A lot has been written about cyber crime these days, may it be the hacking of the communication of large corporations by foreign governments, the raiding of hacker server facilities, stolen identities, and so on. One of the biggest crimes in the Internet world, however, has not been identified as such for a simple reason: It is legal to scam unemployed or low-income residents and make them believe they can start their own Internet-based business.

It is legal, because they don’t miss to post a disclaimer that states: “Everything we promise you is a crock of lies, and if you fall for our scheme, go and blame yourself.” Well, of course, they use more sophisticated legalese like “The examples as presented in our advertisement have been modified to enhance the understanding of the potential of operating an Internet-based business The results are not representative for all of our customers.”

Let me say it again in different words: The concept of having a website raking the money into your checking account while you sit at your swimming pool, drinking your vodka martini (shaken, not stirred) does not work. If it sounds too good to be true, it most certainly is!

Now to the next question: How about those who just need a little contribution to their monthly income or social security check? How about a $100 per month? Isn’t that possible?

Yes, it is possible, but in order to make a small business (and that’s what it is, a small business) successful, you need to invest blood, sweat, tears, and time. A lot of time. That way you make maybe $100 per month after two years. In the meantime you make less, and you still pay monthly fees to run your website.

Let’s do a reality check: Have a look at this very website FrogenYozurt.Com. I have been working on this website for about four years, and it contains more than 5,500 pages, and I get about 28,000 unique visitors per month. It was a lot of work. But guess what, I still have a daytime job. On top of that, I lose money every month, because my advertisement income does not match my operational costs. And, believe me, I have tried all kinds of advertisement possibilities, and even Google ads are not what they used to be.

To stay with the truth, I am actually not losing money (but I still have a daytime job), and here is the “trick” to make money online: You need a product line. In my case, I am selling literature, and I use my website to promote my books. I started about eight years ago by writing technical literature. I do have a Masters degree in Electrical Engineering, and I put my special knowledge into these books. Over the years, I got in touch with writers all over the world who couldn’t find a publisher, and, more or less as a favor, I started publishing them. It will probable take another five to ten years before I can make this a full-time job.

And this is the lesson to be learned: There is no instant success when it comes to starting your own Internet business.

Of course, there are exceptions, for example, if you are the next Facebook-guy (Mark Zuckerberg), but, believe me, chances are slim. You have a chance for success if you are young and without the burden of a job and family, meaning you can spend all the time in a day. It helps if you have special skills, for instance, you can program video games. I have been there many years ago, but that was before the Internet/iPod/iPhone/iPad frenzy. I used to program a special Windows program that calculated electrical motors, and I made some good money then. But I also spend at least 12 hours per day, mostly more, to get there. These days, with a family, this is not possible anymore.

As I mentioned previously, in order to run an Internet business that actually produces income, you need a product or a service. On top of that, the product/service must be special, not mainstream, meaning you need to check out the competition. If there is too much competition, define where you are better than the competition (Pricing, uniqueness, etc.). If these parameters fail, look for something else.

In order to sell your product/service don’t count on the success of your own website. Creating a successful website is more work than running your own business. If you have a product, try to sell it through the big guys like Amazon (Google for Amazon Associate Program) or eBay (Check out their website for further information).

The next question, of course, is: How do I get a product line? And there will be no straight answer. Basically, you need to investigate your special skills or connections. Maybe, you know a business owner who needs an additional sales channel. Maybe, you have special crafting skills or you know somebody with special skills but lacks the marketing skills.

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Ordering Info

List Price: $2.99

Published: Dec. 06, 2011
Category: Non-Fiction » Business & Economics » Publishing business
Words: 10078 (approximate)
Language: English

• Amazon Kindle Store
• Smashwords.Com – Kindle, epub, PDF, RTF, LRF, Palm Doc
• Copperhill Media (Publisher) – PDF

About The Book

Wilfried Voss is the president and owner of Copperhill Media, a small literature publishing company. He has written and published several books on technical topics (e.g. A Comprehensible Guide to Controller Area Network). In addition, he is the editor of FrogenYozurt.Com, a website promoting the books, fiction and nonfiction, he publishes and sells. FrogenYozurt.Com is also equipped with an e-commerce system, i.e. an online store. Mr. Voss sells his books through online bookstores, mostly through Amazon.Com, but also through his own websites.

This book, Creating Income From Home – Self-Publishing Technical Literature, represents his knowledge of the self-publishing process, specifically the business side of it. He shares a great number of insider tips & tricks, nothing that cannot be found through extensive research, but his book will save the potential self-publisher a tremendous amount of time, and, after all, he shares his experience and does not hold back with down-to-earth comments on various publishing options. His focus is on supporting the self-publishing beginner with a small (or even non-existing) budget.

