Tuesday, May 29, 2007

How NOT to Make Money Online

How NOT to Make Money Online

This falls under the category of stinkers, as opposed to winners! (Yes, even the ones that seem the best to start can turn out to be stinkers!) 

Basically, there is a very simple way to lose money online, rather than making it. That is to get into an "opportunity" that looks too good to be true. 

Burning money

 Here are a few simple rules: 

1.) HYIPs: If it requires very little investment and promises huge returns - you are going to lose whatever you invest. While a few who invest initially and pull their money out quickly will make money - that's just part of the scam. They start telling everyone how much they're making, people sign up in droves, the company gets rich, and the plug gets pulled. Simple. 

2.) Automated wealth programs: No work, no calls, no big investment - what can I say... there's no such thing as a free ride. If you want to make big money, you have to put in big effort. Anyone who tells you anything different is lying to you. 

3.) "New Secrets to Online Wealth" are hogwash in any form. This goes back to the old scheme of telling you to send a stamped, self-addressed envelope and $5 to get the secret to quick riches. You receive a note that tells you to post ads everywhere that tell people to send you $5 and a self-addressed, stamped envelope to find out the secret to quick riches. 

 4.) The age-old rule: If it looks too good to be true, it IS too good to be true. Protect yourself and your friends by staying away from such things and by sticking with things that require hard work, perseverance, and entrepreneurship. That's the proven way to wealth. 

Start here at TargettedMarket.com and learn how to build something real.

Monday, May 21, 2007

Horse Pucky!

Horse Pucky!

Perhaps those who grew up in warmer climes or wealthier families than I did will not understand the term, "Horse Pucky." It is a somewhat more polite term than the one often used to describe some of the absolutely worthless and crooked money-snatching programs I've been deleting today as I clean out one of my inboxes. 

Horse

Look at this one advertising a new course put together by someone I KNOW needs to take a course, himself: "It's a complete A-Z training program to guide you step-by-step to internet success." 

Yeah, right! Horse Pucky!! 

 And to top it all off, look at the P.S. he has tagged on at the end (errors included): "P.S: Make no mistake -- This is a blueprint to internet success. Many people have tried this system and is making money part-time or full-time." 

Like I said, I'm not blowing steam, here; I KNOW this guy - don't throw your money away. (This guy is actually a friend - imagine what I might say if he was an enemy! LOL!!) 

How about this one: "I Just Couldn't Recommend It to You" (Why? Because it was priced at $1500 and I felt really stupid that I actually paid that much for something that really didn't work properly, anyway, and I didn't want to admit that I bought this Horse Pucky for such a ridiculous price.... But NOW that the market has been flooded by suckers - errr - clients who paid way to much for an inferior product - I now want to recommend that you waste only $97 on it...) 

Guess what? For virtually ANY marketing software or ebook, program, etc, all you need to do to realize just how useless it is AND to get it free is to wait. You usually won't have to wait very long before it's being given away for nothing more expensive than your email address on a capture page.

Here's a real beaut: "I Need 200 Success Stories" My goal is to take 200 average people and show them how to make $1,057.50 every week within their first 30 days." Follow the links, and you find out that it's SO valuable that it's now being given away on an email capture page... 

Man, if it was REAL it would really be worth a fortune. Do people really believe some of this stuff? No wonder so many online entrepeneurs have no money and huge credit card bills. 

 Another email promises: "Ryan & Andrew can show you how to do nothing and generate over $10,000 a month." I don't need to make any further comments on that piece of Horse Pucky! 

Shawn Casey (Oops - did I actually just tell you the name of one of these so-called "gurus? ") makes this claim: "If You Can Click Your Mouse, Then I Guarantee You'll Make At Least $1,000 In As Little As 48 Hours Starting From Scratch." 

 If you part with the $39 for this 825 page ebook, I can at least guarantee one thing - you'll be poorer by $39! Note also that when you actually read through the long, LOOOOONG sales page, you'll find that he actually hides a little disclaimer in amongst all the hype that tells you that not everyone will actually make the kind of money he's talking about.... Wow! Big surprise! 

In fact, most people will fall asleep long before they even get through the first hundred pages... 

More Horse Pucky - pure scam - "Turn $30 into $279,300 IT IS POSSIBLE! Anyone can do it!" 

Next, here's one from a guy who just feels SO bad that so many people are getting scammed and losing money that he's taken it upon himself to let you in on all the secrets that all the other money-grubbing gurus are keeping to themselves: "Make up to $250 in 60 Minutes, over and over again, sitting at home in your pajamas!" For just under 50 bucks, you can make him feel all warm and fuzzy for letting you in on this "secret." 

