Ed's Internet Marketing Corner

The Biggest Scam in the Credit Reporting Industry Screams Deception and Greed

2007-12-12T21:23:00.000-08:00

Ed's Internet Marketing Corner:

Copyright © 2007 Ed Bagley

What is it with some big corporations in America today? Too many of them lull you to sleep and then rip you off while acting like this is business as usual and acceptable. The latest example comes from the three big credit reporting bureaus—TransUnion, Experian and Equifax.

These three credit reporting bureaus are involved in a fight to wrest the credit scoring business away from FICO (Fair Isaac), which for years has been the leader in the marketplace.

The industry changed dramatically in 2003 when the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act required the three major credit reporting bureaus to supply each consumer with one free credit report annually.

For decades the major bureaus had denied consumers access to their credit histories, selling the data exclusively to lenders. Since then the bureaus have moved aggressively to tap the consumer market.

The result has been very profitable as domestic sales of credit data to consumers created $220 million in revenue in 2003, more than doubled to $448 million in 2006 and is projected to top $860 million by 2010, according to market researchers.

Basically, the credit reporting bureaus have generated this income by appearing to give away a free credit report when in fact they are doing no such thing. They are luring consumers to several web sites claiming to give away a free credit report but only do so if you agree to buy one of their lame services, such as credit monitoring.

Worse yet, the scores you get from two of the top three bureaus are not FICO scores at all, but rather scores concocted by two of the bureaus in question: TransUnion and Experian. These scores are generally higher than the actual FICO score, giving consumers a false idea of their true score when lenders use the actual FICO score to make lending decisions.

This amounts to not just deception on the part of the bureaus in question, but dishonesty as well, in other words, they lie, cheat and steal and get away with it under the guise of "creative marketing", which is better described as "creatively screwing the consumer out of his or her money by misrepresenting what they are actually getting for free".

In this process, the bureaus are not serving consumers honestly. There is not a shred of integrity in this process and the credit reporting bureaus know it; they do it because they can legally do it even though it does not represent how business should be conducted.

Rather than actually helping and serving consumers in a straightforward transaction, they choose to line their pockets at the consumer's expense.

America became the most prosperous nation on the face of the earth by major corporations actually serving consumers, being fair and honest in their dealings by giving consumers more value for their purchase, and actually building a reputation of being trustworthy.

Those days are long over. Too many major corporations today are raising lying, cheating and stealing to an art form and then launching their "creative marketing" plans in a fit of righteousness. They deserve my absolute contempt, and should deserve the absolute contempt of consumers in every corner of this country.

Consumers who are taken in by their corporate greed are being misused, and frankly too many of them do not realize what a lower life form they are doing business with.

Here are some facts that you should know:

1) The one and only place you can get your free credit report annually is at:

AnnualCreditReport.com

Even at AnnualCreditReport.com you will not get your FICO scores from all of the major credit reporting bureaus. You will typically get your credit reports from the three bureaus and only one of your credit scores. You will have to buy your credit scores from the other two, and even then you may not be getting your actual FICO score which virtually all lenders use in decision-making.

Dozens of these "dummy" sites affiliated with the bureaus falsely imply that they can also distribute the government-mandated free reports. This is an absolute lie and why they are lying to consumers.

The plain truth is that the word "free" in business advertising in America is used so freely that it really has no meaning in the context of these kind of disingenuous offers by credit bureaus.

2) Any other URL that says they offer a free credit report is really a scam to relieve you of your hard-earned money. Both TransUnion and Experian are lousy with these dummy web sites and are taking advantage of the opportunity to line their pockets at the consumers expense.

3) The truth is that the only place you can get your actual FICO score is at Fair Isaac's consumer web site (myFICO.com), or at Equifax (Exquifax.com), which is the only credit reporting bureau that sells (not gives away free) FICO scores to consumers.

It is a sad commentary that in our day and time too many major corporations in America are terrible role models for anything and will do nothing to stop lining their pockets at the consumer's expense.

I am ashamed of the greedy, dishonest, disingenuous leaders of these companies. They should have to face their mother and family and explain how they failed to learn and practice some basic human traits, including honesty, integrity, trustworthiness and kindness.

This, of course, will not happen because in many cases their parents have left this place for a better one. That does not excuse their behavior or greed. What else are these so-called leaders doing in the dark of the night that we cannot see?

Editor's Note: Read my articles on Borrowing and Credit Card Companies, including "Financial Predators: Vermin, Rodents and Other Insect Pests", and my 3-part series on "Your Credit Score – How It Can Cost You Thousands More on Your Mortgage – Part 1; Six Actions You Can Take to Improve Your Contract Terms – Part 2; and FICO Plans to Eliminate Authorized Credit Card User Accounts – Part 3".

Editor's Note: Explore my main blog at:
http://www.edbagleyblog.com
Discover 136 Movie Reviews, 68 Sports Articles, 88 Articles on Lessons in Life, 18 Articles on Jobs and Careers, 30 Articles on Internet Marketing and 591 Famous Quotes.

The Only Way to Become Financially Free in America Today: Start Your Own Business

2007-10-07T22:40:00.000-07:00

Ed's Internet Marketing Corner:

Copyright © 2007 Ed Bagley

I have become so sick and tired of online gurus offering scam products and opportunities that I must reveal the truth about what I have discovered. It is simply this:

In virtually every ad I have read and responded to online a sinister tactic has left me disappointed and dismayed. All of the solutions I had been promised left me unable to achieve any real success whatsoever.

And the sinister tactic being used? Let me simply call it the sin of omission in the solution being offered for my hard-earned money and time.

As strange as it might seem to a man, think about baking a cake that has 5 ingredients. What I have been getting from online gurus is generally 4 of the 5 ingredients, or 80% of the knowledge and application it takes to make the big bucks like the gurus.

Without the 5th and final ingredient the cake making process and the cake are a flop. Worse yet, the gurus know this and purposefully withhold the final ingredient, knowing that if you knew it, you would then join them in the success circle.

They nonetheless advertise and sell their information as if they are giving you all of the ingredients and the full story. In the process, I was being really cheated out of my investment in their products and opportunities.

They were literally lining their pockets at my expense while acting like successful online entrepreneurs willing to share their success information for a price.

The online business of selling information to unsuspecting prospects without giving the prospects all of the information and help they need to succeed has become a multi-million dollar industry.

These online gurus are worse than spin doctors in politics. They will literally steal you blind and act like they are doing you a real service; there is apparently no end to their righteousness and profits, not to mention their disingenuousness.

Enough is enough. I am sick and tired of all their lies and ad copy that drones on for 50-plus pages, spewing out their "exclusive" knowledge, how "easy" it is to succeed like they do, all the "evidence" of their newfound wealth, all the "testimonials" of the common folk and superstars who worship at their feet, all the "crap" you are going to get (minus the real information you need to succeed), how their information is "worth" thousands, how "you can buy it" for hundreds, and how you must "act immediately" to take advantage of their time-sensitive offer.

All of it crap. I have never had a single one of these gurus help me with sincerity at my point of need. They are only interested in selling me more of their personal and company products, books, tapes, seminar tickets, etc., all of which they make money at my expense.

Here is what I believe you need to know before you begin a journey toward becoming financially free:

1) Unless you are a famous rock star, professional athlete or chief executive officer of a major corporation, you have no chance of becoming financially free. You cannot be hired help as an average worker and become financially free in America.

You should have figured out by now that you are not going to get generous raises each year, get more time off, and get better medical, dental and associated benefits. You are an employee, not the owner of the company.

2) As long as you are hired help, you are going to pay too much of your earnings in taxes. Workers are taxed to death. You should know by now that even if your government taxed the rich three times as much, the combined middle class taxpayers still pay far more taxes.

Take the middle class out of paying taxes and the United States would collapse. There would not be enough money to pay all of bureaucrats who regulate our lives and our incomes.

3) Your government does not reward you for being financially responsible, your government punishes you. Your government taxes you on your savings. Your government restricts the amount of tax-free money you can contribute to your retirement accounts. Your government encourages you to go farther into debt by giving you a bigger mortgage interest deduction for a bigger house with a bigger mortgage payment.

4) Very few Americans can save enough for retirement because their incomes are too low, their taxes are too high, and by the time they pay their bills, too many live month-to-month, unable to save enough for retirement.

So what is the answer? Let me share with you not what I think, but what I know.

5) First, you need to go into business for yourself. Do not quit your job, simply start a part-time business on the side so you can begin to generate some income, and accumulate more legal tax deductions. The tax deductions will enable you to lower your taxable income. Then you can take the tax savings and invest in your retirement and/or expand your business.

6) Second, this is not rocket science. You do not need a college degree or special advice from your banker or financial expert, 95% of whom will lie, cheat and steal to take your money while trying to convince you that they are your best friend and helping you. If you doubt this, just start reading the real life articles I write in the Lessons in Life section of my Blog.

7) Understand that as hired help you have so few legal deductions you can count them on one hand. As a business owner, you have a minimum of 200 deductions and hundreds more if you are a major corporation. You simply cannot continue to pay the taxes you are paying as hired help and get ahead.

8) Do you know that as a business you can legally arrange your affairs so that virtually all of your business travel expenses are 100% deductible? This lowers your net taxable income, and reduces the net taxable income your business generates.

9) Do you know that if you have children ages 8 to 18 you can hire each of them to work in your business, and pay them approximately $5,000 a year? Do you know that this income for each of your children is tax free to them, and you can take the combined employment expense as a 100% business deduction?

10) Do you know you can start a legal business for a one-time investment of as little as $200, and maintain your business for as little as $20 a month? Yes you can. I do it, and I can show you how to do it.

Click on the link below to read the article I wrote about my personal experience. You can actually do something to help yourself and your situation. I know. I did. You can too. Go here for more information:

http://www.edbagleyblog.com/BusinessOpportunities.html

Editor's Note: Get a Free Analysis of PIP, Empowerism and SFI for Affiliate Marketers. Email me at: edbagley@comcast.net and put "Subscribe List 2" in the Subject Line.

Editor's Note: Explore my main blog at:
http://www.edbagleyblog.com/
Discover 136 Movie Reviews, 68 Sports Articles, 88 Articles on Lessons in Life, 18 Articles on Jobs and Careers, 30 Articles on Internet Marketing and 591 Famous Quotes.

Mortgage Lenders Act Like Your Friend in Need, But Seek to Line Their Pockets at Your Expense

2007-08-17T19:28:00.000-07:00

Ed's Internet Marketing Corner:

Copyright © 2007 Ed Bagley

A client of mine received a "Smart Watch Report" from her mortgage lender the other day, and asked me to evaluate it for her.

The report was really an invitation to refinance her current mortgage loan and use her equity interest to either get cash now or sell her home and use the equity to buy a new home.

She made her original 30-year fixed rate loan for $142,000 at 5.5% interest a little more than two years ago. Her principal and interest monthly payment is $806. She has her property taxes and home insurance rolled into the loan, making her actual monthly payment $1,014, or $208 more.

Her appraisal at the time of the loan was $200,000 and her mortgage lender set the estimated current value at $253,000, giving her an estimated equity of $114,000+. Her principal owing at the time was $139,000+.

This is what I quickly observed:

1) She needed to buy a new home like she needed another hole in her head, and I told her so. Since she has a fixed income, buying a newer, better home would simply increase her debt and make it more difficult to service the increased debt.

2) While she could refinance her 30-year fixed rate to a 15-year fixed rate loan and save $55,000 over the life of the loan, it would increase her monthly payment for principal and interest to $1,193, an increase of $387 over her current $806 monthly payment.

Rolling her property taxes and home insurance into the 15-year loan would bring her new actual payment to $1,401, again an increase of $387 over her current monthly payment of $1,014.

3) The first offer her mortgage lender made was to do a "cash out " refinance wherein she could get her hands on $89,000+ in cash to fritter away on a new car, vacations and whatever else she did not need. This would be an incredibly dumb move for her to make, and I said so.

To do this her mortgage lender suggested she enter into a new 30-year fixed rate loan at 6.750%, a full 1.25% greater than her current loan. Her APR (annual percentage rate) would be 6.980%, or almost 7%.

Her new payment for principal and interest would be $1,477, or an increase of $671 over her current $806 monthly payment for principal and interest.

Rolling her property taxes and home insurance into the new 30-year loan would bring her new payment to $1,685, again an increase of $671 over her current monthly payment of $1,014.

Should my client take the lure of getting her hot hands on an extra $89,000+ in cash she would pay dearly for a really stupid financial decision.

The mortgage lender that suggested this option in their "Smart Watch Report" could really care less whether my client went into more debt and may not be able to meet the new obligations should she take the "cash out" refinance.

The mortgage lender could not care less if my client dropped dead. The lender still holds the paper on the property (they own it until the current loan is paid off in full) and could easily sell the property to recover its original $142,000 investment while still making a huge profit in the process.

Is what the mortgage lender is offering my client a responsible thing to do? You decide. I fail to see how loaning my client more money at a higher interest rate and increasing her debt is helping her. It would in fact hurt her.

Borrowers do not understand that when they take out a 30-year fixed rate mortgage loan they become an employee of the company lending the money. Teasing the lender with a "cash out" offer that could easily drive them into bankruptcy is hardly a responsible act by any lender, much less a leader in the marketplace.

This is the point and purpose of writing this article and posting it on the Internet: Since when is helping a financially desperate person—or any borrower for that matter—made better by driving them deeper into debt, leaving them as ignorant as you found them, and lining your pockets at their expense?

Note: Read my Article on "Financial Predators: Vermin, Rodents and Other Insect Pests", my 2-Part Series on "Why Lenders Are Not Your Friends", "Shopping Online – Caveat Emptor (Latin for Let the Buyer Beware)" and "How Online Surveys Prey On New and Unaware Marketers". Find these articles and more in my Blog Archive.

Editor's Note: Explore my main blog at:
http://www.edbagleyblog.com
Discover 136 Movie Reviews, 68 Sports Articles, 88 Articles on Lessons in Life, 18 Articles on Jobs and Careers, 30 Articles on Internet Marketing and 591 Famous Quotes.

