The Internet Marketers Con – Making Millions on the Internet

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The Internet Marketers Con – Making Millions on the Internet

Written by: Marc Krisjanous | Posted on 05 July 2009. Tags: internet con, internet scams, Marketing

As a business owner I am sure at some stage you will come across a form of marketing that entices you to a spectacular event promising massive rewards, including the ‘secret’ for making loads of money on the Internet.

The event will be presented by ‘mega rich’ and ‘enormously successful’ entrepreneurs who have made millions from this ‘secret’ and (amazingly) prepared to give their ‘secret’ away within a 1-hour event for under $100!

But that’s not all. In the 1-hour event you will learn:

How to end up in the 1st page of Google search results for your product/service!
Build a web site with no technical knowledge in less than 30 minutes and selling a product!
Make money without even having a web site!
Work only 1-2 hours a week (normally counting all that money you made)!
Access to the ‘mega rich’ and ‘enormously successful’ entrepreneurs anytime you want for advice!
Access to an enormous and global network of like-minded entrepreneurs like you and of course they are all getting ‘mega rich’ and ‘enormously successful’.

The event will be pitched by 1000’s of affiliates who have learned the ‘secret’ themselves and have become ‘mega rich’ and ‘enormously successful’ in their own right and have, by the grace of god, found time to contact you about it and want you to learn the ‘secret’ as well (because we all love each other to be rich right?).

After reading the above statements and promises I hope that it all sounds a bit ridiculous to you. Unfortunately for some people it all sounds like a great deal and all believable. If you are one of these people I plead with you to ask the following questions first BEFORE you go to these events.

Question 1: If they are ‘mega rich’ and ‘enormously’ successful using this ‘secret’ then why are they telling anyone? Surely the amount of millions they are making will all be lost when 1000’s are now using the same ideas and strategies?

Could it possibly be that their ‘secret’ is in fact not working anymore for them?

Could it be that they are selling a set of strategies that just don’t work anymore and they make more money selling you and the masses the out-dated ‘secret’?

Question 2: If the presenters are so ‘mega rich’ and ‘enormously successful’ then why aren’t they donating all the events earnings to charity such as Dr Gareth Morgan and his latest event – “Registration is $20.00 per person payable by credit card online. All proceeds go to Arohanui Hospice.”.

Question 3: Not really a question directed at you but more a question you should ask the event promoters before you hand your money over. The question to ask them is “Can you provide in writing a guarantee that the secret will be given in full at the event and that there will be no requirement to attend any other seminar or pay for any other additional mentoring, product or service to learn the full secret.”. Without doubt they will say no.

Question 4: Why do they call it a ‘secret’ when they are advertising the event to millions of potential people? Doesn’t that sound strange?

Simple and logical questions really.

The event promoters may not angle the pitch as a ‘secret’ they may use terms such as:

‘Dramatically increase traffic to your site!’

‘We have spent years learning how to make millions on the Internet and we want to share this with you!’

‘Get 100,000 Twitter followers in less than 7 days without doing anything!’

‘Build a massive Internet business empire earning you millions while you sit on the beach!’

In this deep recession you will see more and more of these types of events promising you untold wealth for little more than the cost of a dinner for two. Don’t be fooled!

Who do you think is making the real money here? The presenters and affiliates or you?

At the very least do a search using the names of the presenters and see what you come up with. Sometimes this can raise warning bells enough to never go near these people.

Have you made millions from these types of events?

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This post was written by:

Marc Krisjanous - who has written 32 posts on Business Blogs.

This blog is to share my thoughts and opinion on running small businesses. For over 6 years I have experienced the joy, heartache and sleepless nights that all business owners experience.

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54711 Responses2009-07-04+23%3A23%3A05Marc+Krisjanous to “The Internet Marketers Con – Making Millions on the Internet”

Mary says:

July 5, 2009 at 11:42 am

I have seen events like this advertised in some NZ forums and it always looks bogus. I feel sorry for the people who believe this hype.

I also think this is going to get worse as well since many businesses are looking at the web for more sales channels.

