August 2014

Click Clone Cash Review – Click “Exit” Instead

Published On: August 20, 2014

Josh Owens is really living his dreams. He’s got the waterfront property, the Jaguar, the boat, oh, and the money. He’s also got plenty of time to show it all to us over and over again.

This Click Clone Cash review is going to take a look at his “zero click” product that he claims will make you millions by finding and cloning successful online businesses. All you’ll have to do is tell the system where to send the checks.

Ok then. Sounds legit.

Normally when reviewing products I’d go into details of what the product is, then tell you whether or not it really is that. Unfortunately, Josh made me sit through his BS for so long to find out what he’s actually offering, that I’ve just decided to skip to the point.

It’s not going to make you any money.

So What Is Click Clone Cash Supposed To Be?

As I said, Josh has supposedly set up a program that will install software on your computer, then search the Internet for successful online businesses, and clone them for you. You’ll be able to sit back and make millions with this system.

Well, no you won’t.

Let’s take a closer look at the reasons why this is all fabricated.

The Video Shows It All

I’ve seen some pretty outrageous videos in the past with terrible paid actors walking around empty mansions and driving fancy cars, claiming to be millionaires. This one really does go a little far. You don’t need to set the whole thing on a yacht on a river while wearing your Harvard Law School T-shirt unless you are just trying to hype everybody up.

Real products have substance and will focus on the product and what it does. “Questionable” products just show you cars and boats, cars and boats.

Claiming that you’re not doing that doesn’t help. In fact, the homepage even shows that these people are actors:

There are so many holes that I spotted in the video to know that it’s fake. I’m going to show you a few here.

1. When Josh returns home, his kids and wife are surprised to see that he’s got home already and rush to say hi. Well that’s fine, but how did the cameraman get inside without you figuring out your dad was home?

2. When Josh gets suddenly called up on Face-Time by one of his partners, how come she didn’t know already that she was being filmed? There’s a camera right in front of her face!

3. Isn’t it convenient that there happened to be a camera in his old law office (and he looks no younger), 5 years ago when “Aaron” walked in, so he could film the whole conversation? From four different angles?

4. Josh said that if you leave the video, you’ll not be able to return. Well that’s a lie. I’ve left and returned loads of times (I’m addicted to that “OMG girl” at the beginning).

Seriously? Still thinking this is a legitimate video?

The Actual Product

OK, so maybe they staged the video but the product still works right? That’s a stretch based on all the other dodgy products out there doing the exact same thing, but I’ll humor you.

If you manage to get to the end of the video, you’ll see “Josh” telling you that you need to pay for some hosting to set it all up. This is where he gets his money out of you.

In fact, I’ve reviewed another product that does the exact same thing. It’s all designed to convince you to spend money on hosting.

You don’t really think that there’s magic software out there that can just clone successful businesses do you? Successful businesses have security features, and don’t just work on autopilot anyway..without any expenses, or set up.

Take the advice of one of Josh’s supposed partners:

“Folks, don’t be stupid”.

Facebook Fraud: Is Facebook Using Click Farms for Fake Likes?

Written By:Halina Zakowicz

Last Updated:August 12, 2014

You may want to rethink paying money to promote your Facebook page. Why? It appears that those “likes” you’re paying for are actually fake. Furthermore, these fake likes are coming from Facebook itself, not some shady click farms or black hat SEO operations.

And even worse, Facebook has still not addressed the issue.

What are click farms?

Before we talk about Facebook fraud and fake likes, let’s first discuss click farms. Akin to content farms, click farms employ masses of low-paid clickers who are paid solely on the number of clicks they generate. Many such click farms are often (though not always) located in third world countries. In some cases, these “click farmers” are paid to like something on Facebook. For example, a click farmer might like your donut shop Facebook page.

However, unlike a regular clicker, the click farmer has no further interest in seeing your news updates or commenting on your Facebook posts. No, the click farmer is socially uninvolved with you and your product. Aside from that like, you’d never know that this person is a fan of your page.

Because the click farmer is making X amount of money per 1000 clicks, he will also indiscriminately like other Facebook pages. As a result, the profile of this clicker will show him liking all manner of unrelated people, places or things- and a lot of them too.

