AUGUST 2012
Greetings & Salutations:
This month, let's talk about, how to ...
Protect Yourself from SCAMS!
The biggest UN-kept Secret in the business community. -- Go
to your local public library.
I firmly believe that the biggest reason people fail in business
... beyond greed (which always goes hand in hand with stupidity)
... is a lack of understanding of the basic principles of 'real'
business. -- They fall for the con-games; again & again,
simply because they do not know how 'real' business works; so,
they accept the hype & b.s. as fact and pay the price for
their lack of understanding.
Being a farm boy ... son of a sharecropper (you've heard the
story before) ... I learned early in life that you can learn
anything you want to know from books - and - since I couldn't
afford to buy books back then, I discovered the local public
library. In its quiet spaces, I found the world of business
revealed and exposed in all its glory. -- Over the years, what
I learned sitting in the public library saved me from being conned
countless times; simply because I knew from what I had read that
'real' business didn't work the way the con-men told me it did.
-- Today, my personal library numbers over 6,000 books, booklets,
manuals, & manuscripts, on every subject about business you
can imagine.
So ... to protect yourself from the scam artists, go to your
public library and read, Read, READ & read some more.
Learn how 'real' business really works. -- Learn the jargon of
the business community (that alone will let you see the 'con'
in the words the con-man uses to sell his scam). -- Learn to
separate the myths & lies from the tried & true.
In the business community -- What you don't know can't just
hurt you, it can kill you.
Of course, one of the most important things you need to learn
is ...
The difference between an "opportunity"
and "information."
An "opportunity" is a deal whereby your involvement
and/or interaction directly with the promoter of the deal is
suppose to allow you to make money.
"Information," on the other hand, is only "information"
until YOU turn it into an "opportunity" by using that
information to do something you want to do.
I sell "information," not "opportunities."
To keep from being taken by the the con-men selling "opportunities"
you need to keep the difference between "information"
and "opportunity" uppermost in your mind.
As an example, in my mail recently, I received an "opportunity"
mailing from a company inviting me to participate with them in
the "Used Equipment" industry. -- They will teach me
how to do it, assist me in finding leads, assist me in selling
what I find and even buy & sell for me (splitting the profits,
of course).
The deal sounds fantastic. If I hadn't already been
involved in the Used Equipment industry, I might even be tempted
to buy their $695 plan - but - let's pretend for a moment that
I have no prior knowledge of the industry and am considering
buying their "opportunity." -- What would I do?
Before I ever invested in their deal, I would go to the library
and read (or at least scan) everything they might have on Used
Equipment. -- Then, instead of calling one of the references
provided by the opportunity promoter, I would look in the Telephone
Book Yellow Pages under the heading, "Used Equipment,"
and physically call on some of the companies involved in the
industry. -- I would take the offer from the opportunity promoter
along with me.
At each visit with a Used Equipment dealer, I would ask them
what they thought of the deal. -- Since I know the Used Equipment
industry, I can guarantee you that each of them would offer to
set up the same kind of buy, sell, split the profit deal for
me ... FREE!
Now, let's take this example and relate it to the "information"
offerings I make at my web site.
Let's pretend for a moment that YOU have just received a mailing
offering an "opportunity" in exporting ... buy, sell,
split the profits. -- So, you go looking for "information"
about how exporting is done. You go to the library ...
read some of the massive tomes written on the subject.
Then, you read my offer telling you that you don't need to know
most of what is in those books. -- You would buy my "information"
to learn how I did it.
Or -- use the internet to "buy" books & information
on the subject of interest to you ... like Amazon.com. -- Believe
it, or don't, I still "buy" over a $1,000 in books
& publications every year ... even though I get that many,
or more, as review copies.
Here's another lesson I have learned.
When there seems to be tons, upon tons, of information on
the net about a subject, you can just about bet your bippy that
the vast majority of it is hype & b.s. -- because -- if the
subject has that much interest, every petty con-man in the world
jumps on the bandwagon with their rendition of what they themselves
have read; in order to sell their useless "opportunities"
or valueless "information."
That's like all those people selling information about "Making
a Fortune on the Internet." -- Some of them even have the
audacity to post on the Discussion Boards asking, "How can
I make my site sell more?" -- Then, when you go to their
web site, you find out they are selling information about (or
an opportunity to) Make a Fortune on the Internet. -- They can't
do it - but - they can teach it.
That should keep you thinkin' fer a while - and - remember
...
I "IS" an expert ... "x" being
any unknown quantity & a "spurt" being a drip under
pressure.
Can you stump the old master? --
Betcha can't!
Over the past 50 years (man and boy), I have made bundles
of money in direct selling, service contracting, wholesale merchandising,
entertainment (I was a professional Trumpet player, vocalist
& Radio Announcer), freight forwarding, import/export, retail
merchandising, warehousing, real estate, electronics manufacturing,
finder's fees, closeout merchandising, financial brokerage, business
consulting, steel fabrication, gold and coal mining, offshore
banking, mailorder, writing, and publishing. -- That being the
case ...
No matter what business you're in ... whether you're just
starting, well on your way, or at the top of the heap ... I've
probably been where you are, done what you are doing. -- So ...
Anytime you have a question about 'how' to do something in
your business - or - if you have any comments about anything
I've said in issues of this e-Letter; or if you want to add your
2 cents worth ... just "ask" me or "tell"
me.
Send your Questions, Comments or 2 Cents Worth
to ...
with "Question" - "Comment"
- or, "2 Cents Worth" in the SUBJECT.
If I, personally, don't have an answer to any question you
may ask, I will contact some of the professionals in your field
of endeavor (I will probably know one or more personally) to
get the real 'skinny' for you.
Note: If you want to ask a question anonymously
just tell me so when you send in the question. -- Nobody but
you and I will know who asked the question.
Copyright - 2012, J.F. (Jim) Straw. All rights reserved.