In case you're wondering why I'm even writing this article, it's because of a forum post that just made my eyes bug out. I'm going to get to that post in a minute. Point is, if you participate at forums, there are a lot of members who spout a lot of garbage that sounds real but isn't. Problem is, it's hard to tell the real stuff from the BS as some of these guys talk a good game. This article is going to give you a few tips to help you determine if something is real or nonsense.

First, the forum post. Essentially, it was some guy claiming that he gets a 96.7% CTR on his articles. As soon as I saw this, my BS meter went off the charts. Okay, why?

Number one, I'm an article marketer and I've been doing this a long time. Not only that, I know a lot of people who have been doing this a long time and trust me on this...nobody gets a 96.7% CTR on their articles consistently. Heck, 50% would be a big stretch. So that was my first clue that this was a BS post. The claims were just too outrageous. But it goes deeper than that.

Next thing you have to look at is the poster himself. Is he using his real name or is he anonymous? Now don't get me wrong. A lot of forum members use pseudo names because they want their privacy. However, the legit ones don't go spouting off nonsense like this. They're usually pretty well mannered and say things that make sense. If the poster is anonymous and spouts off nonsense, that's two strikes against him.

Finally, you have to look at the join date and ulterior motives. Did the person just join the forum recently? This is usually a sign that they are trying to worm their way into the spotlight, usually backed up by a signature pointing to a related site to whatever is being said. This is a very common practice used by new members to make some sales off the less suspecting members. They talk a good game and even get a few people to chime in with "proof" of what they are saying. These people are usually shills or even the same poster under a different user name.

Yes, there are all kinds of tricks that people use to worm their way into the community. But if you use a little common sense and look at what the person is claiming, you can usually spot the BS. In other words, if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is.

To YOUR Success,

Steven Wagenheim

Author SIG

If you want to discover the REAL truth about Internet marketing and get some solid tips to take your business to the next level...get my free report at http://www.stevewagenheim.com/realtruth.html and subscribe to my REAL Truth newsletter where you'll discover more than from all those high priced ebooks combined.

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