Wade Cook: So What Are We to Learn From the Wade Cook Mess? - Part 2

2007-08-13T21:20:00.000-07:00

Ed's Internet Marketing Corner:

Copyright © 2007 Ed Bagley

So what are we to learn from the Wade Cook mess?

At least three things for sure:

1) If it sounds too good to be true and is as easy as falling off a log, then it is too good to be true.

2) People who actually make money using a new market theory would never, and I mean NEVER, tell anyone unless they are brain dead or born stupid. They understand that the pie is only so big and the more pieces that are eaten, the less there is to go around.

You do not, repeat DO NOT, see Warren Buffett writing books about what stocks to invest in, how much, when to buy and when to sell. Buffett does not even tell his investors what he is doing for the obvious reason that they could not keep a secret.

Buffett, the financial mind behind Berkshire Hathaway, was the first billionaire to make his fortune investing in the stock market, hardly the place for the faint of heart or novice to try and make money.

Buffett is only the second richest person in the world, worth $52 billion at last count.
Bill Gates of Microsoft is the richest person at $56 billion, and he does not write books on investing either.

Warren Buffett is so respected and admired as an investment advisor that a California investor paid more than $620,000 on an online charity auction to have lunch with Buffett. The proceeds went to a San Francisco foundation that provides free meals and social services.

Yongping Duan, founder of a consumer electronics company in China, paid the $620,000+ under the condition that during the lunch he could query Buffett about anything EXCEPT what he is buying and selling.

Warren Buffett is not beyond gifting his time for a good purpose. He has pledged 85% of his Berkshire stock (valued then at $37 billion) to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Buffet's holding company is worth $168 billion.

3) Because Wade Cook did not make squat on his investment theories, he wrote and sold books and tapes, and gave seminars. Any significant money Cook made was by selling his stupid, unprofitable products to unsuspecting consumers who were taken in by his hype.

Live and learn. Do not buy books and tapes and go to seminars put on by financial gurus if you want to make money.

I will give you some great financial advice for free: Buy and read Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist by Roger Lowenstein, and then invest in Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Incorporated.

All you really need to know is that if you had invested only $10,000 with Buffett when he started in 1956 and left it with him, you would be worth more than $80 million today.

(Editor's Note: This is Part 2 of a 2-Part Series.)

Note: Read my 2-Part Series on "Why Lenders Are Not Your Friends" and also "Financial Predators: Vermin, Rodents and Other Insect Pests", "Shopping Online – Caveat Emptor (Latin for Let the Buyer Beware)" and "How Online Surveys Prey On New and Unaware Marketers". Find these articles and more in my Blog Archive.

Wade Cook: Feds Finally Nail Financial Guru and His Wife on IRS Tax Evasion Charges - Part 1

2007-08-11T22:29:00.000-07:00

Ed's Internet Marketing Corner:

Copyright © 2007 Ed Bagley

It came as absolutely no surprise to me that so-called financial guru Wade Cook and his wife Laura were recently convicted of income tax evasion and sentenced to jail, according to an Associated Press report.

Wade Cook became really annoying some years ago by seeking to peddle his financial advice on his theory and accompanying books, tapes, seminars and associated crap to me and a lot of other unsuspecting potential investors.

Crap is the right choice of word as his financial advice has proven worthless. I never bought his stuff but thousands of other investors did.

Cook was nothing more or less than a cab driver who decided to get rich by preying on people looking for an easy solution to becoming rich.

He wrote three get-rich-quick books on his "meter-drop" theory of investing: Wall Street Money Machine, Wealth 101 and Business by the Bible. Is it not amazing how hucksters always want God to endorse their business, products and shenanigans?

Cook conducted hundreds of seminars in the 1990s on asset protection, stock market investing, real estate acquisition and avoidance of income tax.

He was so good at the avoidance of income tax issue that he will now spend more than 7 years in prison for income tax evasion by defrauding the Internal Revenue Service.

U. S. District Judge Thomas Zilly of the federal court in Seattle ordered Cook to pay $3.75 million in back taxes on roughly $9.5 million of underreported income generated by sales of Cook's financial advice books, tapes and seminars.

It is one thing to render a financial judgment and another to collect it. It was not reported whether Cook ponied up the $3.75 million.

I do not know if Cook is penniless today, filed for personal bankruptcy, buried what money he had, placed his stash in a Swiss bank account or has millions in a petty cash account to pay his $3.75 million judgment for tax evasion.

I do know that he and his wife are dishonest, not to be trusted, will knowingly lie, cheat and steal to get ahead in this world, and know little about any kind of investing worth talking about. I knew all of that in the early 1990s when they started.

They apparently made millions selling their story to unsuspecting buyers and then not paying taxes on some of their revenue. Some pundits estimated Cook's net worth at more than $200 million when he was flying high.

He was convicted in February 2007 for tax evasion, filing false returns and obstructing justice. The jury was deadlocked on all counts against his wife Laura who kept his books.

In May 2007 she pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice rather than face a new trial. She was sentenced to 1.5 years in prison. Laura Cook admitted that she created documents to evade taxes on income she and her husband received between 1998 and 2000.

The Associated Press reported that the Cooks said that they had loaned themselves money from a trust that was supposed to become a gift to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Government lawyers said that the couple never intended to repay the money, thus it was taxable income rather than loans.

Cook's lawyers argued that they were unable to repay the loans mostly because of the stock market collapse in 2001. Cook was apparently such a brilliant financial guru that he lost his fortune in a stock market collapse.

So much for Wade Cook's theories on investing for profit and becoming rich in the process.

Cook shut down his operations in February 2003, a month after his publicly traded company—Wade Cook Financial Corporation of Tukwila (WA)—sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Wade Cook and his wife Laura are only one of hundreds of hucksters who have traveled the country selling their crap (get-rich books, tapes and seminars) to unsuspecting investors.

(Editor's Note: This is Part 1 of a 2-Part Series.)

Note: Read my 2-Part Series on "Why Lenders Are Not Your Friends" and also "Financial Predators: Vermin, Rodents and Other Insect Pests", "Shopping Online – Caveat Emptor (Latin for Let the Buyer Beware)" and "How Online Surveys Prey On New and Unaware Marketers". Find these articles and more in my Blog Archive.

Discover the 5 Steps to Financial Freedom

2007-05-21T01:15:00.000-07:00

Copyright © 2007 Ed Bagley

Editor's Note: The following post will provide an opportunity. I am looking for some business partners in the United States.

The opportunity meetings mentioned below are aimed at readers in the Western Washington area. When you attend any of these meetings, you will be my guest. Simply say to the representatives at the registration desk that "I am coming tonight as a guest of Ed Bagley" and you will get in free as my special guest. I would be happy to greet you personally. Just ask for Ed Bagley and someone will identify me.

While this post is aimed at readers in the Western Washington area, this company has representatives in every state nationally, so if you live in Michigan or any other state, simply call me toll free at (800) 965-6484 and I will direct you to a meeting in your area at a future date. I can also put you in direct phone contact with the CEO of the company. When you invest enough time to check out this opportunity, you will acquire some valuable information about your finances and future.

Discover the 5 Steps to Financial Freedom.

It’s Free, Fast, Concise and Compelling.

Learn What Your Employer Does Not Want You to Know.

When You Know, You May Suddenly Look at Your Job Differently, Get on the Road to Financial Freedom, and Start Living Life on Your Terms.

No Time, No Money, No Knowledge? No Problem.

Listen to what a very wise man said: “This time, like all times, is a very good one, when we know what to do with it.

”Believe that “everything that belongs to me will come to me when I am ready to receive it.”

Your Presenter will be Alvin Curry, the Chief Executive Officer of myEcon, the Personal Financial Success Company.

Mr. Curry’s 5-Step Program is Outstanding! Do Not Miss This Rare Opportunity.

Here are 5 Chances to Discover the 5 Secrets of Success (with handy directions):

Tuesday, June 12, 2007 at 7 p.m. at the Super 8 Motel in Lacey, WA

(112 College St. SE - (360) 459-8888 – Traveling South, take I-5 to Exit 109, take a right turn off exit ramp onto Martin Way, go to the first stoplight, turn left onto College Street and the Super 8 will be near the corner on your left. Traveling North, take I-5 to Exit 109, take a left turn off exit ramp, continue to College Street and turn left.)

Wednesday, June 13, 2007 at 7 p.m. at the La Quinta Inn in Tacoma, WA

(1425 East 27th St. - (253) 383-0146 - Traveling North, take I-5 to Exit 134 toward Portland Ave., stay straight to go onto East 28th St., turn left onto East Portland Ave., turn left on East 27th St. Traveling South, take Exit 135 toward Portland Avenue—also called WA-167 North, Puyallup—and the ramp becomes East 27th Street.)

Thursday, June 14, 2007 at 7 p.m. at the Coast Hotel in Bellevue, WA

(625 - 116th Ave. NE - (425) 455-9444 - Traveling North, take 1-5 and merge onto I-405 North via Exit 154toward Renton/Bellevue, take the NE 8th St./NE 4th St. Exit 13B, take NE 4th St. Exit 13A on the left, keep right at the fork to go onto NE 4 St., turn left on 116th Ave. NE. Traveling South, merge onto I-405 follow same route.)

Friday, June 15, 2007 at 7 p.m. in the Double Tree Hotel Near Sea-Tac Airport in Seatac

(18740 International Blvd.—also called Pacific Ave. and Old 99 - (206) 246-8600 - Traveling North, take 1-5 to Exit 151—Military Road Exit—toward S 200th St., turn left onto Military Rd. S, turn left onto South 200th Street, turn right onto International Blvd. Traveling South, take 1-5 and merge onto WA-518 West via Exit 154B toward Burien/Sea-Tac, take the WA-99 Exit toward Sea-Tac Airport, merge onto International Blvd.)

Saturday, June 16, 2007 Marketing Seminar from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the same Double Tree

(18740 International Blvd. - (206) 246-8600. Traveling North or South on 1-5 follow above instructions.)

What Two Sentences in a Book Led Ed Bagley to Retire $269,000 and Become Debt Free?

2007-05-19T14:04:00.000-07:00

Copyright © 2007 Ed Bagley

When I first thought about becoming an Internet Marketer, I thought about becoming debt free. I did not like the idea of paying hundreds of dollars a month in interest on my obligations.

I was reading one day and came across this quote from a British author that seemed to capture my feeling exactly: "Money is like a sixth sense without which we cannot make a complete use of the other five." Nothing before or since has made more sense to me.

I realized I could not reach my full potential without becoming debt free and financially independent once and for all.

But how? I was led by the myEcon business opportunity to buy a copy of Rich Dad, Poor Dad, Robert Kiyosaki's book about financial intelligence.

I read the book, then read the book a second time and was impressed by Kiyosaki's personal financial advice, but I got stuck on two of his thoughts:

1) The first thought was "making more money will not solve your personal financial problems if cash flow management is the problem."

I then understood that either I needed to get in control of my personal finances, or spending, increasing debt, and paying interest on debt would be in control of me.

2) The second thought was "you really need to become debt free BEFORE you start investing."

I then understood that if I was paying 18% to 21% on my credit card debt, for example, and not earning squat on my investments, I was going backwards about a 1,000 miles an hour.

Both of these thoughts were upsetting to me because I knew he was right as right can be.

If I did what everyone else did, I would have what everyone else has, and for most people, what they have is years of hard work, unfair taxes and a lifetime of debt. And let me tell you, I had some debt.

It is not unusual today for a middle class family to have $100,000, $200,000 or $300,000 in personal debt, if for no other reason than many middle class families are making payments to the bank while owning their home.

I then understood that I needed to change my thought process about what I was doing financially, and why I was doing it.

I realized that if I lacked the will for change, there was no one who could show me the way.

So I became determined to get in control of my cash flow, and eventually retired $269,000 in debt to become a free man.

I became very thankful that I was led to Robert Kiyosaki's book by the leaders of myEcon, the very networking opportunity I had used to start my Internet Marketing business.

Getting rid of the interest I was paying on $269,000 in debt was an incredible blessing.

What is unusual about what happened to me is that the myEcon leaders were more focused on helping me improve my personal finances first, so I had a better opportunity to earn money.

MyEcon was the first networking company I have ever been exposed to where the leaders actually cared more about me than lining their own pockets at my expense by selling me a bunch of crap that I did not need or want.

I came to appreciate the myEcon leaders because of how I was treated by the company's management and its leadership example.

When presenting its "myEcon 5 Steps of Cashflow to Wealth" program, the company did not stress making money. The company talked about how to minimize my expenses, how to minimize my taxes, how I could eliminate my debt (I took them seriously on this one), and how I could invest my money in assets rather than paying taxes and debts.

Essentially, myEcon recommended that for me to get ahead in America today, I must be in business because being in business would allow me even more legal tax deductions. I even learned some new tax deductions I could take. By doing so I would lower my net taxable income even more. This allowed me to keep more of my money to reduce my debt.

Unless you have done it, you cannot imagine how off-loading $269,000 in debt feels.

For those people who have a job, myEcon recommends that you not get a second job or work overtime to meet your obligations as this would only create more income and more taxes to pay.

MyEcon advises you to create a business and then spend your available, extra time building your part-time business to create legal tax deductions and lower your taxable income.

I joined myEcon and got my own web site to help promote my new business, but I also got something more important, and that is the know-how to handle my finances in a way that actually improved my life.

I have been in opportunities where I sunk money in and got nothing out. No one, or no company, ever really cared enough to help ensure my financial future while they were lining their pockets at my expense.

I simply got sick and tired of subsidizing other opportunities while I got all of the motivation and training in the world, but no strategy to actually succeed.

To find out more facts about the myEcon opporunity, go directly to my online home page for myEcon. Just click on the "Opportunity" button at the top of the page, and view an audio/visual presentation.

When you are done, and ready to make a move, hit the "Enroll" button and you will be directed to myEcon's secure sign-up page where you can be sponsored by me (Ed Bagley) through my company, Northwest Marketing LLC.

