"Notice of Underreported Income"

There is an email going around with this subject line trying to get your personal information and download malware to your computer. The copy of the email says:

Taxpayer ID: yournamehere-00000174073547US
Tax Type: INCOME TAX
Issue: Unreported/Underreported Income (Fraud Application)
Please review your tax statement on Internal Revenue Service (IRS) website (click on the link below):
review tax statement for taxpayer id: yournamehere-00000174073547US
Internal Revenue Service

We changed the name to "ANYNAME" at ANYDOMAIN.COM and we went to the same page. Here is the screen shot



You will notice that the link in the middle of the page is an executable file (.exe)--DO NOT CLICK ON THIS.

With Uncle Sam looking for more money these days this is a nefarious scam. We have also seen phishing emails from: Bank of America, Ally, Chase and Morgan Stanley....there are probably donzens of others we have not seen.

Be careful and follow common sense email protocol.

Oh Really?

I found this intersting...funny really. Now as many of you know the most successful internet marketers got to the top of their game by developing very large and very profitable marketing lists. Many IMers boast lists in the tens of thousands or more. I got this email from Shoemoney.com.

I only sent this email to you and a few
other people. I don't want everyone
finding out about this special offer
so please keep the promo code to
yourself :)

"Wow we must be buddies...real pals!"

Truth is you know thousands of people got this! But I guess when the copy says only a few that is supposed to make the reader giggle with glee about being chosen to be apart of a select group.

"...oh man I better buy right now, yeah!"

Hey folks don't use this patronizing copy in your emails or marketing. You will find people respond better to honest, straight forward value presentations.

Cost Effective Internet Marketing Training

More on this to come but I wanted to publish a note to let people know that if you have been looking for solid, comprehensive marketing instruction but have been put off by the $69, $97 or $127 per month programs you have choices. Many of these choices are less than $40 per month from companies that really do have legit guarantees and will cancel memberships in a timely and professional manner. There are also clubs available to you that charge modest dues each month (some as low as $7/month) to have access to their forums and training that they have collected or put together over months and years.

When you look at so many high priced "systems" and "secret" programs you quickly figure out they are all telling the same story with a little different spin. Save your money to pay your bills and market your business and hook up with a program or teacher that is not going to charge you an arm and a leg for information you could find on your own.

These opportunities don't spam you with inflated claims or promises of overnight success or five figure incomes. The financial success of the participants is not dependent on the club member hustling someone else into the money making scheme. Most teach the students how to market products and to build solid long term business.

As I said, I will be posting more on this in the coming weeks. Email me if you have questions.

LGN Revolution

I received this well done email that, like so many others, touted this amazing program that will help me make tens of thousands of dollars each month. Oh, the hype was wonderful...the sky is the limit. Well I started to do some due diligence and found out that it was no great shakes--though I'm sure the guy that started it is doing well. As with so many of these programs the problem is not in what they tell you upfront but rather what they don't tell until after you have bought in.

I found this one article over on Ezines that did a good job of pulling back the curtain for a prospective customer. http://ezinearticles.com/?LGN-Revolution---Little-Guy-Network---Scam-Or-Legitimate-Business?&id=1622500

Now you have to be careful with Ezine articles many of them are nothing more than extensions of the sales page but if you look around you will find articles from people trying to help. I referenced this article because it does just that.(NOTE: I don't know anything about the guy that wrote it so don't take this as some endorsement)

A few highlights:
1. Whereas the LGN Revolution sales pitch makes it sound like you don't have to do anything we learn from this insider that you do in fact have to work and you are only going to make money if you know how to run an internet business.
2. We learn that there are undisclosed costs that can amount to several hundred dollars. So if you were considering joining this program you will have to count the cost that you will be in the red starting out and every month going forward until you make a sale.
3. When the writer said, "The best income seems to be in selling the business opportunity." That, in my opinion, is a huge red flag. It makes the program a little bit better than a ponzi scheme. The products are of modest value and you are really looking to talk someone else into the program so they can pay you. The day these programs are run out of town the better off we all will be.
4. The "no cold calling" pitch is attractive to a lot of people looking to make some additional dollars. What many people do not realize is that it does take a lot of time and work to get prospective customers to come to your website and buy your product and so each month that goes by with no buyers you have to keep making monthly payments to LGN Revolution.

In my search I found several "review' sites which were nothing more than extended sales pages.

On one site the marketer tells you that he is tired of all the "hype" and wants to give the view the full story so they can make an informed position. From that point forward its a selected telling of what is needed for someone to be successful. This is always a be careful and count the cost signal.

Digging further you will learn that all the "resources" are primarily private label rights books and software (available elsewhere for less and in some cases for free) and at the higher level travel vouchers-also available elsewhere. I guess if you had no idea of what else is available to you this might be an interesting starting point. But its important to understand that you are primarily going to be in the business of recruiting others to ante in. Noteworthy is the fact that of all marketing sites reviewed for this program only one made any mention of the income opportunity from selling the products in the program.

Compare this to a program like the thirty day challenge where the students get all the training and set up for less than $50.

So what's good?

I had an interesting conversations the other day about my blog. I was asked, "What positive things do I write about? Doesn't it get old just blowing the whistle on charlatans and scams etc?"

Two great questions. I'll answer the second question first. No, I don't get tired of busting bad programs, scams and anything else that rips off a consumer. I have had family and close friends ripped off by internet marketers. There are so many people out there who have the singular goal in life to make as much money as they can regardless of the cost or who they hurt in the process. That's wrong, IMHO. To be clear, so I don't get emails about being industrious and successful....nothing wrong with making money...buckets of it even...but when a person deliberately takes advantage of folks (particularly these days with people out of work struggling to make ends meet)or sell a product that is bogus then they have gone too far and I am happy to help good, hard working folks know what to stay away from... and look to make money somewhere else.

Now on to the first question. The Thirty Day challenge put on by Ed Dale is a great course and a generous program on the part of Ed and his team. The challenge is over but you can still see much of the content on youtube. If you can't find it let me know. From this FREE course you can learn everything you need to know to get started making money online and once you are started you can grow from there. So many programs from "Gurus" are nothing more than rehashed material seasoned with some of their thoughts to make it their own. The information I have seen from, for example, Jonathan Budd or PotPieGirl is good stuff but I don't think it lives up to the hype and cost. Much of the material available elsewhere for free if you're wiling to do some digging.

In the 30DC its straight talk and good instruction. The program had a pre-launch period to help students get a look at tools and tasks that will need to get done during the course. And man its a lot to learn and execute in 30 days! Awesome. Since you can get the material online I won't go over the content list here. Suffice it to say that it covered all aspects of niche marketing, blogging, articles, PPC, squidoo, adsense etc, etc. The course is free but just to provide full disclosure, they are making money during and perhaps after the program. They get commissions on recommending the services they use themselves and know to be reliable and a good value to their customers.

With the 30DC you get excellent, complete training with a great customer experience and they make, what customer experience expert Frederick F. Reichheld refers to as, "good profits"--profits made by adding value to your customer and helping them in their business--not cut throat or dishonest profits.

Here is another thing I liked about their course. So many internet marketers don't tell you, when they try to dazzle you with big money, that great success comes from hard work, diversification and a great marketing list! That's how they make the money and the course you'd buy from them may or may not get you there. It takes time and effort to build up a good marketing list. With the 30DC you hear this upfront so you have a clear understanding of what is expected of you and what the rewards can be. You gotta love honest, upfront advise.

So kudos to Ed and the 30DC.