On the internet, there are several very interesting groups of business people that seem to make up most of the internet marketing community.  I tried really hard to think of labels for these groups that might be a little less offensive sounding, yet strong enough to emphasize what I am about to say, but in the end, I decided it was more important to make my point as emphatically as I could so that there would be a greater chance that this might benefit someone.  I also want to make sure and let you all know that these observations are not a personal attack on anyone, but an attempt to encourage all marketers to be honest with themselves and plan their activities for the maximum effect rather than playing “follow the leader” and wasting a lot of time and energy.  So here we go- and if it stings a bit, then great! And if you want to challenge what I say that’s great too- I welcome you to do so on our message boards or in the chat rooms.  I always try to adhere to a policy of not playing hit and run when I make authoritative statements in public, and if you ask anyone who knows me they will tell you that I am pretty likely to be prepared with facts and references for what I am stating.

Now then, what do I mean by pimps, pushers, and fraidy cats?  These are the labels I use to try and accurately describe the methodology that many web based business people use to try and make their businesses work.  So specifically, here is what a business “pimp” does to try and sway would be customers or potential affiliates.  One of the first things that happens is what I call “putting lipstick on the pig”.  Typically what this entails is taking a web based opportunity that has been around the block a few times, giving it a facelift and dressing it up to look like something new and exciting.  Some of the common ones are the old “envelope stuffing” and “home typing” scams. The really interesting part of this is that the people who are getting involved in these things are often new to internet marketing and don’t even know that they are pushing a dead opportunity.  You can identify these folks (and for gosh sakes try and help them) by looking at things like forum posts and postings on opportunity message boards.  They will typically be what I call “drive by posters” because they have no answers or information other than what they were told to try and force on you. In general this person will not get involved in any discussion concerning whether or not they are having any success or know anyone who has, because they did no homework prior to becoming involved  and are just hoping against hope that it will work.  Some of the things that you can look for here are fancy and exciting splash pages that, when you really look at them, don’t say anything; or lead capture pages that request your information before offering detailed information about the opportunity.  One last thing you will often see is that no matter how complicated and varied the opportunity looks, they mostly just boil down to you trying to recruit others to pay the “start up” fee, or buy a “starter kit”.  Why do I call them pimps?  The reason is simple; all they care about is the money!  Any opportunity or business will do, and any sucker can play.  And they will not be around for “service after the sale” because they won’t want to deal with you. You don’t have to do a thing to get these people out of your hair- they won’t hang around anyway.

I could have easily put the first two categories together as one, but the longer I am in business on the web, the more I see the subtle differences.  An online opportunity “pusher” does some of the same things that “pimp” does, but there are differences.  They tend to be more aggressive for one thing.  They hijack forum and message board threads with self promotional posts, and they are not apologetic for it.  They will start new threads about their opportunity of choice and make claims that cannot be verified. In some cases they will go at it hammer and tong with others who do not like what they are offering, because they know that on the net hard facts and proof of anything can be hard to come by, and a lot of times nobody wants to hear the truth.  These guys always say that their business is recession proof and that they all work as a team to ensure everyone’s success.  Whatever floats your boat, that’s what they will tell you in order to get you involved.  Dropping the names of well known internet gurus as though they are directly in business with them, claiming to have made tons of money already, and making wild claims about the numbers of people they have already recruited are all quite common with opportunity pushers, so using a little common sense goes a long way when dealing with them.  You can make these people disappear as though by magic by employing a couple of tactics I use all the time.  You can do a little homework of your own and find out the truth about any given web based business and expose them for what they are, or you can simply ask them for real proof of their own success in the business they are pushing.  Either way they will normally implode and then disappear very quickly.

These first two types of internet marketers can be helped, but you have to get through to them in a way that helps them understand that things will work better without the kind of hype they are using.  One of the great things about these people is that they have the work ethic already more often than not, and just need a little more education, training, and encouragement to be successful.

And now the last group, and to me the most interesting. I’m sure that you all know what a “fraidy cat” is.  These people are afraid of their own shadows and wouldn’t dare rock the boat-ever!  Where they fit in the internet marketing world is a pretty interesting topic to me and something that makes me scratch my head a lot.  The fact is, you will never even know that most of these people are even around.  They are so paralyzed with fear that they cannot act, and in business that is a stone cold killer.  I have never met anyone that I know to be successful in business that fits into this category.  Obviously I am not talking about the cases where it is smart to wait for the right moment to use a new strategy or start a new campaign; I mean people who are so worried about being embarrassed or exposed or ridiculed that they won’t even identify themselves with their own business.  I see it all the time; someone starts a business and puts up a website and then….nothing.  They don’t know what makes people visit their website and they are afraid to seek help.  I know plenty of people that don’t even let their friends and family know about their new web based business.  They lurk in forums and chat rooms, afraid to post or speak up, and they surf the web endlessly hoping to stumble across the secret that they think is missing from their business.  I think this one is almost a uniquely internet based issue, though there maybe a few parallels in the real world.  Sometimes the stigma of failure is so frightening to people that they get stuck in a sort of half in, half out mode of operation and never get their business completely off the ground.  There are other fears too, like fear of rejection (being told no), and fear of commitment to something that others might ridicule or criticize.  When I think of people that are like this, it makes me wonder why they are trying to operate a business at all.  I mean, no offense, but if you have no confidence in what you are doing how are you going to make a sale?  People can tell if you believe in what you are doing or not. This group of people in my opinion requires a little different handling.  Usually they can gain a little confidence and improve their business prospects tremendously if that confidence is coupled with the right work ethic.  Problem is that they need to be approached very carefully in a non threatening manner that will not expose their lack of confidence.

There is an overall statement that should be made about all of these people and anyone else that is trying to succeed in the online business world, and that is that all of them have already shown at least a few of the attributes  that will be required to succeed in the long run.  They are all putting in some thought and effort no matter how misguided it is, and can easily learn a few key things about selling and be on their way to reaching some of their goals.  WAHH is designed to assist anyone who wants to spend the time with improving or starting a web based business, and we know that if the effort is there, success is possible with the right training and support.