The internet is awash with online marketing options.  Everyone who would normally be holding a conference is stuck at home trying to drum up sales.  Or they see that everyone else is stuck at home without a job and is offering the free online teaser courses to show the unsuspecting ‘how easy it is’ to make $995 in a weekend.  (Yes, I watch that one play out, badly.)

This season has brought out a host of crooks and con men trying  their hand at online marketing with scams, fly-by-night survey sites, and claims of fast riches, only to disappear even faster once they’ve taken your money.

However, some are actually quite good.  It’s important to see the situation for what it is, but not see it worse than it is. There are a lot of reputable vendors and excellent products/courses around. You just need discernment when buying a product/training… and the 10 questions below will help you to make wise buying decisions.

Here’s a checklist to keep you from parting from money you need for other things, until a quality offer appears at a reasonable price.  If at any point you answer “no”,  close the sales page and move on.

1. Do I Really Need It?

Before you dig deeper, ask if you already own something that does something similar.  Before purchasing any marketing course/software, you’ll need to ask yourself:

• Did you use that one?
• Do you still have it available?
• Does this offer anything unique that will propel my business?
• How fast can i get a return on my investment by using the information in this course?
• Is it relevant to what you’re doing?  (Avoid the ‘Shiny Object Syndrome’)

This is probably the MOST important question you’ll need to ask yourself before looking any further, before checking the price, before doing any of the other questions.  Too many have too much ‘shelfware’ of products they (we!) bought and never used, because the scarcity hype got us too excited.  We lose focus and get enticed by claims of ‘quick and easy riches’, ‘push button fortunes’ and ‘cash tsunamis’  – none of which exist.  EVERYTHING YOU BUY TAKES WORK TO GENERATE CASH.

2. It this something I want to do, or am I simply chasing easy money?

Do you like organizing pictures? If it sounds boring, don’t buy the Pinterest course. If it means running a discussion group in the middle of the day, and you have a job with rotating hours, that might not be a good fit.  There are dozens of different kinds of businesses, and some only work if you manage to get very lucky, or scam enough people.

When getting started with online marketing, be sure to choose a PROVEN business model that’s currently working and making other people money. Then choose just one model and focus on it until you succeed. Only when you have a taste of finishing what you’ve started will you understand what works for you and what should be improved.

3. Who Created It?

It’s imperative that you do your research on the product vendor. Many dodgy vendors just rehash info-products and churn out untested theory that don’t work in the real world.  They make their money from serial launching shoddy and shallow products about marketing models that they’ve not tested themselves.  Too many will lie and cheat and take moral detours just to make a quick buck – and many of them do so at the expense of the naive masses. You have to be smarter than them.

Check if the vendor is walking the talk, and check their reputation among other marketers.

• If they’re selling an e-commerce course, do your research and see if they have their own e-commerce store that’s pulling in sales.
• If they’re teaching Pinterest marketing, check if they have thousands of visitors to their own Pinterest boards.
• Google the name and see how many similar products are on  the market.
  • Hint: if lots of people are promoting this product, you’re in the middle of a launch and there’s money to be made selling the course by people who know nothing about the actual product.

Then ask yourself:  Do the Claims in the Sales Copy Sound Too Good to Be True?
If it sounds too good to be true, it almost always is.
* Software products which make claims of being able to drive millions of visitors to your sites…
* Or special hacks and loopholes that will rank your website to the top of Google in 10 seconds or less while you do nothing…
* Or how you can make $4,342.97 in 20 minutes while you’re sipping cocktails by the beach….
You’ve probably seen them all – bold, unrealistic claims designed to hook you by the eyeballs and reel you into the sales copy which is all foam and no beer.
These claims are as phony as a $3 bill. Don’t get taken in by them. Close the page

4. Does the Vendor Have ‘Old Replicas’ of the Same Product?

If you do enough research, you may discover that some vendors continuously release several products which seem to be carbon copies of each other. And the only thing that differs is the updated sales page and the new product name.
This practice is very prevalent in the ‘make money online’ scene.

Why would a vendor release a new self-hosted autoresponder when he already released three similar autoresponders over the past 3 years? Why wouldn’t he just support and improve upon his existing products? The answer is simple – the money is in the launching. These vendors make their money when they burst on the scene with a new product and the clueless hordes lap it up, only for the newbies to later discover that the product doesn’t work as advertised, and the vendor is no longer answering support tickets because he’s laughing all the way to the bank.

If you notice that a vendor has multiple products which resemble each other, you know what you need to do: Close the page

5. Where Are the Income Stats Coming From?

It’s common to see income stats and screenshots on many sales pages. Very often, you have no idea which dark hole these stats are being pulled out from. The whole point of showing you these numbers is to whet your appetite for the product and make you ‘glossy eyed’ and believing that the product can easily generate these sums for you.

