Just to recap - Part 1 of this article outlined some of
the so-called "secrets" of website traffic being offered on-line
and what you might expect for your money. If you missed Part 1
you will still be able to view it by clicking on the links
appearing in the resource box at the end of this, Part 2.
Here are a few little hints that might let you know, in advance,
that the "special report" or "secret information" you are being
offered to "build" your website and "flood it with traffic"
might not be so special or secret after all: - - Ask
yourself this: If the information is so special or secret why is
it being sold to anyone and everyone who has $19.95 or $29.95 or
$39.95 or whatever price is being asked? With the speed that
information moves on the www, pretty soon it will be no
secret at all - even if it truly was in the first place!
- - A fancy name: The fancier the name the greater the
probability that what you are being offered is just a cobbling
together of widely known, FREE or old information. The
thing to watch out for is the tying together of a well-known
name or technique with an obscure one. (I could name examples,
but that would really make certain people most unhappy.)
- - Repetition of negative terms such as "no BS": I assume
everybody understands what "BS" is. If, in fact, it were not BS,
why would anybody go to such great lengths to say it is not? My
advice is to stay away from anything using this type of
description. If it walks like a duck and it looks like a duck
and it quacks, well... chances are it really is a duck!
Trust your instinct. Other things to be wary of are poor
spelling and grammar. That should basically suggest to you that
the quality of information will be just as poor.
- - Have a time limit attached: Usually the time limit is,
wait for it... midnight on exactly the same day that you
are viewing the information. Funny that! Now why do you think
that might be? You guessed it - to push you into purchasing now
rather than later. This is impulse buying. Strike while the iron
is hot (note: in this case, you are the iron!). Try this: If you
are so impressed by the offer come back the next day and see if
the offer is exactly the same. Midnight again, huh? Hmm...
- - Have a bevy of "bonus" incentives attached: Now
why would this be? It's to make the offer look BIGGER than it
really is. Often the bonuses are nothing more than flimsy bits
of information. Sometimes they are just sales pitches from other
marketers. If the offer you are looking at does not stand by
itself without bonus number one through to five, six or seven (I
have seen up to 12), why purchase it? This is almost an
admission by the copyright owner (or the cobble-together owner)
that their product cannot stand alone for the price that they
are asking. It's a trick!
- - Any outrageous claims: These are designed to appeal to
basic human greed. Greed can often blind you from
reality. Anything that makes promises like "guaranteed to
make you $10,000 in the first three months!" or "your hit
counter will almost explode with the extra traffic!" are
appealing to your greed and not your common-sense.
In
reality there is no magic formula to building a website
and directing traffic through it. Like any business venture it
takes time and effort. After you have expended that time and
effort then yes, the time you spent and the effort you put in
may well decrease or even become exponential. But don't hold
your breath in the meantime.
Even testimonials and recommendations from other "independent"
people and internet marketers should be viewed with a certain
amount of caution. Many testimony and recommendation givers are
"affiliates" (remember the "friend" from Part 1?) which
means they earn commissions from the sale of the product. Why
wouldn't they endorse something they stood to make money from?
The best testimonial or recommendation check you can do is to
seek out the person giving it and ask them if they have any
association with the person who is using the testimony or
recommendation. Ask if they are an affiliate or if they have a
vested interest in the product. You can do this quite innocently
and nicely. If they are genuinely impressed by the product and
what it did for them, they will probably be pleased to answer
your enquiry.
Just a little word of caution here - if you are asking somebody
for help don't put them through a trial. A simple email will
suffice. Keep it short and to the point. Don't be too concerned
if there is no reply. People get dozens, even hundreds of emails
every day now. I know I do.
It would seem that there are just as many self proclaimed
"experts" out there on the internet telling others "how to do
it" as there are those actually "trying to do it." Sure, there
are some credible people offering good advice (most often at
quite a price too) but there are so many others offering
absolute rubbish. How can you differentiate? The simple answer
is that often you can't - until you actually get what is being
offered. Then you realize. Oh-oh! Too late! It's junk!
If you don't get what you believed you were paying for you have
every right to ask for a refund. However, this is not a method
of receiving good information for FREE. Falsely asking for a
refund on something that really did help you will bring your own
integrity into question. Being fair is what it is all
about - fair information for a fair price - an even two way
exchange.
In summing up, website "newbies" are soft targets for the latest
brand of snake-oil cyber salespeople. They are certainly out
there. Think of it this way: you are searching for the Kings and
Queens and Aces in the deck. Along the way you will find fives
and threes and twos and sevens. You will even come across the
Jokers. It's up to you to try and sort them out.
My advice is this: examine the information being offered then
wait a day or two and come back to it. If it still looks as good
to you the second time round and doesn't reek of some of the
descriptions above, consider buying it. (I would even give the
same advice for people visiting my own site.) Like me, you will
soon "wise up." Along the way you will probably have to give
your credit card a nice little "top up" to pay for your mistakes.
Purchasing e-books, special reports, secret documents and the
like to learn how to increase traffic to your website is very
subjective. The only way to measure the value of what you
receive is to assess it against the "blurb" (see Part 1 )
used to promote it and the price you paid for it. As I mentioned
above, both parties must be fair.
Just be wary.
If you know a website owner struggling to develop their site,
this information could help them save a lot of money, not to
mention that awful, sinking feeling that you have been duped.
The money saved can then go towards some positive steps to
develop their site. Heaven knows there is enough junk out there
that will do the reverse. Some of it is sitting in my in-tray.
Part 1 and Part 2 of this article are covered by
copyright. However, both parts may be freely used providing
there are no changes whatsoever to the content and the following
resource box remains intact.
PS: If you think this information might help a friend
from falling prey to these dubious practices you can send them a
copy of this article (or any related parts) or direct them to
the website URL given. Let's get the word out and put a stop to
this.
About the author:
About the author: Gary Simpson is the author of eight
books covering a diverse range of subjects such as self esteem,
affirmations, self defense, finance and much more. His articles
appear all over the web. Gary's email address is budo@iinet.net.au. Click
here to go to his Motivation & Self Esteem
for Success website.
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