Business Opportunities Blog

When You Aren't Paid Affiliate Commissions It Sucks

2011-07-01T18:19:00.002+01:00

The great thing about affiliate networks like Clickbank is that the whole business of earning commissions and then actually being paid those commissions is placed into the hands of a third party.

As I understand it, when you list a product for sale on Clickbank you are actually giving Clickbank permission to sell it.

Affiliates can make an affiliate link in seconds and then get to work promoting your product in no time at all. When they make sales the commission is reflected in their account pretty much immediately. As the product owner you don't need to do anything to pay affiliates, Clickbank do it all.

Every two weeks Clickbank sends payments to the affiliates and vendors and everybody ends up happy.

Contrast this with promoting a product where the affiliate program is "in house" i.e. the product vendor also runs the affiliate program.

When this is the case you really need to trust the vendor.

Let's say the vendor uses the Butterfly Marketing script to sell the product.

You join, log in and get your affiliate link then promote the product. When you make sales you are counting on the product vendor to be decent enough to regularly pay you.

If they don't, there's little you can do except try to contact them and ask for a payment.

This has happened to me recently - the vendor is seemingly ignoring me completely despite owning me over $800 in commissions.

So, I've documented the entire story on my site.

Check out my story about Willie Crawford dodging payment on affiliate commissions for his Internet Marketing Inner Circle.

Willie has a very good reputation online as he has been selling in the internet marketing niche since 1996.

Sadly, my experience shows that he's not good at paying people for selling on his behalf.

Here's the real story:

Willie Crawford and the Internet Marketing Inner Circle

Focus Marketing Seminars UK Event

2008-09-18T18:12:00.000+01:00

Well, it's that time of year again - time to spend a weekend with a load of other internet marketers.

This year Focus Marketing Seminars are holding their UK event just next to Heathrow Airport at a 5 star hotel.

I've already booked my ticket, train travel and hotel room and I am looking forward to seeing some friendly faces from last year's event.

Pat Lovell this week confirmed the line-up for the seminar by listing the following speakers:

Armand Morin, Sean Roach, Adam Ginsberg, Raymond Aaron, Debra Thompson Roedl, Alan Forrest Smith, Mark Anastasi, Tim Brocklehurst, Glenn Dietzel, JT Foxx, Tom Hua, Dr. Mike Woo Ming and Brian Kosobucki.

I would expect one or two more may be added to the schedule.

For more info, check out the website:

Internet Marketing Seminars in the UK

How to Lay Off Your Boss

2007-07-22T00:24:00.000+01:00

Ever bought a product and been extremely surprised by the quality of it?

Well, I have to say that I got hold of Jeff Wellman's "How To Lay Off Your Boss" home study course and was really quite pleasantly shocked at the sheer amount of information he had packed into it.

Jeff was working in a job he didn't particularly like in order to pay the bills and get by.

However, in his spare time he had started a little web business as an affiliate. Turns out he managed to start making quite a decent extra income from his little affiliate business so when he got wound up one day by his idiot boss, he walked out of his 9 to 5.

With his affiliate earnings being so good, he didn't have to worry about the loss of his full-time income and just carried on with his internet business.

Now that he has been freed from the shackles of full-time employment, Jeff has been able to publish in this course exactly what he did to replace his income BEFORE he quit his job.

What's more, he has also managed to get a load of expert internet marketers on board to share their tips and techniques for earning money online.

With several PDFs, a load of videos and Jeff's great "Wire Taps", this is a course that you really need to look at if you are planning on "Laying Off Your Boss" in the near future and going it alone by working from home.

Like I said, I was very impressed with the sheer weight of quality information in this course so I recommend you check it out, especially at the ridiculously low price Jeff is asking:

How To Lay Off Your Boss home study course

Spread Betting Update - June 2007

2007-06-07T22:07:00.000+01:00

It was whilst surfing through my bookmarks this evening that I realised I hadn't updated this blog in some time.

Some people may be wondering how my spread betting experiment is going.

Well - it stopped some time ago, in the middle of March.

I decided that I wanted to buy a house so I had to gather up all available capital for the deposit. As it turns out, I had made a 4.95% return over 6 months by spread betting a number of UK shares. This doesn't sound very much I admit...

BUT, when I last tried to make money from trading I lost about 80% of my capital in about 4 months.

This time around my very boring, disciplined approach paid off.

I will return shortly with the full results from my 6 months' worth of spread betting but for now the experiment is on hold until I have a couple of grand spare to try again.

Thanks for reading,

Ben

Check out the other blog for a whole load of posts about business opportunities - http://www.BizOppsBlog.com

Spread Betting Update w/e 16/02/07

2007-02-16T21:03:00.000Z

It's exactly one month since my last spread betting update so I thought I should pop back in here and let you know how I am getting on.

It isn't the most riveting thing to read about when each week I am coming in and basically saying "no new trades this week although one or two did move more into profit" etc

So, letting a month go by has allowed me to make some significant changes to my "spread betting portfolio".

OK, the following table shows the position of my trades after w/e 26th January 2007:

Trade Ref	£ per Point	Long/Short	Entry Price	Current Price	Current P/L
10013	2.70	Long	286.1	310.9	+66.96
10014	3.00	Long	161.2	157.3	-11.70
10015	0.67	Long	541.2	561.4	+13.53
10016	1.00	Long	393.7	367.2	-26.50
10017	0.50	Long	875.8	872.8	-1.50
10018	1.28	Long	260.6	249.8	-13.82

So, P/L Status as of 26/01/07 = +£26.97

Trade reference 10018 was opened on the 15th January.

And the trades look as follows as of close of play today (16th February 2007):

Trade Ref	£ per Point	Long/Short	Entry Price	Current Price	Current P/L
10013	4.05	Long	301.7	329.3	+111.64
10014	3.00	Long	161.2	165.5	+12.90
10015	0.67	Long	541.2	603.0	+41.40
10016	1.00	Long	393.7	378.7	-15.00
10017	0.50	Long	875.8	943.4	+33.80
10018	1.28	Long	260.6	261.9	+1.66
10019	1.64	Short	164.0	164.4	-0.65
10020	0.50	Long	664.5	695.2	15.35
10021	1.09	Long	305.0	303.0	-2.18
10022	0.64	Long	515.0	505.8	-5.88
10023	1.04	Long	325.00	318.80	-6.44
10026	0.85	Short	389.6	402.4	-10.88
10027	0.75	Long	444.0	445.6	+1.20

So, P/L Status as of 16/02/07 = +£176.91

There are a few new trades there which have been opened over the past two weeks including 2 short positions. Both of these, of course, moved higher as soon as I decided to short them!

Trade reference 10025 is an addition of £1.35 per point to 10013 because the share moved so high that I decided to add more money to it.

Trade reference 10024 opened and closed on the same day at the same price (still not sure how it happened) so I had to wait to open it again and it became trade reference 10027.

Thanks for reading,

Ben

Spread Betting Experiment Update January 2007

2007-01-16T08:51:00.000Z

Below are the two status reports on my
spread betting experiment for 2007 so far.

All five positions have been rolled over from the expired spread bets of last year.

The reason I rolled them over is because they all ended in profit and they all seemed to be continuing on their upward march.

This means I am still long on all my positions but I have not come across a share which I can short yet.

Another problem I am facing is due to Finspreads. They do not allow you to bet less than £0.50 per point and so I am struggling to place some bets whilst keeping to my strict risk management strategy.

In the future, when I have doubled my initial stake (notice I say when not "if") it will allow me to increase my odds and also to trade a lot more shares.

