Ponzi's, Pyramids, and other Scams

P.T. Barnum, the famous circus entrepreneur supposedly said that "there was a sucker born every minute". However, I believe P.T. was being somewhat generous in his statement because it appears as if there are several born every second. In any event, it seems as if the idea of quick cash turns many of us into completely irrational beings. It doesn't seem to matter how much we are told "if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is", many of us still fall prey to the quick buck hustlers and scam artists. I'm not trying to preach because I've been guilty of chasing the fast buck from time to time myself. Why is it that many of us throw caution to the wind when it comes to these money schemes?

Back in the early 1900's, a man named Charles Ponzi was working a plan that made him rich, infamous and later landed him in jail. What this enterprising young man was doing was promising fantastic rates of return to 'investors' willing to hand over their money to him. He made claims such as being able to double your money in 90 days. The high returns were supposed to come from exchanging international postal reply coupons or some such thing. Before Mr. Ponzi was brought to justice, about 40,000 people had gotten involved in this scam. The main reason these things collapse is because there really is no product or earnings from which to reap profits from. Still, it did prove to be very profitable for individuals who got into it early, but at the expense of people who got involved later in the game. These type of scams have been around forever in various forms, and new variations arise from time to time.

Speaking of doubling your money, just a few short years ago, 'Doublers' were all the rage on the Internet. So called advertising entities and other types sprung up promising that you could double your money by investing in advertising, email leads or some other type of generally useless product. The way most of them were setup was that you would join the 'matrix' and once you cycle through the matrix, you would receive double your money. Again, getting in early was the key. As more people joined, the matrix in time became so large that the cycling time became extremely long and people stopped investing money and the matrix stalled. Most of the people were left with lots of money sitting in a line that eventually collapsed. That's the thing about these types of programs; some people do make lots of money, but it's the few who originate the program and the ones who get in early.

Many of these programs or money games are really hybrids of Ponzi and Pyramid schemes. While many appear legitimate, the thing that sets most of them apart is that there really is no 'real' product, but what matters is that your success and ability to make any money is contingent on you recruiting other participants or suckers into the program. Eventually the numbers needed to make this type of program work become unsustainable because it's based on a multilevel structure where you have to recruit 'X' number of people through numerous levels and rely on others to do the same. In order to make the money advertised, you and everyone else would have to have about 6 million people in your network.

Unfortunately, all of these scams have given a legitimate form of business known as Multi Level Marketing, a bad rap that is hard to overcome. Having belonged to a couple of Network Marketing or MLM companies, I can't recall the number of times I have had prospects say to me, "that's not a Multi Level Marketing program, is it?," with a look as if they have just seen Lucifer incarnate. With all the scammers out there, it is sometimes difficult to tell the difference; just remember that legitimate MLM companies offer REAL products and the income you make with them isn't based solely on recruiting others into the business.

One thing you can say about scammers is that they are very flexible in that they have adapted to the technology of the Internet very well. I must receive 10-20 emails a day telling me that someone in some little place like Timbuktu wants to send me 7 million dollars or so if I just give them my bank account information. Between that and all the lotteries I'm winning, I shouldn't have to be spending hours each day staring at this computer screen trying to eke out a living. Hmm...

Autoresponder Marketing...Key to Online Success

Having used numerous autoresponder services through the years, I am keenly aware of the importance that this essential tool plays in your business success. Autoresponders automate many communication tasks such as providing instant information to your potential customers, sending out welcome and thank you letters, newsletters, free reports, articles, and many other tasks. It's your silent 24 hour employee that never complains. While your individual needs will dictate the type of autoresponder features that you require, there are some key things to look for in selecting an autoresponder service.

They say that exceptional customer support is a thing of the past, but you should demand it from the company that provides your email delivery services. Some of the things that superior companies provide in this area besides telephone numbers and email support are Live Chat during normal business hours, Live Video Seminars, extensive training guides and materials that go beyond the standard features of average companies. The company I use even stays in touch by snailmail to let me know about important updates, new features, etc. Exceptional companies pride themselves on their customer service and support. Always keep in mind that with an Internet based business, your autoresponder service is a reflection of your business.

You can have the slickest sales copy going but if your message doesn't get delivered, you're dead in the water before you even get started. When I was checking on autoresponder services, I was shocked to find out how much delivery rates for email can vary. The company that I currently use provides a 99.34% delivery rate, which is exceptional. Unfortunately, this rate is not what you'll find with many services. In fact, you will probably be lucky to get a 50% delivery rate. Before signing on with a autoresponder service, you'll want to find out what their email delivery rate is. Most autoresponder companies have features in place that provide numerous email statistics about delivery rates and other information. You'll want to use a company that provides a multitude of statistics about your e-mailings.

Another important component of a exceptional autoresponder system is its flexibility. Most top notch autoresponder services allow you a great degree of flexibility in using their autoresponders to fit your needs. For instance, some of the things you should be able to do with your autoresponders are send your messages in either HTML or Text, use numerous name personalizations, add Forms to your website, create and send followup emails to your subscribers, provide Templates for your various needs, create Newsletters, allow unlimited autoresponders and other features that allow you to perform most, if not all of your communication functions.

