February 22, 2006

How to Make Network Marketing Work for You


Mike Lewis teaches Networkers both how to enjoy Network Marketing AND how to do it without stress!

If you find yourself trying too hard, but not achieving the results you'de like, then you might want to take a listen to Mike's free audio.

You can listen to his way of helping people succeed here: How To Make Network Marketing Work For You!

There's also a neat recording of the Art Jonak Interviews on that page as well. And BTW, if you're not familiar at all with Art Jonak, then you'll definitely want to be! He's one of the most successful people in Network Marketing and is truly a great source of helpful information.

February 18, 2006

ClustrMaps - A Dandy Tool for Your Site...

ClustrMaps...A Dandy Tool for Your Site!

OK, check this one out. It's pretty cool. It's called ClustrMaps, and with it you can locate all of your website visitors instantly and for free.

At a glance, you can see where your visitors are located geographically (worldwide) as well as how many visitors you have. Pretty neat.

The results are displayed like you see in the above photo. Red dots represent the cumulative number of visitors and where those visitors came from.

Different dot sizes represent a different total numbers of visitors. For example: A small dot equals 1 to 9 visitors, whereas a large dot equals 1000+ visitors.

All in all it's a pretty neat tool that will show you from which parts of the world your website visitors are coming and how many website visitors you have.

And though the majority of my own readers come from the Unites States, it's neat to know that people form Iceland, Australia, Japan, Borneo, and practically everywhere else are also reading this blog.

The only possible downside I see with ClustrMaps is that some visitors may show up on the map in the geographical area in which their ISP (Internet Service Provider) is located, instead of the location of the computer they're sitting at and using.

But that's a minor thing. Bottom line is this thing is pretty cool, as well as and simple to implement. They generate the HTML code for you and you just copy and paste it into the template of your website or blog. And voila! Instant info.

Check it out here: ClustrMaps.com

February 11, 2006

Guaranteed Success Opportunities... Do They Work???

Do Guaranteed Success Opportunities Work?
Or Are They Just A Great, Big Flop?

We've all seen the ads for those opportunities that promise to do all the work for you and "guarantee your success" without your having to do any selling, prospecting, advertising, etc. But do they actually work?

Well, if history tells us anything about these types of "we do the work for you" "guaranteed success" opportunities, it's that they DO NOT work at all. Many of them have come and gone - and by gone, I mean right out of business with the money of thousands of members lining their pockets.

Some have offered a 6-month timeline for success, and some longer. But the end result has always been complete failure and closure of business.

Now, to look at it intelligently, we know that as more people join, the more people they have to do the advertising for. If you just do the math on that it's fairly easy to realize that it's entirely impossible to carry this out after a short period of time.

Now you may ask, "What if they give a guarantee?" Well, whether it's a "success" guarantee or a money-back guarantee, it's important to remember that a guarantee is only as good as the paper it's written on. When these companies fold (and they all do), there's NO MONEY left for you to get back, period!

Sadly, the reason these types of opportunities get any members at all is because they prey heavily on the needs, desires, and abilities of individuals. I mean, heck, who wouldn't want to make a ton of money from home and not have to lift a finger?

And that's basically their sales pitch, which lures in the people who think such a concept could actually work. But it can't and it doesn't.

And it doesn't matter how good or honest the individuals behind the company are, the truth is that these business models are set up for failure right from the onset.

Ultimately, the only ones who benefit from these programs are the owners themselves, who rake in the money, close down after they can no longer support their member base, and then run off with YOUR money. This is why you should avoid these types of opportunities completely.

Just remember the old adage, "If it sounds too good to be true, IT IS!"

Update Note

It looks like the latest of these types of companies to crop up is called Prosperity Automated System (PAS), which states you can basically do nothing and earn thousands of dollars a month.

And it claims you can do this with no prospecting, no advertising, no answering questions, no selling, no speaking to prospects, and absolutely no telephone calls. Wow! Starting to sound too good to be true already?

