Internet Marketing: Hype vs. Reality
Excerpted from Ray's Book "So You Want an Online Business"

“I made $5,000 in the first week with only 30 minutes of work!”

 “Give me 5 minutes of your time and I will show you how to make a 6-figure income in your spare time!”

 “I’m going to let you in on my secret, guaranteed method for massive multi-stream income potential!”

 You have most likely seen web sites shouting headlines such as these.  It’s virtually impossible not to encounter them at some point.  If it wasn’t for my spam filter, my inbox would be filled to the max with similar pronouncements.  Welcome to the world of Internet Marketing (IM).

 Ah yes, the lure of untold riches.  The flashy and compelling web sites with screaming headlines and pictures of Corvettes, yachts, huge mansions, swimming pools, and crates full of cash.  Of course, one must suspend his or her disbelief and ignore the fact that 99% of the time, the Corvette, yachts, large house and so on don’t actually belong to the person who built the site.  Those are stock photos.  But damn, do they draw people in.

 Before I continue, let me stipulate one thing very clearly.  Internet Marketing is a perfectly legitimate business.  There are numerous people in the IM field, some of whom I know, who operate with a high degree of integrity and honesty.  Their various programs offer people a realistic opportunity to make money.  These people are professional marketers who know how to do things the correct way.  They don’t make promises built on fog and illusion.  They will be the first to tell you it is extremely hard work. 

 Unfortunately, there are all too many people who are willing to sell you snake oil.  The programs they offer run the gamut from questionable, to absurd, to outright illegal.  And that has nothing to do with the Internet.  The unscrupulous people who perpetrate these sorts of scams were around long before the Internet.  Some of these schemes, pyramids, ponzi, and the like, have been around for centuries.  The Internet simply provides another vehicle for their deception.  You can put lipstick on a pig, but ultimately, it’s still a pig.

 If your desire is to get into the Internet Marketing field, then by all means do so.  But do so cautiously and with your eyes open.  Don’t fall for the first flashy web page you see that offers staggering promises of income with a minimum of effort.  That is just not reality.  If you run across a web page offering to tell you the “secret formula” for how to make $250,000 your first month, or some other such drivel, and you fall for it, well, let me offer something my dad taught me many years ago.  “Son”, my dad would say, “you can’t fix stupid”.