Lastly, if you're considering using one of the free or cheap autoresponder services my advice is.. DON'T! The old axiom that "you get what you pay for" is just as true when it comes to autoresponders. What you are likely to find that you are getting for your economizing is limited features, ads on all of your emails, virtually no customer support, and unreliable service. In my experience, spending $15-$20 a month is well worth the huge benefits you'll derive from using a professional email delivery system.

The use of autoresponders can be a fantastic tool to automate and simplify many of your online tasks. It gives you the ability to stay in touch with your customers. It's a 24 hour salesperson for you, providing on demand information for others. The wise use of autoresponders can greatly expand your business reach. Choose a service that enhances your business and profit.

Need a quality Autoresponder Service? Bill recommends...Unlimited Autoresponders....99.34% Emails Delivered, it's simply the best!

Article Marketing...Are You Making These Mistakes?

Article Marketing is a great way to get the word out about yourself and your business. Even people that have never written before are finding success writing short informative articles and marketing them through Article Directories. The great thing is you don't have to be a professional writer to benefit from this Internet based form of marketing. It's simply a matter of writing about something you know or are interested in, and writing your article as if you were talking to a friend sitting next to you. While I believe just about anyone is capable of writing an article that is worthy of being published, there are a few things to avoid when writing your article to keep it from winding up on the publishing scrap pile.

Of all the mistakes that writers make, gross spelling errors is one of the most blatant. When I speak of spelling errors, I'm not talking about the occasional misspelling of a word, or using the word in the wrong context like using 'there' instead of 'their' but we are talking about articles that are written as if the writer has never opened a dictionary before. The thing is, there really is no reason to submit an article full of misspelled words. All one needs to do, is use a 'spell checker' to proofread their article. Some article directories like 'Ezine Articles' even provide a free spell checker that will let you check your spelling before submitting the article. No matter how good you think your spelling is, my advice is to use a spell checker before submitting your article. I always use one before I submit an article, and I'm amazed at the spelling errors I find in my writings.

Another mistake that writers make is writing an article that is either too long or too short. You want to try and get in the habit of saying what you have to say as concisely as possible. I usually try to compose my articles with a structure of 5-7 paragraphs and word count of between 400-700 words. Any less than 400 words, and most newsletter publishers and owners of websites won't bother to use it for publication. It's the same with articles that run on forever. Remember, you are not writing a book, you just want to compose a short, entertaining or informative article that others will read and hopefully post on their website. Your goal is to have your article distributed around the Internet as much as possible. Keeping your articles short but concise will help you to accomplish this goal.

One of the most egregious errors that I see some authors make is the misuse of the 'Resource Box'. It's a shame to see a well written article about some topic only to see the Resource Box not being used properly. For instance, if you're writing an article about Tropical Fish, you wouldn't want to include a link in your Resource Box that takes the visitor to a site that tells them how they can save money on their taxes with a piece of software. You want to link the information in the Resource Box to the article as much as possible. If you are writing a somewhat general article about making money, you're probably safe in linking to most other sites about making money in one form or another. On the other hand, if your article is written about a particular niche, then use the Resource Box to send your visitors to a website that relates to what your article is about.

Another vital ingredient to Article Marketing success is submitting your articles to the right Article Directories. There are literally thousands of directories to submit your articles to on the Internet. While some people will suggest that you submit your articles to as many directories as possible, I try and submit my articles to the highest ranked directories on the Internet. The reasons for this are not only because you receive more visitors from these directory sites, but your articles will oftentimes receive a higher page ranking by the search engines which leads to long term traffic for you. One technique I use to check on the effectiveness of an article directory is after submitting an article, going back a week or two later to check on the article stats. If I find that the article is waiting to be reviewed or hasn't been downloaded much, then I'll most likely avoid submitting any more articles to that directory in the future.

Article Marketing can be a great way to bring traffic to your website. If done properly, your article can bring you traffic for years to come. While your article writing probably won't lead to a new career as a novelist, it can lead to greater exposure for you and increased profit.

Making Money With Online Surveys

Companies need your imput...make $1000-$3,000 a month doing surveys! Easy money doing surveys from home! Earn $20 or more for doing a 5 minute survey! Sounds intriguing, eh? After receiving about 1,000 emails one week on making money doing surveys from home, I thought I'd take some time to see what there was to this 'Getting Paid to do Surveys' thing. After putting in a search for 'Get Paid to do Surveys', I came back with numerous links and over the course of a couple days, I signed up for about 30 different companies. I quickly started receiving offers for surveys, but found out shortly thereafter that it was not quite as advertised. Instead of being paid lots of cash for doing surveys, I found the following to be the case;

1) Most of the Survey companies pay in Points and Sweepstakes entries instead of CASH!

