I frequently get similar questions from viewers and subscribers all over the world.
They often ask me “Jim, what do you think of So-and-So’s product?” or “How does So-and-So’s product compare to your product?” or “Should I buy So-and-So’s product?”
Typically these questions are about physical products, software or information products.
People ask for my opinion not only because I write a newspaper column, but also because I’ve produced and hosted a successful Internet TV program on AlternativeTips.com for the past five years.
Bottom line: people want clear, concise answers to their questions so they can make an intelligent purchasing decision.
What I learn from talking to people is that their concerns are perfectly valid.
In fact, based on my own experience, reams of e-mail letters regularly arrive in my inbox from people who are genuinely upset about something that they’ve purchased from an online store and haven’t received what they purchased.
And although I can see and understand the consequences of poor online store customer service, I also understand that improving your odds of generating profits through affiliate sales is a lot less expensive than building and maintaining a website.
That’s why I do it.
Emails are the way we communicate today. They’re also becoming a valuable marketing tool. How many e-mails are received that include threats, exposés and requests for donations or to protest something?
How many of those e-mails are fraudulent attempts to steal your identity or using viruses to ruin your computer? How many are genuine queries from advertisers or their content is altered to include negative or irrelevant information?
By the numbers, more than two million people in the United States alone will receive at least one phishing e-mail each year. Those are only estimated numbers and almost certainly are much higher.
Phishing is the practice of sending emails to people in order to scam them into giving out information that they can use to either obtain money or to access someone’s account.
What I am countering with is the practice of sending emails out to people to buy their products.
You have to particularly see this rise in phishing because of the intricacy of the Internet. Previously, if you had problems sending money via snail mail, you had to find a catalog or seller that could help you.
Now, with many of the online services that claim to get rid of hassle like this, you have to verify that they are able to clean out your bank account as well as your credit card and make sure that they inform you about what is happening so that you know you are dealing with a reputable company.
How do you ever get to that point in verifying whether or not a company is legitimate?
The best way to verify that is to put yourself at their doorstep and ask them. Don’t e-mail them first. In other words, get your information from them the way that people would actually visit their Web site.
After all, you do have to answer to someone if you get something for free. You can always check auditors or lawyers if you suspect that a company is not actually who they say they are. But receiving something for free is not going to help you verify if the people you are dealing with are actually who they say they are.
Also, companies want to run product promotions once their products are actually available. They don’t want people thumbing their browsers up to the paid section once they are actually available. That would offend customers who may be loyal to the company, but would rather stay with those proven to be reliable over the Internet.
Products sold in each of these categories may not be authentic, but they sure can make money from unsuspecting victims.
