Monday, October 5, 2009

Beware Of Internet Marketing Scams

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My grandfather used to always warn me, "an empty wagon makes the most noise."  By that he meant, people who make ostentatious claims about what they do, how much they make or who they are, are probably not true.  Not only are their claims untrue, you shouldn't trust them either.




Which brings me to internet marketing scams.  Please understand that many make money from home opportunities will not lead you on the path of financial glory.  The people who yell the loudest usually haven't made a dime online.  Just ask them the next time they post a status update on Facebook or Twitter.  And when they don't respond, well you'll have your answer.




In the real world, no one walks around bragging about how much money they make.  If they do, you probably don't want to be bothered with them because they are nerve wracking and they exhibit a high 'creep factor.'




I believe internet marketers who tell you how much they make are desperate for attention.  Attention to a potential internet marketing scam that you don't want any part of.




Take the recent case of Perry Belcher.

Belcher was the 'guru' behind HealthyRightNow.com --- a health remedy scam. 

Belcher violated and broke local, state and federal laws when one of his companies Selmedica claimed to make medical products that treated a "wide array of ailments."   As well as "to have made every product it sells in a state of the art facility under the strict guidelines of the FDA."




Belcher was arrested and sentenced to a 10-year suspended sentence, had over $1 million in assets seized including his homes, and of course he forfeited his websites.




The lesson here is, research, read and learn before you sign up for an internet marketing opportunity.  Many of them will cost you lots of money before you earn a single penny.  Find out if you have to keep and maintain any type of 'autoship' of products in order to make money with a marketing company.  If you do, and you don't maintain your autoship, you could lose out on any potential commissions.




Read as much as you can about the company.  Simply Google the company name and see how many complaints come up.  Add the word 'scam' to the end of the company name and you will be able to see if there are any ongoing or past investigations.  




People like Perry Belcher depend on you not knowing.  They depend on you believing their outrageous claims because someone you trust vouches for them.  The person that vouches for them may be your Facebook or Twitter friend.  But, be careful of the the over-the-top behavior they exhibit.  They may just be leading you down a path of financial ruin.




Keep this in mind, successful business people are too busy making their business a success and don't have time to 'brag' about their past accomplishments.  Truly successful business people don't mind sharing tips with you to help you become a success because they realize when other people say good things about you, that is worth more than any testimonial from  a scammer.  Beware of those people who want to charge you to add more friends on Facebook or more followers on Twitter.  If you can't get those people on your own based upon who you are, then you probably don't need them anyway.




Things like that are fueled by greed and don't last very long.





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