Topics include: Why Technical Literature? What Should I Write About? Do I Need An ISBN? Publishing eBooks, Publishing Printed Books, Obtaining An ISBN, ISBN Barcode, Cover & Book Creation Manuals, Add Your Book To Amazon.Com, Managing Shipping & Handling, Promotion, Create Your Own Website, Press Releases, Social Networks, e-commerce System, and more.

From the Author

I know there are many people out there who are unemployed and are desperately searching for a chance to create some extra income. Many of them fall for Internet scams promising them easy money, and they all lose their money. The basic equation still applies: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn’t true at all.

I wrote about these scams on my website, and I can proudly say that I saved a great number of people from being scammed. They were smart enough to search the Internet for more information, and that’s how they found me.

As much I wrote articles about these scams, I missed to provide the most-wanted information: how to actually make money online. I will try this now, but, again, be warned. Financial success comes only through hard work and it will take blood, sweat, tears, and time, time, time.

As an electrical engineer I am familiar with a number of technologies, including electrical motors and fieldbus networking, and back in 2005 I published my first technical book titled “A Comprehensible Guide to Controller Area Network,” and converted the business into a publishing company. Since then, I have written and published three more technical books and two novels. In addition, I publish a small group of authors from all over the world.

After I had finished writing my first technical book, I considered submitting it to a traditional publisher, but quickly dismissed the idea.

As a businessman I determined that I could sell my book at a better profit margin (30%) rather than receiving a low royalty per book (15% in the best case). Add to this situation that traditional publishers are extremely cautious when it comes to accepting new authors, and, most annoyingly, they work very, very slowly.

Honestly, I didn’t have the patience to wait for a year or two before I could start collecting royalties.

So, what I am proposing in this eBook (PDF) is to self-publish technical literature, and, after a necessary explanation of the ground rules, I will provide hands-on tips and tricks and real references that will enable you to create income from home.

And yes, I WILL Explain the concept of how you can make BIG money through a website, but be warned, the only way to get there is by developing a borderline criminal mind. Many businesses act that way, and they really make the BIG money – literally hundreds of thousands of dollars per year – through a number of cleverly designed scam websites.

I call it scam, but the perversity lies in the fact that their business is LEGAL, and American lawmakers, regardless of their political orientation, are absolutely helpless. On the other hand, I doubt that the majority of our lawmakers are even aware of the damage that is being inflicted on unsuspecting citizens, especially those who are unemployed.

Okay, let’s get to it…

Some Initial Investment Required

Yes, you need to follow the age-old business rule and invest money to make money. Nothing comes from nothing. Even Mark Zuckerberg, the Facebook guy, didn’t get where he is without investing – he’s not one of the bad guys, though. The method, I will describe in the following, will work with some minor investments. You can get away with $100 per year for your website service provider, but success will come faster if you think in terms of a few thousands of dollars. Don’t worry. Take a loan. And invest some time. You will need it.

The Website

Naturally, the basis for the business is a cleverly designed, flashy website, or, even better, a number of websites spread over several servers in different physical locations. You get there by signing up for several Internet providers (GoDaddy.Com, BlueHost.Com, etc.). You can even find non-US based providers, and you’ll get your .co.uk (Great Britain) and .ca (Canada) URLs. Of course, you link all websites to each other, and thus gain those valuable hyperlinks that search engines love so much.

Finding and installing that flashy design shouldn’t post a problem. You use the right software to create a website within a few hours. Make sure, the website has a white background, and lot of red and blue elements, a color combination proven to receive the most attention.

The Catch

In order to make this business scheme work, you will need a ”product” that your customers will buy, and, ideally, that product should be in electronic format, for instance, a book in PDF format titled “How To Make BIG Money Through Your Website.” (I’m sure, with the criminal mind developing, you can come up with much more appealing titles.) Electronic products are immediately available to the customer after the credit card charges are approved, and you don’t need to worry about shipping and handling.

You can write that book yourself by copying, pasting, and re-wording articles from the Internet, or you hire someone to do it for you. Check out the multiple freelance websites, where people from India, Bangladesh, and other countries work for less than minimum wages (Sorry, no discrimination meant; it’s just a sad fact).

Or to increase the level of greediness, have the book printed and publish it on Amazon.Com (adds to your reputation), but offer it for free through your website. Charge an S&H fee of $16.58 and ship the book per media mail; you’ll make an average $10 profit per book.

How To Make BIG Money Through Your Website

We all have a computer and a fast Internet connection. So why not use the incredible power of the Internet and create revenue?

All it takes is a small investment of less than 50 Dollars! I will show you the guaranteed path to riches!

Dr. Helmut Ziegler
CEO and owner of Ziegler Investment GmbH in Bern, Switzerland 

Note: The above photo was purchased for the amount of $2.99 from Bigstockphoto.com. The name of “Dr. Helmut Ziegler” and his business are the product of my vivid fantasy (I write novels in my copious spare time).

