I feel like I'm usually a pretty positive person, right. I always bring to you these like great ideas or cool strategies to try, and I don't often talk enough about mistakes or the pitfalls or the bad things that can happen to you as a podcaster. So today I thought I would talk to you about the six biggest scams that I see in the podcasting space, because these should be red flags, like not green or yellow. These are red flags that, if you see just a hint of any of these, I want you to turn and run in the other direction, because people are trying to get you Okay, like it is the people that are trying to scam you in the worst way possible, and some of these are legitimate ideas, so I do want to throw that out there. It's not just people that are trying to like hack your computer or like get your bank account information, like. Some of these are quote legit things that I'm going to deem either unethical if not should be illegal in some of the ways that we create content today. So buckle up. I'm going to be sharing with you the six biggest scams that I'm seeing in the online industry today, so let's get right to it. Welcome to the profit podcast where we teach you how to start, launch and market your content with confidence. I'm your host, crystal Prophet, and I'm so excited that you're here. Thanks for hanging out with me today, because if you've been trying to figure out the world of content creation, this is the show that will help be your time saving shortcut. So let's get right to it. Shall we? Okay, welcome back to today's episode, and I'm just going to dive right in, because some of these are so juicy and I have some personal stories and some other stories in the online space that I really want to share with you, and the first one is the download delusion. This is paying for downloads. That's as simple as it can be. Paying for downloads is a no-no for many reasons, but let's just talk about the ethical part of it, right, because technically, it's not illegal. There are sites out there. Of course, I'm not going to give you these names. I'm not going to tell you like, ooh, these are the ones that people use. Don't use, no, don't pay attention to any of these companies out there, but they are out there where they will tell you. You'll get emails from them or they'll come up in your search history that says buy this many downloads. Purchase 10,000 downloads, purchase 100,000 downloads for your podcast. And I remember this was a few years ago now, but I had followed Sunny Linterducey, who is a YouTube expert. She's been a content creator for a long time in the online industry and I remember her giving people this warning about buying views and subscribers on YouTube. And I remember thinking like who does that? Come on? I don't actually do that. Yes, they do. People are desperate to grow their platforms or to have a message out there, get a lot more attention a lot faster, and they've convinced themselves that, well, this is cheaper than buying Instagram ads or doing some other kind of paid advertising. Why don't I just kind of fluff my numbers up a little bit and maybe I can attract sponsors that will want to pay me. Again, technically not illegal, but I'm going to deem this one super unethical, because what will happen is, yes, you may get a huge spike in your downloads, you may even get in the top charts on Apple or Spotify if you do this, but what happens is a sustainable. Can you pay for this every single month? And when you do have an advertiser come and say ooh, we want to sponsor your podcast, let me give you $10,000. They have an expectation on the other side of that $10,000 that says we want to see these type of KPIs, we want to see more downloads of that episode. How many people actually listen to it? How many people took action on the ad that we had? Is that a click through rate? Did they use your coupon code? Did they go to a specific site? There are actions that you have to deliver. If you say you have that many people engaged in your show, you have to prove it in some form or metric. So really the jury's out. You can't keep up that game long term and be profitable. So I'm going to recommend you avoid these altogether. Do not fall for the trap of paying for downloads. I want you to create your show, go about it honestly and use some other strategic growth opportunities that can help you get in front of the right listeners that will actually stay around and continue to help you build your show. They'll share it by word of mouth, they'll tell other people about it and, at the end of the day, those bots that are going and giving you all these downloads. It's just not sustainable and it's not a great way to grow your business and grow your content. Okay, scam number two we're going to call these promotion predators. These are the people that land in your inbox and they I mean, I got to give them some credit because they have these beautifully crafted emails or maybe it's a DM and it's super. It sounds like a really cool, legit opportunity. Here's how it typically goes we want to feature you on our podcast. We have X number of followers or subscribers or monthly viewers on our website, and we would love to get you in front of this audience of hungry entrepreneurs that want to know more about your specific topic. Don't worry, it only cost $500 to get featured in this platform. What do you think? I've heard this so many times. I honestly get this more in my DMs on Instagram than I do in emails. I used to get this in a lot of emails, but today it's, I mean and it's so funny because I don't know if these scam artists are all talking together or not but I mean I will get four back to back from different people with a copy and pasted message. It's the exact same message from four different people and it's like ooh, you know so and so