It’s all over the web and the newspapers – the Apple iPhone is being released today in the US. Apparently some people have been queuing up for days to get their hands on this new piece of kit…

Many are saying that this is a complete re-invention of the phone – you name it and it has been said about the iPhone.

So, this is a hyped up launch I think we can all agree but is there any way that we can make some money  out of all the iPhone hype?

Maybe what we should be considering is whether or not Apple might just be able to sell 10 million iPhones in the next 12 months.

It’s very possible but it’s not written in stone as competition in this space is going to be fierce.

When it comes down to the stockmarket we’ve got to ask; is the hype already built into Apple’s stock price? Again, it’s possible.

One thing is for sure and it’s a fact, all the hype in June up until June 26th has failed to push Apple’s share price any higher.

See for yourself in this new, completely free Apple trading video:

[link no longer active]

“I received an email you sent out recently regarding Tim Lowe’s ‘How to make £15,000-£25,000 per month from cheap little web ads’.

I had previously purchased the dvd course and having sourced a product and set up a web site i began doing some free advertising and got the odd one or two sales.

I was wondering if you have had any experiences regarding placing classified ads in any of the papers Tim mentions on the dvds, I am at a stage where i would like to advertise to a larger audience but am a little put off by the fact that these papers can be slightly difficult to deal with ie, wanting references etc.

Have you had any success with them or can you recommend alternative places to advertise?”

Thanks for the query but I would just like to ask: have you contacted any papers at all?

If you are selling a biz opps type of product then I will assume you are talking about advertising in the Mail on Sunday or the Sunday Times. I get these papers every week just to check out the new adverts in the Business Opportunities section.

Anyway, there are always new adverts coming and going – including many from people who seem new to the “game”. I would be surprised if they had references which they could use…

When I placed an ad in Exchange and Mart, the sales person I spoke to laughed when I asked if he needed any references!

He just took the money and placed the ad which was good for me because I am not sure that I could’ve got the references required.

You can read about my experience from that advertising here:

Advertising Offline to Drive Traffic to a Website

When you bought the package part of the deal was that you could ring Tim to get an evaluation of your website. I would suggest that you take him up on the offer and ask his advice. After all, if Tim Lowe offers you a consultation about advertising in the press and you have questions about the same topic – take him up on it!

As for other places to advertise, there are loads.

Google AdWords, Yahoo Search Marketing, biz opps ezines, banner ads on relevant websites etc

Or you could search out potential Joint Venture partners who will spread the word for you in return for a commission on the sale.

First thing’s first, though, I think you should take Tim up on his offer of a consultation.

And if the idea of joint ventures interests you, I know of a great guide to getting JVs:

The Sara Brown Ultimate Income Plan

There’s a move in the financial markets which has started recently with very little “fanfare” and pretty much zero media attention.

This is how the really big moves start in the world’s financial markets – off the radar screens of the vast majority of traders and media “experts”.

It is only when the move is almost over that you begin to see exhaustive coverage and market projections all over the place.

By then, of course, it is too late.

The move in question will potentially create big problems for the world’s equity markets.

What is this move?

Well, check out this new video to see what’s going on:

The Crude Oil Advantage – Trading Analysis Video

No registration needed – it’s a free commodity trading video for anyone and everyone.

If the new proven “Trade Triangle” indicators are correct, and they usually are, the outlook could be very negative for world markets.

Watch the market commentary here, completely free:

The Crude Oil Advantage – Trading Analysis Video

Cheers,

Ben

Hello again,

I hope everything is going well for you and you are enjoying your weekend!

I was reading today that house prices are going down, again…

Didn’t they say that last year, and the year before, and the year before etc?

In fact, there were people on a certain forum who called the market top back in 2002. They sold their houses to start renting, waiting for the crash. Once the crash took hold, they planned to buy again at the lower price.

Obviously it never happened and they have now missed large returns from property. These people are now very bitter.

Moral of the story? Don’t call market tops and bottoms.

Simple as that…

————————

Louise Woof and Keith Cotterill

Got this email recently:

“Hi Ben,

I am seriously considering ditching my boring daytime job.

I am attracted to Louise Woof’s Forex scheme or Keith Cotterill’s spread betting system. I wonder whether you have received negative comment about either”

First of all, I haven’t bought either course so I cannot comment on the quality of either I’m afraid.

But there are several points to ponder whenever you think about making money from financial trading.

My own particular spread betting exploits have all centered around the methods I learned from Vince Stanzione’s course.

Vince doesn’t “do” day-trading or short-term trading, he concentrates on holding his trades for months at a time.

I like this particular method of trading because I do not want to be sat at a monitor for hours at a time. Besides, I have a day job which I do actually enjoy and I cannot trade during the day.

Last October, I started trading UK shares long term i.e. holding positions for at least 3 months. By March of this year I had made 4.95% profit on my money from a handful of trades.

