The latest and greatest marketing technique being used at the moment seems to be “forced continuity“.

Internet marketers are offering high value products “free” (just pay postage) but you are signed up to be billed monthly for some kind of magazine, newsletter or DVD club.

Most of the time you won’t want any add-on and probably won’t read the offer properly because it is priced so low. As the famous saying goes – if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

Some marketers are very upfront about the forced continuity aspect of their offer. Others attempt to hide it from their customers.

One particular marketer, who I have had A LOT of problems with for over a year, now seems to only use online videos rather than sales letters.

He briefly mentions details of the monthly billing in the middle of the video but nothing appears on the order form.

Never one to pass up a bargain, I like to take advantage of these offers but I don’t want to get caught in a trap where I see a $29.97 charge on my credit card each month.

I realise I can cancel it but is it really worth the hassle?

There are some companies who are starting to get a reputation for extremely poor customer service.

Do I really want to be hoping that some $5 per hour helpdesk assistant will deal with my cancellation request correctly? Not really.

So, how can you take advantage of the offers but make sure you are not billed any further?

Simple – use a temporary credit card. A credit card that will let you pay for the postage but will decline any further attempt to bill you.

Perfect – a solution that allows you to get the initial product (the ‘sweetener’) but halts the forced continuity danger immediately.

I use a service called “3V” which is available to anyone in the UK.

This is how it works:

(1) You sign up at http://www.3vcash.com and receive a card through the post

(2) You then take that card to a nearby newsagent and ask them to credit your card with £20. He gives you a receipt with your temporary credit card number on it.

(3) When you get home, you check your email and find the expiry date and CVV number of your “credit card”.

(4) Using these 3 numbers, you can now pay online for any product and not have to worry about being billed monthly – because if there is no money on the card, the card will be declined.

Here’s how I used mine…

• Credited it with £20
• Bought “Free DVD” with one month free membership from marketer 1 – £10.11 ($19.97)
• Bought “Free DVD” from marketer 2 – £5.96 ($11.77)

Both of the above offers have forced continuity attached but I have just £3.93 on the card so any attempt to bill me will fail.

So my mission is accomplished and I don’t have to cancel an unwanted continuity program.

What about the £3.93? I guess I can pay myself £3.93 via PayPal to empty the card.

For those not in the UK, you may want to check out a similar option offered by PayPal called “PayPal Plug-In”.

I haven’t been able to try it myself but it certainly looks like the kind of thing to use.

Any questions/queries, please leave a comment below.

I’ve just gone through a box in my spare room and found a load of seminar videos which I would like to pass on rather than throw away.

Asking price? Free to anyone prepared to pay toward the postage or come and collect from me.

Here’s what I found:

(1) The Affiliate Profitmaker Seminar featuring Declan Dunn, Patrick Anderson, Andrew Reynolds, Ola Edvardsson and Michael Hill. There are 6 VHS videos in the set and the seminar is from around 2001. This is classic affiliate marketing material.

(2) The Internet Profitmaker Seminar featuring Corey Rudl, Kirt Christensen, Marlon Sanders, Andrew Reynolds and more. 15 VHS videos in this set, the seminar was from the year 2000 as far as I can gather.

(3) The Profitmaker 5 Seminar featuring Bill Myers, Andrew Reynolds, Vince Stanzione and lots of other speakers. There are 20 VHS videos in this set and the event was filmed in 1999 according to the copyright notice.

(4) The “Las Vegas Meeting” featuring Corey Rudl, Marlon Sanders, Jonathan Mizel, Fred Gleeck, Robert Allen, Terry Dean, Yanik Silver, Derek Gehl and many more speakers. This looks to be the Internet Marketing Super Conference 3 from Carl Galletti which was held in either 2000 or 2001. Classic internet marketing material. 33 video tapes make up this seminar footage.

If you are interested in any of these sets, please let me know by leaving a comment below. I’ll get back to you asap to arrange delivery / collection.

Make sure to leave me your email address or phone number. Your comment will not be shown.

Thanks,

Ben

It’s short notice, I know, but this weekend Steve Foley is holding an internet marketing and property related seminar in Manchester – the “Entrepreneur Weekend”.

I’m booked into the hotel from Friday and looking forward to the line-up on Saturday – the “Money Maker Boot Camp”. The Sunday event is called the “Women Entrepreneur Summit” and I am assured by Steve that everyone is welcome, not just the ladies.

Here’s what Steve had to say about the two days in a recent email:

“Right now many people are stretched financially, while others remain liquid financially. There is always great crossover at our events.

What do I mean by that?

Well, the people who are primarily involved in property are drawn to the internet experts who are cashflow-rich.

The Internet players are drawn to the property experts for investment & capital growth.

The smart players are already playing both camps and the most successful property players are very ‘savvy’ about internet marketing.

eConfex events focus on Wealth Creation and ways to create passive and multiple income streams using little or none of your own cash.

Is this of Interest? – if so

You may want to check out our forthcoming Entrepreneur Weekend in Manchester.”

I must admit I am turning up early to try and get a chance to mingle with the speakers before the seminar. I managed to do so successfully at the hotel last year.

The ticket price of the Entrepreneur Weekend in Birmingham last year was £348.97. This year it is even more of a bargain!

Anyway, I will be at Steve’s event this weekend, staying over on the Friday night and attending on the Saturday.

I highly recommend you try and get there too.

These seminars are superb for renewing enthusiasm, generating ideas and making valuable contacts.

Come and find me on the Friday night or Saturday so we can have a chat over a few drinks.

[Link removed – site no longer online]

If you want to know more, check out my review of last year’s event:

Entrepreneur Weekend Seminar – Birmingham – April 2007