Copy Paste Systems – Poor Support

February 3rd, 2010

Copy Paste Systems featuring Paul Ponna as the "Reassuring Voice"

I've been trying out the Copy Paste System during the refund period and I've made a few discoveries.

The OTO Gauntlet – Many Times

First, the whole system is designed to sell you OTOs so when you buy in to get Copy Paste Systems, you get to run the one-time-offer gauntlet that could cost you a couple of hundred bucks if you bought it all.

But don't worry – if you pass them up the first time through, you will get emails constantly reminding you that you can still get them. Maybe they should be called MTOs – many time offers.

Support is Poor

The second thing I discovered is that you shouldn't count on quality support, especially if you are a newbie and need more than a 1-sentence reply to a question. I was working my way through the "Famous Automatic Cash Machine" – how secret could that be if it's Famous, but I digress – part of the Copy Paste website when I had some questions I wanted help with.

I sent an email with my question to support@copypastesystems.com on January 22, 2010. Then on January 25, I sent another email adding a different question. The first answer came back on January 31, that's about 9 days late, consisted of 6 words, and ignored my second question totally.

On February 2, I got another support email answering part of my second question with a nearly unintelligible reply. Soldiering on I've sent another email to support asking if they could please send me an answer I can understand and please answer the entire question.

Good Luck with That

So if you want to give the Copy Paste Systems a try, let me know how that worked. Maybe you will have better luck with support than has been my experience thus far.

Have fun,
Ed

Online Business Secrets Revealed – The Triumph of the Stupid

January 11th, 2010

Are You Too Smart for Your Own Good?

Short and sweet – If you haven't read Mark Widawer's ebook The Triumph of the Stupid, DO IT NOW!

Go ahead, what are you waiting for? It's 26 pages of the best advice you are going to get about being successful in internet marketing and online business.


Cheers,

Ed


Eric Graham – Poster Boy for Unethical Business Practices

January 7th, 2010

Business Ethics?

Do the words "business ethics" seem like an oxymoron to you like they do to me? Ethics is all about doing the right thing. Tricking you into spending your money on a internet marketing program, and then not delivering the goods is unethical – even for a business man.

Eric Graham is the Poster Boy for Unethical Internet Business Practices

We've discussed Eric Graham previously but the beat goes on. If you haven't been sufficiently warned off of Eric, here's another story about his unethical business practices, not to say thievery, you won't want to miss.

Internet Business Ethics 101

Can Eric Clean Up His Act?

Sad to Say: Don't count on it!


Happy New Year !

December 31st, 2009

Just wanted to wish you a great 2010. I hope your dreams come true.

Cheers,
Ed

Shipping is not FREE

December 22nd, 2009

 FREE Report, CD, DVD, yada, yada, yada

 

How many times have you seen this. It's FREE – you just pay the shipping cost. What is it about the word FREE that internet marketers don't understand?

How Stupid Are We?

My first point is this. How stupid do you have to be to know that if you pay for shipping – IT'S NOT FREE!

Here's the deal. When you pay shipping, that guarantees that the seller will make at least some small profit no matter what happens because they typically charge more for shipping than it actually costs.

But It Gets Worse … Did you really mean to sign up for a monthly subscription?

Very often in the fine print you didn't read because it was sort of a faded gray 6 point type way at the bottom it says that you agree to sign up for a $47, $67, or even $97 a month subscription to some sort of newsletter, and you will continue to be billed every month until you cancel except that they keep any money charged to your credit card before you cancel. So you end up paying that first month's bill even if you cancel immediately after you realize what has happened. So for that FREE CD the marketer makes money on the shipping and again on the first month's subscription. How's that for slick?

Is your time worthless?

Here's my second point. That FREE offer that you only have to pay shipping to get presumes that the time you spend actually listening, viewing, memorizing, note-taking, and otherwise marking your time doesn't cost anything. In other words, your time is worthless.

Alternatively, let's call your time a "sweat equity" investment because you are certainly going to use this information to make $xx thousands of dollars more in your business than you would have without this information.

Bottom Line

No way is it FREE! So before you click that BUY NOW button for that FREE product, give some thought to how much it is really going to cost you. Then you can make a thoughtful and perhaps even wise decision.

Internet Profits in Your PJs? – Review: Don’t waste your time

December 12th, 2009

The Holly Cotter Story

Holly Cotter’s rags to riches story is inspirational. There’s no doubt about that. But I’m sorry about this …

"Internet Profits in Your PJs – 36 Secrets to Creating Multiple Income Streams … on Autopilot"

Out of respect for Holly, I would like to put this politely, "This book is drivel."

