Have you ever been the victim of hype?

We’re all so used to advertising of the most blatant and outrageous kind these days - just watch almost any infomercial - that I believe we think it’s normal.

So when some steaming pile of hype comes through your email inbox it can be hard to spot it. Sometimes.

But there’s one particular type of ‘advertising’ that is particularly offensive, in my eyes. It’s the type that promises the mythical average man or woman a chance to get a bargain collection of products that will help them make a living.

I’m not going to start mentioning names - there would be too many to mention anyway! But recently I’ve been receiving some emails that tell me how there’s a wonderful collection of ’superb products’ at knock-down price from someone who’s struggling a little because they had to take a week or so off work to do some other stuff.

Funny really. Well, it would be if it weren’t for the fact that I keep getting emails from the marketer that explain how it’s possible to make money ‘even while you sleep’. Having multiple streams of income that are virtually on auto-pilot isn’t a pipe dream, it’s a reality for a lot of people. And I have no doubt the marketer is making good money online - so why cry the poor tale when you’re supposed to be showing people how to make money?

What I find just a little difficult to take is that this ’sale’ is happening to rectify a horrible situation for the poor marketer. That week or so he couldn’t work really made a big hole in his income, it seems. Perhaps he should have set up a couple of extra new income streams beforehand…

Creative advertising will always be with us and I applaud it, where there’s a transparent level of honesty. But sometimes the hype that you get in the promotions is just ridiculous. And the more ridiculous the claim the less likely there is to be extreme value in the offer, in my opinion.

Here’s a tip for you to keep your hype radar on high alert: if it’s in an email promotion that has more than one person sending similar emails, it’s hype.

Organic referrals, the kind where friends genuinely recommend something for each other, are rarely neat, pre-packaged and identical.

Don’t miss a bargain, by all means, but make sure it is a bargain first. Don’t be too impressed with tales of woe. We all have them, don’t we?

And by the way, my car blew up this week so now’s your chance to get a bargain on a couple of superb products that I’ve never offered this cheaply before. Just send a money order to….