In this edition of Web Enlightenment we'll be talking about how “opportunity seeker” marketing is toxic waste and what you as an Internet Entrepreneur need to know about that.

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Opportunity Seeker Marketing is Toxic Waste

I am a crazy email person - all the services I offer come with free email support for life.
Really.
For Life.
I can type pretty quickly but one of my big email secrets is a program called Dragon Naturally Speaking - you talk and it types. I know that all of that stuff really worked like crap when it came out and was featured on talk shows a decade ago but it actually works really well now, I promise.

The other thing that makes me a crazy email person is that I actually respond to every single message sent to me. In the last 15 years or so a pretty decent size group of folks have built up who know this - just last week I got a message that was actually titled "internet wisdom request" and that made me smile.

Finally I sign up for stuff - boy oh boy do I sign up for stuff. Every newsletter I can find, every free report, I consume information like a shark eats dinner. I am always hungry and I never stop "swimming" or I'll die. (probably not actually true but I believe that and so the point is moot).

All of this means that there are days when I send several hundred emails and get about a thousand. My record day for the month of August - Thursday the 6th - was 1,352 messages received (not junk, actual stuff I at least glanced at) and 456 messages sent.

So as most of you already knew I was an Internet lunatic you may be wondering what the heck any of this has to do with being a successful Internet Entrepreneur. Bear with me for just a moment.

As I have signed up for newsletter after newsletter I have developed a pretty good toxic waste filtration system and I am always fascinated by the messages my clients, colleagues, and friends forward to me for my "thoughts".

Bill Gates is not going to send you to Disneyland for forwarding email.
Your cell phone number will not be given to telemarketers unless you pay a de-listing fee today.
Starbucks did not overcharge rescue workers in NYC on 9/11, there was no $130 case of water.

None of this is news to you - and I doubt any good web entrepreneur would fall for stuff like this.

But then - then there are the "opportunity seeker" emails - and lots of Internet Entrepreneurs are intrigued by those. At a minimum they waste time but much more often than you'd think folks who own websites become contaminated by this toxic waste.

Danger alert - these things are horrific and they come from a rather unique industry I'll politely refer to as "opportunity seekers" - blood suckers would be a more accurate term.

Has anyone in fact ever used a "real estate system" and made millions with no money down? Perhaps maybe one person did. Has anyone ever worked from home in a "ground level opportunity" and made thousands each week in just a few hours? Maybe once.

But if you look to late night television you'll find lots of ads for things like this, and the fact is that this is a business. Most of the folks who buy systems like this - perhaps you even know some of these poor saps - buy something like this three or four times a year. The customers of companies that sell garbage like this are referred to as opportunity seekers.

Folks in this opportunity seeker business will tell you that it doesn't really matter whether or not the systems work - they don't - but that the people feel better as a result of having bought them. Almost like buying one of these wealth building systems is the equivalent of a good shrink appointment and you'll feel better. How lovely.

So here is what you need to know as an Internet Entrepreneur. You'll get a message like this and it will cause you to pause. It will say exactly what you want to hear and despite the logical part of your brain being present you'll wonder if you really can rank number one in Google in 24 hours.

I have seen it happen to plenty of really smart seemingly savvy folks - they buy a system like this. They respond to one of these come-on's - and many of them are just not as obvious as one would hope. Here is a message I got today - that inspired me to write this newsletter - from a very prolific provider of messages like this (I think they are proud to have been ripping people off since 1996) :

"If we told you that five minutes after reading this you could have a web site up and running that could promote your online business, boost your traffic, provide better customer service, and help you make more sales... would you believe it?"

I'm here to tell you - I hope that you don't believe it. You shouldn't. It isn't true.

As an Internet Entrepreneur you need to be aware of "opportunity seeker" emails (you'll get them) and avoid them like the toxic waste they are. Real online success comes from hard work, sticking to your goals, building a good plan, following that good plan, and working your guts out - not exactly a "fun" reality but just the sort of thing your Mom would say - and Mom is pretty reliably correct, she sure is on this one.