Veritasium’s strange case of zombie Facebook fans

It’s reasonable to assume that, if you retain the services of a shady SEO firm, you will collect bogus Likes through click farms. However, what if you take the higher moral ground and actually pay Facebook to promote your page?

Facebook states that, for a discrete fee, it will actively promote your page, increasing its likelihood of reaching a wider audience and accumulating likes. For example, if I pay Facebook $20, I can get up to 70 new likes per day on my Evansville Area Inventors & Entrepreneurs Club page.

Back in 2012, Derek Muller, the guy who operates Veritasium, decided to buy some Facebook advertising. Almost immediately, he saw his Facebook like number jump from a mere two thousand to over seventy thousand. However, what he also noticed was that engagement levels on his Facebook page were no better than before. In some cases, engagement levels were actually worse.

How could this be?

When Derek analyzed his new likes, he noticed two disturbing trends: first, the majority of his new fans originated from countries like India, Bangladesh, Nepal, the Philippines, Pakistan, Indonesia and Sri Lanka, and second, almost 0% of these thousands of new fans engaged with any of his posts or other content.

More fans = less engagement?!?

Having those fake likes was actually worse than having a few real likes. When Derek had previously published a post on Facebook, his fans were likely to engage with that post. This high level of engagement enabled the post to later reach a wider circle of his Facebook fans.

However, once Derek’s posts started going out to his fake fans, those fans did not interact with the posts and Facebook used that non-interaction as an indication that the posts were not interesting and should not be sent to a wider fan base. It’s as if the fake fans just absorbed the posts and made them die. This is how having those extra fans actually made Veritasium’s engagement levels worse.

Derek tried deleting his new likes but there was (and still is) no systematic way to perform this action. As a result, Veritasium’s fan engagement levels were actually harmed by Derek’s paying for Facebook advertising.

How bad is the problem?

Veritasium is not the only case study of fake Facebook likes. After a few drug and biotech companies got burned by fake Likes, the bioscience consulting company Comprendia advised them to steer clear of Facebook advertising. And then there’s the State Department, which last year spent $630,000 to acquire Facebook likes- and saw only a 2% engagement level from its “fans.”

But what if an advertiser simply blocked her page from being promoted in click farm-associated countries like India or Pakistan? Because advertisers can select the countries in which their pages are promoted, sticking with countries like the U.S., Australia, the U.K. and Canada should alleviate the issue of click farm likes- right?

Unfortunately, as an anonymous source named “Bob” found out, limiting Likes to certain countries does not completely solve the problem. Click farmers will sporadically like Facebook pages that they are not even being paid to like. They do this to avoid spam/bot detection by Facebook. Obviously, if a click farmer is generating likes on just a select few advertiser pages, it’s easier to get caught. But if the click farmer is going everywhere and liking a lot of different advertiser pages, the likes seem more random.

What is Facebook doing about it?

In a nutshell, not much. While Facebook claims that it takes aggressive action against fraudulent Facebook accounts and fake likes, the most obvious action- enabling Facebook users to delete fake likes in bulk- hasn’t been considered.

You’d think that Facebook would get on the stick about removing bogus likes or just trying to eliminate the problem from occurring in the first place. However, consider what a frustrated advertiser who is suddenly inundated with 10,000 new likes yet no increased engagement might do. Yep, he might decide to pay Facebook, yet again, to promote his posts to his newly expanded audience. Such promotion is termed boosting, as shown here on my own Facebook page for my I&E Club:

So now, not only is Facebook making money by promoting a page (i.e., accumulating fake likes), it is also making money by boosting posts that the fake fans have no interest in seeing and engaging with.

In other words, fake likes are a boon to Facebook, and the company actually benefits twice from this “unresolved problem.”

In summary…don’t buy Facebook advertising

If you’ve been considering buying Facebook advertising, don’t do it. However, if you’ve already bought Facebook advertising, please let us know in the comments below regarding how your new likes and engagement levels have turned out.

How to Enter Business Pitch Competitions and Win Money for Your ‘Big Idea’

Written By:Halina Zakowicz

Last Updated:August 5, 2014

If you have a hot new invention or business idea, you could try crowdfunding your business idea through a site like Kickstarter or Indiegogo. However, on a more local level, you could also try pitching that idea through a business pitch contest. Why should you consider taking advantage of a business pitch contest?

