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Sure and you can. And you can also drive a car with your right foot steering the wheel. But just because you can doesn’t necessarily make it a good idea.
The common digital sharecropper move these days is to let others setup your site. But the challenge here is that they (the people setting up your site thus controlling it) could own you. Bad move. Many have learned from the incidents at Blogger, Blogspot, and recently Ning. All three taugh thousands of bloggers the power of ownership when they either started suspending blogs or charging (Ning).
Do you rent a house because it is difficult to own one? Do you realize that if you have a mortgage you don’t even really own a house? The bank or title company owns your house until you pay off the loan.
But with websites YOU own your property. You are just renting the server it is on but the content and all is yours to control. In the USA it is like paying taxes on the land where your house is located. But in this case you OWN the house.
The better question would be how do you make money online? Or how do I make money online the right way? I guarantee you that if you chase a dollar and a dream without love and talent then you will be really upset! The quickest way to bankruptcy is chasing money. You need to use your talents and loves to create a website that solves problems. This site hopefully solves your problems concerning the need for creative ideas to build and grow your blog.
Don’t invest in those so called turnkey (I call them turkey) systems. The real money is in at least learning how to control your destiny. It is super easy to setup a blog I actually taught a 63 year old woman to do it in less than 48 hours. Don’t let others control you er ah doesn’t that sound like a JOB?
Since the new FTC regulations announcement many internet marketers have been flipping out and changing their approach. In fact some are even trying to think up more entrepreneur ideas to sell FTC rules which are FREE (wild). I honestly don’t know why this is a major issue IF you do not make phoney testimonials. If you have an issue with real testimonials or honest reviews then you will have trouble with the FTC. You have to let people know you are an affiliate that makes money from a product or service. But the way I review thing is that I either use them or watch them for a year.
Unfortunately we have had some serious habitual line steppers. Meaning people who step over the line and then teach others to do the same.
In 7 Insane Ways to Develop Trust with Your Online Business I said the number one thing is authenticity. The real question is there a real person on the other end of a blog? Same thing goes for sales pages and email signups.
Here is a true story. Many years ago I bought a program from a famous internet marketer. And they tried to tell me this “new secret” (sound familiar?) and come to find out they wanted me to set up review sites and use PPC (pay per click). I promptly asked for my money back. a very poorly thought out execution of entrepreneur ideas has taken place across the internet.
The program was one of those Google assimilation BS named programs. The amazing thing is that they setup these review sites and tell everyone that it is a real deal and then try to teach you to be unethical. Credibility GONE.
Ask them a question regarding their product and see if they reply.
Check their testimonials like you were an HR department and they were an applicant. Hey my testimonials on my twitter program are REAL people. In fact Aron Stevenson just had his first baby (congrats Aron).
Check their social media profiles and ask do they ENGAGE you in conversation? At least say thank you for a retweet? I do. I mean why would I want to do business with someone who can’t even tweet and thank you?Yes there are special circumstances but not always. One of the dumbest entrepreneurs ideas in the world is to sell a social media program and yet you are not social.
GOOGLE them with negative phrases to see what the results are. I for instance am a member of the Warriors Forum, Third Tribe and Seth Godins tribes as you can read here. Believe me if I am full of it or a scam these groups would reveal that along with other forums I cannot begin to imagine.
Recently Tech Crunch posted something about reputation. There are business popping up that are going to address the idea of reputation more directly. The more we become open source with reputation and credibility the better.
Do you know how casinos make money online and offline? They create conditions for the players to earn the casino to make an income. What I mean here is that the more action you take at a casino and the longer you take action at a casino the more money they make.
Your winning streak means nothing with this business model. Because the goal is to get as many customers (players) taking action for a s long as their money lasts. Casinos don’t rob you. They position themselves to take your money IF you take action on THEIR terms. You have a choice play or don’t play. Because not taking action means they lose. I will explain shortly where the GURU comes in.
Before I tell you how Gurus make money let me clarify WHO I am talking about. I am talking about the people who actually DO what they sell. Yet you are not making a dime from their programs and courses. I am not referring to people who are actually scams. I am not referring to the guys who make money online by selling you courses on how to make money online.
