This actually quite upset me....

Wow. That sucks. This becoming more and more common these days as people are losing everything. I wish that I could help this guy, but I too am close to his situation. You just have to keep fighting through

hypnosis is a huge market .. I saw the ebook graphic "Make Me Thin System" that is very vague and generic.. why not put hypnosis on the book cover.. shows your lacking in salesmanship.. also your old profession is DJ.. there are a lot of opportunities there.. help fellow DJ career? DJ training.. DJ resource.. DJ forums... DJ networking.. on and on ...

I don't believe his financial problems can be solved until he has professional counseling for what appears to be an addictive personality.

Similar to gambling, serial hobbyists and obsessive compulsive behavior is the root that can lead to the financial ruin which is a symptom.

In other words, losing all of the money, materials, and possible relationships are a result of the behavior.

I am not a professional so anything that I state here is purely from personal experience within my family.
He should consult with a professional before acting on anything some guy in a forum, like me, has to say.

The reason I made those statements above rather than try to help find a way to financially help him is if he is suffering from what I described, then the money won't solve the problem.

Matt

Hi Simon,

It's a little hard and I'm in no position to
advice you... but if there's someone who
can... it's Sylvie Fortin (Michel Fortin's
better half).

In fact, she create an entire product to
rant/teach about it here:
Internet Marketing Sins: An Open Letter to All Internet Marketers

Absolutely free.

The email you got sounds a bit similar
to what she's received throughout the
years of her business...

Stories so pitiful it makes you want to
rip your heart out and Fedex it to them.

But they're part of the deal of I.M.
(or so, I heard).

So that's probably why most "gurus" tend
to turn a blind eye to such emails... as
people expect gurus to give them all
the help they need for nothing.

(And to FLY DOWN and STAY with him for
a week to teach him how to make fast
money?)

From the looks of it, this guy needs to
be given the smack down... like, really
lay it hard on him. That he's the one
responsible for where he is right now.

The first step is always accepting
responsibility.

Don't expect handouts. I saw a video
by Matt Bacak (if memory serves) of how
a BLIND DUDE made more than 5 figures
a month.

BLIND.

Sometimes, you give people a fish to
help them out. But if the fishing rod and
hook is in front of them but they insist
on not using it because "it's not the
latest RX2000 model", they need to wake
up.

Kind regards,
Asher

More and more I can see a business opportunity here:

I should team up with my wife, who is a psychiatrist, and open a rehab center for IM addicts...

Better yet, make a product line (report, e-course, book, DVD, coaching...etc.) and sell it online

I always say... only invest what you can afford to lose!

Over the years I've bought many Guru's products and/or systems, but never anything really high-end. It was either under $100 or a monthly continuity program, often with a $1 first month trial (which I usually canceled within 1 or 2 months).

I've read much of the material, listened to many of the podcasts and it's finally trickled through my brain and I had an "aha" moment. Well... not really. I feel I am on the verge of an "aha" moment and I just know that 2010 is going to be the best year ever.

After having a small, local business and filing for bankruptcy in late 2007, I've learned not to invest more than I can afford to lose. At the moment, I still work a day job, but by the end of the year I plan to give that up and make as much in 1 month as I make in 1 year.

Sorry I can't help this guy turn himself around (yet), but I just wanted to recommend that he stop spending money! I'm sure by now he's got some really good material. He needs to pick one and work on it. I don't know which ones he has, but of all the guru's product I bought, they all worked well for the big name gurus who made them. Sometimes there may be conflicting information from one to another. Some may be a better match for different people. But information overload can also be a problem. And believe me, it's easy to spend too much - even $17 at a time, believe me!

Hope my experience and insight can help other IM newbies out there. Peace.

Thanks for some of the comments, however some people clearly havent read my orginal post

It's a letter TO my FRIEND from someone who replied to his email!!!

Sorry If I didnt make that clear!

Some people did not really read the op

George Wright.

My thoughts?

This guy needs some serious help, and I'm not talking about raising money.