You cannot join this company at my web site here, you must join on the web site the company has provided for me to sponsor you.

If you cannot figure out how to sign up, call me at (800) 965-6484. Leave a message, give me your name, area code and phone number and I wil return your call ASAP. I will give you the strategy I have been given. Click on the link below to be taken to my home page for myEcon:

https://edbagley.myecon.net

Ed Bagley
(800) 965-6484

Copyright 2006 Northwest Marketing LLC

Let Us Succeed or Fail on Our Own Merit and Always Remain in Control of Ourselves

2007-04-30T07:46:00.000-07:00

Copyright © 2007 Ed Bagley

A while back an Internet Marketing forum comment suggested that potential affiliates should be qualified before being allowed to sign up for a marketing program.

The idea was to try and separate out the losers so they would not be allowed to enter any program, thus reducing the failure rate that in most programs is 75% within the first year.

This is a fact that is kept from many newcomers to networking programs for obvious reasons. If newbies knew that 3 out 4 people they worked so hard to sponsor into a program would do nothing and quit within the first year, they would not bother sponsoring at all.

It would be too negative for some to handle.

I say nuts to qualifying, let the free market remain free to all. A free market will correct itself according to supply and demand in the marketplace when it is left free to do so.

Sure, there are affiliates who will sign up all goosey and ready to go, and then haul off and do nothing, too scared to do anything and afraid of their own shadow when it comes time to actually help themselves.

There are also a lot of bright, ambitious, determined Internet marketing newbies who will grow their business without any significant help from their sponsor; they can read, follow instructions and are coachable.

Some will figure it out over time with very little direction and motivation.

There are also newbies who might act like losers, but who will find themselves because, for the first time in their life, they have been given an opportunity and are called upon to do something.

It is the same in wartime. You may never really know whether fight or flight is inside you until you face death. You may discover you are a winner, and never really thought you were.

You may never have been put in a situation where you had to perform or die.

In John Steinbeck's novel (I believe The Grapes of Wrath), a young boy asks an adult, "When does a boy become a man?" The adult answers, "When he has to."

Circumstances can force us to become the winner we were meant to be.

Please do not shield affiliates from hardship or failure. Treat them as seeds to be watered and weeded, then put them in the sun so they can germinate and blossom.

Should my sponsor come to me and complain about what "his affiliates" are not doing, and asks me what he or she should do, my answer would be terse: sponsor someone else!

I am of the very strong opinion (despite the fact that an effective case could be made to the contrary) that leaders are not made, but found. I believe with every fiber in my body and experience, as in the case of wartime, many men do not know they are leaders until they are put in a situation where they have to become one.

I also believe that leaders who know they are leaders will announce themselves despite the obstacles they may face, and this will happen with or without any significant help from their sponsor.

Leaders separate themselves out very quickly. There is never a vacuum for followers; there will always be a vacuum for leaders.

Twenty affiliates will gladly and contently follow the leader who will take responsibility and direction for the group. It is much easier to follow than lead, and always will be. And yes, almost all leaders were once followers who became leaders.

Let us succeed or fail on our own merit and remain in control of ourselves. We deserve the right to succeed or fail with dignity and without the judgment of others.

Let me be free to set my own standards and live or die upon their merits.

Never let anyone set standards for you. They will set your standards so low you will trip on the bar walking across the room.

The Wrong Business Structure Can Destroy Your Financial Future

2007-04-29T11:35:00.000-07:00

Copyright © 2007 Ed Bagley

When you run a business and sell a product or service as a sole proprietorship you will have a ton of liability. A sole proprietorship is the second worse form of asset protection after a general partnership.

A general partnership as a business structure is not good because when 8 physicians work together in a combined medical practice all 8 partners are liable for the misdeeds of any one of the partners.

The situation is not much better in a sole proprietorship because when you are sued and end up with a judgment for damages against you, you could lose your business and also your house, cars and everything else.

Business people use a C Corporation or an S Corporation for asset protection because when sued in the same situation (looking at a judgment), the owner of the judgment may get your business but may not get your personal assets.

The basic difference between a C Corp and an S Corp is that in an S Corp the tax consequences of the business pass through to your personal tax return.

When you are getting started in business, or operating a small business, achieving asset protection seldom works because lenders will not loan you money in a C Corp or S Corp without you personally guaranteeing the note.

So asset protection in a C Corp or S Corp is not automatic. The corporate veil (so to speak) is pierced much more than it protects.

I much prefer a Limited Liability Company (LLC) that is not a sole LLC but has other members (with an equity interest) attached, and you run the LLC as its Manager.

In this arrangement, you have much more liability protection than in a C Corp or an S Corp because payment of a judgment against you may not be automatic.

When you create your LLC with accompanying Articles of Formation your asset protection may increase if you insert a judgment creditor clause among your articles. In many states you will acquire more asset protection.

The last time I checked, about half of the states allow a judgment creditor clause, and half do not (California being one).

Adding a judgment creditor clause has no affect upon your being sued or receiving a judgment against you. What adding a judgment creditor clause does do is create a question about whether the LLC so formed has to pay the judgment timely.

If, in the unfettered discretion of the Manager of the LLC paying the judgment would cripple or destroy the LLC in its operation, then the judgment would not be paid until the LLC disbands, at which point the judgment would have to paid from the remaining assets.

Why? Because the other members of the LLC, the members with an equity interest who had nothing to do with being a party to the suit against any one member of the LLC, would be damaged by payment of the judgment, and their interests must be protected.

You may be interested to know that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) does not recognize an LLC as a business structure in and of itself, they only recognize it as a corporation which is what it is.

This is why when you set up an LLC as a solo LLC (single person corporation) you will be filing a different tax form than if you set up an LLC with members, in which case you would be filing a Form 1065.

If you create a solo LLC you will not have the same protection as if you create an LLC with members.

When I ask an attorney what is the best form of asset protection and he or she says to buy an insurance policy, I can not sprint away fast enough in the opposite direction. Their answer belies their knowledge of the subject.

I have found the vast majority of attorneys to be pretty useless as their understanding of asset protection issues is marginal at best.

It has been my experience that many attorneys today are so busy trying to make their second million, or simply trying to survive in practice, that they do not have the time or interest to keep current in their profession.

Professionals in this position are consumed by the need for profits to either pay their bills or create enough wealth to retire early.

If you want to have some fun, open up the yellow pages in your local phone book, and in the listings where the attorneys pay to be put under a certain category (such as business law or divorce actions), look up asset protection and see how many are listed.

I did this in an area of 500,000+ population, and there was not even a category for asset protection, much less a single listing. Asset protection is not an area of law that is widely practiced, much less understood by many attorneys.

If you understand the advantages of having an LLC with members as I do, you may wonder how to structure an LLC when you have more than one company. Many business people think that if they start another business they need to form another LLC.

I have had both a C Corp and an S Corp in traditional businesses, but I would never do it again as an LLC provides much more asset protection than either a C Corp or an S Corp. This could be a concern if you have assets to protect.

I advise my clients to form an umbrella company that is an LLC with members who have an equity interest in the corporation.

Two clients of mine each set up their own LLC with a 95% equity interest and another member with a 5% equity interest. They both became each other's 5% equity interest since neither was married, had no significant other nor children.

I used the creation of my LLC as an umbrella company. I have several businesses (actually money making activities) as part of my LLC and all of the revenue and expenses from each of these activities flows up to the LLC for tax and reporting purposes.

When I start another business activity I will not have to create another business structure. If I were a real estate investor I might create an LLC for each property, but I do not currently invest in real estate.

If the new business activity makes money I continue to build it, if it does not, I dump it and try something new. I am interested in building multiple streams of income, that is one reason why I started an Internet Marketing business.

Since the laws regarding limited liability companies vary from state to state, it never hurts to talk to an attorney. I simply do not take an attorney's advice unless he or she is willing to share the thought process and belief system, and is willing to answer any and all of my questions and concerns to my satisfaction.

Mailing Lists: If You Must Err, Then Err on the Side of Caution

2007-04-28T19:23:00.000-07:00

Copyright © 2007 Ed Bagley

Almost any recognized Internet Marketing guru making you an offer today will mention somewhere in his sales pitch that a mailing list is really important.

I believe mention best describes the amount of attention the guru is giving to mailing lists at that moment because his primary objective is to convince you that the absolute most important thing in your Internet Marketing business development is to buy whatever it is he is selling.

Nothing could be more important than what he is offering. I know this as I read through his copy because he is telling me, over and over and over, how effective his sales item is, how easy it is to use, how it does not matter that I have no experience in business or marketing or anything else, that his secrets are being revealed for the first time, that he cares about me and he wants to help me, that his offer is discounted, but I must act this instant or his price may go up, or his offer may be taken away.

I am sure they place this much importance on their offers because this is clearly a life and death matter, especially to them. You cannot, mind you, overestimate the ego and self-importance of a genuine, Internet-certified guru. Well, you can, but is not considered good form.

Without actually saying so, his underlying message is "success is automatic," but only with his system, his materials, his training, and his mentorship. The message is Internet Marketing is not complicated at all, and I do not know why anyone would make it so.

After all, in almost every such offer as this, there is no prospecting, no calling, no selling, no contact with people, no quotas, no huge investments (a few are even touted as free), and no need to create a website (their business-in-a-box leads you to believe that it does it all for you by providing you with a complete website, ready to make money while you watch the money roll in).

Many times the ads that lead you to these sales pages with offers have bright, happy colors, music, streaming headlines, dancing dollar bills, audio messages by guru hired help, gorgeous homes, fancy yachts, and even expensive sports cars zooming away (apparently success is a fast ride).

I have not noticed any sites like this that say you also need no brains, no critical thinking skills, no personality, and no people skills, but perhaps that is in the future of the industry as it develops alongside technology.

So what about these mailing lists? Well, competition is stiff in acquiring names. There is currently such a plethora of high-tech, clever approaches to getting names on the Internet that apparently some Internet Marketers with less resources have been reduced to settling for a more moderate approach.

Witness this e-mail I received yesterday: "Finally (huge letters) A Work at home Opportunity That Anyone Can Do! (Did I mention how easy this Internet Marketing thing is, even idiots need not apply, they are welcomed on the Net)"

The ad continues with "We have No Selling, No Autoship, No Referring Required, No Investment Required, that's Right Join Now Free! No Out of Pocket Expenses Required Ever" (I am not making this up; I am quoting this word for word, letter for letter.)

It concludes with "More Information (large letters) and immediate access to our website:"; and then asks for your First Name, Last Name, E-mail, Confirm E-mail and Phone (all required information).

You will forgive me if I could not figure out 1) who I am dealing with, 2) what is the company name, 3) what product or service are we talking about, and 4) why would someone need my phone number if there is no selling involved?

I have not a clue what I am signing up for. Did I mention earlier that if I am to err, then I would like to err on the side of caution?

Another e-mail, received two days later, shows a picture of a $100,000 bill on the top with no information whatsoever about a real person, a real company, a real product or service, and what I might be receiving when I subscribe to their mailing list. I believe this is what we call blind trust.

Before you jump off of the roof in a fit of excitement while indiscriminately giving your name and e-mail address away, you might want to calculate the drop distance, and exactly how long it will be before you land, hopefully on your own two feet.

Financial Predators: Vermin, Rodents and Other Insect Pests

2007-04-20T22:22:00.000-07:00

Copyright © 2007 Ed Bagley

While there are predators all around us, we generally do not think of our financial providers as predators. Typical providers we might use include banks, financial centers (the fancy name some banks call themselves today), credit unions, mortgage brokers, and mortgage bankers to name a few.

With thousands of people going online and starting home-based Internet Marketing businesses daily, many quickly develop a need for more capital to build their new part-time, second-income enterprise. Some inexperienced newcomers fail to budget properly and soon find themselves in over their head.

Their next likely stop is to find a lender. I was stunned yesterday to get in my post office box one of those new, fancy, 6-by-9-inch oversized postcards with this screaming headline on the slicked up front side: Get $5,000 by tomorrow!

If I did not know better, I would have thought I was reading one of the exaggerated opportunities that pops up on my monitor every day, you know, the one that says "Join Us Now And Collect Your $2,000,000" from "one of the world's most rewarding financial associations." Yeah, right. I could use an extra $2 million, and if I read through the entire sales pitch, I would probably find out that I really had to do very little to get it.

Sometimes it is easier to relate to the $5,000 you can get tomorrow (yes, you read right, tomorrow). You see, the lender in this case does not want a lot of legal paperwork and collateral to hold you up. Heck, they just need your signature!

This presents a wonderful opportunity to play Donald Trump. There was a time when The Donald could borrow millions by just signing his name on a dotted line. Sure, the $5,000 lender, called CashCall out of Fountain Valley, California, presumably does a credit check and, even if you rent or your credit is not perfect, the $5,000 will be in your bank account tomorrow (this delivery process is commonly known among the financial community and those who borrow such sums in such ways as a bank wire transfer). And, of course, your immediate money problems are solved! Viola! (as the French would say).

Turns out the source of the money received actually comes from First Bank & Trust of Milbank, South Dakota, a member of the FDIC, mind you (this important fact is used to apparently inspire confidence in the lender which is probably in good standing with your federal government as FDIC does stand for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, an independent agency of your federal government).

Words cannot express how choked up I am with compassion over the fact that a bank would lend someone $5,000 on their signature only, and deliver the money into their account the next day. Some banks are just too wonderful for words.

A lot of folks would be overjoyed at the bank's generosity and understanding in their time of need. Then again, those same folks probably would be too excited about solving their "problems" to read the fine print in the same offer.

Did I just say fine print? Yes I did. That is the really small type on the bottom of the back of the life-saving postcard that has the catchy headline (get $5,000 by tomorrow!), and the prominent picture of ten $100 bills on the front, that says:

"Example of loan terms: The Annual Percentage Rate (APR) for a $5,075 loan is 59.90%, with 84 payments of $254.03." This is what I call a 7-year, fixed-rate loan that will bring the lender $21,338 in return. So, here is the deal: You get a $5,000 loan and the privilege of repaying the $5,000 you borrow plus another $16,338 in interest.

