At I’ve Tried That, we review a lot of work-at-home jobs and online income opportunities. This is because there are many ways to make extra money, from affiliate marketing to blogging to freelance writing.
However, I was scratching my head when it came to figuring out just how one particular program enables its members to make money online. The program in question is called “Profit with Jay.”
Welcome to “Profit with Jay”
If you do an online search for work-at-home jobs, you’ll eventually come across a relatively new program called “Profit with Jay.” This program promises that you’ll make 100% commissions simply by processing emails. A YouTube video explains the process as follows:
We then hear from a guy who supposedly uses Profit with Jay to make lots of money. He explains that, once you sign up to this system and pay a $25 fee, you receive step-by-step instructions that teach you how to do something called email processing. You also receive marketing materials and access to a members’ area.
That’s all you learn about the actual program before this guy elaborates on his own rags-to-riches story and how he now makes a comfortable living from home thanks to email processing.
As the video rolls on, it eventually reveals another snippet of information about the Profit with Jay program:
From the screen shot shown above, it appears that your job will involve posting affiliate ads online, then following up on customer purchases with emails.
A second testimonial confirms this idea- a guy sitting in his car elaborates on how he posted ads to Facebook and Craigslist in the morning, and then discovered that he’d been paid from those ads by the afternoon. These payments came in when customers clicked on his posted ads.
Interestingly, each ad payment is exactly $25.
Why $25?
At the very start of this program’s video, it was stated that members receive a 100% commission for their processed emails. That means that the product is priced at $25.
The Profit with Jay program is also priced at $25.
Unless I’m mistaken, my suspicion is that the actual product you’re advertising and processing emails for is none other than the Profit with Jay program itself. I could be wrong, but…
Profit with Jay- could it be a modern take on the old Envelope Stuffing Scam?
If you look online, you’ll eventually locate Jay Brown himself, touting his email processing program on YouTube:
Jay states in his video that he’s been doing this program for the last four years; meanwhile, his video descriptor says six years.
Jay shows off his Paypal account as “proof” that his email processing program works. Again, we see a long list of $25 payments from customers. Jay explains that this program is legit, and that additional information about how it works can be learned once it is purchased at $25.
Jay assures hesitant buyers that his website does provide additional info about the program.
However, the only information that the Profit with Jay website offers is this set of customer testimonials:
The customers all refer to someone named James…but who is James? As for the testimonials themselves, they are very short and generic- and could be testimonials for just about any kind of online income opportunity. There is also no contact information provided on these satisfied customers.
We see the following example email on the website, which Jay notes is very similar to the kinds of emails you’ll be sending:
It’s intriguing that, even in this example email, it’s stated that the recipient is receiving instructions, a manual, and ads. These are the same items that were promised to anyone who signs up for Profit with Jay, at least according to the program’s checkout page:
Aside from the testimonials and the example email, nothing further is noted about the program, its marketing materials, the aforementioned step-by-step instructions, or where you’ll be posting ads. Nothing further is stated about how your emails will be written, or whether you’ll receive additional training to craft them properly.
However, there is significant effort dedicated to having you buy the product, and then sell something very similar through email processing and advertising.
This is nothing more than a modern take on the old envelope stuffing schemes. You pay $25 to learn how to trick other people to pay $25 so they in turn can deceive more people and this goes on until the FTC gets involved.
Read the fine print
Let’s say your curiosity gets the better of you and you decide to purchase the Profit with Ray program. Most online income opportunities come with a money-back guarantee. So, if you don’t like this opportunity, you can just ask for a refund…right?
Not so fast.
If you click on the disclaimer area of Profit with Ray, you’ll come across the following statement:
So, once you’ve made your purchase, the Profit with Jay system is yours to keep- whether you like it or not.
Bottom Line
Before you purchase Profit with Jay, understand that you may be throwing away not just $25, but any money thereafter that you spend on pay-per-click fees, advertising, etc. As the program itself states, there are no refunds for it or any of the associated fees.
As a result, you’re better off passing on this “opportunity” and seeking real opportunity elsewhere.
If you’ve taken an online survey or two, you’ve probably come across the work-at-home program ‘Take Surveys for Cash,’ which is presented by Jason White. On this website, Jason claims that he will help you “discover a weird trick” to make a full-time income by taking online surveys.
I think that 2013 was the single biggest year for “this one weird trick” online advertising. I saw just about everything advertised through the ‘weird trick formula,’ from belly fat reducers to miracle eye creams.
Apparently, Take Surveys for Cash is stuck in 2013 (although the site’s been around since 2010).
In any case, Jason shows you a video, supposedly of himself opening up a check from Survey Savvy, for the amount of $500. Jason claims that this is a check he received “just for taking a two hour survey.” Jason also shows you his Paypal account of $31,381.90 as yet more proof that he is earning big bucks with online surveys.
If you input your information on the program’s sales page, you are directed to a second sales page. Here, Jason claims that he has helped his family and friends earn over $1 million.
Meet the “king” of online paid surveys
Jason White, whom we never really see, is motivated to help you earn a good living by taking online surveys. How? Jason has, as he puts it, a “secret trick” that helps you locate high-paying surveys that you pre-qualify for.
In exchange for helping you out, the Take Surveys for Cash program merely asks that you pay a $39 one time fee. Even better, if you try to leave the checkout page, your fee is eventually reduced to just $12. I’ve even heard of some crazy promotions where members sign up for just $1.99.
Is the Take Surveys for Cash program worth your time and money? Here is what I learned about this program:
Red Flag #1: The ‘weird trick’ is publicly available information.
When you purchase access to the Take Surveys for Cash program, you are given a list of survey sites that are already available online. Survey Savvy is just one example, but other survey sites include Inbox Dollars.
There is absolutely nothing secret or tricky to finding these online survey sites. The only thing that the Take Surveys for Cash program has done for you is compile a bunch of survey sites on a single destination page.
What else do you get with your payment of $12?
The first checkbox denoted here is a joke. You won’t get better paying surveys simply because you suddenly pre-qualify as a U.S. resident. To qualify for lucrative survey assignments, you need to do far more than be a resident of a certain country.
The second checkbox simply provides a database of publicly available information.
Those “step by step instructions” involve Jason telling you how to input your personal information into the forms, which is not difficult or tricky (unless you can’t see the form, like on your mobile phone).
Finally, the “free gifts” that Jason notes at the bottom is a common tactic used by survey companies to have you input your personal information so they can contact you about buying their products and services. In exchange for making those purchases, you are given “free gifts.”
Red Flag #2: There are up-sells and cross-sells.
Once you enter the Take Surveys for Cash members area, you are inundated with up-sells and cross-sells. That’s doesn’t mean that you have to buy anything, but it does mean you should be aware of these sales offers. Luckily, the Terms & Privacy area of the program informs you to expects up-sells and cross-sells:
The Take Surveys for Cash affiliate program also gives away key pieces of information regarding what’s actually in this program- and how much those additional products pay out to motivated affiliates:
When a work-at-home program offers affiliate commissions, you can bet that some affiliates will be out there promoting it. Sure enough, I found several “review” sites promoting the Take Surveys for Cash program- yet not a single traceable member review of this survey.
Red Flag #3: Limited time left until…dooms day.
The Take Surveys for Cash website has existed since 2010. Back then, Wayback Machine shows that this program had “limited” spaces available to new members:
Interestingly, when you go to the program’s 2016 page, there is the same exact message about how Jason has “room for only a few more people.” Is it possible that, in the space of six years, Jason still hasn’t filled his quota? Or is this message a more likely attempt to create the illusion of scarcity?
The Bottom Line
Filling out online surveys can make you money; however, that money will never be in the amounts that Jason advertises, nor will you receive it every week like clockwork.
A good survey might pay you $50 for an hour of your time- and that’s only after you spend another half hour successfully filling out the pre-qualification survey. Other well-paying surveys might require that you participate in an online or in-person opinion forum.
One recent online survey paid me $125 for 4 days of logging into an online forum and spending 30 minutes/day answering questions about my shopping habits. Another online survey has led to me participating in an in-person, in-town “class.” In exchange for my two-hour participation, I will earn $50.
Such money is great, but it’s not going to replace my day job.
You may have encountered Sandy Sauve if you’ve clicked on various work-at-home opportunity ads, including this one:
When you click on the ad, you are taken to the following screen and embedded video. Here, you meet Sandy Sauve, who tells you that she earns a full-time income working from home. This opportunity “does not cost anything to get started with, there’s no up-rate costs later, you don’t have buy things, and you don’t have to sell anything.”