A total waste of your time. Let’s say you value your time at minimum wage (I hope your time is worth more than that, at least to you, but let’s just say.). The 2-4 hours you might spend reading every word of this book costs you between $16 and $32 roughly speaking. That means the book is not FREE.

Out of Date and Out of Link

The book is copyright 2006. I found that most of the links don’t work and those that do are obvious shills for stuff that Holly sold off.

36 Secrets – Are You Kidding Me?

Here are some stunning samples of these amazing "Closely-Guarded Multiple Income Stream Secrets".

Secret #1 – There is a HUGE difference between “owning a business” and “being self-employed.” — Bet you didn’t know that.

Secret #5 – You must generate steady profits with one income stream before adding another income stream. — Geez, why didn’t I think of that.

SECRET #16 – It’s easier to make ONE sale than it is to make two sales. — Wow, this is almost mystical.

Secret #34 – To successfully build multiple passive streams of income, you must focus on building only one income stream at a time. — Oh wait a minute, wasn’t that Secret #5?

SECRET #35 – Patience is the key to your success. — Now that is REALLY a helpful secret – please don’t spread this around or everybody will know and we’ll lose our competitive advantage.

Sorry for the sarcastic comments, I couldn’t help it.

There’s No Substance

After you have read and absorbed every word of this book, you will know how to do … nothing! The book tells you what worked for Holly in a general sort of way, but not how any of it was actually done. There’s no step-by-step to duplicate.

Aha! That’s why all those almost functional links at the end of the book – you have to buy more stuff to make Internet Profits in Your PJs. And that’s the real point of this book. Holly sold a lot of her websites and changed her business model which you can see here.

An Impressive List of Testimonials – Huh?

When I reviewed the names of the "experts" whose testimonials appear at the front of this book, I actually learned something about internet marketers. A lot of well-known names are there, and I am having a hard time with that. Maybe they didn’t actually read the book. The alternatives are 1. they produce the same kind of internet marketing vaporware and so think this book is marvelous, or 2. they don’t actually know anything and have testified to their ignorance by giving these testimonials.

The Bottom Line

You won’t learn anything useful from this book. Let the buyer beware .

 

Update on Get Your First Sale Online – the Amazon.com Secret

December 11th, 2009

The Great Amazon.com (Secret) Experiment

I thought I would let you know how my experiment with an Amazon.com seller account went. Hopefully I saved you $17 on that Matt Bacak thing.

How I Made $4.37 Profit in Only 1 Week!

Here’s how I made $4.37 profit. How Matt Bacak managed to pay all his bills doing this I’ll never know.

I uploaded 6  books following the instructions at Amazon. It took about a week before any sold and then I got a notification from Amazon – Do Not Ship. My first order ended up being cancelled because there were payment problems with the purchaser.

Then lightening struck and I got 2 orders on the same day.

Book One

This book, "The Irresistible Offer" by Mark Joyner, sold for $7.38 [Remember this is a used books - Condition - Very Good - Amazon provides guidelines for describing Condition to the customer] + $3.99 Shipping Allowance = $11.37 Charged to Customer.

Amazon Fees: Variable Closing Fee = $1.35, Fixed Closing Fee = $0.99, Commission (minimum 15% on books) = $1.11.  Total Amazon Charges: $3.45. Bubble mailer = $1.39 and Postage = $2.38 (Media rate). Total Shipping Cost = $3.77.

Net: Total Charged to Customer – Amazon Fees – Shipping = $11.37 – $3.45 – $3.77 = $4.15 Pure Profit!

Book Two

 

This book, "After the Affair", sold for $2.75 [Remember this is a used books - Condition - Good] + $3.99 Shipping Allowance = $6.74 Charged to Customer.

Amazon Fees: Variable Closing Fee = $1.35, Fixed Closing Fee = $0.99, Commission = $0.41.  Total Amazon Charges: $2.75 [Same as the book price!]. Bubble mailer = $1.39 and Postage = $2.38 (Media rate). Total Shipping Cost = $3.77.

Net: Total Charged to Customer – Amazon Fees – Shipping = $6.74 – $2.75 – $3.77 = $0.22 Pure Profit!

So I banked $4.37 net. I would still have a ways to go to earn the $17 for the Matt Bacak course if I hadn’t asked for a refund. I commend Matt Bacak’s organization for the courtesy and promptness with which they attended to my refund request.

If this is your idea of how to Make Your First Sale Online, go for it. If nothing else, you will gain some experience and confidence. Just don’t count on paying your bills this way.