It caused me to wonder if they sell asbestos suits in Milbank, South Dakota, surmising that some folks may develop a need for them, depending, of course, on where they might be going.

The next time your lender is being so nice to you, remember the message of this postcard, and ask yourself, "Why is this lender (or banker) being so nice to me?" The answer, dear friend, is not that he or she has your best interest at heart.

Why should I even give this seemingly obscure offer even two cents of my time? Only to make this point: Since when is helping a financially desperate person made better by driving them deeper into debt, and then leaving them as ignorant as you found them?

H. L. Mencken (1880-1956), who became a U. S. journalist and literary and social critic, once said "You can never underestimate the stupidity of the American people." Man, was he right.

It Is Internet Marketing Doublespeak: The Offer Is Free (But It Is Not Free)

2007-04-19T18:11:00.000-07:00

Copyright © 2007 Ed Bagley

Imagine my surprise in mid-October when I opened my e-mail account and found this greeting from an apparent big time Internet Marketing guru: "I'm giving you FREE tickets to a world-class Internet Wealth-Building Workshop, being held in Seattle . . . "

As if that were not enough, the guru then offered to enter my name into a drawing for "a FREE 30-Minute Consultation (valued at $798) with one of my personal team of Internet marketing specialists who work on my $60,000,000 businesses . . . "

Wow, can you believe someone would charge $798 for a 30-minute consultation? I wondered how much of the $798 per half hour the guru would pay his marketing specialist who did the consulting for him.

The guru pointed out that a seminar of this caliber would normally cost $1,500 to $4,950 for the two-day presentation.

Now this was not some "puny" guru making only $100,000 a year on the side (generally working only one or two hours a day), or even some more successful guru knocking down a million a year in revenue with an automated system that allows him to be practically vacationing year around on some exotic island.

No sir, some would consider this guru to be the guru of gurus. Sixty million dollars in revenue (not net income) is an impressive figure, unless, of course, your operating costs are $61 million. Clearly, this guru is recognized as very successful at what he is doing, and I do not doubt it.

After being reassured in his e-mail that "There's no catch, your tickets are 100% FREE," how could I miss? I did what any good, unsuspecting newbie would do, I clicked on the link to claim my FREE tickets (I knew they were really free because he kept putting the word free into all caps, as in FREE).

Immediately I was taken to what is called a sales page (in this case, sales pages as the offer went on for 32 pages). I was thankful I had set aside some reading time to take advantage of the offer.

After being reassured that I would learn "How to Grow A Wildly Lucrative Internet Business In 45 Days Using A Favorite Hobby Or Job . . . And Make An Extra $8,750-$12,500 Per Month Investing As Little As 10 Hours Per Week" I was encouraged to register immediately in order to qualify for the "30-Minute Consultation" as the first 100 people to register would be automatically entered in the drawing.

This urge to register was followed by a clever countdown device that showed the estimated time left to qualify for the consultation, and you could feel it counting down in the days, hours, minutes and seconds left to qualify (I am sure this had nothing to do with pressuring the prospect; obviously this was only intended to make the prospect aware of a lost opportunity).

It all sounded really great, and apparently anyone could do it because there followed three personal stories and testimonies by "Unlikely Entrepreneurs" who had made it happen. "So, What's The Catch?" asked the e-mail. Answer: There is none, "And yes, your ticket will be 100% FREE!"

A detailed explanation of the material to be shared in the 11 Wealth-Building Sessions followed, and then no less than 13 more testimonials about the wonderfulness of it all, followed by another 10 prominent mentions of the fact that the tickets are FREE, the last one saying "So there's no catch. Your tickets are 100% FREE!"

And then this: "All I ask is that to keep tire-kickers who have NO intention of coming from filling seats, you must please reserve your seat with a small $97 deposit which will be promptly refunded when you attend the event!

"I'm sure you'll agree this is both a fair and reasonable request, since I'm spending over $57,592.82 to host this event." (At the $97 rate, it would apparently take 594 marketers registering to cover his up front costs. I think I am being made to feel bad if I do not pony up for an event he chose to offer and fund.)

After being admonished again to sign up NOW if not sooner, I click to the registration form only to learn that "I agree to pay a small refundable seat reservation deposit of US $97 per ticket to prove my commitment to being there. I know that, as promised – I'll get back my full $97 per ticket after I attend the seminar!"

(Did I just understand the author to say that my $97 deposit will be refunded after I attend the seminar, and it is over? No, silly. I think he said that after attending his seminar, learning and retaining the information received, I will more than recoup my $97 seminar investment in the profits I will make when applying his techniques and secrets.)

So the actual ticket to his seminar is free, but it is not free. Friend, you are not going unless you pony up the $97. I had thought the word free meant without charge. Maybe that was just where I grew up.

The last paragraph of this 32-page sales pitch had this in its disclaimer: "if for any reason we need to cancel this event (for example, because of bad weather or because only a couple of people registered) we will refund your seat reservation fee, but we will not be held responsible for any additional expenses you many incur preparing to attend this event (like making hotel reservations, taking a day off of work, or renting a car to attend)."

It got me to thinking that if the seminar is in fact worth $1,500 to $4,950, $97 would seem to be a very reasonable price. Why not just say so up front, instead of lulling people along before you bring down the hammer?

Perhaps because saying so up front would immediately cause a lot of marketers to move on without reading the entire 32-page sales pitch? All of which proves, I guess, that if you use the word FREE enough times, marketers will read 32 pages of whatever it is you are hawking.

This marketing formula for writing a sales pitch is hardly unique. Almost any marketer can open his or her e-mail tomorrow and read the same formula repeated in 100 different sales pitches for another opportunity to provide a product, service, or attend a seminar. The pitch will be in English, the language will be in doublespeak.

Is There a Better Way to Serve Newcomers Who Need Traffic?

2007-04-18T09:44:00.000-07:00

Copyright © 2007 Ed Bagley

Newcomers to Internet Marketing may not be faced with a more daunting task than trying to figure out search engine rankings.

There seems to be no shortage of sellers who spend a great deal of time and effort trying to convince newcomers that their particular software program is the answer to generating improved rankings and more traffic to your web site.

Another offer arrived yesterday touting a new version of a top-rated Top 10 Optimizer.

I glance at the offer and do not even bother to get excited. I cautiously glance again at its message like I would confront a hungry wolverine trapped in a small corner of my attic about to protect her young from my approach.

I have been hyped so many times by sales pages on the Internet that I think I am developing attention deficit disorder (ADD).

Deep inside I feel a welling up of my inbred caution. My bulldog instinct suddenly takes over. I put on my helmet and shoulder pads, dust off my cleats, and work up my steely-eyed look that says, "Not in my house, you undersized furry punk" (like Clint Eastwood I can occasionally make my day).

And so I take the bait on the sales page, knowing a war for my thought process and my very soul may well be at stake. No matter, I am determined to be an Internet Marketer despite my fragile newcomer status.

It is time for the kick-off, I wait for the first volley, and here it comes: (Our product) allows you to immediately optimize your web pages . . . in three easy steps" followed by the more prominent claim of "3 easy steps to top 10 search engine rankings." I cringe at the words "immediately" and "easy."

My gut feeling is to run as fast as I can in the other direction, but I realize that would be poor sportsmanship, and so I assess the damage to my psyche as I digest the two words. And then I ask myself: Why are they selling me this software program rather than providing a service to do this for me?

I mean, really, their business is apparently search engine optimization (I think the term is SEO).
What makes me, a technically illiterate newcomer, think I have to learn all about this when it has taken them years to acquire the knowledge and expertise they have?

Every bloody aspect of making it in Internet Marketing is requiring me to overcome one learning curve after another. Anyone who knows anything about Internet Marketing apparently is not about to tell you squat (too busy raking in the money), even though all of his or her literature cries out about how they are going to help you by revealing their "secrets" and "amazing programs" no one knows about. Do not ask me to give examples.

All right, if you must: How about instant affiliate web sites that do not cost you a dime?

They tell you about how easily it is going to work (you will develop 4 to 5 streams of income within hours, or sometimes even minutes, without really doing anything).

They do not tell you that you will be spending your hard-earned money on advertising to drive traffic to their host server where they add your prospects to their sales list, allowing them to build a bigger list of subscribers to whom they sell more products while you continue to subsidize their success. They get free advertising, free prospects and free sales. You get experience when you are paying attention.

Sometimes they even steal commissions you might receive by taking the entire sale as their own. They can do this as they control the server and the process. If you generate no sales commission (as is most often the case) then you cannot even cover your advertising costs, much less make a profit.

In your fifth month you drive 825,000+ hits and 35,000+ unique visitors to their site in 30 days and get not a single sale, for the fifth consecutive month. You see thousands of dollars in investment flying out the door without a single affiliate sale and you wonder: is this going to happen in my lifetime?

Your trusty ad tracking service (another important expense) swears upon pain of death that there were 10 sales made on the sales page, but you never see the sales (they somehow disappear in cyberspace). Later, if the sales were in fact pirated, you will be thanking them for the service they have provided you (this comment will make more sense later in this article).

Back to this SEO offer, and how I can "benefit from top 10 search engine rankings on Google & Yahoo!" (The sales page copy proclaims this straight up in a fit of benevolent excitement).

I call for a timeout, go to Google, and punch in the term "Internet Marketing" and up pops the first of 94,800,000 (that is 94.8 million) responses. Now, how is this going to work for a newcomer? I buy their software, study my head off, and I am going to immediately (their term, not mine) appear in the top 10 among 94.8 million responses?

What will happen when they sell 1,000 of these software programs to 1,000 Internet Marketers whose key words are Internet Marketing?

When I put in three other keywords important to me, I get 4.4+ million responses, 17+ million responses and 9.9+ million responses. If it is so easy, why are they not doing it for me, and charging me for the service?

Logic tells me they are going to have some serious problems with about the 11th customer for each keyword (or keywords) available.

I recognize some tech head may be able to take this software program offer and do something with it, at least for awhile, but what about newcomers who have no technical knowledge or interest in learning the technical side of the business, like me?

The easy answer, of course, is to learn or to get off the Internet so serious people can do serious business without having to put up with people like you.

The cost of the software? Just $250 less a nickel for the Standard version and $450 less a nickel for the Business version. I decide to pass on both.

I guess I should be inordinately concerned about Google, Yahoo, MSN and the rest, but this is how my mind works: I could buy the software in question, spend hours and days gaining some ground in the SEO race, and never effectively compete against a guru in this area because I do not have the skill set, ability and talent to do so. Bottom line: why bother?

I need to play my game on a different field with different competitors, and that is what this newcomer is going to do: mind my own business and skill set, with the emphasis on "own." I will invest the $250 I would have spent using my strength: writing articles.

And, by the way, could that acronym for search engine optimization (SEO) sometimes stand for scammed every opportunity?

The Easiest Way to Become an Internet Article Writer

2007-04-17T12:26:00.000-07:00

Copyright © 2007 Ed Bagley

All speakers and writers who become great speakers and writers have two needs.

To be a great speaker you need to have:

1) a real and valuable knowledge of the subject you are addressing, and

2) a burning desire to share what you have to offer with others.

To be a great writer you need to have:

1) a real and valuable knowledge about the topic you are writing about, and

2) a burning desire to share what you have to offer with others.

In other words, be a good storyteller so people will listen to or read your stories.

We all must begin where we are at, whether we think we can become an Internet article writer or not.

So what exactly is good writing? The best writing glides along the ice like a speed skater in a 1,500 meter race. You ride on his effortless stride, you marvel at his form, you feel his intensity and sense of controlled urgency, you appreciate his sense of competitiveness, you find yourself with him, stride for stride, measuring his distance from the leader of the pack, wondering if he can actually win, suddenly you lose control and jump into the race, you lean as he leans going around the curve, you wonder if he has what it takes to close the gap, your attention becomes riveted as he begins to narrow the margin, your heartbeat increases as he gains ground, you are glued to the moment, and then he puts on a final sprint, finally draws even, and wins by the blink of an eyelash! My God, you were there. When he mounts the awards stand and the flag of his nation rises, you rise with it. He was your choice, and he won!

Is it any wonder that athletes have such a strong following among spectators? Athletes become our heroes in any vicarious way possible. We wear a jersey when we watch the game. After the game, we play a pick-up game with our kids in the back yard. We love the feel of being in the thick of the competition, and winning.

Switching back to our main topic, what exactly is good writing?

Some people think a good sentence should be short and simple.

To the point.

Obvious.

In the first example above, the sentence goes on and on and on (168 words!), and yet you kept reading.

Writing can be either way and be effective, and there are Pulitzer Prize winners to prove it. For simple writing with short sentences, read Ernest Hemingway’s "The Old Man and the Sea." Hemingway won the Pulitzer Prize and the Nobel Prize for Literature. For sentences that go on and on and on forever, read William Faulkner’s "The Sound and the Fury," it is filled with long, convoluted sentences. Nonetheless, Faulkner, like Hemingway, also won the Pulitzer Prize and the Nobel Prize for Literature. Both were legendary novelists with opposite writing styles, and therein lies the easiest way to become an articles writer.

What is important is developing a style of writing that you are comfortable with. Even more important is getting your thoughts, some thoughts, any thoughts, onto your monitor. Until you put the letters on your keyboard onto your monitor, you are not a writer. The moment you do you have the potential to be an articles writer.

Once you have a sentence, any sentence, in front of you, you can pick it apart and make it better, because you have taken the thought out of your head and into the workplace of improvement. Write something on your monitor and it becomes manageable; try to formulate the perfect sentence in your head before you put it on your monitor, and your article may never get written.

The frustration of trying to write the perfect sentence brings on writer’s block, the inability to put your thoughts into meaningful sentences. Forget about being an articles writer, just get started and you will become one.

Go ahead, start. Begin now. Write anything down, and then make it better.

You are now on your way to becoming an Internet article writer.