noticed, you're amazing work and we want to feature you and it's just the small price of $500 or I've seen 750. I've seen all the way up to $2,000 to be featured in Forbes or entrepreneur or time magazine. Like I mean, it's just it runs the gamut of really playing with your heartstrings, because I know it is probably your dream to be featured in these publications. They know that too, and so they're really being a predator and trying to get you to take the bait. So do not fall for it. If you are a brand new podcaster and something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. I actually I'm not going to name any names here, but I had someone reach out to me to be on a TV show and I was like, oh my gosh, like I got off this initial, like I was like, is this legit? You know, I'm looking people up on LinkedIn. I'm doing, I'm doing my journalistic investigation, okay, on the back end, to see, well, who is this person, what do they do, what's their title? Like I'm trying to figure out. Is this a legit opportunity? And I got really excited about it, which, in hindsight, I feel kind of shameful and naive about, because I got on this introductory call with this person and they told me like they just promised me the moon and all these incredible things. And, at the end of the day, how much was the price tag Like? What was this going to cost? I thought it was going to be free. And then they get into the pitch about it's just $25,000 and all of this could be yours. And I was like, did he just say that? Did he say $25? Because maybe, maybe we'd be on the same page, but $25,000 that he assured me could be paid in installments. I try to be a respectful person. I was very close to laughing in his face very close and I felt in my bones that it was too good to be true from the very beginning. But also I wanted to figure out what this was all about, because if they're contacting me, it's likely they're contacting you too, and so I wanted to make sure. Is this a legitimate opportunity? Is this something that I should pursue until my community of content creators about, or is this something that I need to scream from the rooftops Go the other direction. This is absolutely something you want to avoid at all costs. It's super scammy and again it goes into that field of like. It's not illegal, but it's absolutely unethical to prey on people that way and promise them all of these things and if it sounds too good to be true and they tell you there's a $25,000 price tag, no, no, no, thank you, but no, thank you. Ok. Number three is what we are calling equipment extortion. I know some of these are a little dramatic, but just bear with me real fast, because this is one that I think a lot of people fall prey to, especially if you're a beginner podcaster, beginner content creator, and you're following someone online that has told you you can only have a successful podcast if you buy this $2,000 podcast setup for your home office. You've got to have this super fancy camera and this really expensive microphone and you've got to have the software to go with it and you need to have the fanciest lighting and backdrop and soundproof, and they just keep going on and on and on and on, which. If you've been around here for a while listening to the podcast, watching my YouTube videos, then you know that's not what I'm all about Like. I will tell you you can get started on your phone. You can get started with the camera on your phone if you want, and you don't have to have fancy things. I mean, I've been doing this for so long. I have recorded hundreds and hundreds of episodes. I had my show, the Potty Report. It was a daily show for three years. I can't even tell you how many of those episodes I recorded on the Voice Memos app on my iPhone. When I was going on walks in the neighborhood or I was sitting at my parents' farm, people would always tell me they love the roosters growing in the background when I would record those episodes. But you don't have to have fancy equipment. So I think that this is one of those big scams that people are still peddling out there that you should absolutely avoid. You do not need fancy equipment to get started. I got started. If you're watching on the video, it's a $20 microphone right back here that I got on Amazon and it worked perfectly fine for the first year or so of my podcast, and it wasn't until I actually won this giveaway and I was able to get my next equipment and just keep leveling up as time went on. But you do not have to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars that you don't have in order to produce great content. Okay, podcast scam number four is paying to get reviews of your show. This is one of those things that I can go on Amazon and look at things like you know, I'm that person, my husband and I, we are those people that will read all the reviews before we make a purchase, especially on Amazon, on Costco or really anything online. I'm going to read the reviews like I'm that person. What's the star rating? What have other people's experiences been like? And if you go to podcast reviews and you see again things that sound too good to be true and not at all spoken like a human, those are not real reviews and unfortunately, I think, people for a long time thought, well, I have to have reviews, I have to have reviews. And so they got suckered into this idea that, well, maybe I'll pay. You know a company that can go and genuinely review my show. Maybe they have you know a whole you know slew of people that can go in and put in these different reviews. But again, are you going to do that every month? Are you going to do that consistently to get these reviews? And does it really matter? Like, at the end of the day, I think of if I had someone that listens to my show on a regular basis, give me honest feedback, whether it's