He's gone from a comfortable lifestyle to over 20K in debt, in danger of losing his house, begging on the net, and he borrows money to buy yet another IM product? That's insane, or maybe it's the morphine clouding his thinking.

I felt for the guy, right up to the point he talked about borrowing money from a friend to buy another IM manual. That's where he lost me.

Maybe he's reached the point where, like a drunk who won't acknowledge a problem exists, he has to truly reach rock bottom before he can start the climb back.

I wish him luck, because he's going to need it...

I'm not sure the writer is entirely honest, as McCabe says - he moved from a good lifestyle, forgot all his skills and became a product addict - seems a long stretch. Could be he is in dire straights now - but the previous lifestyle was not genuine. Something doesn't seem right, anyways.

Same here John, there is only so much you can really do but it sounds like buying random books is his addiction, if he joined a forum such as this he would get help picking an idea and steps on how to proceed...until he actually stops buying the next big thing and starts doing something with what he already has he will always be doomed to repeat history.

He sounds a bit like me... an IM info junkie... only (luckily) for me, I was limited to the small amount of cash I had in my bank account or my credit card - which usually wasn't very much. But now that I've finally realized it doesn't actually take too much money (more time and determination to take action), I believe it's possible to get into Internet Marketing without spending a fortune. It will take a bit of money, but I don't believe it requires going $20K into debt.

Of course, we'll see where I'm at once we're at the end of 2010. I can't speak from experience yet, but I just know I've finally crossed that point of accumulating information to actually doing something with it. And it doesn't need to cost a fortune. I'd say between $50 and $100 a month for hosting, an autoresponder, one-off outsourced jobs, etc, should just about do it. Anyone with some experience agree with me on that?

I'm not convinced his story is true. It could be, but it's illogical and he wouldn't be the first person to invent a story trying to gain sympathy to get free help.

How does a guy spend $20,000 on IM products not get even ONE that's any good? Frankly, I think he's scamming your friend.

Is sad to read so many bad things happening to just one guy.

Asking for help is not a bad thing, but hoping that somebody come to my house and solve all of my problems... If only were that simple...

By the way... what a great niche you got there! mind if I borrow it?

There is a thing i never understood, why people buy xxx$ range products when they make x$ per month.

There is no thing as a jump start, you experiment and use your time by doing , maybe not productive, manual testing and working.

After you learn what made you xx$ for what amount of work invested you trim out not productive areas.

And so on, you grow. Personally i wont buy any course for xx$ until i make over 2xxx$ a month pure profit. Till now this attitude helped me to get some steady raise in profits.

I dont believe in "buy my guru course and jump start the rest by doing what winner do". Why is that and on what i fundament it is another story.

Personally, I think if he had spent the moeny on a mentor he might have good a better return.

I'm a little 50/50 on this guy.


I hate to see someone so down.


On the other hand I've purchased a heck of a lot of books and courses, still do as it's part of doing business, one of the things I notice most is that most of them have pretty much the same information. And most of them work because I've been following their "unique" methods for years and most marketers making money do as well.


I get the biggest benefit out of coaching courses and workshops.


I mean one of the biggest money making Clickbank releases last year which used a totally unique system that nobody else was even talking about...was just a guide to find an affiliate product, do some basic keyword research, put up a blogger blog and use forum/blog backlinks to get ranked.


Anyone here ever heard of that approach? Anyone making money with it? Yup..


Some books are a little suspect I know but those are easy to spot.


How many courses and books talk about finding an affiliate product or PLR or making your own - all pretty easy.


How many talk about building a squeeze page or at least building a list, setting up a blog. How many ways are there to get traffic, JVs. Give away stuff for nothing to build credibility.


Making big money takes time and effort for most people but making some money, making a start and building up that is no big hurdle if you take action.


The principles are simple, almost timeless.


Rather than really being a victim of the nasty gurus and cricumstance I'd say he is just hooked on NBT - Next Big Thing. And yes the gurus use shiny, new and don't waste your time method X type sales messages to hook guys like this but that is sales.


Find a method, come up with a plan and work the plan.