I am talking about real industry leaders. People who know their stuff because they have been in the trenches. These are the professionals who made their money through innovation, ingenuity, and good old fashion work.
Yes these type of GURUs do exist and they share a strange collective secret that I am about to reveal.
We all ask this question at one point haven’t we? IF a GURU is soooo successful then WHY show other people so they can become the competition? I mean if you know how to make the golden goose that lays the golden eggs then what the freakin hill are you doing sharing the secret (laughing)? Many of us incorrectly either assume though that the reason they are doing this is because of the following. On the negative side we think either it doesn’t work, the info is outdated, a piece is missing or it is a scam. All of these assessments are dead wrong. Remember the type of GURU I defined isn’t scamming people. In fact they are doing just the opposite. They are offering strait up 100% updated information and instructions. PS I am using the word GURU but to tell the truth real people like this don’t even call themselves GURUS and wont let others do it either.
The truth is that the information product industry is a reverse parallel to the Casino industry. They don’t need to scam you they only need you to NOT take action. Like the casino they only need to offer you the opportunity based on the odds. However opposite to the casino it is your lack of action not action that benefits GURU’s. Also opposite to the casino GURU’s don’t have to create the odds. Human nature did that long time ago.
Look at it this way:
So if the GURU sells 1000 people a course then that means
And THAT is why they can afford to sell anyone these programs honestly. There are better odds of you becoming a US Navy Seal than successfully negotiating an honest course being sold by a GURU. The type of course that is both compatible to your learning style. Also the type of course that has updates and followup instructions.
The 99% of people without learning the program move on and buy the next course. And now the odds of them repeating the process becomes greater. Lets be honest buying isn’t nearly as fun as learning and taking action. This process is like a drug in itself. And that’s where they fall deeper and deeper into the well or the death spiral as Seth Godin calls it on his blog.
And what is the honest GURU supposed to say? Stop buying my products your not using them?
So I guess at this point I am supposed to tell you to actually open and read your programs courses and ebooks? However after reading this wouldn’t that really be redundant?
The real question is NOW that you know this what are you going to do about it? Keep subscribed here and find out.
I
n a surprise today Perry announced that he was no longer going to sell courses or train on the Internet. Plus he has dropped over 100,000 followers on twitter! Perry has been one of the most controversial figures to appear online in the last two years. His unfortunate arrest and subsequent lost of his home caused him to be one of the hottest topics across Internet forums, social media, and blogs. Perry now says he is taking his products and info off of the market and stopping all training. His reasoning for this is that he want s to spend more time with his family and that he has safety concerns for them. As I made very clear in my first article about Perry Belcher I don’t think anyone deserves to have their family threatened. That is ridiculous. Perrys kids have done nothing to deserve that and that is absolutely uncalled for and insane…..if true.
Perrys opponents are saying that it was a violation of his parole which you can download below.
**UPDATE HERE IS A LINK TO DOWNLOAD PERRYS CRIMINAL RECORD**
Also listen to my audio while you read the rest of the article.
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However he left a hint that he is still going to be around in the following way
I remembered that it’s much more fun and profitable to be a marketer than it is to teach internet marketing…a truth that someone had to hit me over the head to help me remember.
When I did a story on Perry Belcher a few months back it caused a big %@#$ storm. But it had to be written. My clients were asking about him as well and if I would promote his social media course. My end comment in that story read:
Is Perry Belcher the a social media scam artists? That remains to be seen. And that will depend on the feedback from his customers because time tells all truths. We are in one of the most interesting era’s for online entrepreneurship so it will be interesting to see if Perry Belchers reputation either flourishes or withers. The ball is in your court Perry. In time how will you be known? As an all star fundamental player or the king of technical fouls? I will take a quote from the film Carlito’s Way and mega rapper Jay Z “The Streets are Watching.”
The end part is interesting because Jay=Z just released his 3rd album after he claimed he was quitting hmmmm. Also interesting side note Ryan Deiss Perrys buddy hasn’t tweeted in almost a month. I think Perry dropping his 100,000 twitter friends was extreme and he could have handled that differently while still showing attention to his family. I spoke about those options in the audio on this page.
Will Perry be back? Maybe but again whether you are in the game or not know that your name is your name and time tells all truths.
Today’s news has been met with some interesting reactions from his opponents.
