**THE QUESTION**
Are you are as tired as I am of the hype, the greed and the uncertainty of not knowing which Internet Marketing Guru to trust?
"The Marketing Guru who Cried Wolf"
Or
How Will I Ever Succeed in Internet Marketing?
We all should remember Aesop’s fable of “The Boy Who Cried Wolf” and the moral of it that has been passed down from generation to generation. For those a little foggy on the story I will paraphrase it for the sake of this article and the updated moral I am trying to emphasize and publicize.
In short:
A shepherd boy, in an effort to amuse himself, cried “wolf, wolf, the wolf is chasing the sheep!” The villagers responded by running down the hill to assist the boy only to find that there was no wolf. The boy laughed and the villagers scolded him, “Don’t cry wolf when there is no wolf”. Well, the boy continued to cry wolf, and the villagers continued to respond and scold him again and again to no avail. When the boy saw a real wolf, he screamed again, “wolf, wolf” but this time the villagers did not respond as they had been burned too many times before. Some time afterwards, the boy, in tears, asked the village elder, “there really was a wolf so why didn’t you come?” The old man replied, “Nobody believes a liar, even when he is really telling the truth”. Some of those reading this might be asking themselves what does a child’s fable have to do with succeeding in Internet Marketing. Then there are those, I suspect, that already know what I am inferring by this fable and the title above it. Especially those, like myself, that have experience in sincerely searching for the requisite knowledge for launching and succeeding in the Internet Marketing arena.
Let me unmask this metaphor and clearly state that once I decided to commit myself to launching an Online business, the next question looming over me was,
How Do I Know Who to Trust?
Too many Gurus crying wolf too many times! We’ve all seen and heard it before. The litany of claims of being The Missing Ingredient, Magic Pill or Answer to Cyber-success! Or better yet, have you heard any one of these?
• “Let me hold your hand and walk you through the steps of Internet Marketing”
• “I’ll let you look over my shoulder and watch me work my magic”
I could go on and on……
It’s interesting to note that it is not just the naïve that get caught up in the vicious cycles of believing one more time that this time it will be different; it’s got to be different! Unfortunately it rarely is and we are all familiar with the often quoted definition of insanity; i.e. repeating the same behaviors expecting different results!
THE DILEMMA
So, back to our dilemma and the questions begging to be answered.
1. Where do we go to find the real deal?
2. Who will steer us in the right directions, and
3. How will we know if it’s the real deal and right direction?
So, how do you know? How can you know and for that matter, how can anyone know for sure? Think about it. You are met with a barrage of outrageous claims of mind-blowing income statements and commission checks followed by testimonials expressing awe of achievement and eternal gratitude for having purchased this product at a super duper discounted price! Sound familiar? I thought it might for I too have bought into” the dream” more times than I care to admit only to be shortchanged in some way. Is this part of the process? Is the “trial and error”, eenee-meenee-minee-mo process the only way to wade through a sea of offers, all seemingly the same on the surface?
Remember also that there are two conflicting agendas at work here. Yours is to gain the insight and the education needed to launch and grow a business. Theirs is to sell you their product or service, PERIOD! Now don’t get me wrong. There are those that are sincere and dedicated deliverers of products and/or services that do exactly as promised and these individuals are to be applauded and championed at every opportunity.
CLARIFICATION
I think the point has been made. The moral of the above fable has been revealed and the point, I believe, has been made. So what is the solution? I think you’ll agree that knowing that a product or service produced positive results for someone else is encouraging, but is it enough? And what does an aspiring Netreprenuer need to know about a product or service to believe that it would be a wise investment of time and money for him or her?
My experience has taught me that no one product alone addresses all of the needs to make it all happen. Sure, every product offers something. And there are some truly dynamic people who are sincere and passionate about producing quality products; products that help move the buyer closer to his or her goal. After all, isn’t that the bottom line and all that can be expected of any self-help or educational product. It just seems that because of the promise of generating an income avalanche the expectations are greater. Why wouldn’t they be when “early retirement is within reach” if you’ll just BUY and follow their “proven success formula valued at $2995, for just $147, BUT if you act today you can have it for ONLY $97.00!! SOUND FAMILIAR?
A SOLUTION
Let me present one solution that We are in the process of refining. It is a system we believe will address the problems of product and service evaluation and credibility in a way that most should be able to understand.
**Because this system is still in development we will not be going into great detail but will share enough so that the reader will understand its value and contribution to solving the dilemmas of aspiring Online Entrepreneurs.**
Anybody who has ever searched the website Amazon.com is well aware of the ability to gain insight into any products’ assets and liabilities by reading reviews by the Editor and those that have experience the product. The reviews themselves are also evaluated for their usefulness to the buyer which adds a system of checks and balances so that any prospective buyer can learn enough about the product to make and educated buying decision. Wouldn’t it be great to have that same ability when deciding to invest hundreds of dollars and valuable time into a Marketing product or service? I think so as it would accomplish one of many things including eliminating those self-proclaimed Marketing Gurus from crying wolf and filling their pockets at our expense.
Wouldn’t that be great?
Michael Lang is an experienced Sales & Marketing professional and serial Entrepreneur. He has focused on the Internet since 1994 and was recruited by Florida’s Governor as a “Subject Matter Expert” for the State’s Internet Task Force. He is now immersed in the exploding Internet & Affiliate Marketing industry. Please visit
www.internetmarketingproductsreview.com Michael Lang © 2006
