Am I pretty much forced to use fake amazon reviews at this point?

[MakeMoreMoves]

My definition of fake reviews are the "I received this product at a discount in exchange for my unbiased 100% honest review"

I fakespotted all my competitors. All solid F's. My sales are extremely slow.

My choices:

1) Wait out for real reviews and have an A rating on fakespot. Hope that amazon makes grading on the reviews public like restauraunt letter gradings on each product listing. I will get more sales, since I will be the only person with real reviews

2) Just get fake reviews and who cares if I get an F in fakespot.

 

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[Guest34764]

Just because it's tough are you going to become as bad as everyone else?

Where's your integrity?

EDIT:I was under the impression fake reviews are bannable.Could contact Amazon about your competitors.

 

[MakeMoreMoves]

Just because it's tough are you going to become as bad as everyone else?

Where's your integrity?

Damn, its because I'm on straight negative right now, wanted to avoid amazon long term storage fees.

 

[Fox]

How are you different from your competitors?

What value are you adding?

What need is there for this product?

I don't think anyone here is going to recommend fake views. That is not a solution to anything long term.

 

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[JokerCrazyBeatz]

Don't worry fake reviews won't last , don't take the easy route , find out how to out work them guys , frauds don't last long , EVER

 

[MakeMoreMoves]

Don't worry fake reviews won't last , don't take the easy route , find out how to out work them guys , frauds don't last long , EVER

I wish that were true, as of right now it seems all those fake reviews are making them all best sellers. Since, time is money. My integrity is costing me sales, time, and money.

 

[TonyStark]

You should probably wait. I hear Amazon is going that route and cracking down on paid reviews.

 

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[Fox]

My integrity is costing me sales, time, and money.

You can't fake review yourself to success. Answer the questions I already posted. Why should people buy your product?

Would fake paint brush reviews have gotten Fastlaner #1 on Shark Tank?

Would fake Instagram comments have gotten Fastlaner #2 an Audi R8?

Would fake adword results have gotten Andy Black mega-clients the world over?

Would fake Facebook comments have gotten me a profitable web design business?

Your product and mindset are broken. Read the book, do not pass Go.

 

[MakeMoreMoves]

You should probably wait. I hear Amazon is going that route and cracking down on paid reviews.

When I search for what amazon going to do anything about this, all I see is the previous lawsuit against "real" fake reviewers. The reviews I'm describing aren't necessarily violating amazon TOS. Source?

 

[MakeMoreMoves]

You can't fake review yourself to success. Answer the questions I already posted. Why should people buy your product?

Would fake paint brush reviews have gotten Fastlaners One on Shark Tank?

Would fake Instagram comments have gotten Fastlaners Two an Audi R8?

Would fake adword results have gotten Andy Black mega-clients the world over?

Would fake Facebook comments have gotten me a profitable web design business?

Your product and mindset are broken. Read the book, do not pass Go.

Can't answer your question, unless I give out my products. Can't do that for obvious reasons in the ecommerce world. Yes, fake instagrams have worked, especially in the fitness industry where these "personal trainers" post a fake 30 day challenge and create a fake winner so they don't have to pay anyone for winning the challenge. The people got exposed and still making bank

 

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[Lex DeVille]

Can't answer your question, unless I give out my products. Can't do that for obvious reasons in the ecommerce world. Yes, fake instagrams have worked, especially in the fitness industry where these "personal trainers" post a fake 30 day challenge and create a fake winner so they don't have to pay anyone for winning the challenge. The people got exposed and still making bank

Look, if you're going to do it you're going to do it. Stop trying to get us to make you feel better about your decision.

Do whatever you're going to do. If it brings things crashing down around you, then it's your own fault.

If it works and you get rich...I guess you can say "I told you so" to the people who gave you advice.

Either way the only thing I see happening here is you finding justifications to make you feel better about a choice you've already made.

 

[Fox]

Can't answer your question, unless I give out my products.

It is easy to answer those questions without giving out your product.

What makes it better, more valuable or improved from what currently exists.

There is no F for Fake Reviews in CENTS.

Edit: @SinisterLex nailed it above also. Lots of other places on the internet that teach you how to do fake reviews, scam people and push shit products. People here hold themselves to a higher standard and want to add real value. This thread rubs me the wrong way. If you are doing fake reviews how do you ever think what you build will last? Once you get any success you will just start trying to take more shortcuts.

I am done on this one.

 

[LifeTransformer]

What Lex said above + Just reading the sub-context of your postings, it sounds like you're money chasing.

