Issue #1007 – How to Survive the Scams
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Action Today: How to Survive the Scams
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Friday October 21st, 2011: Issue #1007
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Published by Trevor Greenfield. I always welcome your comments.
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Hi,
Receiving scam emails in our inbox is a daily part of life online
these days. Looking back, it doesn’t seem to matter what
advancement we make in life, sooner or later there will be those
that seek to capitalize on it by tricking people to part with
their hard-earned money in exchange for nothing or very little.
Before the Internet we had direct mail. Buying items through the
mail was a very popular way of getting the things we needed.
Unfortunately it wasn’t long before all sorts of tricks were
being used to persuade us to buy items only to find when they
arrived that they were rubbish. A whole industry built up around
crafting sales letters and sales techniques geared to get us to
buy.
Don’t get me wrong copywriting is an essential part of selling
products and services that we still use on the Internet today and
I don’t have a problem with it as long as it’s used ethically.
Now, as the Internet matures, we are getting the same sharks
peddling useless junk trying to con people with instant riches
here too.
How to avoid getting ripped off
The more I see of this the more upset I get that honest, needy
people are being taken for a ride. These heartless people are
playing on the desperate need that so many of us have right now,
to make themselves a quick buck, and in many cases an absolute
fortune.
I’ve lost count of the number of variations on the “I was broke
and in just a few months I’m a millionaire” theme I’ve received.
Are you as sick as I am of the “I am so sick of the scam artists
peddling junk that I’m selling you this product” emails. There’s
usually a blockbuster, high ticket video production telling you
all about their story, a very low price product offer – because
they ‘want to give something back’, only to be followed by
endless upsells, downsells, counter offers etc.
To be honest they make me sick. There are more and more people
turning to the Internet today filled with hope that they will
find the solution to their pain there. The solution is there, but
not overnight. Anyone that is in a hole right now and needs to
find something to pay the bills this minute is very unlikely to
find it on the Internet. It is possible to start generating some
money very quickly but they are rare and still take time to learn
and implement.
Time to get realistic.
Hearing the truth is not something that many people want to hear
but refusing to listen to it doesn’t change the facts. Making
money in any business takes time and effort. However, the concept
of making money is really very simple. It only takes two things –
an offer and a buyer. I learned this from Jimmy D Brown many
years ago and when I did it hit me like a 2 by 4.
Simple as it sounds, that’s it. An offer and a buyer, that’s all.
However, as simple as that sounds, behind that concept lies some
steps that prevent some people from becoming successful at
achieving it. All too often these steps are not explained. The
latest greatest method for making your million doesn’t explain in
the sales letter what’s involved, the skills needed.
You see an offer has to be created. It has to provide value, it
has to fulfill a need or solve a problem. It needs to satisfy one
of the basic human requirements like gaining pleasure or avoiding
pain. So before you can push these 3 buttons and make money you
need something to sell that people want.
What about the buyer aspect? Well to get a buyer you need to
drive traffic to a place to buy. There are lots of things to
learn about driving traffic and we see endless products being
sold that will solve the problem of getting traffic. There are
some very good ones around, not everything is a scam.
Unfortunately it’s difficult to weed out the good from the bad.
My advice is to find someone that has a good reputation, who has
maybe been online for a long time and is offering a coaching
program and follow their training to the letter in it’s entirety.
That way there is no reason why you too shouldn’t be as
successful in time. Remember though, that we all have different
skills. Some people are born copywriters and can craft a good
sales page, others have no clue how to write a sales letter. It’s
important to realize when building your online business that you
will almost certainly have to pay people to do the things that
you are not good at.
What I try to achieve through this newsletter and my Action Today
blog is point people in the right direction of products and
services from people I know and trust that I know will work.
Towards the bottom of every newsletter is a list of resources
that I recommend, that I have used myself and feel comfortable
recommending to you. If you follow my advice and go with any of
them and you have an issue with it, just let me know and I’ll
help you out or follow it up for you.
There’s no reason why anyone should fail online provided you take
time to learn, put in the work (take action) and accept that you
will need to outsource some of the work that you can’t do
yourself.
+ + | | | + +
The days are getting shorter here in The UK now. It’s taking
longer to get light in the morning and is dark by late afternoon.
I don’t know about you, but I’m not a great lover of the winter
months. I’m much more of a warm weather person. Still we’ve been
very lucky with the weather so far since it’s still very mild.
I’ve now identified a new office to move to. I’m taking the
opportunity to share with my eldest son who also runs his own
business on and off the Internet. I’m looking forward to being
able to pool resources with him.
For my American friends, I live near to Stratford-upon Avon,
which I know is very popular over there. Warwickshire is a lovely
part of the country and I feel very blessed to be living here
amongst all of the history. There are some very nice towns and
villages around here which gives a real holiday feel to living
here.
+ + | | | + +
My wife had her 60th birthday this week which was, of course, a
reason for a special celebration. We had a nice family dinner,
with cakes and presents and everyone enjoyed themselves very
much. We decided to save the big event to celebrate the occasion
until nearer Christmas when we are having tea at the Ritz in
London. They put on a special birthday tea, with a piano player,
a choir to sing carols and a special menu for tea. We can’t wait
for that.
+ + | | | + +
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Don’t keep it to yourself – send them to
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The Thought For Today
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A truly good book teaches me better than to read it. I must soon
lay it down, and commence living on its hint. What I began by
reading, I must finish by acting.
Henry David Thoreau
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Action Help
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Finding profitable offers starts with niche research. Lots of
people email me to say that they hit a blank when it comes to
thinking of niches. Here are a few steps you can take to identify
possible niches.
Open up the Google keyword tool – https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal
Tip: If you have an adwords account, log into your account, then
you won’t have to keep entering the captcha
Type in the following terms as broad match in turn:
How to
Learn
Improve
Become
Buy
Cure
Looking for
Each of these terms will bring up a list of search terms that may
hold within them a potentially profitable niche. For example, You
may get “How to learn French” That could open up the potential
for an ebook about learning French, or maybe you could put up a
Wordpress site and sell a Clickbank product on learning French.
Some of the results will be for very broad competitive topics,
like How to play golf for example. For these results, just type
How to play golf, in this case, into the keyword tool and you will drill down
deeper into the golf niche. Keep doing that until you get search
terms with less than 100,000 global searches a month. You may then
find a niche worth working with.
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Products and services to streamline your business
recommended by Trevor Greenfield
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Reliable hosting for your niche blogs or website
http://www.nichemarkethosting.co.uk
Unstoppable Affiliate
If you already have some online experience this will get you off
and running.
http://trevor.linktrackr.com/UA
Newbie to Millionaire
If you are a complete beginner, this is the course for you. It
starts at the most basic level and builds your knowledge from
there.
http://trevor.linktrackr.com/newbie
SEOPressor
Must have niche blogging plugin
http://trevor.linktrackr.com/SEOPressor
#~#~#
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Contact details
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Trevor Greenfield, Queens Rd, Kenilworth, Warwickshire,CV8 1JS,
UK.
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Please note that many of the links to 3rd-party products that
appear in Action Today are affiliate links that will pay me a
commission if you buy.
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