“I had just cashed one of my biggest affiliate commission checks and was left with a moral dilemma…”
“I had just cashed one of my biggest affiliate commission checks and was left with a moral dilemma…”About 15 years ago I promoted a membership site some friends of mine put together. I think it was called the Internet Marketing Center or something like that.
It was a pretty in-depth site with a ton of info that I was proud to promote. It was about $200 to get in and I sent out a few solo emails to my list.
A few weeks later I was staring at a check for more than $20,000.
And I got this idea… I should take a picture of the check and put it on my website as proof that affiliate marketing really works.
But the more I thought about it, it just didn’t feel right. It felt kinda like a tacky thing to do.
So I refrained.
It’s kinda funny now, because nowadays all you see is income screenshots. They are all over practically every Internet marketing related sales page.
And the reason is simple. People need proof. Proof that a product or service works. Without solid proof most people won’t take a leap of faith and buy. It’s human nature really.
But to be honest, it gets kinda sickening. I wish there were a better way to get the message across.
But the fact is, Internet marketers can’t usually afford famous actors like you see in most big brand TV commercials. Heck, most of them can’t even afford the commercials themselves.
So they are left flashing income screenshots in your face, showing you just how much money their product or service has earned them.
And I’ll be honest. I now use income screenshots in my own marketing material when it gets the point across better than not using them. For instance, at my Swipe File for Affiliate Marketers sales page I share my own JVZoo stats, and it works very well.
But I’m not writing this to prove it works, that is obvious. I’m writing this to help you decide whether you should trust the income screenshots you see every day. And here’s my take on that…
As a consumer of Internet marketing products and services, you need to be aware of one thing…
As enticing as almost every income screenshot looks, you probably won’t get the same results.
That’s because the marketer showing off their income probably has more resources at their disposal than you do. To generate those big income numbers, they probably used a combination of a decent sized email list, an army of affiliates, and often times a launch frenzy.
So what’s a smart buyer to do?
Should you simply pass on buying any product or service that shows off income screenshots?
No, that is not the answer in my opinion. Because any marketer in any niche can attain a decent sized email list. Any marketer can recruit an army of affiliates (or at least a militia!). And yes, anyone can use launch strategies.
What I’m saying is that success online is within reach of practically anyone, and you need the right tools and information to make it happen.
But you need to take those income screenshots with a grain of salt.
Realize their results are far from typical. And most of all, realize that with time and a steady effort you can indeed get some serious results online. Maybe even results rivaling or surpassing the income screenshots you see.
Buying products and service in the Internet Marketing space should be done for two reasons only.
- To take advantage of a new tool that automates or elevates a task that grows your business, either by saving you time or making you more money.
- To learn a new strategy that helps you grow your business, saves you time or makes you more money.
If a product or service passes that litmus test then you should consider adding it to your arsenal. Here’s an example…
Recently I recommended Commission Black Ops by Michael Cheney.
The video on the sales page is filled with income screenshots showing off how he’s making $39k a month with his strategy.
OK, so let’s see… Hype or Proof?
Will you make that kind of scratch if you invest a few bucks into his field manual?
Doubtful.
But could the strategies you learn increase your current income to the next level… and is that worth a few bucks to you?
As the consumer, that’s for you to decide.
You know, I belive some screen shots are real and some are fake. It’s really hard to tell because people are photoshop experts today. It take long and hard work to get to get your earning up, making $20,000 take hard work and time. It doesn’t happen overnight.
I feel the pictures are more of a motivational tool. It’s proof of what you could obtain if you work hard at it. I keep screen shots like this on my computer all the time to motivate me!
Very interesting. I don’t feel he sits on the couch all day like in the picture but I’m sure he’s made a good profit. It’s all about how much work you put into it. It’s cheap enough to give it a try! 🙂
You’ve always been upfront and honest. I always like reading your thoughts!
You didn’t mention the fake screenshots that are so prevalent out there these days. So many marketers fake their screenshots. Not only that, I personally don’t think that it is very professional to show off what you made or supposedly made just to brag about it. That is just waving money in people’s faces when in fact; most of those people will never make nowhere near that huge amount shown in the screenshot.
What’s better than screenshots are testimonials from actual people. Now that’s real proof! Testimonials are far better than any screenshot because real testimonials can’t be faked because they’re by real human beings and not machine generated.
Now of course, you can write fake testimonials but if you do, you will be quickly found out. However, if you have real testimonials along with the individual’s email address and their web site, then you have proof that the individual did indeed purchase your product and has had experience with it.
Most of the time on those videos, the marketer focuses very little on the product and only on the money. That is the biggest part of their sales pitch.
Thanks for your comment Don. And you’re right, there are a lot of faked screenshots. And yes, testimonials can be faked as well. In fact I’ve seen marketers actually buy testimonial videos on fiverr. Sad. All you can do is be careful and make sure anything you buy has a money back guarantee in case you find out it was all smoke and mirrors.