Welcome to My Flex Job
When you input your name and email, you are taken to a second video page, where Sandy describes the work-from-home opportunity as requiring no person-to-person selling, out-of-pocket costs, cross-sells, up-sells, etc.
What exactly are you doing? According to Sandy, there are big companies like Netflix, ProActiv, etc. that have people sign up for their sales and trial offers. These sign-ups must later be email and age-verified. Your job will be to validate ages and emails and enter this information into a worksheet. You’ll be doing this for a company called MyFlexJob.
On a YouTube video published by MyFlexJob, your job title is ‘Trial Offer Processor.’
So far, so good.
Red flag #1: Fake company photo
Sandy highly encourages you to go to the My Flex Job website and sign up. When I did that, I encountered the following page:
I was a bit disheartened to see that My Flex Job had inserted a stock photo for its company’s physical site and just pasted the My Flex Job logo on this photo. When any work-at-home company does something like this, it’s an immediate red flag for me that not everything is as it seems.
After I filled out the online job application, I was taken to a second video to complete my certification. And that’s also where I encountered another red flag.
Red Flag #2: You pay for software
The certification video on the MyFlexJob website explains that, as part of your certification, you’ll be required to purchase MyPCBackUp, a software program that will store the sensitive information you acquire while entering customer data into those aforementioned worksheets. MyPCBackUp costs $25 for a 3-month subscription.
But wait a minute- Sandy Sauve said that there would be no out-of-pocket costs to sign up with this company.
MyFlexJob goes on to say that you’ll be credited $25 in your account once you complete the certification.
That all sounds great…until you complete your certification and verify that you’ve purchased the software.
Red Flag #3: You must earn your $25 ‘credit.’
Once you are in the MyFlexJob website, you learn that, in order to cash out your $25 software credit, you must have an account value of $50 or more.
Furthermore, all your earnings are paid in ‘points,’ not actual money, with 100 points being equivalent to $1. You must first convert your points to dollars, and onlythen can you cash out.
It could be argued that the company does this to not only save money, but to ensure that its workers and not just signing up for free software. So, playing devil’s advocate, let’s look at what kind of work is required to earn enough money/points for a $50 payment.
Red Flag #4: You’re the one filling out trial offers!
When you first go to the MyFlexJob assignments area, you encounter the following instructions about how you get paid and what you actually do to earn that money:
From the language used, it sounds like you will be the person/customer who is completing company trial offers. Not other customers.
As you scroll down the assignments area, you encounter trial offers where the ‘data entry worksheets’ are none other than short forms where you need to fill in your own personal information like your full name, email, phone number, etc. These trial offers are with companies like Netflix, Groupon, Disney, etc.
You might be thinking, what’s the harm in signing up for a free trial offer of product X or service Y? Granted, the trial might be free, but if you forget to cancel your subscription by a given date, you’ll be charged. In fact, the FTC has a few things to say about ‘free’ trial offers and their inherent risks.
Also, many free trial offers require that you pay for shipping and/or product returns.
For each offer you successfully complete, you are credited with a given amount of points from MyFlexJob. In fact (and to avoid legal issues), the company even explains this condition on its terms page:
So, your actual data entry involves inputting your own personal data into forms provided by the marketing automation software of third party businesses. No doubt about it, MyFlexJob is probably making a handsome commission from your signing up for these trial offers.
Red Flag #5: Paid affiliates and actors
On its terms page, MyFlexJob lists the following disclosure:
FTC DISCLOSURE:
Some testimonials for MyFlexJob.com may be provided by paid affiliates or professional actors.
Why would a company that offers work-at-home jobs not have any of its actual workers provide testimonials?
Red Flag #6: Unnecessary software
Remember how you were instructed to purchase MyPCBackUp software as your condition of ‘certification?’ Well, you have absolutely no need of this software in order to complete free trial offers with MyFlexJob. So, why would this company have you purchase useless software? Well, they are paid up to $120 per lead (read: YOU) they get to install the MyPCBackup software.
Hopefully, if you’ve already purchased this software, you can write the company and get a refund.
The Bottom Line
While My Flex Job is not an outright scam, it has too many red flags and elusive terminology for me to wholeheartedly recommend it as a legitimate work-at-home opportunity.
At best, you’ll complete trial offers on this site that will allow you to reach your $50 threshold and cash out your earnings. At worst, you’ll sign up for offers that will either cost money up-front or result in you forgetting about them, at which point you’ll end up paying even more money for products/services you never wanted in the first place.
There are simpler and easier methods for making a few extra bucks that don’t involve paying for software you don’t need and products/services you never wanted.
If you like to cook and are adept at finding grocery deals (and stocking up on them), starting a meals-to-go business may be the ideal way for you to repurpose excess food and make money.
Families are busy these days and rarely have time to cook healthy and nutritious meals.
As a result, meals-to-go businesses have popped up and offer all kinds of meal offerings complete with home delivery. Many meals-to-go businesses even offer dairy-free, gluten-free, Paleo and other dietary options.
You can cash in on this trend by opening your own meals-to-go business right in your neighborhood, town or city. By doing so, you will access a wide client base without having to spend too much time and effort on shipping and/or delivery.
Starting out locally will also keep you abreast of any customer or other issues, which can be dealt with quickly when your customer happens to be your neighbor.
So, how do you begin?
1. Visit your state/county health department.
Before you begin dreaming of recipes and dishes to prepare, find out where your state or county health department will permit you to prepare your meals at home. Many municipalities will not allow for food made in a home kitchen to be sold to consumers.
In such a case, you’ll need to find a suitable test kitchen, which may be located in a church, a restaurant (when it’s closed to the public), or even a community center. You can negotiate a given rate per hour for the use of the commercial kitchen and add this charge to your food cost.
Many commercial kitchens can be gotten fairly cheaply if they are used during non-operational or off-peak hours. What this means is that you will find yourself cooking and baking in the late hours of the night or on Mondays (when many dining establishments take their day off).
Some states and cities have so-called Cottage Food laws. If you live in such a municipality, you’re in luck. Cottage Food laws allow food vendors to prepare food in their own home kitchen for purchase by the public. For example, here is the website that lists California’s Cottage Food laws.
There are limitations on which foods are considered non-hazardous when prepared in a home kitchen, most often, “safe” foods are baked goods like cakes and breads and not meat or vegetables. This could limit your menu severely, and is one more reason why you should at least look up commercials kitchens and their costs.
2. Obtain your licenses.
You will need a business license to get your meals-to-go business started, as well as a sales tax license and probably a food handler’s license.
You should also incorporate your business as an LLC at the very least. Having the LLC designation protects you from personal financial ruin in the event that someone sues you for negligence or harm. The likelihood of a lawsuit is likely if you’re delivering food to customers who may have unknown allergies and/or food sensitivities, or may simply come down with a case of food poisoning and blame it on you.
3. Create a business plan.
When it comes to the food business, you need to generate a business plan. Why? Having a business plan gives you a defined idea of how much you’ll need to spend to get your business off the ground and operational. You’ll know how many clients are needed to make a profit. You’ll better understand your grocery purchases and what price points are feasible for stocking up.
Your planned investments, revenues, expenses and profits should all be outlined in your business plan. At the end of the day, your business plan should provide you with a monthly estimate of investment costs, recurring expenses, and expected sales.
A business plan also helps you secure current and/or future funding. If your business becomes a huge success, you’ll want a business plan for your investors, partners and employees.
4. Analyze your competitors and pick your niche.
To differentiate yourself from the crowd of other meals-to-go businesses, you should first size up your competition. Who is already selling ready-made meals to your area neighbors, coworkers and friends? What do these competing businesses offer and at what price? How do these companies handle complaints, returns and refunds?
Obtaining some counterintelligence will benefit your own business greatly when you start accumulating customers and dealing with various pricing, product and other issues. You’ll be better equipped to understand which refund requests are reasonable and which aren’t, for example.
Having some counterintelligence will also enable you to pick your niche, whether that be gluten-free, Paleo, low sodium, or some other meal niche. By picking a niche, you’ll be able to attract a smaller but more motivated customer base. Such customers have the potential to become very loyal to your business, which means bigger (and recurring)sales in the long run.
5. Start marketing your business.
Admittedly, this step will take a good amount of time to master and benefit from. However, there are many ways in which you can market your meals-to-go business- and many of these methods are absolutely free. Some free or almost free methods include the following:
Creating a website.
Generating social media pages and announcements.