Have Some Affiliate Marketing Opportunities Become Overblown and Annoying? - Part 3

2007-04-16T22:29:00.000-07:00

Copyright © 2007 Ed Bagley

My first impression of SFI was pretty positive. I read the come-on headline that said SFI was getting 4,000 prospects into the program every week (not every month, but every week).

Man, I figured, this is it, they are in more countries around the world than you can shake a stick at, and this thing is growing like mushrooms on lawns in the Pacific Northwest (we get a lot of rain in the winter). And trust me when I say they had some products and services, more than 600 of them. What's not to like?

SFI immediately threw out a Smart Start Training Program for newcomers like me, and I went though that baby like a hot knife through butter.

Upon completion of my Smart Start Training, I received notification from SFI that I had qualified for my free shares of Eagle Co-Op. This led me to personally sponsor in two prospects, and at that time I had done nothing to promote my business other than complete the Smart Start Training and become a paying Affiliate. My $29.95 purchase every month qualified me as an Affiliate to earn commissions on my production.

The Eagle Co-Op Program got my attention because I like eagles. Essentially, you buy into the Eagle Co-Op and the company recruits prospects for you, then you try to get the prospects to upgrade and become a paying member of SFI. That's when the money starts flowing in.

So I bought into the Eagle Co-Op program and dumped some bucks into paid advertising and before two months were up I had 48 prospects (11 of which, or 23%, came from the Eagle Co-Op and 37 of which, the remaining 77%, came from my paid advertising driving prospects to SFI's sign-up page).

Thirteen of the 48 prospects became Affiliates as I had done, and I received a couple of really minuscule checks. Then the Affiliates did something I was not expecting, after upgrading they quit. Even with all of the support from auto-responders and online training guides and forums, they quit anyway.

The prospects got in and got out so fast I thought an IRS agent was knocking on their door.

It was then that I began to realize that recruiting prospects was one thing and keeping them was another. Now I would not want to beat myself up too much for the effort and investment I put in SFI. I really expected that the mighty SFI, with all of its self-proclaimed beneficence and clout, would have helped to keep them and grow them, but it was not to be.

I would bet that the founder of SFI would have been almost indignant to learn that someone (like me) would had even suggested that the Empowerism training system was more intense, massive and focused than his SFI training system.

SFI also had a free package which included "eight exciting home-business training products and tools valued at over $585" that you could give away to prospects. This was called its Secrets of Internet Millionaires (SIM) package.

I never received one myself because I came in through the PIP opportunity (mentioned in Part 1), but I knew I could drive traffic to the SFI site on the Internet, and my prospects could check it out big time. Apparently the Secrets of Internet Millionaires package got SFI more excited about its program than it did a lot of prospects.

When I finally slowed down enough to look for some evidence to convict me of being successful at SFI, I could find none. It was not long after that I took a closer look at the vaunted Eagle Co-Op Program that touted its ability to separate the wheat from the chaff when it came to prospects.

When I looked at my scorecard more closely and focused on who had produced, this is what I saw: Ed recruited 77% of the prospects through paid advertising, and SFI recruited 23% through its Eagle Co-Op Program.

Every prospect that I recruited and every prospect I sent to SFI's sign-up page (a ton more) became part of the SFI master mailing list. I had no mailing list because I was not set up to build one. Then I began to wonder if the names SFI was selling me were the recycled rejects of potential prospects another Affiliate drove to SFI's sign-up page.

Shoot, I had apparently been snookered into another opportunity, and, gosh darn it, had actually enjoyed myself in the beginning of this unfruitful venture. My few measly checks were dwarfed by the time and money investment I had put into SFI.

I began to wonder just how long it was going to take me to realize that affiliate marketing was not for me, and that I was playing to someone else's strength with my weakness.

Some time later I got the announcement that the same SFI founder had made some sweeping changes to his opportunity because it apparently was not working according to script.

I did not consider this any big news flash because I understand that if a business does not continually re-market itself over time it will cease to exist. Just as the market SFI competes in changes over time so do the buying habits of its consumers.

The final straw came when I attempted to totally opt out of SFI, and much to my chagrin learned that you do not, repeat, do not, just opt out of SFI. No sir, you get their permission to opt out. You cannot opt out unless and until you select a reason for opting out.

If you refuse to give a reason, you cannot leave. While staring at the box at the top of the page that said "Reason is required" I felt like I was being scolded for being a difficult child.

Then I thought, "What is reasonable about this?" I know companies like to survey, but I always considered it a voluntary exercise, not a mandatory sentence for being involved in and helping subsidize SFI's business. Talk about ingrates.

It all seemed just a tad too controlling, like both the Empowerism and SFI opportunities, overblown and annoying from my prospective.

This article mercifully completes the three-part series about my experience with Empowerism and SFI. I can move on now and become successful as an Internet Marketer.

Have Some Affiliate Marketing Opportunities Become Overblown and Annoying? - Part 2

2007-04-15T19:05:00.000-07:00

Copyright © 2007 Ed Bagley

Empowerism touted its massive and intensive training system. I do have to admit that it went on forever, seemingly with the stated objective of leaving no stone unturned in answering questions.

In fact, Empowerism's knowledge base was so huge that it purported to answer 99.9% of all possible questions about its wonderful opportunity. So comprehensive and effective that I was not allowed to e-mail them without first reading and apparently memorizing the knowledge base.

This is not an uncommon occurrence among big time marketing opportunities because automation is such a big deal. It was pretty clear that Empowerism preferred not to answer any e-mail questions whatsoever, and, of course, it was impossible to talk to a real person on the phone (which would be akin to committing a sin of unmentionable proportions).

Empowerism in particular fancied itself as having the gold standard of all training programs. Any question asked seemed to have an extensive answer, whether it answered the question efficiently or not.

Empowerism seemed to have so much written material one could get overwhelmed just attempting to read it all. I thought Empowerism had raised giving extensive information to an art form, and more often than not with a feeling of righteousness.

I know this: Empowerism was dancing around a topic to such an extent that it was impossible to find clear, concise answers. The same point was repeated so many times so many different ways that after awhile I had to stop reading just to stay awake.

Empowerism also offered two apparent investment programs, a "Revenue Sharing Value Plan" (RSVP) and a "Most Valuable Player" (MVP) program (I think I have these acronyms correct, and give Empowerism credit for two examples of snappy and effective, if not trite, acronyms).

As I remember it, when leads were sold to Empowerism members the funds were paid into a pool and then commissions were paid out to members.

You could apparently invest as little as $25 in a leads package and eventually could be paid as much as $2,000 over a timetable not mentioned or guaranteed. Your fortunes rode with the company. I bought some of these packages.

Empowerism said at the time that it had paid out more than $5 million in commissions and touted RSVP as "the most successful business model of its kind" (Empowerism's words exactly).

All of this came back to me in early November when Empowerism sent me a letter. I had stopped building the Empowerism opportunity for some time and stopped paying my monthly dues, so I was not a member at the time.

I had assumed that when I stopped paying my dues I had forfeited my right to any commissions and any investments I had made. I wrote off the investments and continued on with my life.

Basically, Empowerism's letter said "long-awaited changes to RSVP and MVP" had been implemented because "we can all agree that the current status of RSVP and MVP is not appealing to anyone." It appears that the original program could not continue to pay out as forecasted.

To make good on any prior investments, purchasers were given 3 injunctions:

1) You would need to be a paid subscriber by the close of the month (Nov. 30, 2006).

2) Starting in December 2006 "a leads purchase equivalent to 1% of your total RSVP order value must be made before the end of the month."

3) Starting in January 2007, "a solo mailing (ad package) purchase of $2 for each $200 MVP order and $1 for each $100 MVP order is required by the end of the month."

Empowerism's letter did not disappoint in that it spent two pages outlining every detail of the conditions to make good on any prior investments.

The thought immediately occurred to me that investors were being asked for more money in order to return their original investment.

I am sure there was nothing immoral, illegal or dishonest about Empowerism's RSVP and MVP programs, but these programs have a habit of running out of gas at some point when more people and more investments become involved. It was just a matter of time before it went bust.

It must have taken me 3 seconds to decide to ignore the letter, and let Empowerism keep the investments I had made. I could not see how subsidizing Empowerism was in my best interest, Empowerism clearly needs the money to straighten out its affairs much more than I do.

Have Some Affiliate Marketing Opportunities Become Overblown and Annoying? - Part 1

2007-04-14T22:12:00.000-07:00

Copyright © 2007 Ed Bagley

The Internet is a sprawling expanse that covers the Earth. If there are two companies that could arguably be identified as the best and the biggest prowling the Internet they might well be Empowerism and the mighty Strong Future International Marketing Group, better known as SFI.

I know a little bit about each of these organizations because I have helped Empowerism and SFI become what they are by being an active, paid member. I am no longer a member of either opportunity and have not been for some time.

I will write about my experience as a Newcomer with each opportunity and will start with Empowersim. I came to Empowerism as a member of Stone Evans' Plug-In Profit (PIP) opportunity because joining Empowerism was a requirement of PIP.

I came to SFI the same way, through PIP. The only difference was my membership in Empowerism required a monthly fee of $19.95. While I was not required by PIP to become a paying member of SFI, I did choose immediately to upgrade my membership in SFI with a qualifying purchase of $29.95 monthly.

There is a lot of evidence to suggest that both Empowerism and SFI are opportunities that some affiliate marketers have developed successfully. I am not one of those marketers.

Almost all Internet Marketing opportunities tell you that even the village idiot with no experience can make fantastic money when you follow their training programs, advertise like mad, and hang in there until you die.

They, of course, are dead wrong, but it certainly would hurt sales if they suggested that there are some marketers who could not build successful businesses even if their life depended upon it.

Smart, successful marketers know this to be true. If you do not have the skill set, ability, interest level, determination and initiative to make something happen, it will not happen, but who wants to tell a newcomer that they might actually have to do something and invest some money to even have a chance of succeeding.

Even if you try your level best to do everything right, the likelihood of it happening is still problematic.

The owners of the company that present the opportunity and a few distributors may earn some money, but I bet any company would be hard put to show that even 10% of its subscribed members are actually profitable after they subtract their expenses from any commissions earned.

Each of these opportunities give affiliate marketers a connection to a company server which generates a no-charge Internet site to promote their business as well as the company business.

Empowerism allows you to send prospects to any page on your website except the sign-up page. As a newcomer to Internet Marketing, I did not immediately pick up on the significance of this necessity, but it is this: Every prospect my paid advertising generated went to Empowerism and became part of its mailing list, whether my prospect signed up or not.

Every large, successful business tries to leverage its efforts to increase productivity and profits, and Empowerism and SFI are examples of this practice.

Once Empowerism has the e-mail address of a new prospect, whether they join or not, the new prospect is immediately inundated with e-mail pitches by auto-responder, which could potentially sent e-mails to a prospect every day for a year.

When newcomers, eager to learn the nuances of Internet Marketing, respond to dozens of free offers for software programs, secret techniques and insider information from gurus and assorted lesser lights, you can imagine the result.

This barrage of e-mails has nothing to do with the fact that you took advantage of the opportunity. They will continue until you opt-out of the sender's offerings.

I found Empowerism's iSend.info auto-responder to be beyond my technical skills and made little use of it. It annoyed me that unless you upgraded your membership Empowerism put its messages on top of your messages, calculated to not miss another opportunity to promote themselves even though the system was advertised to be of greatest benefit to its members.

Then the new Get Response system arrived, apparently because the iSend.info auto-responder system was not working as advertised. After using the Get Response system, it struck me as overpromoted, overused and not very effective.

I used paid advertising to drive hundreds of prospects to Empowerism's sign-up page, and received the benefit of the 50 leads Empowerism threw in monthly. After months of experience I would learn that Empowerism's 50 free leads monthly was one of the greatest examples of tokenism known to man. The result was that I sponsored in no one.

Remember that my paid advertising and the advertising of thousands of other members was adding prospects to Empowerism's ever growing, massive mailing list.

I suspect the powers to be at Empowerism were merely recycling names that they already had faster than a hungry man could chow down on a bowl of Cheerios and milk.

I was sitting there, looking at the list of my hundreds of prospects who chose not to sign up and speculating that "you would think that someone would see Empowerism as the best thing since chocolate chip cookies."

How Online Surveys Prey On New and Unaware Marketers

2007-04-14T01:22:00.000-07:00

Copyright © 2007 Ed Bagley

When I first became involved in Internet Marketing I was looking for some way to make money without a lot of time commitment and investment. I wanted to avoid the dozens of overblown opportunity pitches that screamed "this is going to be labor intensive and complicated" even when they said it would be easy as pie.

Surfing the web led me to this come-on: "What if I could show you how to make $25 in 8 minutes, over and over again, sitting at home in your pajamas, would you be excited?" Not convinced yet? Try these stunners:

Get paid to take online surveys and make from $5 to $75 each, or more.

Get paid to participate in focus groups and make up to $150 an hour.

Get paid to take phone surveys and you can earn as much as $120 an hour.

Get paid to preview new movie trailers for $4 to $25 an hour.

And then this disclaimer: "I don't drive a Ferrari or wear $5,000 suits but I'll never have to argue with my wife about money again, that's for sure."

The desire to do something casual in my pajamas led me to this online survey directory service. Just sign up, register with about 20 to 40 survey companies, and side money would be on the way.

Once involved, you figure out pretty quick that you are going to get a lot of something but it will not be cash. Every survey source dangles a carrot in front of you named cash and prizes, but what you really earn for your effort is squat, as in nothing of substance, and especially cash.

Most of the surveys available offer points toward some distant, unknown product or target, or the promise to pay one survey taker a sum of money in a drawing for those who complete the survey.

I was never, ever offered cash to take a survey of any kind.

Here is a good example of the subterfuge you put up with in online survey opportunities:

This one is from Survey Rewards and the subject line says: "Answer this JC Penney survey & get $500!" Right away they want all of your pertinent identification so they know where to send your $500 JC Penney gift card. The info includes your name, address, phone, birth date and gender. Sounds innocent enough.