Testimonies

Work At Home Mom Makes $6,397/Month Part-Time

Online News 6 Investigates…

Have You Ever Thought About Working Online?

Kelly Richards of Grand Fenwick, MA never thought she would have a job working at home until one day she filled out a simple form online. Before she knew it, she discovered her secret to beating the recession, and being able to provide for her family while at home with her two children.

I read Kelly’s blog last month and decided to feature her story in our local job report. In our phone interview she told me her amazing story. “I actually make about $5,000-$7,000 a month using Google. It is enough to comfortably replace my old job’s income, especially considering I only work about 10-15 hours a week from home.” [Read the full article...]

Note: The photo above was purchased for the amount of $2.99 from Bigstockphoto.com. The name Kelly Richards and the description that comes with it has been copied from another scam website.

Leave A Comment

Thanks to Dr. Ziegler’s book I made $4,328 in the first six weeks!
– Jeff Wollybug, Pennsylvania

I can’t believe my luck! I was unemployed for six years, and just yesterday I bought a big mansion at Virginia Beach!
- Loretta Wainwright, Nova Scotia

With the money I made through Dr. Ziegler’s method we could finally afford my husband’s bypass surgery. That money was literally a life saver!
- Dorothy Parton,  Southern California

Comments Closed.
Sorry! Due to overwhelming posting of positive feedback we are unable to keep up with all comments.

Note: Yeah, yeah, all comments are a product of my greedy mind.

Promotion

Promotion, of course, requires money. Either you have it as part of your initial budget or you use the money you earned. Promote your product on websites like The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, Facebook, and others as demonstrated here:

How To Make BIG Money Through Your Website

We all have a computer and a fast Internet connection. So why not use the incredible power of the Internet and create revenue?

All it takes is a small investment of less than 50 Dollars! I will show you the guaranteed path to riches!

Privacy Policy

Yes, a privacy policy page on your website is mandatory to reflect a “well-mannered” business behavior. Really, it adds to your “reputation.” Just copy and paste the policy from one of the big websites like Amazon.Com, eBay, or others.

Return Policy

This is the tricky part. Yes, a return policy could possibly damage your profit. On the other hand, you need it for legal reasons, and it boosts customer confidence. I am sure, with a greedy/criminal mind you can come up with terms & conditions that are virtually impossible to accomplish by the customer. Most scam websites post 1-800 phone lines that nobody answers. At the same time they require your phone call within seven days after the product was shipped (shipped; NOT received).

Disclaimer

Here we get to the part that makes the whole business scheme legal – besides the fact that you are selling a legitimate product.

Disclaimer:

The person of Dr. Ziegler does not exist, and his comments were created for marketing purposes. All customer testimonies have been enhanced for marketing purposes to reflect the potential of our product without any guarantee that the product will provide the results as promised. In general, every information on this website is a piece of crap, and if you buy our product, go blame yourself.

The good thing is that the vast majority of your website visitors will not read the disclaimer. For those who do read it, make sure you use ample legal blabbering.

Last, but not least (and this one, please take seriously):

While based on facts, the content of this article “How To Make BIG Money Through Your Website” is not a business advice. It is of a satirical nature based on the writers’ personal views and should not be taken seriously.

Click Image to Enlarge

The Scam Continues

Kelly Richards has miraculously transformed into Stephanie Albion. She, too, is a work at home mom making a tremendous income per month and working only part time.

If you have doubts, please have a look at my post The Scam: Work At Home Mom Makes $6,397/Month Part-Time, and specifically have a look at the 125 comments (as of today) by people who have been scammed. Hundreds of thousands of Americans, but also people in other English speaking countries, have lost their money to these scammers. They claim to charge only a small amount for their service, usually in the range of $2.95. However, if you read the terms and conditions you will find that you will be charged larger amounts ($39 in some cases, but usually more) on a monthly basis.

The claim is that you can cancel the service within seven days, but that is a lie as well. It will be impossible to get your money back, and in most cases people had no other choice but to cancel their credit cards.

Warning! If you signed up for this or a similar service, get in touch with your credit card company and report a fraud. If they refuse to help you, cancel your card immediately!

For more information on how to get your money back, see my post Scam Victims – Contact The Federal Trade Commission.

The Washington Post Supports Scammers

Scam Ads as seen on Washington Post online

My daily morning routine includes reading online newspapers, including the Washington Post. When done reading the articles I scan for these dubious ads (See picture above) promising you income by working from home, selling you iPads for only $13.58, and more of this utter nonsense. Basically, I do like the Washington Post, and that is the reason why I click on these ads. First, the click is charged to the scammers, and it creates income for the Washington Post.

