In my previous post, Avoid the Scams, I wrote about how not all scams are the easiest things to spot. In this post I want to talk about the free workshop, seminar, or bootcamp shows that are being ran all over the country.

These are those things advertised on the radio or the newspapers. Basically, a company will run some free event at some hotel to show you the secret of making money through various ways like with an internet business, real estate, stock investing, etc. These things are really just a 1-8 hour sales presentation. It can even last several days. A lot of them will tell you tickets to these events are normally several hundred dollars but you’re “special” so you get to go for free. No one really pays for these things in most cases.

The Process

So what happens is that they have some professional sales person talking to you about how he/she used to be broke or some other sad story with the point to make you connect with them. Their goal is to make you drop your guard by coming across as an honest, average guy who became successful and all he wants to do now is to give back to the community. They may even throw in the fact that their children are part of the business too and how they are so proud of them. Some might even cry right there in front of you.

Once you trust them, they start producing feelings of pain inside of you. They know that most people who go to these things are broke so they will hit you with that fact in order for you to want to “make a change” and buy their program. The price of their product or service and how they present it will depend on how long their free seminar is.

If it’s just a few hours long, they will typically sell you on some 3-day event that may cost just a few hundred dollars. If it’s already a 3-day event, they will sell their package deals that may run up to $50,000 or more depending on the business that’s being sold. You read correctly. The ones that last a few hours where they sell the 3-day event is a gradual sales technique.

How They Get You

What really happens is that instead of showing you their real prices, they will make you commit to a small price first since they know that once you put money in already, you’re more likely to put more in.

This is why the easiest people to sell to are existing customers and the way they do it is called the upsell. You experience this all the time. What do they ask you at any fast-food chain after you place an order? “Would you like fries with that?”

With these workshops, the same thing applies. At those 3-day events, they never give you enough information to actually go out and make money. Instead, they overload you with a ton of non-essential information just to confuse you.

After 3 days of this BS, once your mind is worn out, they introduce to you the “coaching” programs. They might bring up “real customers” who have made money with the program to tell you their stories about how they were just like you and just a short time ago, they were sitting in your seat, and because they made the decision to buy, they get to stand before you.

Since you already spent your time and money, you’re worn out, and you feel lost as heck, you are now the perfect victim. Those “real customers” are mostly just sales reps who get paid a commission. Even if they claim they don’t, you can be sure that they are getting rewarded in one way or another.

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There are different variations to this scam and not all of them are actual scams but like the warning signs from my previous post says, if they are promising you a quick way to riches, chances are they are full of crap.

Again, the free workshop, seminar, or bootcamp scam can vary. It can be a simple internet business program where they promise to “do everything for you” for only $100 or something. After you buy, you will find out that the ones who make the big bucks went for a larger package that cost thousands. It’s all part of the upsell. No one is going to fall for these things if they talk about the expensive packages and deals first. It’s because they start small and build up that many people fall for these scams.

In the next session, I’ll be discussing MLM or network marketing and discuss how you can spot a scam from a legitimate home based business.

Next Post: MLM Scam

When it comes to creating an internet business, or just making money online in general, there are TONS of scams out there. Many people believe that they can smell a scam a mile away and that people who fall for scams are just plain stupid.

Let’s not be too quick to judge. Scammers have gotten a lot smarter and sophisticated over the years. Many people get scammed and don’t even know they’re getting scammed. If you want to make money online, or better yet, build residual income, you need to know how to spot them to avoid wasting both money and time.

I’ll lay out some that I know of but keep in mind that there are literally tons of others and in different variations. This will be spread out over several posts. The reason I am doing this is to help you avoid the residual income opportunities that will just residually make you more broke.

What I’ll talk about in this post are some of the warning signs so that you have a base to better understand the other posts about specific scams.

The Psychology Game (Warning Signs)

Let’s face it, many of these con artists are flat out amateurs who make you wonder how anyone can possibly fall for their schemes. You know the ones I’m talking about – those “jobs” that only require you to hold money in your bank account for some company overseas that claim they are trying to expand to other countries. All you have to give them is your bank account number. “What? People actually fall for this?” Seriously, right? But the sad fact is some do.

Putting that aside, let’s talk about the professionals. These are the ones who use psychological tactics. They prey on our desire for wealth, financial freedom, power, and respect. They will use words like:

easy money, instant wealth, secret, fast cash, retire young, retire rich, security, power, fame.

They will advertise their product or service with images of exotics cars, yachts, mansions, beautiful happy people with perfect bodies and blinding white teeth, and stacks of cash.

Advertisers do this all the time. Have you ever seen a beer commercial that didn’t have a sexy woman in it? Just like how drinking beer is more likely to get you a beer belly than a night with a super model, getting these programs or products is more likely to reduce your net worth than to increase it.

When ever you see these signs, proceed with caution. That being said, the picture on this site signifies “secret”, but as I stated in a couple of my posts, there are no secrets. Everything you need to know to make residual income with an internet business and make your life the way you want it is available for you for free. You just need to take enough action to make it happen.

In the next post, I’ll be talking about the scams that rip people off anywhere from $1,000-$60,000.

Next post: Free Workshop, Seminar, Bootcamp Scam