My answer, as always, is yes and no. In other words, some are and some aren't.

I don't have the time in this article to get into who is and who isn't trustworthy, but I can give you some general advice about it that should help you with your online business, and save you a lot of time and money in the process, if we're lucky.

You see, the last few years have become the era of the big launch. You've probably seen it. Every guru bombards you with emails about the newest product they have coming out, and they load it up with hype and big dollar figures and bonuses and scarcity and so on. And then, of course, all of their guru pals email you promotions about the same product. And then a week or two later they're all emailing you about the next guru's new product. And the cycle goes on and on.

Which is fine for them, and it's making them a lot of money, but it's having an adverse effect on most of the people receiving these promotions. Most people are getting overwhelmed and confused and losing sight of exactly what they need to be doing to get their business off the ground.

If you're on enough email lists, then you might be stuck in the never ending launch cycle, too: getting promotion after promotion, buying product after product, not getting a chance to look into any of them because the next product is already being sold, and never getting a chance to work on your business. And so the only people making money are the gurus.

Here's the part that really grinds my gears: they'll constantly tell you that they're giving you good free information, but in actuality, everything ends up being a sales pitch. They'll even try to sell you their latest product at one of their live seminars that you've already paid to attend. That's why I don't go to many seminars, by the way.

I don't mean for this to be a rant accusing everyone who sells anything ever as bad. Far from it. I sell products online, too, and I firmly believe in many marketing and promotion techniques, and I certainly wouldn't begrudge anyone their right to make money in business. And I don't have a problem with product launches, for the record. But I don't think it's too much to ask for a certain amount of honesty and, oh I don't know, customer service in the process.

It's difficult because the very best salesmen will tell you anything you want to hear in order to get that sale. They'll lie whenever necessary, because the lies will often sound much better than the truth. And since that quick sale is often the easiest one to get, a lot of marketers go for it.

So how do you know who to trust? Here's what I think is the best and easiest way to find out: try contacting them.

That's right. Send them an email and see if they get back to you. If helping others and good customer service is really as important to them as they say, then they'll respond and answer any questions you have. You'll find that most of these guys won't ever get back to you. They're not really as interested in helping you as they are in making sales and, of course, money for themselves.

And if they're customer service is that bad, what's going to happen if you buy their product and have a question about it, or if you aren't satisfied and want your money back? Will you get a response then?

That's the sad fact of internet marketing today, and that's one of the reasons why it's gotten such a bad name. That's why so many people are frustrated and angry and taking it out on anyone who tries to sell anything, even the legitimately helpful marketers.

Because in the short term, the truth just can't compete with the lies. The lies are made to sound too good, and the truth is probably a little boring. But I'd rather have someone tell me the boring truth any day.

So if you're interested in a product that someone's selling, then before you spend any money on it, try contacting them and see how it goes. If they're just too busy to talk to you, then you probably don't want to do business with them anyway.