‘Wise men talk because they have something
to say; fools, because they have to say
something” ~Plato

“It is better to be thought of as a fool than
to open ones mouth and remove all doubt”
~Shakespeare

For some reason I find the term fool very offensive, but
find it interesting that both Plato and Shakespeare used
that term in their quotes.

It is nearly impossible for me to visit an online forum on
any subject and not be reminded of the two quotes above.

I am constantly researching various niches and have found
forums to be a great place to get the pulse of the public
on virtually any subject.

You will observe the same crowd or personality types in
every forum, regardless of the subject matter. After reading
a page or two of post you can immediately tell who knows
what they are talking about based upon experience and
who just likes to hear themselves talk.

I can’t spell very well, have dyslexia and in general have
a very short fuse and no patience as it relates to forums.

I am smart, on 90% of the forums I visit, I am
smart enough to know I am ignorant. I am there to
learn from people with successful experience, I am
not there to listen to the opinions of those that have
nothing better to do than try to act like they know what
they are talking about.

I know, I know ……. it is politically correct to embrace the
exchange of ideas with people with different levels of success
and experience. The truth is some of us simply don’t have
the time or patience to be politically correct.

Please do me a favor and let your inexperience, ignorance,
and total lack of awareness oooose out of you in a chat
room somewhere, but not in the forums.

A general rule is successful people in any market don’t
hang out in chat rooms unless they are being paid to do
so.

The only forums that I take the time to express my
opinion (based upon 25 years of experience and millions
of dollars in income) are marketing related.

Quite frankly with everyone drinking the “Attraction Marketing”
cool aide these are probably the worst, when it comes to a
waste of time. It is amazing how many network marketers
have all the answers but no downline team.

For attraction marketing to work, you should be
attractive. I try to tell my new coaching clients, DO IT
then Talk About it. The Internet is full of people trying
to teach you how to do that which they have never done.

It is amazing how many network marketers who think
they are being clever are really just revealing their shallow
thinking and self centeredness. They have not had the
“leadership paradigm shift” yet.

They have not figured out it is not about them, it is
about what can be duplicated with a team of people.

Forums and Chat Rooms can be compared to Saturday
morning “How to” radio and radio call in shows. Radio
call in shows are notorious for having people call in with
their opinion that have no background or experience on
the subject matter, but love to hear themselves talk.

Contrastly every major radio market
run “How to” call in shows on Saturday mornings with a
recognized expert. How to grow flowers, How to
fix your car, How to invest your money and the list
goes on and on.

When listening to these shows you know you are getting
advice from a proven expert, not someone who’s life revolves
around calling in to radio talk shows to hear themselves
rant.

I love a good debate when it is between experienced
people with proven track records of success. There is
nothing more annoying than when a naive beginner attempts
to challenge those with a proven track record. If they would
shut up and think, they just might learn something.

‘Wise men talk because they have something
to say; fools, because they have to say something”
~Plato

From time to time I may ask for clarification or for someone
to expand and take their concept or thought deeper. The last
thing I would do is to disagree with an expert in a subject
where I am trying to learn and grow. Forums are great tools
for newbie’s to learn when they can identify who is worth
listening to and who isn’t.

About once a week I will log on to MLM or Marketing Forums
with one goal. To see if there is anyone I can help. That’s it,
I really get disgusted with all of the terrible advice I see
being dished out as gospel truth by people that simply
THINK they know what they are talking about.

I try to give theses people the benefit of the doubt. I know
that most really are trying to help and over all the number
of “agenda driven” responses are minimal.

However when answers and advice go directly
against common sense, the numbers, and human
nature it drives me crazy!

There is nothing worse than ignorance. Ignorant advice
being given when everyone except the person giving
it knows it is ignorant or agenda driven.

“It is better to be thought of as a fool than
to open ones mouth and remove all doubt”
~Shakespeare

The first MLM Forum I was ever on was with the old
ISP Prodigy. Prodigy owned the market before AOL.

They had a very active MLM Board.

There was a guy who hung out on the board, his last
Name was Mayo. His mission in life was to discourage
every network marketer he possibly could.

I met several good people on that board that over
time became good friends. So it was like us against
Mayo.

He would discourage every new distributor who found
the board and then the rest of us would let the new
person know to ignore the fool.

Oh for the good ole days!

Back then the newbies were there to learn and the
older, more successful distributors were there to
support and help.

If a person considering the industry found that board
they would find it comforting to be able to hang out
with such a supportive group of friends.

Compare that to any MLM or Marketing Fourm today
and it is like night and day.

Dog eat Dog
Mine is Better than Yours
Self-Proclaimed Gurus
Big Ego, no Success

Well you get the idea. If most prospects found a MLM
Forum today all we would do is discourage them from
ever getting involved in the industry.

We have become the Mayo’s and it is sad, very sad.

Even worse are the “fools” giving advice.

Nobody cares about your opinion. What is your track
record? If you don’t have a track record then do
everyone a favor and keep your opinion to yourself
or go hang out in a chat room somewhere.

There are plenty of knowledgeable people on every
forum that people like me want to hear from and
learn from, shut up and let them speak!

