Entries Tagged 'Reviews' ↓

If you are looking to make money online you have to watch out for scams. There are lots of them out there and when you are just starting out it can be difficult to separate the legitimate from the scams. My basic rule of thumb is that if it sounds too good to be true it probably is.

For this top 10 list,  I have purposely avoided mentioning the most obvious scams such as pyramid schemes (or pseudo pyramid schemes like multiple level marketing (MLM)), chain letters or any other program where you make money by recruiting people rather than selling or investing in something.

I figure most of you are smart enough to figure out that those programs aren’t all they are cracked up to be. What is more difficult are programs that fall into a gray-area; they work but not to the extent claimed.

The following is a list of common make money online programs that all have some potential problems. Not all of them are 100% scams and some of them do actually work to some extent. However, the one trait they all share is that their claims fail to live up to their hype.

So, exercise caution when looking at make money online schemes that resemble any of the following. And, always use common sense: if it sounds too good to be true it probably is.

10. Paid Surveys

There are some legitimate paid survey programs, but I guarantee you will not get rich from them. Any legitimate survey program should be free to join. However, many sites claim you can make money from surveys if you first pay a fee.

I would highly recommend you stay away from any survey site that requires you to pay. You may make some money, but it will take you a long time to recoup your investment. Instead opt only for free sites.

Red Flag Claims: Fortune 500 Companies Need You!, Get Paid Up $75/Hour, etc.

9. Government Grant Programs

It is true that local, state and national governments in the United States and other countries often have free grant programs. You can usually find information about them for free online just by using Google.

However, scams have developed to try and make you pay for this free information. Spend a little time on your own and you find out everything you need free of charge.

Red Flags Claims: Billions in Free Money, Over 30 million People a Year get Grants, etc.

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It has been a long time since I did any product reviews and I thought it was about time I did one again. If you are on a few Internet marketing or make money online e-mail lists, you will have probably already heard about Internet Marketing Annihilation. Here is my take on it.

Internet Marketing Annihilation claims to show you how a 23 year old uncovered 7 secrets that allowed him to earn $1.5 million last year. This is a perfect example of a new formula I have noticed among Internet marketers.

They claim that somebody who is probably younger than you (the ages vary but they are always under 30, sometimes as young as 13) has uncovered/discovered/exploited/found etc. X number of secrets that allowed them to make $Y million(s) last year.

The funny thing is that these secrets are usually not really secrets at all. Often, Internet marketers are just publishing information that is available for free elsewhere. Then they hype it up and claim that it is the next big breakthrough in Internet marketing.

Internet Marketing Annihilation adds to the hype by claiming that the first 1,000 people will have access to the information. This creates a false sense of scarcity, which is designed to get you to “steal” it for $77, (Since when is paying $77 for something stealing it?)

The system itself was created by Rob Benwell, who is best know for his Blogging To The Bank series of ebooks. I bought the first one of those and I although I thought it had a few interesting tips, they didn’t really apply to what I wanted to do online. So, it turned out to have relatively little value to me.

So did I decide to buy?
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This could not have come at a more perfect time. Less than an hour after I finished my post on Why Internet marketing products suck I get an e-mail about a brand new FREE report about a new project called Affiliate X Factor.

Essentially the free report is nothing more than sales hype for Affiliate X Factor, which looks like it will be an expensive coaching program. The site is run by Andrew Fox who I have heard about before but have never bought anything from. Now, I have no idea if he is as successful as he claims but I can guarantee this will not be the last you will hear of Affiliate X Factor.

This is the perfect example of the hype that generally surrounds the launch of new Internet marking product. And I know the program is going to expensive because he is offering $1 to every person who downloads the report. The only way he could possibly recoup that money, is to charge a lot for the coaching program when it is launched.

I am actually impressed with the Affiliate X Factor pre-launch because it is such a perfect example of what I just posted about. Anyway if you are curious about the free report and want to see an example of pure Internet marketing hype by all means click here to register and download it.

I can tell you right now that I won’t be joining but hey if you want to pay $97 a month (my guess as to how much it will cost) to get personalized coaching be my guest. If nothing else, the free report shows you the sort of tactics Internet marketers use to separate you from your money.

Once you know their tricks and tactics to manipulate you, you will be much more resistant to their sales pitches in the future. Remember these two things: if it sounds too good to be true it is and the only people who get rich from get rich quick schemes are the one selling them.

I have been earning some money online, for a long time now. I think I made my first website over 10 years ago and ever since then I have manged to earn a little something online. As I mentioned in the Q&A I did with myself I don’t earn huge money online but it is enough to live on.

However, for a long time I kept spending some of my money on various get rich quick Internet marketing miracles. I loved the promises of earning tons of money without any real work. Turns out the only people who got rich were the ones selling the ebooks, software etc. that I was buying.

My Conclusion: Internet Marketing Products Suck

This is true for nearly every product that gets released on the market these days. For every truly great product that can honestly help people looking to start an Internet business (like Site Build It), there are probably thousands of worthless or even pure scam alternatives.

So, I will say it again Internet marketing products suck. Moreover, you have to be really careful about any so-called “reviews” you read about any new product. The fact is that most of them are written by people who want you to buy it, so they can earn their affiliate commission. Worse still, most of them have probably not even seen or tried the product themselves.

For example, take the review I did of Jermaine Griggs’ Nitty Gritty Marketing back in October. If you go to Google and do a search today you will find roughly 230,000 results when you search for ‘Nitty Gritty Marketing Review.’ I guarantee you virtually all the reviews will be positive. Now it could be great product or there could be other things at work.

For about a week and half before it was released it was the only thing anybody in the Internet Marketing community was talking about. Yet, within days of it being released nobody was talking about it anymore. A little suspicious I think?
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Well it seems this months most hyped Internet marketing product is going to be Affiliate Elite. Last month I told you about Nitty Gritty Marketing, another over hyped product launch. Affiliate Elite, like Nitty Gritty Marketing is probably a fine product but I am still not buying either.

Now I am sure I could have made far more money by just saying how great these products are and leaving it at that. But that’s not me. I want to help you grow your business in the long term and not just make a quick buck off you. So, let me explain why I’m not buying and then you can make up your own mind.

First of all, I think the cost does not provide as good value as other types of services available to aspiring Internet entrepreneurs. The cost is $176 upfront and then $39 a month. This means that the total annual cost is over $600. I think Site Build It, at half the price, offers a far better value.

Second, the sales copy for Affiliate Elite reads almost like a get-rich-quick scheme. I am fairly familiar with most of the techniques being taught in Affiliate Elite. They do work but they do take a fair bit of effort. Moreover, they are not nearly as easy as they are being made out to be.

Finally, the main reason I decided not buy, is because it advocates stealing other people’s Adwords campaigns. The program will allow you to spy on your competitors and then copy their ads if you choose. Personally, I find this ethically wrong. I don’t advocate any kind of stealing, and that is what this program could and is being promoted to do.

So the choice is up to you, Affiliate Elite does do some wonderfully useful things (and some not so wonderful), but is it worth it? I personally didn’t think so, but I am not you. If you are interested you can read more on the Affiliate Elite website. For my money though I would rather spend it on another copy of Site Build It at half the price.