Internet Marketing Scams: What’s Hot in 2009
Unbalanced by the recession and trying to recover from falling price points and conversion rates, many Internet marketers are tossing away ethics to pike anything and everything in the hopes of making a few bucks.
Four major themes dominate 2009.
1. Teleseminars/Webinars to Dupe Newbies. Because there is a constant churn of newbies, marketers are using teleseminars/webinars to sell content with dubious value. Typically, this includes methods that might have worked 3-5 years ago online but don’t anymore because (a) the market has changed, and (b) everybody else has fished the same waters (the profits have already been taken by others).
2. Praise Jesus. There’s certainly nothing wrong with being religious. However, there is a problem with finding religion in order to sell your products to someone who really is religious. With all the sincerity of the Farting Preacher, these marketers pitch everything by liberally sprinkling “Jesus,” “God,” “Christian” etc. into their sales pitches for the sole purpose of fleecing the flock. When you see an online marketer doing this, think of the parable of the Pharisee and the Publican.
3. Hidden Continuity. The marketer recycles content (i.e. old, obsolete, or of limited value) and offers it to you at an extremely low price in order to capture your credit card. Where’s the profit for all the effort? Hidden in deceptive or nonexistent language in the sales page. The profit is on the back end when you start getting billed monthly for something you didn’t know you agreed to buy. The online marketer is counting on you not to discover the hidden billing for at least 3-4 months so he can make his real money this way. Don’t hold your breath expecting a refund. The continuity was hidden for a purpose. Customer service will also be hidden.
4. Reformed Sinner. A close cousin to the “Praise Jesus” method, the Internet marketer as reformed sinner tells you he screwed up in the past (note there’s no refund for his screwups) but now you can trust him because he’s seen the light and started over with a clean slate. Perhaps that’s true. But before you buy into this pitch, remember the tale of the scorpion and the frog. It has been my experience that by the time most people are in their late 20s, they’ve formed the building blocks of their character. If dishonest at that age, chances are they’ll be equally dishonest when you do business with them 10, 15, or 20 years later.
Note that there are exceptions to the above. But if you had to bet on the outcome of dealing with an Internet marketer, the above provides a pretty good basis for predicting it.
About the Author
With an advanced international law degree from Georgetown University and more than 15 years of real world legal experience, Attorney Mike Young is President of the Internet Ethics Council and creator of Website Legal Forms Generator software. He helps entrepreneurs protect and grow their businesses online.
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I’ve seen a lot of negative option marketing (most free trials where the customer pays S&H) that has a pre-checked checkbox next to the “I Agree to the Terms and Conditions” that is hyperlinked to the Terms and Conditions that then gives the terms of the trial offer and when the customer will incur additional charges.
I’ve also seen sites that put the additional charges in written-out text like ninety-eight dollars a month instead of $92.00 per month which to me seems like it would make it harder to find.
Excellent blog post, Mike.
Hidden continuity is one of my biggest pet peeves, as you are well aware from my wife’s report “Internet marketing sins.”
I’ll be referring people to this post for sure!
Thanks, Michel, for your kind words.
As for Sylvie’s report on “Internet Marketing Sins,” it is a must-read/view. Highly recommend it to anyone who markets online.
Best wishes,
-Mike
Thanks for putting this kind of content out that can help people.. we need more of it online!
I think all of these 4 methods do really work this and coming years, because there are always newbies, new users that are not experieced enough to do background search, use forums and blogs to find out what is going on. I’ve been several times on a situation, where I have almost triggered PayPal button, but then hold once again and made additional searches with Google. Unexperience combined with impatience is a good way to loose your pocket.
My son manages computers for the Army and is currently in Iraq. He has a lot of free time on his hands there and spends it on the internet. He will be returning to civilian life when his deployment in Iraq is up so he is thinking about his future. In his last email to me he stated he is thinking about going into “internet marketing” when he gets out so he won’t have to work for anyone but himself, will have time to travel, and can start a band. I am almost speechless by his naïveté, but don’t want to lecture him or discourage him. I was hoping he would return to college. Besides sending him a link to this site, what is the most important bit of information he should know before throwing away his hard earned money? Thanks.
Carl,
Your son should know that Internet businesses have a high failure rate. From what I’ve seen, online businesses fail at a greater rate than brick-and-mortar companies.
That being said, I would encourage him to work in an online business in his spare time until his income from the Internet exceeds what he earns offline as an employee (military or civilian) for at least three consecutive months.
That way he’s established a steady income stream to support himself rather than living on unrealistic expectations.
Does that make sense?
Best wishes,
-Mike