There are two things that can make the smartest investor, or small business owner, vulnerable to cons and scams. These two things destroy wealth, and devastate the most viable business plans. They are at the heart of almost every business or investment failure. These deadly sins of internet marketing will destroy the best marketing plan. They are Greed and Fear.

Investing

In the investing or business world, the juxtaposition between value and growth is vital to success. Understanding these strategies is critical to understand the influence of fear and greed on the marketing and investing.

There are dozens of books and unlimited courses that focus on these two strategies, and how to avoid making emotional decisions based on greed and fear.

Greed

The desire to accumulate as much wealth as possible makes people vulnerable to scams. Someone, somewhere, plants the seed that ?real investors take bold measures,? and sooner or later, the business owner succumbs to ad copy promising big returns.

The dot com boom of the 1990s is an excellent example. Very few investors asked questions. There was money to be made in any business that ended in .com, so people invested their life savings, waiting for the big payout.

Greedy investors fuelled the fire attracting other greed driven investors into securities that were grossly overpriced. This created a bubble, which burst in the mid 2000.

The greed fed get-rich-quick mentality is a difficult one to overcome. It makes it hard to stick to business plans, and follow projections. As soon as another ?great? opportunity comes along, the business owner, or investor, is off on a tangent.

It is difficult to maintain gains and adhere to a strict investment or business plan over the long term, amid a feeding frenzy. It is crucial to maintain an level head and stick to the fundamentals of a long-term plan, without being swept up in the latest craze.

Fear

Fear is the opposite of greed. When stocks or sales suffers losses, or does not generate income quick enough, many business owners and investors jump ship. They bail out instead of riding out the storm. All markets have their ups and downs. All industries have peaks and slow times. A good business owner learns how to ride the waves, and prepare for the slow periods.

Fear can also make people susceptible to cons and scams. This type of person will sign with a broker who will do the work for them, or they will buy into a business that has everything ?taken care of? for them. This type of investor is afraid of accepting responsibility for their success. In the end, it is this fear that leads to their failure.

These people quickly scrap their investment plan to hop on the latest get-rich-quick investment, tearing a large hole in their portfolio.

Buffett said, "Unless you can watch your stock holding decline by 50% without becoming panic-stricken, you should not be in the stock market."

This is true for any income generating venture.

Comfort Level

The defence against fear and greed is finding a comfort level. This is a place where the investor has not gambled too greatly, or the business owner has not risked too much.

A comfort level makes it easy to avoid emotions that result in costly mistakes. This zone helps people avoid being swept up in the market sentiment, and the ad copy/propaganda, used to sell the next course, or attract people to a certain market.

This sounds easy, but it is harder to implement. There is a fine line between controlling your emotions and ignoring your instincts.