Thanks to Jim McGee for the link.

1. Internet marketing is not just the domain of shysters, hucksters, scammers and crooks. There are real people, with real businesses, using internet marketing techniques every day.
2. Internet marketing works. There are legitimate, proven advertising and marketing techniques which are well-suited to the internet and are very effective.
3. Content (sales pages and e-mails) can be well designed, in keeping with your business site, and still be effective. You don’t have to look (or sound) like Matthew Lesko or Billy Mays if that’s not the right approach for your audience.

There may have been some folks among the attendees who had online endeavors I might consider questionable, but there were a number of very legitimate people working to build real businesses with the things they learned. Among them:

• A traditional marketing consultant from DC who wants to help small businesses use the internet.
• A pilot for a major commercial airline.
• A man whose mother suffered from bipolar disorder, which led him to create the largest Bipolar online support community on the internet, with more than 350,000 members.
• Two freelance writers who have written for numerous national magazines and have used the internet to build their freelance business to gross well over $100,000 per year.
• A lady with a background in the auto industry who wants to teach women how to buy a car.

And these are just the ones I met. I’m sure there were others. The entire seminar was focused on techniques and tools that these people could use, and so can you. Can these same tools and techniques be misused? Sure, but so can anything else. The internet has no lock on misrepresentation and hucksterism.

It’s up to you to decide what’s right for you, but if you’re a small business and you’re not using the internet to generate leads, nurture your prospects, and increase your sales you are cheating yourself. Don’t let your biases get in the way of your success.