If you see similar scammer ads here on this website (look to the right side of this page), click on them! Google, as well as the Washington Post, does not have any scruples of allowing scam in their advertisement system. In turn, I don’t have any influence on the ads provided by Google.

Clicking on the ads will create some income for me, but, most importantly, it will be charged to the scammers. So, you are doing a good deed.

The biggest problem is that there are no legal means to stop the scammers. If you read their website content carefully you will find that they disclose that their advertisement is not based on real success cases. The ads represent success stories that “could happen.” In layman’s terms, everything you see on their website is a lie. The law doesn’t help you, it you sign up for their services, because they admit that their system is not working. Signing up under these circumstances is your responsibility alone, and nobody can help you after the fact.

As harsh as it sounds, but that’s the simple truth.

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Sounds too good to be true? Well, according to Robert G. Allen  you can get rich easily by following his advice and “generate a lifetime of unlimited wealth.”

“Learn ten revolutionary NEW methods for generating over $100,000 a year – on a part-time basis, working from your home, and using little or none of your own money!”

Source: http://www.robertgallen.com

My opinion on this scheme is:

It takes two to make Robert G. Allen a rich man: A relentless businessman like Robert G. Allen and the fool who falls for his scheme!

I checked out Richard G. Allen’s website after one of my readers posted a question on my blog, asking whether or not the Robert G. Allen system works. At first look, the website’s structure bares all characteristics you find on a typical scammer website: Motivational slogans, a ton of “free” (but utterly worthless) giveaways, plus the dialog box that pops up when you try to leave his website (you need to click on a button before the window closes; if you click “Cancel” you get a “special offer.”).

All the free newsletters, free special reports, free webinars, etc. are posted for only one purpose: Collecting data, i.e. customer information, to promote his books and paid services. In layman’s terms, when you sign up for any of the freebies they probably will pester you with a constant stream of e-mails, maybe even printed brochures.

Creating a database of potential customers through a website is a standard business tool, and Robert G. Allen – in the same way that scammers work – uses this method very aggressively, proving the point that you can get rich through the Internet by applying dubious business methods. Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that Robert G. Allen is a scammer; I just find his business ethics extremely despicable. It is easy to write books about getting-rich-systems by applying a basic business sense. You choose real estate, stock market investments, or the ever popular Internet scheme. You take some time to develop a catchy book title. You invest some money in editing the book, and post it on Amazon. Success is guaranteed, because too many people are too easy to fool. (Now that I am describing Robert G. Allen’s system, I am thinking I should be able to apply the same method. As a publisher I do have the means.)

If it sounds too goods to be true, it probably isn’t.

Let’s apply some common sense: Getting rich on a part-time basis, working from your home, and using little or none of your own money sounds too good to be true. First, you will need to pay Robert G. Allen for his advice – so what about “using little or none of your money”? The free book download is a joke, because, while the web page suggests you will receive a book in electronic format, all you get is an audio file filled with motivational blubbering. Yes, you can get a hardcopy if you submit your full mailing address. The question is, what are they going to send you? A tape? A CD?

What does “little” money mean when you deal with real estate foreclosures, trading stock options, tax liens certificates, etc.?

The truth is, in order to be successful and create substantial income, you need a keen business sense, and you need to invest major money, blood, sweat, tears, and time. It took Robert G. Allen 30 years to get where he is now. Getting rich the fast way is reserved for the few that produce extraordinary ideas (Think Mark Zuckerberg, co-founder and CEO of Facebook). If you think you possess a keen business sense, and you are willing to invest major money, blood, sweat, tears, and time, you will find success eventually without paying Robert G. Allen. A business attitude at the borderline to a criminal mind will definitely increase your chances to become rich.

Last, but not least, I know there are a lot of people out there trying to make a living. Let me know what you think by leaving a comment below. I’d like to know what you think, whether you agree with me or not.

Note: The views expressed on this post represent my very personal opinions, and they are not necessarily shared by others; neither are they representative for the general public.

Supplement July 6, 2010:

Robert G Allen, Grants, and a Credit Card Slimeball

From the Strangely Perfect Blog:

This is a small investigation into mail lists and scammy companies.  Some companies are fine, but I always go by the adage to judge a man by the company he keeps.  This shows how lists spread far beyond their initial purpose when you sign up for something.  It also shows how the privacy policies of these marketting websites are just words wrapped in fluff.

Robert G Allen runs ‘courses’ and is highly public in his utterances. Here you’ll find the chubby faced entrepreneur open and engaging, and in common with all such sites, remarkably thin in actual methods used despite the vast amount of time extolling their virtues.  They will always say it’s “to protect our secrets” etc.

