If you’re timid about investing in Internet Marketing products and services because you fear that you’ll get ripped off, you’re not alone.

With a continuous saturation of product launches vying for your dollar, it’s getting harder for you to know which product is the right choice.

Now, more than ever, you want to know, “Who can I trust to live up to their promises?!”

If this sounds like you, here are 3 things to look for before making your next investment:

(1) Testimonies

How many times have you purchased a product because you read a compelling testimony from a customer on a sales page?

I’m willing to bet that this one factor alone has been the deciding factor that led you to the order button many times over.

Why?

Because it’s unbiased. There is no other motive for them to leave their feedback and opinion of the product other than to express their appreciation for the product’s value.

That’s priceless.

If a customer / user of a product says it lives up its expectations, then it’s a powerful indicator that the product can be trusted to live up to it’s promises.

(2) Trusted Sources You Know

Rely on recommendations from trusted sources. Perhaps you’ve been on Marketer X’s newsletter list for a long time and trust his or her recommendations based on their previous history.

While everyone can ‘miss the boat’ on rare occasions, you may have found that someone you know and trust usually gets it right. Go with that.

(3) Reviews.

These are the most powerful of all.

But be careful. There are a lot of so-called reviews posted on blogs and web sites from marketers who pretend to you give you their honest opinion.

But are they really unbiased? Is there an ulterior motive behind the review?

The motive for a marketer to write reviews should be one of two things:

A. To alert you that a particular product or service may not live up to it’s advertised promises and thus may not be for you and your goals.

B. To let you know about promising resources that have proven to save you time and/or dollars in achieving your online goals. “Proven” being the key. And being proven by the one recommending the resource is a huge plus.

However, I’ve noticed a disturbing pattern in most of these reviews.

I’ve found it very rare to read a review online where any level of critical or negative feedback is given.

Seems that a lot of marketers have a very uncanny lucky-streak, that most of us don’t possess, that have allowed them to only purchase and use flawless products.

This points to an ulterior motive. And is usually identified as an affiliate link!

Frankly it’s hard to trust a review 100% when it’s flanked by various Ads and/or an affiliate link.

With that said, let me say that there’s nothing wrong with honest marketers, who have your best interests at heart, monetizing real reviews, or other useful content posted on their sites.

It’s a legitimate way to provide a valuable service for subscribers and customers while also paying the bills.

But, as a consumer, when given the choice of reading a review that is attached to an affiliate link or Ad, and one that is strictly for content only, which would you choose?

This brings us back to.. who can you really trust?

Before you invest in your next Internet marketing product or service, look for unbiased reviews from real customers, and you can put away your fears.