In light of all the Google whackiness of late, I've been busy reading all I can, pouring over case studies, and watching webinars by just about anyone who offers info on the topic.

Even if I get one little blip of information, it is good enough to drop in my Knowledge Bucket, which, in turn, makes me better able to help others (and help myself).

But something funny has been happening - let me share one example with you.

I was watching this webinar by someone who had done a very good blog post on her feelings and finding regarding the Google Penguin update. I was thinking her webinar would be really good since I thought she brought a new point of view to this situation with Google...and I like hearing different views (whether I agree or not).

Turns out, the webinar started moving towards a direction of trying to prove that links from DE-INDEXED sites were still very valuable and good for ranking.

Ok, fair enough - I can put that on my "To Be Tested" list that is ever-growing.

I figured we'd then move on to something else...

But nope, turned out the "get links from deindexed sites" was pretty much the message of the webinar.

Here's another situation -

Read a pretty good blog post along with a video that also had to do with Google Penguin. This info also was good - not a repeat of what everyone else was saying.

This person claimed that off-page links (ie, links coming TO your site) were NOT to blame for Penguin pecking your site and dropping it's ranking in the search results.

He claimed it was all ON-PAGE issues that caused this.

Again, ok... something else to put on my "To Be Tested" list.

Keep those two situations in mind.... I'll come back to them in a moment.

House of Lies

There's a series on ShowTime called House of Lies. (warning: it's VERY adult - don't go watching this with your kids around or if you are sensitive to bad language and other adult stuff).

Season 1 of this series wrapped up not too long ago and the new 2nd season starts up in September. Because ShowTime wants to keep viewers engaged, they have been having marathons of the entire first season showing each episode back-to-back.

Personally, I like watching like that.. I'm not patient enough to wait for a week to go by for the next show (or I forget about it...lol).

So, I spent an afternoon watching the first season of House of Lies.

Main concept behind the show surrounds a business consultant, Marty Kann (played by Don Cheadle), and his team and their adventures each week as they consult some new big name company. In essense, Kaan and his team are hired to help companies figure out how to make more money, decide if they should move forward with a new product/expansion, or how to stop from losing their company.

Each episode also shows how the team figures out what the business needs (or wants to hear) and THEN how to manipulate the company to keeping Kaan and his team on payroll for on-going consultation.

Anyway, that's the gist of it.

In one particular episode, Marty Kaan and his team are gathered at the mansion of their CEO as are new business school graduates who are trying to get onboard with Marty Kaan's company.

One young recent graduate is very impressed to be talking with THE Marty Kaan and hangs on every word that Marty says.

Long story short, Marty pretty much feeds this kid a bunch of calculated BS knowing full-well what the kid will do with said information. (Yes, Marty is playing the kid because he doesn't want the kid hired - he's too good and would be a threat to Marty's job).

Inevitably, the kid DOES do exactly what Marty predicted and ruined his chance of ever working for that company.

When the kid realized what Marty did, he was outraged...and well, hurt. He tells Marty, "I trusted you".

To this, Marty replies.

"Never EVER trust anyone until you know their angle...."

That simple statement hit me like a ton of bricks.

No, not about business consultants, but about what is happening online...and has always been happening.

Remember my two example situations I told you about earlier in this post?

The webinar that pushed the importance and power of links from de-indexed sites?

The blog post and video that claimed it was on-page issues that caused Penguin issues?

What's scary is how many people took those two pieces of advice as TRUTH just because they trusted the one speaking or presenting the info?

I'm not saying if the info is good or bad (definitely worth testing), but how many bought into it just because of WHO was saying it?

What About Their "Angle"?

So, were these two people simply sharing information out of the kindness of their heart?

Were they doing it purely to help YOU?

Or, maybe...just maybe, they had an angle.

The one that pushed backlinks from deindexed domains?

Well guess what? She owns a blog network that got HAMMERED by Google and she is now sitting on tons of de-indexed domains.

The one that claimed backlinks were NOT the cause of Penguin, but instead, it was YOUR on-page that caused Penguin to hurt your sites?

Well guess what? That person works for a company that sells a software that automatically makes LOTS and LOTS of back links to your site.

Is it possible those two sources of information were slanted in a way to be self-serving?

Marketing messages are always slanted. We KNOW sales pages have an "angle" - but do we keep that in mind when listening to info and 'how to's" and "what works" type posts, videos, and webinars?

If someone says to you, "Hey, backlinks from de-indexed sites are AWESOME!! They'll get you to #1 in no time!!"

Do you automatically believe it and jump on that bandwagon?

Or, do you keep it in the back of your mind, perhaps test it, and do more research about it?

My hope is that you will ALWAYS test things for yourself. Don't take anyone's word for something without using your own brain and your own efforts.

Yes, that includes ME.

I'm out there in the trenches right along with the rest of y'all, but even if *I* say, "hey, this is working awesome for me" remember the part of that statement that figures prominently...

For ME.

My angle by stating things like that? I want YOU to test and try things for YOURSELF.

(and yes, of course, I'd like a few people to buy it if there's something for sale... I'm not in this business as a hobby...lol. But I only want people to buy if it;s something they WILL use or will at least test out to determine their own success with it)

Never trust any internet marketer until you know their angle.

Having an angle is not a bad thing... it's only bad if you listen and trust blindly. Once you understand their angle, all else they say or do will be heard with that knowledge in the back of your mind.

And THAT is a good thing. It makes you smarter and capable of digesting information presented in a balanced way... AND it makes you more resistant to all the tempting "shiny things" out there.

What do you think?