Still, I am happy at the moment with the amount of risk I am taking - especially because I am well up and my money has earnt a great deal more than if it had just been sat in a bank!

So, open positions as at close of markets on Friday 5th Jan and Friday 12th Jan (all UK shares):

w/e 5/01/07

Trade Ref	£ per Point	Long/Short	Entry Price	Current Price	Current P/L
10013	2.70	Long	286.1	289.6	+9.45
10014	3.00	Long	161.2	159.8	-4.20
10015	0.67	Long	541.2	542.4	+0.80
10016	1.00	Long	393.7	360.8	-32.90
10017	0.50	Long	875.8	863.3	-6.25

P/L on open positions: -£33.10

w/e 12/01/07

Trade Ref	£ per Point	Long/Short	Entry Price	Current Price	Current P/L
10013	2.70	Long	286.1	281.4	-12.69
10014	3.00	Long	161.2	161.3	+0.30
10015	0.67	Long	541.2	542.4	+0.93
10016	1.00	Long	393.7	362.7	-31.00
10017	0.50	Long	875.8	853.2	-11.30

P/L on open positions: -£53.76

Spread Betting Results from 19/12/06

2006-12-27T14:47:00.000Z

Altogether on Tuesday the 19th of December I had 10 trades expire.

Of the 10 there were 7 winners and 3 losers which is a very good result for my first "lot" of trades in this new spread betting experiment.

I was able to roll-over 6 positions, which included trade refs 10001, 10002, 10003, 10007, 10009 and 10012.

In total, these 6 trades made a profit of £228.38. I won't be revealing which equities I was betting on as I have rolled over these positions and don't wish to look like I am tipping any particular shares. Knowing my luck, I'd end up getting sued...

The other 4 trades were as follows:

Ref 10005 - Up bet on McDonalds. Bought £0.08 at 4024.9 - expired at 4395.5 for a profit of £29.65. I wanted to roll this over but couldn't meet the minimum bet size with the risk I was willing to take...

Ref 10006 - Up bet on Severn Trent. Bought £0.23 at 1488.0 - expired at 1454.0 for a loss of £7.82.

Ref 10008 - Up bet on Caledonia Invest. Bought £0.15 at 2255.6 - expired at 2077.3 for a loss of £26.75.

Ref 10011 - Up bet on Punch Taverns. Bought £0.29 at 1138.8 - expired at 1283.0 for a profit of £41.82. Again, I wanted to roll this position over but I wasn't allowed to as I didn't reach the minimum bet size of £0.50 per point.

I now have 5 open positions which will be reported weekly as per usual.

On all my closed trades I am currently up 8.44% on my starting capital since the 8th October 2006

Spread Betting Update w/e 15/12/06

2006-12-18T19:51:00.000Z

These trades all expire tomorrow and so I will have to decide which to roll-over before 4.30pm

As I see it, there is little point just closing the winners and having done with it. They are still in upward trends and so I feel they are still valid positions.

Someone on one of the forums has made a point that the VIX is very low at the moment. As Vince Stanzione says - "when the VIX is low, we go". This means that when the VIX is a low value it can mean that there will be a fall in the markets.

Maybe I should keep those stop-losses and change them into guaranteed stops so I don't lose out in the event of a fall.

All of my positions so far in this little experiment have been long so it would be nice to have some short positions as part of the portfolio!

I'll be back later in the week to update you with the results after expiry tomorrow!

Open positions as per close of trading Friday 15th December 2006:

Trade Ref	£ per Point	Long/Short	Entry Price	Current Price	Current P/L
10001	3.00	Long	138.80	156.7	+53.70
10002	0.46	Long	737.80	882.9	+66.74
10003	1.35	Long	247.50	284.30	+49.68
10005	0.08	Long	4024.90	4330.4	+24.44
10006	0.23	Long	1488.00	1452.6	-8.14
10007	0.67	Long	475.60	530.0	+36.44
10008	0.15	Long	2255.6	2097.4	-23.73
10009	1.00	Long	342.2	388.6	+46.40
10011	0.29	Long	1138.8	1278.5	+40.51
10012	1.35	Long	286.8	284.3	-3.37

Current P/L = +£282.67

Spread Betting Update w/e 08/12/06

2006-12-13T13:44:00.000Z

No new positions this week.

Adding a second "unit" to trade ref 10003 seems to have killed off its momentum somewhat but I am not overly worried.

Speculate to accumulate and all that!

Here are the results as at the close of trading on Friday the 8th December 2006:

Trade Ref	£ per Point	Long/Short	Entry Price	Current Price	Current P/L
10001	3.00	Long	138.80	156.6	+53.40
10002	0.46	Long	737.80	895.5	+72.54
10003	1.35	Long	247.50	272.0	+33.07
10005	0.08	Long	4024.90	4368.0	+27.44
10006	0.23	Long	1488.00	1428.8	-13.61
10007	0.67	Long	475.60	499.9	+16.28
10008	0.15	Long	2255.6	2104.8	-22.62
10009	1.00	Long	342.2	375.6	+33.40
10011	0.29	Long	1138.8	1188.0	+14.26
10012	1.35	Long	286.8	272.0	-19.98

Current P/L = +£194.18

All these trades expire on or before the 19th December so I cannot see many new trades being placed before the New Year.

My plan is to do some research over the Christmas week (when all of these trades have closed) and pick a load of new shares, commodities and indices to look at in 2007.

Hopefully, fingers crossed, I will be in profit by next week!

Thanks for reading,

Ben

Spread Betting Update w/e 01/12/06

2006-12-04T10:51:00.000Z

No new positions this week although one trade did close with a reasonable gain.

My long trade in December Gold closed on Monday the 27th November, the closing price was $640.6 per ounce.

I had managed to enter the trade on the 6th November when the price was $627.5 so the net result was a gain of 131 points ($13.10).

However, I was not playing big on this trade and had opened a small position - £0.14 per point (yep, just 14p!).

So, my little Gold trade yielded £18.34.

So far in this little experiment I have had 3 trades closed out - 2 at a loss and this Gold trade which was a welcome winner.

The other two trades were:

(1) Long bet on US stock Cypress Semiconductor - bought at $20.03, stopped out at $16.65 for a loss of £57.46
(2) Long bet on December Gold - bought at $627.5 and sold at $626.5 for a £10.00 loss.

Overall, betting bank is down 1.92%.

Below are the current standings as at the end of play 1st December 2006:

Trade Ref	£ per Point	Long/Short	Entry Price	Current Price	Current P/L
10001	3.00	Long	138.80	147.8	+27.00
10002	0.46	Long	737.80	836.4	+45.35
10003	1.35	Long	247.50	274.8	+36.85
10005	0.08	Long	4024.90	4204.6	+14.37
10006	0.23	Long	1488.00	1432.5	-12.76
10007	0.67	Long	475.60	500.0	+16.34
10008	0.15	Long	2255.6	2080.7	-26.23
10009	1.00	Long	342.2	349.0	+6.80
10011	0.29	Long	1138.8	1175.4	+10.61
10012	1.35	Long	286.8	274.8	-16.20

Current P/L = +£102.13

Spread Betting Update w/e 24/11/06

2006-11-27T12:25:00.000Z

Two new positions were opened last week.

Firstly is trade reference 10011 which is yet another LONG position in a UK share. I realise that I am heavily long on all the positions but I have not found a good short position to enter yet so...

The second new position was reference 10012 which is an addition to a current position.

Basically, the share has moved so high that I have moved its stop loss to the opening point (247.5) and added another "unit" of £1.35 per point.

Technically I now have a £2.70 per point long position in this share although the stop loss is at 247.5 and so I will only lose £53 if this stop loss is hit.

