gotta start somewhere

[laurencewins]

I figure someone has to start this section so why not me.
Stumbles and train wrecks... I have seen quite a few of them over the years.

I don't want to name the various "opportunities" that I signed up for last year but suffice it to say that I spent a lot and earned very little in return except for more gray hairs and worry lines.

However, the truly valuable lesson I have learned is to never part with money without thoroughly checking out what I am buying, whether I really need it and if I can't get it for free from somewhere else.

This philosophy has changed my business from a negative earning one in 2009 to a positive earning one in 2010 and things are only looking bigger and brighter as the days roll on.

[Mihira]

maybe its better if you can give details ? after all thats what this sub forum is for.

[laurencewins]

Ok. I will do that.
I joined a business called EZ Wealth Solutions. It reads well and sounds very credible.
You can join at any one of 5 levels and one of the initial selling points that got me in was that my "sponsor" actually paid my first membership level in on the proviso that I pay it forward to my first down line member.

It didn't take long for the cracks in the system to appear unfortunately.
First I found that while I constantly received the autoresponder emails telling me how wonderful the business was doing, I didn't receive any actual support from my upline.

The lady who sponsored me knew nothing about the business herself and I was actually having to try and get info from those above her, without much success.

Everyone uses the same cookie cutter website except that you have your own affiliate link so you get the credit for people that sign up.

I did get quite a few people to look at the opportunity but nobody actually signed up and I couldn't get any help to assist me in determining why.

I ended up feeling so frustrated at getting nowhere and the lack of support from the upline and the system support people that I gave it up completely.

I am sure that some people might do well at it but nowhere as many as what it seems.

I hope that all makes sense and I am happy to answer any other questions although I have tried to put it all out of my mind.
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[dennis1960]

don't know much about it, but there are lots of staements in the rip off report, doesn't look good

[naijainfoguru]

heard and know of ezwealth bur does it work?

[mikeinkster]

I looked at EZwealth also, and was not impressed by the owner and how the program worked. Pay for someone else to get them started, then they do no work, not for me.

[cooljames1]

Ok. I will do that.
I joined a business called EZ Wealth Solutions. It reads well and sounds very credible.
You can join at any one of 5 levels and one of the initial selling points that got me in was that my "sponsor" actually paid my first membership level in on the proviso that I pay it forward to my first down line member.

It didn't take long for the cracks in the system to appear unfortunately.
First I found that while I constantly received the autoresponder emails telling me how wonderful the business was doing, I didn't receive any actual support from my upline.

The lady who sponsored me knew nothing about the business herself and I was actually having to try and get info from those above her, without much success.

Everyone uses the same cookie cutter website except that you have your own affiliate link so you get the credit for people that sign up.

I did get quite a few people to look at the opportunity but nobody actually signed up and I couldn't get any help to assist me in determining why.

I ended up feeling so frustrated at getting nowhere and the lack of support from the upline and the system support people that I gave it up completely.

I am sure that some people might do well at it but nowhere as many as what it seems.

I hope that all makes sense and I am happy to answer any other questions although I have tried to put it all out of my mind.
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Been There, Know What You Mean. Thanks.
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[cooljames1]

I looked at EZwealth also, and was not impressed by the owner and how the program worked. Pay for someone else to get them started, then they do no work, not for me.

Does Not Sound Like My Cup Of Tea.
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[Russ Fye]

I have done the same thing Laurence! I bought a money making program (honestly forget the name of it) several years ago that promised to make me money. Geeez, after paying for the e-Book I had to buy this and upgrade to that and so on; needless to say, I did not make any money because I simply could not afford the upgrades needed to be successful. The only person making money was the person selling the product. Anyway, I have learned to research products before I buy them now, and honestly I prefer building lists by offering free products and marketing affiliate products to the lists later down the road. This is what works for me! I am glad things are looking up for you this year and always enjoy reading your posts!

God Bless
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[lexxmarzain]

I have a list of maybe 10 people I will buy from, and only two that I will buy their recommendations. I've got to the point where if they don't offer a money back option then there is no point in getting involved.
I spent most of the past month buying different products and testing them out it see if they will fit into my current system. If they don't I invoke the refund. I'm the kind of customer shops hate
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(Dead parrots and all)

[Michael Field-Dodgson]

The process of success is dynamic so my discussion here does not preclude me from further misadventure although the probability of reoccurrence and extent will have diminished!