Read more…

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by Lorelei Bell Sabrina Strong is a Touch Clairvoyant who knows a secret. She knows her mother was turned into a vampire when Sabrina was ten. Now that she is grown up, a powerful magnate in the Chicago business world hires her to reveal the identity of who relentlessly murders vampires in his ultra-modern stronghold of a hotel. [Read More...] – Including an excerpt of the first chapter.

Vampire Ascending is now available at Amazon.Com, Amazon.co.uk, Barnes & Noble, and any other good bookstore.

It is amazing how many websites you find these days promising you heaven on earth. Let me say it again: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn’t!

Fast Net Learning is offered by the same company who operates the Web Profit Club, another scammer service. To put it in a nut-shell, Fast Net Learning “teaches” you how to start a web site and run Google Ads on them. There is nothing sophisticated about this; this is common knowledge in the Internet world, and you don’t need to pay to run Google Ads.

If you sign up with Fast Net Learning you will spend money for a useless service. For more information see also my posts on making money from home. The whole Internet scam business started with a fictitious Kelly Richards and articles written about her such as “Work At Home Mom Makes $6,397/Month Part-Time” (If you still need more convincing, have a look at the comments below the article). A great number of people, not only within the United States, but all around the world, have already been scammed and lost their money!

My Advice:

1. Visit a good bookstore (Barnes & Noble has a good selection) and look for “Google Adsense for Dummies” (no insult meant; I love the Dummies series!). Also, look for books on running your own website or blog (FrogenYozurt.com is a blog). This is a one-time investment!
2. In order to run your own website sign up for an Internet Service Provider (ISP) such as GoDaddy.com, BlueHost.Com, or others (FrogenYozurt.Com is hosted by BlueHost).
3. Read my article Does The Google Adsense Get-Rich-System Work?

A Few Comments:

• I checked out the FastNetLearning.com website, and under FAQ I found: “…most people make at least an average of $369 dollars per day…” – Well, call me picky, but if this was a professional service such typos wouldn’t happen. This is probably a one-man operation, and the guy is busy creating websites (which also proves that you can make money through the Internet).
• On the Privacy page, which contains the same wording as the Web Profit Club website, I found: “We can be reached via e-mail at privacy@fastnetlearning.com or you can reach us by telephone at …” – No phone number was listed; the sentence ends without a period.
• The Terms & Conditions page (again, the same content as under the Web Profit Club) is set up in an amateurish way, and they might not hold up in court. I assume, the guy just copied a standard text he found somewhere and modified items like company name and address.
• On the same page it shows “emailing our cancellation department cancel@webprofitcoach.com” which indicates they are running yet another website called WebProfitCoach.com.
• When you switch to the page to “Join Now,” you don’t sign up for the Fast Net Learning program, but rather for the Web Profit Coach.
• Under Terms & Conditions the company’s name is listed as “Media Hub LLC” while under the “Join Now” page it is “Cool Serve Corp.” On all other pages on the website the company name is FastNetLearing.com, LLC (Note the “Learing” instead of “Learning”).
• When it comes to support they give you a phone number and an e-mail address, support@fastnetlearning.com. Be aware that creating such an e-mail address is an easy task for an expert, and it doesn’t necessarily mean that there is a whole support department at work.
• I dialed the phone number as listed on their website, and I got the message, “The number you have dialed is not in service…” – I tried several times, making sure I didn’t dial the wrong number.

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Vampire Ascending

by Lorelei Bell Sabrina Strong is a Touch Clairvoyant who knows a secret. She knows her mother was turned into a vampire when Sabrina was ten. Now that she is grown up, a powerful magnate in the Chicago business world hires her to reveal the identity of who relentlessly murders vampires in his ultra-modern stronghold of a hotel. [Read More...] – Including an excerpt of the first chapter.

Vampire Ascending is now available at Amazon.Com, Amazon.co.uk, Barnes & Noble, and any other good bookstore.

Click Image to Enlarge

It is a well-known fact that today’s traditional newspapers are struggling financially due to decreasing subscriptions caused by freely available information on the Internet. One of these newspapers is The Washington Post with their online version at washingtonpost.com.

There are many ways of creating additional revenues through the Internet and the most obvious one is online advertisement. I personally believe that the hype regarding online advertisement, made so famous by Google, is reaching the point of exhaustion, meaning less people feel inclined following ads on their browser windows. The reasons may that they are getting tired of the ads plus the increasing number of scams. Add to this the current economically fragile situation. To make things worse, many businesses discover they spent too much money without noticing any sufficient impact on their sales. After all, everybody does the same thing, and competition is tough, which increases the costs per click – That’s just how Google works.

So, what is a reputable publication like The Washington Post to do to attract more advertisers? The answer is easy: You lower your standards of what you allow as advertisement, even if it means supporting the greatest online scam these days, the Google Profit Library, which has now transformed into the Web Profit Club.

