Direct Sales & Network Marketing are hitting the mainstream more and more... they seem poised to explode where everyone will either be doing it, or know someone who is. For those interested in a basic explanation of the highlights and low lights of the industry and the work, this ABC News.com article is very informative and well rounded.
Direct Sales is still sales... and those who fail tend to only hear the catch phrases that give the industry such a bad name... like "anyone can do it", "it's easy", "no selling involved", etc. For the most part it's simple... as in it's not rocket science... but to say it's "easy" is not true for people who aren't prepared for rejection and objections. Look at the first comment under my Sumner Redstone article... the "objection" is vague and weird, and if you don't know how to handle people who just shut down, you can't succeed in Network Marketing.
The good news... the industry is getting more and more mainstream recognition which should ease some of the objections to the industry as a whole. The bad news... you've got to work it like a business... read the ABC article for more on what that means. In addition... with really bad examples like E4L, the industry will continue to suffer from image problems... and unfortunately there are definitely more bad examples than there are good ones.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Monday, September 17, 2007
Kevin Trudeau - another lie from a born liar/scammer
After buying Kevin Trudeau's "Natural Cures 'They' Don't Want You to Know About" book after watching his infomercial, I fully expected a book about Natural Cures. Instead it was a rant against the FDA and the FTC saying he wasn't allowed to share "natural cures" because it was against the law. From that point on I've considered Kevin Trudeau to be a liar and a scam artist. After all, why didn't he called the book "Why 'They' Won't Let Me Tell You About Natural Cures". Don't spend an hour long infomercial promising all kinds of interesting "cures" and then deliver NONE.
So today's news that the FTC is charging Kevin Trudeau for violating a court order for misrepresenting his latest book... one for weight loss... is happy, happy news for me. I think this guy ought to get locked up for life. I detest Kevin Trudeau so much that I have to flip the channel immediately if I see him pitching something, and I certainly won't buy anything of his ever again. So I can't provide a book review here, but the FTC says it all:
While the new charge isn't a surprise, what I didn't realize is that Trudeau has a long history as a con artist, thief and scammer. In 1991 he spent 2 years in prison for falsifying credit card transactions, he was cited in 1996 for questionable marketing practices, in 1998 the FTC had similar false advertising claims as today's, and in 2004 he made false claims about Coral Calcium and was ordered to pay $2 million.
Please, please, please... never, ever buy anything that Kevin Trudeau is associated with. I agree with a handful of his views... but I'm not sure he believes in his own views... unless of course he can make a buck (or millions of bucks).
So today's news that the FTC is charging Kevin Trudeau for violating a court order for misrepresenting his latest book... one for weight loss... is happy, happy news for me. I think this guy ought to get locked up for life. I detest Kevin Trudeau so much that I have to flip the channel immediately if I see him pitching something, and I certainly won't buy anything of his ever again. So I can't provide a book review here, but the FTC says it all:
During the ads, Trudeau claims that the weight loss plan outlined in the book is easy to do, can be done at home, and ultimately allows readers to eat whatever they want. However, when consumers purchase the book, they find it describes a complex, grueling plan that requires severe dieting, daily injections of a prescription drug that consumers cannot easily get, and lifelong dietary restrictions.
While the new charge isn't a surprise, what I didn't realize is that Trudeau has a long history as a con artist, thief and scammer. In 1991 he spent 2 years in prison for falsifying credit card transactions, he was cited in 1996 for questionable marketing practices, in 1998 the FTC had similar false advertising claims as today's, and in 2004 he made false claims about Coral Calcium and was ordered to pay $2 million.
Please, please, please... never, ever buy anything that Kevin Trudeau is associated with. I agree with a handful of his views... but I'm not sure he believes in his own views... unless of course he can make a buck (or millions of bucks).
Thursday, September 13, 2007
E4L - Stupid or a scam?
E4L.biz really confuses me... 9 out of 10 things make it look like a scam... it usually looks like the owner is trying to make as much money as possible and then skip town. The 1 thing that makes you think he's actually trying to launch a business is that he hasn't skipped town, and puts out tiny little - near meaningless - carrots for the faithful to latch onto.
So let's take another look at the virtual non-update update on this "entertainment for less" business that was supposed to launch on August 1st (44 days late now).