Here’s what you need to know – most income stats are usually fake and should be taken with a bucket of salt.

It’s possible to earn huge sums of money online, but it will take time, effort, sweat equity and a lot of studying and testing and iterating on your part. This is NOT an easy process, but it is an achievable one.  The only income stats that matter are YOUR OWN. Don’t get swayed by the ones that litter the sales pages like billboards of BS and vendor brilliance.

6. Are the Testimonials Legit?

This is a tricky one. So, you’ll need to be extra careful. A good product will have testimonials from REAL customers who are satisfied with their purchases and have seen results from applying the information given. Often, these will be shown as Facebook comments, video testimonials, photo proof and so on. While all of these can be faked or bought, generally, you can sense if the testimonials are trustworthy. Be vigilant.

At the other end of the spectrum are sales pages with testimonials from people who are marketers too. Often, these ‘kind folk’ are affiliates for the product and friends with the vendor, and by scratching the vendor’s back now, they’re ensuring that their own back gets scratched later. They have each other’s back and nary a thought is given to the unsuspecting buyer who’s just another number in their income stats.

So, where does that leave you? – Easy! You’re closing the page

7. Does It Come With a Money-back Guarantee?

While you should never abuse a money-back guarantee just so you can get a free lunch – it doesn’t hurt to see if a product has a money-back guarantee.
Sometimes, products are sold with blind sales copy and what you get is not your cup of tea. In cases like these, having a guarantee will help to keep you risk-free.

8. Did I Look for Reviews?

Always look for reviews. Just Google “product name + reviews”. Usually, you’ll see several videos with people gushing about the product and singing its praises.

Remember your bucket of salt from earlier? Fill it up again and take these reviews with salt. In most cases, the review videos are made by affiliates who are trying to make a sale. Nevertheless, it doesn’t hurt to watch a few of these videos to understand more about the product. Some reviews may be unbiased and will mention the downsides to these products.

In some instances, you may find written reviews/videos made by people who totally dislike the product/vendor.
Some of these reviewers feel an innate responsibility to educate others to make better buying decisions – and they may also feel a need to stymie the flood of disingenuous products infiltrating the market. Others do it to steer you toward their alternative. It’s a losing battle, but their reviews can be an eye-opening experience for you and aid in your buying decision.

9. Is the Vendor Looking Out for Me… Or Number One?

This is why the market is cluttered with online marketing courses and products that are abysmal, misleading and disappointing. It’s very common to see marketers spouting ethics and claiming to want to ‘help people’ by ‘providing value’ … but what they say and do are worlds apart. Unfortunately, far too many marketers have questionable ethics, and the only people they want to help is themselves. The only value that matters is the increase in their bank balance.

Very often, they use the McDonald’s ‘Would you like fries with that?’ example as the paradigm of upselling. Marketers twist and turn a simple and effective technique until it’s disfigured and bastardized beyond recognition – and gets reborn as a grotesque ‘marketing hack’ that becomes the norm in the industry.

If the online marketing approach of ‘upsells & downsells’ was applied in the real world, by the time you left the McDonalds counter, you’d have bought everything from a cheeseburger to the signboard and even Ronald McDonald’s left boot!
Do your research and check how many upsells and downsells a product has, if possible. All you need to do is Google “product name + affiliate” and you may come across affiliate recruitment pages where you can see the product’s funnel. If there are 10 or more products in a funnel, you can be almost certain that the vendor can’t give two hoots about your buying experience.

10. Do I Have the Money to Spend?

Last but not least, do NOT spend money that you do not have on any course based on promises of quick and easy riches – especially if you’re desperate to make money quickly.
It’s NEVER quick… and it’s NEVER easy.
Thousands have racked up debt on their credit cards by buying into the hype of ‘overnight wealth’ only to struggle with the bills later and not make a cent in return.  Always remember that almost all buying decisions are emotional. This explains why people can spend thousands on products that do not deliver.

Be conservative in your spending when you’re trying to build your online business.  You can bootstrap your way to a thriving business. It is possible.

By asking yourself these questions for each buying presentation, logic will prevail over your emotions.  No longer will the persuasive and hypnotic sales copy lead you by the nose like a cow being led to the slaughter.

The good news is that are several top-shelf online marketing training programs and courses on the market which can help you immeasurably.  And there are quite a few unpolished gems.  Use this list as a roadmap and you’ll find the training you need to build a solid foundation upon which your business empire will rest.

If it’s not, close the sales page and move on.