In the past I had posted articles such as The Scam: Work At Home Mom Makes $6,397/Month Part-Time, WashingtonPost.Com – Unwillingly Supporting A Scam?, and washingtonpost.com – Structure Of The Misleading Ads. Until then I was convinced the online version of The Washington Post at washingtonpost.com was an unwilling supporter of scam advertisement. After all, the ads were placed through a third party, pulse360, in my personal opinion the largest provider of fake content links in the online business. Striking a deal between The Washington Post and pulse360 seemed to be a smart business move at the time, but it seems that deal is off now. At least lately I hadn’t seen any more ads by pulse360 on washingtonpost.com.

Maybe, I thought, The Washington Post had come to its senses and realized these ads defrauded a great number of unsuspecting Americans. Well, I was wrong. It is worse than it was before. The Washington Post is now placing scam advertisement through their own advertising service. As they say, sometimes what’s right is not as important than what’s profitable.

The screen shot  as shown in the upper left corner, was taken today from an article in the Washington Post‘s online version (Just in case I violated copyrights, and you are an official representative of the Washington Post, let me know, and I will remove any references that violate your copyright). The three advertisements in the box above seem valid at first look, and I believe that two of them are. The second ad, though, is definitely a scam (See also my post Work At Home: Make $7,300 to $9,500 a Month which explains the scam).

Out of curiosity I clicked on the Buy a link here hyperlink to see who The Washington Post was using as an advertisement service. My browser opened a new window displaying the following content:

Click on Image to Enlarge

Supplement April 21, 2010

Today’s online version of The Washington Post revealed the miraculous reappearance of Kelly Richards. According to the “LA Sentinel” (yet another fake newspaper/website) she now creates her phantastic income in Los Angeles.

And yet another miracle occurred! Kelly Richards can change appearances – look at the two photos in the “LA Sentinel” below. On a side note: Michelle Richardson in turn now looks like the original Kelly Richards. Are we now sufficiently confused? I am yet again flabbergasted that people still fall for this, and don’t realize that this is a scam.

Kelly Richards Ad in the Washington Post online version - Click to Enlarge

LA Sentinel - Fake Newspaper/Website - Click to Enlarge

As always, please feel free to leave a comment (see bottom of this post), whether you agree with me or not.

Advertisement

Vampire Ascending

by Lorelei Bell Sabrina Strong is a Touch Clairvoyant who knows a secret. She knows her mother was turned into a vampire when Sabrina was ten. Now that she is grown up, a powerful magnate in the Chicago business world hires her to reveal the identity of who relentlessly murders vampires in his ultra-modern stronghold of a hotel. [Read More...] – Including an excerpt of the first chapter.

Vampire Ascending is now available at Amazon.Com, Amazon.co.uk, Barnes & Noble, and any other good bookstore.

There is a multitude of websites available that offer opportunities for making money from home by writing articles, and Demand Studios is one of the businesses offering such a service (Sorry, I refuse to offer a hyperlink to any of the websites I mention in this post). The question is, is the Demand Studios service a scam?

My take is, no, it is not a scam, but what they promise through their advertisement is misleading to say it in the least. The truth is, the majority of their writers don’t even make enough money to pay the monthly grocery bill (I got this piece of information through my favorite most useless magazine Writer’s Digest.)

The way it works with Demand Studios is that you first need to pass their approval process. In my very personal opinion, I don’t believe they put great efforts into the process, meaning they will accept pretty much everybody who is skilled enough to apply a spell-checker to their writings. In other words, the approval process is more or less a formality. Once approved, a writer can pick up to ten articles per day, which are required to be a few hundred words long, and Demand Studios pays between $5 and $20 for each article.

Doesn’t sound bad, doesn’t it? You’ll pick ten articles per day, you make at least $50 per day, and your monthly income could exceed $1,500 easily. Well… Wrong!

Reality Check:

Demand Studios claims they have sufficient articles for your special niche, may it be politics, environmental topics, history, and all the wonderful stories that will help improve a writer’s reputation. In reality the majority of articles are in the nature of “How to…”, meaning you can write about repairing dish-washers, changing the spark-plugs on a John Deere lawnmower, and more of the same nature.

Okay, let’s assume you are willing and have the talent to write about pretty much everything. The next reality check is about time. How long will it take you to write an article? The way it works is that you receive the topic and some references (usually hyperlinks). You familiarize yourself with the subject, and then write something intelligent about it. If you are skilled (after all, if you do this for a while, you get better at it), you can write an article in less than an hour. Be aware, copying and pasting is not necessarily an accepted method. So, forget about a part-time job!

Next reality check: Consider the competition! If, after all, you are willing and able to put in the time it takes, there is no guarantee that Demand Studios can provide you ten articles per day. I don’t have an exact number of how many “authors” work for Demand Studios, but it is safe to assume there are many of them, probably thousands. I seriously doubt that Demand Studios is able to assign as much as ten articles per day to each of its authors.