So far this is what is still missing:
1. There is no published pay plan. It would appear, that IF they really are going to launch, that they will do so with no specifics on how anyone will earn any money. In the most recent conference call with "Brad" the owner, he said consumers would get paid just for signing up, and get paid a lot for referring friends and family. But how will they decide what to pay since there is no pay plan? And don't get me started on the fact that selling at prices so low that people will be "amazed" means there is no profit to share... nothing to pay out. You can read my old posts for that rant.
2. They say they will attract an enormous amount of customers via advertising. Well... let's see the ads. "Brad" shared mock ups of the new web site's logo and front page. So what kind of advertising? Where will they advertise? How much money will they spend on advertising? Have they hired an Advertising Agency for placement, creative, etc?
3. Where is the money coming from for this major advertising campaign? I recall hearing something about "Brad" having deep pockets or self-funding. Well, if that's true,that's probably why this is all so badly run. Afterall, that means he didn't have to present a business plan to a bank, or investors, or a VC. It also means he can keep getting away with stupid ideas and missed deadlines since no one else's money (if there really is any money) being put on the line
4. The business is called "entertainment for less" but "Brad" repeated for the umpteenth time that he's got a hankering for launching "wellness" products first. According to him "wellness" products are best because they are "perishable" (so you have to keep buying them, whereas you don't need to keep buying DVD's or TV's) and because it's the "fastest growing industry". Sounds to me like he screwed up... calling his business "entertainment for less" when he now really wants to be in "the best industry".... in wellness.
5. Why is it that the single biggest update that has been touted for several weeks now is the scam eBook "Google Adwords for Free". If "Brad" were such a nice guy why wouldn't he just tell you that you can NOT get free Adwords, and tell you what exactly is so great about the eBook. Hopefully the faithful E4L followers aren't as dumb as he seems to think they are, and they realize that if they buy the eBook Brad makes money off of them. If Brad were sincere, wouldn't he suggest they buy the eBook from each other instead of just from him? Or do as the Masked Guru does and review the book sharing the "secrets"?
6. They missed their August 1st launch date, today is September 13th, and the only time frame you hear out of "Brad's" mouth now is "soon" and "before Christmas". Why can't he be more specific? The message boards have one idiot excusing the lack of details as a good thing - huh? How can no details about any important be good?
7. The exciting update at their August convention was showcasing the new Back Office. The old one is from MLM Software Pro and is crappy. I laughed my a** off when someone exclaimed that his previous MLM company used the EXACT SAME Back Office as the one Brad rolled out at the convention. So he's got yet another cookie cutter back office... which made me thing... if it's another off the shelf product... why did it take so long to roll out???? It just wreaks of scam.
8. I have to say that Brad just sounds dumb. He says things like "so that's that there" when he completes a thought. Usually when people sound dumb, they are dumb. So if this is not a scam... well, I've already made up my mind that it is definitely STUPID!!! It's a bad idea - no margins, competing in a market dominated by the likes of Amazon and Best Buy, no business plan to be seen, virtually no employees, no evidence of any real financing, the reliance on scam eBook's as advice for starting an internet business - and the founder/owner sounding like he never got out of 3rd grade.
9. The final "scam" feeling thing is their censorship of their Forum - erasing entire threads, erasing all negative comments in other threads while retaining the positive ones, kicking off members he didn't like, etc. With virtually no details on anything... from the pay plan, to the ad budget or plan, to the launch date... they are going to have criticism. If it's not a scam it's really easy to start explaining with DETAILS. So if they really are going to launch (some day over the rainbow way up high) it's seems guaranteed to be terribly executed with numerous dumb mistakes.
And drum roll please.... for #10... the one thing that makes E4L not look like a scam....
10. Brad is still in town, still holding conference calls, showing itsy, bitsy progression with his new cookie cutter back office and his web site designs.
Brad's "promise" now is that the launch will be in plenty of time for the Christmas rush. That should be, at the very latest date, the day after Thanksgiving.... Friday November 23rd. Of course if they've done no advertising prior to that, they won't sell much of anything. So they'd better launch no later than mid-October - one more month - can he do that?????
Brad - you've got 1 to 2 months. I'm sure "hartan" will stick it out until the end with you.
Oh... and by the way... as for as legal or illegal... it's illegal to pay for membership signups - I believe the "VIP" club payments have been the way E4L'ers have made money in the past year... if so... they've been running an illegal operation for a year. Yes... definitely STUPID!
So let's take another look at the virtual non-update update on this "entertainment for less" business that was supposed to launch on August 1st (44 days late now).