It further states that the "system" will send thousands of real-time prospects from the search engines right to your system website, etc.

Now, one discrepancy I've already noticed is that the website claims, "NO answering questions," and "NO speaking to prospects."

However, the tour movie itself states that the system, "Will sort through them to find who the real buyers are and it will eliminate the tire-kickers...Then buyers and only buyers contact you..."

OK, so what happened to, "NO speaking to prospects" and NO answering questions?!?" Are they telling me that 100% of those who call will have absolutely NO questions at all and will definitely buy just like that?!?

OK, so maybe I missed something here along the way. Or maybe I'm just not taking enough drugs to actually go along with this one. :P My personal opinion? I'd definitely avoid this one for sure.

UPDATE: The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is seeking to shut Prosperity Automated System (PAS), accusing operators of, "running a $15-million pyramid scheme that promises..."

February 9, 2006

Scam Alert - Superior Lead Systems Rip-off Update

Superior Lead Systems Rip-off Update...


A Skunk of a Deal!

As I had posted back on January 22nd, a company called Superior Lead Systems (also known as SLS) was apparently operating shadily and not fulfilling the services it had sold to its customers that the customers had fully paid for.

Here's an update on that story taken from MLM.com...

"Here is the email from the company:

Pursuant to the terms and conditions of your subscription, the company is excercising its option under item 12 of the Terms and Conditions to suspend its performance under the Agreement, the subscriber's access to and use of the service and to terminate this Agreement. The Terms and Conditions are available at www.SLSLeads. You will not be billed for any additional charges. We regret that we are unable to continue this service.

COMMERCIAL MEDIA SERVICES, INC.
D/B/A/ SUPERIOR LEAD SYSTEMS"


Boy, it's too bad that so many people were left out in the cold on this one! From the information I have, Superior Lead Systems (SLS) was contracted to make company-specific Infomercials for a number of different companies and then run lead-generating TV campaigns for them.

What I've been told is that they made the infomercials, but didn't complete the rest of the deal and that they also continued charging for the services as well as raised the prices for future customers.

Bottom line... money paid, but no leads generated??? That's simply terrible!

March 18, 2006 Update: Their website now only redirects to one of GoDaddy's parked pages. Apparently they've taken it down completely. Yeah, big surprise there!

February 3, 2006

Bush and Blair: At the Gay Bar...

and

At the Gay Bar...

Here's some good comic relief for all of you. A little video clip titled, "Bush and Blair: At the Gay Bar." Hmmm, sounds like it could spell trouble. :P

Anyway, I just couldn't resist posting this. And apparently, both Bush fans AND Bush-bashers have gotten a kick out of this video, so I figured I'd share it. All I can say is that it's definitely original!

So have a laugh and a look-see for youself...

Bush and Blair: At the Gay Bar

Want another laugh? Take a peak at this one...

Anyway, there's this week's comic relief! :)

And remember, no matter how busy you are, it's always important to take the time to laugh. It'll give you a healthier mind and a healthier body, which in turn will give you a healthier business and much healtheir future!

February 2, 2006

Freedom of Speech - The DAP News Defense Fund...

Worried About Free Speach?
Just SLAPP It!

Due to some major confusion regarding this particular case, I've decided to post exactly what's taken place thus far...

DOUGLAS Art Prints® News is the Plaintiff in a SLAPP lawsuit to silence free speech by International Galleries, Inc.(IGI) for reporting on IGI being a pyramid scheme. Facing bankruptcy because of the legal expenses to defend against this suit a fund has been set up to prevent IGI from winning by financial default.