Everything I traded was researched over a weekend or evening and then I placed orders to open positions the next day. Each trade I made included a strict stop loss and risked only 2% of my starting bank.

The actual breakdown of my results was as follows:

30 trades in total:

14 winners
14 losers
2 break-evens

Overall profit: 4.95%

It’s all on the blog:

http://bizoppsuk.blogspot.com

It wasn’t a very exciting way to trade at all but it seemed to work for the 6 months I was doing it.

I had to stop to use the money for a house purchase but I will be starting again in the near future!

There is no doubt that some people trade more often than this and that some people make a whole lot more money than I did.

It’s all about discipline.

If there is no trade then you do not trade. No ifs, no buts, if your system does not indicate that you can trade then you leave it and come back the next day to see if anything “lines up”.

Money management is the key – never risk more that you can afford to lose and always use a stop loss.

If you can follow a system *to the letter* and trade only with non-essential money then it is worthwhile to try any system.

Also, you can use virtual trading accounts so that you do not risk any of your own money. Test out your system using a free virtual account.

If it works and you are happy with it, start to use real money. If it does not work for you, make sure you are following the instructions correctly and not trading on your hunches.

At the end of the day, these systems usually have money-back guarantees so you have nothing to lose by giving them a try, except maybe a little of your time.

As for giving up the day-job, DON’T be too quick to quit. With any biz opp, you should run it in your spare time if possible and only when it yields enough profit to cover your living expenses should you even think of leaving your job.

Quitting work to become a full-time trader puts you under enormous pressure to make money from your trades. All trading systems go through draw down periods i.e. a losing period. If this period comes at the very beginning of your trading career, it could end in disaster.

Please, don’t go quitting your job thinking that you can replace your wage immediately from trading!

————————

Passport to Wealth

Another email came into the BizOppsUK inbox this week:

“Hi Ben,

I wondered if you’ve had any info or experience with an opp called PASSPORT TO WEALTH?

A kinda network marketing deal that is very tempting.

Please let me know your thoughts.

Thanks”

My reply was not particularly complimentary about this one because it reminds me somewhat of the extremely dodgy Prosperity Automated System.

That particular pyramid scheme crashed and burned last year leaving thousands of people nursing very heavy losses.

So I sent this back:

“Passport to Wealth is a pyramid scheme.

You have to make 4 sales before you are in any profit. Then the people you refer have to make 4 sales to get into profit and so on.

People at the top of the pyramid will make thousands. 90-95% of members will make absolutely nothing. In fact, they will end up being $997 or more DOWN.

Complete and utter rubbish – I wouldn’t touch it with a barge-pole if I were you.

To see what happens to these types of schemes, check out the PAS system:

Prosperity Automated System

Thanks,

Ben”

If you think I am being overly harsh, please let me know.

However, my personal opinion is that any scheme which calls itself a 1-Up or 2-Up is to be avoided.

Someone summed it up on a forum when they said:

“You’d get the same results by standing on top of a windy hill ripping up ten pound notes”

————————

Ultimate Entrepreneur Wealth Club

This particular opp was pointed out to me by a former PAS cheerleader called Julie Wilson.

She sent me an email claiming all kinds of huge earnings, none of which were verified in any way. Half a million in one to two years was her claim in this one…

When PAS was in full flow, Julie advertised heavily in the Sunday Times and all over the web, trying to get people into her downline. Looks like she has moved onto a very similar scheme now that PAS was shut down.

Anyway, I ignored her email but someone asked about this later on in the week:

“i wanted some advice on the ultimate entrepreneur wealth club and the secret of getting rich what do you make of these and also agel network marketing comapany . have you ever been involved in network marketing and what is your view on these types of businesses please be in touch i wait for your response . thank you”

Here was my reply:

“I’ve had a little look at this and it seems to be just like you said, a network marketing program.

Seems like you buy a set of products – DVDs, CDs and books for $1250 from your sponsor. He pays $250 for them and then takes the remaining $1000 as profit.

You then must sign-up 6 other people in order to become a “Director”.

I then assume, because the details are sketchy, that you sell tickets to the various other stages i.e. the cruises etc and get a large commission for each sale.

So, if you are a good salesman and believe in the product, I am sure you can make a good amount of money from this.

However, as with all network marketing programs you will be in competition with 100s if not 1000s of other people including anyone you introduce.

Also, if you are not internet savvy you will have to find another way to advertise this opportunity which could prove very difficult and expensive.

The same goes for Agel. I know very little about this opportunity but it is network marketing and I always stay well clear of this kind of scheme.

Instead of network marketing, why not learn more about internet marketing and providing real products of real value?

There is a seminar at the end of this month in London which deals with both property investing and also internet marketing.

Now, I went to the Birmingham seminar in April and it was very, very enlightening. I have written a little about it here:

http://www.BizOppsUK.com/entrepreneur_weekend.php

For a four-day event it is very inexpensive and the presenters are very business savvy and approachable.

I would recommend that if the internet or property is something you are interested in learning more about you should consider attending.