In the fine print below is this injunction:

"To receive the incentive gift you must: 1) register with valid information; 2) complete the user survey; 3) complete at least 2 Silver, 2 Gold and 2 Platinum offers; and 4) refer 1 unique household(s) that also complete these requirements. Purchase may be required. Please read Terms & Conditions for details."

Excuse me? I thought you were paying me in goods, services or cash for my survey responses rather than me subsidizing your lame and inane offers.

Stupid does not begin to describe this online survey exercise. You are offered dozens of choices to become involved in goods and services you do not want or need and every single one of them is calculated to relieve you of your hard earned cash.

You can sign up for a Discover Gas Card, Columbia House DVDs, Discover Platinum Clear Card, Disney movies, BMG Music Service, Vioderm (think Botox), yourmusic.com (CDs), Video Professor, Gevalia 12 cup coffee maker (and on and on). And remember, you have to commit to accepting 6 of these offers and then convince the relative you least like to do what you are doing. It sounds like Amway all over again.

Lest you think all of this is just harmless fun for people who have no day job and lots of time to kill, fear not, this online survey game is pernicious to the core.

The truth is most online surveys involve identifying and qualifying people to be sold goods and services that in many cases they do not want or need.

For example, you are asked to do a survey on financial issues which is really designed to set you up for a call from the representative that can solve all of your financial problems. It is kind of like not wanting to get wet and then being pushed into a pool when you cannot swim. The slick sales person answers all of your questions, like "why would I even want to talk to you?"

I found out that I did not fit into the online survey taker profile. The opportunity does not work when you are debt free, have no credit cards, have no revolving charge cards, do not want any credit cards, do not want any revolving charge cards, do not want to buy an expensive new sports car, do not want Cuban cigars (well, you get the idea).

So how stupid is this online survey hoax? Here are actual survey offers from my e-mail:

--Find Nursing Degree Programs!

--Looking For Financial Aid?

--Time For A Raise? Get A Degree!

--Start Saving Today on Your Auto Insurance

--Find Latino Singles In Your Community Today!

--Shed Unwanted Holiday Flab

Do these sound like genuine surveys? Or more like blatant sales pitches? You decide. One thing is for sure, the money trail will not be going from them to you, it will be traveling from you to them.

This online survey game is meant for people who will spend $200 to get a $20 coupon. Survey takers are really just being taken. Sadly, there are takers who believe they are getting a great deal. H. L. Mencken had it right when he said "you can never underestimate the stupidity of the American people."

Too bad online survey makers were not around in Mencken's day. He might have had an interesting observation about their occupation of choice.

Why Benjamin Franklin Was So Awesome

2007-04-12T21:53:00.000-07:00

Copyright © 2007 Ed Bagley

Almost everyone who has graduated from high school knows that Benjamin Franklin was a famous American.

Most of us have read that Franklin used a lighting rod to prove a theory he had about electricity. Others remember that he was the one who invented the bifocals which many of us wear today. (I just ordered a new pair of trifocals; thanks to Ben, I see better.)

But few of us also know these facts and observations about Benjamin Franklin:

Franklin was America’s best scientist, inventor, writer, business strategist and diplomat of his time. He was also one of the era’s most practical political thinkers!

Franklin’s interest in electricity led him to note the distinction between insulation and conductors, the idea of electrical grounding, and the concepts of capacitors and batteries.

Franklin discovered that the big East Coast storms known as northeasters, whose winds come from the northeast, actually move in the opposite direction from their winds, traveling up the coast from the south, thus beginning the science of weather forecasting.

Franklin combined both science and mechanical practicality by devising the first urinary catheter used in America.

Franklin declined to patent his inventions, freely sharing his findings, as his love of science was born of curiosity.

Franklin became the first person in America to manufacture type, because there was no foundry in America for casting type when he opened his print shop.

Franklin reprinted an English novel--Pamela--thereby publishing the first novel in America.

Franklin created America’s first great humor classic, Poor Richard’s Almanack (Almanac, in today’s usage), which Franklin began publishing in 1732, combining two goals of his doing-well-doing-good philosophy: the making of money and the promotion of virtue. His aphorisms and observations soon became legend.

Franklin’s genius as a 16-year-old writer was obvious when he authored 14 essays anonymously that were published in his brother’s newspaper, creating the character Silence Dogood, a widowed woman. Franklin’s ability to speak convincingly as a woman was remarkable, and his writing style would introduce a new genre of American humor: the wry, homespun mix of folksy tales and pointed observations that would later be perfected by such great American writers and humorists as Mark Twain and Will Rogers.

Franklin became America's first gossip columnist.

Franklin became the patron saint of self-improvement guides by writing many personal credos that laid out his pragmatic rules for success. Dale Carnegie would follow in his footsteps, as well as hundreds of positive thinking, modern day self-improvement authors.

Franklin manufactured the first recorded abortion debate in America, not because he had any strong feelings on the issue, but because he knew it would help sell newspapers.

Franklin was the consummate networker, forming a club of young workingmen he dubbed the Junto, which met in a rented room and, by pooling the books of its members, became America’s first subscription library.

Franklin created a volunteer fire force (the forerunner of today’s volunteer fire department), and established the academy that would later be renamed the University of Pennsylvania.

Franklin was appointed to the top post office job in America by the British government. Within a year, he had cut to one day the delivery time of a letter from New York to Philadelphia. (The United States Postal Service manages to get the same letter delivered in an average of three days today!)

Franklin retired at age 42, with an assured income over the next 18 years of approximately 650 pounds annually; in his day, a common worker earned 25 pounds a year, so Franklin retired with an annual income 26 times a normal working person’s wages! (In today’s money, if you were making $50,000 a year in income, Franklin was getting by in retirement on an income of $1.3 million--$1,300,000--annually.)

Franklin became America’s greatest diplomat by negotiating the support of France (its money, its recognition and its military support), that led to the success of the American Revolution, and creation of the United States of America as an independent nation.

Franklin was instrumental in shaping the three great documents of the American Revolution: the Declaration of Independence, the alliance with France, and the treaty with England.

Franklin was the only person to sign all four of America’s founding papers: the Declaration of Independence, the treaty with France, the peace accord with Britain, and the Constitution of the United States.

Franklin’s most important vision was an American national identity based on the virtues and values of its middle class.

Franklin came up with the concept of matching grant money, showing how government and private initiative could be woven together for the common good.

Franklin was America’s first great publicist. He carefully crafted his own persona, portrayed it in public, and polished it for posterity.

Franklin perfected the art of poking fun at himself, recognizing that a bit of wry self-deprecation could make him seem even more endearing.

Franklin was the first to note that “nothing can be said to be certain except death and taxes.”

Franklin was also the first to remind us that “a penny saved is a penny earned.” Franklin might also have said “a penny, invested wisely, could be the start of a small fortune.”

Benjamin Franklin would have been one of the first people of his time to use computers, and would have been one of the first to start an Internet marketing business. Franklin loved to make money, and he loved the virtues of independence, self-reliance, hard work and innovation, all virtues associated with making a lot of money.

Franklin would have been front and center with today’s Internet marketers, in constant contact with his fellow entrepreneurs through online forums, e-mail messaging, and hobnobbing at seminars around the country and overseas (Paris was his second home).

Was Benjamin Franklin awesome? Absolutely.

Forced Matrix Opportunities: A Slippery World of Sinkholes - Part 2

2007-04-11T23:39:00.000-07:00

Copyright © 2007 Ed Bagley

Potential $7 a month investors in this sort of thing do have questions, and thankfully the offer has some answers.

1) Why will I not lose people I pay for? Answer: The low $7 monthly maintenance fee, and 50% commission on your first level means sponsoring only two pays for your $7 overhead every month.

Also, "unpaid downline members (apparently all members do not pay their $7 every month) will remain in your downline for three months. If during that time you or your upline place 2 new members under your unpaid member, their membership dues will be automatically paid."

(Did I just read that the unpaid member for that month could collect a 50% commission when someone else places two members on their first level? Usually, when someone does not pay their monthly membership fee, they would not be eligible for commission in many opportunities.)

(Or did I just read that if you pay the two downline members' monthly fee for the unpaid member, then their monthly fee would be paid by you? Yes, you would be out $14 up front but your deadbeat downline member could then apply for a continual handout every month at your expense. If this is the case, then it is apparently considered a good business practice in a 2x matrix, after all, the advice would be coming from the architect of the plan.)

2) How long will it take to fill? Answer: It is up to you. "I personally plan to pay for as many new members as I can. The way I see it, it is like paying for a lifetime of income. It is a no brainer for me to purchase an annual income at $7 per member." (Presumably, purchasing at $7 per month per member ad infinitum (forever), or until the system collapses and everyone goes home to their own monitor.)

In fairness, a crack team of "skilled, active marketers who know how to build matrices" would help teach you how to be successful in building the matrix. (Let us hope so.)

3) What if I cannot get 2 under me? Answer: "First of all you will. Internet recruiting is based a lot on curiosity, need and trust. With this program, you are (sic) can give it away, the curiosity and need for money is a given. You will not have the trust barrier to break through." (I am glad that trust is not a factor in building an Internet Marketing opportunity; were it so, it might be a good deal more difficult to succeed.)

Another comment: "If you are not able to afford to pay for 2, advertise your recruiting page and help the team in any way you can." (Was I just given the opportunity to advertise to recruit? I hope all ads I place are free and work, otherwise, I might be incurring additional expense in building the matrix.)

Also, you will receive help from the OPFM University by "some of the most prolific Internet marketers and trainers in the business. Matter of fact, I know all of the secrets of Internet marketing and have always been willing to share my knowledge with my teammates." (Well, I guess that settles it, no need to worry. It is refreshing to deal with someone who knows everything; after all, it is not every Joe walking down the street that could create this system.)

4) Is the OPFM HYPER-MATRIX a legal matrix or a pyramid scheme? Does it have a product? Good question. Answer: "The OPFM HYPER-MATRIX is a completely legal matrix that is inspected by a U. S. Attorney for compliance with U. S. regulation (sic)." Apparently the $7 monthly dues you pay for your tuition to the OPFM University makes it legal. So much for the Q&A.

The actual offering goes on for 16 pages but a few parting facts near the end caught my eye:

1) "This is a $7.00 2x15 matrix that automatically feeds a high paying 4x4 matrix."

2) "The OPFM HYPER-MATRIX was designed to pay massive commissions early. Matter of fact, you will earn over $11,000 with only 5% of your downline filled." (If the 2x matrix is 15 levels deep, then it must have 32,758 available member spaces, and 5% of 32,758 would be 1,638 members. So this is it: Figure out how to amass 1,638 paying members in 12 days and then your commission check will be $11,000+ per month.)

(He said over but I think he really meant more than; over means "above" in this case, as in "he high jumped over 7 feet," whereas more than means "to a greater extent" or in this case "in excess of $11,000." I do not want to pound on this because it is, in my judgment, the most common error in English language usage today; however, it does not make it any more acceptable.)

For the record: A 2x15 matrix does apparently have 32,758 spaces, which is only 422 less than the current 33,180 population of Lacey, my city of residence in the State of Washington.

My analysis on this 2x matrix opportunity is almost complete. If you were wondering, a sinkhole is a cavity in the ground caused by water erosion, and providing a route for surface water to disappear underground.

You, dear reader, will have to make your own decision about what to do when considering this same opportunity. Should you pass, do not feel stressed about it, when you open your e-mail as an Internet Marketer tomorrow, there will be another 100+ opportunities at you beck and call.

Forced Matrix Opportunities: A Slippery World of Sinkholes - Part 1

2007-04-11T00:27:00.000-07:00

Copyright © 2007 Ed Bagley

The idea has been around since we first ditched the barter system for a monetary system of coinage. You could create a system of growing money by making entrance to the system affordable, rewarding people for bringing others into the system, and using leverage to build volume and profit. It is called a forced matrix, and it is just one of many variations of using money to create money.

Banks have been doing it forever. They will safeguard and insure any money you put into a savings account and pay you perhaps 3% annual interest on your deposit. The bank will then use your money to finance a credit card account that another customer opens, and he or she will pay 18% interest on any balance carried over to their next monthly bill.

The difference between the 3% the bank is paying the savings account customer and the 18% the bank is earning on the customer's credit card account is called the spread, and it is this 15% revenue generated, less its operating expenses, that accounts for the bank's profit.

People used to exchange goods and services for other goods and services before money was created, and some people still barter today to avoid using money (mostly for tax reasons I am told). When we learned to produce coins from metal our marketplace expanded rapidly as more people could be involved in producing and consuming goods and services. Coinage leveled the playing field so a person in need of food did not need to exchange a more valuable item for a meal.

All of this came back to me today as I was surfing the Internet and came across a forced matrix opportunity with this very prominent headline: 2 new members + 12 days = $11,776.

I thought it has been a long time since I made $11,776 in 12 days. After that thought, I reminded myself that I have never made $11,776 in 12 days. Now you can appreciate why an Internet Marketer surfing the Internet might be interested in such an opportunity.

This is all possible, according to the offer, through its "OPFM HYPER-MATRIX, The Perfect System That Can Not Fail." I am guessing that this claim means it is not only fail safe, but fool proof. I found this reassuring as I would not want to be made a fool by losing my time and money should I choose to participate.

It sounded like a pretty simple system. The $7 fee to join makes it accessible to almost everyone. You then pay $7 monthly to maintain your membership, and when you are able to get two people to join with you in the system, your overheads are paid because it generates a 50% commission paid from their joining fee.

Apparently it is a 2x matrix, meaning those first two people you got to join are on your first level. Then you teach those first two people how to do what you did, and soon a baby sapling begins growing roots into the ground that extend farther and wider than you could see on a clear day.

The logical extension of this is that, even though no one started out to conquer the world, a real possibility is created, so to speak, as this doubling effect in only 29 days would have more than 536 million people involved, which would be 236 million more people than reside here in the United States, as we just passed the 300 million mark in population growth.

A mere 4 more days would have the matrix at 8.5 billion people involved, which, of course, would not technically be possible since there are currently only slightly more than 6.5 billion people on planet Earth. It is refreshing to encounter someone who thinks big!

