5 years ago I authored a piece for the North County Times in which I outlined the various search engine optimization scams there are out there.
Skip ahead to 2011. A troubled economy. Business owners desperate to make money.
Now, there’s 10 times more bullshit artists out there. The sharks are circling, because the waters are full of desperate people.
But my advice remains the same as it did in 2006:
If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
First of all, let’s start out with the low-hanging fruit: all the people that still click on links in unsolicited (spam) emails. You know who they are. They may even be you.
If so, knock it off.
For those that don’t understand why their accounts get hacked, it’s because you clicked on a link in an official-looking email. Once there, you were prompted to enter your username and password on an official-looking site. Only problem: you just gave your account information for the real site, to the person that is scamming you.
Stop clicking on links in emails. Really.
Now, let’s address the miraculous, one-size-fits-all online marketing services (I won’t name names: but they probably rhyme with Gubspot and LeechLocal) that promise to get you to the top of Google (like they work at Google!) with their very scientific-sounding, patent pending software.
These services have no lack of salesmen that want to promise business owners the moon, which should tell you something right there. These services aren’t worthless, they’re just close to it – graduating marketing high school with a D- average – because the school didn’t want them around next year.
If you need details, just do a Google search for these companies, and append the word “scam” after it. That should take care of any doubt you may have.
So, let’s bottom line it.
In 2011 – now more than ever- marketing is just hard work.
Every business is a unique case – with different benefits, different target customer demographics. How could anyone in their right mind think that a magic blanket solution that they don’t understand is going to fix all their problems?
Do yourself and your business a favor this year: Meet with a marketing professional face-to-face for an hour. Please. It doesn’t have to be my firm. Just talk to someone who’s actually spent some time in the trenches, and see if you don’t come out it a better business owner.