The Salty Droid Blog (contains adult language)
Welcome to another edition of GURU SCAMS where I reveal some serious inside issues with the some of the professionals in our industry. As usual I know i will get accused of trying to gain fame or credibility for revealing the dirty practices of others and so be it.
In the first issue we had How to Identify Offers You Should Avoid! And though I wouldn’t go as far as to call Perry Belcher a GURU scammer I did however place my article about him in this category since there was so much controversy surrounding him.
Also since we re covering email marketing issues in this article I would like to point out and say that even though I proudly endorse (enforce what you endorse) AWeber I am not trying to get you to join them by pointing out the dirty practices below. I know my readers are intelligent enough to make that decision their selves.
Dennis Bayne AKA TheLeadDawg Pushbutton Emailer is trying to sell a program that will let you email people without asking for their permission to do so AKA SPAM. See the video below.
1. If you send out 4000 emails Yahoo, Hotmail, Gmail, AOL, and others from your email list with this service you will get to the spam folder immediately. Also you will be on a blacklist in no time. Why? They don’t enforce opt-in (opening your email and clicking the link).
2. He has a tool that you use to “harvest” emails. That if not illegal is at the very least unethical! And that practice along with #1 could get your hosting account shut down.
BEWARE THIS MAN. The Lead Dawg will lead you into a lot of trouble.
Definition of email SPAM : Sending information without the recipients permission.
Perry Belcher, Social Media, and the Infamy of the Internet
**UPDATE: Also Read breaking story Perry Belcher Quit**
I have chosen my words carefully as I write this so I please ask that you read this in it’s entirety before commenting.
First I would like to acknowledge a few things before I continue.
1. This is not a article attacking nor praising Perry Belcher. I wanted to establish this comment first. I want to share the truth which involves as many facts that I could provide. The truth to me involves the good, the bad, and the ugly. And the reality is that each and every one of you reading this including myself each have all three in our history.
2. I waited until Perry was almost sold out of his recent program before publishing this as to be fair and not look as though I was writing this to in some way (if only in a minuscule way) to derail his promotional efforts.
I believe this is a very important point because as many of you know I have a Twitter program that I have created as well. So as to not look biased but fair. Or as fair as I could given that I too am a Internet professional.
Who is Perry Belcher? Allow me to give you the short version. Perry started out in internet marketing and as a entrepreneur some years back. He has been promoting a variety of products throughout the years. Perry Belcher more than any other marketer (including Filsaime and Kern) invokes a lot of emotion both negative and positive.
You know the old saying “I got good news and I have bad news?” There was a study many years ago that pointed out that over 90% ask for the bad news first. So I am going to discuss the bad news first.
In 2008 Perry got into trouble when he was promoting his then company (Selmedica) products.
According to the Shelby County Sheriffs office posted March 24th, 2008
“Belcher’s arrest is the result of an intensive investigation conducted by the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office and the D.A.’s White Collar Crime Unit in coordination with the Federal Drug Administration (FDA), the United States Postal Inspector, and the Tennessee Department of Revenue.”
It goes on further to say that
“The local investigation started after several individuals notified the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Internet Crime Complaint Center that they had possibly been defrauded by an internet company called Selmedica.”
“According to the affidavit of complaint filed in this case, Belcher owns and operates Selmedica, a company that claims on its website that it manufactures products to treat a wide array of ailments. The company claims to have made every product it sells in a “state of the art facility under the strict guidelines of the FDA’s Good Manufacturing Process.”
The affidavit goes on to say that Selmedica sells or has sold products it claims can treat attention deficit disorder, irritable bowl syndrome, head lice, female and male infertility, chronic body odor, yeast infections, scabies, ringworm infections, poison ivy, depression and anxiety, shingles, high blood pressure, hives, eczema, vertigo, pink eye, warts and migraines, among others. The company also sells or has sold products that it claims aids in weight loss, sleep deprivation, and hangovers.”
“Additionally, the affidavit states that Perry Belcher or his companies have sold e-books claiming to be written by medical experts. The affidavit says that the investigation revealed these books are not, in fact, written by medical professionals.”
