Smoke, Mirrors, and Greed

"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"
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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.