In my almost seven years of marketing online, I have run into liars, thieves, cheaters and backstabbers, the likes of which you cannot POSSIBLY begin to imagine. I could tell you stories that would make your hair curl. But that’s not the point of this article. The point is, in spite of all the low lives that I have run into, I am still standing and still running a profitable business. In this article, I’m going to show you how to survive those who are determined to bring you down.

Let’s start off with the liars. These are the folks who tell you something and down the road, you find out that it was a lie. For example, somebody tells you that they are a successful consultant and that they can help you with your business. Now, the way to spot liars, especially online, is to do a little research on them before you get mixed up with them. Get their real name. If they won’t give it, red flags should go up. If they do, they’re probably hoping you can’t do research, otherwise, you WILL dig up all the dirt there is.

What about thieves? Thieves are also easy to spot, especially if they’ve stolen before. But what if this is their first offense? What do you do? Well, once something is stolen from you, such as a product that you two worked on and then the person runs off with it and sells it on his own, the only thing you can do is get a hold of a good lawyer. Other than that, make a note NEVER to do business with this person again. Of course, if you have a blog, you might want to warn others about this person as well.

Then of course we have cheaters. What exactly IS a cheater when it comes to Internet marketing? Cheaters are those who break the law or at the very least, the TOS of certain sites. This can actually be the most dangerous for you as a partner if you get involved with them. The only way to handle the violation is, as soon as you find out about it, report it yourself to the site that was violated. Explain that this was done by your partner without approval from you. If you’re up front, you’ll usually get off with just a warning.

Finally, we have backstabbers. These are the folks who turn on you in a heartbeat. You never see these coming. Things are going well and then all of a sudden, bam…you’ve been stabbed in the back. How do you deal with this? Well, for starters, you break all ties, obviously. But what about the offense itself? Well, if it’s a PR nightmare (the person prints some awful things about you) the best way to handle it is with a full disclosure of your relationship and everything that lead up to the falling out. Be honest and sincere and do NOT start throwing stones at this person. Simply point out how there is no reason for these personal attacks.

Ultimately, each situation has to be dealt with individually and no article can cover every possibility. But the main thing to remember is this…don’t let these people get to you and don’t let it affect your business. That’s what these people want.

Don’t give them the power.

To YOUR Success,

Steven Wagenheim

Want to know what the 7 Deadly Sins of Internet Marketing are? Get my free report at http://www.stevewagenheim.com/7deadlysins/7deadlysins.html and save your business from going down the tubes before it even has a chance.