I’m not anti-marketing…honest.
But I am against the kind of marketing which makes promises which are so utterly insane that you have to wonder if you are the mad person for not believing them.
I really do have to question my sanity every time I come across the latest offer from the sorts of marketers out there who will tell you anything – absolutely anything at all – to get your money into their pockets.Take this email subject line:
“How To Become Rich, Very Fast…”
This is interesting because not only does this promise to make me rich…but it promises that it can happen very fast.
When I speak to people who are new to the make money online community it is clear that they generally have unrealistic expectations about how easy it is to make money quickly.
I recently searched Google for the phrase “make money online” and found this:
One thousand and ninety million results!
And I am willing to bet that the vast majority of people using the search term “make money online” would be interested in becoming rich very fast.
But back to the email.
It went like this:
“Hello,
“This is the Only way to become an Internet Millionaire in 24 months or less.
“And all you have to do is signup.
“Everything is done for you,and I MEAN everything.
“Get my free report now. [link]“
So here we have another internet stranger who wants to tell me how to become an internet millionaire.
But why stop there? This person telling me that I can do so in 24 months or less and, furthermore, that the way they have in mind is the only way that this can possibly happen.
That has got to be false.
How can anyone be so arrogant as to say that their method is the only way to achieve a given outcome?
And all I have to do is signup because everything is done for me?
If everything is done for me then it follows that there is nothing at all left for me to do in order to collect my money in two years time.
And this logic must hold true because the email says all I have to do is sign up.
The squeeze page which the email links me to is even more outrageous than that.
It screams:
“How to Become an AUTOMATIC Internet Millionaire”
An automatic millionaire…I like the sound of that.
It goes on:
“STEP BY STEP SYSTEM will show you EXACTLY How to turn $88 usd into $1,000,000 usd in 24 months. 100% AUTOMATED Marketing System!
“Even Your ADVERTISING is Done For You. It will Prospect for you, Generate Leads for you, Make the Presentation for you, Follow up for you, and Close the Sale for you. ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS JOIN!”
So with everything done for me, all I need to do is hand over $88 and sit back while I become a millionaire in just two years from now.
Sorry but I just don’t believe you.
And if I have to say this every Monday for the rest of my life I will do so.
Making money online is not easy. It takes time, effort and hard work. You don’t hand some random stranger $88 and collect a million bucks two years down the line. The real world does not work that way.
But, hey, keep sending the emails.
Hi Patrick.
Good post, good way to start the week
Yes I get lots of these kinds offers. How gullible do they think we are?
I feel sorry for all those Newbies , and the quick buck chaser, who
will actually fall for this kind of crap.
I know how much work and perseverance it takes to make money
Online.
Have a good week.
Monika
Hi Patrick,
Another great post. I love reading your blog, it’s great!
You are certainly right. Making money online is not easy at all and it does take alot of time and hard work to establish your self and your business. I wish people would understand that and stop looking for the lazy way to make money. Maybe your blog will help them. I sure hope so. I see too many of these ads everyday and I am sure there are those who fall for it and then become discouraged and think the whole world of online business is a scam. They need to realize that is not much different than having a brick and mortar business. Just a little cheaper. But it is basically the same.
Have a Blessed Day,
Lisa
Hi Lisa.
I agree with you 100%.
I couldn’t have said it better myself.
Slow and steady does it.
Monika
Patrick is it really no wonder that so many people get scammed ?
In the process of these types of offers and yes the marketers that present them,
the trust level of marketers with honest offers is low. And it does give internet
marketing a bad name…..I have even seen it mentioned that it is the same as MLM.
I feel that a lot of it is an effort of some poor souls that got into it and want to get their
investment or loss back.
I agree with the above comments. Would like to add “hoping” someone see the light is like beating a dead horse. You will always have people believing and looking for that fantasy in the sky. Everything in life requires work.
The question, when it comes to earning will you choose “working” to put money in your pocket or “working” to put money repeatedly into the next “How to Become an AUTOMATIC Internet Millionaire” scheme.
Twitter: andrewstark
Some great comments here, what I don’t get is why people leave their brain on the sofa when they go online?
Imagine that you go to a market, and you see a stall with that headline. You’d probably think the trader was dodgy, and most people would avoid this stall / report them to trading standards.
Now imagine if you went over and said, “Yes, I want to become rich fast”
Then they tell you that all you have to do is pay $88 to get the secret envelope. Again any sane person who walk away at this point.
Turns out that envelope contains a letter telling you to set up the same stall at a different market and find people even more stupid than yourself who will buy this same “secret envelope” for $90
And so the market stall continues until the world runs out of suckers.
Thanks for another education monday moan.
Andrew
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Hi Patrick. I saw an ad last night that made me think the same thing you are posting here. It said you could make $10,000 in 30 days. It was a picture of a lady on a swing at the beach in Tahiti. It’s so outrageous for people to put ads like this online and people go after these instead of wanting to work. Say, yes indeed they are paying for a dream!
Barb
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There is also a new ad out with a picture of a fancy hot rod on it. When ever you see ads with the warm beautiful beach in the Tropics or a fancy car, you know it’s a scam!
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I really enjoyed reading this article, it proves that we can do something for us to become successful or to earn a great income, but we should be aware because some can be considered as scams that is not good.
Patrick,
Great timing. I recently met with a guy I went to school with. He told me he had been some IM.
He asked would I like to have a look at his business. Well we have met face to face. I got the chance to hold and read some old ebooks from the turn of this century and talk and share our experience’s.
You come up with blog, it’s still the same culture. Newbies come thru the door and Bam!
Some one offers you pipe dreams.
Sorry to waffle.
Most people who view your page, I think come from CTP or similar origins.
I know some of the people posting comments and I know that there sharers.
They share/help those who don’t know what they want, let alone how to find it.
Can I just say Go TeamGB!!!!
Thanks for sharing this blog.
Keith
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