good or bad. This is key. Whether it's good or bad. I would much rather have a bad review on my podcast that's genuine, so that I can improve my show, than all of these reviews from bots or people that have never actually listened to my podcast. So please don't pay. Like if you get those emails that say, oh, we'll get you a five star reviews on Apple and we'll get 20 of them and we can promise all of these beautiful things. Run the other direction. You do not need to pay for reviews. What you need to do is consistently ask your audience, say hey, if you're enjoying this podcast, I'd love for you to leave a review wherever you're listening. Let us know what you like about the show or other things that you want to hear about. In the future, you can literally go back like listen to that, rewatch that and clip that out and take it. Please take the script, write it down, use it in your next piece of content, but ask for genuine reviews from your audience, because that will mean so much more and it just goes back to karma. That's what I think about. It's like karma. Do you really want to showcase and, like put it on your website? Oh, I got all of these. I got a hundred reviews and they're all spam. You should say that underneath your breath and none of them are real. Don't do that, all right. Number five is what we're calling the expert ego boost. This is the one that really frustrates me when I have so many people that come into my community and say that they were swindled by other podcast experts, like quote podcast experts out in the online world that are promising these massive results or millions of downloads or thousands of listeners, like whatever. I've seen the whole spectrum in Instagram ads, in emails in my own inbox, and I mean it's all over the place where people are promising these massive things for a really high price tag and I think that the people on the other end right the scam artists are saying, well, if I put a really high price tag, that people are going to think it's really investment, like it's really worth it, and they're going to get so much on their return. So I'm going to promise all like the moon and the stars with this super high price tag. I have so many people that come to me and tell me nightmare stories about joining a course, a mastermind, like something that was supposed to be the thing that would take their podcast from zero to you know 100,000 downloads in so much amount of time. This is why I don't talk about these things, like when people are like Crystal, why don't you share how to get your first million downloads? I don't talk about that because I don't want you to be in that mentality of the only way to measure success is by having these certain KPIs on your show, because every single show is different, every single show. Someone that has maybe a thousand downloads a month could have a business model that's bringing in $100,000 a month, like you just never know. And so when people come to me and they say well, I invested, you know, $10,000 in this program and they promise this, this and this, but I didn't get any of that. I got more out of it from your 700,000 or 700,000. My program is not $700,000. My program is $797,000. So if you're interested in profit podcasting, I can promise you it will not break the bank. It is absolutely a lot more affordable than some of the other programs that are out there that are promising all of these things, and you can actually go to our sales page and see all of the results that we've gotten for our students and members of this community. But it's just one of those things that I don't promise, things that are not realistic. We are looking for the logical people. We're looking for people that can absolutely get their message out there and make a difference and they have a passion for it. It's why I have so many incredible people that have been in my community for years and years. I love saying that I can watch someone that's been doing this from the very launch of their show all the way into their expanding into doing other big things with their podcast. Or they DM me and say, crystal, I just got this incredible guest on my show, or I'm hosting my first course and I'm doing all these other fun things. It makes my heart so happy and I'm so proud of it. But it does not come with a price tag that is a sticker shock and does not produce the results that you're after. So if you want to learn more about my program, go to crystalprofitcom forward slash course to learn more about profit podcasting and I can promise you there are no scams there. There are nothing but results, action items that you need to do to have a successful podcast and how to do it in 30 days or less. Okay, let's move on to the last scam we need to talk about today. Number six network nonsense. That's what we'll call it, because I have seen several and I'm talking about dozens at this point Podcast networks that pop up and go away just as quickly as they came around, and it's really disheartening to see someone that was promised again Like. I mean, this is the theme of the whole thing today is like you're promised the moon and the stars and then at the end of the day, they're like left with this gross feeling and a ton of debt that they didn't have to invest in the first place. But podcast networks all I'm going to say is please do your due diligence. Why is this podcast network a thing anyway? What's the end game for them? And if you're like, oh, they just want to help people, no, people don't just want to help people. I'm sorry, but that's like. I have a very like it's not a cynical view, but it's a very pragmatic view on people that are in podcasting, the business worlds and how all of the model works and, at the end of the day, all the podcast networks do have something in it for them, and you have to figure