The World is Sick of Online Liars
©2003 by Kevin W. Smith.  All rights reserved.

Sick.  Absolutely sick.  I have had enough, and I am not alone!
The online world is sick to death of online liars.  Online liars
should be banned from the internet (at the least), or jailed for
false advertising (at the most).

Do a search in any search engine right now for "free ebooks".
You will get a long list of sites whose descriptions say they
offer "free" ebooks.  Now, start clicking the links and see what
you get.  You will get site after site where the word "free"
apparently means "fork over some cash" and you can get this
"free" ebook.  Do a search for "freeware" and you will get the
same kind of results.

Look, I am not hot-to-trot on "freebies".  I sell info products.
But using the word "free" in the search engines just to get
people to your site so you can lift their credit card is
downright dishonest.  It is a lie.  In fact, it is a violation of
the law.  Yet, it is being done each and every second of each and
every day.

I believe in using "sizzle" when I sell.  I even wrote an e-book
about it.  But that does not mean I believe in lying.  It is
possible to sizzle and still tell the truth.

By advertising that a product is free, you will bring a lot of
visitors to your site who are looking for free stuff.  If that is
the traffic you bring in, few of them are going to be willing
spend money to get what you said was free.  So why do it?  It
angers visitors, violates the law, and is downright dishonest.
Why should anyone trust you enough to spend money with you if you
lie to them in the first place to get them to your site?

I publish and ezine about online marketing.  In that ezine I
often include links to products and services that would benefit
my subscribers.  Sometimes those products and services are free
and sometimes they are not.  Either way, it doesn't matter to me.
If it is a good product or service, I will recommend it.

I just came from a site that advertised a "free" e-mail program.
The features of that program appear to be exactly what an ezine
publisher or online marketer needs.  I went to that site with
intentions of writing a brief description of the product for my
ezine.  Upon arrival at the site, the first line of their copy
says this:

   a free two-in-one newsletter software: A bulk emailer and also
   an email address validator.

However, this "free" program will cost you $49.  Imagine that!
Inflation is so bad that "free" has become $49.  That is just
plain lying.  Regardless of how great their software may be, I
would never recommend them.

Had they not advertised their software as "free", had they said
from the start that it is commercial, I would have no problem
recommending it.  But by lying in the search engine listing, and
then lying in the very first line of their page--that is the
death knoll for this product so far as I am concerned.

If you are going to give something away for free, say so and then
do it.  If you are giving it away as a "free bonus" say so.  Then
I know I have to do something first in order to get it as a
bonus.  If it is commercial, say so up front.

By telling the web surfer up front what the offer is, you will
get targeted, qualified prospects to your site.  It is not
necessary to lie.  Once I detect a lie, you are never getting
into my wallet.  Never.  And I a not alone.  The online world is
sick of online liars and we speak with financial silence.
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About the Author:
Kevin Smith is a writer, publisher, editor,
public speaker, and audio/video producer.  He is
editor of eZone Profits Ezine at
http://ezoneprofits.knows.it and may be contacted
via e-mail at: mailto:ezoneprofits@myway.com