I will not advice against Demand Studios when it come to creating income through writing, but I strongly recommend checking out further similar services to produce additional opportunities for income. As a fair warning, it is mandatory to apply some intense research before signing up with another service. There are too many sharks out there, who will charge you for signing up, and in the end they don’t have any work for you.

Demand Studios’ Semi-Scam Status:

It is an established fact that Demand Studios is “hiring” writers to produce articles for its clients. In the same sense, Demand Studios is hiring writers to write wonderful stories about… Demand Studios! Through my research I found numerous websites – mostly blogs – that had only wonderful things to say about Demand Studios. And they all assure the reader, “No, Demand Studios’ service is not a scam!” All this comes in a tone, like “You work only part-time while sipping drinks at your swimming pool, and your money just flows into your checking account.” It boggles the mind that people still fall for obvious crap like this.

Let me just point to a few, very obvious examples.

This screen shot was made from the LootSwoop website. They display a vast list of “legitimate stay-at-home online jobs.” My advice is to stay away from that website, unless you are in the business of giving away your money. Their website if full of links to scammers of the worst kind. I found LoopSwoop through my research regarding Demand Studios, i.e. I found an article on their web site praising the Demand Studios services. The same article also included hyperlinks to yet another dubious business, FreelanceHomeWriters. Demand Studios may not be responsible for content on the LootSwoops website, although I cannot say that with all certainty. I believe, that Demand Studios, in the least, paid for the article. Whatever the connection is, the fact remains that Demand Studios is not shy to use any questionable resource to promote their business.

As I mentioned previously, one of the links on LootSwoop pointed to FreelanceHomeWriters. I was not afraid signing up on their single-page website. After all, you can pretty much enter any e-mail address you like. A single home page with absolutely no links to other pages and no more detailed information about their services was the first red flag. It turns out, in order to finish the sign-up process they ask you for your credit card information. The charge is supposed to be only $2.95. Fool, if you think that may be the only charge. This scheme looks like the one used by the so-called Google Profit Library. Initially, they charge a small amount, but at the same time you sign up for an additional $140 service. You can cancel the service per phone within three days, but what good is it when nobody answers the phone?

This last example is a good one! They also promote the Demand Studios business, and they call themselves DemandStudioSecret. They will sell you a “121 page book that encompasses every aspect of Demand Studios from applying to writing to consistently making big money. It costs just $19.99, which is what you could make in less than an hour with Demand Studios.”

And yes, this is yet another great example on how make money through the Internet. You familiarize yourself with a very popular topic and sell your findings as a PDF file.

As always, I do invite comments, may they be in favor of my writing or not. However, with a tricky subject like Demand Studios at hand I do reserve the right to monitor responses and delete them if I suspect foul play.

Supplement – March 18, 2010

Recent Comments:
There was a comment by a writer who makes some good income through Demand Studios. Apparently I was wrong about the number of available articles – I just posted my own experience with Demand Studios. The commenter had a few things more to say that I still do not agree with. Please read the comments following this entry to get the whole picture.

Another View On Content Mills:
Content Mills is the term used for businesses such as Demand Studios. Let me quote Angela Hoy  of WritersWeekly who responded to a writer complaining about the content mill he worked for: “You are working for a content mill, also known as a writer’s sweatshop. You are likely earning far less than minimum wage. You’d probably make more money working at a fast food joint. Also, working for a firm like this enables them to stay in business, and to victimize other writers as well. You, my friend, are part of the problem.”

She also points out: “At WritersWeekly.com, we post real jobs and paying markets for free every Wednesday. Remember, nobody is forcing you to work for less than minimum wage. You put yourself in that position.”

See the full article at http://www.writersweekly.com/ask_the_expert/005939_03172010.html.

Supplement – March 21, 2010

Just in case I am yet again being abused of superficial research:

“We have been profiling content mills and companies that have revenue sharing / pay-per-click programs. You know the type. They either offer insultingly low rates for articles (and often take all rights)…or you work your butt off to fill their site with content, and promote their site to get lots of clicks and/or ad revenue. They then earn money on ads placed on your content pages and you usually end up earning less than minimum wage, if anything at all.”
Reference: WritersWeekly.com

“Content aggregators like Demand Studios represent the lowest rung of freelance opportunity. It doesn’t take a lot of journalism training, writing experience or time to put together the kind of evergreen how-to articles these types of sites thrive on, which is one reason why the pay’s so low. Another has to do with supply and demand. When there’s a large supply of writers, professional or otherwise, willing and able to do the work, sites like Demand Studios don’t have to offer higher rates to attract the labor they need.”
Reference: WordCount