Posting flyers and leaving business cards.
Presenting cooking demonstrations at community/senior centers.
More expensive methods for promoting your business include these:
Catering small community events/meetings.
Obtaining a Google AdWords account and using it to post ads.
Listing your business in the local newspaper.
Generating sponsored ads on the radio or TV.
6. Track costs versus profits.
Don’t get so wrapped up in business investments and inventory purchases that you overlook how much you’re spending. It’s imperative that you carefully measure your debts and capital investments so you know how much to charge your customers.
While high-end meals-to-go can easily cost $30 for two persons, this money can end up easily spent on groceries, kitchen tabs, marketing collateral, and the like. Thus, you must keep a tight lid on any and all expenditures.
The Bottom Line
It’s exciting to start a meals-to-go home business; many individuals who start such a business end up retiring from their day jobs to pursue it full-time. Whether or not you choose to retire is up to you. However, if you plan your investments and expenditures just right, you will be able to choose many options for your future. Good luck!
Cash From Home and its counterparts have been around for a few years now, offering the idea that you can make a decent amount of money for simply adding a link! There seems to be a resurgence in promoting them which is worrying. Let me explain why.
The Background
Cash From Home apparently highlights the success of a lady called Kelly Simmons who has a true rags to rich story.
The essence of it is that she was a struggling single parent who just lost her job – a story that we can relate to quite easily.
Supposedly she met a guy at a part time job who showed her his work from home system. Fast forward and boom! She’s a millionaire, and works less than part time.
This all sounds really appealing, I mean who wouldn’t want to work a couple of hours a day and rake in even just a reasonable amount of money?
The sad part is that Cash From Home is simply leveraging peoples hopes, desires and desperation to actively suck money from them.
How Does It Work?
The idea behind this system is that you post links and get paid per link. That sounds amazing, not only is it easy work but the price per links is about the same as a decent minimum hourly rate – $15 bucks for 4 minutes work.
The reality though is that you will never get paid $15 per link. Think of it this way, if people on Fiverr.com (who get paid $4 per gig) will manually add 35 forum links, or 25 links to educations sites, then how likely will it be for you to get paid $15 for a solitary link?
Not likely at all.
The Warning Signs
The sales page for Cash From Home has so many scam markers that it’s scary!
Just take a closer look at these and you’ll understand why this sort of system is nothing but a scam.
#1 System Name vs. Domain Name
This might seem unimportant, but the fact that the system name (Cash From Home) is different to the actual URL (SecureBusinessSites) is a telling marker.
What it suggests is that the people behind this scam are using cheap expired domains that have an air of legitimacy to push this system.
#2 The TV Logos & Video
This is a popular psychological trick used by nefarious marketers. The idea is that the logos add a sense of legitimacy to the site even when they really have nothing whatsoever to do with the product.
The cleverly avoid lawsuits (just about) by using wording like “Work from home opportunities have been featured on:”. That statement is likely true, it just doesn’t mean that THIS system has been featured, but sadly not everyone picks up on that and instead subconsciously increases their trust in the site.
They also include a recording of a newsreel from NBC talking about work from home opportunities. This reel has been used in an incredible number of scam sites and is solely there to once again add a veneer of respectability.
#3 Unrealistic Promises
Telling people that they don’t need any skills or experience is a great way to hook people in. Everyone would love to make money easily, but the truth of the matter is that making money, whether it be on or offline, does require skills and experience. Sure you can get that along the way, but to promise instant earnings with no skill set is misleading at best.
#4 Requesting Your Phone Number
This might seem a very minor thing, but really, why do they need your number? Simply, in order to sell you stuff! Once they have a number they will call you or sell it to someone who will try the same thing.
Typically, we see reports from people who signed up for these kinds of systems that suggest that they will call you and try and sell you a “big ticket” system that costs hundreds to thousands of dollars.
#5 The Calculator
Cash From Home conveniently provides you with a calculator that works out how much money you can make from using this system.
This provides you with a dopamine rush when you see the potential earnings, but does not really prove that those earnings can actually be made!
#6 The Dream
One of the most powerful marketing tools available is to show you a dream and convince you that using this product will help you achieve that dream.
To be fair this sort of technique is used by all marketers, ethical and villainous alike, but at least the ethical ones will only use it when they have a product that can definitely provide the outcome. Link building simply doesn’t have that sort of future.
#7 Over Use of Highlights and Bolding
OK, so you may be thinking that this shouldn’t be a marker for a scam site, but it is most definitely one. By using highlighting and bolded text marketers can draw your attention to specific areas of the text, perfect for skip readers.
Scam marketers have a tendency to overdo it though and this is visible on the Cash From Home site.
For me, it’s also one of the easiest ways to spot a site that while maybe not a scam, it will surely warrant closer inspection.
The Duplicate Sites
If those points haven’t given you pause, then consider this: the exact same site (or 99% same) is used in other places.
Two sites called simple-income-strategies.com & access.premiere-online-income.com both use the same copy text and formatting, with some minor differences.
The main changes are the system name and logo, the name of the person with the success story and some images.
Mary’s name change made me laugh as apparently they all have a daughter called Amanda, and went through the exact same issues.
Ah, I hear you cry, but the disclaimer on Cash From Home states that they used fake names and stock photos.
That’s right it does, but let’s be honest here, just because they said they are using them to hide someone’s identity doesn’t mean they are telling you the truth. Plus the other two sites don’t contain that disclaimer.
The reality is that Amanda (or Kelly or whoever) doesn’t really exist. She’s simply a tool created by these marketers in order to invoke trust and convince you to hand over your details and money.
The Bottom Line
Link posting systems don’t work. Even if you make some cash from them, it’s not going to be life changing. In fact the only thing that these people want from you is for you to prove your gullibility by signing up in the first place.
From there they then have you by a hook and will slowly reel you in promising you the world while sucking money from your bank account.
Cash From Home has numerous markers that flag that this is at best an unscrupulous marketing ploy and at worst a scam.
Please, avoid link posting scams and Avoid Cash From Home and its duplicates!
How Does the Aussie Method Compare?
It doesn’t. It’s not a real opportunity. It’s a program designed to get into your wallet.
I’ve Tried That has been reviewing products since 2007. In that time, there’s one program that stands above the rest. It’s free to get started, has no ridiculous hidden charges, and will help you build a sustainable income from home.
Most internet marketers hit a certain phase as they are starting out, one which can quickly spiral out of control: domain hoarding.
This is where you end up buying domain after domain, until you end up with more domains than you know what to do with.
If you manage to get a grip on this potential problem, there are things you can do with your surplus of domains. Often people either try to sell the domains, create a basic site and flip them, or simply let the domains expire.
Another option is domain parking.
How does domain parking work?
According to Wikipedia:
“Domain parking refers to the registration of an internet domain name without that domain being associated with any services such as e-mail or a website.”
In essence there should be nothing there, but most if not all domain registrars will add advertisements to a parked domain.
These adverts when clicked earn you a small fee as a reward for allowing your domain to host said advertising.
Your domain is basically turned into an online billboard.
This might not seem like a big of a deal, but with the right setup and investment, it’s possible to turn a reasonable profit from parked domains. Plus they require little to no work once set up – true passive income.
Quantity over quality
If you’re keen to look into domain parking as a revenue source, the first thing you will need to know is that for this method, quantity is just as important, if not more so, than quality.
This is because like with most advertisements on the internet, the more traffic you have the more chance you have of generating the all-important clicks, so the more domains you have parked, the higher the possibility of getting some that have a high traffic flow.
It’s not uncommon for someone involved in domain parking to have hundreds of domains. In fact some services like Sedo’s Domain Parking for Professionals requires you to have a minimum of 500 domains!
Domain selection
The most important thing about choosing a domain is to find those domains that can generate traffic without input from you.
This is because all the domain parking services have rules that prevent you from sending traffic to the sites via SEO, PPC etc.
In fact they can be quite ruthless when it comes to traffic monitoring and if it looks like you’re trying to game the system they will suspend or close your account.
When choosing domains to use for parking, there are 3 broad types: brand new, misspelled, and expired domains.
Brand new domains
This type of domain refers to new domains that are spelled correctly but may offer potential for traffic. In general these should be avoided or at least examined in detail to make sure they are worth the purchase, though at approx. $10 for a domain, it’s sometimes worth the risk.
Misspelled domains
This type of domain is one where you obtain a domain similar to another in the hopes that people will type in the incorrect domain name and end up on your site instead.