I will be sending an email out about it soon but it is something to bear in mind because you will get a lot more out of meeting people over a few days than spending $1000+ on a load of DVDs.

So, in short, I couldn’t recommend the schemes you asked about because I really think that network marketing is flawed – unless you are already an excellent salesman.

Offline seminars pay for themselves over and over again because of the contacts you make.

I hope this helps.

Many thanks,

Ben”

——————————————————————

So, a harsh review of a couple of new opps and a whole-hearted recommendation for the eConfex seminar at the end of this month.

If you are available that weekend and have an interest in property investing and/or internet businesses, make sure you have a good look at what is being offered at the UK Entrepreneur Convention.

Until next time, thanks for reading,

Ben

As you may already be aware, I use SpamArrest to stop ALL unwanted commercial email from landing in my inbox.

What SpamArrest does is pick up the email from my server and place it in a folder called “Unverified”.

It then sends an email to the sender asking them to confirm that they actually exist by clicking on a link. If the sender does not do this, the email remains in the “Unverified” folder.

However, if the sender does confirm that they actually exist, they are then added to the safelist and any further mail from them will always be delivered to the inbox.

It works very, very well and spam is now no longer an annoyance for me.

Consider that a couple of days ago I got 15,000 spam emails in just one day across my email accounts and none got through to my inbox.

SpamArrest does not delete any mails, it holds them for however many days you specify so that you can browse through and double-check you haven’t missed any “real” emails.

It was while I was doing this today that I found this beauty:

“Date: Tue Jun 05 15:46:54 PDT 2007
Sender: “Olga” bfwcg@********.co.uk
Subject: Olga from Russia.

Hello!!!
How are you? My name is Olga. I am 27 years old. I live in Russia, city Yoshkar-Ola. I am cheerful woman, and like to do many things as camping, go to the cinema, dances etc. In a word I like to do all what like all people.

My dream this travel abroad. I know the english language well enough..

I began to study english language approximately one year ago. I want to tell you history which have pushed me write to you. 8 months ago I have got acquainted with the man from other country by name Hugo. During this time we had good relations. We have understood that our relations become serious and we have decided to meet in his country. I wrote the application for reception the visa.

I waited reception of the visa approximately half of year. All time I kept in touch with Hugo through the internet and often called to each other. I and Hugo waited reception of the visa to our meeting. I have received the invitation from the ambassador for reception of the visa.

My director has given me long-term holiday from work and I have gone to Moscow to receive the visa. I informed good news to Hugo, but he has answered, that does not want our meeting.

He played with me. He has informed that has the wife with two children and at all has no plans to meet me. I was not ready to such turn of events. I could not think what even after 8 months of acquaintance he can so unscrupulously act with me. Now I am in Moscow I don’t want that all was gone for nothing and will be glad if my visa will be useful to our meeting. I could arrive already through 6-7 days, but a problem in that that now I have no man which would like my arrival.

Probably it will silly sound but if you will be interested in a meeting with the good woman i will like to meet you sometime soon!

As Hugo was dishonest with me I have decided to find the man which is interested to meet the woman from Russia. I do not know your ideas about my letter, but it would be fine if we could meet and have some weeks or months together. On my trip I want to receive rest from my work and a life in Russia. Also the basic purpose for the future it is search good men for serious attitudes which go to a marriage. I have no children, and i haven’t been married before. I am the mature woman and ready to creation of family with good man. I don’t know what you really search in the future but if we could meet I will be happy to discuss with you more about our meeting. What are you going to do this time? It would be fine if we could meet, do friendship or more than simply friendship. I will be happy if you also have a free time and we could meet soon. I do not know your interests, but anyhow write to me back and I will tell to you more about myself. Write to me all that you want. Maybe we have similar plans and it will be interesting to us together.

You can write all that you want. Ask any questions which interest you.

I will tell more about myself and send my photos.

Please, write to me back on my regular e-mail: olyamalysh@**.ru

wish you a good day

Olga from Russia”

Sorry for the lousy formatting and spelling but I copied it exactly as it was sent to me, I only obscured the email addresses.

I can’t understand the scam here but it probably involves snaring guillible men and persuading them to pay, in advance, for ladies like “Olga” to visit the UK.

Once they send the money, Olga stops answering emails and never does turn up at the airport! I would hazard a guess that they want payment via Western Union too!

Two months ago this email would’ve arrived in my Blueyonder inbox unchallenged and would’ve really annoyed me.

Today, it just sits in the Unverified folder because “Olga” does not exist and has used a spoofed email address to send the email to me.

Therefore, she cannot verify that she exists and her email will never reach my inbox. Just like all those v1agra, c1al15 and R0l3x emails 🙂

Moral of the story?

Well, if you are getting bombarded by junk emails and want it to stop – dead – check out SpamArrest.

I highly recommend it to anyone who is suffering from overload of email spam.

Click here to take SpamArrest for a 30 day test-drive