Even testimonials and recommendations from other "independent" people and internet marketers should be viewed with a certain amount of caution. Many testimony and recommendation givers are "affiliates" (remember the "friend" from Part 1?) which means they earn commissions from the sale of the product. Why wouldn't they endorse something they stood to make money from?

The best testimonial or recommendation check you can do is to seek out the person giving it and ask them if they have any association with the person who is using the testimony or recommendation. Ask if they are an affiliate or if they have a vested interest in the product. You can do this quite innocently and nicely. If they are genuinely impressed by the product and what it did for them, they will probably be pleased to answer your enquiry.

Just a little word of caution here - if you are asking somebody for help don't put them through a trial. A simple email will suffice. Keep it short and to the point. Don't be too concerned if there is no reply. People get dozens, even hundreds of emails every day now. I know I do.

It would seem that there are just as many self proclaimed "experts" out there on the internet telling others "how to do it" as there are those actually "trying to do it." Sure, there are some credible people offering good advice (most often at quite a price too) but there are so many others offering absolute rubbish. How can you differentiate? The simple answer is that often you can't - until you actually get what is being offered. Then you realize. Oh-oh! Too late! It's junk!

If you don't get what you believed you were paying for you have every right to ask for a refund. However, this is not a method of receiving good information for FREE. Falsely asking for a refund on something that really did help you will bring your own integrity into question. Being fair is what it is all about - fair information for a fair price - an even two way exchange.

In summing up, website "newbies" are soft targets for the latest brand of snake-oil cyber salespeople. They are certainly out there. Think of it this way: you are searching for the Kings and Queens and Aces in the deck. Along the way you will find fives and threes and twos and sevens. You will even come across the Jokers. It's up to you to try and sort them out.

My advice is this: examine the information being offered then wait a day or two and come back to it. If it still looks as good to you the second time round and doesn't reek of some of the descriptions above, consider buying it. (I would even give the same advice for people visiting my own site.) Like me, you will soon "wise up." Along the way you will probably have to give your credit card a nice little "top up" to pay for your mistakes.

Purchasing e-books, special reports, secret documents and the like to learn how to increase traffic to your website is very subjective. The only way to measure the value of what you receive is to assess it against the "blurb" (see Part 1 ) used to promote it and the price you paid for it. As I mentioned above, both parties must be fair.

Just be wary.

If you know a website owner struggling to develop their site, this information could help them save a lot of money, not to mention that awful, sinking feeling that you have been duped. The money saved can then go towards some positive steps to develop their site. Heaven knows there is enough junk out there that will do the reverse. Some of it is sitting in my in-tray.

Part 1 and Part 2 of this article are covered by copyright. However, both parts may be freely used providing there are no changes whatsoever to the content and the following resource box remains intact.

PS: If you think this information might help a friend from falling prey to these dubious practices you can send them a copy of this article (or any related parts) or direct them to the website URL given. Let's get the word out and put a stop to this.

About the author: Gary Simpson is the author of eight books covering a diverse range of subjects such as self esteem, affirmations, self defense, finance and much more. His articles appear all over the web. Gary's email address is budo@iinet.net.au. Click here to go to his budo@iinet.net.au website where you can receive his "Zenspirational Thoughts" plus an immediate FREE copy of his highly acclaimed, life-changing e-book "The Power of Choice."