My first position (10003) is now "risk-free" as the worst that can happen is that I break even (unless there is significant slippage).

However, on the second trade (10012) I can now lose £53.

In total, I now have a greater potential for profit if the stock continues to rise and the same risk if it falls.

Add to winning positions and cut losers - one spread trading rule which I am determined to stick to!

Trade Ref	£ per Point	Long/Short	Entry Price	Current Price	Current P/L
10001	3.00	Long	138.80	147.3	+25.50
10002	0.46	Long	737.80	814.90	+35.46
10003	1.35	Long	247.50	276.1	+38.61
10005	0.08	Long	4024.90	4192.7	+13.42
10006	0.23	Long	1488.00	1454.2	-7.77
10007	0.67	Long	475.60	506.6	+20.77
10008	0.15	Long	2255.6	2054.0	-30.24
10009	1.00	Long	342.2	352.6	+10.40
10010	0.14	Long	627.5	637.6	+14.14
10011	0.29	Long	1138.8	1163.3	+7.10
10012	1.35	Long	286.8	276.1	-14.44

Current profit and loss on 11 open positions as per 24/11/06:

+£112.95

Spread Betting Update w/e 17/11/06

2006-11-20T13:41:00.000Z

Another pretty quiet week with no new additions, stop-outs or closing of trades.

I will be adding a couple more spread betting positions today but those will be documented next week.

Results as of close of trading on Friday 17th November 2006:

Trade Ref	£ per Point	Long/Short	Entry Price	Current Price	Current P/L
10001	3.00	Long	138.80	143.9	+15.30
10002	0.46	Long	737.80	811.80	+34.04
10003	1.35	Long	247.50	285.0	+50.62
10005	0.08	Long	4024.90	4187.1	+12.97
10006	0.23	Long	1488.00	1410.8	-17.75
10007	0.67	Long	475.60	497.2	+14.47
10008	0.15	Long	2255.6	2182.5	-10.96
10009	1.00	Long	342.2	350.5	+8.30
10010	0.14	Long	627.5	621.8	-7.98

Current P/L = +£99.01

Spread Betting Update w/e 10/11/06

2006-11-13T12:37:00.000Z

I opened one new position this week, well 2 to be honest.

On Monday I decided to open a long position in December Gold and risk just £50. However, like an idiot I didn't take care when opening the position and ended up taking a position risking ten times that much.

When you trade Gold, each point is actually 0.1 of the quoted price. Therefore, if you buy at 600 and it moves to 610, that is 100 points, not 10.

Shortly after I placed the trade I realised the error I had made and so I closed it off immediately, losing 10 points in the process - which equates to £10.

I didn't feel comfortable with the risk of a £1 a point position with the limited capital I have so I swallowed the loss and then placed a new trade at a much more reasonable stake.

On the 8th (Wednesday), I received an email from Sandy Jadeja of Finspreads who basically said that Gold was in a down trend (meaning my long trade was probably going to lose money). I decided to keep my position open, I never did care for tipster's hints. We'll have to see what happens between now and expiry on the 27th November.

You can read more on the other blog:

Spread Betting, Finspreads and Sandy Jadeja

With the other positions I have had a good week, going from £21.46 down to... well, check it out for yourself:

Trade Ref	£ per Point	Long/Short	Entry Price	Current Price	Current P/L
10001	3.00	Long	138.80	142.5	+11.10
10002	0.46	Long	737.80	794.60	+26.12
10003	1.35	Long	247.50	275.7	+38.07
10005	0.08	Long	4024.90	4149.2	+9.94
10006	0.23	Long	1488.00	1409.0	-18.17
10007	0.67	Long	475.60	474.1	-1.00
10008	0.15	Long	2255.6	2168.9	-13.00
10009	1.00	Long	342.2	340.4	-1.80
10010	0.14	Long	627.5	629.7	+3.08

Current standing as of 10th November 2006:

+£54.34

Spread Betting Update w/e 03/11/06

2006-11-06T12:22:00.000Z

Once again I have not added any new positions I am afraid.

This is simply because I haven't seen any new openings and so I am not prepared to buy or sell any markets.

At the same time I haven't closed any positions because there is nothing to tell me to close them!

One thing I am a little worried about is that I do not have any short trades open, so if the markets take a dive, I will most likely be stopped out completely.

Today I may open one or two new positions, with one possibility to go short.

The problem that I have is that I am in work and the internet connection can be described as crap to put it mildly.

Here are the positions I am holding as they currently stand. I will say that all are individual equities (shares). 7 are UK shares and 1 is a US stock.

Trade Ref	£ per Point	Long/Short	Entry Price	Current Price	Current P/L
10001	3.00	Long	138.80	136.3	-7.50
10002	0.46	Long	737.80	770.7	+15.13
10003	1.35	Long	247.50	262.2	+19.84
10005	0.08	Long	4024.90	4084.7	+4.78
10006	0.23	Long	1488.00	1390.1	-22.51
10007	0.67	Long	475.60	469.0	-4.42
10008	0.15	Long	2255.6	2145.7	-16.48
10009	1.00	Long	342.2	331.9	-10.30

Current standing as of 3rd November 2006:

-£21.46

Spread Betting Update w/e 27/10/06

2006-10-30T09:21:00.000Z

No new trades entered and no existing trades have been exited this week.

All truth be told it was a rather stale week with my positions slipping down again slightly.

Vince Stanzione's seminar is being held today in London.

I received a further invite last week which said I could defer payment for the seminar and sneak onto one more table which Mr Stanzione had managed to squeeze in at the back. I didn't take him up on the offer.

I have previously seen the footage from his last "retirement" seminar in June 2004 which was quite good, more can be found here:

http://www.BizOppsUK.co.uk/vince_stanzione.htm

This week's open positions:

Trade Ref	£ per Point	Long/Short	Entry Price	Current Price	Current P/L
10001	3.00	Long	138.80	128.8	-30.00
10002	0.46	Long	737.80	745.4	+3.49
10003	1.35	Long	247.50	263.00	+20.92
10005	0.08	Long	4024.90	4112.6	+7.01
10006	0.23	Long	1488.00	1420.9	-15.43
10007	0.67	Long	475.60	472.4	-2.14
10008	0.15	Long	2255.6	2148.0	-16.14
10009	1.00	Long	342.2	335.9	-6.30

Total Running Loss on positions: -£38.59

Spread Betting Update W/E 20/10/2006

2006-10-23T13:01:00.000+01:00

During last week I had one position closed off and opened 2 new positions.

Trade reference 10004 was closed due to a sharp fall on Thursday which took out my stop loss. Total loss was 2.24% of the betting bank.

Still, these things happen. You have to be in it to win it as they say.

The two new positions were opened during Monday's trading day. Both had stop losses placed on them to make sure I didn't lose more than 2% of the total starting capital.

So, at the close of trading on Friday 20th October my positions look as follows:

Trade Ref	£ per Point	Long/Short	Entry Price	Current Price	Current P/L
10001	3.00	Long	138.80	130.90	-23.70
10002	0.46	Long	737.80	734.80	-1.38
10003	1.35	Long	247.50	261.80	+19.30
10005	0.08	Long	4024.90	4112.3	+6.99
10006	0.23	Long	1488.00	1443.6	-10.21
10007	0.67	Long	475.60	475.60	+0.00
10008	0.15	Long	2255.6	2190.8	-9.72
10009	1.00	Long	342.2	336.4	-5.80

The position which was stopped out (ref:10004) was a long bet on the price of Cypress Semiconductor - a US stock (US:CY).

I bought in at $20.03 with a stop loss at $16.65.

