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Internet Marketing – Honesty
by Gary ~ October 8th, 2009
Today, I want to talk to you about the cornerstone of everything we do online in our Internet Marketing endeavors. Indeed, it’s the cement that holds all business together. In fact, it should be the way that you operate your life.
I’m talking about honesty.
I’m writing this in the wake of some very heavy-duty action taken against a very well known Internet Marketer who has been forced – through his own actions – by the US legal system to get out of everything to do with Internet Marketing.
You probably KNOW who I am talking about. Sadly, he is a person possessed with extreme talent and great charisma. Look, he could sell ice to Eskimos. I wasn’t gonna mention his name coz I don’t want to add to his grief. But, having complimented his talent and charisma then hopefully, it will balance out. It’s Perry Belcher.
OK, I KNOW he did some bad things and he’s admitted it and he’s been severely punished for it. I have read a lot about it and I’m aware of most of the material facts.
What saddens me is that now that he’s been outed and convicted so many nasty, negatively-programmed and hateful people have taken it upon themselves to attack him personally over all manner of things including his physical appearance. How low. They are like rabid jackals and vultures all wanting to take a bite. If I were Perry (and I don’t know the man personally – only what I have seen of him in videos and forums and blogs etc) then I’d be “collecting” all that information and using it in a defamation lawsuit. A lot of what I have seen is hideous and a real good indicator of the lives of the individuals mouthing off. In short, it’s idiotic and shameful.
Seriously, I don’t think these haters should be adding to his problems. The guy got caught and he’s suffering for his actions. And NO – I definitely don’t agree with what he did AT ALL! It was wrong. But people make mistakes. He’s suffering from the indiscretions he committed (and YES, they were serious errors of judgment and he should have known better).
What I lament is the fact that he could have had a fantastic Internet Marketing career if only he’d followed the honest path right from the start. And now the Internet Marketing world has lost a serious talent.
Anyway, enough about Perry Belcher. I wish him NO ill-will at all and I hope he is able to recover and use his obvious talents in a positive manner for the betterment of his future and that of his family.
Moving right along…
The US Fair Trade Commission (FTC) is now planning a slew of legislation governing Internet Marketing, principally false testimonials and “misleading” testimonials designed to trick people into buying something through false recommendation. It is also talking about jumping all over blogs that are set up principally to support goods and services where kickbacks (aka slings, hidden commissions and bonuses etc) are given in return for glowing endorsements. Clearly, this is misleading and deceptive conduct designed to elicit a response from the masses reading or listening to these things. And that is WRONG. It’s bloody dishonest!
But, I wonder how long it will be before the medical profession gets kicked in the guts for recommending pharmaceutical products and medicines solely because the doctors recommending these “products” are being wined and dined and holidayed (you thought I was gonna say 69’ed, didn’t you? LOL) at all sorts of resorts for “favorable” recommendation of those products. After all, what’s good for the goose should be good for the peacock. (Sorry, gander is so clichéd!) But, there are huge companies with massive vested interests in this industry. And they can afford outrageeously expensive lawyers.
Back to the FTC…
I won’t go on about all the intricacies of it here because Frank “Mass Control” Kern has done a very good job of explaining it all on his blog. You can read about it here: http://masscontrolsite.com/blog/?p=59
(Incidentally Frank, get those damn permalinks sorted out will you? While I’m on that, can everyone see how a person’s “mass control” ability and reputation and standing in Internet Marketing is more important than having properly structured permalinks? Oh well.)
My point today is that if all Internet Marketers behaved honestly then none of the forthcoming restrictive legislation would be needed. But we all know that the Internet is an absolute HAVEN for dodginess, false claims, outright lies, deceit and general shitty behavior. That is why the bulk of Internet users now believe almost NOTHING of what they read and see from Internet Marketing types. Quite simply, we have all been lied to and had our credit cards spat upon so often that we are now skeptic extraordinaires, hardened to any and all marketing pitches – even the HONEST ones.
Ten times bitten, twenty times shy… does that ring a bell with you?
With what crooks and scumbags can now do on the Internet – sitting safely behind a keyboard – why would any of them need to put on a balaclava and use a shotgun to rob a bank? Some criminals, like some honest people, are VERY clever. Only the real dumb ones use the balaclavas and firearms now.
