As an expat American living in Japan for the last 29 years, the marketing hype emanating from the United States and other Anglo clones has become both laughable and infuriating.

Laughable because the public keeps on hunting for the elusive pot of gold.  Few succeed in using the information, software or other training to effect, mostly, in truth, because they never hit the proactive accelerator with their new-found marketing plans.

Infuriating because too many savvy marketers in the know often use psychological traps to get the rabble to bite. They flash dollar signs and unimaginable promises of a good life to the gullible, something-for-nothing crowd – a very large audience indeed.

A fool and his or her money are soon parted, yet the marketer will continue to gloat about his or her successful launches which are always spiced (or spiked) with testimonials from those who allegedly succeed using the guru’s system.

What constitutes a successful product launch is about to undergo a rapid and unpredictable paradigm change. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is about to enforce new laws beginning on December 1st concerning truth in marketing both online and off.

The new laws are vague enough and ominous enough to send marketing shivers down unscrupulous (and scrupulous) marketers’ spines. It’s about time that the government stepped in and wiped out nauseating money and performance claims which have gone mainstream in the last few years.

How can any marketer use  testimonials of  those who are super successful at implementation and not concurrently convey that

“Not only are these income claims from using or selling this product extreme cases and unverifiable, but  most certainly nine out of ten people will have little or no profit or positive effect on their business or life after making the purchase”?

The FTC regulation gives many examples of violation, so that hypsters and low-key, ethical marketers alike can learn to tone  down their claims.   For a large number of marketers this may be a death sentence and a hefty fine.  The crooks who deftly use hypnotic hooks and exaggeration to close the sale at any cost, will face a marketer’s guillotine.

There are many ethical marketers who may also get in the cross-hairs of the FTC, but by and large I fervently support the clamp down and hope the most obvious hype maestros will lend up parking cars in Santa Monica or making license plates in  San Quinton Prison.

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BTW, a great trainer who gives tons’ of quality material on how  to set up up and operate an online business is Eric Holmlund.  His Eric’s Tips are a treasure you CAN take to the bank.  I ain’t selling this to you…just go there and see what the dude has to offer.  Yes, he sells things and makes a handsome profit online, but he is also one of the great guys in IM.

I don’t know about you, but I am tired of being treated like a laboratory rat by successful Internet marketers. Unfortunately, every one of them is in incestuous relationship with other ones. They promote and cross-promote to us like we are easy prey for their alluring “free CD for shipping cost and complimentary membership for a month” forced continuity programs.

My dream every morning is not to become one of them, but to create/promote empowering, ethical material to level the playing field for people who do not wish to put their line into the Internet Marketing arena of scumbags.

Geez, just this morning I received this offer from guru god, Mark Joiner, promoting some sleaze that might be pleasing to the National Enquirer crowd, but smacks of Las Vegas signboard hype that should put up warning lights to even a slightly savvy marketer or consumer.

But if you talked in confidentiality to these guru gods, they would give a lowest-common-denominator response: “I sell to people what they want in the way they want it. You might find that disgusting, but it puts a Maserati or two in my garage.”

Take a look at what guru god Joyner passed my way

Nauseating! The title of this offer is Instant Money Toolkit. Any warning alarms blaring? They should be. Pure crap to separate a fool and his money.

The sad point is that until that moment I had great respect for Joyner’s integrity and useful material. Why did he sell out to a medicine man concept? It couldn’t be for the money. It must be because whatever makes money is good enough for him and his circle-the-wagon marketing buddies.

Laura Schlessinger sums up the mindset of the inner circle of super Internet marketing gurus:

“When you’re the victim of the behavior, it’s black and white; when you’re the perpetrator, there are a million shades of gray.”

Is my voice alone? Am I to be drowned out because I am a struggling citizen, rather than a millionaire? Must I join the fray in order to point out the diseases prevalent in the IM industry?

There needs to be voices in unison screaming: No more hype. No more bait and sell. No more waste in the name of stealthy marketing practices. Outstanding motivator and entrepreneur supreme Earl Nightingale once said about following the crowd:

“If someone shouts, “Fire!” it is automatic to blindly follow the crowd, and many thousands have needlessly died because of it. How many stop to ask themselves: Is this really the best way out of here?

So many people “miss the boat” because it’s easier and more comforting to follow — to follow without questioning the qualifications of the people just ahead — than to do some independent thinking and checking.”

This very wise and successful man would have loved many of the attributes of the present-day marketing millionaires and billionaires, but he would also be disgusted that so many sheep wannabees follow blindly the soothing words of successful marketers without ever believing that they – the burgeoning entrepreneur – could achieve excellence without the crutches of others or the blatantly false hype of far too many.

In the coming weeks, I will begin to outline an ethical guideline and rating system when choosing gurus. Few, I’m afraid, will pass the mustard today. While making money is what business is all about, your life is much more than the money you make and spend.

Ethics and commerce deserve to meet and share the same floor.