If I'm wrong, then I'm sorry of course.

What are you doing to get sales? Outside of hoping someone finds your product on amazon and buys it?
If you're waiting for amazon to do the leg work for you, then maybe that's where you're going wrong? Perhaps try and drive some sales to whatever it is you're selling.

You could also find a way to ask your customers to leave a review. I don't know what you're selling though so maybe you're unable to put a little "thank you" card in your product with something like; "If you loved this product, please leave us a review on Amazon. Your review will mean the world to our company, we are just starting out, and need all the help we can get. Much love, Mr Product seller".

 

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[QDF]

I was really trying not to reply to this thread.

Who gives a shit if Amazon is going to crack down on it or not? You should beat them either way.

My integrity is costing me sales, time, and money.

The question is, which one is more important to you?

If it's the later, then go right ahead with your fake reviews and see where it gets you.

Better products and better marketing = more sales, time, and money. Better marketing doesn't include fake reviews.

 

[AllenCrawley]

My definition of fake reviews are the "I received this product at a discount in exchange for my unbiased 100% honest review"

I fakespotted all my competitors. All solid F's. My sales are extremely slow.

My choices:

1) Wait out for real reviews and have an A rating on fakespot. Hope that amazon makes grading on the reviews public like restauraunt letter gradings on each product listing. I will get more sales, since I will be the only person with real reviews

2) Just get fake reviews and who cares if I get an F in fakespot.

Surely you knew this was common practice with other sellers when you were researching your product? Sounds like you choose a highly competitive product that will be very difficult to rank on the first page due to these types of sellers.

Here's a Gold thread by @biophase that you and everyone else should study...
https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/co...-to-do-it-the-easy-way-or-the-hard-way.64808/

 

[MakeMoreMoves]

What Lex said above + Just reading the sub-context of your postings, it sounds like you're money chasing.

If I'm wrong, then I'm sorry of course.

What are you doing to get sales? Outside of hoping someone finds your product on amazon and buys it?
If you're waiting for amazon to do the leg work for you, then maybe that's where you're going wrong? Perhaps try and drive some sales to whatever it is you're selling.

You could also find a way to ask your customers to leave a review. I don't know what you're selling though so maybe you're unable to put a little "thank you" card in your product with something like; "If you loved this product, please leave us a review on Amazon. Your review will mean the world to our company, we are just starting out, and need all the help we can get. Much love, Mr Product seller".

I have my own website and have tried ads on Facebook, Instagram, building a following. I get little to no returns, just losing more money. I did debate on sending those types of emails for feedback, but realized that amazon sends an email as well. Sending an email in my opinion is too pushy.

 

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[QDF]

Sending an email in my opinion is too pushy.

Sending emails asking for real reviews is too pushy, but you're debating on using fake reviews.

Okay.

If you're product is a good product, people won't mind you sending emails asking for reviews, and they will likely even be happy to leave good reviews if your product is that good.

 

[JokerCrazyBeatz]

How can you post a thread to get help but then shit on all the help people try to give you ?

 

[PureA]

You can't fake review yourself to success. Answer the questions I already posted. Why should people buy your product?

Would fake paint brush reviews have gotten Fastlaner #1 on Shark Tank?

Would fake Instagram comments have gotten Fastlaner #2 an Audi R8?

Would fake adword results have gotten Andy Black mega-clients the world over?

Would fake Facebook comments have gotten me a profitable web design business?

Your product and mindset are broken. Read the book, do not pass Go.

gold

 

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[GMSI7D]

"“Any man who tries to be good all the time is bound to come to ruin among the great number who are not good. Hence a prince who wants to keep his authority must learn how not to be good, and use that knowledge, or refrain from using it, as necessity requires.”

Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince

i don't know the secret of success.

but i DO know the secret of failure : being the honest, nice guy.

i have lost 20 years of my life with women, business and success.

because i was the honest, nice guy.

So there is a moment in life where one must grow up and face reality

 

[PureA]

"“Any man who tries to be good all the time is bound to come to ruin among the great number who are not good. Hence a prince who wants to keep his authority must learn how not to be good, and use that knowledge, or refrain from using it, as necessity requires.”

Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince

i don't know the secret of success.

but i DO know the secret of failure : being the honest, nice guy.

i have lost 20 years of my life with women, business and success.

because i was the honest, nice guy.

So there is a moment in life where one must grow up and face reality

smh, Really?

"Doing the right thing, is always the right thing" - Gary V

 

[MakeMoreMoves]

How can you post a thread to get help but then shit on all the help people try to give you ?