Unfortunately the stop was hit but Finspreads managed to get me out at exactly the right point, no slippage at all. I was quite glad about that.

Looking at the news at FT.com, it isn't clear why the price dropped over 11% during Thursday's trading but that's the stock market for you!

Running loss on open positions is: -£24.52
Total performance so far on closed trades: -2.24%

Spread Betting Experiment - Trading Update

2006-10-16T14:13:00.000+01:00

Well, after hearing about Vince Stanzione's new trading day at the end of October I decided to start trading again - over 2 years since my last trade.

Luckily my account with Finspreads was still open and they allowed me to go back onto the 8 week "Academy" course. Basically, it means I can trade for pennies again rather than have to stick to their 50p per point minimum... which will probably save me a lot of money.

I dug out Vince's workbook and had a quick read through to remind myself about the strategies he recommends. They are all remarkably simple so I should, in theory, have no trouble sticking to the rules. We'll see :)

So, after 1 week of trading, how am I doing?

The answer is... not too bad!

I currently have 7 positions open with a combined profit of £12.82 as of the close of trading on Friday.

At present I am unsure of the consequences of me posting my actual trades on here. In these "PC" times it's probably better that I don't post the names of the shares I am trading on here or someone may go out, trade them and then sue me if they lose money.

I will have to consult a solicitor to see what it best to do about it.

In the meantime please accept my apologies for the sketchy-ness of the details but I really don't want someone taking me to court for posting my personal trades.

As of Friday 13th October my trades look like so:

Trade Ref	£ per Point	Long/Short	Entry Price	Current Price	Current P/L
10001	3.00	Long	138.80	132.20	-19.50
10002	0.46	Long	737.80	733.00	-2.20
10003	1.35	Long	247.50	266.30	+25.38
10004	0.17	Long	2003.00	1998.80	-0.71
10005	0.08	Long	4024.90	4178.60	+12.29
10006	0.23	Long	1488.00	1464.30	-5.45
10007	0.67	Long	475.60	480.10	+3.01

So far, so good.

Before you say anything - yes, they are small wagers (each one is risking just 2% of the betting bank).

Like I said in the last post about spread betting, I made mistakes in the past but this time I am going to try and be very boring and business-like about my trading.

It's a long term pursuit for high gains through compounding.

Recommended reading:

Vince Stanzione's course - "Making Money From Financial Spread Trading

http://www.FinancialSpreadTrading.co.uk

The Rise Of Internet "Shills"

2006-10-13T17:46:00.000+01:00

There is a great programme on BBC3 at the moment called "The Real Hustle" which follows around 3 people as they perform scams and cons on the general public.

The group consists of Alex, a "confidence trickster"; Jess, a young, blonde "sexy swindler" and Paul who is described simply as a "scam artist".

Basically they travel around the country tricking people out of money, cars, jewelry - anything of any worth. Once they have scammed a victim the camera crew intervenes and gives the "mark" their money/goods back.

Some of the tricks they perform are ingenious. Equally fascinating are the insights into common scams - a recent one highlighted the "one day" sales you sometimes see in city centres.

A group will hire out a shop and distribute leaflets to attract people into their "blowout" sale. Once inside the shop, the group works to a script to sell off cheap rubbish to the crowd whilst at the same time managing to make everyone think they get a good deal.

One of the "secrets" of these sales is that the organisers will employ staff to place in the crowd to bid on the items, making the items seem very desirable.

These people are known as "shills".

Now, you may have heard this expression before when reading about online auctions such as eBay. Some dodgy sellers will list auctions and then bid on their own auctions using a second ID with the aim of ramping up the price.

Although eBay work hard to stop it happening, it does still happen.

However, eBay isn't the only place where you have to be wary of being taken in by a shill. It occurs a great deal online with business opportunity sellers.

The extent to which it is happening is quite worrying. Supposedly "genuine" business opportunity sellers are fraudulantly promoting their wares.

I'll cover some examples shortly so check back soon!

P.S. If you want to know more about eBay shill bidding, check my other site at:

http://www.BenCatt.com/shill.php

Joel Comm and Virtual Real Estate

2006-10-11T14:00:00.000+01:00

"It's About Building an Empire of Profit-Pulling Websites with Multiple Streams of Income"

I know there have been a lot of big ticket product launches lately.

If you're anything like me, you might be getting a bit bored of all the hype.

Myself, I watched the Rich Jerk's promotion and wondered if anyone actually believed any of the absolute rubbish he was coming out with.

Stolen secrets and an employee being tortured? Hmmm...

Joel Comm is currently less than 24 hours into the launch of his Instant AdSense Templates, and he says that the testimonials continue to come in from those who have seen a preview of the huge template set.

Besides being bigger and better than the first lot (which sold out in a day and a half), it's got a whole new angle...

In a nutshell, people are BLOWN AWAY by the sheer size of the set (over 900 MB shipped on two CDs!) and the rock-bottom price (starts at $197 on day one!).

Well, as you may have noticed if you have visited the sales page, the price goes up every day.

Until around 5pm (GMT) today it is just $197 and it then goes up to $222, then $247, $272, $297 etc

So, if you are even thinking of starting your own Virtual Real Estate empire I would suggest that you snap up a set of these templates TODAY to take advantage of the low price.

I saw Joel speak in September at Robert Puddy's Focus 4 the Future seminar where he explained his $800+ per day Virtual Real Estate (VRE) business.

The guy's an expert - his book, The AdSense Code, has recently become a New York Times Best Seller...

If you're looking for a passive income stream, you owe it to yourself to go and see exactly what I am talking about while the set it still available.

Like Joel says:

"Good Content & Design + Effective Monetization = Foundation of a Profitable Website"

Check it out now:

http://www.BizOppsUK.com/joelcomm

Spread Betting Experiment Idea

2006-10-08T21:10:00.000+01:00

Please note that this post has now been moved to the new business opportunity blog which you can find at:

http://www.BizOppsBlog.com/?p=4

Don't Tell The Professionals... New Trading Course

2006-10-03T17:20:00.000+01:00

Heard about the brand new trading course - Don't Tell The Professionals?

It has been recently published by Keith Cotterill and Nick Laight (he of What Really Makes Money).

What we have here is a NEW trading program that lets you to track, trade and (potentially) profit from ALL financial markets.

As well as a 10 CD-ROM training course, you also receive alert software, unlimited support AND thrice-weekly updates.

How does it differ from the Insider Signal course released earlier this year?

Well as you might recall Andy X focused exclusively on day trading currencies.

However the Don't Tell The Professionals course covers all markets - stocks, shares, currencies, indices etc and it involves positional trading (that is, you don't need to be stuck to your PC all day to monitor trades!).

To get the full picture, please take a look here:

http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/adtrack.asp?AdID=261325

I know Nick Laight very well and trust his opinion.

He's totally above board and I know he honours his guarantees, so you will never have a problem there!

Life After Andy X's Insider Signal...

2006-09-27T18:26:00.000+01:00

After the big splash the Insider Signal course made last year it was only a matter of time before similar financial trading courses were released.

The Insider Signal showed that, with the right sales pitch and promotion, people would readily shell out over £2,200 for a set of CDs...

Handy to know if you are a information publisher, don't you think?

So, shortly after Andrew "Andy X" Riley's Insider Signal course was closed off from the public, 2 new courses are on offer.

Both are CD based courses, both are £1947 + VAT and both carry a "no questions" refund guarantee.

In one of the sales letters the creator says that he has discovered a "secret indicator" which is virtually unknown.

This signal can apparently allow you to take £2,000+ a week out of the markets - in less than one hour per day!

