Today’s article is a fun look at some common Internet claims. Mainly, the get rich quick and “late night infomercial” type content.

Since this material is incredibly popular on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram, I thought it’d be cool to examine and debunk it.

Without further ado, let’s take a look at some of the most popular Internet brags, boasts, and guarantees.

1. The Term “Bestseller” Means You Sold A Lot Of Books

This is one of the most vapid Internet claims around, and I’ll explain why.

There’s no actual standard for measuring a bestseller. Certain reporting platforms (like Amazon or New York Times) have their own metrics. But even these are easily manipulated.

Plus, there’s no requirement for using the generic term “Bestseller.”

You can sell one PDF eBook and use the phrase as much as you want.

Keep this in mind whenever you see someone declaring themselves a “bestselling expert” online.

2. Posting Pictures At The Beach Means You’re Rich

(Look At All The Fun… Those Other People Are Having!)

American’s have some weird fascination with living near water. They’re always impressed by oceanfront property, warm weather climates, or living near the beach.

If you posted a nice oceanic sunset and said “I live in Hawaii and go swimming every day,” a large number of people would instantly think you’re wealthy.

In reality, going to the beach costs nothing.

Many beachfront properties (or places within a reasonable distance of the beach) are fairly inexpensive.

I’ve lived along the beach in: North America, South America, Central America, the Caribbean, and Asia. For $20 – $50 a night, you can easily enjoy a million-dollar view.

Living somewhere with warm weather and nice vistas costs next to nothing.

3. This Picture

At some point you’ve probably seen someone post one of these revenue screenshots.

It shows some insane earnings number like $999 per click.

This is actually a reporting goof most sales and affiliate platforms make. In the picture above, I sold a whooping $50 worth of stuff. But, the affiliate dashboard displayed my earnings per click as $3,333.

When someone rolls out the $999 earnings per click picture and slaps it on their sales page, run away.

That person is blatantly trying to extort a gullible audience.

4. You Don’t Need Any Skills To Make Money Online

The idea that anyone can make money online regardless of their intelligence or experience is one of the dumbest Internet claims around.

Saying this is like saying anyone can make millions playing basketball (all you need to do is bounce a ball across the floor). Or that day trading is easy because you’re just pressing the buy and sell buttons all day.

It’s a gross oversimplification.

Internet or otherwise, all business requires certain skill sets.

For me, working online at age 25 is completely different from working online age 19. So much so that I can’t even compare the two.

There’s a huge difference between reading an abstract theory on how to do something, versus actually being able to implement it.

If you don’t have the knowledge and experience, you’re in for a rough time.

Don’t “burn the boats” or try going all in because some motivational speaker said to. If you want to start a business or make money online, do it in your spare time first.

5. Having A Product Or Website Means You’re Effortlessly Rich

I have dozens of Kindle titles, some PDF eBooks, and several affiliate deals which generate $100+ per sale.

It’s easy to make something up like:

I have 10 articles selling $100 products. And they’re all getting 100 daily visitors. At a 2% conversion rate, I’m *only* making $2,000 a day.

In reality there are a ton of factors as to why people buy stuff.

If having a product was all it takes, companies like Coca-Cola or Ford wouldn’t spend billions in sales and marketing each year.

You can automate sales eventually. But it takes time and effort to reach this point.

Publishing a book, writing a sales letter, or launching a course is not some magic money faucet.

If you have to sell it with launch events, daily emails, weekly blog posts, etc… it’s not passive income.

6. There’s A “Hack,” “Secret,” or “Cheat Code” For Instant Success

(These Are All Free Certification Programs Offered By Google)

Your accomplishments in life comes from consistent effort over a duration of time.

Nobody gets six-pack abs in one afternoon.

Likewise, no single piece of information or “insider trick” will instantly improve your performance at something.

Additionally, if you want “insider information” on how to do something, learn from an actual expert. Take an accredited real estate course instead of buying house flipper DVDs.

If you want to learn about paid traffic, Facebook and Google have their own free training programs where you’re learning straight from the company itself (here’s Facebook’s and here’s Google’s).

Not only are you learning from the ultimate insider, but you’re getting a valuable certificate as well.

Skip the hacks, cheat codes, and other get-rich-quick garbage.

If you want to learn something (whether it’s paid traffic, real estate, or investing), go take an accredited course from a recognized expert.

7. Having “Millions Of Readers” Equals Being Popular

(At Least My Dog Likes Me)

How many times have you seen somebody bragging with claims like “Millions of people read my blog!” Or “I have millions of fans from all over the world!”

This is a common boast because it makes you sound popular and important.

In reality, “millions of fans” usually means “millions of pageviews” (or social media impressions) which is entirely different.

Without getting too technical, a million pageviews just means your site’s been viewed a million times total. That’s it. It’s not measured by individual people, or the duration of time people stayed on your site.

Instead, it means a million things (people, bot traffic, web crawlers) have seen your site.

Once you understand this loose metric, you’ll quickly realize that getting “millions of readers” is actually quite easy.

30 Days To X reached one million pageviews in under two years.

That didn’t buy me a Lamborghini, or attract hoards panty throwing groupies. It just meant that a little traffic ticker online rolled over to the seven-figure mark.

If you have any type of site that gets consistent traffic, you’ll hit the million pageview milestone pretty quick.

A Final Word On Bold Internet Claims

It’s fun to look at popular big-baller online brags and poke holes in them. But, it’s also important to remember that there’s a very easy way to avoid smoke and mirrors hype.

And that’s through trying whatever it is that interests you and gaining hands on experience.

This is the best education possible.

Try something, stick with it for at least six months, and watch the results add up.