The most common way to do this is to look for plurals, e.g. instead of bluewidget.com, register bluewidgets.com.
There are some legal areas that you may struggle with here, especially if you start abusing brand names and copyrights this way, but it does offer the opportunity to catch traffic from popular sites.
Expired domains
A safer alternative is to pick up domains that have expired. These types of domains usually have had some traffic in the past that you can leverage.
It’s worth running any domain through a site that can provide more info on the domain such as Alexa for estimated traffic and Majestic for a more detailed report.
Basically you’re just trying to make sure you’re not buying a site that only had 3 visitors per year, as you won’t make a cent that way.
If you’ve ever examined a domain to buy or one for a PBN, then it’s basically the same criteria.
What sort of domains should you buy?
This is the difficult question, but in general they should be .coms or .orgs and should focus on a popular niche.
This would be the one time where you should even consider broader niches than you are perhaps used to with affiliate marketing, though as with anything online testing will be required.
Looking to current or potential fads and trends is definitely a decent angle to take, though these have a tendency to not be evergreen and run out of steam after a while.
Domain parking requires a lot of forethought and examination of a niche, from the keywords used to the general market, as well as potential traffic as everything focuses purely on the domain name itself as you have no other way to market the domain.
Exact Match Domains
Google has penalised exact match domains (EMD), but from a domain parking point of view it isn’t a problem. Parked domains won’t appear in an internet search anyway, so if the EMD looks like a good domain then pick it up!
Services you can use
In order to get adverts to appear on your site, you will need to use a domain parking service.
Most domain registrars such as GoDaddy and Sedo offer domain parking services.
There are also companies that solely focus on domain parking such as NameDrive and Redirect.
Redirect is actually quite an interesting one as instead of serving adverts, it geo-locates the visitor and redirects them to a targeted advertiser.
Problems with parking services
The main issue with parking services from your point of view is the inability of sending traffic to the domain.
It’s understandable why they would do this; after all it’s easy to send a ton of untargeted traffic at a domain which will increase any CPM (Cost Per Thousand) earnings.
As well as that the actual earnings per click for most services is mere cents.
How then can you increase earnings?
One option is to do your homework and choose the right service that provides the best rates.
Other than that you could always create a faux parked domain. This involves sticking up a basic web page with related adverts on it.
Of course this is more work to create and maintain, especially if you have hundreds of domains, but it does allow you to have a lot more control and to choose advertisers (or affiliate schemes) that have fewer rules in force.
Bottom line
Domain parking isn’t for everyone. There’s a level of investment required that most people balk at (easily $1,000 – $5,000 or more per year).
As well as that, finding domains that can generate traffic without SEO and therefore income is an ongoing project; especially as fads and trends change over time (how much traffic would Olympics2012.com get right now?).
That being said, if you are skillful in your selection as well as use a scatter shot method (it’s odd to use both of those at the same time but there you go), then there is a potential to make your costs back and then some.
Copywriting is by far the most lucrative form of writing there is. Aside from authoring a best-selling novel, your best bet for making money with writing and becoming a six-figure writer is to become adept at copywriting.
And it’s not just professional copywriters who copywrite. If you’ve ever written a letter to a friend inviting him to dinner, or if you’ve ever written your boss her asking for a raise, you’ve engaged in copywriting.
In a nutshell, copywriting attempts to exchange one object of value for another- and that object need not necessarily be money. The process of selling, which is what copywriting attempts to do, can involve physical objects, services or time. You can even sell people- consider how the profile pages of online dating sites are essentially sales pages for the advertised good (i.e., the person).
However, just because you know how to write doesn’t mean you know how to copywrite. That’s because copywriting follows a defined pattern of presentation and persuasion, and so the most talented copywriters often require years of training and on-the-job experience.
Luckily, you can quickly advance in the field of copywriting if you understand its principles and train with recognized leaders in the field.
Enter Ray Edwards, an accomplished copywriter with years of experience in the field of effective copywriting. Ray has recently launched Copywriting Academy, which promises to train novice and even advanced copywriters in the art of writing successful copy.
Ray had granted I’ve Tried That complimentary access to the program. I recently went through and reviewed Ray’s course, which is divided into eight lessons as well as additional bonuses and coaching calls. As an established copywriter myself, I still found Ray’s material to be educational and informative. I provide a synopsis of each of his lessons below.
Copywriting Academy- Writing Words that Sell
Module 1: The Quickstart
Lesson 1: Objectives for this Module
What is copywriting? Why is copywriting so important? How do you structure a sales message? These are the questions that Ray asks in this initial video. He also prepares you to write your first sales page- and one that’ll actually make you money from the get-go.
Lesson 2: Why is Copywriting so Important?
Selling is all around us, whether we’re aware of it or not. There’s always a sale taking place, whether it’s your kids trying to convince you to stay up later or your spouse convincing you to take a vacation at a particular destination. Even if no money changes hands, selling is everywhere.
Copywriting isn’t just about selling stuff; it’s about the art of persuasion. Writing to sell just takes the art of persuasion and puts it into words.
Lesson 3: How to Structure a Sales Message
Ray introduces the P.A.S.T.O.R. acronym, which stands for the following phases of creating a sales message:
P= Problem (identify the customer’s problem/pain)
A= Amplify (the consequences of not solving the problem)
S= Story (descriptor of how you came upon the problem’s solution)
T= Testimony (how your solution worked for others)
O= Offer (focus on the promised transformation, not deliverables)
R= Response (how to order or buy)
Ray also shows a worksheet that takes you through the process of creating a PASTOR sales page. He provides an example of how one might structure a sales page to sell a copywriting workshop.
Lesson 4: Structure a Sales Message
Ray provides a second example of how one might sell a smoothie recipe book using the PASTOR template. He starts with the problem, amplifies it, then provides the solution (the smoothie), and finally wraps up his second example with a way to sell this product.
Module 2: Irresistible Offers
Lesson 1: Session Objectives
‘Making an offer you can’t refuse’ is key to creating an offer that sells. What an offer really is, why offers are so important, and how to structure an offer are the key concepts that Ray presents.
Ray follows up with several examples of how accomplished copywriters created irresistible offers.
Lesson 2: The 9 Kinds of Offers
Ray introduces the advantages and disadvantages of the nine main types of sales offers. They are the following:
The hard offer (Here’s what we offer; buy now.)
The soft offer (e.g., Send no money now.)
The charter offer (first-time product is offered at special/reduced rate)
Limited supply offer (keep your word)
Limited time offer (again, keep your word)
Application offer (an elite offer where customers must first apply to obtain offer)
Payment plan offer (makes the high price more palatable)
One-time offer (often an up-sell or cross-sell)
Negative option offer (i.e., subscription plan and controversial)
Ray then discusses which offer to present to customers based on their level of awareness. There are four levels of awareness, and each one requires a different offer.
Lesson 3: The 6-Step System for Writing an Offer
There are six steps involved in writing an effective offer. They are Who, What, When, Where, Why and How.
Who: Who is your buyer, and who are you that you qualify to present this offer to your customer? What: What are you actually selling, and what will the product do for the customer? When: When will the copy run, and when will prospects be most likely to buy? Where: Where will prospects come from to your copy- from an email, webinar, etc.? Where will your copy live, and where will your product be located? Why: Why is this product a good fit for your customers? How: How will your product transform the lives of your customers? And how will they pay you?
Ray presents the three power moves for a stronger offers: Clear offer, clear copy, clear results. He also advises proofreading your copy by actually reading it out loud, and preferably, to another human being.
Lesson 4: Write Your Offer!
It’s homework time: Ray provides you with Your Powerful Offer Checklist in Pages format for Mac, PDF, and MS Word. Herein, you assess your offer and its transformational benefit, the awareness stage of your customer, and which offer you plan to use. Ray’s checklist also has you go through the 6-step system for writing an offer.
Before you become too intimidated by the homework, Ray fills out his own checklist using the example of debt reduction. He provides short and sweet fill-in-the-blank answers and shows you exactly how you might fill out this form.
Module 3: Persuasion Blueprint
Lesson 1: The PASTOR Framework
Ray goes into greater detail regarding the PASTOR framework introduced in Module 1. He discusses how every sellable item, even art, fashion or a vacation, solves a problem. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is introduced as the psychological basis of selling even “luxury” goods.
Ray also discusses how helping consumers avoid undesirable consequences can also be viewed as satisfying their needs.