Sounds familiar... :)

The same sales piece states that most systems can only make £200 to £500 per month.

In terms of trading, this statement makes very little sense.

As a financial trader, if you can make 10 points per month you can make 10p, £1 or £100 million a month. It all depends on how much you stake per point.

Let's say I use the same system as you and we both follow the rules exactly.

Now, if I am staking £1 per point and you are staking £1000 per point, we aren't both going to make between £200 and £500 are we?

It's a very strange point to try and make when you are discussing financial trading.

It'll be interesting to see what the buyers make of these new courses and whether these courses will sell anywhere near as well as the Insider Signal...

To read more about the Insider Signal, click on the link below:

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

Nick Laight and the What Really Makes Money Newsletter

2006-09-19T12:15:00.000+01:00

I have added a new page to the site recently which features Nick Laight of Canonbury Publishing.

Nick runs a monthly newsletter called "What Really Makes Money".

http://www.What-Really-Makes-Money.co.uk

As the name suggests, the publication covers various business opportunities and ideas that Nick has come across.

He covers each opportunity in depth and then gives his opinion on whether it is a viable money-maker or not.

As well as being a professional copywriter, Nick is a biz opps expert, he's been in the business for over 15 years working for top companies such as Fleet Street Publications.

I subscribe to Nick's WRMM newsletter and highly recommend it, especially a such a ridiculously low price.

Check the new page out at:

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

RIP Data Entry and "Type at Home" schemes

2006-09-15T19:12:00.000+01:00

In a shake-up of its marketplace, Clickbank has removed several extremely dubious "Data Entry" products from its catalogue.

Some of the most popular such as Data Entry Pro and Data Entry Bank have now disappeared.

These products, and I use that term loosely, were grossly mis-advertised leaving a lot of people feeling scammed once they had paid their money.

Of course, not everyone swallowed the loss and many people took up their complaints directly with Clickbank by asking for a refund.

Obviously, the high number of refunds demanded has prompted Clickbank to act and now these schemes have been removed.

But...

There are a great many people still advertising these products via AdWords and their own "cookie-cutter" sites.

Until word gets around these people will be running adverts which lead to dead Clickbank pages - wasting money in the process.

There's a lesson to be learnt here - don't promote rubbish because it might not always be around and you could be left with a hole in your bank account plus lots of useless links cluttering up the internet!

If you missed it the first time round, here is the page on "Data Entry" schemes:

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

Pathetic eBay phishing attempt

2006-09-14T14:04:00.000+01:00

Got a lovely email today from eBay member "4ow".

Or at least, that's what it looked like until I actually opened it.

The content of the email was simply HTML in its raw format. The moron who sent this out couldn't get his head around the simple process of sending HTML email.

Obviously someone from the Czech Republic has a lot of time on his hands so he is crafting this rubbish and spamming 1000s of email addresses:

"I've sent you the money for the item and I have not receive any it from you!

You are an asshole who tricked me and If you don't Respond Now!!! and explain me what happen' I will contact eBay to report you and I also go to the police!

I am waiting your Respond Now! You have to know I am not so stupid as you think!!!"

To be honest, I think this particular email spammer is even stupider than I think, and his spelling is appalling.

The "Respond Now" link points not to eBay but to a page on the domain mujweb.cz.

A quick WHOIS shows the owner as a Michal Blaha in the Czech Republic.

If you get anything like this in your email inbox, delete it.

Don't bother replying, clicking on a link etc. Just get rid.

You should only ever log into eBay or PayPal by opening a new browser window and typing in the web address in the "Address Bar".

Never click on a link contained in an email which claims to be from eBay, PayPal or your bank.

If you do, you are just helping these desperate morons such as Mr Blaha here.

Focus 4 the Future Seminar, Birmingham

2006-09-02T18:16:00.000+01:00

I'm currently at the Focus 4 the Future seminar in Birmingham which runs from Friday the 1st of September until Sunday the 3rd.

Speakers so far have included Robert Puddy, Martin Avis, Joel Comm and Mike Filsaime.

I've taken copious amounts of notes throughout the speeches so expect some details in future newsletters. The speakers have covered a whole load of information about internet marketing, some great stuff they are using everyday to expand their businesses and make a boat load of profit.

Robert Puddy covered list building, Martin Avis went through the ins and outs of Private Label Rights products, Joel Comm explained how he makes as much as $800 a day with AdSense whilst Mike Filsaime just finished a 2 hour session on Advanced Strategies of Master Marketers.

Stay put and await a full write-up on the weekend's events. I highly recommend attending an event like this, the tips you pick up are superb and the networking element allows you to meet loads of like-minded people over a beer or two!

The "Become Hated" eBook

2006-08-26T10:48:00.000+01:00

I was alerted to this new eBook by a subscriber and so I decided to take a look. - http://www.BecomeHated.co.uk

The name of the package is "Become Hated" which is a bit of a strange name but the title of the webpage makes it clear why.

According to the writers of this manual, you will "become hated" when you are rich from using the techniques given.

The sales letter, which is refreshingly short, suggests that the eBook is written by 7 successful online marketers and each has added their own bit of expertise.

Priced $67, the eBook covers a variety of topics about home based working including websites, casinos, blogs, arbitrage and more.

It is currently being compared to the Rich Jerk although I must admit, I am not quite sure why... Perhaps because a lot of people think the Rich Jerk eBook is the best yet?

Anyway, I found the blog part very good and I am currently using the methods described to try to increase traffic to my own blogs.

As always, I have added a page to the site:

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

Jez Walters - The Problem With Info Products eBook

2006-08-18T10:17:00.000+01:00

All new subscribers to the BizOppsUK newsletter now receive a free eBook, with resale rights.

The report in question is "The Problem with Info Products" by Jez Walters of White Cliff eBooks.

Jez has written it to describe how he makes information products, mainly eBooks, by getting other people to provide all the content.

To sum it up it's a product which shows you how to become a top-level information publisher the easy way.

It's a great read and is usually sold for around £7 - £10 so save yourself a few quid and get if for free here:

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

Here's what is covered in this special report:

:: How the ‘gurus’ create their products
:: How they get other people to do their work for them... for free
:: How you can copy the gurus and do the same
:: How to create an info product in just one hour that can bring you 1000s of dollars
:: Where you can find an inexhaustible supply of top-quality information for free

and much more...

Read more on the newsletter sign-up page:

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

Very Expensive Domain Name Issues

2006-08-18T10:12:00.000+01:00

This post has now been moved to another blog.

You can find the post by clicking here:

http://www.bencatt.co.uk/?p=7

Weird email from BizOppsUK.com newsletter subscriber

2006-07-20T09:56:00.000+01:00

One of my email newsletter subscribers decided to unsubscribe yesterday.

Fair enough, it's well within anyone's rights!

However, on unsubscribing, this person decided to leave a reason why. It read:

"You are still advertising scams in your newsletter ie... RUSSEL GAIN. I e.mailed you before about the Data Entry scams you were advertising on your newsletter. I see you have now turned tail on them. Why don't you investigate your promotions properly before advertising them?"

I'm perplexed, who on earth is Russell Gain? And far from advertising Data Entry scams, I have made a point to advise all subscribers NOT to buy them!

Here's where I have mentioned Data Entry schemes in my newsletter and what I said:

3rd February 2006:

"Apparently, if you buy the "Data Entry Pro" program you are given data to fill into online ads to earn money. The Data Entry Pro team give you the exact ads to enter.

However, why would someone give away money-making advertisements?

Surely, if the adverts make money the providers would just run the ads themselves and pocket the cash?"

