Continued from Part 2…

Since this article is primarily intended for the consumers, rather than the marketers, I’m not going to try to teach my version of getting everything connected from the marketing standpoint.

But in a very similar vein, the consumer (who is or may become a marketer) sees the entire process from the other side of the fence, as it were.

And that’s the very place ALL marketers should begin! Seeing things through their prospect’s or customer’s eyes.

Ok, so how can a consumer - YOU - minimize or avoid buyer’s or membership-joiner’s remorse? And yes, this applies to all business-related purchases, not just monthly dues sites.

I’ve already alluded to one BIG key, but I’ll lay it out for you plainly:

1. Don’t join a membership or buy a product that you are not absolutely ready to fully use, read and profit from RIGHT NOW.

Example: If you’re joining a reciprocal linking membership, but have nothing to link to yet, you’re wasting your time and money.

So many salesletters use a scarcity tactic like “Only 24 Memberships Left! After They Are Gone, Our Doors Will Be Closed Forever!”

Don’t get sucked-in by that hype!!!

Either you need what they are offering RIGHT NOW or you don’t. If you are not ready for what they are offering at this very moment, pass on it, really. The world will still keep turning…

Why do I say that?

Because first of all, in my opinion, they aren’t very good marketers if they haven’t built their business model to be scalable. In other words, able to expand to accomodate constant addition of new members.

The only exception that I can see to this is personalized, one-on-one coaching. But in general, exclusivity is over-hyped, over-rated and over-priced on the internet.

An excellent example of a scalable business model is one of my favorite memberships: Article Underground. The business is now in Phase III of its growth, and yet the members in all three phases get unique, limited-issue Private Label Articles every month.

It’s a rock-solid model that can continue to expand into multiple additional phases if and when necessary - brilliant.

Oh, and Article Underground - at $97 dollars a month - also has one of the lowest churn rates in the industry. Clearly NOT a problem with value disconnect.

Secondly, next week someone else will probably offer a clone of that exact business model and offer memberships for a lot less than the one you’re worried about losing out on.

2. There are multiple review sites you should probably hit to see if a review on the product or membership you are interested in has been posted.

Examples: The Warrior Forum and Ratings Hub, to name just two free sites that enjoy great participation from a wide range of marketers and consumers.

3. You can Google (and/or Yahoo and MSN) the membership or product name, as well as the owner of the site to see what is being said. This can be very telling.

Just beware of the folks doing affiliate reviews who are only trying to make a buck, but don’t really say anything of substance about the site or product.

4. You can contact the owner of the site or product with questions about its suitability for you.

You may not get a reply right away (or at all), especially if the site’s in pre-launch or launch. But nowadays, savvy marketers also have a blog going strong to help create discussion and buzz.

Use the blog to ask your questions. Many of these sites will also have beta testers who are active in the blog or forum. They are a great source of honest feedback, since many of them are total newbies.

5. If the salesletter has testimonials, many of them have links to the people’s sites.

Check out their sites and try to contact them about the site or product of interest. If you do this, I’d suggest avoiding any of the so-called gurus.

Instead, contact the testimonial givers who are not already famous internet marketers. Not only are you more likely to get a reply, but it will be one that is far more useful to you.

6. If all else fails, there will most likely be a money-back guarantee for the site or product you’re interested in.

Some are two weeks, some a month, Clickbank products are 56 days, etc.

So, if you can’t get enough feedback about the membership or product from the previous five methods, you can always take the small risk of your time to join or buy and evaluate it for yourself.

Just make sure you immediately take the time to go through the whole thing if you can. If you wait till the last minute, you may end up missing the deadline for a refund and will be out of pocket however much the membership or product costs.

Some memberships only allow access to a portion of the material month by month, but most will give you full access.

If you find it’s over your head, too involved or simply not your bag, ask for a refund well within the allotted time. But please don’t be a “serial refunder”, as you may end up being black-listed by payment processors and marketers alike.

I believe if you follow these tips, you’ll be far less likely to end up with a case of value disconnect and a bunch of unused or unread products clogging up your hard drive.

Or worse, months of membership hopping with nothing to show for it but a hole in your wallet and a boat-load of frustration.

And while these steps will drastically reduce the chance of you wasting your time and money on something, in the end it’s up to you to do your research and decide how you want to proceed.

Russ Guthrie

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