How to avoid the “shiny object” syndrome!

Over the years, like me, you must have been tempted by the newest and brightest latest thing to hit the internet marketing marketplace which will make your life so much easier. It will be easier to install, require nothing more than two, or even one, click of the mouse and the money will come flooding in!

These products come in all shapes, sizes and costs so your start with the $7 Warrior Forum offer and then realise that it does not work and the reason is that you did not spend enough money. So you then look for, and buy, the $97 even better product from one of those “churn” marketers (you now know who they are!) and then find that also does not work and again realise it was because you did not pay enough.

And so it goes on until you end up with a $2000 product bought at a big sales fest in London usually organised by the same guy (and yes you know who I mean) from one of those marketer’s now ensconced on Cyprus (tax or extradition reasons?) which they promise you does everything you can ever want a product to do.

So when this does not work, it can’t be the product’s fault as the marketer is making $000’s of dollars with the product so what are you doing wrong as it has to be you, never the product. So you attend the user’s meeting near Heathrow where he admits there are some teething problems, but his team are working on it and version 2 will be out soon and everything will be brilliant as he promised.

Then the technical resource stops answering your questions and you can’t raise tickets, the forum is full of people just like you who are having the same problems as you and some of these are semi-successful (well, made some money from IM anyway!).

Then you eventually have the light bulb moment: the problem is actually you as the product is too good to be true and you, the numpty, fell for it!

The only way the marketer is making $000’s of dollars is from you and those other novice IM’s who trusted him and spent your money on his product. Also the guy who ran the sales fest took his 50% of the product cost for setting up the conference and enticing the mugs in, so he’s happy and touring the world on your money as well!

So how do you avoid the same fate as me and many other people who want to get into internet marketing, but need some help? Easy really

  1. Never go on the computer and look at these types of products with your credit card close at hand. Leave it locked upstairs so by the time you’ve been up and found it, the rose-tinted glasses will have fallen off!
  2. If the video looks expensive, the car is really expensive and the guy (or gal) doing the promotion looks like a Hollywood actor then they probably are in a movie of some sort designed to take your money!
  3. If you really must buy the product, have a look on Google or any search engine for the product, but add the suffix SCAM. That will ensure that you find the articles you are really looking for and warn you off! You can also do this to check the marketer as well!
  4. Finally, if even after all of these checks, you must have the product, check the product refund wording as there are now places where there is no refund policy and if the marketer is using one of these then you can be at least 100% sure that the product is phony!

Now I’m not saying that this is my story, you can make that decision yourself, but I wish I had seen an article like this a few years ago, and a few thousand dollars ago, and avoided these “shiny objects” like the plague.

The only way to make money is to treat this as any type of business. There are no short cuts, only hard work, in getting this right. Find a good, honest mentor and stick with him and take your business forward slowly and surely to a viable conclusion.

And then when you become a respected man in the IM field, find that sales frenzy owner, sell something that promises the earth and then vanish to Cyprus or the Virgin Islands with their money in your pockets! Only joking here, I think!

So did you buy the next great thing which died as soon as it arrived on your computer? Please tell me below what you bought without naming the IM concerned and you can hide your name so we don’t laugh at you when we eventually meet (no you can’t do that, sorry!)

Please add a comment as I’m sure getting it off your chest will be very therapeutic!


    2 replies to "How to avoid the “shiny object” syndrome!"

    • paul

      Hi Dave,

      Great post and point and as you say you really do need to put in the research first!

      I guess in the world we live today we are all guilty of wanting the quick fix, the helping hand to fast track us to the top BUT if we pause and reflex on this for a second is there such a thing? I guess not, it takes consistent effort over a period time and the ability to change things and pick yourself up when things go wrong!

      I also just want to say that I am on a personal challenge to comment on all the blogs on P2S which I have a list of 155 and I want to complete this by 22nd of March 15, so remember that and please feel free to visit my blog and return the comment 🙂

      Best wishes

      Paul
      paul recently posted…Can I really meet this Challenge?My Profile

    • Rahima

      Dave, I really enjoyed reading this post.

      It seems like a trend that many of us starting out in Internet Marketing have, getting stuck into the ‘shiny object syndrome’ and the continuous buying. The key here is to stop buying and start selling!

      I haven’t spent thousands, but I have spent a couple of hundreds on things that simply do not work or work for a short time. I’m just glad I’m no longer a continuous buyer. Success is possible, but not easy. No magic push button or ‘get rich quick’ system out there.

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