It’s always interesting to keep tabs on certain dubious marketers to see what they are currently promoting.

When somebody actively promotes an illegal cash gifting scheme, and continues to do so when they have been warned that it is illegal, it suggests that they have no problems promoting dodgy schemes.

Likewise a man who went to prison for several years for a home working fraud, then got out only to start promoting various internet businesses with fake proof of earnings isn’t to be trusted.

So when both of these people start promoting the same opportunity it means the opp should be examined very closely.

The opportunity I am referring to was previously known as “MyInternetBusiness.com” or MIB for short. Earlier this year the name was changed to YourNetBiz.com.

Name changing? More warning signs. Noss123, the illegal cash gifting scheme, was previously known under lots of different names with the organiser changing the name regularly to try and delay the inevitable problems it will face from the authorities. As far as I am aware it has now changed names again to tlc2003.

YourNetBiz is currently being heavily promoted by many people with hundreds of Youtube vids dedicated to it and a glut of review sites springing up and singing its virtues.

Myself, I’m not too sure about this one. I’m always of the opinion that if the main source of money is recruiting other people into the scheme then it’s bordering on being a pyramid scheme.

I have other problems with YourNetBiz, all of which you can read in this report:

An Outsider’s Review of YourNetBiz aka MyInternetBusiness

Comments are welcome below.

Please remember that all comments are moderated and that this isn’t a free advertising blog.

Can someone explain this to me because I can’t understand how this can benefit me…

Late 2006 I sign up for a printed newsletter which gets good reviews. It’s a yearly subscription, priced at (for arguement’s sake) $127 per year.

2007 I renew, again paying $127 for a full year.

Fast forward to late 2008 and I receive a subscription request letter saying:

“The current monthly membership fee is $24.95 per month however… [as you are already a member]… your membership is kept at the original low level of $19.95 [per month]”

Erm, no, that’s not quite right.

My YEARLY fee is $127 – why would I want to pay $19.95 a month? That’s almost TWICE what I pay now!

I would prefer it if the person(s) in question were upfront about wanting to increase the price – but to try and make out I am getting a good deal by signing up again at double the price doesn’t make sense.

So, no thanks, I’ll leave it I think.

Question time…

What do these 5 alleged millionaire marketers have in common?

Edmund Baker
Jeremy Gardener
Jeremy Taylor
Michael Milligan
Raymond Whittaker

No need for answers on a postcard but I’d be interested to hear your answers in the comments section below.

Yesterday I sent an email out that pointed out Joel Comm’s latest promotion – his $97 AdSense book for just $9.95.

Tongue firmly in cheek, I suggested it might be because Joel has had an unexpectedly large tax bill. It’s not uncommon for people to do specials around tax time…

Below is the email I sent:

“Hi,

Just a quick email because you may wish to take advantage of what looks like a “I-need-money-for-my-tax-bill” sale.

Joel Comm’s just released the 4th Edition of his New York Best Seller AdSense Guide and he’s priced it at $9.95 which is about £5 at the current exchange rate.

I don’t know the real reason why he is selling it so cheap…

Could it be that it is tax time in the US?

Maybe that’s just me being cynical…

If you’re interested in using AdSense on any of your websites, or creating websites especially to use AdSense (Virtual Real Estate as it is known) then Joel is recognised as the “industry expert” in this field.

So $9.95 is a bit of a bargain if you ask me!

Be aware that should you buy the book you will get an offer – a “MASSIVE AdSense Premier home training” as he puts it – at a 75% discount on the usual price.

I can vouch that it is at a huge discount, I saw Joel speak at a seminar some time ago and his Premier package was several thousand dollars.

It’s very good value but not essential by any means.

For most people the book will be more than adequate to explain advanced AdSense strategies in detail.

The offer can be found at:

[Link removed]

Hope that’s of use to you!

Thanks,

Ben”

I’ve since discovered that buyers were automatically signed up to a continuity program when they bought the eBook. It’s a membership at just under $30 a month and you get the first month free – after that you must cancel if you do not want to receive any more issues.

Now this WAS mentioned in the sales letter but not highlighted on the order form.

So, if like me, you have bought Joel’s book without realising you’ve been signed up to a monthly continuity program then make sure to remember to cancel the newsletter subscription if you do not like the first issue.

I will be ensuring that I do not get charged unless the newsletter contains 100% superb information.

After all, I did not specifically request this membership and I doubt I would’ve ordered it if had had a choice!