Lastly the affidavit read “the Better Business Bureau of the Mid South has received more than 100 complaints over the past seven years on Selmedica, Perry Belcher and his business partners. Belcher has also done business, the affidavit says, as Selmedica Affiliates, Selmedica Healthcare, Increase Media, HealthyRightNow.com, Spring Time Herbs, Perry M. Belcher Companies, Gotcha Marketing, and AMI, Inc.”
In September of 2008 Perry Belcher according to documents from the Shelby Country Sheriffs department pleaded guilty to the offense of computer crimes over $60,000.
Since this incident as many of you know Perry and his family has moved to Austin Texas.
Perry Belcher has some interesting idea’s about Social media. His greatest opponents couldn’t argue that the man is indeed onto something. Some claim he did that with the help of assistants etc. Maybe he did maybe he didn’t but the point is it’s there. If his following is fake as some may claim then it would have shown up during the infamous Twitter drop in followers. But he only lost around 3,000 followers out of over 100,000 of his Twitter followers. I lost 2,000 on that infamous day.
Again even if you don’t like the guy you have to admit (at least to yourself) that this was entertaining.
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This is the basis of why I wrote this article. Many clients and business partners sent me emails as soon as Perry’s recent program began to launch. I found myself at odds. Like any online entrepreneur I would like to earn money. And his most recent project costs a minimum of almost a thousands dollars.
So an affiliate split totals up to a lot of money for a person like me that heads a company with a social network following in the early 6 figures across 50+ niche sites. In fact I have been in several online / phone meetings about Perry’s launch. Both partners and clients alike wondering if they should consider doing business with him.
I didn’t endorse Perry’s program and here is why: I think it would be hypocritical of me to talk about Internet ethics in the many ways I have on this site. And then promote a person who pleaded guilty of a computer crime involving the Internet. Even if I thought he was a interestingly entertaining guy with some clever idea’s. There was also concerns within my client list. I wont go into details because it is unfair to both the clients (who didn’t want to divulge their info in detail to confirm) and Perry (who has enough rumors and hearsay floating around about him).
I stand behind my name and believe as I say in one of my quotes that you should “enforce what you endorse.” I also stand behind the affiliate programs I endorse. In the last six months I have endorsed Six Minutes to Success even though there are heavy critics of Bob Proctor because of his international hit Book/DVD The Secret. I have endorsed Niche Profit Classroom because I know this is and excellent program. And in both cases I have actual proof through my business and personal life that they work.
Also of course I enforce the endorsement of my products and services. But to endorse Perry means (by my own words) that I have to defend and or enforce my endorsement. Given the current evidence I have presented in this article I do not believe nor am I comfortable with doing so.
I have seen this argument across the web in defense of Perry. But you should think carefully about commenting across the web that defense. Let me first define “we.” We is me and anyone else that hasn’t done any business with Perry. We is also anyone that has done business with Perry and didn’t have negative results. My point here is why should “we” forgive Perry for something he hasn’t done to us? Perry hasn’t done anything wrong to me so he doesn’t owe me or anyone else (who hasn’t had a negative business experience with him) an apology. As far as I am concerned there is nothing to forgive.
People like me who have not done any business with Perry: How is hating Perry going to help your business? The answer is that it doesn’t. If you want to avoid him and his products and services OK. But the forum and web attacks are a waste of your most valuable resource. Your time! I am more than sure you could be more productive with your life.
Here is a little Internet secret. Any and everyone with any Internet experience has been robbed by someone online. So don’t think it was just you. In fact it’s a requirement that we get taken for a scam. Why? Call it trial and error due to an unfortunate reality. It is like a batter striking out in baseball to a questionable curve ball. I am not defending Perry. I am saying that if your argument for the public attacks on Perry is based on the fact that you can’t stand people who scam others. Then you will be wasting a LOT of time. Because there are a LOT of Internet scams. Put your energy to work on things that matter and STOP wasting time with people, places, and things that don’t.
If you have had a negative experience with Perry or even worst were one of the people who complained to the FBI and or the Better Business Bureau. I am truly sorry to learn that you believe you were wronged. Especially if you were (or still are) sick. The idea that anyone would sell a sick person medicine that doesn’t work sounds horrific. I cannot say for sure that Perry did or didn’t do that. Nor do I think it is my place to do so. However if you believe you have suffered because of Perry. Please know the following.