I'm not shitting on anyone. All the posts are helpful. Just because I don't agree doesn't mean I am shitting on them. It's called a discussion. I don't just blindly nod my head and agree on all facts. I think about it and I am giving them reason why I do not think that way. So we can discuss more. I think it is mindless to just nod and agree at everything I am told.

 

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[350z]

I'm not necessarily trying to give you a hard time, but hard work isn't called hard work because it's easy. The unfortunate truth is that some have to work harder than others to get the same position. That's just how life works.

But that should not discourage you from trying at all.

A lot of what the forum members said was right, better marketing is ultimately what you should do in terms of putting more time, effort, and money into. Ideally, you are going to want to have customers that buy your product feel obligated to leave a review. Whether that includes incentives such as a coupon code, or feeling compelled they have to because you wrote them a hand-written letter thanking them. There are plenty of options to choose from, you just have to think outside of the box.

See what your competitors are doing, then duplicate, replicate, and upgrade that exact process.

Now to answer your question, as if fake reviews will work, let me tell you about something I thought of.

Last night, I was at the mall, and I noticed something. I was walking down a strip of storefronts and I see both the Apple store and the Microsoft store, and every time I walk past I always observe how Apple's store has nearly 10x the amount of people in there than the Microsoft store. In fact, it's probably the first thing I notice about any store, it's how much people are in there. Any by having a lot of people in there, you can probably only assume who has the better product. We can argue the actual technicalities between iOS vs Windows, but then that would be missing the point.

What I'm trying to say is, when you look at a product listing, you are instantly going to see how much stars it has, the rating of the selling, and most importantly, the reviews on the product. And reviews are just as important as how many people are already in a store, it's just another selling point that needs to be hit.

The amount of reviews that a product listing receives is similar to how much people are occupying the Apple store. It builds hype and a crowd mentality among the product, and in this case by having positive reviews on your listing, people will have more trust in yours than the others.

When's the last time you went to an empty club to have fun? When's the last time you went at an empty restaurant for a fancy dinner? When's the last time you bought a product with an empty review section?

The main point here is that, you are just trying to fulfill a goal that needs to be fulfilled, but you would like a shortcut.

And if this forum has taught me anything, it would be that there are no shortcuts.

Ultimately, you do want to have real reviews, from real people that received your product. But you feel stuck in this catch-22 where in order to get sales, you'll need reviews, and in order to get reviews, you need sales. Which is why I understand why you came to the conclusion of buying fake reviews.

I'm not saying it won't work, and I'm also not saying it does, but there's a reason why grey-hat marketing is considered grey-hat marketing. So bear in mind the potential ramifications you might encounter if you decide to go this route.

You can either do your homework and ace the test, or you can cheat off an answer sheet and ace the test. But the last time I checked, I never heard about the kid doing homework worry about getting caught.

 

[Runum]

I'm not shitting on anyone. All the posts are helpful. Just because I don't agree doesn't mean I am shitting on them. It's called a discussion. I don't just blindly nod my head and agree on all facts. I think about it and I am giving them reason why I do not think that way. So we can discuss more. I think it is mindless to just nod and agree at everything I am told.

I never saw the words "thank you" on any of your posts. I do not see any "likes" in any posts either.

Agree or disagree you should always thank people for taking the time to respond to your question.

 

[MakeMoreMoves]

I'm not necessarily trying to give you a hard time, but hard work isn't called hard work because it's easy. The unfortunate truth is that some have to work harder than others to get the same position. That's just how life works.

But that should not discourage you from trying at all.

A lot of what the forum members said was right, better marketing is ultimately what you should do in terms of putting more time, effort, and money into. Ideally, you are going to want to have customers that buy your product feel obligated to leave a review. Whether that includes incentives such as a coupon code, or feeling compelled they have to because you wrote them a hand-written letter thanking them. There are plenty of options to choose from, you just have to think outside of the box.

See what your competitors are doing, then duplicate, replicate, and upgrade that exact process.

Now to answer your question, as if fake reviews will work, let me tell you about something I thought of.

Last night, I was at the mall, and I noticed something. I was walking down a strip of storefronts and I see both the Apple store and the Microsoft store, and every time I walk past I always observe how Apple's store has nearly 10x the amount of people in there than the Microsoft store. In fact, it's probably the first thing I notice about any store, it's how much people are in there. Any by having a lot of people in there, you can probably only assume who has the better product. We can argue the actual technicalities between iOS vs Windows, but then that would be missing the point.

