The Great Internet Marketing Scam

I was watching that Leonardo DiCaprio movie based on multi-millionaire scammer Jordan Belfort – The Wolf of Wall Street – earlier this week. I’ve seen it a couple of times now, but one section really hit me. It was this bit, his TV advert:

Doesn’t that shit sound familiar? Like, as in, every webinar or video promo clip, you’ve watched recently.

Make a decision not just to “survive, but to thrive!”

I’m sure I’ve heard that repeated, somewhere, and not in parody or jest.

And all the usual bullshit is in there, that you have to have the courage to pay out, give Jordan your money, and if his advice doesn’t work, it’s not his fault, it’s because you didn’t try hard enough, loser!

Hell, sometimes that’s even true: a good diet and workout plan will lose you weight, it’s not the program’s fault if you fail… but the point is, I bet you knew everything in that program without paying a trainer a couple hundred bucks for the revolutionary information of eat better and less, and be more active.

Much like knowing that having a winning or ‘big’ idea that you can package in such a way that people want to buy, is better than having an idea that doesn’t fit that bill. Or having no idea at all.

Yeah… you know all that, just like you know that even if you have a marketable idea, you don’t know how to go about getting it funded and off the ground.

Which is sort of what you’re hoping these types of programs will tell you… more than maybe the stock advice to make a shit ton of cold calls and mail shots i.e. throw enough darts at the board and something will stick.

Genius. Info like that is worth four figures.

And for your four figures you won’t get a unique and revolutionary idea dreamt up for you either, if you don’t have one. You’ll most likely get told to run with an everyday business/consulting idea, in what probably feels like an over saturated market to you already, in a field you’ve personally no prior experience of, or possess any knowledge in at all.

This BS goes for the online stuff too, like Shopify etc.

I mean, there’s that blog post that the kid who made a million selling t-shirts online explaining how it can be done – so it can’t be that hard, can it?

If it isn’t t-shirts then it’s selling junk off Aliexpress via Facebook ads for your store – some folks are posting five figure screenshots of their sales reports for cat trinkets – and then next post, want to sell you on their course so you can do it too!

Look, it’s not that I’m saying you can’t make money with Shopify or a traditional business venture, because you most certainly can. It’s more that, just like Jordan Belfort, the “gurus” selling you the dream on how to do it, have never made a dime at anything other than screwing other people out of their money on false promises.

Except Belfort actually had money, he wasn’t playing Tai Lopez.

Speaking of which, I’m put in mind of a Gary Vaynerchuk video – you can OD on too much of his stuff too – but it was the one where he let rip on why he doesn’t have a thousand dollar e-book for sale.

Because he doesn’t need your money. He isn’t scrambling around in the dirt trying to pick up whatever pennies he can find, with his begging bowl out on Facebook ads to join his system – which he’s offering just because he’s a saint, and wants you to have financial success too.

Okay, the dude sells books but I think he could cut them and he’d never miss it from his bank account.

Just about every course I’ve come across, hasn’t told me a damn thing more than I already know just like dieting and gym training.

I already know all the pieces; what’s required. I’m just paying hoping that handing over my cash is the magic bullet that’ll make it all happen faster and bigger. Like give me my pass to the Express Line!

Which it doesn’t.

The only person it helps achieve financial freedom is the ‘coach.’

And at least in the world of physical training you can see if your trainer walks the talk by looking at him or her – are they jacked and in shape? It’s a pretty binary answer.

Likewise, does your financial coach have a business and an income minus his or her advice program? You know, have they actually successfully repeated the formula they’re trying to sell you on. The formula that I’m pretty sure you already know 95% of.

There’s a lot of bullshit flying around out there, don’t get covered in it.

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Now, after that little rant, I’m not going to bullshit you. This is the bit where I put in my plug for Wealthy Affiliate (WA).

To reference myself, did I know most of what WA teaches before I joined?

I’d say I probably did.

But there were definitely strategies re keyword implementation that I didn’t, though.

Was I putting all the pieces together effectively? No. I wasn’t.

And all of that said then, if I’ve gotten everything I needed from WA, why haven’t I jumped ship and taken off with the knowledge? Why am I still paying the membership fee?

Because the place is more than just training, I get access to a comprehensive WordPress system, keyword planning tool, feedback, comment (SEO juice) community and constantly updated training, with new courses rolled every week.

It wasn’t just become a master in six weeks for $$$$$ (or whatever). And WA is free to join, you get a week’s worth of full membership, which is more than enough time to scope the place out, and there’s no scam “credit card required for verification purposes” BS either: free is free.

Here’s the thing, I once read this of chess too: it takes a few minutes to learn but a lifetime to never quite master.

Affiliate marketing isn’t ‘hard’ to understand any more than weight training or dieting is.

It’s not so much in the method, as in the ongoing process of the method; the support and motivation.

The WA community is tens of thousands strong which means a thriving discussion community – and it isn’t on the cheap on Facebook as a group like every other course is.

Those groups… you’re lucky if you see a couple posts a week. There’s hundreds of posts on WA a DAY!

But don’t take my word for it, have a look yourself. If it’s another get-rich-now scheme you’re after then you may want to pass.

Just like the gym, WA doesn’t promise Olympian muscles within the week – you’re going to need patience and perseverance.

You can read my review here.

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Recommended further reading:

A classic from an actual millionaire:

The Millionaire Fastlane

Crack the Code to Wealth and Live Rich for a Lifetime!

by M. J. DeMarco