So far this is what is still missing:
1. There is no published pay plan. It would appear, that IF they really are going to launch, that they will do so with no specifics on how anyone will earn any money. In the most recent conference call with "Brad" the owner, he said consumers would get paid just for signing up, and get paid a lot for referring friends and family. But how will they decide what to pay since there is no pay plan? And don't get me started on the fact that selling at prices so low that people will be "amazed" means there is no profit to share... nothing to pay out. You can read my old posts for that rant.
2. They say they will attract an enormous amount of customers via advertising. Well... let's see the ads. "Brad" shared mock ups of the new web site's logo and front page. So what kind of advertising? Where will they advertise? How much money will they spend on advertising? Have they hired an Advertising Agency for placement, creative, etc?
3. Where is the money coming from for this major advertising campaign? I recall hearing something about "Brad" having deep pockets or self-funding. Well, if that's true,that's probably why this is all so badly run. Afterall, that means he didn't have to present a business plan to a bank, or investors, or a VC. It also means he can keep getting away with stupid ideas and missed deadlines since no one else's money (if there really is any money) being put on the line
4. The business is called "entertainment for less" but "Brad" repeated for the umpteenth time that he's got a hankering for launching "wellness" products first. According to him "wellness" products are best because they are "perishable" (so you have to keep buying them, whereas you don't need to keep buying DVD's or TV's) and because it's the "fastest growing industry". Sounds to me like he screwed up... calling his business "entertainment for less" when he now really wants to be in "the best industry".... in wellness.
5. Why is it that the single biggest update that has been touted for several weeks now is the scam eBook "Google Adwords for Free". If "Brad" were such a nice guy why wouldn't he just tell you that you can NOT get free Adwords, and tell you what exactly is so great about the eBook. Hopefully the faithful E4L followers aren't as dumb as he seems to think they are, and they realize that if they buy the eBook Brad makes money off of them. If Brad were sincere, wouldn't he suggest they buy the eBook from each other instead of just from him? Or do as the Masked Guru does and review the book sharing the "secrets"?
6. They missed their August 1st launch date, today is September 13th, and the only time frame you hear out of "Brad's" mouth now is "soon" and "before Christmas". Why can't he be more specific? The message boards have one idiot excusing the lack of details as a good thing - huh? How can no details about any important be good?
7. The exciting update at their August convention was showcasing the new Back Office. The old one is from MLM Software Pro and is crappy. I laughed my a** off when someone exclaimed that his previous MLM company used the EXACT SAME Back Office as the one Brad rolled out at the convention. So he's got yet another cookie cutter back office... which made me thing... if it's another off the shelf product... why did it take so long to roll out???? It just wreaks of scam.
8. I have to say that Brad just sounds dumb. He says things like "so that's that there" when he completes a thought. Usually when people sound dumb, they are dumb. So if this is not a scam... well, I've already made up my mind that it is definitely STUPID!!! It's a bad idea - no margins, competing in a market dominated by the likes of Amazon and Best Buy, no business plan to be seen, virtually no employees, no evidence of any real financing, the reliance on scam eBook's as advice for starting an internet business - and the founder/owner sounding like he never got out of 3rd grade.
9. The final "scam" feeling thing is their censorship of their Forum - erasing entire threads, erasing all negative comments in other threads while retaining the positive ones, kicking off members he didn't like, etc. With virtually no details on anything... from the pay plan, to the ad budget or plan, to the launch date... they are going to have criticism. If it's not a scam it's really easy to start explaining with DETAILS. So if they really are going to launch (some day over the rainbow way up high) it's seems guaranteed to be terribly executed with numerous dumb mistakes.
And drum roll please.... for #10... the one thing that makes E4L not look like a scam....
10. Brad is still in town, still holding conference calls, showing itsy, bitsy progression with his new cookie cutter back office and his web site designs.
Brad's "promise" now is that the launch will be in plenty of time for the Christmas rush. That should be, at the very latest date, the day after Thanksgiving.... Friday November 23rd. Of course if they've done no advertising prior to that, they won't sell much of anything. So they'd better launch no later than mid-October - one more month - can he do that?????
Brad - you've got 1 to 2 months. I'm sure "hartan" will stick it out until the end with you.
Oh... and by the way... as for as legal or illegal... it's illegal to pay for membership signups - I believe the "VIP" club payments have been the way E4L'ers have made money in the past year... if so... they've been running an illegal operation for a year. Yes... definitely STUPID!
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