out what that is and does it align with you and your goals that you have for your show. So I know that there are some incredible, incredible podcast networks that are out there and I want you to check them out, but I do want you to do your due diligence. Will you own your intellectual property, your IP, if you go with that podcast network? Are there terms and conditions? Do you have to stay with them for a certain amount of time? Is there something in like your contract that says, if you leave, you have to leave all of your content there and start something brand new? Do you have to avoid certain topics or only talk about the things that they want you to talk about? Otherwise, they will take your showdown? So do your due diligence. When it comes to podcast networks, again, there are some absolutely credible ones out there, but if someone is promising you, the moon and the stars run the other direction. So now that we covered the six biggest scams that I'm seeing in the podcast industry, I didn't want to just leave you with like well, that's it, good luck. I wanted to give you some key things that you can do to avoid getting scammed or falling prey to that email or that DM. That just sounds too good to be true. And maybe this is my big shot because that is what a lot of these people are preying on. So the first one and I have four tips that I want you to go with here. The first one is research. Research is your BFF, so make sure that you are Googling these companies, if, okay, this is one thing and this I shouldn't even say this out loud because this is my own thing when I'm working with companies, but I'm sorry, if you don't have an email that is not at gmailcom, I'm likely not even going to respond to you as a legitimate business Totally different for people that are in my community, like if you reach out to me, if you like, you know email me at support or you know you have a general question. That is very different. Those are legitimate people that are in this community. But if you are pitching me for something, pitching me for a sponsorship or wanting me to come on your podcast or any of these other things that are related to my business and my content, I'm not going to take you seriously unless you have a legitimate domain for your email address. So, just one of those tips you know, whichever one like, use that as part of your research. But also if you're reaching out to companies and you still have at gmailcom. Think about how you can update that and have your own domain. It's very important. The second piece of advice is get connected to a community. If you're like I, don't have a community of podcasters or content creators, join us in our free Facebook group. This is where we love to ask questions, share ideas I always do a post every week for you to promote the latest podcast episode that you have or connect with other people where you can guest on their podcast or they could be a guest on yours. So please join us in our free community so that if something pops up like, people will tell me they're like hey, crystal, did you see, you know this promotional thing or did you see what so-and-so is doing with this show? Like, get connected with some like-minded creators where you can share ideas and know what scams to avoid. All right, then the third tip that we have mentioned several times today is trusting your gut. If it sounds too good to be true, it likely is, and I want you to trust your gut and intuition when it comes to getting random emails, getting DMs, having message requests sent to you and you're like oh, this sounds really awesome, like they're acknowledging all of the things that I've been working so hard on. And finally, this is my big shot Take a pause, take a deep breath and have a reality check with yourself and say but is this legitimate? And then go back to doing your research, asking your community to see if this is something that is real or something that you should avoid altogether. And then the fourth tip and the last thing that I'll say about trying to avoid getting scammed is always read the fine print. Now, this is something that I didn't do much when I was a lot younger. I'm just like oh sure, you know, I agree to all terms and conditions. Sure, sign on the dotted line, whatever. But as I've gotten older, I'm like no, I'm a legitimate business owner, I'm a legitimate content creator. So when I'm entering into contracts, I am reading every single dot and t in period. I'm reading everything in a contract. So make sure you're reading the fine print when you're signing up for services or looking at people's websites and wondering well, you know, is this a legitimate service? Do I need to get this? Does this actually work? And always look for customer testimonials too. So, not just reading the fine print, but reading the social proof that those companies have to make sure that it is legitimate. But that's all I have for you today. Oh, I was kind of nervous about doing a scammy podcast episode, but we needed to talk about it because these are things that I absolutely want you to avoid if you're a brand new podcaster, brand new content creator, because they are out there and you will likely, as you start creating consistent content, get people reaching out to you via email, sending you DMs on all the different social platforms, maybe even commenting on your YouTube videos, like, there are so many scams that I want you to be aware of, but, at the end of the day, I want you to create your content with confidence and know that you can actually make a really big difference with the things that you're creating and the message that you're sharing. So, if you have not already, make sure you are subscribed or following the podcast wherever you are listening and, as always, remember, keep it up. We all have to start somewhere.