The blogosphere is buzzing about how some big Internet marketers allegedly conspire to coordinate their product launches, rig prices, and hurt their competition in the process. As an Internet lawyer and entrepreneur, I’m not surprised.
From a criminal standpoint, there’s a presumption of innocence. From a civil legal standpoint, neither a government agency nor a private civil suit has determined any liability.
Some of the smaller gurus are trying to clone the ‘cartel,’ i.e. they’re forming alliances with competitors and trying to do the same things the big marketers have been accused of doing. This really isn’t new. About two years ago, one of these “small” gurus was happily telling anyone who would listen about his plans to do this under the inaccurate label of a “mastermind.”
The good news is that how this will play out is irrelevant to your own success in selling goods and services online. You don’t need your Internet lawyer to tell you that your success depends upon you.
The key lesson to take from this is to plan ahead instead of operating your Internet business off-the-cuff.
For example, my companies have products under development that will roll out every few months through mid-2012. They’re marked on a schedule and there is a time table for launching each.
To qualify:
1. Each product must deliver value to clients. When you buy, I want to know I’ve put you in a better position than you would have been otherwise.
2. Each product must serve an existing market. In other words, I know that you and/or other Internet entrepreneurs want products like these to help protect yourself and build your business.
Put together some tests of your own for product development and create your own launch schedule with time tables. Revise based upon changing market demands.
To your online success!
-Mike the Internet lawyer
P.S. One of the ways to protect yourself when your affiliates promote is to have them become clients first. Prospective affiliates who won’t invest in your products are more likely to misrepresent them to the public in order to earn a dishonest commission. Click here to check out Internet Attorney Association products that are part of an affiliate program.
