I wrote the article below several years ago. Many things have changed since that time. Unfortunately the advent of AI has made this even worse and made the article more necessary.
Should You Fake it ‘till You Make It?
I was on the Warrior Forum the other day, looking at a thread started by someone who needed advice. It seems they wanted to know how to make their first $1,000 online.
Good question, right?
Many people are interested in knowing how to achieve this. There are numerous marketers who are willing to offer advice on the matter. It is worth mentioning that these marketers have already achieved it themselves. These marketers have already accomplished it, by the way.
But here’s the rub – this particular individual had an ad in his footer. His ad read, “How to make $10,000 a month.”
Ouch!
Here’s someone selling a program on how to earn $10k when he needs advice on how to earn $1k. His FIRST $1k.
Busted.
Naturally, the responses he was getting were not polite, nor should they have been.
Here’s what he could have done instead, and what I recommend anyone do who is just starting out in the Internet Marketing niche:
Become a reporter. Not a teacher, a REPORTER.
Find out what is working for others, and then report on it to your own readers. You’ll draw crowd of eager listeners.
Note: There is a huge demand for the Reporter Expert in today’s world. The person others can look to for solid, reliable direction on who to trust.
History is filled with examples: Napoleon Hill started his career by interviewing and reporting on the men who made America. Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen’s best selling book, Chicken Soup for the Soul, is nothing more than a collection of heart warming stories. The Classic Reporter Expert.
Don’t try to fake it until you make it. Don’t pretend to be the expert. Instead, simply be a fellow student of internet marketing, walking side by side with your readers and pointing them to the real EXPERTS who are making the real money.
This is actually a spectacular way to develop rapport with your readers. You are essentially saying, “I’m just like you, and you are not alone. Let’s take this trip together and side by side, we’ll build our successes.”
I would join with ANYONE who gives me that message.
As for the dude who wants to teach me how to make $10k per month when he hasn’t made his first $1k, he can go jump off a bridge. The nearest bridge! I’ll never join his list and I’ll never buy a product from him, either.
Be honest. Be yourself. And don’t try to fake it until you make it – people will see right through you, even if you’re smarter than this guy (and I know you are.) You have to be!
There was a guy – or probably a lot of guys, but I have a particular one in mind – who crept onto people’s property to take photos of himself standing in front of their expensive homes and cars.
He used these photos to boast how much money he was making, so he could sell his programs to unsuspecting students.
And he got arrested for it.
In a nutshell, he tried too hard. He pretended to be something he wasn’t, and naturally he got found out.
You don’t need to do this.
I knew another who told me once that he could photoshop a financial report to make it look awesome. That should keep him up at night. If he does that in the wrong situation, he will be sleeping in a very confined quarters.
If you’re just starting out on your online journey, blog about it. Be yourself. Check out products from people who are really making money online, find the best ones, and tell your readers about them.
Interview people who are one or two levels above you. After all, your readers would like to know how to make their first $1,000. And if you find a school teacher with a neat little system for doing just that, you’ve got a winner. You don’t need to make promises of earning a gazillion dollars a month with no work. You can and should keep it real.
The world is getting tired of overhyped claims. There have been enough exposures of fakes that you should know better.
And your readers will respect you for your honesty.
In fact, if you build a reputation for nothing else BUT honesty, I guarantee you can be successful.
So here’s the recipe for NOT faking it until you make it:
- Always be yourself.
- Don’t lie. Do. Not. Lie.
- Find people who are a little more successful than you. Interview them, promote their products or even team up with them to create a product.
- As you move up the ladder, continue to find people who are a little more successful than you are – people one or two rungs up the ladder from you.
- Continue to promote their products, interview them and team up with them to create products based on their successful methods.
- Take as many of your readers with you on your success journey as possible. You are walking with them hand in hand, not lecturing them from on high. You are one of them, so talk to them like they are your partners in success and that’s what they will become.
- Watch as your readers stick to you like glue, because they feel you are like they are. They like you and they TRUST you. They feel your respect for them, and they know you will not lie to them or let them down.
- Don’t forget to have fun. If you’re having fun, then the experts you work with and your readers will have fun, too. Enjoy the journey up the ladder.
I know I said it before, but I’ll leave you with one final thought:
Be yourself and never, ever fake it until you make it.
