If you are in the internet marketing business you are constantly seeking for fresh knowledge and new tools/software that can help your business stay up to date and grow. We can get for free many of the tools and knowledge, but there are also premium information and paid software out there that have more value. Such premium tools and courses come out literally every day, it’s a big niche and a lot of people come up with new products.

The problem is that many of the products really suck. They are pure garbage. Internet marketing scams are everywhere. Products like these create really bad image for the industry and a lot of people think that every new thing that comes for sale in the internet marketing niche is useless. The truth is there are many good information and software products as well, but many people can’t tell the difference. The average consumer is used to the garbage products and assumes everything is trash because of his bad experience.

Let me help you save money and stop you from buying one of these internet marketing scams. I’m about to teach you how to spot most of the bad products before you buy them, just by looking at the way they try to sell you stuff and analyzing what is really happening.

Few points first:
– Scammers know how to sell. They are good marketers and they are making money.
– Scammers usually target beginners and new comers to the industry because they are easier target and bullshits work well.
– Scammers are in the business of selling hopes and dreams, not solutions. Just like politicians.

Here is how to tell if an internet marketing course is scam before buying it:

1. Don’t open unwanted emails
You can say this is obvious but I had to include it. If you receive many emails from internet marketing subscriptions, odds are you are going to get more spam as well. The sad truth is that email lists get traded and email harvesters get smarter. Spam filters are not perfect, too.

2. How did you find the product?
If you have been referred by someone, is he/she credible? Does this person promote many products just because of the affiliate commissions? Maybe you have clicked on a banner or link from another website. Just think about the way got to the product page.

3. Pay close attention to the sales page
Most internet marketing products try to sell you stuff with a single sale page that contains a text copy or a video (in most cases) and a call to action button. Sometimes before you see the actual sales page you can be asked to give you email address in an opt-in page. That is all normal and it’s not a sign of scam.
So lets focus on the sales copy or the sales video.

3.1 Production quality of the video or the good design is not big factor
People assume that the more professional and fancy it looks the more legit it is. I disagree. In reality many scammers make more expensive videos and fancier pages than the normal sellers. I’ve seen scam videos that are on a Hollywood level. They hire actors, they tell fake stories, follow good sales scrips, transform emotions, etc.

3.2 Showing off is a bad sign
If the majority of the sales pitch is bragging about great lifestyle, huge earnings, big houses and expensive cars, then the odds are you are dealing with scam. They try to impress with something you don’t have, usually right from the beginning. If all they say is how great it is to drive a Ferrari, just shut it down, don’t waste your time.

3.3 Make $16734,26 in 10 days using my stuff
If you see confident promises like these, turn on your scam radar. No serious marketer is going to promise you anything, he may show you how much he has made, but he will never guarantee the same for you. You can make more, you can make less. Such numbers in such short period look great, but in 99% of the time they are just a fish bait.

3.4 Push 3 buttons a week and sit on the beach
People are lazy, they don’t want to work so a magic software that does all the work for them is like God’s gift. Unfortunately even if such thing exists somewhere, it’s not for sale. Believe me, if there was such thing, I would buy 2.

3.5 Outrages discounts
Scammers try to make you feel you are getting some awesome deal, like you are stealing from them. “Normally it sells for $10,000 but because I’m so generous you can have it for $37″. Really? Before believing such no sense, try to find out if they have sold any copy for the “original” amount. Sure, there are marketers who give expensive products even for free, but they have sold them successfully before.

3.6 Scarcity lies
Scarcity is a big marketing weapon when you make offers, but a lot of times in the internet marketing it is so obvious that a person is lying. You have seen these: “this is available for the first 100 people only” or “I’m shutting this page down tomorrow”. It is true that some people put caps on their clients number, because they can’t serve more, but they aren’t selling ebooks for under $100, and most of those pages stay live for a long time.
Basically you don’t want to buy stuff from obvious liars. If they are treating you like fool in the pitch, imagine what the product is going to be like.

3.7 So much invested from their side
Another common lie is when some marketers try to tell you how much money they have invested in making the course. Usually they tell you a huge number so that you get convinced in the enormous value you can get.
“I’ve invested more than $20,000 to make this course!”. Really? For 5 Power Point videos and 2 PDFs? Did you have a gun pointed to your head so you have spent so much?
I laugh at these, seriously.

3.8 What the **** are you selling?
Clear sign of internet marketing scam is when after the whole pitch, you don’t know what the actual product is. You have been told how rich you are going to get and how fast and easy it is. But you have no idea what is it about exactly. You can only guess before buying it. Well, don’t waste your money on these.

4. Research the person or the organization that is selling you the product
Make a search, find opinions by other people, there are going to be reviews. Many times you don’t know who are you buying from. When you get to know a person or the company and you like them, you don’t have to worry so much of being scammed, but before that, do your homework.

I hope you find this article useful on how to tell if an internet marketing product is scam before you buy it. It’s great to avoid them.

This article was originally written and posted by me in the website therealstakes.com. I think it’s still very useful.