Hi Ricardo! But I probably would have stumbled along, making the same mistakes, had I not come across your article. So thanks. This may not probably even rate 2 cents, but I want you to know that your article is well appreciated. It does indeed rate more than 2 cents. When people tell me they found an article helpful, then I know I'm on the right track and providing help - and that's what I'm here for. I wouldn't want to post things that aren't helping anyone, 'cause then I would be just posting to see my own writing. How silly that would be. So yes, your reply is helpful to me, too, just as mine was to you. : ) Linda

Thanks Linda, You make some strong points, some of which were addressed in Bev's River City threads. I still receive invitations that are mostly ads, but at least they are 'somewhat' directed toward my situation. Another problem is tha some of the inviters don't seem to crunch the figures, in other words, when I examine some of the financial claims put forth, the company is realy not that successful. Take an example I have been invited to; and I won't give the explicit name, of this health product company. Their company website gives figures for the number of distributors signed up, as an example a 100,000 already in a few short months. Then they give total sales, say approximately already 4 million.The product goes for about 20 dollars for each unit (I guess the affilaite's price). Now you crunch te numbers, and wow, that's only a 2 sales per representative average! This is a really hot product? Now of course some individual reps maybe haven't ordered yet, but the sales per affiliate is not high at all, as I have to assume some of the sales are for the affiliate to try try the product. And yet people are busy flogging this product like it's the next hot item(incidetally, I don't think the product itself is necessarily that bad, it's just a victim of overselling).

Hi Walter! You know what you just did, right? No? You pulled the soapbox out into the middle of the floor and patted it for me. I'll accept the invite - thank you! (laughing) But seriously, and kidding aside, you are SO right. Often times, the numbers don't add up. I've dabbled in the psychology of response since the late seventies. One thing I see is that a LOT of these companies have very clever people behind them. See, we humans do things based on emotion and justify with logic. So, they push all the right buttons, and people sign up in droves. But, the programs aren't always all that "hot" -- just the copy is. Another one that boggles my mind is autosurf programs. Let's say we have 100 people that are willing to "surf" 100 sites a day. They'll make a few dollars doing that. The person paying them now has 10,000 "clicks" for sale. Traffic -- a high demand product. Odds are, the surfers aren't going to shop from very many of the sites they surf at, because who can shop at 100 sites a day? Anyone with that kind of spending money isn't clicking links to make a living, right? The company that is willing to pay people to click links can only do that for one reason? They can sell the traffic for more than they pay people to visit. This is why I never buy paid traffic unless I know where the traffic is coming from. Most of it does not bring me 'real' traffic -- people that want to buy. It brings people that are clicking their required number of links to get paid to surf. It's absolutely amazing the number of ineffective things that thrive - at least for a while - on the Internet. Thing is, the best way to make money is the same way that has always been the best way. Sell something people want. Then promote like mad! Thanks for a great post! :) Linda

Hi Linda - good article - and very well written. Some things seem as plain as the nose on your face - once you've read them and you make good sense (what an old instructor of mine called uncommon sense) I tend to follow a similar idea, however, I'm probably a step behind you in as much as that I try and relate one on one to the poster in the forum, build up a dialogue and then make recommendations based upon their needs. Graham Hamer uses a techniue very similar to yours and being the contrary sort of person that I am I thought I could go one better. Now I've read the same message from somebody else albeit worded slightly differently it shows me to be the amatuer that I am :-) I hope that makes sense - it's early Sunday morning here and my brain isn't functioning as well as it should

Hi Mark! ..good article - and very well written. Thank you! : ) I tend to follow a similar idea, however, I'm probably a step behind you in as much as that I try and relate one on one to the poster in the forum, build up a dialogue and then make recommendations based upon their needs. Graham Hamer uses a techniue very similar to yours and being the contrary sort of person that I am I thought I could go one better. Now I've read the same message from somebody else albeit worded slightly differently it shows me to be the amatuer that I am... Do you want to hear something funny? There's really nothing theoretically wrong with your way of doing it, and back in about 1999, it worked like a charm. It's human nature to want to help people. For example, if a friend told me they have a horrible sinus headache, I'd tell them to try Tylenol Sinus because it works better than Contact C or many of the others. In the early days, people did that online, too. But, over time, as use of the Internet grew, it became obvious that many people were recommending things they'd never used themselves -- simply for the profit. People began to realize that when they take advice from someone that they don't "know and trust" in a public forum, it's more likely to be bad advice and profit driven than sincerely good advice. Slowly things shifted. Slowly, people began taking advice only from people they'd grown to trust. And that's why - especially today - it's so important to interact in a manner that is friendly and helpful, but without trying to make a sale too soon. Once people know and trust you, they'll check out what you "do" - and maybe take some recommendations for things you use and recommend. It's a tougher environment to sell in today in that way - but once we earn respect and trust, it starts to get a LOT easier. As for being an amateur - well heck, we are ALL amateurs, really. True wisdom starts to come the day we realize that no matter HOW much we learn, in one lifetime, there will always be more that we don't know than that which we do know. : ) Linda