Wednesday, June 12, 2013

5 RED FLAG WARNINGS TO WATCH FOR BEFORE PRESSING JOIN ON ANY PROGRAM



I've been on the net for many, many years now and I've seen many things come and go. Some were just trends, fads, or what ever you want to call the new "thing" on the net. Others were a little more devious in their purpose with what they were selling-advertising-and-or-scheming with. 


In this post, I'm going to outline just a few methods that the most devious programs use to hook you into their program. You might say to yourself after reading these points that they are pretty obvious and no one in their right mind would fall for such outrageous claims. You are so right, they are obvious points and no one should fall for the claims, but nevertheless these tactics do work and many people everyday, just like you and me, are falling into these type of programs with the hope of gaining some benefit from them.


What to Look Out For


1) Outrageous claims of the money you will earn, and how fast you will make it. These claims are usually accompanied with many "Real-Life" testimonials with proof of earnings that are usually a Paypal screenshot (but with today's graphic tools, who knows what those screenshots really are). This is the biggest red flag for me, but fortunately these red flags are easy to find, for they usually have the money claims in 
Very Large Red Text 
like this for example: 
$35,796.00 IN JUST ONE DAY!

2) Claims of How Easy It Is. This red flag is usually accompanied with phrases like:
  • We do 99% of the Work
  • All on Autopilot
  • Earn while you sleep
  • Push Button Easy, Anyone Can Do It 
  • Do it all in your pajamas. This one is my favorite, for it always has a picture of a man (usually) happily working away at his desktop sitting in his pajamas, Oh, and he's barefoot too. This hook has probably been around as long as Internet Marketing has. If not longer.
3) Really flashy Splash or Landing pages

  • These are meant to hook you and reel you into their program.
  • You find some or all of the above, but you may find images of expensive cars that "He" now owns, or pictures of his new beach house or extravagant mansion that "He" now lives in.
  • Lots of pages feature bikini clad women (the sex angle). 
  • They may even contain really hyped up videos of "Him" telling you all the outrageous benefits of the program, and how fast it will work you if you do exactly as he is doing. 
4) The Rags-to-Riches Story, or it's nearest cousin, the 
"Rich Man->
Falls into Hard Times->
A Light Goes On In His Brain->
Discovers The Secret Money Making Program->
Again He's Rich->
He Just has to Share The Program With YOU! 
Story". 

Off to the Bank I go!
You really won't find any legitimate program featuring any version of the Rags to Riches story to hook you into their program.


5) Pop-ups, Pop-unders, or "Last Chance" Dialog Boxes that try to keep you on their page. Each usually has the "Act now, for Today is the last day this is offered" type of plea to get you finally into the program. And these can go on multiple times while you are just trying to leave the page. One of the most annoying tactics in my opinion.


But do these tactics really work?


Like I said above, these tactics used by schemers are quite obvious and should alert anyone that there is something fishy going on. But unfortunately, we are in a world that is inundated by advertising of all types and in every medium that exists. Advertising does have its purpose, but we have become so acclimated and accustomed to advertising, that even the poorest forms can trigger us when we are least expecting it.

In the best case scenario, someone that does join into these types of programs may just loose some precious time that they could have used researching and starting a real business online. 

Worst case, someone really got scammed by these systems and schemes when they could least afford to fall victim to a scam.

In my opinion, the absolute worst case is someone that does join and make a bit of money, or even a lot if he's lucky enough--especially, if it's early on in his Internet business endeavors. Even if he does get hooked deeper into the system by up-sell after up-sell and eventually does get scammed, that initial success is enough to convince himself that the system does work. So it must be "me" doing something wrong if it's not working "now". 

Even if he eventually leaves the system (which he will), he is still quite convinced that these systems do work. He is now on the hunt for better, faster, bigger payoffs. And probably, if not most definitely, will result in FAILURE after FAILURE. 

Now he is even more intent and focused making these systems works, and on hooking you in along with him. Gorilla Recruiting is now what he's after...Finally...
...A new Guru-In-The-Making-Is-Born.
And I don't mean THIS GURU!

So how do you protect yourself from these scheme systems and your hard earned money?


I will be doing a complete post about how you can research just about any program to find out if they are legit, or just another Get Rich Quick Scheme. 

Here is a small list of things that you can do right now that can help you from falling into the clutches of the Guru's:

  • Do a Google search with the company name followed by review, scam, alert, opinion or any other keyword you may choose. Then read as many of these reviews as you can. This helps to form a general picture of the program. Don't forget to read the comment threads to these posts as well, because it will give you what the attitude is like from others.
  • Do a Google search on the owners of the program using their names. If they are known schemers, Google will return lots of information about them.
  • Find contact information and address and check the BBB, or FTC sites with that information.
  • There are also many Scam Alert service websites that cover different types of Internet businesses. Do a search on Google for these websites with the type of company that you are looking into. Some of these sites have Legitimate program lists along with the Scam programs. Search their sites and see what their consensus is.
There are many more "Less Obvious" red flags that these business use. Some are very subtle hidden deep within their system and its advertising campaigns. I will cover these as well in future articles. 



If you are looking into legitimate programs, and are eager to start your own business in Internet Marketing, you might want to check out my Highest Rated Program Click Here to learn more, or on the banner below to go directly to Wealthy Affiliate University. 






Frank aka Foxxfyrre
Tried It, Tested It, Talking About It
Keeping you safe in the Wild Wild Web.







In your searches of Online Businesses, what Red Flags have made you say, "Is this for real?" I'd love to hear what you've run into. 

1 comment:

  1. Thanks for this article Frank. I found it so true in my experience. I collect and publish BestBlogs if you would like to get syndicated?

    ReplyDelete