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Whitt says:

July 5, 2009 at 1:15 pm

The Internet is just one of many schemes people try peddle. Kiwifruit, ostrich’s, property and now Internet marketing.

Most the stuff the gurus try teach you is free on the Internet and really basic. Don’t fall for the hype!!

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Perry says:

July 5, 2009 at 1:20 pm

As always, the old axiom applies here:

If it sounds too good to be true;
then it most surely will be.

Reply
Scott Wilson says:

July 5, 2009 at 9:48 pm

Hi Mark,

Great post, where were you in 2003 when I went to my first internet marketing seminar in Aussie. I got ripped off big time.

The fact is this stuff has been happening for years and will continue as people are always searching for the silver bullet.

I wouldn’t say that it’s business owners that are buying this crap though. This type of stuff is targeted at the employee type that is a complete “opportunity seeker” who is always looking for the silver bullet.

These types of people have no plans for their life’s so they automatically get sucked into some else’s.

From a business point of view Internet marketing makes a lot of sense but it’s just one part of an overall strategy. I personally use the internet to make money and help my business clients to do the same.

But it’s not easy and it has taken me over 6 years to get right.

Have Fun & Take Action

Scott Wilson

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Derry Brown says:

July 7, 2009 at 8:50 am

I went to a free seminar run by Geekversity a few weeks back. It was terrific. I didn’t sign up for anything or buy anything. The only sales pitch was the last 20 min on day two and the event was fully catered for. I agree that people need to be sceptical but if I was as close minded as you suggest in your post then I would have missed a great weekend of quality free information and networking.

Reply
- Marc Krisjanous says:
  
  July 7, 2009 at 9:06 am
  
  Hello Derry,
  
  Thanks for your comments. The post was not written directly because of Geekversity. I have heard both positive and negative comments about them.
  
  Looking at their home page I was a little amazed at their statements however. I have been in the IT space for over 15 years now and 5 years running Internet businesses and their statements if true would mean Geekversity should be running the Internet not Google!
  
  I pointed a couple of well respected marketers at Geekversity and they were also amazed at what was stated on the home page.
  
  Cheers
  
  Marc
  
  Reply
Sharon says:

July 7, 2009 at 10:59 am

Are you referring to Adam Ginsberg’s courses and if so what positive/negative comments does anyone specifically have?

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- Marc Krisjanous says:
  
  July 7, 2009 at 11:24 am
  
  Hello Sharon,
  I have never heard of Adam Ginsberg. I did a search on google using his name but cannot comment any further.
  
  The post was not about an individual company – its about researching and thinking about any course you see before you hand over your $$.
  
  Its commonsense really. If it sounds to good to be true…
  
  Cheers
  
  Marc
  
  Reply
Bill Smith says:

August 14, 2009 at 10:46 pm

Actually the content I’ve seen does work to an extent – and it’s worth ackowleding that lots of people’s internet presence needs all the advice they can get.

I’ve found some of the teaser type approach where some content of value is offered can be a useful way to glean useful material along the way.

Oh, taken with some quantity of salt of course.

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Tony Eyles says:

December 8, 2009 at 8:23 am

There is most likely a spectrum of advisory schemes from the genuine, informative and value for money, to the exploitative, dishonest rip-off. This post is a warning for people to be careful to judge what they are getting into.

Marc, I would add that:
1). The dodgey schemes trade on people’s greed knowing that, if attendees do twig to it and try and an expose, they will look pretty bad themselves for falling for it (and find terms and disclaimers probably rule out any liability for the organisers)
2). The real secret, like pyramid schemes, is that knowing 1) you can make lots of easy money selling to people who want to make lots of easy money. Like good lies, the events will need to have enough truth to sound credible – but the secret is actually demonstrated rather than taught.

If exploitation of ignorant greed were ethical you’d have to take your hat of to those are successful at it. For the rest of us it is a good thing to post warnings.

Thanks
Tony

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@BusinessTalk says:

May 11, 2010 at 11:15 pm

A very god post and also check this out for tips on how to spot a scam:http://www.propertytalk.com/forum/showthread.php?...

Reply