I've Tried That - We lose money so you don't have to!

This post is in response to a request from Tricia, a reader with a burning question about ivanblogsecrets.com:

This site is actually a blog describing the program.It is really enticing.I would love to try it but wanted to know if it was a scam or not. Could you please check this out? It is by a school teacher who supposedly does a program that makes 100,000 a yr. Check out his blog he explains it all. I tried to check it out on Google but found nothing as it really doesn’t have a name for the program. Thanks
[Editorial comment by Joe: First red flag. If, after reading a page that allegedly "explains it all," you don't know the name of the program or what it would have you doing, score -10 against the program.]

We get a lot of these requests every week. I thought this one would be a good one to look at more closely, not because it’s particularly scammy or unique (it’s neither), but because it’s a good illustration of the onion nature of Internet sharketing. It’s all about the layers. Learning to peel them back is an important skill.

Let’s start from where Tricia stands and work backward.
Layer 1
She reads the page and then thinks, “Hmmm…I’m still a little unsure. I wonder what the I’ve Tried That guys know about this?” and she fires off an email wanting to know if ivanblogsecrets.com is a scam or a legitimate product.

It’s no wonder Tricia’s Google search turned up empty. Ivanblogsecrets.com is not a program or product, so naturally you wouldn’t find any reviews of it. It is actually just a sales page (designed to look like a blog) for a product that is (at least) one layer removed from Ivan. Meaning “Ivan” didn’t develop the product he’s promoting. He probably didn’t even use it because “Ivan” isn’t what normal people would call a real person. He is a composite person made up of loose facts and a lot of marketing embellishment.

Layer 2: The Affiliate Sharketer Layer
“Ivan” is just one school teacher of many school teachers who are now making loads of cash from the system the page is promoting.

How is this possible? Is it a miracle made only for school teachers? Can you be next??

No and no. The reason there are so many school teachers making big money with this program is that the “life story” or description or whatever you want to call it (I call it “sales copy”) is a canned part of a sales campaign that many different marketers are using.

Here are two close copies of “Ivan’s” page:

http://factoidz.com/robert-allens-system-worked-for-me-how-i-did-it/

http://make-money-scams.com/

That means that if I want to sell the same product, I might be able to use Ivan’s text, and just change the names around. Rewrite the sentences a little. Hey, it’s working, so why should I write something from scratch? I’m not really trying to help people just like you…I’m trying to earn more commissions by selling a product.

Layer 3: What The “School Teachers” Are Selling
If you follow enough links on “Ivan’s” blog or the other pages I mentioned, you’ll get to Robert Allen’s Multiple Streams of Income course, which, for $59.95, will teach you how to, well, develop multiple streams of income.

So the program Tricia should be researching is Robert Allen Multiple Streams of Income. Google that with the word “scam” and you’ll get a lot to chew on. (If you search without the word “scam,” you’ll see all the Ivan-like pages that are promoting the product.)

Robert Allen’s Multiple Streams of Income: Quick Impressions

This post is not intended to give a thorough review of the program. If you are considering buying the program, you will want to do some additional research. I’m just going to give some quick first impressions here.

The Good Side
The guarantee looks pretty solid. You pay your money, try out his techniques for a year, and then get your money back if you’re not satisfied. I didn’t see any complaints from people who were not able to get refunds.

The Bad Side
After reading parts of several sales pages, I still only have a very vague of what the course will teach me to do.

Also, there’s this, from “Ivan’s” “blog”:

How it works in a nutshell
Have you ever wondered what those sponsored links are on the side of Google, whenever you do a search for something, anything. Well people are getting paid to post them. They don’t have to build a website, they don’t need to sell anything, they don’t need to pick up the phone and talk to anyone. Post those links and then instantly get paid when someone clicks on them. And not only Google, but Facebook, Myspace, Yahoo are all looking for a bunch of people to do that for them.

So that was what I did. I had all the help and support I need from Robert Allen team that guided me through the whole process. It was amazing. Not just an 800 number, but they would actually call you instead to help you set up the whole process. Wow, that was easy. And that was exactly what we needed.

That really pushes the limits of truthiness. I don’t know of any programs, Google or otherwise, that pay you just for posting links. You get paid when people click on your links (pennies per click) and when they buy things after clicking your links. The chances of your links getting enough clicks to make you $6,000 per month are very, very slim.

Bottom line? If you have $60 to spare and would like to check it out, I think you’re safe to do so. If those are your last $60 and it’s this or groceries, buy groceries.