Horse Pucky! Beware of ANY so-called money making program that tells you that you don't have to sell anything! If you're not offering a product or service in return for hard cash, you're not in business and you're NOT making money! 

I could go on and on and on and on... about so-called "bootleg videos" of internet "gurus" spilling their guts, guaranteed free targeted traffic, unlimited wealth "secrets," How to get Your keywords listed in the top 10 on Google (yeah, if you choose the right words and they are almost meaningless as a search term), and so on. 

The facts are that in order to make money online, just as in the offline world, it requires a product or service (there's nothing wrong with an affiliate program), and lots of learning, research, hard work, persistence, advertising and more hard work. Any program that promises instant riches with no work is just... Horse Pucky. 

Horse Pucky - noun - frozen, hockey puck-shaped object left behind by a large solid-hoofed herbivorous mammal of the genus Equus (a horse). 

Learn how to market online at TargettedMarket.com

Wednesday, May 09, 2007

Community Stinkers

Community Stinkers

Grrrrrrrrr....! Piggybackers!! 

The time has come when I need to make it clear to all my friends, fellow bloggers and community members, that if you don't see my name attached to a thread or a blog I've created, it's definitely not endorsed by me! 

piggyback toads

Lately I've been getting a ton of people "piggybacking" on my forums and blogs. When that happens, I simply delete it and let the person who stuck it there know it does NOT belong there! 

If you see a new one there, just ignore it. I've been about as polite as I can get, but it's still happening. My personal reputation is on the line on my blogs and forums, and particularly in the ones where I endorse carefully researched products and programs. 

So far, none of the people who have blatantly disregarded proper decorum, respect and just plain decent ethics when posting on my sites have been on my list of friends in the first place. They seem to just prowl communities, blogs and bulletin boards looking for a reasonably popular place to flog their junk, rather than introducing themselves first and asking me to actually take a look at their wares. 

On some of my other forums, I've actually made it clear that posting a new thread is just dandy and welcome if it fits the context. 

Most of my writing is based on my own studies, digging and personal experience, and they are NOT open to anyone (without my express permission). I don't think it could be much plainer or simpler than that! 

OK - there's my rant for today. It's probably happening to you, too, but hopefully we can find a way to get this practice of "piggybacking" stopped.

Get informed at TargettedMarket.com

Thursday, May 03, 2007

Junk Salesmen

Junk Salesmen

Oh... Man... How long are people going to continue to send me email with "Buy My Junk!" in the subject line? 

 Of course, that's not literally what their subject line says, but it might as well be

Junk Yard

 My first thought, if I even think about it at all before I delete all the junk that floods my accounts every day is, "Who Are You?" 

 My second thought is, "Why SHOULD I buy your junk? I know absolutely nothing about you... Except for the fact that you're obviously very rude." 

 Who, but a person who is very rude, (or an utter idiot) would walk up to a complete stranger on the street and say, "Psssst... Wanna buy a house? or a car? or a nice dinner at a restaurant?" 

 What would you think if someone you had never seen before walked up to you and asked, "How would you like to make an easy million dollars?" Call the cops... quick!! 

 I have a few words for all the strangers who send me "Buy my Junk" spam every day... you're NEVER going to sell me anything! Ever! I have absolutely no respect for you and think you have no respect for yourself, either. You're desperate to make a sale, and I'm really uncomfortable around desperate people (get me a flack jacket - quick!) 

 Selling anything, whether online or off, requires selling yourself, first. Most products or services can be bought from hundreds or thousands of different places or people, and the thought is always going to go through a prospective buyer's head, consciously or unconsciously, "Why should I buy from you?"

 No one is comfortable buying from a complete stranger. The buyer wants to trust the person he or she is buying from, and that's completely impossible if the buyer knows nothing about the seller! 

 These Junk Salesmen need to learn this stuff. Perhaps if they read my blog or other articles I've written they'd at LEAST get my name right (it's NOT FIRSTNAME!) Perhaps then they'd address me as Dave, rather than Friend (I'm not their friend!!) Some people who don't know me actually address me as Dearly Beloved!! What rock did they crawl out from under?? Send me a note if you want to, and make sure to call me Dave! I'd enjoy getting to know you.

Learn more about home business at TargettedMarket.com

Friday, March 16, 2007

How to Treat a Hero...

How to Treat a Hero...

The other day, a Canadian soldier came home from Afghanistan. This is a guy who joined the Armed Forces of his own free will as a volunteer so he could go to Afghanistan to help the people there rebuild a country that has been devastated by years and years of war. 