Meanwhile …

The other 4 books are still sitting in my inventory at home awaiting notice from Amazon that I should ship them.

Wait – another ship notification just came in and I stand to make $0.40 on this order so bye for now – I have to get "The Case for Christ"  shipped.

 

All the best,

Ed

 

Get Your First Sale Online (The secret is Amazon)

November 15th, 2009

NO PRODUCT, NO SALE!

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been baited with that line about No Product – No Problem. Yeah, I’ve tried more than my share, and guess what. If you don’t have a product, you don’t make any sales. It’s simple – You have NOTHING to sell!

Here’s an example. This product is advertised with the "No list, No experience, No technical skills, No product – No problem" marketing mantra by Matt Bacak, who is by the way, a really enthusiastic marketer who talks really fast.

"This Secret Money Getting Method Is Your Shortcut To Success – It’s The Only Way I Know How Anyone Can Make Sales In the Shortest Amount Of Time. Faster Than Anything I’ve Ever Seen!”

  • Can you really do this without a list – Yes you can.
  • Can you do this without experience? Yes it’s so easy, experience comes naturally.
  • Can you do this without technical skills – Yes you can.
  • Can you really do this without a product – No you can’t.
  • Is it really no problem? No problem to list a product. Making money is another issue.

WHAT ARE PRODUCTS?

Most of the time when I see the claim that you don’t need a product, it generally means the product isn’t something physical. You could be selling yourself, your knowledge, your expertise. Well, those are all products in the business sense of having something to sell. But the product here is physical stuff … namely – YOUR STUFF!

MAKE YOUR FIRST SALE ONLINE

What’s the "secret" Matt is selling for a measly $17? How to sell products on Amazon.com. Here’s the link.

And Yes you must have a product to sell or you aren’t going to make any money. Here’s the funny part – I didn’t know that selling products with Amazon was a secret!

Well if you just listen to Matt’s marketing video, you won’t know he’s talking about Amazon until after you charge the $17 on your credit card and find out the secret to how his young daughter made her first sale in 24 hours and continues to make 1-3 sales almost every day. But don’t worry – it’s easy to get a refund. You just have to wait til your next credit card statement. The refund guarantee is good for 90 days.

THE 8th STEP

Matt gives you 7 incredibly easy steps to sell your books with Amazon. The 7th step is to click the Submit button. What that does is complete the listing process. You’re not done yet, assuming someone buys the book you listed.

You are responsible for "fulfillment" – you have to package it and post it. Matt’s product gives you details about how to conduct the 8th Step though his product doesn’t list it as one of the steps you have to do. I guess Matt thought it was just too obvious.

THE 9th STEP

Oh yeah, you are responsible for refunds and adjustments and keeping your customers happy just as in any other business transaction.

TAXES

 Matt doesn’t give any guidance about whether you have to collect taxes on your sales. Amazon’s guidance – it’s your problem.

DOES IT WORK?

I was not registered to sell on Amazon and I found the registration process pretty easy. The fill-in-the-blanks kind of easy. Following directions just to try out the process, I pulled "Podcasting for Dummies" from my bookshelf, entered the ISBN number and … no results. Amazon couldn’t find my book. Short story – the current edition is the 2nd edition and mine is the 1st edition so Amazon didn’t have it.

Second try. I grabbed "Damn! Why Didn’t I Write That?" and entered the ISBN number. Amazon searched and returned … the updated 2nd edition. Amazon didn’t have my 1st edition copy. Matt Bacak didn’t mention this problem.

ALERT If you give selling books with Amazon a try following the directions in the Get Your First Sale Online product, be aware of the multiple editions problem.

Third try, I listed Mark Joyner’s "The Irresistible Offer" and that one worked as predicted. Fortunately, Mark hasn’t published an updated 2nd edition!

Passive Selling

This approach to making money online is what I call "passive selling". You list the product and then wait for someone to buy it. You don’t do any marketing so don’t need any marketing skills. First you list, then you wait, then if you are lucky you ship and get paid.

DID I MAKE ANY MONEY?

Not Yet —- Amazon’s calculations said I could make $7.92 if someone bought Mark Joyner’s book from my Amazon listing. If I could just sell one book a day for a profit of $8, I could make about $240 a month. I listed "The Irresistible Offer" on November 13. It’s November 15 and the Mark Joyner book hasn’t sold even though I got the green check mark for lowest price. I guess I’m not as lucky as Matt’s daughter Taylor. I’ll try some more books and I’ll let you know what happens.

DON’T EMAIL MATT

I tried that and one of his support people sent me this message in reply.