The majority of the Survey compaines will pay you in points to do a survey. What this means is that if you are accepted to do a survey and complete it, you'll receive points and NOT cash. Once you accumulate enough points, you can then exchange the points for merchandise. The problem with this is, it will take you until NEXT Christmas to accumulate enough points to get anything. Yes, you could literally be doing sweepstakes for months before you accumulate enough points to redeem them for something. In conjuction with this, you're usually entered into sweepstakes drawings in which you can receive cash and or prizes, but just like the lottery, don't quit your day job in anticipation of winning one of these.

2) You WON'T qualify for most of the Surveys.

Another problem doing surveys is the Pre-Qualifiying Survey that they use to screen people to see if they qualify for the actual survey. It becomes very irritating doing a Pre-Qualifying Survey only to find out ten minutes into it, that according to the answers you provided, you didn't qualify to do the survey! It may not seem like a big deal, but after having this happen numerous times, you'll start to realize that you're spending more time doing Pre-Qualifying Surveys then actual surveys, and not making a dime for your time. Not exactly what you had in mind!

3) Surveys That Pay...and Time Involved.

Another thing that I discovered was that the companies that actually paid in cash usually paid between $1 to $5 to do a survey and not the $25 or more dollars that you were expecting to receive. Worse, these surveys usually take 20-30 minutes or so to complete, meaning that you were making about $5 a hour if averaged out over a period of time. While the companies selling the directories talk of people paying large amounts of money to do surveys, my experiences showed that the majority of the paying companies payed a good bit less than the figures quoted in the advertisements.

4) Survey's and Gift Certificates

Another type of email that you'll often receive states that you've been awarded a Gift Certificate from XXX company, and all you have to do to claim it is enter your email and fill out some information. Nah, not quite. The way this one works is once you've entered you're information, you'll be taken to a page where you have to sign up for a couple of offers in order to receive your prize. Even after that, there's stipulations involved before you can receive any Gift Certificate's. Again, not quite the way the thing is advertised.

However, with all that being said, there is one way that people seem to be making money with Online Surveys and that's by referring others. If you look on Craigslist and other sites, you'll find literally thousands of ads in help wanted and other sections where it states people are looking for other people for Paid Focus Groups, Product Researcher, Consumer Panel Group or some other similar headline. When someone signs up to join one of these free online survey companies, the person who referred the new signup gets a referral bonus of $5 or more. So, if the person manges to get 10 people or more a day to sign up he's making a nice little extra income. You can probably make more money this way than by actually doing surveys.

Ebay Looking Out for its Seller's?

I got a letter a couple of days ago from Ebay telling me that they have listened to their sellers and lowered their advertising rates. What they did was lower the rates a nickle or so on most 'Insertion' fees. Great! However, what they don't publicize as much is the fact that they are raising the rates on 'Final Value' fees from 5.25% to 8.75% on sales up to $25, and from 3.25% to 3.50% on items up to $1,000. What this does is nail the individual selling items in the lower price ranges. For instance, if you sell 4 items on auction that each sell for around $25, instead of paying $5.25 on Final Value Fee's, you'll now pay $8.75 instead, wiping out any small savings on Insertion Fee's. Strange how it seems that whenever a company decides to make changes that benefit it's members, the members always wind up on the short end of the stick. Just like politicians, the trick is to try and spin it to make it seem like they're actually doing us a favor.

Make Money Writing Simple Blogs

Earning Income on the Internet

It seems that everyone today is trying to earn a little money on the Internet. Yet, time after time, statistics show that the majority of people fail to earn any substantial income.

Why is this?

When getting started on any Internet venture, I believe it would help for people to decide on what their goal or reason for starting is? Do you want to make a little money, or start an Internet 'business'. There is a world of difference between the two, and each require a much different approach and mindset.

You can in fact, earn SOME money from just about anything on the Internet, but many times the result is just not worth the effort expended. Spending hour after hour to make $20 here and there quickly gets old, and will sap your enthusiasm. If your goal is just to make a little extra income, make sure that you're not working for $2 an hour when all is said and done. You might be better off working at Gino's Italian Grill part time instead.

Starting an Internet business on the other hand is a horse of a different color. First off, what type of business are you going to start or be involved with? There are literally thousands of options. For example, you could do Ebay, selling products for affiliate programs, Network Marketing or you could really get bold and start your own business. The point is, there are endless possibilities, and deciding on what to do and just getting started can be the hardest part.

Before starting any Internet venture, take a look at yourself and your experiences. What do you know about Internet Marketing? Do you have specialized knowledge of some subject that you could turn into a profitable online business? What are your passions? Doing a through self examination will help you identify possible strengths and weaknesses and will help you to make an informed decision.

One other thing I should mention is that whatever it is you are involved with, don't fall into the trap of jumping from one opportunity to another. You really need to FOCUS on whatever it is that you are doing. There will always be a better opportunity waiting in your mailbox; the one business opportunity that will allow you to get rich overnight with no effort. Don't fall for the hype! If you find a business that you believe in, give it your all, and put the blinders on.

Earning some cash on the Internet, as opposed to starting an Internet business, is sort of like comparing a sprinter to a marathon runner, for each the goal is to win, but the approach and training require a much different mindset. Understanding your motivations will help guide you to make the right choice for YOU!