Lesson 2: The Buyer’s Journey
Joseph Campbell’s “The Hero’s Journey” is used as the backdrop for explaining how a copywriter must create a universal story and temporarily suspend (customer) disbelief. Ray presents several examples of universal stories portraying a hero and his journey (e.g., Batman, The Lord of the Rings). One such hero is Luke Skywalker, who is helped by his wise guide, Yoda. Ray emphasizes that copywriters often envision themselves as the hero of their story; however, this is incorrect.
Obviously, if your customer views herself as the hero, she will more likely heed your wise advice and buy your product.
Ray offers all the stages of the buyer’s journey as a downloadable and printable poster in the members’ area.
Lesson 3: How PASTOR and The “Buyer’s Journey” Work Together
Ray describes how the PASTOR format and the Buyer’s Journey fit each other using this illustration:
Lesson 4: The Sales Copy Template
Ray presents his long-awaited sales copy template, which he states can be “used to sell a product where people aspire to an outcome that so far has escaped them.” Ray then spends roughly 15 minutes going over his template and filling it in with example copy.
This lesson concludes with homework wherein you are asked to go over this lesson a second time and fill in the template using your own copy for your own product. Ray also asks that you take a break (for a day, or even a week) and later re-write your copy in order to see it with a fresh eye.
Lesson 5: The Sales Copy Checklist
Before you head off to do your homework, Ray offers a 21-point checklist for you to use so that you don’t forget any critical features of your message. Here are just some of these points:
Module 4: Headlines and Subheads
Lesson 1: The Importance of Headlines and Subheads
Ray emphasizes that a good sales page has both effective headlines and subheads (sub-headlines). A good headline (and subhead) not only grabs the reader’s attention, it also gets him to read the next sentence. Good headlines are on target, emotional, novel, and unexpected.
Lesson 2: Different Kinds of Headlines and Subheads
Headlines introduce the overall topic of the copy, and the subheads stop the reader from getting lost in the copy by segmenting it. Ray advises keeping headlines short yet emotional, and to make sure they cultivate curiosity in the reader. He also notes that the best headlines seduce the reader and ask leading questions. Several different examples of excellent headlines are provided.
Lesson 3: 21 Proven Headline Templates
As advertised, Ray provides 21 different headline templates that you can take and run with while creating your own copy. Some example headline templates include the “How to,” the “Top 10 Reasons,” the “Amazing Secrets,” the “Which Mistakes,” and the “Hidden Truth” headlines.
Lesson 4: Cool Tools & One Ninja Trick
If you’re still at a loss about how to create good headlines, there are online tools to help you out. Ray first takes you to HubSpot’s Blog Topic Generator and shows you how to use it to generate “blog topicy” headline ideas.
Other headline generators include Portent’s Content Idea Generator. Ray also shows you how to locate magazine covers and adapt their headlines to your marketing purposes.
Homework for this lesson includes creating 100 headlines using the provided templates.
Module 5: Fascination Factor
Lesson 1: The Magnetic Selling Power of Persuasion Points
Persuasion points that compel people to buy your product are an absolute necessity in successful copywriting and are termed fascination factors by Ray. They also often appear as bullet point copy. Some example fascination factors include the following:
What never to eat on an airplane.
Should you give up your web page in exchange for a Facebook fan page?
The three items you should never include in a book proposal.
Lesson 2: Styles of Persuasion Points
In this lesson, Ray introduces three types of persuasion points, namely:
Blind persuasion fascination (completely hides the secret)
Giveaway fascination (gives the reader something that immediately helps)
Hybrid fascination (gives a partial explanation)
Lesson 3: 21 Persuasion Point Templates
If you’re lost on how to create your own “fascinations,” Ray has 21 templates that you can follow. This uses the same template approach as that seen for generating headlines in Module 4. Here is just one sample of Ray’s fascination templates:
Module 6: Resistance Removal
Lesson 1: The Importance of Guarantees
It’s not enough that you understand your customers, have fully illustrated your product and its benefits, generated powerful fascinations, and wrote magnetic headings and subheads.
No, it’s not enough if you don’t remove the buyer’s fears.
After all, it’s in the buyer’s best interest to not believe your claims and your story. The buyer risks losing his money, feeling hassled and/or stressed, looking foolish, etc.
How do you overcome fear in your buyer? By taking on as much of the risk as possible. This is the reason why X-day money-back guarantees exist.
However, Ray goes way beyond the basic money-back guarantee by describing his unique “Ray’s Way” 10-part guarantee and how you can implement it when selling your own goods and services.
Lesson 2: How to Transform a Weak Guarantee
Ray shows you, step-by-step, how to create a strong guarantee designed to close deals. Or, as he calls it:
Ray goes through an example of a very weak cosmetic dentistry guarantee and changes it into a very bold statement of confidence via “Ray’s Way” 10-part guarantee.
Lesson 3: How to Create “Tipping Point” Bonuses
Psychologically, tipping point bonuses exist to motivate people to buy. In Ray’s words, “Bonuses serve as hesitation busters.”
What makes a good bonus?
It’s related to the main product(s).
It makes the rest of the product easier (or even unnecessary).
Is valuable enough in its own right.
Module 7: Closing the Deal
Lesson 1: Closing Copy: What It Is and Is Not
The purpose of the close is to ask for the sale, obviously. Here is where you recap the offer, repeat why the customer needs to make the purchase, and to remind the customer of the guarantee and the bonuses. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, you want to obtain a yes or no answer.
You must also ask for the sale. This is very important and one of the biggest failures of a good majority of sales copy.
Lesson 2: Closing Templates
Ray presents five closing templates that help generate the final step of the process- the sale. Here is one such template:
Ray then assigns homework, asking that you draft your own closing copy for your already (and mostly complete) draft sales letter.
Module 8: Inbox Magic
Lesson 1: The Power of Email Copy
Email is not dead. In fact, email is still the #1 way to sell online.
Why does email work even in the era of social media and apps? Because it’s personal, it’s ever-present, and because it’s easy to use. Ray emphasizes that, even in today’s world of social media and mobile apps, there is no substitute for tried-and-tested email copy.
Lesson 2: 21 Keys to Emails that Sell
Ray goes over the 21 basics of email marketing, including obtaining subscriber permission when building a list, using a reputable email delivery service, giving people a reason to opt-in, and so on. These keys are intended as an introductory approach to selling via email and not being considered a spammer.
Lesson 3: Email Sequences for Maximum Sales
What sequence of emails should you send? Which sequences are the best? Ray introduces the 3 main types of email campaigns, including live campaign sequences (written as the event is happening), automated campaign sequences (sent via auto-responder), and general broadcasts (one-off emails sent to all).
Major differences between each email campaign are noted, and several resources are noted for additional information. Ray says it goes beyond the scope of this course to talk more about how each email campaign should be set up and run.
But wait…there are bonuses!
It wouldn’t be right if Ray didn’t offer some bonuses to Copywriting Academy members after talking at length about bonuses and how they can create a tipping point for a purchase. So, the following bonuses are offered, but they are by no means the only bonuses available in Copywriting Academy.
Bonus Module 1: The Six Figure Second Income
Ray spends over an hour going over how you can prepare yourself psychologically and otherwise for a career in copywriting. He summarizes the difficulties inherent in being a freelance copywriter and how to overcome them using Ray’s 7 pillars of success.
Bonus Module 2: License to Steal
Swipe files provide an easy-to-follow template for creating copy quickly and easily. Ray goes over how you can successfully implement swipe files to generate great copy. He also provides you with six of his own swipe files for your personal use and repurposing.
Bonus Module 3: Rapid Copywriting
Ray demonstrates how to perform rapid copywriting in real-time via the Dictate software using an example swipe file.
Bonus Module 4: The Ultimate Copy Templates
You are presented with a 200+ page “Ultimate Copywriting Templates Workbook,” which Ray was going to release on its own but decided to include as yet another bonus in the Copywriting Academy course.
Q&A Sessions
Ray provides at least 15 Q&A/coaching call recordings where members ask a range of questions, including the following:
Will the course cover how to get clients if we choose to do freelance work?
How can I improve my headlines/persuasion points (individual examples follow)?
How to know when your copy is good versus average or bad (by % response rate).
The most recent recorded coaching call was published last month, and I suspect that additional calls will be posted as they occur.
What I liked about Copywriting Academy
Several learning styles. The course is offered in several formats- audio, video, slides and transcript. In the video component of this course, you’re not stuck looking at Ray’s face the entire time (if ever); no, Ray provides notes and examples in his video files, which help you take effective notes.