So, my apologies for suggesting this was a great buy at $10 – I honestly did think it was a good buy – which is why I bought it myself.

However, if I had realised that there was a forced continuity program contained in the offer, I probably wouldn’t have promoted this book.

If you have any issues whatsoever cancelling the monthly charge, then please let me know. I will let you know how I go on cancelling it – I really hope they don’t force me to phone the US.

Very sneaky Joel, very sneaky. I’m not impressed.

I don’t mind people acting as joint venture brokers – matching seller with promoter – and taking a percentage of the sale for arranging it all.

In fact, I could see it as a pretty good earner if you do it correctly.

What I don’t like is this new trend of finding a series of sites in a particular niche and then spamming the email addresses listed in the WHOIS with an affiliate link for a 2-tier affiliate program.

Take, for example, this email I got to the address I have listed in the WHOIS on one of my domains:

“Subject: A Quick Question About [My Website URL]

Hi there,

My name is James Max.

I was recently reviewing forex trading sites in some of the major search engines and I came across your web site: [My Website URL]

Out of all the sites I came across yours really stood out for me and If you could please spare me just two minutes I have a business proposition for you as you are in the same market as I am. After reviewing your site I found that we are both targeting the exact same market, though we are not in competition with each other. I have been studying this target market for quite some time and would like to present you with the opportunity to increase your income for five minutes work. You will be provided with the marketing materials, all you need do is sending out an email to your ezine list or adding a graphic to your web site, and you can make money!

You can do this by signing up to the affiliate program found here: [affiliate link masked using TinyURL]. By promoting this product you can earn a commission without ever having to handle customer service or ship any products. It’s a fantastic way to make money pretty much out of thin air! By working together, we have the potential to create an additional revenue source for both of us — without investing any money or even any time. Because we share the same target market, your customers are guaranteed to be interested in the product. An affiliate arrangement is a sure-fire way to make that interest work to our mutual benefit. To sign up to this affiliate program visit: [affiliate link masked using TinyURL]

I offer this partnership very selectively, so please do act fast if you wish to go ahead with this. Also please feel free to email me if you have any questions. Finally I know you’re a busy person and I’d like to thank you for reading this email whether you choose to promote and make some extra cash or not. Keep up the good work! By the way, you’ll be paid by 10th business day of every month, for the preceding month’s earnings. [affiliate link masked using TinyURL]

Sincerely, James Max

P.S. I hope you don’t mind me emailing you it’s just your forex trading web site really stood out from the others I came across during my research.”

Unfortunately for “James Max”, I very much did mind that he sent me this email.

What really got on my nerves is that it was completely obvious that this was either an automated email or a quick edit of a template email to stuff in my email address and website address.

He couldn’t even be bothered to take 5 minutes to rewrite the email slightly to include my name or anything else even slightly personal.

I don’t actively ask for people to suggest products to promote anywhere on this website and I certainly do not expect people to just pluck my name from the WHOIS records and send this junk. It is unsolicited commercial email – it is spam.

Sadly I think that this practice is going to get worse and more and more of these emails will be received by webmasters who simply aren’t interested in the slightest.

Just last month this “technique” was provided in detail as a suggested business blueprint by a UK marketer in his new monthly “snail mail” newsletter.

I used to respect him as a good guy before he suggested to all his readers that they go out and spam people with affiliate links for 2 tier programs.

Anyway, to wrap up this rant, here’s the reply I sent to “James Max”:

“Nice “template” email.

I’d appreciate it if you didn’t try and treat me like a complete idiot. This is a well known “technique” which is likely to mark you out as somebody not to be trusted.

Have a word with whoever urged you to send emails like this and ask them why they suggested you ruin your reputation by spamming email addresses you find via WHOIS.

Tip: If you want to be taken seriously in this business, don’t try to trick people, don’t use privacy protected WHOIS records and offer value – not dodgy 2 tier affiliate programs.

Oh, and don’t use template emails.”

Just another example of so-called internet marketers trying to trick people.

Is it just me or is the whole business opportunity/internet marketing field becoming more and more seedy and dishonest?

I’ve already had:

(a) Keith Wellman go back on his promise of bonuses (see Keith Wellman of FX Marketing Inc and Everyday Wealth LLC),

(b) the Global Pension Plan slowly disappearing (bizoppsuk.com/global_pension_plan.php) and

(c) another marketer has yet to send out some DVDs I ordered from him over a month ago.

Is it any wonder that the general public sees internet marketers as a bunch of scammers?