What I'm trying to say is, when you look at a product listing, you are instantly going to see how much stars it has, the rating of the selling, and most importantly, the reviews on the product. And reviews are just as important as how many people are already in a store, it's just another selling point that needs to be hit.

The amount of reviews that a product listing receives is similar to how much people are occupying the Apple store. It builds hype and a crowd mentality among the product, and in this case by having positive reviews on your listing, people will have more trust in yours than the others.

When's the last time you went to an empty club to have fun? When's the last time you went at an empty restaurant for a fancy dinner? When's the last time you bought a product with an empty review section?

The main point here is that, you are just trying to fulfill a goal that needs to be fulfilled, but you would like a shortcut.

And if this forum has taught me anything, it would be that there are no shortcuts.

Ultimately, you do want to have real reviews, from real people that received your product. But you feel stuck in this catch-22 where in order to get sales, you'll need reviews, and in order to get reviews, you need sales. Which is why I understand why you came to the conclusion of buying fake reviews.

I'm not saying it won't work, and I'm also not saying it does, but there's a reason why grey-hat marketing is considered grey-hat marketing. So bear in mind the potential ramifications you might encounter if you decide to go this route.

You can either do your homework and ace the test, or you can cheat off an answer sheet and ace the test. But the last time I checked, I never heard about the kid doing homework worry about getting caught.

Thanks for the insight mang

 

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[MakeMoreMoves]

Surely you knew this was common practice with other sellers when you were researching your product? Sounds like you choose a highly competitive product that will be very difficult to rank on the first page due to these types of sellers.

Here's a Gold thread by @biophase that you and everyone else should study...
https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/co...-to-do-it-the-easy-way-or-the-hard-way.64808/

Sounds like the books Zero to One by Peter Thiel vs. Lean Startup Eric Ries.

Zero to One - spend a very long time to develop a product that will blow your competitors in the dust. @biophase perspective

Lean Startup - put up a Minimum viable product

I was more into the MVP method, but after reading that thread makes me want to do more zero to one again, only big con of zero to one method that lean startup talks about is spending a very long time building a product that nobody wants, pretty much the worst feeling in the entire world (happened to me before, disastrous thousands lost).

 

[MakeMoreMoves]

I never saw the words "thank you" on any of your posts. I do not see any "likes" in any posts either.

Agree or disagree you should always thank people for taking the time to respond to your question.

Look again then, there are likes before you posting this as well.

 

[Runum]

Look again then, there are likes before you posting this as well.

At the time that I typed my message the likes were not there

Good luck with your Amazon sales.

 

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[MotiveInMotion]

Here's a few considerations you might want to take action on:

1. Take the @biophase mindset and make a product that sincerely adds so much more value than anyone else, that you really don't have to market it as crazy as everyone. He is in very non-competitive niches, improves each product with value, actually brands (not just PLs it) and cleans up.

Read this amazing thread for more info: https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/threads/ask-me-anything-about-ecommerce-2015.62360/page-7

2. Take the Ezra Firestone route of driving ads to a valuable piece of content, that solves a problem for people in some way, that you can offer your product at the end of.

You find your customer, drive them to your problem-solving page, and offer them a product that they need and want that they can get for somewhere around half off. That way, the "verified purchase" badge stays on, you get a review, your customer is extremely satisfied, you capture an e-mail address, and you can nurture additional sales from a desired and happy repeat customer. And it's real.

3. Make the choice you basically decided on already, so people can test them out for feedback. Obviously they have to say they received it for an unbiased review, but they're don't usually understand the definition of the word biased.

It's your choice and there are many truths in the points outlined by the team

Hope that helps!

 

[AllenCrawley]

Sounds like the books Zero to One by Peter Thiel vs. Lean Startup Eric Ries.

Zero to One - spend a very long time to develop a product that will blow your competitors in the dust. @biophase perspective

Lean Startup - put up a Minimum viable product

I was more into the MVP method, but after reading that thread makes me want to do more zero to one again, only big con of zero to one method that lean startup talks about is spending a very long time building a product that nobody wants, pretty much the worst feeling in the entire world (happened to me before, disastrous thousands lost).

Agreed. However, we are not talking about years to develop here. Bio's product had minimum competition because it didn't fit the mold of an ideal amazon product as taught by the amazon courses. He already knew it would sell.

2.5 years ago I created my own version of a product that has been selling since the 1800's. I improved upon it and now sell a ton of it. 4 months time to go from idea through development to first sale. I think I had a total of $1,500 invested.