One of my biggest mistakes was not treating the Internet Marketing Arena as a business opportunity.

In summary I think you need to get in, have a good look around (a good look around!) and get a perspective of how the IM scene basically works: websites, blogs, affiliate marketing, digital producs, physical products, Google ect., how money is made, lists, forums etc.

Then decide on a course of action and a time frame, develop a plan with milestones or goals, and stick to it until such time as you have achieved what you set out to do.

I was seduced by the hype of the sales pages and the examples of the huge amounts of money that had been made. Now the money was earned by people who had a great deal of expertise and had expended a lot of effort, but I didn't see that all I saw was the $.

This is very distracting and extremely time wasting, and frustrating. It distracts you from the fact that there are processes to learn, like any business whether traditional or internet, before you can succeed.

Once I realised the variety of ways of making money on line, and the common basics I had to master I started to make progress.

My focus was still poor and there were times when I got the stutters with "the grass is always greener" syndrome. Part of the issue here is that each bright new shiney opportunity was relatively cheap and risk free (60 day money back guarantee) which was a bit different from the corporate environment I had escaped from! But looking at these opportunities slowed progress and wasted time: I needed to complete my apprenticeship.

I am not saying you can't or shouldn't earn while you learn, as long it is part of your plan and part of your longer term goals.

The psychological impact of what is mentioned above seems to be understated and I think is why the statistics on success in this bussiness are pretty awful - people just walk away, give up, quit.

I was amazed at the complexity and intricacy of what was internet marketing. I was totally green when I decided to have a look. I could use a computer but I was strictly an "end user". So the learning curve was steep.

Looking back I would have to say my one regret is the amount of time I have wasted by not sticking to my plan.

I hope this helps in some way.

[tonyq]

Been there as well. You live and hopefully learn by the many mistakes on the road to success.

[DreamTexan]

I have a list of maybe 10 people I will buy from, and only two that I will buy their recommendations. I've got to the point where if they don't offer a money back option then there is no point in getting involved. ....... I'm the kind of customer shops hate
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(Dead parrots and all)

Lex I call that informed business and managing your overhead. Thank you

[robertmejiayah]

You are totally right about where you need to start. No matter how difficult it seems, we all have to start somewhere!
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[wfhblueprints]

Most of my stumbles and trainwrecks have been entirely self created if i am completely honest.

I've pretty much tried everything under the sun.....ecommerce, affiliate marketing, product creation, ppc, seo etc but flitted around like a bee from idea to idea.

That was the most destructive thing I could have done.....

I eventually realised (by accident) that sticking to a plan and giving it time would be the best recipe for success........but it took a cheque to arrive from my payment processor to get me to notice this.

One site I had worked on solidly for 2 months before quitting on it and eventually forgetting it....made it into the top 10 of google and gave me a surprise payday without me knowing about it......I promptly sold it and every project I had to start from scratch with some focus!

In other words......find something that excites you and stick with it!

Regards

Chris

[ljrestrada]

Absolutely true.Starting a business online should be approached the same way a traditional brick and mortar business is.Careful planning and research.

[Crisyl]

Great Advice! I couldn't agree more. Keep it up!

[Bryjay]

I noticed a while back that there were quite a few "opportunities" and "programs" out there that didn't actually offer anything.

No products - except for the ones you had to buy
No service.

They all claimed how good everyone was doing and how easy it was to make money, but they provided nothing for it.

All it is is money exchanging. You have to sign up two or three people, who have to sign two or three and you get paid out of the money they've paid.

The only thing you get for signing up and paying any money is the right to sign other people up.

As far as I am concerned, these type of "opportunities" where all you do is exchange money, are scams.

They add nothing of value, to either you or the IM industry as a whole.

[JAMO]

Good thread. I think we can all learn from our own mistakes and now from others here. We just have to learn.

I've been unsubscribing from alot of lists because it is too distracting when trying to get work done and too tempting.

[Ron Ansy]

it truly tell that there is sooo much HYPE there and only a bit of quality content..
but i being very lucky to come across with some genuine people to start with.. so didn't waste any money as such..

Ron..