If I go to a Tax Lien Investing Forum, I want to learn
from successful tax lien investors. Nobody wants to waste
time reading the opinions of a bunch of wanna be’s who
are attempting to pick apart a successful
investing system.

Before you post on a Forum really think. What is your
motivation for doing so and more importantly why
should anyone care what you have to say?

Are you sharing from experience or your opinion?

Always share from experience and honestly try to
help people and over time people will see that and
respect you for it.

There is no question that over my career I have lost
more money by not jumping on a particular business
model or opportunity than I have by taking action.

Don’t get me wrong, off of the top of my head I can recall losing
well over 1/2 a million dollars from various business ventures
that haven’t worked out.

It has been said that all new ideas go through 3 stages:

* Violently Opposed

* Ridicule

* Obvious to the Masses

By the time an opportunity or business model becomes
“Obvious to the Masses” the Big Money has already
been made.

We could all name dozens of opportunities over the
years that we let pass us by.

As this applies to the Internet I have two conflicting
thoughts.

Internet Marketing Strategies are constantly evolving
and have a very short “BIG MONEY” life span.

How many times have you read about the BIG
MONEY a Guru is making with a particular strategy
with what appears to be documentation
to back up their claim and thought

“If they are making this kind of money, why
are they willing to teach everything to me in a
$97 E-book and create their own competition?”

If the guru is willing to share their BIG MONEY
strategy then the “BIG MONEY” life span of that
strategy has ended.

Just because they were able to make $94,000 a month with a
particular Internet Marketing Business Model does not mean
you will be able to duplicate that kind of income.

Please don’t miss understand me, I am not saying that their
product or business model is worthless.  I buy everything &
believe in the power of becoming “self educated”.

I am always willing to invest money to learn new marketing
and business models from SOMEONE WHO HAS DONE IT.

In doing so I understand that the “BIG MONEY LIFE SPAN”
is probably over.

I am talking about INTERNET MARKETING STRATEGIES, not
Network Marketing.

Years ago I got inside information from a gentleman that had
made over $250K as an affiliate for a calendar company the
last 1/4 of the year using some strategy called Google Adwords.

This was before anyone knew what Google Adwords was.
I meant to check it out, but didn’t get around to it until
a few years later when marketing with “google adwords”
was well on it’s way to becoming “OBVIOUS TO THE MASSES”.

I jumped on Twitter early, but not near as aggressively as
I should have.  While some may claim to be earning
$94,000 a month with Twitter, for the most part those days
are over.  Yes, you still should be using Twitter daily and there
are Twitter business models that will make you $$$ but the
“BIG MONEY LIFE SPAN” with Twitter is probably over.

I could give you example after example as it relates to proven
Internet marketing strategies.

Now my 2nd thought is regarding network marketing.
People miss the big money in network marketing not
because the opportunity passes them by, but because
they don’t seriously evaluate opportunities with Big
Money potential and end up buying into the
hype of companies guaranteed to be short lived.

The “Trump Network”  & The Verge Phone deal
immediately comes to mind, and I have already
shared by thoughts regarding the hype
around the Trump roll out in another post.

I could spend a lot more time on this subject but I
won’t for now.  Just understand that just because
you have HEARD ABOUT A COMPANY or READ ABOUT
IT does not mean you have EVALUATED IT.

In a recent MLM Minute training I talked about how to
start the evaluation of any company. These should be
your first 4 questions.

Does the product or services appeal to the masses?

Can I recoup my monthly investment with a team of not
more than 5 people?

What do I have to do to earn a $1,000 a month?

Who are the principals behind the company and what is
their track record within the industry?

Be honest with yourself when answering these questions
and you will be well on your way to finding a company with
strong upside potential.

The people who get involved with network marketing
companies within the first 3 years are the one’s that
take advantage of the Big Money Life span and end up
becoming 7 figure earners, IF those companies continue
to grow.  Again, understand what I am saying, yes there
will still be a few people who will join Amway in 2010 who
end up earning six figures, but I certainly don’t expect
any 7 figure earners to be sponsored.

In general “the more credible the company, the less
of a Big Money Opportunity exist with that company”

So why do some Big Money Internet marketing business models
only last a few months and Network Marketing opportunities
3 years or so?

Internet Marketing is usually developed around new
technologies or applications of the technology.

Network Marketing is based upon the development
of people. The attitudes and desires of people
(or lack there of) is basically the same now as it was
50 years or so ago when MLM started.

Conversely, in the time it has taken me to write this post
in some way or fashion Internet Technology has changed,
we just don’t know about it yet.

I have been running solo advertising for many years.

As all advertising it all comes down to numbers.

Profit from Ad Sales  - Add Cost = Profit

If the numbers work, continue to run the add as
long as it is profitable. 
TOP RATED SITES TO RUN SOLO ADVERTISING:

http://www.UltimateResourceBarn.com

http://www.ezines-r-us.com

http://www.adsmarket.com

http://www.bizopzine.com

http://www.moneymakingmommy.com

Have an Ezine?

You can BUY SUBSCRIBERS from List Sellers

http://www.hiplists.com

http://www.ListPartners.com

http://www.Worldwidelist.com

http://www.RankYou.com