"Recently I received an offer for beginning an Internet business.
However, since it sounds too good to be true, I'm hesitant about parting
with my dwindling money reserves to buy into this 'opportunity'. Here's
the ad. What do you think?" -- William Short
I've clipped a few sections of the e-mail message to give you the flavor:
"Hi William,
My name's ______ and I promise
you this will be the most important and profitable letter you will read
all year... maybe the most profitable letter you will EVER read.
"Wealth - A Simple Numbers
Game"
-------------------------------------
Please read this short report
very carefully. In doing so, you will discover a "system" that is outrageously
powerful thanks to the whirlwind synergy of a few simple factors all pulling
together....
... When you join my system,
you need to do just two things...
Sign up for the program this
report promotes
Insert your own ID into the
free report form and put it up on your site (and don't worry if
you don't yet have a site, because you WILL!)
That's it! The "System" takes
care of the rest....
... I want to tell you about
a new trend on the net that you might not be aware of. It's called "Residual
Income Choice". Or R.I.CH. for short...."
Essentially, this company is selling you a web hosting package that you
can resell to others, who will resell it to yet others, "seven levels"
deep. Little blinking lights should be going off now. MLM. Blink MLM (Multi-Level
Marketing).
When someone promises "simple" and "the most profitable letter you'll
EVER read," they are blowing smoke and appealing to your greed and gullibility.
The truth is this: To be successful, an Internet business need a unique
selling proposition (USP) that differentiates it from other Internet businesses.
Local main street businesses compete only with similar businesses within
driving range, but Internet businesses compete with all others of their
type in the nation or language group. Trying to drive Internet traffic
to a business just like 10,000 others requires either e-mail spamming
or attempting to obtain high rankings with extremely competitive search
and PPC (Pay Per Click) keyword. It won't be cheap or easy.
It is very difficult to buy an Internet business concept (franchise)
that will make you wealthy. Successful businesses that exist solely online
use basic Web marketing and e-commerce principles, but are "one-of-a-kind"
for each industry and business niche. Franchises work where distance prevents
competition, but don't adapt well to Internet space.