Lots of real-world examples. Ray presents several examples from copywriters who nailed their sales letters and offers. These examples are explained in detail so you can easily imitate them, if need be.
Professional format. You won’t find any hastily edited video clips or transcripts filled with spelling/grammar errors here. No, Ray takes the time and makes the effort to create a professionally produced and presented set of lessons, bonuses, and coaching calls. Ray also presents his videos via a fluid, smooth and at times humorous voice.
Beyond the basics training. I’ve been copywriting for many years now, yet I still learned a lot of stuff from this course.
What I didn’t like about Copywriting Academy
One-off structure. The course goes into great detail about creating a sales page but not how to string a set of sales pages together to create an ongoing story. If you are running an email campaign, you need more than just one sales letter or email to get your customers to buy your product. Ray briefly touches on email sequences in his last module, but this subject matter needs a lot more material and examples.
Geared towards B2C selling. If you’re focused on business-to-business (B2B) and not business-to-consumer (B2C) copywriting, Copywriting Academy will not answer all your questions about creating effective copy. In fact, all the sales letters and other examples that Ray provides are only appropriate for B2C commerce. B2B commerce involves a longer sales cycle and the generation of technical reports, white papers, and customer testimonials as guarantees. B2B copywriting also takes a more objective to illustrating a product’s benefits and would rarely use personal stories or discuss feelings.
For the novice and even the advanced copywriter, Ray provides fresh and educational approaches to improving both the quality and speed of one’s copywriting process.
If you have ever had an idea for an invention, you’ve probably had an online encounter or three with Davison Inventions. This company has operated under several different names since 1989, including the following:
Davison Inventing Method
Davison & Associates Inc.
Davison Design and Development, Inc.
Manufacturer’s Support Services, Inc.
Davison International
Davison Innovations
What is Davison Inventions?
Davison is an inventor services company that advertises that it will help develop and market your invention idea to manufacturing companies for eventual distribution of the actualized product to stores. Davison provides a number of invention services, including patent research, patent filing, product development/design, manufacturer research, commercial/retailer match, and royalty negotiation.
Here is an example email I recently received from Davison:
If you go to the company’s website, you’ll find the following information displayed:
For an aspiring inventor who is struggling to get her product to market, Davison sounds like a good idea. The company offers to help with the invention patenting process, find manufacturers to create the product, and even negotiate with area stores to stock and sell the finalized product. Davison even features several videos highlighting inventors who turned their ideas into store products.
So, why would you not trust this company to help you realize your big idea?
The problem with Davison Inventions
Unfortunately, the company has been criticized numerous times by burnt inventors, who state that they paid thousands of dollars to work with Davison and saw nothing come of their collaboration. Online complaints include the following:
To be fair, Davison has faithfully replied to and addressed many of these online complaints. However, there are many upon many such complaints, and far more than would be normal for a standard invention help service. Searching online, one finds many scam and review sites listing complaints about Davison.
Back in 2006, the complaints reached a crisis level and the FTC became involved. The FTC case against Davison, as well as its resolution, is posted here.
My personal experience with Davison
A while back, I submitted a product idea of my own to Davison. The product in question was what I called a “Human-Powered TV.” This product converted energy generated by an exercising human into voltage that could be used to power a device such as a TV.
Davison emailed me immediately after I made my submission. Keep in mind that I had not yet paid any money to the company at this point in time.
I found it heartening that Davison had addressed its involvement with the FTC and had provided at least an acknowledgment of its many critics.
I replied to their email and emphasized my concern about paying thousands of dollars for services that might result in me getting no closer to a realized product than when I’d first begun putting my idea to paper. I also asked why Davison had hundreds of online complaints about its services.
Within a day, I received a rebuttal email that addressed some of my concerns. Here is an excerpt:
While this is a great rebuttal to some of my concerns, it doesn’t completely answer why there are so many complaints about Davison even on third party review sites. Shouldn’t such review sites be populated with all kinds of reviews- negative, neutral and positive?
I eventually had a phone call with one of Davison’s agents; however, at this point in time, I decided to ask other key questions. For starters, I asked which specific companies would be approached about my invention idea.
My Davison agent, to his credit, provided me with actual names of existing manufacturing companies. He did not say if these companies had been approached about my specific invention, however.
We then discussed whether Davison had ever blatantly refused to develop any invention idea. This topic came up because one of the criticisms about this company is that it will claim any and every invention idea has potential and is worthy of being marketed. I also asked how my invention had been deemed worthy of being developed.
Davison’s agent was more vague about answering this particular question, stating that it would be up to the manufacturers to decide.
The agent then gave me a ballpark figure for moving forward with my invention. I would need to pay $600 to initiate a patent search on my idea. Prototyping would run another $5K-$8K. There was also a “marketing package” that would require development and cost $1K-$2K.
I replied that I would “need to think about it” and the conversation ended there. I received a few more emails and voicemails from the Davison agent, but after a month had passed, they ended.
Why did I not pursue a collaboration with Davison?
Sloppy research
Davison presented me with a good pep talk for filing an invention patent and building a prototype. Everything sounded great until I happened to do an online search for human-powered devices, including TVs. Without too much effort, I quickly discovered that human-powered electronic devices had not only already been introduced, but even sold.
Had Davison chosen to do even five minutes on pre-research on my behalf, we would’ve known that my invention idea was a bust.
So, had I agreed to pay for a patent search, I would’ve already been out $600, and for information that was freely available through Google.
Numerous complaints
Although every company has its share of negative reviews, the many complaints against Davison are worrisome. Likewise, there are no review sites or former Davison clients providing positive reviews about this company.
There is also the FTC filed lawsuit to consider, wherein Davison was named as one of 11 companies involved in an invention scam.
High cost of commitment
Davison asks for several thousand dollars up-front for services that may or may not result in a marketable product- or even a product at all. Meanwhile, there are far cheaper ways to build your prototype, including using an area hackerspace. You might also fund your invention idea by using crowdsourcing sites like Kickstarter or submitting your idea to a business pitch contest.
Summary
While it’s challenging to call Davison Inventions an outright scam, there is enough evidence and negative customer feedback that you are well advised to be wary when dealing with this company. If you do plan to work with Davison, don’t invest any capital that you need for essentials like food, utilities or your mortgage. Finally, keep in mind that seeing any invention pay off is a gamble no matter who is handling the marketing and negotiations.
Work at Home EDU, or WAH EDU, starts out innocently enough, promising to teach you how to succeed in your “online business” through a “complete educational program.”
As you scroll down the WAH EDU sales page, you learn that you’ll be provided with 100 HD videos that teach you the “basics of an internet business.” You also get “general videos” about the internet marketing mindset, “basic videos” about linking strategy, and an introduction to the “fundamentals of an online business.”
The sales page notes that much of this information is ideally suited for those who are new to internet marketing and making money online. The sales page also mentions how the videos “cover more advanced techniques.”
At the very bottom of this form, you find a link to a checkout page. There, you are asked to pay $97 for 3 months of access to WAH EDU. Interestingly, the checkout page provides you with a 2-month satisfaction guarantee within your 3-month access subscription- however, you have just 30 days from the date of purchase to get a refund.
Why am I emphasizing how many times WAH EDU uses the terms “basic,” “general,” and so on?
Because it is my belief that WAH EDU provides you with a very generalized and dare I say, generic, education about how to make money online through Internet marketing. This education is available for free through other work-at-home and online marketing blogs and websites.
It’s also my belief that WAH EDU carefully crafts its sales page language to later market additional products to you as cross-sells and up-sells. It does this because it knows its basic information on Internet marketing will be insufficient to get you started at actually making money online.
WAH EDU: The tip of the scam iceberg
Here is the current iteration of the WAH EDU sales page, which incidentally looks a lot like the now defunct sales pages from WAH University, Online Home Careers University, and Work at Home EDU:
The copy used on this page is fairly generic and simply promises to train you in the basic of Internet marketing, whatever that is. The page eventually notes that advanced concepts will include items such as social media, social bookmarking, article and video marketing, SEO, PPC, and media buying.
You also get unlimited support by phone and email, and a free subscription to a newsletter.
All this looks fine until you start to do some digging into the history of this sales page, which has been online since at least May of 2011. Using an archive tool like Wayback Machine and digging into the history of WAH EDU, I found out that there is a lot more going on with this site than first meets the eye.
1. Questionable refund policy
The WAH EDU refund policy states that it has a “rock solid” refund policy of either 60 days or 30 days.
