It’s 3:00 AM - Your eyes are heavy - You’ve spent hundreds - BUT WAIT… There’s More!
When I first began working from home, I spent hundreds of dollars on hard sell sites for those amazing packages that would teach me everything I needed to know to start making 10k in a month.
Boy was I stupid!
All I ever seemed to open was a package that told me how to sell the same exact product I was sucker enough to buy, in much the same way.
In case you don’t know what I mean by hard sell sites, I’m talking about sites that look like this:
or this:
The thing that gets me is:
1. The look of the site — If they’re making so much money, why not pay for a quality site that isn’t cut from the same pattern as every other cookie cutter hard sell site out there?
Though I suppose it’s good that they look like they do, it does make them much easier to spot.
2. The automation — The automation that is set up to make it seem as if the special promotional price will end the minute the visitor clicks away from the site. I’ve taken a couple of screen shots below to show what I mean.
Notice the date on this hard sell site? Where it says “One-Time” Offer?
Now take a look at it from a web designers perspective:
You can clearly see the “One-Time” Offer at the top. Go further down the code and you’ll see how it’s set up to show the date specific to the visitors arrival to their website.
I don’t condemn a person for trying to make money. I do, however, think there is a great deal to be said for the initial appearance of a website that lets a person know it most likely can be trusted.
For me? When I happen on one of these websites that is nothing more than an obvious hard sell internet infomercial, I keep on moving on!
When I happen on websites that are trying to teach me how to make more money online and the author has affiliate links to these sites, I find myself not wanting to trust the author so much, because I know they are trying to regain the money they lost on the hard sell investment.
Most times I pity them and then move on!
In all fairness, I’m sure there are valid sites out there. I just wish they’d take some of that 10k they’re earning each month and invest in a web design that’s a bit softer and more believable.
Tags: affiliate marketing, make money online, hard sell, affiliate, top affiliates
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Good catch with the code, Gayla. I run a mile when I see any sites with high pressure sales pages. As you say, they all look alike.
I am actually amazed that anyone makes money off of these things.
I’m amazed too. But the more I talk to people in my own rural area, the more I realize just how many people are so new to the net that they believe just about anything.
I’m slowly teaching my own friends and relatives that they can’t believe everything they see/read on the net. Most times it’s by exposing the forwards they send to me for the frauds they are.
Thankfully, those close to me often call me with questions before they buy in to anything now.
Wow, great eyes Gayla. I never visit these pages and if I stumble upon them I leave. I can’t stand sell ads that are that obvious.
I have gotten a lot of marketing education from various sources, and believe it or not, this is the recommended type of site because it has the best conversion rate.
Personally, I think they can take their conversion rate and shove it. If I end up on one of these sites, I simply leave immediately.
I think ultimately this type of site will go away as people put more and more stock in building relationships with their audience rather than hard selling them.
Thanks for helping to expose the madness, Gayla!
There are so many of those sites that I have come across myself, I’ve never spent a penny on them, thank goodness, but it’s the “too good to be true” that gets some people because it looks so good!
I do wonder how well anyone with one of these sites does. I’m sure it’s not $10k a week, or whatever they advertise, but I wonder if it is worthwhile.
I love the countdown timers too! Refresh the page and it changes!
I’d never have thought to take a look at the code as you did, although I’d never be on the site long enough.
Your advice is the best the site authors can get. If they’re making any money at all it’s ridiculous that they continue with amateur-looking homepages. My guess is that the vast majority of them are set-up in no time and left to fester.
You know I agree these websites use to turn me off, but the fact is they make them look like that because they have high conversions, plain and simple. I have purchased some info products and have been very happy with what I have purchased, but they have been from people I know, or recomendations from those I trust.
It is hard to tell which people are legit and who isn’t. I like a nicer website design as well though.
You can also check those ones that say you have 1 hour when you refresh. I always look @ those codes. I never trust those sites. I mean its really eh. Occasionally there will be real ones. But most of the time they are crap.
Hey Gayla,
Nice blog. I just HAD to comment when I read this, and this is something that also puts me off.
I don’t have anything against anyone trying to make money on the net, but to lie and say they make 10k a month is not ethical, it sucks.
I know the culture of boasting about how much they earn is just marketing gimmicks. The REAL guys who earn lots of money rarely go around boasting. I’m not talking of even 10k or 20k…these guys earn millions a year.
For comparison, its like the webhosting industry, which is so sleazy you know. Every host says they offer tremendous Gb of space/bandwidth…etc. It all sounds so good…until you actually sign up. Finding a good host is like finding a good marriage partner, not easy but possible. Just like earning decent money on the Web is possible, but note I just said “decent”
For everything I have learned on the Web, I learned it all myself, the slow turtle way. I’ve also long outgrown these landmines designed to wrangle cash out of people who dont know better. There is no such thing as GRQ, maybe 5 years ago when the Web was younger…perhaps there was.