.

More smoke and mirrors.

What about the tactics themselves that the gurus say work so well? How do you know they even use them? For all you know, they’ve just dug something up out of their magic chest and passed it off as the wonder cure for all that ails you.

It might be nothing but snake oil with no real substance at all.

Unless you actually SEE the person use the technique, you really have no idea if there is any validity to it. The only way to find out…and this is the point of this article…is to TEST IT YOURSELF.

There you have it folks, what has essentially taken me almost 500 words to say.

Don’t blindly believe anything you read or hear. Marketers lie. Not all, but some. And some leave out things, albeit unintentionally, that have a big influence on how well YOU will do with a certain technique.

For example, I can teach you all about the X’s and O’s of article writing and marketing. But if you don’t have the skill to write your way out of a paper bag, it’s NOT going to matter.

Some people JUST CAN’T WRITE.

So take nothing as gospel.

Test, test, and then test some more.

That is the ONLY way you’re going to find out if something is going to work for you or not.

To YOUR Success,

Steven Wagenheim

If you want to discover the REAL truth about Internet marketing and get some solid tips to take your business to the next level…get my free report at http://www.stevewagenheim.com/realtruth.html and subscribe to my REAL Truth newsletter where you’ll discover more than from all those high priced ebooks combined.