The policy also makes this one eyebrow-raising statement:
When a refund policy tells me that customer service is going to contact me for “any additional details,” that makes me a bit suspect- especially when the initial refund page states that it has a “No Questions Asked” guarantee.
If I use the Wayback Machine to elaborate on these discrepancies, I find out that earlier WAH EDU refund policies noted that the refund would occur only if the member had used the provided materials in accordance with certain WAH EDU policies and procedures.
That doesn’t sound like a Rock Solid money-back guarantee to me.
There are also these comments to think about, provided by WAH EDU members who wanted to get a refund:
2. Up-sells/cross-sells
WAH EDU’s current Terms & Conditions page gives a very vague statement about how or whether it plans to inundate you with other sales offers. The old T&C page from early 2015 shows the following script, however:
Going through online forums, past WAH EDU members ad the following to say about how much they really ended up paying for the program:
3. False news/spokespeople/testimonials
When you use the Wayback Machine to its full capacity, you can find links to pages that WAH EDU tried to rewrite and bury years ago- but never quite succeeded in doing so. These pages are filled with fake news and news videos, fake spokepeople that have their photos derived from stock image sites, and fake promises of big earnings.
For example, Michelle Robinson is touted as one of the satisfied customers of WAH EDU. Interestingly, this woman’s photo matches the photo provided for Bobbie Robinson of Work at Home Institute and Michelle Withrow of Work at Home EDU. The photo in question is derived from iStockphoto.
There is also a list of news sites that have supposedly featured this program:
However, this exact same sticker has been used on other scam work-at-home sites, including Work at Home EDU. As for the actual news, there is no way you can find it and the sticker itself has no link.
The fake promises of big earnings clearly conflict with the disclaimer areas of the site, which state the following:
Last but not least, WAH EDU has resorted to using “buy now!” sales tactics in order to hurry potential customers along in the sales process before they get a chance to consider their actual purchase:
The Bottom Line
WAH EDU is just another iteration of “work-at-home” sites such as Work at Home University, Work at Home EDU, Online Home Careers University, etc. The scammers operate out of Houston, at least according to the “support” phone number provided on the checkout page. However, that support line is merely a cover so that you call it and become inundated with cross-sell and up-sell products.
My advice is to steer clear of WAH EDU and its various other versions.
Work at Home Institute (WAHI) has been online since 2013 and makes a very bold claim: By following this program, you can quit your job and make a “sizable income” from home.
What exactly are you doing to make this sizable income?
From unemployed single mother to millionaire
First, you get to read about the rags-to-riches story of Bobbie Robinson, a single mother who worked “really hard” and got laid off. Luckily, her daughter pushed her to not give up, and “soon after the nightmare began, I discovered the internet.”
Following along with Bobbie’s story, we learn that she eventually met a man who worked from home. This man told her how he managed to work part-time yet make a comfortable living. Bobbie applied to whatever site this man was working for, and just three months later, “I now had an easy work at home job that required 4 hours or less per day.”Best of all, “I make millions per year…I am able to buy what I want, take long vacations, and give my daughter the life she always deserved…”
What is this amazing work at home job that makes Bobbie millions per year for part-time work?
The ‘big secret’ is link posting.
Apparently, big companies don’t have the resources to hire additional employees to post online links for them, so they contract the work out.
How does link posting make money for you? Here’s how WAHI explains it:
You log into your WAHI account and copy the link codes that are supplied to you.
You go to an area of your WAHI account where “customer records” are added and where you can post your copied links.
You fill out a “few simple details” and post your links.
You go see how much money you’re earning from your links.
WAHI’s sales page then shows you what a “typical account” would earn in a week:
As yet more “proof,” the WAHI sales page showcases Patricia Feeney, another work at home mother. WAHI also claims that this program has received national media attention.
However, when you listen to the minute long report, you hear nothing regarding the WAHI program. The video is also heavily edited and just introduces the generic concept of working from home.
Likewise, the WAHI tries to make it appear that it’s been the subject of major news networks such as these:
This is a common tactic used by many work-at-home opportunity sites to make you think that they are legit. However, the sites that actually have been featured on the news include an actual link or story to that news network. Within the WAHI sales page, you can’t click on the news network sites and have no way of verifying what exactly was reported.
So, why else am I skeptical of WAHI’s claims?
The customer photos are fake.
WAHI showcases photos of customers along the right hand side of the sales page, along with their glowing testimonials. Some examples include these customers:
However, when you do a Google image search of these individuals, you quickly learn that they are all stock photos.
The program availability is fake.
The WAHI sales page does what a lot of scam programs do when convincing you sign up- it creates fake program availability for your geographic area. Somehow, regardless of where you live or even if you input a fake zip code into the form, there are always just 3 positions left in your area:
These 3 positions never go down to zero, no matter how many times you refresh this page.
I should add that another programmed feature of this program is its instant price markdown when you try to leave the sales page. The program drops from $97 to $77, and then $47. This happens no matter how many times you leave the page or return to it.
Bobbie Robinson is fake.
The spokesperson for this program is portrayed on the sales page as a 20-something woman lying in front of her laptop. However, when you perform an image search on her, you learn that she also goes by the name of Michelle Withrow of Work at Home University and Stay at Home Revenue, among other work-at-home scams.
Oh, and the actual photo of Bobbie/Michelle? It’s actually a stock photo.
Link posting isn’t exactly how affiliates make money.
WAHI tries to convince you that you can make lots of money by posting a few links a day and collecting huge referral commissions when people click on and buy products via those links. While link posting is one way that affiliate marketers earn money, it’s just the tip of the iceberg. True affiliate marketing involves creating websites and filling them with valuable content, emailing subscribers, blogging, creating informational products, publishing product reviews, etc.
True affiliate marketing can make money, but it won’t happen just by posting links, like Bobbie claims.
WAHI offers no real people who back up their claims.
The WAHI contact area is a generic 877 phone number that leads to an outsourced customer service line. You have no way of contacting the actual creators of this program and, as already mentioned, the spokesperson herself is fake. Should you run into any challenges along the way with the WAHI program, you are out on your own.
The WAHI program offers very generic information on who might even be around to help you. Supposedly, after you sign up for the program, you are matched with an “Internet expert.” But why would you need an Internet expert and not someone proficient in affiliate marketing?
Also, you supposedly gain access to a WAHI members area called Startup Freedom Club. There is no mention of how many members are in this club and if any of the program’s creators help answer questions, etc. A club made up of members is fairly useless if all those members also have no idea how to get started and make money through affiliate marketing.
The Bottom Line
Our team has done hundreds of reviews over the past 10 years here at I’ve Tried That. When we review programs, we focus on looking at the three core components that are needed to build a successful business online:
The online presence you create: What presence is the program helping you build? Typically you are given a website, store front, or blog.
The training you’re being taught: What do you do once you have that presence and are you given step-by-step instructions on what to build?
The support you’re being offered: How well will the product creator assist you in building your business and is there a community to turn to for discussion?
If you want to truly succeed online, you need a combination of those 3 things.
Work at Home Institute does not hit any of the three. You aren’t building a meaningful presence, the training is deceitful & will never work, and there is absolutely no support or customer service being offered. This is nothing more than an attempt to grab as much money from you as possible.
Do not fall for this one.
If you are truly interested in learning how to build a real business online, let us help you get started. This site was founded in 2007 and we’ve helped millions of our visitors find their way online. Click here to learn more.
Do you have an eye for interior design and enjoy redecorating and/or rearranging rooms? Are you good with Photoshop or already use it to create new room designs and finishes? Then you may have what it takes to be an e-interior designer and operate your own interior design business from home.
Online interior design is a growing trend because it offers clients an economical approach to redecorating and refurbishing rooms. Instead of committing to someone for a full range of services that can run into tens of thousands of dollars, the client works with an online interior designer who provides a master plan that can be implemented slowly and as finances allow.
E-interior design is also more convenient because the client works with digital files and room suggestions and doesn’t travel to showrooms or supply stores. Many e-interior designers offer online suggestion boards for furniture pieces and color palettes, as well as purchasing lists from recommended suppliers. This enables the client to be actively involved in the selection process right from home- and so be more aware of how the money is being spent.
How to get started as an online interior designer.
Know the difference between interior designer vs. interior decorator.
If you already have a degree in interior design and are certified in the field, you can call yourself an interior designer and set up your business as such. If you do not have an actual degree, you will need to check your state or province licensing regulations. Currently, 27 states (including Puerto Rico and Washington, DC) and 7 provinces require a combination of education, experience and/or NCIDQ exam completion to use the title ‘interior designer.’
