Okay, so I’m watching yet another of the enumerable online commercials for a get-rich-quick scheme. “Passive income!” “No technical knowledge required!” “Make money from home.” Maybe just the fact that there has been a proliferation of such offers over the past few years tells us that there are enough people buying into these programs that it’s worth whatever it costs to produce such commercials.
Maybe they even work! My guess is that they don’t “or everyone would be doing it”.
I don’t mind the teasers about selling products online being a more-or-less passive way to generate income. I certainly understand about setting up a web site and allowing people to buy from there. What bugs me is that each one says that all of the others gives you only a part of the story, but that they are going to share the complete secret with you. Maybe these vendors also have such sites and have decided to supplement their income by selling an instruction manual for you, too.
So after they explain that theirs is the only complete, foolproof system, they show you the latest (to me) form of testimonial, the bank statement. Or some sort of statement, with the account holder’s names grayed out, and the name of the bank mysteriously missing. Can anyone possibly believe that this is in any way a legitimate testimonial? A list of names with numbers next to them, purportedly reflecting the cash deposits into the bank accounts of participants in these schemes? I guess enough people must that vendors continue to post the commercials and send out broadcast emails enticing folks to watch the latest creation, “before we raise the price”.
Okay, I’ve ranted before about the testimonials from “David from San Francisco” or “Susan B. from Houston”. What a crock! But now, they’ve added the actual money that these people are making. How can anyone take that seriously? Well, I guess it’s the same people who are so desperate for an “answer” in today’s economy that they’re even willing to believe that imaginary people are making trumped-up incomes, doing something that seems, um, how do you say it, oh yeah, TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE.
Okay, in defense of these vendors, I have not purchased any of their programs, so I can’t speak from first-hand experience, and I’ll grant them that IF someone were to follow their suggestions to the letter, and devote the time and energy that running an actual business requires, and realize that they’re not going to get rich overnight, that the program might work for them, under the same principle that if you mail a catalog to enough people, someone will buy from you. If you have no fulfillment responsibility, that would be passive income.
I made one an offer: I would use their program, as an agent of their company, and split any income I made from them. In other words, if you believe so strongly in the program, and believe that anyone can make it work, use me as a real testimonial. Let’s partner up, give me the program, coach me through it. I’ll devote as much of my day as I need to to make it work, and because you’re so sure about your program, we’ll split the income.
So far, no takers.