(PRWEB) December 2, 2005 -- DOUGLAS Art Prints® News is the subject of a SLAPP lawsuit filed in Federal Court by International Galleries, Inc. for reports on this blog about the company being a pyramid scheme. (A SLAPP Suit is a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation. A lawsuit in which a corporation or developer sues an organization in an attempt to scare it into dropping protests against a corporate initiative.) Actually the corporation DOUGLAS Photography, Inc. and Douglas Konkol personally are being sued. (U.S. District Court. Northern District of Ohio, Eastern Division Case No. 05 CV 2299) It is not just Konkol’s opinion but the opinion of many, including one or more top flight attorney's with expertise on pyramid schemes and other pyramid scheme experts that International Galleries, Inc. is a pyramid scheme.

“You can find that on DOUGLAS Art Prints® News that I have found not only documents and expert opinion supporting this but I have also found that on May 5, 2003 one Stanley Leitner formed the IGI corporation and was the sole director of the corporation. On April 14, 2004 Mr. Leitner also formed and was sole director of the Megafund Corporation. Mr. Leitner was the Director of Megafund and International Galleries, Inc. until July 11, 2005 when he was replaced as director. Seven days prior, on July 1, 2005, Stanley Leitner and Megafund were formally charged by the SEC for operating a $13.8 million dollar investment fraud. There are State of Texas documents that prove more than one of the Megafund Officers were also and are still officers of International Galleries, Inc. In fact Megafund Officer Robert Fridd was named Co-Director of International Galleries, Inc. to replace Stanley Leitner. In fact SEC documents should prove that Stanley Leitner ran Megafund from the offices of International Galleries, Inc.” Konkol said.

“I am being sued for opinion I offered in my reports exposing International Galleries, Inc. being a pyramid scheme and the ties between them and Megafund. Not only is International Galleries suing me but they are also suing a hispanic newspaper in Chicago, La Raza, for the same report,” Konkol continued. “I was fully prepared to go represent myself. I have no insurance to cover this and more important I believe I could easily prove to a jury that I had every reason to believe what I said is true and documents and sources included in my reports would further prove that. Because International Galleries is not just suing me personally but me and the corporation they have found a way to prevent me from defending this suit myself, pro se. There is precedent that a corporation must be represented by an attorney. I am being forced into a very expensive legal defense in federal court.”

For the rest of the article, click here!

What's a SLAPP lawsuit?

According to Wikipedia:

A "SLAPP" lawsuit is a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation ("SLAPP") is a form of litigation filed by a large corporation or in some cases an individual plaintiff, in order silence a less powerful critic by so severely burdening them with the cost of a legal defense that they abandon their criticism.

The acronym was coined in the 1980s by University of Denver professors Penelope Canan and George W. Pring.

February 1, 2006

4 Stars Rewarded to the Kerio Personal Firewall...

With all the dangers of spyware and hackers it's imperative that every connected computer have the protection of a software firewall.

But how do you know which one to use? Which one is best?

Unfortunately, a lot of people rely on their Windows Firewall, believing that they're fully protected. But guess what? They're not!. See, it blocks only incoming attacks. And that leaves you wide open to a slew of other nasty dangers.

So, which one do you use?

Well, PC Mag recently studied four of the leading firewalls, including the Windows Firewall. And as they said, "you're much better off with a third-party firewall that prevents any use of your network connection by unauthorized users."

And of the four that they tested, their pick as the best one was the Kerio Personal Firewall by Sunbelt Software...

-From PC Mag.com, "Kerio Personal Firewall 4 was the best in this roundup. Its users can choose moderate program control with no pop-ups, or unusually powerful protection after an initial spate of pop-ups."

Aside from what PC Mag had to say about it, the users at Download.com gave it a an extraordinarily high rating of 4.5 stars!

Bottom line, it's too dangerous these days to take any chances whatsoever. You absolutely need the best firewall protection around, the Kerio Personal Firewall from Sunbelt.

You can download a free trial of it below...



And to catch the full article about it on the PCMag.com website, click here!

On a personal note, I've used many, many different firewalls... Windows Firewall, ZoneAlarm, Norton's Personal Firewall, McAfee's Personal Firewall Plus, you name it. And like the folks at PC Mag, Sunbelt's Kerio Personal Firewall is my pick as well.

To your safe success!