Deception as a business model

This may sound rather odd, but think about how often you find sometimes borderline and sometimes outright deceptive business practices. The car dealer that says, "Every application will be accepted!" but the fine print says, "accepted does not imply approval." The loan applications that are designed to look like priorty mail. How about the websites that trick you into signing up? I just found Find Your Admirer. DON'T SIGN UP!!! But take a look. You enter your name, zodiac symbol and cell number and you get a text message from your "secret admirer." Aside from being downright stupid, here is the fine print:

You agree that in connection with subscribing for the services, (i) Boost customers will receive the Flirting Tips at $6.99 per month on code 66047, (ii) Nextel, Cellular One, Alltel, Verizon Wireless, Virgin Mobile and Sprint customers will receive weekly the Flirting Tips at $9.99 per month, and (iii) AT&T customers will receive the Flirting Tips club at $19.99 per month. Alltel customers will receive Flirting Tips 3 times per week for $9.99 per month.

Here's a tip. If you have to deceive your customers into doing business with you, there is something wrong with your business model because you aren't destined to last. If you have to have paragraphs of disclaimers, maybe there are some flaws that you need to have worked out before you are really ready to go to market.

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Corey Smith is a co-founder of Resumango where you can build a better resume for free.