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!