by April Wilson

Created on: January 22, 2010   Last Updated: January 24, 2010

Deceptive advertising is a form of short-term thinking that will always cost you in the end. Why? People are tired of being lied to.  Do you like being lied to? Do you like to buy something thinking you're getting one thing only to be presented with another? No one does. The last time you bought something from deceptive advertising and you found out you'd been duped, what was your reaction?  I'm betting you said something to the effect of: "They'll never get my business again."  Then I'll bet you told 300 of your closest friends on Twitter and Facebook.

It's just not worth it.  We live in a global economy now. With the Internet almost anyone can do business with almost anyone all over the world.  You may think you can get away with deceptive advertising since there is such an unlimited pool of people. And it's true, you may be able to fool people for awhile until someone takes you to court and you lose everything, but you will not thrive.

People talk and bad news spreads faster than good news. When you cheat someone, just know, you are reducing the number of people who will ever trust you again. You are shutting down future business opportunities, both with customers, as well as with distributors and other businesses you could run cooperative advertising and marketing promotions with.  Your reputation is worth something, even in an online world where no one sees your face. It still means something.

Develop a bad reputation at your own risk. In the new global economy, the businesses that will rise to the top are the ones that give the best product, the best customer service, and are the most honest in their dealings with others. Why? Because in a world of unlimited options, consumers can afford to be picky.

There was a time when people had to take what they were given. If something wasn't a great product, or if the company was a little shady but they were the only place in town that had what you needed, you had to just grudgingly take it.  The only recourse was to sue them if they really crossed a legal boundary.

Now, more than ever before, customers can vote with their wallets.  You also never know who is watching.  An amazing number of people have built their own large platforms on the Internet and have many very devoted followers. If your deceptive advertising ensnares them, then expect it to be all over Twitter, Facebook, podcasts, you name it.

The saying that there is no such thing as bad publicity is entirely untrue when the publicity is about what a dishonest cheat you are.

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