Could this logical extension happen? Well, why not, since the stated intention of the offer reassures us that "we can create $11,000+ monthly incomes for our entire team!" This is really pretty heady stuff for a dinky 2x matrix. Imagine the effect of a 10x matrix, assuming, of course, we could find a thinker 5 times as big.

One thing is for sure: Should this logical extension happen, it would dwarf the generous many-billion-dollar-plus contributions Bill and Melinda Gates are making to needed causes around the world. One would have to concede, however, that raising the annual income of all people in underdeveloped countries around the world to $11,000 plus per annum would be a stunning achievement that even Gates could not match with his wealth.

But, alas, it is not be, because upon reading further I discover this 2x matrix offer is capped at approximately $20,000+ a month, which means the matrix is only intended to fill out to "x" amount of levels.

The Role of Money in America's Economy

2007-04-10T01:40:00.000-07:00

Copyright © 2007 Ed Bagley

My favorite quote about money comes from the British novelist W. Somerset Maugham: Money is like a sixth sense without which we cannot make a complete use of the other five.

There are probably millions of wage earners who wish they could use their five basic senses to see, hear, smell, taste and touch life without any concern for the necessity of financing their life, but money is a stern taskmaster who keeps their noses to the grindstone.

Even the struggling artist who abhors capitalism and the money chase must find the money to purchase his canvas and oils so he may lose himself in his craft.

Art certainly offers appeal as an activity that is more creative, inspiring and noble than the pure pursuit of making money, but the true capitalist or investor can paint with joy on a much larger canvas when he knows and understands that money has no actual value in the marketplace, or real meaning in the greater scheme of life.

Money is but a tool that does the bidding of its master. Money is neither good nor evil. In any drug transaction, money is not the evil element. In the payment of wages for time spend working in honest labor, money is not our savior.

We can make money the right way or the wrong way. We can spend money productively or unproductively. We can help people or hurt people in our use of money.

Money has no actual value other than the value we attach to it. The barter system would still be practiced today if the participants did not agree to set a value on a piece of printed paper that represented the value of the goods and services they had to offer.

When the users of money lose faith in their currency, its value drops sharply, causing inflation. When the productivity of a country stalls, its currency on the world market plunges, again causing inflation.

Money has no actual meaning other than the meaning we attach to it. Our rational mind tells us that a surplus of money can not buy us love, respect, admiration or health, yet we know that an abundance of money can buy us opportunities, financial freedom, better health care, better housing, better nutrition and a more convenient lifestyle.

Here starts the connection between rendering service and making money.

We know that nothing in our material world can come from nowhere or go nowhere, nor can it be free as there is a price to be paid. Our government can render us service through its employees, but our government is never a source of goods. Everything produced is produced by the people and everything that a government gives to its people it must first take from its people.

The only money that government has to spend is money taxed or borrowed from people’s earnings. Earnings come from productivity. All productivity is based on natural resources, human energy and tools. Tools are the only factor among the three factors that is limitless. The primary tool that is used to create productivity is money.

Businesses and organizations need to understand that you know what drives their existence; it is not giving service, it is taking in revenue to support what they are doing. Service is simply a
by-product of making money.

Do not let businesses or public service organizations fool you into thinking that they exist to help or serve people; helping or serving people is merely a by-product of generating enough revenue to be in a position to do so.

There are some people in government providing services who would have you believe that their primary mission in life is to render service, but if they believe this, they do not understand much about our economy and its role in their survival.

The primary role of any business or governmental unit, large or small, is to find and keep a revenue source. Without a budget to create programs and hire the people (employees) to deliver the programs (services), there would be no services delivered. When budgets are cut, programs and the employees to deliver them are reduced, and departments get reorganized.

Clearly, the world turns on a dollar bill. I am not judging what causes our economy to work (greed is its greatest motivator), but I am suggesting we need to be street smart about how our money system works.

Here is another sobering thought: Our entire economy and all of its employees are created by less than 5% of our population, and not a single one of the 5% work for government, or any other public service organization.

That is because nothing happens in our economy until a product or service is sold to satisfy a want or need, and less than 5% of the income generators in our economy are professional sales people.

Non-profit corporations and governmental units have no profits to tax as any earnings generated by them must be reinvested. There would be no earnings to tax unless business created the profits to be taxed, and created the jobs that also created taxes from the wages earned by the workers.

Seen this way, true capitalists and investors understand business is as much about art as it is about science. The great business people and giants of industry in our country are not really the bean counters and tech heads, they are the masters who paint on an economic canvas much more than that of the solitary artist.

The solitary artist creates an oil painting on a canvas. The creative business person takes the canvas to market and creates more opportunities for the artist to ply his craft.

H. L. Mencken was fond of saying "never underestimate the stupidity of the American people". I do not belong to that group and neither should you; that is why it is important that you understand the money game even if people around you do not.

Understanding the money game does not make us better or smarter people than others, it does make us more aware and savvy when opportunity knocks on our door.

Internet Marketing Advertising Needs a Police Patrol

2007-04-08T23:04:00.000-07:00

Copyright © 2007 Ed Bagley

You will always know a leader when you see one. That is because you never have to announce the coming of a leader.

Leaders, you see, announce themselves, just as naturally as they step forward the instant they perceive that something should be done in a certain situation when nothing is being done. So it is with Internet Marketing advertising today, it is, in a word, a "mess" waiting to be cleaned up.

It is not that anything so terribly illegal is going on (at least I hope not). Marketers are exercising their First Amendment right to freedom of speech when they offer their goods and services on the Internet, some a little more zealously than others, and a few are camped out in a circle reserved for the most devious among us.

Devious as in showing a skillful use of underhanded tactics to achieve their goals, such as lining their pockets at someone's expense.

Virtually everything that appears to be a "mess" is under the protection of the First Amendment. You will recall the Constitutional Convention formally drafted the U. S. Constitution in 1787, in Philadelphia. The U. S. Constitution was adopted in 1789 after being ratified by nine states.

(Would you believe that Philadelphia in the 1750s was the largest city in America with a population of 23,000. When Benjamin Franklin went to London, London was the second largest city in the world with 750,000 inhabitants, second only to Beijing with 900,000.)

Two years later, 1791, the first 10 amendments to the Constitution (commonly known as the Bill of Rights) were ratified.

The first of those amendments said "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

Some Internet readers have discerned what I have discerned, that while no laws are being broken (at least not yet), some marketers' lack of judgment has left them with little regard for exaggeration, loose facts and personal credibility.

Everyone appears to be looking the other way, either because they are making money hand over fist and do not want to interrupt their good fortune, or because they are afraid to recognize what is happening and throw up a caution sign. Therefore, an Internet Police Patrol might be in order to identify the worst advertising with the least credibility.

And since leaders announce themselves, we need not worry about creating some overblown bureaucratic organization to do the job. A few of us may just step up to the task on our own.

Beware, Sometimes It Is The Little Stuff That Drives Them Away

2007-04-08T00:17:00.000-07:00

Copyright © 2007 Ed Bagley

It may be fair to say that you officially become a big shot or guru in the Internet Marketing business when you make so many hundred-dollar bills that you would choke yourself to death trying to eat them.

Since even less than 1% of the people involved in Internet Marketing make the big bucks in cyberspace, we all might be well advised to be less assumptive about our customers on our way to amassing a fortune at their expense.

The Internet landscape is littered with stories by marketers who signed up for this or that offer, and were never able to make it happen at the same level as the gurus who told them how easy it would be with their materials and personal instruction.

It is easy for a guru to list all of the reasons why "losers" never get anywhere in the Internet Marketing business, but that is not the only point worth making when talking about the probability of success in this business.

Sometimes it is the little stuff that just as easily drives prospects away. After big shots and gurus have been around awhile and have stuffed their pockets full, they assume newbies know all of the stuff that they do (after their own years of failing and then succeeding) when in fact a real newbie might be doing well just to turn on his computer and get online.

After purchasing some "targeted visitors" advertising the other day (at a fraction of the cost of a PPC campaign I might add), I also took advantage of an add-on offer to have my URL enhanced with a LinkBooster campaign that included Search Engine Submission to 300 leading search engines, Targeted Directory Submission to matching directories, and Blog Search Engine Submission to 60+ blog search engines and directories.

Man, I was on it like a bee on honey, just a goosey little newbie all excited and not paying attention to business. I took the time and trouble to ad track the incoming targeted visitors so I could know just how well this service would work for me.

My provider of this wonderful opportunity sent me a LinkBooster Submission Report (very impressive), with 12 pages listing every search engine that was contacted on my behalf.

The report was, of course, automated, because this is a major buzz in the business: automate, save yourself time and effort, and post an extensive Q&A section that lists everything anyone with half a brain in their head needs to know.

Imagine my chagrin when I realized for the first time that the URL I gave my provider was not my URL (http://www.edbagleyblog.com) but the AdMinder URL re-direct to my web site. How many times does a newbie to Internet Marketing have this sinking feeling?

I immediately fired off an e-mail to my provider, asking this question: "When you submit such an URL like this, does it actually get listed? This is obviously from a link tracking service and does not even contain my actual URL." That was 10 days ago. So far, no answer. I suspect I never will get an answer from the provider. They may go on to a very successful career ignoring me, and still make a small fortune in the process. However, their lack of communication is noted.

Should they have been sharp enough to notice my apparent newbie oversight, contacted me and said, our service is very good and worth the price, however, we need your actual URL to do you any good. They were sharp enough to bank my money. You be the judge.

Should I be chasing them to get an answer to my question of concern? I want to know if my mistake makes my investment worthless. If it makes no difference whatsoever, and I am totally off base even worrying about it, then I would like to be reassured of that as well.

Little things create no concern for some and amount to big concerns for others. Little things do not deserve attention, or a reply. Little things just fade away, and perhaps future business fades away as well.

In America, We Are Really Silly About Our Instant Gratification

2007-04-06T22:04:00.000-07:00

Copyright © 2007 Ed Bagley

There is no lack of silliness in America. Many of us remember The Three Stooges: Larry, Moe and Curly, and their slapstick brand of humor.

The key to their silliness, according to Wikipedia (the free encyclopedia), "was that no matter how hard anyone was poked, slapped, punched or prodded, the pain immediately went away, and no one was ever really hurt by it."

And so it is with so many Internet Marketing offers today. We are obsessed with instant gratification. We want everything now. Why wait? This is America.

"Somebody owes me a job and a fat paycheck, and success, because, well because, I was planted here. Just because I do not understand how the offer and opportunity could possibly work in reality, why won't it work? It says right here, it will work. Read it yourself."

You can hear the refrain over and over: "Play it again, Slappy, I like that tune." And the accommodating answer: "Don't mind if I do." (Sorry, I could not resist using slappy, even though you will not find it even in a dictionary of slang, much less The New Oxford American Dictionary.)

Anxious, naïve newbies hang on every word of a sales page offering, hoping that this opportunity, among all of the other opportunities they have tried, will be the one that works.

I can still hear Curly saying (when it is all said and done, and on to another opportunity), "I'm a victim of soicumstance!" (circumstance, in Curly speak).

Do not despair, anxious, naïve newbies, there is no shortage of peddlers to take advantage of your misguided, good intentions.

I was reminded of this the other day when I came upon a sales page inviting me to join "The Golden Circle," which said "Join Us Now And Collect Your $1,750,000" (pardon me for thinking this could be my lucky day!). I had been invited to join "one of the world's most rewarding financial associations."

I would be told "how to collect $1,750,000 so we don't really need any fancy tricks" (naturally I was wondering how this could be). Simple answer: "Being open and straightforward in these matters we have to explain here that your money comes from a commission paid to you on sales made by other Golden Circle members."

And what are we selling? Why, "thousands of copies of a certain Product from YOU over the Internet for $16 each." (I guess the P in product makes it more important, and I love the word YOU, it is my next favorite word after my name.) Gee, I wonder if the Product we will be selling will be what I am reading here?

No matter, as apparently the "information-based product which you are 'selling' will be produced and distributed to your clients automatically FOR YOU by the Golden Circle Server – Computer. So you don’t need to know how to do this – or indeed anything technical about computers at all. It is all done automatically: You need to do NOTHING." (Man, this is great, I do nothing and get $1,750,000.)

Well, not exactly, I do need to pony up $16 to "buy ONE product from ONE of our members for $16. That is all" (the author's italics, not mine). And, of course, there is a "Full Money Back Guarantee."

And get this: "After you make your single $16 purchase from another Member, YOU can first receive $7,000 Front Money and then move immediately to the Team Leader Position to receive your $1,750,000" (the author of this sales pitch does not mention if the $7,000 will be received during my liftetime).

It made me wonder what would happen if the creator of this opportunity were hauled into court and forced to exhibit even one example of a newbie's $16 investment generating a $1,750,000 payout.

Does the expression from the sublime to the ridiculous ring a bell? As in the sublime (of such excellence, grandeur, or beauty as to inspire great admiration or awe—kind of like guru worship) to the ridiculous (as in deserving or inviting derision or mockery).

You may or may not be interested to know that the first FREE (there is that pesky word again) report you receive in this "open and straightforward" explanation (their words, not mine) is titled "How You Can Avoid The Wage Slave Trap," (please do not laugh, I am being accurate here).

Who says you need to go school to get an education? Surfing the Internet may prove more valuable than nailing your MBA degree (Master of Business Administration).

Mark Twain said "I never let schooling interfere with my education." Somehow, it is so much easier to like Mark Twain than the author of this Golden Circle opportunity advertisement (and more sensible too, I might add).

Can a Guru Match Wits with the Mighty Yahoo! Search Marketing Machine?

2007-04-06T01:46:00.000-07:00

Copyright © 2007 Ed Bagley

A couple of months ago (well, September 30, 2006 to be exact) an e-mail popped up on my monitor from Yahoo! Search Marketing touting the Best Practices for 2006 Holiday Planning, analyzing some key statistics from last year's gift-giving season.