If you have any illusions about how much that country has been damaged, do a Google search on Kabul, the capital. In the 1960s, it was a beautiful, modern city. Now, Kabul, like most of the country, lies in ruins. (See http://www.afghan-network.net/Photography/kabul/ )   

Smiling Afghan Children

The Canadian soldier I'm talking about went to that country to try to help the people rebuild and live in peace. It's such a mess there that school children take their lives in their hands just by going to school (the Taliban do not like education and are especially opposed to females getting an education of any kind.) 

Kids in many areas go to schools that are only partially destroyed, but have to put up with no heat, no electricity, and no place to plug in computers - something that we take for granted here in North America. 

 After facing the enemy, both visible and invisible, for long months during his tour of duty, this brave soldier came home to his home town, still in good shape, having been one of the favoured ones who wasn't shot up or blown up in an ambush. 

He went to a local pub to see his friends, was hailed as a hero when he walked in the doors, and then was severely beaten by some low-life jerk who hasn't got the guts to do what this soldier has already done, and ended up in the hospital with head injuries, broken teeth and a lot of bruises. Fortunately, he's out of the hospital now, and recovering nicely. 

What's the matter with our world? What's the matter with Canada and the US, that we would treat our soldiers so badly when they come home? People in both countries are screaming at our leaders to bring our soldiers home, treat our soldiers like garbage, and don't really give a blip about the suffering thousands and millions in those faraway countries. 

Oh, they'll tell you they do. They'll say it's all about oil, and if our leaders would just stay out of it and bring our soldiers home, all the troubles would be over. 

Bull..... The people in Afghanistan, Iraq, and many other countries don't have the luxury of even knowing if the lights are going to be on when they wake up. The enemy, be it the Taliban, el Queda, or whoever, do not understand the concept of passivism. To them, those who will not fight are weak, and deserve to be conquered, molested at will, and killed for sport. 

 Anyone who thinks otherwise has not paid any attention to the news and photographs from the last 40 years, and certainly has NO understanding of history from that part of the world. Peace has been an extremely rare commodity over there, and has only been possible when very strong leaders have been there who are backed by other very strong countries (like the US and NATO forces).  

Our soldiers who are fighting in these "far-off" lands are heroes and deserve to be treated as such. What they are doing "over there" is not simply "interfering" in someone else's business, but it is a huge humanitarian challenge and ultimately, is protecting our own freedom over here. 

Those who spit on our returning soldiers or worse are the first ones who would start screaming for the soldiers to protect them if the battles came over here. My personal feelings would be to send them out first to try to make peace. Then, when the pile of bodies gets high enough, the rest of us would have a place to lay our rifles when we start to shoot. 

Call me callous. Call me mean. Heck, call me a warmonger! I don't care. I call myself a realist, and have studied history and modern history far more than the average head up the tail ignoramuses that march in peace parades, and I think I know which end is really up. 

I don't like or support war, but when the war comes, I know that doing nothing is the best way to get shot. I applaud our brave soldiers and give them all the support I can. We should support our soldiers and we should welcome them home as heroes. 

We should also pray for an end to violence and for peace in the hearts of men. Peace doesn't come from parades. It comes in hearts, one at a time, from above.

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Hype Sucks!

Hype Sucks!

Hype really sucks! It sucks money out of the pockets of honest people trying to make an honest living on the Internet. 

There are thousands of scams being run on the Internet right now, and hundreds of products available that do not produce income the way they promise to. Every day, hundreds of people go online for the first time, looking for the fortune the new commerce has been promising. They are inundated with programs that will make them rich, being told that all they have to do is build a free website, plaster up a bunch of banners, and then sit back and collect their fortune. 

Empty Wallet

After a short time, reality begins to sink in. The hit counter is not moving. No one can find them. Having a website on the Internet is kind of like having a store at the North Pole. Nobody knows you're there! 

The next step in the online business odyssey is website promotion. Soon, you are spending all your time joining every banner and click program available, then spending countless hours clicking through one banner-plastered, slow-loading site after another. The result..........? No sales. 

The next step is to go looking for better affiliate programs that offer better products that everyone wants to buy. You put up more banners and take down some, and keep clicking.... clicking... clicking... And still no sales. 

Here is where things really begin to suck, and I mean to literally suck YOUR wallet dry. You either click through to a flashy "How to Make a Million Bucks Overnight" site or get something similar in your email. After reading for fifteen minutes, you still don't know who's behind the program or what the product is, but you are promised that you will get rich and that you are saving hundreds and hundreds of dollars by buying NOW! 

Hype does sell. That is why you see so much of it. But most of the expensive programs promising to make you rich simply make their promoters rich. 

