We have all seen the “buy my e-book at a specially discounted super-duper low price of $49.99 and learn the secrets to making a million dollars overnight” advertisements that claim that they can sell those very same e-books for one, two, three and sometimes more hundred dollars. Simply stated, they can’t. From the position of an experienced online entrepreneur and internet marketer, if they could sell it for more they would.



It is not that we are greedy money hungry people, but it is capitalism. It is what makes capitalism work. You do not give away a Lamborghini Diablo (a two-hundred plus thousand dollar car) for one hundred bucks because you pass a guy on the street that does not have a car. It is not that you are a bad person, but it would be silly to do so.

The same can be said about anything with true worth and value, even e-books and other online marketing tools. If you spend the time as an author to research it and to put it together in words for your readers, you are going to want the most compensation that you can get out of it. If you, the author, thinks that it is a twenty dollar book, you are going to sell it for twenty bucks.

The illusion that it is “on sale” or that the author/publisher wants to give it “only” to you for a reduced price is an age-old tactic in internet marketing. The same as “You can get it for the next twenty minutes for twenty dollars, then the price will go up to $199, so get it NOW!” These are nothing more than HTML code and java scripts. Similar to the television advertisements of “buy in the next ten minutes and we will give you twice as much” only to see the same commercial an hour later!

Now, with all of this said, I am not saying that twenty dollar e-books are bad things. I am saying, do not get your hopes too high for huge profits from one twenty dollar e-book as often times it is a lead in to wanting you to buy more. Just remember the adage if it seems too good to be true, it probably is ; and that you get what you pay for.

One of the easiest ways to avoid scams though is a little research. It is absolutely amazing what you can find on Google and other search engines these days, and it is easier than ever to find information on just about any product that you are looking to buy/invest in.

If you find that e-book, that training package, that other product of whatever kind that you are seeking and the sales pitch has gotten you hooked and you are ready to hit that “Buy Now” button, WAIT. Open another tab in IE 7 (IE 6 would be new window) and go to Google (or your favorite search engine) and simply copy and paste either the name of the author or the name of the product into the search field and look at the results. More often than not, people are more likely to spend the time to post to message boards or blogs or wherever else available if they feel that they have been scammed on a product, and search engines are the best way to locate the boards and bad reviews (and even the good ones) if they exist.

There are a couple of other ways as well. You can look for reliability seals. Unfortunately, most of them are buy-ins, so, for the most part, if you pay the membership fee you will have access to the seal, regardless of your reputation … but it is an advancement on helping consumers decide what to bad.

If you are still unsure about the product email (or otherwise contact) the author/producer. Profiting4Less.com has my contact information right on the main page, where if you have any questions about any products on the site, you can email me (and yes, it is my personal email address). Expect the same from other reputable authors/publishers. Again, that is definitely not to say that if there is no contact information they are scammers, but it is re-assuring to have contact information there.

Also look for the guarantees. Most of the programs at Profiting4Less.com has guarantees because we and the author/publishers believe in the content. If the seller believes in the consumer and the product, he/she/they will offer a guarantee on that product(s).

With a little diligence and investigative techniques, you can help protect yourself from the scammers out there.



About The Author:
Bruce T. Woodward
Profiting4Less.com
Travel 4 Less

Bruce has been in the Internet Marketing business for almost ten years and owns and operates Profiting4less.com and Travel 4 Less.