Internet Marketing Survival Guide

Having spent quite sometime this year looking into Online Marketing I have been exposed to a good deal of the different approaches, most of which sadly are less than honourable.

And as sceptical and careful as I usually am i've still managed to fall into a few pits so I thought i'd outline a few of the ways you can guard yourself from the various dangers of Marketing.

The internet is a perfect multimedia platform that comes at us from every direction and Marketers have known how to turn our psychology against us since the dawn of advertising, so when your dealing with a webpage you've always got to have in mind that the playing field isn't level.

You may just be browsing looking for information or a new purchase, but the page your on has most likely been carefully designed to interact with you on an unconscious level.

The excellent book Influence - By Robert Cialdini outlines many of the subtle ways our minds can be directed often without our knowledge to choose certain things all the while thinking that we are in control.

Infact one of the conclusions in the book is that we can't actually guard ourselves from these influences the only thing we can do is be aware that they are having an effect on us, so if you're are online and about to commit to buy pause for a moment and just consider why  it could end up saving you some cash.

One of the best motivators i've come across certainly in the IM sphere has been Scarcity or time pressure, there have been more than one online sales Webinar thats taken me to the brink (and beyond in some cases) of spending money I don't have simply by making it seem like this is my 'last chance' or the supply is limited.

The fact is that in all but the rarest of cases there's hardly ever going to be only one of anything especially when your dealing with something being sold or marketed to you. Simply because the person selling it wants to sell it, so they are going to get as many customers as possible.

The golden rule to remember particularly for sites like Ebay: There's always another one. 

But there will always be those times when you see the timer built into the site going down, or the seconds ticking away on your auction and despite it being above your agreed price you'll be sorely tempted, the drive to get something thats about to be 'lost' is pretty powerful so don't expect to be able to ignore it 100% of the time, the best you can do is be aware and make sure you remember that the value of the item is whats important.

So pre plan, make sure you've taken in as many options as possible and then if you feel like your being pressured more than is necessary especially if your on a Webinar or some other form of direct sales, thats when you've really got to stop and think about what your about to agree to.  

Just recently I was listening to a sales pitch and I was sold. I liked the guy, I liked the product it seemed on the level and honest.

But about three quarters through (having been burnt before) I thought i'd best just get more info, so I did a simple Google Search for the product and thank god I did!

When your in someone else's contained sales pitch, you can quickly start believing their point of view and might forget that Online the majority of information is nothing but Opinion  in order to get even close to the real picture you need at least three different sources if not more. Never just go on what your being told by the salesman, it's sad but Online there's much less control and regulation so it's down to you to make sure your getting the full picture.

For IM products make sure you do a quick search on Google and check out reviews on the well known and trusted Warrior Forum Which seems to at least give a opportunity for real people to put their experiences up about and on various courses and products.

As i was saying at the top of this section, the reviews on this forum saved me from making a big mistake after i'd been sucked into a great sales pitch.

But whether your starting out in Affiliate or online Marketing like me or just an average browser looking for deals or interesting products. Make sure you keep your mind open and don't let just one source tell you what to think, the only complete picture is one made up of many parts and different angels.   

Sitting at your desktop or with your laptop you might not instantly think you can trust your gut as much as dealing with someone face to face, but I think that your gut instinct and intuition is just as powerful and effective Online as it is in 'real' life.

So don't ignore how a site or sales pitch feels, the words and graphics might be pretty but if something makes you uncomfortable then take it as a warning to double check your facts, get a second opinion or re-read/listen to the offer.

There are folks out there trying to offer thing honestly and just like when you can feel the intention of a painting or piece of music it's impossible for the underlying intention of even a website to be entirely hidden.    

If your trying to learn or get products or courses to help you out Marketing Online, you are a major target for Online Marketers! So keep aware and don't let the more sneaky and less honest marketers turn you off or even worse make you think thats the way to approach Marketing.

There's no reason why being honest and open won't work just aswell, infact online where we are all used to having to check and double check the veracity of everything we seen, a bit of honesty is exactly the sort of breath of fresh air we need.

But until thats the norm always keep your wits about you and make sure you treat the net as the Wildwest it still is, good honest folks are out there but so are the bandits.

Advertising is a fascinating and complex subject because it deals so deeply with our own minds and the way we process data and information, so treat it like a game and explore the reactions you have when online and being sold to. Technology has moved so quickly it makes sense that our minds will need a bit more time before we are totally comfortable with this new digital world.