How many times have you heard… “If I can do it, you can do it too?” 

The Social Media “Bait & Switch” Upsell.  

I have family and friends all over the U.S., and some even in other countries.  As a result, I have found that using social media as a means of keeping in touch with them is effective and even fun.  I’ve been on Facebook social media for the past dozen years or so checking in with folks, viewing photos of peoples’ new houses, new babies, new cars, what they’re having for dinner, wishing people happy birthdays, happy anniversaries, and holidays, congratulating graduates and work promotions, welcoming weekends, sharing memes, extending condolences, and everything else that people use social media for. 

Lately I’ve found myself spending an hour or two on some Saturday mornings just watching video reels of people that I don’t even know for entertainment and even information on various subjects.  I’ve learned that you can follow people (I guess they’re considered “influencers”) that put out video reels on specific subjects of interest to their group of followers, that they claim expertise in, that they share brands of humor with, that have had a certain amount of experience in, or lots of other reasons for posting their videos. 

The $7 training program is just the beginning. 

One of the things that I have been seeing more and more often are people advertising their trainings for sale for “side hustles” for extra income opportunities.  Some even advertise that you can make hundreds or even thousands of dollars per day, per week, or per month by doing such things as “Affiliate Marketing,” which is essentially reselling goods and services that are offered by larger, centralized companies like Amazon, etc.   

They claim to be making thousands of dollars per day themselves, by being successful affiliate marketers; that they have developed an effective system that they’ve turned into a “training program” they will share with you for certain amounts of money.  It usually starts out at an introductory offer of less than $10 (often $7) for their basic information that will get you off in the right direction to making hundreds of dollars per day, but eventually gets upsold to around $50, $100, or even several hundred dollars, depending on what additional training they’re offering. 

My point isn’t whether or not affiliate marketing works.  I’m sure it does for some that are willing to go through the learning curve of the business, continue researching specific products, will record and post their own promotional videos of those products, and every other aspect of the day-to-day running of that type of business.  My main question is that if affiliate marketing is so easy that they lay claim to, “if I can do it you can do it too,” why is it then that they aren’t just making their several thousand dollars per day doing the business?  Why would they feel it necessary to design and develop an entire training program, create a marketing plan, and execute that marketing plan that virtually hundreds or even thousands of others are selling as well? 

Everybody’s doing the same thing. 

They pop up everywhere on social media. They can be paid advertisements, unsolicited reels or videos or sites that you have gainfully sought out because you’re looking for a way to make a few hundred or thousand extra dollars a month, working from home.  Their common thread is, “If I can do it, then you can do it too!” 

They’re out there by the thousands.  People recording themselves in their children’s school pick-up line, at their kitchen counter, walking through the park, or a dozen other settings.  They claim that they started from nothing, figured out a system that they put into action and within a short time, they built their income to amazing amounts per day, week or month.  Some claim to make as much as five to $10,000 per day! 

They’ll train you to have the same success as theirs. 

Here's an example of what I’m talking about.  I often see video reels by a particular young, stay-at-home mom affiliate marketer that claims to be making over $35,000 per month through affiliate marketing that she runs out of her home-office.  And I’m impressed and very happy that she is so successful.  But the videos that I see are for the sale of her $7 program in which she reveals – and will train you in – to get similar success in just a few short months.  My question is, why would she sell her training for that small amount of money and create virtually thousands of additional affiliate marketers that could potentially become competitors of hers?   

And if she is making over $35 thousand per month doing her main affiliate marketing business, why has she started a different business that would take her away from her already lucrative, main business that would require roughly 5,000 individual $7 sales just to match her $35 thousand per month affiliate marketing income?  Why not just ramp up her efforts in her original business? 

Granted $7 probably won’t break the bank for most people, and maybe the training is worth it, and maybe there are some that can take that training, apply its principles, and turn it into several thousand dollars a week or month – just like it says it can…maybe.  

My question is this: “If they’re making so much money every day, week, or month by working such a successful system, why are they taking time away from that kind of income generation just to design and sell you their method for $7, so you can go into competition with them?” 

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