Business pitch competition perks

1. You learn the art of persuasion

If you plan to run a business over the long-term, there will come a point where you’ll need to raise capital. This might occur by going through a bank, selling debentures or private equity, or just convincing Uncle Bob to loan you a few thousand bucks. By learning how to get investors on board early in the game, your business stands a higher chance of succeeding.

2. You obtain valuable feedback.

In a business pitch competition, every contestant is provided with feedback on her business plan, revenue model, customer base, etc. Also, the judges ask tough questions about how the invention or business idea and how it will be brought to fruition. Such “tough love” ahead of time improves your business skills and areas of expertise.

3. You gain connections.

Places that host business pitch competitions are typically associated with entrepreneur clubs, business schools, business coaching organizations, etc. These places can direct you to people or resources that will aid you in finding an injection molding service or publisher or cinematographer. You’ll avoid making costly production mistakes in the process.

4. You step up accountability.

Anytime a business uses public funds, such as by selling stock, it must provide a public accounting of its business activities. In your case, winning a business pitch competition means that you need to return to the host organization and give an update on your business idea success or failure. You may also be tasked with completing set goals in a given time frame. Such accountability measures keep you from endlessly procrastinating on your work or fudging the revenue report.

5. You gain credibility.

Quite often, big grants ride on the coattails of smaller contest wins. If you’re looking to eventually apply for bigger money or just sign up a big name investor/partner, you are certainly helped by having a contest win in your corner.

6. You get money!

Lest we forget, business pitch competitions enable you to get your hands on some sweet cash. Some contests hand out $500, while other contests award as much as $20,000 for your business pitch.

Where can you find a business pitch competition?

Schools of business

Universities with a school of business will often offer a yearly business pitch competition. As examples, the Robins School of Business offers a $5,000 contest purse, and the Connecticut Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation offers a $10,000 contest purse. Across the pond, the University of Edinburgh offers a £3000 purse.

In some cases, contest eligibility is limited to current or former students of the school. In other cases, you simply have to be a state or area resident.

Chambers of commerce

Cities, towns and even villages have chambers of commerce that award hefty cash prizes in exchange for business ideas that inevitably lead to business growth in those communities. One example includes the Henry and Stark Counties Fast Pitch Competition, which awards an $8,500 purse to existing and start-up businesses. Another example is Swim with the Sharks, a video pitch competition for businesses fewer than three years old.

In general, contestants have to be area residents or businesses.

Entrepreneur clubs

Often in partnership with a city’s economic development committee or council, entrepreneur clubs host annual business pitch competitions that award several hundred dollars as well as non-monetary perks like free classes, reimbursed filings, etc. Pitch contestants and/or winners may be asked to help out with some of the club’s events or attend a few meetings.

Hackerspaces

Hackerspaces like Sector67 host a monthly Madison SOUP event where attendees enjoy a meal and donate a few bucks to help fund a community micro-grant. Those attendees who pitch a small business idea and win the cash pot are obligated to return the following month and give an update of their progress.

Most hackerspaces are non-profit entities, so the money that is raised during a contest must typically be used to help the local community. However, if you have an idea that would help your neighborhood, county, city, etc., your area hackerspace could be the perfect place to pitch.

Non-profits

Non-profit organizations often feature pitch contests that focus on creating social change. However, that doesn’t mean that your business pitch can’t benefit from these organizations. If you creatively structure your business idea so that it helps a local cause or charity, you can win some big bucks from the non-profit sector. One example includes Social Venture Partners of Pittsburgh; this organization hosts a Fall Pitch that awards $12,500 to the top winner.

Things to keep in mind

You will more than likely need to create and submit a business plan in order to be seriously considered by contest judges. This is especially true if large amounts of money are being awarded.

Business pitch competitions, much like crowdfunding initiatives on Indiegogo or Kickstarter, come with the stipulation that all winners are accountable to the paying organization; in other words, winners need to provide one or more updates of their progress. In some cases, the organization may request that the money be returned if funds are misappropriated or not spent as intended.

In other words, be very clear about what you need the money for and then, don’t blow it on something completely unrelated to the original pitch.

Have you ever competed in a business pitch contest? How did it go? Let us know in the comments below.