“Thousands of other filmmakers and writers around the country are operating with the same loose standards, racing to produce the 4,000 videos and articles that Demand Media publishes every day. The company’s ambitions are so enormous as to be almost surreal: to predict any question anyone might ask and generate an answer that will show up at the top of Google’s search results. To get there, Demand is using an army of Muñoz- Donosos to feverishly crank out articles and videos. They shoot slapdash instructional videos with titles like “How To Draw a Greek Helmet” and “Dog Whistle Training Techniques.” They write guides about lunch meat safety and nonprofit administration. They pump out an endless stream of bulleted lists and tutorials about the most esoteric of subjects.”
Reference:  Wired

Supplement – April 13, 2010

Today I received the following message through my contact form (contact’s name removed) :

“I’m wondering if there is some bias in your writing about online writing sites such as Demand Studios. I noticed that you are a businessman in the industry and I understand how a new paradigm of a business model is sometimes rejected outright by the traditional industry. I am a new online writer and have been writing for a few sites and I’m not making much now but I have emailed many other authors on some of these sites and they seem to be honest about how much they make doing this. They all say that it is hard work until you’re established but over time they seem to be making a decent living. I am researching both sides and I am interested how much research you have done in the online market.”

My answer:

“I have been going back and forth about whether or not I should answer you, but, after all, I deem it polite to answer everybody who contacts me. In your message you accuse me of being biased, outright rejecting new business models, and lack of research. I don’t expect anybody to agree with me, but I do expect a certain level of professionalism. I wish you good luck with your research.”

Yet again, please feel free to contact me or leaving a response to this entry (see entry form below), whether you agree with me or not. A polite and professional tone is appreciated.

Supplement – May 5, 2010

As always, it is recommended reading Angela Hoy’s newsletter – See WritersWeekly.com – Content Mill Complaints.

Just a brief excerpt: “I just signed up to write for (a content mill). I increased my writing skills over the past year and felt confident about working for them. I wrote one article. It was accepted the same day. Then I wrote another and was asked to rewrite. The whole article took me about three hours with research the first time. I rewrote it and sent it back. It was rejected, saying that my writing was not clear. I then wrote another one about the same time and it was also sent back for a rewrite and rejected after that.”

The same scenario, i.e. multiple rejection due to overzealous editors, applies to Demand Studios (We don’t know if the above comment refers to Demand Studios or another content mill). See the description at http://www.makemoneywithdemandstudios.com/forum. This seems to be a good resource to check out the Demand Studios’ reality.

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As I said, the whole thing is a scam. The scammers illegally use the good reputation (and the logo) of a company like Google, who, apparently is not aware of the scheme. The Google Profit Library is not related (in any shape or form) to the search engine giant.

Let’s substantiate my claim that this is a scam:

First, we found that my colleague’s e-mail account has been compromised. Needless to say, but she didn’t send the e-mail. I do receive Viagra-related e-mails from her e-mail account on a regular basis.

Secondly, look at the URL that was forwarded to my wife: http://workfromhomenews.info/newest/index.htm.

The page that pops up (filling out the entire screen) gives you the impression that it is part of “NEWS 6 Boston”, which, I believe, does not exist (Your result may differ, since they probably change the page according to your IP address). On top of the page it shows the usual hyperlinks you would expect from a news channel, such as Weather, Finance, Traffic, etc. Sure enough, each of these links leads to one and the same page trying to lure the unsuspecting viewer into their scam.

Let’s have a look at an excerpt of their terms and conditions:

“Subscriber agrees to pay today the shipping and handling fee of $1.97 to begin subscriber’s trial membership. After your 7 day trial you will be charged $47.50 for the program. Subscriber has seven (7) days from the date of enrollment to cancel Trial membership by calling our customer care department at 1-877-883-2431 to cancel their trial subscription and to be issued an authorization number for return of the Search Profits disc. Subscriber must clearly write the authorization number on the outside of the package and return the CD to the address given by the customer care department within fifteen (15) days from the date of enrollment or does not promptly return the disc with authorization number according to the terms above, Subscriber agrees to pay a one time fee of $99.00, which will be billed on Day thirty-eight (38) from the date of enrollment. In addition, the subscriber will be provided access to an online Resource Center which will bill at $47.50 day sixty-eight (68) from the date of enrollment and we will re-bill every thirty (30) days at $47.50 per month until cancelled by calling 1-877-883-2431.”

My guess is that the majority of subscribers will miss the deadlines as indicated , and they will charge your credit card forever if you let them, because what can you do when nobody picks up the phone? Note, that the terms do not include a cancelation through their web site a feature that any serious Internet business would provide.

Do you have any more details? I would like to hear from you. Please leave a response to this blog entry.

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Vampire Ascending is now available at Amazon.Com, Amazon.co.uk, Barnes & Noble, and any other good bookstore.