16th June 2006:

"Dear Ben, can you give me any information on Data Entry jobs. I joined one at a cost of £50.00 but it seems to be very complicated and also requres you to "pay per click" for completed forms you send in.

I would appreciate some advice here as I do not want to loose any more money. It might be quite workable if I could get the hang of it, but of course the extra money
was not mentioned when I joined the scheme.

Thanks, MW
--------------------
My reply:

This sudden rash of "Data Entry" schemes are a little devious, not quite scams but certainly dishonest.

Each sales letter makes out that you are buying Data Entry work but, when you actually sign up, you find out that they simply want you to advertise their scheme via PPC.

In other words, utter crap.

If you think it could be workable, press on. Read the guide a few times and have a small test with a few PPC ads.

However, if you think you have been misled, press for a refund."

16th July 2006:

"The Data Entry schemes seem to be very hot sellers at the moment, with Data Entry Pro number 1 at Clickbank in the "Money and Employment" section.

The problem is that these schemes are very mis-sold.

Quite simply they are trying to copy Google Cash but do not have the expertise to do this correctly.

Also, where they do provide Data Entry job listings, it is specialist work for professional transcribers etc.

Best to completely avoid any scheme where they say that you can make money filling in forms or "typing data" from home.

Read on the site for more information:

http://www.BizOppsUK.com/data_entry.php"

====================

Now, seriously, could you consider anything from the above snippets to be "advertising" Data Entry schemes?

The problem I now face is that this person has unsubscribed and left the message "P.S Do not send me anymore e.mails" so I cannot even contact him/her to try and get an explanation!

I'm wondering if they have mistaken Google AdSense on my site for my own personal advertising?

As you may be aware, Google place contextual adverts on my site - the nature of the ads relates to the content of the page. So, if I am talking about dodgy Data Entry schemes, Google will show ads for Data Entry schemes.

Perhaps this unhappy ex-subscriber wrongly assumed I, myself, was placing the adverts on my site.

Oh well, some people act first and think later. Personally I think the above person has been burnt by this scheme and is looking for someone to blame!

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

New "Business with Breakfast" Forum

2006-07-18T19:48:00.000+01:00

Hi,

No news as such today but I wanted to let you know about a brand new forum which has just been "opened".

If you're anything like me, you probably love reading about other people's experience with business opportunities. The
problem we face is that there aren't many dedicated and independant free UK business opportunity forums.

Hopefully this is about to change as I came across this new one by chance today as I was surfing another site.

It's at the following address:

http://www.BusinessWithBreakfast.co.uk/

Before you ask, no, it isn't mine! I've never got round to creating a forum and I doubt I ever will. Moderating it
would be a full-time job.

Anyway, the forum is brand new and if you want to post some comments on it, perhaps relay some experiences
you have had, then please go ahead.

I can see this forum getting very popular over the coming weeks.

Look out for me in there, I have registered with the imaginative username of "Ben".

Data Entry Schemes - are they a scam?

2006-07-18T08:51:00.000+01:00

====================
Question from a newsletter subscriber:

Dear Ben, can you give me any information on Data Entry jobs. I joined one at a cost of £50.00 but it seems to be very complicated and also requres you to "pay per click" for completed forms you send in.

I would appreciate some advice here as I do not want to loose any more money. It might be quite workable if I could get the hang of it, but of course the extra money
was not mentioned when I joined the scheme.

Thanks, MW
====================
My reply:

This sudden rash of "Data Entry" schemes are a little devious, not quite scams but certainly dishonest.

Each sales letter makes out that you are buying Data Entry work but, when you actually sign up, you find out that they simply want you to advertise their scheme via PPC.

In other words, utter crap.

If you think it could be workable, press on. Read the guide a few times and have a small test with a few PPC ads.

However, if you think you have been misled, press for a refund.

====================
For more information on Data Entry schemes and the problems with them, check out the free report on the site:
http://www.BizOppsUK.com/data_entry.php

Fantastic Pay - Money down the drain?

2006-07-14T12:44:00.000+01:00

Fantastic Pay popped up at the end of March, the idea of a Canadian entrepreneur called Brian Lindback.

The scheme promises that, once you join up and invest, you will be paid a set amount per month indefinitely.

Join-up fees are $18 and investment amounts start from just $10.

It works like this:

You invest between $10 and $10,000 for between 1 and 6 months. At the end of the term, your monthly payments begin.

Invest for 1 month, you get 10% monthly.
2 months, 25% monthly.
3 months, 50% monthly.
4 months, 75% monthly.
5 months, 125% monthly.
6 months, 200% monthly.

Now, this is a lot of money to pay out indefinitely but the owners are confident that it can be acheived. The money invested is used to finance property deals and, according to the site, is "never at risk".

To test this out, I have invested $25 for 6 months. If it works, I get $50 a month once my 6 months is up - around December time.

I've put more on the site, be sure to understand the warnings and don't risk money that you can't afford to lose!

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

Prosperity Automated System

2006-07-11T08:25:00.000+01:00

After I mentioned the PAS system in a previous newsletter I hope you had chance to look up the forum where it features heavily.

http://www.scam.com

With any scheme of this type you will get two sides of people who contribute to threads.

The first side, the PAS members, are almost fanatical about how great PAS can be. Of course, this is because they have to introduce new members to continue earning. Once the new members dry up, this scheme fails, with many people losing thousands.

On the other hand, the people who do not agree with PAS and who are not happy with this type of pyramid scheme are trying their best to stop people signing up.

In a book I recently read by John Harrison of Streetwise Publications, he mentioned that out of all of the business opportunities his company offers he receives the most mail about gambling systems.

His reasoning is that people are lazy and wish to get that "big win" rather than actually working for money. Gambling is seen as an easy way out, just like PAS is seen by the desperate and greedy people who sign up from it.

One statistic that I read was that 4% of the population of America are involved in an MLM and Pyramid schemes of one form or another. Scary...

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

Avril Harper - £500 a Week as an eBay Trader?

2006-07-06T08:38:00.000+01:00

Question:

Hi Ben,
In your opinion is it possible to make a good living from home with an eBay business? I have received a business op from Avril Harper 'How to make £500 a week selling other people's products on eBay.' Is it worth a look at? CB

Answer:

£500 a week on eBay? I'm sure it can be done. The problem is, how many items will you have to sell to make this much?

If you make £1 on each, do you really want to pack and ship 500 products? The perfect scenario would be to sell 5 at £100 profit each.

I've seen a couple of Avril's publications, the latest I have read being the "Powerseller Profit Report".

For years, Avril has been selling business opportunities revolving around "ephemera" (although this may not be what is offered here).

She calls it "tearing up old papers and magazines" for profit.

Basically, she finds old National Geographic magazines and other periodicals, cuts out pictures, mounts them and sells them on.

Collectors and enthusiasts apparently go mad for things like this. I must admit, it wasn't something I was interested in doing - seemed too much like I needed to become an expert in old print. Therefore I didn't really look into it.

As far as I know, Avril is an honest biz opp provider and honours guarantees. It may be worth having a look at the opp to see what the deal is and returning the product if you don't think it is viable.

For more info about eBay, check out my tips and tricks site:

http://www.BenCatt.com

or Jim Cockrum's eBook, the "Silent Sales Machine Hiding on eBay":

http://www.SilentSalesMachine.co.uk

Emails From the Winters Investment Network

2006-06-30T12:11:00.000+01:00

Despite several emails and two phone calls, two of my email addresses are still receiving promotional emails from Darren Winters' "Winters Investment Network" company.

Worst still, they are advertising the free seminar which I have already attended!

