Making Money on the Net – Fact or Fiction?

by Tracy Repchuk

Making money on the internet is what many people are chasing right now, and who can blame them. But along with the many brilliant people out there that are truly internet marketers (and I consider myself one of them), we can spot a fake a mile away, cringe when we see innocent people jumping on programs we know won’t deliver, and can see why so many fall prey to their brilliant – yet corrupt – marketing.

Now before I get into things you should look for before purchasing internet promises, let me give you a few lines from my bio so that you can clearly see I’m not someone who doesn’t know what she’s talking about. I have been an entrepreneur for 23 years, won 2007 new internet marketing success of the year, 2008 Stevie Award Finalist for Mentor of the Year, 2009 Feminine Leader for Amazing Woman’s Day, and 2009 Top 10 Women in the World for Internet Marketing.   In addition, I speak around the world on internet marketing – from UK, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Canada, USA, and all points in between. Did I also mention that I am the bestselling author of the reference guide for internet marketing called “31 Days to Millionaire Marketing Miracles”?

The above are really the type of credentials you are looking for when you select the program you want to get involved with, or mentor you want to work with.  In addition to those, here are some guidelines for safe selection and separating fact from internet fiction.

1.      Did the email arrive unsolicited? If so, don’t go and look. Real internet marketers do not spam.

2.      Before buying – Google the person’s name or product name. A few seconds can save you thousands of dollars.

3.      Do they have their picture on their website? If the person isn’t willing to stand in front of their product or services, that is an alarm.

4.      Is it a lot of trendy talk, and powerful words, but you still don’t really know what you are getting? Then don’t get it.

5.      Do they have testimonials, full name and city at the least. John C, Toronto, Canada is no good. John Charles, Toronto, Canada – better. Video is best, but granted is difficult to get. Even better, is the testimonial posted on a third party site which verifies, such as Amazon or eBay.

6.      Do they promise you big, easy money? They can’t. Nobody can promise that. They can say they did it, and in testimonials others can say how well it worked for them, but comments such as IMAGINE making $5000 a month on autopilot? Yes, that would be great. They are getting your agreement. It’s easy to do with statements such as that. WHAT IF you could tap into the billion dollar industry and make thousands over night? Watch for these esoteric words that paint pictures with your imagination.

7.      Do they say you won’t need to do anything to make it happen? You Don’t Need… to be an internet expert, to have any prior experience, to spend a lot of time, to spend a lot of money… These are things that would be great if they were true, and since most people are looking for the easy, fast and no hassle way, it works. Think about a diet. How many times have you picked up a magazine at the check out that says “Lose 7 pounds in 7 days”, “Amazing Oprah diet”,”I lost 38 pounds in under 2 months” just to see they lived on grape fruit. Or watched the infomercials entice you into buying that pulsing machine that will give you rock hard abs by plugging it in and watching TV still. In the back of our mind we know it won’t work. There is no magic pill for diets, or making money.  I made 6 figures in 5 months in internet marketing, but it wasn’t without a lot of work.

8.      Sites that give you tons of stuff, niche sites, ebooks, resell rights, master resell rights, over $3500 worth of stuff for only $97. These are great deals, but unless you are a master at getting leads, and driving traffic, this will be useless to you. These are great for you if you have a list already, and are looking for additional products to sell them, but otherwise, will sit on your hard drive collecting electronic dust.

9.      Bottom line – if it seems to good to be true – 99.9% of the time – it probably is.

Okay, so how do you select a mentor or product?

1.      Follow the above, and if it passes, try it – but now is the time to look at the guarantee. What do they promise? Don’t look for the moon here, just look for a solid guarantee that if you do it, it will work.

2.      If you can use paypal to buy it, this is good. Paypal protects you from fraud, and for membership type sites with recurring monthly payments, you have the power to cancel yourself.  Credit card payments are a hassle, and take months to work with.

3.      For high end mentor purchases – either know someone who has used them, or buy them from a reputable seminar. Attending seminars where speakers are on stage educating and presenting their expertise for continued education, is a great way to see if you are compatible with that person, and would enjoy working with them.  In addition, seminar hosts usually screen their speakers to ensure their reputation is worthy of attaching their name too. Or, did you read about them in a magazine, such as this. Editors or magazines will only print people they are satisfied will deliver and have a good reputation. After all, their magazine’s reputation is at stake.

4.      Make sure the mentor that is presenting, is the person you will get. Not from a team or person they have trained. You want the person you see on stage, or on the site, that made the money themselves. Or at least if you are going this route, it has better be a price far less than if you got the actual expert.  This is also a time to look at how much time you will get in the program with them, either in a group or one on one environment.  Most programs are group based, or they would cost out of range for most people. Just make sure it won’t end before you’re possibly done, and if it does, what happens then.

5.      Last but not least, make sure it is what you need, right now. Whether that is product, or mentor. If you are just starting, you don’t need a traffic specialist, you need to get your landing page, product and sales page in place. If you decide to be an affiliate, you need a specialist in fast, good leads to get you started. If you like to shop, then eBay may be a route for you, and you should seek out a product or mentor that helps you here. Know where you are, and start there.

The internet, is really like the wild, wild west of a new frontier where pioneers venture in search of the freedom lifestyle. The good news is, when you select the right mentor, or approach the industry in the right way, then you will make it. If you understand that it’s not an overnight answer, and that you are building a business, then you will persevere. If you realize that your passion can be your purpose, and that the next steps you take to making money on the internet, can be a brand new start for you, and you can finally do what you want – you will have the motivation you need to make your dreams a reality, complete with the promises of automated income and recurring riches for life.

So if you have been considering internet marketing as a revenue stream, or method of enhancing your marketing for offline services, then I recommend you go for it, and travel safely as a pioneer into the landscape that will forever change you.

Tracy Repchuk is the Bestselling author of 31 Days to Millionaire Marketing Miracles. Get your copy today – http://www.millionairemarketingmiracles.com