I am not sure if I can rehash all the details, but I will try and get some on here, with the hopes of helping someone protect themselves from these people. About 3 years ago, I responded to an ad for some cheap ($10 or less, I dont remember now) software on how to run an internet business. I got my software, and then got a phone call from someone offering to build us a business like no other. There success rate was through the roof! They even helped a guy build a site to sell bird watching equipment and he was taking in $6000 a month! I was told to get a pen and paper and write down an initial investment figure; $7500. I didnt have money like that laying around, but I had a credit card! They talked of a guarantee of doubling my "initial investment"or get your money back. I thought, "Only an idiot would turn down a deal like this!" Boy was I wrong...
What did that $7500 pay for? A few phone conversations to assist you building your website, a few where they tell you that your a genius. The actual business pointers could have been related in a brief email or short conversation. They could have been a little less greedy and told us about the free web building website that are as user friendly as their 39.95 month site.
My wife worked her fingers to the bone building our page, selling on ebay, running back and forth to the post office, hours on the phone with tech support and "coaches". We were paying for Google ads, the web builder, and interest on the credit card, and in the most prosperous month, we didnt break even.
We followed their direction to the T. We did our market research. We researched our niche in Google ADwords. We struggled to make something out of this thing, and we were just going deeper into the hole. What advise did they have? Keep listing your business in web directories. That was it.
At some point my brain started engaging. Why dont I call my good friend Brian Church and figure out what my $7500 was actually getting me. Fat chance. I got his voice mail several times, left messages with his assistant. I guess I started to wake up when the emails I sent him were returned to sender.
This was an expensive lesson. Please look before you leap!
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