See http://www.BizOppsUK.com/darren_winters.php for more details of that particular event.

Anyway, their email is sent as follows (spelling mistakes have been purposely left in!);

Subject: Claim you're [sic] complimentary training course ticket

Hi Ben Catt,

Would you be happy with stock-market returns like these?

£24,000 gain in 1 WEEK with a start capital of £10k
(Darryl Jones)

£920 gain in 2 months starting with just £300
(Kokila Patel)

£30,000 into £38,000 in 3 months
(Norbert Cauvas)

£1,000 to £7,000 in just two months
(Ravi Summan)

A return of 242% in 8 months (gain of over £12k)
(Jim Thornton)

£11,000 to £36,000 in 1 year
(Wai Hau)

What all these people (and many, many more) have discovered is a way to make serious gains by following a clear and comprehensive investing strategy. A simple system that needs no previous experience – has brought them ‘sky’s the limit’ results – and, just as important, has built-in safeguards to minimize loss when you follow the rules!

Plus, you need only work a few hours a week for the potential to get the really big paydays - maybe five hours for absolute beginners. And those paydays could be spectacular – both when the market is going up, and when it’s going down too!

The fact is, most ‘amateur’ investors rack up sizable losses… and all that capital goes to the people who know what they’re doing … the trick is to invest just like the great investors do (and not like everybody else) then all of that capital is coming to you. And if you want to know how to do that, just look at this:

www.wininvesting.co.uk

What’s more, you can learn the killer techniques of the great market traders... with our complimentary training course... if you’re quick

By taking action straight away you can learn the proven secrets of successful investors absolutely without charge, at an amazing 3-hour tutorial - hosted by training leaders Win-Investing - that has received the highest recommendations by past attendees … 89% of attendees rated the course as very good to outstanding! (from a survey of 248 people)

(NB. Our courses are held all across the Country, including: London / Cambridge/ Heathrow / Gatwick / Bournemouth/ Leicester/ Liverpool / Birmingham /Manchester / Leeds / Bristol / Cardiff/ Exeter / Plymouth / York/ Dublin/

www.wininvesting.co.uk

Here’s the package you can claim:

* Two tickets to the UK’s most popular investing course - giving you three hours and hundreds of pounds’ worth of some of the best investing techniques available anywhere

Then at or shortly after attending the event you will receive:

* A 30-minute Power Trading Strategies d.v.d or video training course (worth £200.00) – just for turning up and registering!

* Plus, you get a complimentary wealth report – ‘Making great returns whether shares go up or down’ (worth £55)

The only condition is that you get in touch straight away, as venues are already booked - once all tickets are confirmed no extra places can be squeezed in.

www.wininvesting.co.uk

Wishing you lifelong wealth and success,

Vincent Hannigan

PS: Remember, there are only a limited number of places available, and this invitation may be made available to other groups in the next few days. So it’s time to act if you’re ready to join the golden 20% of ‘in the know’ investors who make the big gains, and make them often!

PS: If this millionaire investing system is so good, why is it complimentary – for some – for the moment? All is revealed...

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

Sara Brown, Tony Shepherd and Laycock Publishing

2006-06-28T15:37:00.000+01:00

If you have spent much time trading on eBay, you may well have come across Sara Brown.

Sara sells a range of information products, but not paper and ink products. Her specialty is eBooks.

Along with Tony Shepherd, Sara runs Laycock Publishing.

For over two years, Sara has built a reputation for providing quality information at a reasonable price. Along with her eBooks she also provides e-mail support to all customers.

However, it now looks like Sara has moved away from eBay and she is concentrating on selling her work through various websites.

Tony is not a big fan of eBay and has not traded on there for quite a while.

His main product is called the One Month Magnate. His previous products have included the Escape eBay manual and a system revolving around public domain material.

Both Tony and Sara provide down-to-earth material suitable for anyone who wishes to start an Internet marketing business. Both marketers have a good few years experience in their chosen subjects and can be relied upon not to exaggerate.

Sara makes a point to stress to potential customers that it isn't an easy ride being an Internet marketer you do have to put in hard work to see the benefit.

You can find out more by visiting the site:

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

The Times Rich List - 23rd April 2006

2006-06-23T22:40:00.000+01:00

I don't know if you managed to get the Sunday Times' Rich List supplement from April but it was very interesting reading.

There was a surprise entry in the list at joint 755th, a person who features on BizOppsUK.com.

You may have read about him or may have skipped past, uninterested. This person is probably not who you think but is quietly worth an estimated £78million!

Once a year the Sunday Times publishes details of the 1,000 richest people in Britain and Ireland in its "Rich List".

Up at the top you have the likes of Lakshmi Mittal, Roman Abramovich and the Duke of Westminster with mind-blowing wealth estimated at £14,881m, £10,800m and £6,600m
respectively.

In fact, you can't even get in the top 50 anymore without being a billionaire.

To get into the top 1,000 you must have at least £60million.

So, who was the mystery person featured on BizOppsUK.com who was in the Rich List?

None other than Jim Moore of Inside Track and Inside Access.

No doubt helped along by the property boom, Jim is now listed as a new entry at 755= with an estimated fortune of £78m.

Here's what the Sunday Times printed:

"Moore set up Inside Track in 2001 to advise on buy-to-let properties. Ahead of a possible sale or float of the Surrey firm and its related company, Instant Access Properties, he and his family trusts have a stake worth £78m."

£78million in 5 years? That's £1.3m a month. Quite a hefty pay packet...

More about Inside Track on the site:

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

The Worn Paper System

2006-06-19T08:29:00.000+01:00

Sara Brown has been at it again, or at least I think she has.

It could've been Tony Shepherd.

The point is, Laycock Publishing have released a new eBook concerned with a very valuable piece of old paper.

But, they aren't admitting to it...

The Worn Paper system is a new eBook which has been credited as being from "Worn Paper Publications".

However, it is quite blatantly written by either Tony Shepherd or Sara Brown as their sites are mentioned as examples throughout the text.

The system aims to show you how to create successful websites to bring in an online income.

I bought it and read it a couple of times and, although I do think it contains a couple too many sly ads for Sara and Tony's products, it is a very good manual.

You can read more about Sara and Tony on the website:

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

To find out more about the Worn Paper system, go to the sales page at:

http://www.WornPaper.co.uk

The Fixed Odds Trader Service from Vince Stanzione

2006-06-16T13:53:00.000+01:00

A couple of people have recently asked about Vince Stanzione's Fixed Odds Trader service.

It's not cheap at £99 per month but, if the literature is to be believed, Vince can make you a 571% return in a few weeks with his tipster service..

To advertise the service, Vince sent out invitation cards which read:

"Here's your personal invitation to join the most exciting and profitable trading service in the UK.

Brought to you by Millionaire trader, Vince Stanzione.

Discover how you could make 571% return within the next few weeks..."

The card then gave a special URL and code to use.

It certainly sounds good but like most tipsters, there are drawbacks.

The major drawback with betting on financial markets at BetOnMarkets are the prices of the bets.

Often Vince recommends betting £2,000+ to win just £1,000 i.e. you bet £2,000 and if it wins you get back £3,000.

However, if it loses you lose the entire £2,000.

Obviously, to profit when the bets are priced so highly you need *at least* a 67% strike rate.

Here's an example of the bets that Vince issues to members:

Bet recommended by Vince on 03/11/05:

Win GBP3000 if, at the close of trading on 8-NOV-05, FTSE Index is lower than 5400 (BEAR CONTRACT)

Trade price was GBP2083.4 (=69% of payout). Payout is GBP3000 (=1.43 times trade price)

Result: Bet Lost. FTSE 100 closes at 5,460.90 on the 8th November resulting in a massive loss of £2083.40.