Included was the "preferred day" (not the best day, mind you, but the preferred day) for B2C (that would be Business to Consumer I believe) marketing e-mail campaigns. (Apparently, in Internet Marketing it is mandatory to communicate in Internet Marketing "speak " so as to distinguish marketers as somewhat unique, or perhaps distant, from the English language.)

The best day, according to the brain trust at Yahoo! Search Marketing is Friday, rated at 31% (one assumes, always dangerous but necessary in this case since it is not given by the source), apparently for the response rate.

In Internet Marketing, you see, everyone is supposed to know what you are talking about. My perception is marketers explain their every offer to death with 30-plus-page sales letters in order to justify the investment, and then turn around and spout out important technical terms with very little explanation at all, other than, you should know.

That said, Yahoo! Search Marketing (hereinafter referred to as Yahoo! because you are supposed to know) identified the worse day of the week to send an e-mail offer as Sunday, rated at 11%.

In between, in descending order, was Wednesday (26%), Tuesday (22%), Monday (20%), Thursday (19%) and Saturday (16%). OK. There you have it, folks, keep those cards and letters coming, preferably on Friday, leading into the leisurely weekend when the surf's up and people have more time.

I was now going to reveal to you the results given in one guru's confidential report covering, among other information, the same topic as Yahoo! addressed, but I cannot. In reading the preface to his or her (to protect their identity) report, I am enjoined from doing so as it would be a violation of their copyright.

I am an authorized holder and user of the information in question. Suffice to say, their advice differs dramatically from Yahoo! research. I have found no other worthy sources on the subject, and so cannot make the comparison.

So what can you learn from the information I have given?

One thing might be that if you are a guru, and have something to say worth listening to, then write a report on your exact results, and offer it up as an inducement in building an opt-in mailing list, the probability is you are going to get a lot of takers.

Whether there is a guru out there with genuine results that is willing to sell the information for a profit I do not know. When I do, I will let you know. If I had to choose who I will listen to, I will go with the guru in this case, and skip the Yahoo! brain trust.

Many "Free" Offers Online Can Scare Newcomers to the Internet

2007-04-05T01:03:00.000-07:00

Copyright © 2007 Ed Bagley

In the time it takes you to read this article another several thousand newcomers will be surfing the Internet for the first time. Many will be excited, then delighted (especially if they enjoy cable hook-up), become anxious and finally overwhelmed.

All of this can and does happen because on the Internet, home of Internet Marketers (kind of like having your in-laws and outlaws in the same room at the same time), many Internet Marketers believe if they do not relieve you of your money first, there will be none left for them to get.

If you thought they were going to give you a congratulatory greeting and a helping hand, then your education will progress very rapidly.

This rush to get into your pocket is exactly what financial institutions and predators do to young adults after high school. These money grubbers (also known as money lenders) want nothing to do with a marathon in chasing the naïve, they will choose the sprint every time, without fail.

Financiers know the first one to tie up a young person with a car loan and several credit cards has a leg up on enslaving the young, naïve borrower forever; it becomes a done deal when they lock in the same borrower with their first home mortgage (real property loan).

At this point, the young borrower is now exactly where the fastest lender could bring them to: years of hard work, unfair taxes and a lifetime of debt.

I felt like going down to the local credit union and slapping the loan officer that set my son up with a loan for a new car that he acquired with a part-time job, no assets and no real credit rating. My son thought he was king of the hill (mind you, this was no $2,000 used car loan, this was more like a $20,000 new car loan).

My son figured it was easy to get loans. He kept going back until he was in for about $300,000, and then all of the lenders backed off like he had developed the plague and was contagious.

The point is a 30-year-old or 40-year-old man could have gone to the same credit union, or bank, or whatever your lender of choice is, asked for the same loan, and been laughed out of the building. Surely you get it, the first one in gets the prime filet mignon, the rest of lenders get the crumbs off the table.

You may imagine it could not get worse online, and you would be dead wrong. At least my son drove away with a car and had the transportation he thought he needed. Newcomers to the Internet many times buy products and services that simply do not perform (I have bought my share), never mind whether the newcomer wanted or needed the purchase of the moment.

All of this comes back to me today as I received an e-mail from what appears to be a nice, concerned fellow Internet Marketer, which says:

"I don't normally pay much attention to these internet (sic) marketing giveaway events (that is why I have received another similar offer from the same marketer this week) that spring up every now and again (looks like at least a dozen in my e-mails today), but when I seen some of the tools available free at the 'Blank Blank Giveaway', I wanted to make sure you had the chance (so very thoughtful of him) to check it out . . ." (followed by the link to the web site).

Turns out that "Not only can you grab 200+ hot Internet marketing tools without spending a dime, you can also build a list at the same time!"

Any newcomer to the Internet that has just started an Internet Marketing business may already know the idea is to generate traffic to his web site. This looks like another can't miss deal, but is it?
Let us look at this offer from the perspective of a newcomer:

1) Many newcomers have virtually no technical knowledge or skills (I was one). How overwhelming would it be for me to download 200+ Internet tools, install them (if I can), and then use them effectively? Talk about being overwhelmed.

You might ask, why does this happen (the big time offer of 200+ tools)? Probably, a long time ago, some enterprising marketer offered one software tool as an incentive to sign up a newcomer on his mailing list, and then, you guessed it, things got out of hand, and soon it took 100+ free Internet tools to get that same newcomer to volunteer for a mailing list.

Look for someone to offer 300+ Internet tools soon, as the Internet is nothing if not a copycat business of the first order. There is such a lack of originality in marketing on the Internet that if the Internet exploded, it would probably take 1,000 years to resurrect it.

2) There is a great possibility that response to this kind of offer leads to the newcomer becoming a list member who will then be exposed to hundreds of offers to make instant money with a free web site, free hosting, free everything, and no requirements to think, do or say anything (the money, of course, will fly through the newcomer's front door because the whole system will be automated).

But what is really happening here? Only this: You will probably be asked to advertise to drive traffic to your new, free web site (with access to the "secret" money-making techniques of your guru, and his personal schmuck-proof help), at your expense, in exchange for earning a commission on something sold.

Sounds OK, but what do you get besides the commission? Answer: nothing. Who gets the names for their mailing list? The guru, not you. What have you really accomplished? Only this: you have helped build the guru's mailing list at your expense. The guru now has more newcomers to sell to over and over again, and you, you have nothing.

Well, not exactly. You, of course, have more advertising expenses, which we surely hope you can pay for out of the commissions you earned, assuming you earned any commissions. What you are really doing is subsidizing your guru, and he is making the money you want to make.

The guru (or any other Internet Marketer) is not giving you a free web site, hosting and all of the other amenities because he is feeling rich, blessed and altruistic (that is only what he is telling you with a straight face). He is giving you all of this because he can stuff his pockets 100 or 1,000 times more with affiliate web sites than without them, and so he spends his time creating affiliate web sites. It is called leveraging your time and money, his (the guru's), not yours, he is bleeding you dry.

Gurus will quickly fall all over themselves telling you there are thousands of marketers making millions of dollars a year in affiliate marketing, and that may be, but will you be one of them, and what are you willing to do to make money at someone's expense without really telling them the truth about what is happening here?

Some gurus (and other assorted folks) may be better off as an Internet Marketer if they have no conscience whatsoever.

Shopping Online = Caveat Emptor (Latin for Let the Buyer Beware)

2007-04-01T21:32:00.000-07:00

Copyright © 2007 Ed Bagley

Any newcomers to Internet Marketing who would like to gather a little field intelligence on the landscape and competition need only to surf "Traffic Swarm," which bills itself as "the fastest and easiest way to instantly increase traffic, visitors and sales to any website, product or service."

Well, that claim is certainly debatable as there are more than a hundred offers on the Internet today that make the same claim with a straight face. Be that as it may, Traffic Swarm also lets you know instantly that its service is automated, targeted, cheat-proof, proven and "viral marketing" (a heady term that makes one think that he might now indeed be in possession of cyberspace), all five of these claims are Internet Marketing buzz words more common than a thousand bees making small talk at the entrance to their hive.

The uninitiated would learn that you can join Traffic Swarm free, post an advertisement of your own, and then surf (look at) other marketer's ads to earn credits, which you can in turn spend to draw traffic and visitors to your own offer. It is a very nice little package for beginners which, even if it does not bring you sales of your product or service, does give your website or offer page exposure and presence on the Internet.

Traffic Swarm is where I surf to find out what is going on in the world of Internet Marketing offers. There are dozens of other sites that could provide me with the same fodder, but Traffic Swarm has, in my experience, proven to be as good as any other at what it does.

My message has nothing directly to do with Traffic Swarm; it has to do with the users of Traffic Swarm, who hawk their goods like any merchant in a loud, noisy marketplace with vicious, unrelenting competition for your hard-earned dollar.

All of which brings us to the Latin phrase "caveat emptor," which means let the buyer beware. The New Oxford American Dictionary (we bow to the King's English) says this about caveat emptor: the principle that the buyer alone is responsible for checking the quality and suitability of goods before a purchase is made. Herein lies the problem with online purchasing: we cannot examine the goods before we commit to buying whatever it is a person may be selling.

This fact of purchasing works in the seller's interest, and the seller, not the buyer, will do anything to keep it that way, including, but not limited to, exaggerating claims, playing upon your emotions, using psychological ploys to move you to the action they want you to take, pressuring you into making buying decisions with no opportunity to see what it is you are purchasing, and being disingenuous in an attempt to relieve you of your money.

I have begun to examine Internet Marketing ads online very closely, not to determine the legitimacy of any particular offer, but rather to determine the quality of language used in supporting the legitimacy of the claims made in any particular offer.

An e-mail that came to me this morning offers an example. It uses this opening sentence to hook you into linking to their sales page: "As incredible as it may sound you're about to discover a system how you can drive 1000s of potential customers to any website or affiliate website at $0 cost to you!"

(The hoped for reader reaction might be: My God, this is an answer to prayer, a system that can finally drive traffic and business to my website so I can make my first sale in 24 months as an Internet Marketer after indiscriminately spending hundreds of dollars on useless offers.)

As I analyze this opening sentence, remember the use of the words "incredible" (as in I am so lucky to find this offer, today, on the Internet), "discover" (my god, this is totally new and I could be the first one in and make a killing) and "$0 cost to you" (and to think, all of this without any expense to me).

As a newcomer to Internet Marketing I hit the link to the promised land, and the sales page greets me with this: "I'm Revealing My Secrets I Personally Use To Drive Thousands Of Potential Customers To My Websites!" This is coupled with the reassuring phrase "you can drive 1000s of potential customers to any website or affiliate website and $0 cost you!" Again, remember the reference to "$0 cost to you."

The most powerful word in this opening is "secret" (as in only this very successful person and I are going to learn the secret). The word "secret" and "guru" in Internet Marketing go together like matching bookends.

There is, really, no big secret; there really is just one-upmanship in thinking there is. Literally hundreds of other marketers are successfully using the same secret. The inexperienced buyer simply has not yet apparently acquired the knowledge, applied the knowledge and profited from the experience. The reader is then reassured that "This works for any product, website or affiliate website" (as in it can work for you too).

Then there is an invitation to "Join my Marketing Tips Newsletter and I will show you free marketing tips – worth $500" (wow, what I deal for me). Once signed up, you will in most cases be immediately put into an autoresponder, which bombards you with e-mail messages on a timed basis (like every other day for the next 400 days). You can opt-out of these messages at any point in most cases, but most newcomers do not figure this out until they become very annoyed with the process.

This entire sales page takes a sharp left turn here, the idea being to get the person on a mailing list in case they are not buying into the for real paid offer that follows (remember, we started with "discover a system how you can drive 1000s of potential customers to any website or affiliate website at $0 cost to you!" (as in free).

Prior to learning the actual price point that is coming (as sure as there is handwriting on the wall) is this claim: "I absolutely guarantee that if you use these tactics, you will get substantially higher rankings" (in search engines).

This, of course, is an asinine statement to make as the author of the statement controls neither the search engines or their ranking of websites. At best, the author could only guarantee to return the buyer's purchase price should he or she feel dissatisfied with their particular results in using the tactics offered.

The bottom line is if you really want the advertised information the discounted price ends up at $49.97, with the admonition that it will be raised to $79.97 on December 1 (so it is a Limited Time Offer and you better act now or be left out). These ads invariably pressure for immediate action.

One could argue that the statement "discover a system how you can drive 1000s of potential customers to any website or affiliate website at $0 cost to you!" is literally true, what is not being said up front, however, is that it is going to cost you $49.97 to get the "secret information package" that would allow you to do so.

Given a more than cursory view of the offer, you must now decide how credible the offer is, and whether you will act immediately in your own best interest, because there is no doubt that the author of this ad is acting in his own best interest.

Welcome to Ed's Internet Marketing Corner

2007-03-31T21:11:00.000-08:00

Welcome to my blog on Internet Marketing.

After becoming involved in Internet Marketing some months ago, I quickly became aware of the need to pay attention to what was happening to me when I responded to the many free offers of programs and opportunities on the Internet.

As a newcomer I did not understand that taking advantage of many offers was not really helping me. Internet Marketing gurus, so to speak, were willing to give me a web site free so I could become rich with their guidance.

Unfortunately, in most cases, their friendly guidance had me buying advertising to send prospects to what was really their web site with my name on it. I was not able to develop a mailing list from the prospects I generated for the guru, and really ended up making nothing while subsidizing the gurus advertising budget at my expense.

I also found the guru was selling me all manner or "breakthrough programs" and "secrets to success" that earned me nothing but made profit for the gurus.

It took me a few months to realize that the gurus were happy to part with some information on their success but also quite willing to leave out important information that would make me as successful as them.

As long as I was buying their crap they were happy, but I was not happy because I realized they were leading me to the water but not letting me drink.

It became apparent to me that I would have to figure what they had learned on my own, so it made little sense to me to do it while subsidizing them, so I dumped them (fired them) and hired myself.

The purpose of this blog is to let you in on some of the tactics and techniques they use to keep you enslaved in their system.

Check back here in a couple of days and we will begin to go back to school and learn some information worth knowing.

Copyright © 2007 Ed Bagley