I have explained earlier in this article why I cannot endorse nor enforce that endorsement of Perry Belcher at this time. I however think you should do your own homework. Each of your knowledge levels are different. Some may not believe Perrys information is helpful and others may find it enlightening.
As I said earlier I think his idea’s are interesting. But I have personally taken Perry’s information with a Ying Yang approach.
Ying (good info): His idea of webinars is a good one. My mentors have been trying to get me to do them since 2006 LOL! And Perry has a good approach to this method.
Yang (bad or at the very least incorrect info):I have a challenge with one of his special reports “How to Monetize Social Media” Perry wrote:
Some autoresponder services such as Aweber.com do not allow importing, so I have a separate autoresponder setup with services like iContact.com and ConstantContact.com. They’re more expensive, but they do allow you to import contacts in bulk.
I have two distinct issues with Perrys statement.
1. This is incorrect. Aweber who I endorse does in fact allow you to import subscribers. But you must do the following things before they allow you to add them.
2. Perry Belcher says he uses Constant Contact. This is a MAJOR issue for me. I believe in permission marketing. And Constant Contact makes opting in optional not a requirement (unless they changed since I left some years ago).
What this means is that you could add anyone to your list without having the recipients confirm through their email that you have their permission. Though they do in all fairness suggest double opting in and do have it where it can be setup. At Aweber this is a requirement.
From a consumer perspective: that is why you get so many emails where you never gave permission. Spammers harvest emails and send out bulk spam this way. I am NOT saying that Perry Belcher is doing this because I have no factual evidence to believe otherwise.
From a professional marketers perspective: This is the quickest way to get your emails to your recipients spam boxes. Double opt in (getting permission via confirmation email) is a must for marketers.
The livelihood, judgment, conviction, and in some cases online execution of Perry Belcher teaches us a very important lesson. Now many might say the lesson is in ethics. But I would rather focus on an equally important lesson, credibility. Credibility is built from trust. Trust is build from faith and time. Yanik Silver says “Your reputation always counts” and he is right.
Is Perry Belcher a guy that crosses the line and deals in grey area’s? I think Perry might agree with me that he does. But what entrepreneur (especially online ) doesn’t? In the USA especially we are raised to NOT be entrepreneurial from the minute we started attending school. We (entrepreneurs) are by nature renegades all of us. But there are some lines you cross and some you do not. Perry is an excellent example of those limits.
Is Perry Belcher the a social media scam artists? That remains to be seen. And that will depend on the feedback from his customers because time tells all truths. We are in one of the most interesting era’s for online entrepreneurship so it will be interesting to see if Perry Belchers reputation either flourishes or withers. The ball is in your court Perry. In time how will you be known? As an all star fundamental player or the king of technical fouls? I will take a quote from the film Carlito’s Way and mega rapper Jay Z “The Streets are Watching.”
I have taken a lot of time to choose my words as carefully as I could so BEFORE you comment please read this article carefully. Also be prepared to defend your position and strongly suggest you select the follow this comment section as to address anything that is addressed to you. Otherwise I understand your respectful silence.
Thank you for reading.
People keep asking me if this person or that sale is a scam. I m now and here forth going to address this in this new series (and it’s a category now too) called GURU Scams.This not a series of articles to be negative or ugly to anyone selling online. However this is a honest strait forward review of people, products, and services.
Success Doesn’t have a Money Back Guarantee
I understand that there are so many scamsters but lets ask ourselves something. Have you watched these people for sometime? Have you watched them on their social media’s?
Have you noticed that success doesn’t have a money back guarantee?
Success doesn’t come with 3 easy payments of $Free.99. Success isn’t instant and success is far from guaranteed. Maybe just maybe you should focus on the persons ability to help you.
1. Google them. The good the bad and the ugly (me included) can be found on Google.
2. Then see what else they have promoted.
3. See their INTERACTION WITH THEIR CUSTOMERS. IF they (or their team) do not reply to customers then they are total losers and buy NOTHING from them!
I don’t care how big their following is if they do that that is a BIG signal! Customers FIRST!
4. Lastly check Warrior Forum and Digital Point to see if you see their names mentioned. IF you don’t that’s OK but if you do read the interactions.