Of course, Vince will have winning trades, the above is just an example.

There is more on the site:

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

More about BetOnMarkets can be found at:

www.FinancialSpreadTrading.co.uk/betonmarkets/ or
http://www.BeatBetOnMarkets.com

Andrew Reynolds, "Brett" and the 72 Hour System

2006-06-13T12:25:00.000+01:00

Fancy a new Cash On Demand business which can make you £7,000 to £20,000+ in just 72 hours each time you use it?

Andrew Reynolds is holding a 4 day Summit between the 22nd and 25th June where he will be demonstrating a completely new Cash On Demand system to all attendees.

7 trialists, all of whom had never done anything like this before, managed to make at least £7,000 each in just 72 hours...

Places are strictly limited so please go to www.The72HourSystem.net asap to find out more

Further details can be found on the site:

BizOppsUK.com

Prosperity Automated System and the MegaWealth Group

2006-06-08T13:42:00.000+01:00

I recently received the following email:

------------------------------------------------
Hi Ben

Just received a communication from a guy called Simon Johansonn of Lord and Thomas at The Mega Wealth Group in London.

Their website is: www.********.com [site removed - I don't want to send them any traffic] and the name says exactly what they are promising [27k per week!].

I dont know what the cost is but I wondered if you have any info.

Thanks,

MC
------------------------------------------------

I have seen these websites being advertised all over the place.

There have been a few adverts in the National Press (wedged in between the *many* adverts for the Bill Myers DVD sets)

The "opportunity" here is called the Prosperity Automated System, commonly referred to as simply "PAS".

You have received this mailing from someone going by the name of Charlie Golick from Golick Marketing Group.

Charlie here is one of the first people to sign up for the PAS system and is now trying to get you into his downline.

In a nutshell, PAS is a variety of pyramid scheme and is currently operating worldwide.

Each member has to buy in at a cost of up to $3,895 and is then able to introduce others to the scheme.

Their first sale goes to their referrer and then, after that, further sales give them up to $3,000 commission, depending on the package they choose.

The other $895 goes to the Prosperity Automated System company who run the websites and make all the phone calls to prospective leads.

Free Gift?

In order to find out more about the site I put in my name and email address with the promise of a free gift worth £800 or so. This never appeared.

Anyway, I copied all of the sales pitch into a Word document, printed it out and read it on the train home from work. It came to 25 pages of sales waffle.

Something doesn't add up about PAS and I have a feeling that a lot of people will lose a lot of money.

Please, keep your money in the bank and don't hand it over to MegaWealth, despite the massive rewards they promise.

In the meantime, please feel free to read more about Simon Johansson through the links below:

BBC Link 1
BBC Link 2

A much more comprehensive report is available on the site:

www.BizOppsUK.com/prosperity_automated_system.php

The Insider Signal by Andy X

2006-05-25T12:18:00.000+01:00

Since sales letters started going out at the beginning of 2006, a lot of talk on forums has been about this new business opportunity.

"Andy X" is allegedly an ex-professional forex trader who became disillusioned about trading for city clients and decided to quit and trade for himself.

According to the sales letter, he is able to make upwards of £200 a day working for just half an hour.

Sounds great doesn't it?

The whole promotion revolves around this special signal which you can apparently use to make loads of money trading the forex markets via spread betting.

Streetwise and Fleet Street Publications are now both promoting this opportunity with a cast iron 30 day guarantee for around £2,300.

Although it is easy for "Andy X" to make these claims and hide behind a false name, forex trading is a legitimate source of income for someone with the correct personality.

You only have to read through a forum such as:

http://www.Trade2Win.com

to find lots of people who trade online for a living. The dubious part of this opportunity is the claim that there is a signal which you can look for that guarantees profit.

This "Insider Signal" does not exist. However, the course has had good reviews and the guarantee is rock solid.

More on the site:

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

Pat Adams and the UK Masters seminars

2006-05-19T14:09:00.000+01:00

Pat Adams, the man behind the very popular "UK Masters" seminars, has decided to retire. Now, this is very interesting news for 2 reasons:

(a) Pat is, quite possibly, at the most successful point of his career so far. Therefore, his decision to retire has puzzled a few people (me included) as he could continue making money for years to come with his existing products.

He admits, he hasn't even advertised these products properly yet so the market is wide open for someone to take these on and promote them.

(b) Pat is selling a very limited number of licences to his DVD products and also to a wide range of additional items.

One of the most exciting offers included in this sale is the resale rights to over 100 hours of seminar and workshop footage. This means you can literally create your own personal DVD products.

As far as I know, this is a first in terms of licencing offers of this kind...

Anyway, there is a whole lot more explained on the site. The address is:

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

Stuart Goldsmith and Medina Limited

2006-05-10T12:41:00.000+01:00

Following his 2005 "retirement" seminars it seems that Stuart Goldsmith, former owner of Medina Limited, has now released a brand new course.

Under a new company, Alithea Limited, Stuart is promoting a monthly home study course entitled "Real Life".

From the sales letter it sounds like this new publication is along the same lines as his "Inner Circle" offering.

If you are new to Business Opportunities or haven't previously heard of Stuart, the Inner Circle was an extremely successful set of modules which showed the ordinary person how to make a lot of money through mail order.

Of course, the Inner Circle was also a great cash cow for Mr Goldsmith. He was able to sell more that 23,000 subscriptions at the time. At around £20 per month for 10 months, you can see that he knows how to make money via information publishing!

The new update can be read at:

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

Amin Sadak and the Affluent Desktop Currency Trader Course

2006-04-26T14:49:00.000+01:00

Amin Sadak offers a currency trading course entitled "The Affluent Desktop Currency Trader".

His aim on writing the course was to show the average person how to trade the FOREX market to make a living from home.

Although he has only been trading for 2 years or so, he is consistently able to profit from backing his opinion on daily currency fluctuations.

In his course he shows you how to mimic what he has done and demystifies the currency markets.

With the recent appearance of "The Insider Signal" course from Streetwise at £2000+, Amin's course seems a snip at just $97 (around £60).

Both cover the same material although Amin offers several strategies in his course so you can paper trade each one to find out which suits you best.

He also offers full email support to all customers in case there is anything you do not understand.

More on the site:

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

Entrepreneur's Bootcamp, Wembley, 2005

2006-04-12T13:51:00.000+01:00

If you have heard of Andrew Reynolds, you may have heard about the Entrepreneur's Bootcamp he held last year at Wembley.

Andrew organised the event for his Cash On Demand home study course subscribers.

2,600 attendees, 10+ speakers, a massive 3 day event - all for charity.

The speakers were some of the best internet marketers, copywriters and direct mail experts in the world. People like Ted Nicholas, Stephen Pierce, Armand Morin, Frank Garon, Carl Galletti, Derek Gehl etc

Anyway, quite by accident I came across a site where you can get the DVDs of the event as well as licences to some new products.

I've written a little more here:

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

Michael Hein - Making Money From Financial Speculation

2006-04-11T08:52:00.000+01:00

This post has now been moved to the new BizOppsUK blog.

To read this further, please go to:

http://www.bizoppsblog.com/?p=5

Streetwise Publications and John Harrison

2006-04-05T13:06:00.000+01:00

This post has now been removed and updated.

Please see the following site for the new post:

http://www.BizOppsBlog.com/?p=3

Darren Winters (Winters Investment Network)

2006-04-04T13:16:00.000+01:00

This post has now been moved.

To read this further, please go to:

http://www.bizoppsblog.com/?m=20061018