So, my message to you today is this:
Be HONEST!
Be honest in your Internet Marketing activities, be honest off-line (sadly life is littered with dishonesty offline too and I have been the victim of this too many times myself) and be honest to yourself. If you can’t or won’t do that then brace yourself for that “knock on the door.” The trucks will be in the driveway and the folks in forensic suits will start transferring your computers and other “evidence” out to them.
Final comment… don’t promise your customers the world and then only deliver up an atlas.
October 8th, 2009 at 9:01 am
Hi Gary,
Very timely post. I’ve written a post recently on a similar subject.
Dishonest behavior starts early in life and if not corrected early, it can become a real affliction.
At some point it may be virtually impossible to eliminate.
Honest people need to work harder every day to break through the walls of mistrust erected due to dishonest creeps posing as saviors and experts.
No government agency can correct things. It will start feeding on itself and cause more problems than good. It is and always will be each individual’s responsibility to uncover who the crooks are and stay away from them.
Vance
October 8th, 2009 at 9:26 am
Hey Gary,
I had not heard the news of Perry Belcher, He was or is that is? a great tallent but looks like he put his tallent to use in the wrong way.
I think the Be honest message is one of the best bits of advice you could give.
Take it easy,
James
October 8th, 2009 at 9:43 am
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Gary Simpson and Gary Simpson. Gary Simpson said: NEW Article @ the TEMPLE – Internet Marketing Honesty versus Dishonesty: http://tinyurl.com/y8wm6zp [...]
October 8th, 2009 at 8:33 pm
Hi Garry,
I completely agree and am saddened to see what Perry Belcher is going through right now as well.
Honesty and transparency is a huge issue online – your post and Frank’s post are great reminders and advice for us all to follow.
Adam
October 9th, 2009 at 3:23 pm
Hi Gary,
Very interesting rant again. I love the way you get your point across, and you are so right, honesty is everything.
I have absolutely no idea what Perry Belcher has supposedly done, and won’t bother to find out as I don’t want to revel in his misfortune. I did listen to him once and thought he was really interesting.
Words are incredibly powerful, and just as they can deliver inspiration and hope, so too can they cause tremendous harm.
You’re right too about the power of the medical industry. The swine flu situation is a classic example, and I do hope people make an informed choice BEFORE having the vaccination.
It’s horrendous when money comes before people.
I also put a post about the FTC thing on my blog, because anyone who operates a website, or does any business on the Internet even if as the owner of a personal “non-commercial” website, has to comply with the rules and regulations of Internet Law.
It’s a sign of the times, I guess, but I can look at myself in the mirror and like what I see (well morally anyway!)
Take care, and keep “ranting”.
Jean
October 11th, 2009 at 12:03 am
Gary,
I think that because the internet can be so anonymous, it is easy for marketers to be deceptive. Fortunately, the web is also transparent, and I have learned over time how to research all of the fantastic offers out there. Prior to that, though, I have lost a lot of money on all of the hype. Now learning IM myself, I put honesty above all else. I think marketers can get their rep turned around if they all start to try to help others and not focus on themselves. Thanks for the great post. -Norene
ps. Didn’t Frank Kerns get busted for something similar years ago? I thought that was why now so many marketers have the disclaimer ‘your mileage may vary’ on all of their products….?
October 11th, 2009 at 11:22 am
@ Vance – When somebody deliberately crosses me in a mean or nasty way, that’s it. They’d better watch out. I treat everyone with respect but if they try any BS or they cross that line of common decency or dishonour me they’ll get both barrels. Then I’ll re-load…
@ James – yeah, it was very unfortunate the route that Perry took. However, I think he realized what he had done was injurious to a lot of people and tried to make amends by doing good things later but the damage had already been already done.
@ Adam – it is sad. The IM world loses a very talented individual. I know this sounds ridiculous but it was like when that idiot shot and murdered John Lennon. Lennon’s 69th birthday would have just passed had he lived. I often wonder about the beautiful songs that he could have shared with the world. I’m not making a comparison – just the lost opportunity that we could have all shared in. That’s what I find sad.
@ Jean – I couldn’t agree more. Words are the most powerful thing that we have. It’s how we communicate. Words can invoke love and words can cause wars. One thing that you can be sure of here Jean is this – if I see or hear of something rantworthy, I’ll have a go darls. That’s for sure!