My basic rule of thumb is this: If the program costs more than dinner and a movie, and your online profits won't cover the cost, then don't go there. Learn how to market online first. Then you will be making money, and will be far more able to recognize a good thing when you see it! I hate seeing people waste their hard-earned money, and then become discouraged. 

That is why I do the research I do, and why I write these articles. I want to see people succeed. I've already done things the hard way myself. There are three steps I want you to look at. These will really boost your success on the Internet if you follow instructions and work hard. If you don't like work, please stop reading here. 

1.Join an online community like Adlandpro, Sokule or Ryze (and there are many more). Get to know people, find out who seems to have the most popular forums on business, network marketing, internet sales, and related information, and learn from them. 

Ask lots of questions. You will quickly find out who really knows their stuff, because they will generally be the kindest, friendliest, most helpful people you'll ever meet. You will also find that they are not afraid to give you answers that might ruffle a few feathers because they realize that telling the truth is more important than anything else. 

2.Find out who's making money and what they're doing. Take your time, and be choosy. When you find someone who's making money with a product or program you really like, you can approach them and find out if they're looking for new partners to mentor and train in their business. Note that in most cases, this is a networker's dream and they will be thrilled to sponsor and train you. 

3.Learn from your sponsor and do exactly what you're told. You're not ready to go on your own, so why try to do it your way when your upline already knows the right way? 

4.Let a small number of people into your organization and train them in exactly the same way your sponsor trained you. Notice that I said, “Let a small number.” This is YOUR business, and you don't want the whole world trying to run your store. 

If you start out with the idea that it's YOUR business and THEY have to qualify to join you, you will have an organization built with people who are much more likely to follow your example and succeed, creating a very tightly knit and successful organization. Do it right, right from the beginning, and you will enjoy wonderful success in a solid, long-lasting, profitable business! 

Saturday, January 27, 2007

Don't Waste your Time

Don't Waste your Time with OTO Goldmine


Hi everyone! A fellow member of a community I belong to has asked my opinion on something called OTO Goldmine, so I joined the free program and took a look around. 

There are some high profile people shown on the site recommending it (I know several of them.) In fact, there are more testimonials from "successful" marketers than you will normally see on ten sites! 

Gold Bars

The program is free to join, is not really a scam, but falls flat after that. The hype starts right on the first page. It is a very typical, "Ya Gotta Have it - It's the Best Ever" kind of "Sell you in hurry" site, with plenty of "unsolicited" recommendations from fellow marketers (who are probably selling the system), and a lot of emphasis on the FREE part, but if you go through the sign up process, you will find plenty of opportunity to part with your money on "must have" One Time Offers (OTOs). 

Once you get through the whole process, you will find that you can only actually have ONE campaign for yourself, but you have to upgrade (translation - you have to spend $67.00 today or $29.95 per month if you wait another day in order to really use the system.) 

The other thing they REALLY tread the line of honesty on is their skirting of the FACT that the system is basically USELESS to you if you don't have your own website. An OTO (One Time Offer) is something that you use on your website to sell a product or service. You are offering a "once-in-a-lifetime" deal that hopefully will inspire people to make a quick decision to part with their money or email address or both. 

You can use this kind of marketing strategy in popups (bad idea), or exit (logout) pages, or as an in between page after someone logs in, or for a 404 error page, etc. All of these things are things that you can do yourself with your own website and a little bit of research - FREE, and for as many campaigns as you want. 

What makes these OTOs work comes down to two things - a TON of traffic (they say they have a 3+ percent conversion), and a lot of flashy hype. 

Now let's get down to a reality check before you start thinking that you could maybe make a lot of money just selling their program. IF you sold their $67 program (you would need a Clickbank ID to do that) and you had 100 REAL visitors to your website per day, (not click-click-clickers) you would make 3 sales (according to their ad copy), at 75% commission, which is about $150 per day. 

However, if you think you're going to make that kind of money with generic traffic like most people are generating these days, I have a great deal on a bridge for you, too! 

I also found one, in my opinion, outright lie on the website. I quote: "Don't miss a word of this page as this is third and most powerful way to make money through this system and the best part is that You need not to do anything for it. All you have to do is to become Pro Member and it's done. This system will do everything for you." 

That's if you pay the $67.00. That is a pretty blatant falsehood. There is no system in existence that will do everything for you. YOU will have to generate enough pairs of eyes looking at the offer for it to make any money at all, and believe me, you will be lucky to get a .03% conversion rate, where you actually find someone who actually has the money and the will to shell out $67 on this system. 

My best recommendation is that you take your $67 if you can spare it, and buy you and a friend a nice dinner somewhere. You'll definitely get more bang for your buck, and a LOT more satisfaction. 

Learn how to really earn from home at TargettedMarket.com