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Copyright 2004 by Kevin Bidwell All-In-One-Business.com I have a friend who cheats at monopoly. Now, before you condemn him for a lack of moral fibre, let me tell you what he ALWAYS do before he cheats: When someone suggests a game of monopoly, he freely and openly proclaim, "OK, but I cheat." If the other players protest he promises not to cheat, and refrains from his "cheatin' ways"; but most often no one seems to notice or care. In fact, many times the other players make him the banker. Later, when he wins with a "surprisingly large" amount of cash, the other players will sometimes protest. At that point he is always quick to point out THAT HE TOLD THEM HE WOULD CHEAT. Today I want to tell you how the game is played on the Internet. Hopefully it will save you from being surprised or even "beaten" by those who seek to take real money--not just the Monopoly kind--out of your pocket. The first rule of the game is this: INTERNET GURUS LOOK OUT FIRST FOR THEMSELVES Don't be surprised that the top names on the Internet are always finding new ways for you to spend your money. In fact, the more money you spend with them, the more ways they will find for you to PART WITH MORE OF IT. Understand that this is NOT EVIL, it is just good business. "Opportunity seekers" are a very specific and large market on the 'Net and there is nothing immoral about marketing products to that group. But there are a couple times when this practice becomes questionable: It becomes questionable when the product being offered has little or no value except to make the seller more cash. I have no problem with selling an eBook for $200--as long as it has REAL VALUE to the people who purchase it. Otherwise, it is just a "cash cow" for the seller. Another time that it becomes questionable is when the buyer has no real chance of making the product work. If I hyping an "opportunity" that I know will not work for the people I am marketing it to, I may be "lawful", but I am not very moral. A second rule of the game is this: AN INTERNET GURU'S INCOME IS DEPENDENT ON HIS NEXT "PROMOTION" There are those who have been selling a high-quality, reasonably priced product or group of products for years-- Ken Evoy, Corey Rudl, etc., but there are many more who come up with a new product or opportunity each month or so because that's how they keep the income rolling in from the same customers again and again. If you don't have good products, you have to come up with a new product every month or two to keep the income rolling in. That's why we see the "opportunity of the month" syndrome. A third rule of the game is this: THERE ARE DEFINITE PRICE POINTS THAT CAN BE EXPLOITED FROM THE "OPP-SEEKERS" CROWD You will find a surprising number of "opportunities" priced at "just $25 per month" or that have a one-time cost of around $200. The reason for this is that, regardless of the actual value of the product or service, those price points are ones that many opportunity seekers will readily accept. Again, that is not necessarily evil, it represents a market reality. The problem comes when you see the same people coming up with one new opportunity after another, month after month, all priced at about the same point. Another rule of the game is: PAY SLOW OR NOT AT ALL For the unscrupulous, this is the name of the game. When they can delay payments owed to their "downlines" or "customers", they can use the money to fund the "next" opportunity. In some cases the "distributors" never receive a single check. How can they do this and still be legal? There are several tricks to be aware of: 1. They make the minimum check too large. 2. They manipulate sign-ups so that no one qualifies for any real commissions. 3. They require "paperwork" that they had never previously mentioned in order to process payments. 4. They slow down replies to distributor service requests by weeks until many people just give up. These are some of the main tactics, and they work wonders. In the worst cases the businesses go out of business before they ever pay a cent in commissions. A final rule of the game is this: HE WHO HAS THE BIGGEST LIST WINS THE GAME If a marketer--whether honest or not--has built a big enough mailing list, he can succeed with almost ANY opportunity. He has almost no cost in sending out a series of promo emails and has an almost guaranteed large response. One of the reasons why you might see some "big names" going from opportunity to opportunity is that they realize they don't need a long-term response, just a quick one. As long as enough people from their list respond THIS MONTH, and a few of them hang around for a couple months, they will make a\ ton of money. Then they get out. So, how can you keep from getting "hoodwinked" by the latest Internet scam artist? Here are some things to keep in mind: 1. No one makes $5,000 per month on the Net for doing NOTHING. Are there people who are making $5,000 per month OR MORE in their spare time with little or no ongoing effort? YES. Did that happen because they "joined a program"? NO. The people who are making good money on the web are the people who have taken the time to either come up with an original and marginally popular idea that requires little ongoing effort, or they are the marketers who are out there pushing their products in various means every day, or they are those who have established themselves and their markets and are now able to reap the fruits of those labors. 2. You cannot continually take more money OUT of something than is COMING IN. It amazes me how clouded unscrupulous marketers can make this sound. "Give me $25/month and I will give you $9000/month". How is this company turning $25 into $9000? No one bothers to ask. Eventually the house of cards will fall. 3. The easiest way to succeed on the net is the TRIED AND TRUE way--choose a market niche, provide a great product, build your lists of customers and prospects. Everyone is looking for a short-cut, and I have to admit that there are rare "overnight successes" on the web, but most of us simply try to do a good job every day, do our homework and market wisely. Now that you know the rules to the game, if you get taken, you have no one to blame but yourself! |
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