@ Norene – first time here? Welcome. Yes, it’s pretty easy to see who provides genuine help to others and who is out only to feather his or her own nest. With all the scams on the Internet most people’s BS meters are turned to high frequency. I think Mr Mass Control was taken for a lot of money some years ago. The number that I seem to remember is $1 million.
Thank you all for coming here and sharing your insights.
Gary
October 12th, 2009 at 12:22 am
Gary
A very insightful post which speaks volumes. It is all so important to be honest and truthful especially online where it is easy to hide or try and be anonymous.
By being truthful and honest you can really develop lasting relationships and trust with subscribers and readers and it helps build an ethically sound business.
I like your closing comment, got an ideal situation to pull that out at work, will let you know how it goes down!
Tom
October 12th, 2009 at 3:50 pm
Hey Gary,
Hope you are keeping well and thank you for your informative post about this new topic which seems to be popping across a lot of blogs and various forums. Not to mention that quite few marketers have been taking advantage and started to try and sell us all various forms of internet marketing business protection legal forms and document generators.
Anyway, it is a shame that such an shake up has and is occurring, I guess it was only going to be time the some sort of government agency, department or a encyclopedia of policies, rules and regulations would come through the roof and land on the each marketers desk with a loud thudding sound. (Oh Sorry – apologies, just remembered we’re not allow to hype – only honest facts and opinions)
Additionally, since with the majority of the population being made redundant or forced out of work, most are trans versing to working from home or running their own online business and one can only assume that governments are gearing themselves in readiness to monitor society
expenditure, income and tax with regards to the new digital/info/ e-commerce based businesses.
It’s also apparent that with the case of tax, (one of the government’s main source of income), many working from home or running their first business, many will probably have no idea or did not realize that although working from home, they still need to register their business and update their employment details with their local tax offices. Of course there are some who will take advantage and are collecting state support income whilst also deliberately evading paying tax thus reducing the governments and treasurys main income, and not to forget that they make their money from scamming others quickly and dishonestly.
I guess the situation also makes many marketer and would-be marketers
reflect and emphasize in their minds, the ferocity of change with the internet marketing niche, the greed of human nature, the consequence of the previous and government’s obsession with monitoring individual each and every movement, as well as the greater importance for marketers to developing and nurturing one’s own list, which requires no hype or testimonials to sell or provide to and to provide with an stable income.
Anyway, apologies if I have offended anyone, and my long rant.
Best regards and all the best to you Gary and everyone else
Nigel
October 19th, 2009 at 2:26 pm
Hey Gary,
I had not heard about Perry’s situation. I must be living in the closet.
Well, what do you think I did as soon as I finished reading this post. You guessed it, I Googled “Perry Belcher”. And I must tell you I was shocked at what I found.
Yeah, it’s pretty bad what all the allegations are but who am I to judge. I don’t know how much of this is true and if he’s actually been convicted of any of this stuff. After all, I only spent 5 minutes reading a couple of articles about him.
What I do know is that the garbage that’s coming out of the mouths of people condemning him are despicable. The first article I read was pretty bad. I don’t think this person could string more than three words together without throwing the “F Bomb” in there. That’s a pure sign of intelligence.
Is this someone you want to be listening too. He’s trashing another human being in such ways that make me sick. This is the kind of person that sometimes makes me lose faith in mankind. I just have to keep reminding myself that most people are of good moral character and nothing like this person.
I have to stop myself now because as you know Gary, I can go on and on about things like this and it just raises my blood pressure.
To your point of this article. Honesty! I try to be as honest as I can be and it actually gets me in trouble sometimes. I usually end up giving out too much information and sometimes it costs me. But at least it’s truthful and I can sleep at night.
It’s hard sometimes to remain honest when there’s so much deceit around us both online and offline. I know many people that do certain things to get ahead in this world and they always seem to get away with it. Things that I would never consider doing, and if I did I’m the type that would get caught immediately. I’m just not a very good liar.
It’s just a lot easier to be honest. You don’t have to worry about keeping your story straight so you don’t trip up somewhere and get caught in a lie.
I’ve always felt there was some truth to the saying, “Nice guys finish last”. But I’d rather be the tortoise than the hare in this race and still be able to look at myself in the mirror in the morning.