"No problem. I have forwarded your email to
him. I won’t promise he will respond becasue
he gets tons of emails every single day."

 

Recommendation - Not Recommended

I could not detect any "secrets" exposed by Matt despite his contention that his way is better than anybody else’s way to sell books or whatever with Amazon. But if you need or just want hand-holding to learn this process, $17 is probably not too much to risk. Just skip the more expensive One Time Offers.

My guess is you can make the $17 back if you sell 3 or 4 books (Amazon is after all a DISCOUNT book seller). The message is, "If Matt’s daughter Taylor, a 12 year old, can make money doing this, then surely you can too." It’s just a question of when and how much (hope springs eternal).

If you want to sell with Amazon, go here Sell Your Stuff. You don’t really need Matts product, Amazon’s instructions are easy to follow, and Matt’s Tips are trivial so I don’t recommend this product.

 

The Law of Distraction

October 21st, 2009

The Law of Attraction

You’ve probably heard of the Law of Attraction. This is the idea that you attract what you think about. If you really want something and truly believe it’s possible, you’ll get what you want – or the idea that your thoughts determine (not influence, but determine) how your life goes. Think positive and positive things happen to you. Think negative and … OK so much for the BS.

The Law of Distraction

This law really works. If you think you are going to make big bucks in internet marketing or your home business by trying everything that comes along, you won’t. Simple, the Law of Distraction dictates that the more things you are trying to do, the more distracted you become and the less productive. You end up accomplishing nothing. Well, something – you kept yourself busy being distracted. And you aren’t going to make any money!

The Lesson

If you are constantly buying or trying the latest product launch, internet marketing ebook, home-based business opportunity, webinar, marketing course, coaching program, internet marketing scam, etc., and you have them stacked up like cord wood on your bookshelf and your computer is so full that it is about to throw up on your keyboard, you have become a victim of the Law of Distraction.

You’ll have a lot business ‘expenses’ and no business ‘income’.

I could not emphasize this too strongly because I know from experience. Try one thing, one program, one coach, and stick with that one thing until it works at least a little, or until you thoroughly understand why it doesn’t work for you.

In the process, you may find the kind of internet business that really fits you instead of squeezing yourself into a mold that doesn’t.

XSitePro Webinar – How to Build Your Internet Marketing Website

October 16th, 2009

FYI

I got an email from Paul Smithson at XSitePro and it had a sample email for me to use so I copied and pasted it for you – nested emails!

I thought you might be interested if you want to build your own website. The reviews I have seen say that XSitePro is a high quality product that makes it easy to build a website optimized for internet marketing. You can probably do it yourself instead of hiring someone.

The advantages of XSitePro for internet marketing are too numerous for me to mention to you here. Your best bet is to sign up for the webinar.

For a limited time, the price is probably going to be $197. I wasn’t supposed to let you know that in advance, but you might want to get XSitePro at some future time if you can’t afford it now, and it will cost more than. I’m sure the webinar will fill you in on all the details.

—Ed

" I’m writing following the announcement of the Complete Guide To Website Building Prize Draw – did you put your name in the hat?

Don’t worry if you didn’t get a chance to (or weren’t one of the lucky ten winners) because I have just heard some VERY exciting
news:

They’re giving MORE complimentary copies away!

There’s a special "Reveal" Webinar happening next Tuesday (that’s Tuesday 20th) and as well as running through a whole bunch of stuff about the training course: features, benefits, pricing, guarantees and so on, the folks at Intellimon are also going to shout out TEN MORE names from the attendee list and give them immediate access to this brand new website building training course.

So you just need to show up at the webinar on Tuesday and you’re automatically in with a level chance to win… easy, right? :-)

Oh, I almost forgot, they’ll be announcing details of some pretty special fast-action bonuses too… as if things weren’t exciting enough ;-)

So head over to the webinar and sign-up quickly, because seats are apparently limited so it’ll definitely be a case of first come, first served (and first to be in with a chance of winning a seat on this ground-breaking new training course).

Here’s hoping you’re one of the lucky ones!

We’re going to be revealing:

- Exactly who this course is suitable for

- Precisely what trainees can expect to get from the course

- A definitive list of course topics

- The full capabilities of the training delivery platform

- The whole picture of how we’ll support trainees

- Exact pricing for this new course

- The extensive guarantee offered

…AND we’ll be announcing some killer fast-action bonuses too…

…AND that’s as well as the Prize Draw at the end…

… WHAT A SESSION! "

System Requirements

Windows Only – It doesn’t work on a Mac (unless you are running Windows on your Mac).