Posts by Michelle Mazur

Sales pages are so long and drawn out that there’s no way we could cover all the manipulative shenanigans in one episode. We are back with part two – so let’s do it! We are back with the second part of the two-part series about how to read a sales page. As a reminder in…

Sales pages are ubiquitous in online business; many are chock full of manipulation. So today, we will walk you through how to read a sales page so you can make the best decision for your business and not get Duped! The Psychology of Long-Form Sales Pages This is part one of a two-part sales page…

It’s time for another very nuanced episode of Duped!  Before we talk about what parasocial relationships are, how they can be weaponized, and why that matters to you as a consumer, I just want to say that in this day and age, it’s nearly impossible for you NOT to create parasocial relationships. If you publish…

Affiliates, JVs, and Summits…oh my! These collaborations can be spectacular for sales and growing an audience, but they also have a dark side that can take advantage of business owners and ultimately lead to getting Duped. The word for the day is nuance. This is probably the most nuanced topic that we’ve ever covered. Because,…

As 2023 comes to a close, we wanted to reflect on the year that was and make some predictions about what lies ahead in 2024. Now, before we predict what’s next, we thought we should talk about the year that was. We looked through our past episodes and what we discussed on the Patreon episodes…

Truth time: Growing your audience in 2023 is hard. Yet, the web celebs who are selling you courses about how to create courses, memberships or programs want you to believe that it is easy. No audience, no problem. This is why we wanted to dive into the grift of audience growth on this episode of…

The jig is up, and now you realize that the coach or course you signed up for is not what it seems, and you want out. You want your money back. You want them out of your life.  In this episode, we’ll look at your options if you’ve been scammed and answer the question, now…

“I’m an award-winning entrepreneur. I’m the author of Wall Street Journal Bestseller.”  Are these claims actually real, or is the business owner who touts such things sitting on a “throne of lies” because nowadays authority and expertise can be bought? It’s probably one of the easiest ways to scam consumers.  Let’s break down different authority…

If I can do it, you can do it too. Teach what you know. If you’ve lived it, you can sell it. These are common marketing messages that say, “hey anyone can have a business.” And if you don’t have much expertise, that’s not a problem – except it is a problem. The Rise of the…

As consumers are becoming more discerning about who they work with, they are starting to ask more questions and push back on some of the bs online shenanigans that we’ve talked so much about on Duped. Unfortunately, this critique is not well received by the perpetrators of the online bs. This is why in this episode,…