Of course we don't know his full story and maybe I'm too harsh. just can't help but feel that way further back he needed to stop buying, actually read a couple of books and take action.


Shopping for new methods is a trap that many would be marketers get stuck in. Or the classic put up 1 blog wait 3 days...no money...blogs don't work...write an article....wait 3 days...no money...articles don't work....


If I was to offer him advice I'd say forget the BIG gurus and trying to get them to flyto the UK. There is probably someone in his town, or the next town making some money. I've got a super affiliate with an office in walking distance of my house...and he's a really nice guy...you might too...it's an old school technique called networking.

Hang out places like this forum. Make a start and get help along the way.



I had a similar experience recently.


A woman in New Zealand was down on her luck. Just lost her job and home, her last money got taken by a local scam artist. She had zip.


She tracked me down through an ad I had running in a newspaper and called me. She would do 'anything' to get back on her feet. All she needed was someone to show her the way.


I spent a lot of time on the phone with her. I printed out a simple system she could follow to start making money from scratch and then another system to take that seed money and grow to fulltime income. I couriered the package to the place she was staying.


Then the problems started coming in. She didn't have a computer...that's OK they are available free with internet at her local library. She complained and asked if I could send her a laptop.


She didn't like the free email service providers because their websites were too hard to use.


A few days later she got very grumpy and told me that I really wasn't helping. The next day she asked me if I could give her a job instead because there was no way to make money online.


A job working for the guy that makes money online because it is impossible to make money online....nice logic.


If I flew to the UK to spend a week with this guy would he actually do anything?


Sorry for what turneds out to be a bit of a rant....


Looks like I'm not 50/50 after all - but I do feel sorry for him.


Cheers,

Jonathan

My thoughts? Don't believe everything you read in emails or on the internet. This story so full of BS I can smell it through my computer speakers.

I think it's about time his wife slapped him hard around the head and told him to get a grip!

It happens, believe me. I lost my job, home, husband even my blooming dog. But, I didn't spend the rest of my time buying yet another 'miracle cure'! If it didn't work before, it's highly unlikely that it will work in desperation.

This guy needs a reality check and an addiction programme!

Seems like a scam to me, this line got the alarm bells ringing:
We dont say vacation in the UK and this is broken English:
And if the guy has spent $20000 on guru products and not made any money then maybe he never will.

He could have got a few unique products with sales pages made for that and put them on clickbank and started making money.

Seems he is a buy product, skim read product, buy next product, type of person

Not reading it all then acting on the information IS the trouble.

call me heartless, but that email reads like a scam.

For a non-native speaker, please. What is "broken" in this?

The very first line reads "scam"

"""Yes i did download your book, ive not read it all, but what i have read so far is VERY quality information."

How do you know it's quality information if you haven't even read it?

My first thought is it's a scam.

And if it isn't, then this guy is addicted to "gurus."

But I'm going with scam.

That is COMMON!!!!! I have TWO choices....

1. Believe him, in which case I have to say SO WHAT? EVERYONE is enticed, etc... but he really needs to be more careful, etc...

I have had no less than 3 calls from people claiming to be different that asked for TENS of thousands of dollars claiming they can make me rich. You know, it is interesting that most try to make me sound like an IDIOT, a NEWBIE, and like I have NO HOPE to get even a PENNY without their help. They don't know a THING about me. They then claim that they have this great new UNIQUE concept of using OPM!(which I got them to say is "other people's money"). what is the idea? I simply RUN UP DEBT giving THEM money ***I HAVE TO PAY BACK***! And what do I get for the payment(I checked it out) A LOUSY site selling ONE high priced product that may never sell. So their idea is to try to depress me so much that I decide to pay them with money I may never get back. So I am not using other people's money, THEY are. I really get nothing of value for it.

Some here have advertised VERY expensive seminars that are often little more than sales events. They rationalize that you can meet others and do JVs!

And he is MARRIED with KIDS!?!?!? Maybe she should leave him, take the kids, and get child support, etc... If the cards aren't in her name, and she can work, that really WOULD be best. USUALLY I am against that sort of thing, but here it is the BEST WAY!

