9 Worst Internet Marketing Advice Ever Given

Internet is the place where the good, the bad, and the ugly blend so well that it’s hard to separate them. You might’ve heard a piece of advice from a guru and, well, you believe him and do what he said. Hey, he’s a guru so he should be right, right? After a month, you discovered that his strategy is not working for you. So, you searched online to see how it’s working for others and found an article by another guru that’s an exact opposite of what the other one is saying. It’s also very easy to get caught in online scams because we’re desperate. See the recent açaí berry flogs (fake blogs) issue that send hundreds of internet marketers crying in unity as their Google quality score drops and FTC taking their websites down. So, to avoid some of the more widespread dumb advice, I compiled this list of 9 worst internet marketing advice ever given.

1. Use Fake Scarcity

Scarcity creates a sense of urgency and exclusivity and thus it’s a very effective selling tool. But the problem is, dishonest internet marketers, who just want to make quick bucks, use what I called fake scarcity. Fake scarcity doesn’t mean limiting the number of products being sold when you can actually sell more. They are digital  products, like eBooks or videos, anyway, how can they ever sold out? Fake scarcity refers to when the products is said to be limited to a certain number of people, like 200, but is sold to more than that amount, maybe to 400 people. It’s just deceptive marketing that shouldn’t have exist and it makes me angry just thinking about it.

2. Avoid PPC, You’ll Lose Big Dollars

People like Anik Singal, Amit Mehta, Steven Clayton, Jeremy Schoemaker and many famous affiliate marketers make millions a year selling through PPC. Sure, those are big names gurus. But even if you’re a newbie, you can use PPC to your benefits. The key is to do your PPC keyword research properly and to track and tweak your campaigns based on their performances. To learn a bit more about PPC, read 11 Ways to optimize Your Pay Per Click Web Site and Drive Traffic to Your Brand New Site.

3. If You Build It, They’ll Come

This is probably true 10 or 15 years ago when Hotmail is the new boy in town and everyone is waiting for their first email to arrive in their inbox. But, if you still have this mentality now, you might as well stop wasting your time online and do other more enjoyable things, like watching movies or having drinks with friends ^-^. You need to market your site, whether using free search engine optimization and article marketing strategies or doing pay per click advertising. Learn more ways to Get Cheap Web Site Traffic.

4. Too Much Competition Here

We’re trapped on doing keyword and market research the old ways, using Google Keyword Tool and Google Search. Both of these tools are good but very limiting. Say, you want to go into a niche. You check some possible keywords from Google Keyword Tool and find out that there are millions of competing pages. Most people will stop right there and call the market over saturated. But, smart marketers will go to forums, use Google advanced search options, or do some back links research to find more keywords and determine how competitive the market actually is. You could learn more about keyword research by reading 7 Simple Ways to Build Your Broad Keywords List.

5. The Money is in the List

The money is not in the list, Frank Kern said. It’s in the relationship that you build with your list. You need to provide value to your subscribers so that they become active subscribers who actually read and open your emails. Your subscribers need to trust you before they’re ready to open their wallets and buy the products you offer.

6. Make Money from What You Love

This is one of the most widespread dumb advice given by some internet marketing gurus. If you really love the things you do, good for you. But don’t expect to make money from it. Except your hobbies are somehow in the profitable category of internet marketing, I don’t see the reason of getting stuck doing what you love to do when you’re supposed to put your effort in actually making money online. So, find a hungry hot niche market, create a product, and market it to them.

7. Article Marketing is Dead

I heard this almost like a clockwork. Every month, there’s always someone in some forums or blogs shouted out that article marketing is dead when it’s actually in its top shape. Sure, web 2.0 sites, like Squidoo and HubPages, might have taken some of its former audiences and glory. But, many articles in Ezine Articles directory still have 5,000+ views a month. So, say whatever you want, but the fact is, article marketing is alive and well.

8. Highest ClickBank ‘Gravity’ Equals to Highest Conversion and Sales

Newbies are trapped into this belief that ClickBank gravity equals to conversion and sales. Hey, if more people making money out of this product, it should be profitable, right? So, they create a website to promote the product. After doing months of SEO and article marketing works, they only made a couple of sales. They lose more time and money than they’ve gain. The solution is to test the market by doing PPC advertising first before performing months of SEO, link building, article marketing , and other optimization works.

9. Use Fake Testimonials

We all hate scams. And so do Google and FTC. The recent FTC (Federal Trade Commission in US)crackdowns and Google quality score drops for all the fake blogs out there proved that it’s always better to stay on the honest side. If you’ve never tried the affiliate products you’re promoting before, don’t write in your blog as if you have. Testimonials are a means to build credibility through social proof. Faking and building credibility aren’t compatible.

These are the list of 9 worst internet marketing advice ever given that I can think of. Have you guys heard any others that can be added to the list? Feel free to leave comments below or tweet it if you like it.

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