However, you can get around this regulation if you call yourself an interior decorator or an interior home staging expert. Interior decorators, as opposed to designers, can only decorate and beautify an interior space. They cannot change the room structure (e.g., by adding/removing a wall) or layout (e.g., drawing a floor plan). While interior designers often work with contractors and architects, interior decorators usually only work with clients and furnishings suppliers.
Incorporate your business and get licensed.
Before you start advertising your services and working with clients, find out whether your city or county requires a business license. If you plan on working with retailers and buying goods at wholesale for resale to clients, you’ll probably need a seller’s permit and a sales tax license.
Interior design and interior decoration are two types of businesses where you are best served by incorporating as an LLC at the very least. Doing so protects you from personal asset liability should you end up in court.
Finally, if you plan to employ people, you’ll need a federal employer identification number (EIN) too.
Obtain a PhotoShop license and set up your website with examples.
Now the fun begins! Purchase a yearly license to use Photoshop® 7 or later for creating design and decorational elements within residential, business, recreational and other spaces. You can learn to use this program by taking online courses through Lynda.com or by reading books like Photoshop for Interior Designers.
The PhotoShop program will take some time to learn and effectively use; however, because this will be your main tool for planning, drawing and showcasing client spaces, it’s a good idea to take the time to master it.
Once you feel somewhat proficient, use PhotoShop to generate some example spaces that you could see designing and/or redecorating. Consider the spaces you already know well or live in- how would you switch them up to be more modern, ergonomic, functional, or just different? All these examples can be uploaded to your website and used to catch the attention of potential clients.
Start small and advertise.
Unless you know someone who really likes your interior design or decorating work, it’s unlikely that you’ll land a contract right away. However, you can start advertising right away with your website, social media accounts, and even flyers posted around town. This way, you can reach just about anyone, from a college freshman moving into a dorm to a small business operating out of a leased building or office.
What can you advertise? How about a package deal complete with a table or board filled with possible furnishings, materials and decor, plus a product source list with items and prices? Add to that a color palette and fabric guide, top it off with a floor plan showing where the furniture and lighting would go, and you have a good start for anyone looking for design and/or decoration ideas.
Be sure to join organizations such as the International Interior Design Association and the American Society of Interior Designers. Having a network of members to converse with will help you find clients and scale up your online business much faster than going it alone.
Team up with area suppliers.
Being an online interior designer or interior decorator enables you to make money not only from your clients but from the suppliers that you will be promoting in your product source lists. Along these lines, you should contact those suppliers and negotiate your commission rates with the owners beforehand. After all, if you’re going to be acting as their salesperson, you should make a salesperson’s commission.
Because this is all happening online and your clients are probably going to order their furnishings online, you may wish to obtain referral codes in addition to standard commission rates for in-store purchases. You can then insert the codes into any product listings you provide.
Alternately, you might consider ordering the furnishings for your clients as part of your services; this not only lessens their workload, but it helps ensure that your suppliers know exactly who is promoting their products.
The Bottom Line
Interior design and interior decoration have gotten a bad rap in some circles due to their high costs and astronomical markups. Perhaps this is part of the reason why e-interior design and decoration have taken off. Because the services are more transparent, and the furnishings listings can be easily checked with what’s offered at area retailers, clients are less likely to experience “sticker shock” and can implement design and decoration changes as their budgets permit.
For the e-interior designer or decorator, this means that there are expanding opportunities to work with clients, including those clients that live in rural locations and/or don’t have large budgets.
By going online, you can reach out to various clients and work within their budget “comfort zones” to design/decorate anything from a studio apartment to a 50-room business building. These clients can slowly but surely become the backbone of your business through referrals to their friends and associates and through increased commission revenue from your vendors.
I love getting my daily Quora Digest newsletter because the emails are filled with answers to intriguing questions such as the following:
As you can see, Quora differentiates itself from Wikipedia because the questions and answers are a bit…unexpected. Maybe a bit on the weird or improper side.
Quora was the brainchild of a Faceboom ex-CTO and began its public life in June of 2010. The site operated fairly quietly until it happened to get its moment of fame from a mention in TechCrunch. While this information is self-reported by Quora itself and may or may not be true, the platform does get an estimated 1.5 million worldwide viewers each month.
What is Quora?
Quora is a knowledge center akin to Wikipedia and AskJeeves…except that it’s also a social platform akin to Facebook, Google+ and the old version of Helium. Users can ask questions via the platform, and other users can answer them. Good and informative answers are “Upvoted” and rise to the top of the site; some are even featured in the Quora Digest, a daily newsletter that is sent out to users.
In addition to upvotes, Quora enables downvotes, follows, shares and comments. In 2013, Quora enabled its users to become authors by adding a blog platform.
There is no anonymity on Quora, at least for its users. When you ask or answer a question, you are acknowledged online. Note the following answer submitted by Chris Elliott:
So, why is Quora a place that you, an affiliate (or other) marketer, should be taking advantage of? Because the platform offers several major opportunities that should not be overlooked. Here they are…
1. Authority
As an affiliate marketer, one of your major challenges is to establish yourself as an expert in your niche. You audience isn’t interested in someone who is a newbie.
That’s where Quora comes in. It’s fairly easy to become a Quora member- you simply provide your name, email and desired password on the site. You can also have Quora link to your Facebook, Google or Twitter account and import the information from there.
That done, you are provided with a profile page that can be filled out to include your bio, including your occupation, education, geographic residences over time, etc. You can also add your areas of expertise.
Based on the topics you select, you will be offered the opportunity to follow users in your niche. Quora will also have you personalize your news feed and go through several layers of specifying exactly which notifications you wish to receive.
Once your profile is complete, you can build your authority on Quora by searching for and answering questions within your niche. You might also want to blog about niche-related topics. As your answers are posted, users will either upvote, downvote, comment on or share the content.
Because each of your answers will feature your profile photo and bio, a good answer from you in your specific niche will build your authority and number of followers. If you post your affiliate website URL or other information on Quora, users will eventually go there for more information. Which leads to…
2. Traffic
Arguably, one of the biggest issues that affiliate marketers face is how to generate traffic to their blogs, websites and product pages. Using Quora, you can list your websites and affiliate pages directly inside your bio by editing it:
Doing so invites users to visit your sites to learn more about your niche topic and products- and about you.
Quora is also getting noticed by Google. When I performed the following query on Google, a Quora-generated answer came up as the second search result:
To encourage traffic streams to your Quora profile (and beyond), you can easily embellish your profile with a host of goodies including your linked social media accounts, blog posts, outside content and posts, and even repurposed articles.
However, the bread-and-butter of your traffic generation is going to be the in-depth and carefully researched answers that you post to questions presented within your niche. Overall, you should seek out those questions that have few or no answers posted yet. You’ll get more traffic from those answers simply because you’ll be one of the few ‘answerers’ on that page.
Try to seek out and answer fresh questions that have a lot of upvotes on them. Once you do, you can answer them and then link back to your own Quora blog or website for more information. After all, the end goal of generating all that traffic is to direct it back to you.
3. Content
Content generation is relatively easy for someone who has a fresh blog or website and a head full of great ideas. Six months down the road, those great ideas have been exhausted and the impetus to keep blogging is long dissipated.
That’s when Quora excels. Because the site enables you to input questions and have them pre-filled with suggestions (much like Google search) prior to the completion of your inquiry, you can obtain lots of content ideas.
To start generating content ideas from Quora, start typing a question that contains some targeted keywords into the search area of the site. Then, focus on finding related questions that are getting lots of upvotes and attention and use them as launch points for adding content to both your own website(s) and your Quora blog.
Here is an example search I performed by asking how to make a cup of coffee:
If I had a blog focused on coffee, there are several related questions here I could use as an article-generator.
Quora isn’t like its oft-compared-to cousin Wikipedia. Whereas the latter features objective, heavily edited and reviewed content, Quora maintains a first-person collection of personal anecdotes, opinions, jokes and even biases. As a result, the content you read is more likely to be a true representation of user (and your customer) sentiment.
It’s also much easier to become a Quora contributor than a Wikipedia contributor, and to use Quora to subtly promote your business.
The Bottom Line
Quora is an emerging player in the quality content landscape that also incorporates key aspects of a social media platform. Therefore, you should consider taking advantage of Quora for your marketing efforts. At the very least, you’ll learn some interesting facts and end up engaging with a community of niche experts who’ll give you additional ideas on how to grow your affiliate marketing efforts.