I could keep going, but why should HE be so special? It is really just gambling. HEY, a bank lied, destroyed my credit, and cost me TENS of thousands of dollars. I get another bank to clean some things up, but they ran my credit FOUR TIMES! I'm STILL reeling from that! I COULD have gone bankrupt if I wanted. But I never even mentioned the problem here. I just got things cleaned up. IRONICALLY, that happened in January of 2009! While others were getting hurt, my year ended up being fairly good.

2. NOT believe him, in which case he is lower than most con men.

Steve

Nobody from England would say "your book is very quality information"
That does not even make sense. What quality, good or bad?

He probably would say dollars, as I do myself. Dollars are the currency of the internet, and everybody knows this.

Also "me and my beautiful family in UK" is missing the word "THE," but this is a mistake that you could overlook if not for other clues.

Overall I assume this is a scam, but I am not 100% sure.

Many people in England write as they speak, and there is little wrong with this.
After all, he wasn't entering a writing competition, just sending an email.

I would tell him to pick an affiliate product and continue to write articles for it.

If he is honest, this is a tragedy caused by the marketing techniques we see all around us. Why be surprised when they work.

However, I have to say my BS-detector was completely in the red by the end of that letter.

Ask your friend to begin an email to him like this:

Dear xxx,

I would have loved to help, but right now I'm busy thinking about how I can help the hundreds in thousands in Haiti, who, though many have never heard of IM gurus in their lives, lost all their hard-earned property and money through an act of nature...

Hi guys

thats a very sad story - it just shows you that some people have really addictive personalities and will buy absolutely everything.

Really sad but true

kind regards


sam
X

I think the person actually indicated the entire problem in his answer to Marc.

He probably never finished a single one of the courses he claims he purchased, and caused him to go into a deep hole. He obviously never took action on any of them. None of them had to be REALLy good, they only had to be good enough to work.

He sounds like he is blaming the gurus, which is really bizarre.

I hope Marc is either deleting the email. Or forwarding it to a mental health care worker in the "victims" part of the world.

If he is just a scammer, as some people are suggesting, why don't they quit spending so much effort in their scams, and start actually trying to sell something? They have good work ethics, they know how to spin a story, they should be able to make money.

The SAD part is how complacent we get. There were TONS of clues that I never used to miss. Oh well, the stench IS pretty strong, none the less, and I don't really READ things like this anyway.

I used to spot minor variances in pronunciation, and be able to sometimes even tell you where they were from. NOW, that stuff has spread all over and most just don't even notice.

Simba,

Yeah, I have a bad back ALSO! Maybe he can stop shoveling the bull.

Steve

Well, this is not fate. If he wanted to buy Guru's programs, he should have spent what he could have afforded to lose. And he should have used the debit card, not credit card. In India it is hard to get yourself a credit card... and if you get one, it would have a limit of $500 - $600 only. In one way, that's good for the people here. But soon it will become like USA and only those who have a strong mind can avoid going into debt. It is literally - robbing from our own future.

I am happy that I am in a 0 debt situation. I wish that the whole world should be free from debt. At least personal debt. Let big fat companies go into debt... they have to.

Frank Kern's State of the Internet Address has a great idea for how to solve this problem.

1. First, do a "Brain Dump"

List everything that hasn't worked for you.

It's theraputic, and clears the table so you can achieve clarity in the next step.

2. Next, focus on what has made you money in the past.

Sounds too simple? It's not.

Take the sources of income that have worked for you in the past, and figure out how you can incorporate Internet Marketing fundamentals to increase your results.

There is no industry or career where this wouldn't work.

It's sad what happened to this guy. He needs to clear out all the information overload. Get rid of it all! Focus on one thing, and one thing only, and you are FAR more likely to succeed.

Use the "gurus" for inspiration and tips if you need to. But anyone who has already caught the IM bug probably already knows the basic fundamentals of how to succeed if you implement a focused strategy over time.