Later,
Jeff Sargent
October 20th, 2009 at 12:40 pm
@ Tom – thanks for the visit and comment. Come back and let us know how that saying goes over – probably like a wrought-iron hang-glider.
@ Nigel – I can’t imagine that anything you said above would offend anyone. Then again, who knows? There’s an element of preciousness out there these days that knows no bounds. Some people take offence at any stupid thing these days. Offer them a gate and they take offence. (A small joke. NO?)
One thing you have highlighted is how “Big-Brother” will be increasingly monitoring everybody’s online activities. Is this to make everyone operate fairly? Maybe there’s an element of that. But, the BIG factor is the tax screw. That has ALWAYS been first and foremost for ALL so-called governments – and ALWAYS will be.
@ Jeff – Well Perry used to go off with a bang but he exited via stage door 3B and left ever so quietly. A LOT of people don’t even know what happened or that he is even (allegedly – LOL) gone.
Be prepared for two more well-known names to come into the glare of the spotlights shortly. One, in particular, is gonna shock a STACK of people.
Indeed there are so many jealous vultures and jackals out there just waiting for the mighty to fall. Then they come in with all their hate and venom and hideous insults. These people make me sick too Jeff. Those idiots just wanna dance and p155 all over everyone’s grave. A pox on them!
Thanks for sharing your insights Tom, Nigel and Jeff.
Gary
October 22nd, 2009 at 7:16 pm
Another top post, Gazza! I particularly like that very last line – I think you’ve captured in a word picture EXACTLY the problem with a lot of the sales pitches around the place … “promising the world and delivering an atlas”.
Dishonesty is bad for your own business. In the long run it will catch up with you. But sadly, it also hurts ALL our businesses.
I have a friend who was telling me a story just today. She purchased a very well known video product, and downloaded it. When she got it she immediately recognized it was not what she wanted, but had no fear because the seller offered the typical unconditional money-back guarantee … “no questions asked” … “if you’re not happy for any reason” … we all know the drill. But when she emailed him for a refund, he gave her the runaround offering another package of software to coax her to keep the product. After numerous emails, she STILL hasn’t been able to get her money back, and the seller has now cut off communication.
That seller’s “guarantee” is an outright LIE. And what’s the result? It casts a shadow over us all. This is another aspect of truthfulness in our advertising – whatever you promise … stand behind it, or don’t offer it in the first place.
Phil
October 26th, 2009 at 6:48 am
Honest people don’t need to be told to be honest… and dishonest people won’t stop because of an admonishment on a blog or what happened to “someone else.” Just saying….
November 1st, 2009 at 3:34 am
@ Phil – Yeah that last quip pretty well sums up a lot of what goes on around the place. If only people would live up to the expectations that they advertize.
It does indeed hurt everyone online when jerkos do the sort of thing that you described above. But it also happens in the offline world. Excellent points Phil. Thanks.
@ Linda – you are quite correct. It’s all about what is in the heart. Some people have white hears, some grey and some black.
Gary
November 11th, 2009 at 10:10 am
Top post Garry
I feel it is also partially our own responsibility to highlight these cowboys – With this blog community we have the ideal platrform.
As you say Perry was caught and paid the price, that should be the end of it for him but theres a whole lot more out there unfortunately – even I have been caught once or twice.
Paul Wilson mentioned a guy to me yesterday with who he had done an Ad Swap with and opted into his list several times from the same IP address.
I’m still waiting for his name and web address so we can all blog about him
November 17th, 2009 at 1:30 am
Hi Peter – sorry for the delay in responding. I’ve been out of town at a 25th Anniversary Dinner for an Association that I have been a long term member of (about 22 of those 25 years).
I agree. Perry did the crime, he’s paying his penalty. People should just leave him alone. But no, they won’t. Like jackals and vultures they keep attacking him.
The more I get around Internet Marketing and the MORE I learn, the more I see the same seedy people pulling their scams. I have composed what I call a SHIT LIST (’scuse the term) and I already have far too many names on it. These are people who – thru their OWN actions – mostly over and over again – I will NEVER deal with.
I mean, everybody and anybody can make an error of judgement. We all do that from time to time. But some of these people are just outright scammers. I’d be interested to know who that person is, privately. Maybe he is already on my list. Strangely, they are ALL males, so far.
Regards
Gary