Do you believe everything you’re told?

I bet you don’t. I certainly don’t. And why should we? Afterall, there’s enough rubbish in the world, ain’t there?

What got me thinking about this was a blog post I recently read. It’s here if you want to read it. It won’t take long, and if you write, I bet you give it a go!

Essentially it talks about writing styles. It leads you to an online tool where you can type in some text and it will tell you which famous author you write like. The blogger writes like Dan Brown.

I write like Cory Doctorow, whoever that is (sorry Cory).

I really do.

I tried it twice and it gave me the same answer.

Being a bit cynical I thought that maybe it had captured my IP address and that everything I entered would be like Cory, so I entered something which had been written by someone else, and it came back with HP Lovecraft. So maybe it is analyzing styles…

…Except that it was the original bloggers post I’d entered – and she’s suppose to write like Dan Brown!

I thought I’d leave a comment about this, but someone else had also picked up on this…

“Dan Brown, Cory Doctorow,… I tried few passages from various blogs, and three of them randomly kept coming in. Then, I pasted a Dan Brown excerpt and voila – he writes like James Joyce! 🙂 Go figure!!! But, I had fun. At least the question prompts me to think about my writing style…!”

And it prompted me to think about not believing everything you read.

Like those shiny bullets. You know the one’s I’m talking about. Earn a six figure income in 24 hours! Or newbie to expert in less than a week! It’s hard not to think about them because I see them so often, and it’s hard not to be taken in by them because they’re so convincing.

But if you want to succeed in this business, you’ve got to ignore the over hyped, here today gone tomorrow, built on a loophole stuff that’s out there and focus on the solid, tested and proven tactics and strategies that have stood the test of time.

Ok, they might not seem as sexy and exiting, but when you’ve built a profitable business and are enjoying the lifestyle that passive income allows, trust me, you won’t care.

So just how do you sort the wheat from the chaff?

Here’s a few things you can do.

You can start by remembering the good old adage “if it looks too good to be true, it probably is”. I find it funny that things that would be second nature to us offline are suddenly forgotten when we’re online. If you received a flyer through the post offering you untold riches for very little work, chances are you’d bin it and move on. Treat the online world no differently.

And those products that can get you that elusive No. 1 ranking in Google by exploiting that little known loophole? Well, before jumping in just remember that Google employ some very smart cookies to work on their algorithm. And not just one or two of them, but a whole team of them. The chances of someone finding a loophole are remote, and even if they did, the chances of it remaining a loophole for very long must be slim. After all, they’re not exactly keeping quiet about it, these marketers, are they? And Google check the web too!

Research the product or person you’re interested in. Start by doing a Google search and take it from there. You’d be surprised what you can find out by doing this. Blogs can often give you a good feel for the person, but don’t forget that many review sites, are far from independent.

Look for social proof. Gone are the days when if we wanted to find out about something we had to ask someone who had a vested interest in selling it. We now live in the world of web 2.0, where people can voice their own opinions for everyone to see. And they do. Hop onto sites like Facebook and Twitter. Try and find people who have used the products and see what they have to say about them.

Visit forums and see what’s being said about things. You can often get a good feel for who the good guys are and what products are worth investing in. If you’re into internet marketing, try sites like the warrior forum or digital point. If you’re in another market, just do a Google search for forums in that market (other search engines are available!).

Ask. If you can’t find anything on the social media sites and forums, you can always post a question yourself and see what response you get. In addition you can try specialist question sites like Yahoo!Answers.

So there you go. A few suggestions to help you avoid the scams and pick the gems.

Over To You: How do you decide what products to buy and strategies to follow? Who are the marketers you follow – either for their products or views? Oh, and who do you write like?

Comments welcome…As are Tweets and Likes 🙂