Basically, it works a lot like other marketing techniques (which I will dabble into in future Opps).  You drive traffic to a landing page and hope a potential viewer completes an action that you want them to complete, giving you a commission.  These actions range from something atrociously simple like submitting an e-mail or a zip code to more complicated things like signing up for an offer (similiar to the Project Payday stuff) or even buying a product (very rare in CPA).  The commissions are also ridiculously low, sometimes as low as a quarter.  But just think – if you can get like, say, 100 people a day to submit their zip code, it is a potential $25 per day.  A cool $750 a month.  I’ll take it.  But hey, of course you still have to do your due diligence and do keyword research, SEO, backlinks, and all of that good stuff.

However, there is one HUGE roadblock that you will have to somehow, someway overcome.  Yeah, nothing comes easy in this crooked ass game called Internet Marketing.  And in the case of CPA, you have to get accepted into the networks.  And let me tell you – that is extremely hard.  You can’t just fill out a form and then start jumping right in.  The CPA networks will be calling your HOME (yes, you will have to give them your real phone number).  They will also be doing an interview.  Interview?!  Did I just say that?  Tell me I didn’t just say that?!  Yep, they have to talk to you over the phone.  Damnit, this reminds me of those bullshit job interviews!  Okay, back on track before I get pissed off.  So yeah, they call you and ask you some questions on how you plan to drive traffic, how long do you plan on promoting their offers, that sort of thing.  They will also be needing proof that you can drive traffic, meaning you’ll have to disclose some of your traffic stats on some of your sites.  And if you’re a newbie, this is impossible.  They are very hard to convince, meaning that you will have to tell them what they want to hear and show them what they want to see.  They want the best of the best, not just anybody.

If you CAN get over this roadblock, and you know how to drive traffic, CPA can be a very profitable opportunity for you.  The first one I actually recommend, even though I haven’t done it myself (because I don’t have the qualifications just yet).  Do a search on Google for CPA networks.  There’s a shitload of them.  And if you can get into CPA, stick with it and you can make some great cash with it.

And as the phone interview ends with the CPA network, give them these final words: If it doesn’t work for me, it won’t work for you.  Chase the pipe dream.  Live the pipe nightmare.

The offline niche, also called offline consulting, puts YOU as a middleman between local business owners and customers.  It is your job to generate leads and customers to the local business owner’s business, whether it is an outdoor equipment store (I actually worked in one), a small restaurant, a cleaning company, etc.  To find these local businesses, you have to go online to places like Craigslist and see who is offering what.  You reply, and instead of you being interested in whatever the business is offering, you offer them a lead generation service that will get them more business in exchange of the percentage of the money they make.  So you go about and do your job, and if all goes well and they gain more customers, you get paid.

Sound good?  Well, let me break the news to you guys – don’t even THINK about the offline niche.  I tried it, and I felt bad that I had to leave two people hanging because it just didn’t work.  Lucky for me, they were cool about it.  But let me tell you why you should stay away.  First of all, you may have to do some cold calling.  Fuck that.  It makes you sound like some damn telemarketer, and, excluding the telemarketers themselves, no one on Planet Earth likes them, myself included.

But if you can somehow convince whoever it is you’re calling that you are NOT a telemarketer, that is where we get to problem numero dos: Natural skeptism.  You MUST persuade the business owner that you can generate them more business and more money, but you will have to get paid a percentage.  They obviously will not believe you and will ask if you successfully did that for other local businesses.  What will you tell them then?  Yep, you’re fucked.

If you can somehow get over that hump, then what’s behind problem door number three will also present some bullshit.  If you can convince the business owner that you are the man that can get them more money in their pockets, the deal has to be done contractually.  Yep, legal documents that you and the business owner have to sign.  It is now YOUR duty to fulfill your end of the bargain.  So now you have to go online and do all the super hard work of keyword research, SEO, building websites, getting traffic, getting backlinks, and all of that good stuff.  And, as per the agreement, you only have a set time to do so.  And it won’t be MUCH time because most business owners want to see an improvement PFQ.  Pretty Fuckin’ Quick.  Oh yeah, and believe me – if you DO NOT fulfill your end, the business owner will be in contact with you.  And after you keep making up petty ass excuses, he/she will have a breach of contract and will sue your balls (or ovaries) off.  And THAT, my friend, is where you DO NOT want to be.  Yes sir, money makes this cruel ass world go round.

So please, I cannot stress this enough – don’t even set foot in the offline niche!  Stay far, FAR away!  Stay solely online.  If your people skills aren’t good, I can hear one business owner cursing you out and embarrass you to no end.  Maybe even hurt your feelings.  I can also hear the next business owner saying shit like “Well, if you want money so damn bad, GET A JOB!”  You’ll know then that you have made a 100% Grade A Government Approved ass out of yourself.

So as you’re walking out of that local lawn care company with your head down, empty handed, and humiliated, remember what Biggy told you: If it doesn’t work for me, it won’t work for you.  Chase the pipe dream.  Live the pipe nightmare.

When you think of the word “auction”, you immediately think of a car auction.  The premise is that you place a bid on the car, which is what you are willing to pay for it at the time.  But if someone can pay more, they place a higher bid, thus becoming the leading bidder.  This keeps going until someone has the highest bid when the little hammer hits the counter.  “Going once, going twice, SOLD!” Sound familiar?  Well, auction sites have the same idea, expect auctions last for days and not minutes.  There’s no mediator there or anything, and the auction ends at a certain time, not with the whole “Going once, going twice, SOLD!” thing going on.

Alright, now that you know about the auction sites, let’s dig deeper.  Of course everyone involved online (and even a majority of people who don’t even know how to turn on a computer), knows about eBay.  But it isn’t the only auction site out there.  There is uBid, Bidz, and even some auctions owned by Amazon, Google, etc.  The premise is that you can take nearly anything imaginable and place an auction (anywhere from 24 hours to 30 days, some even more), and hope someone will buy it from you.

Sound exciting?  Well, don’t start trying yet because selling on auction sites is fatally flawed, and here is why.  First off, what if you don’t have anything to sell?  Everyone recommends that you start off by selling some of your old junk that you don’t even use anymore.  This is the absolute WORST advice someone can give you.  All because of the ridiculously high fees it will cost you to list the auction if you want it to stand out.  Just using the basic and cheap stuff will get you a basic and cheap result – no sale (or a very low sale at best).  And whether it sells or not, you still have to pay the fee.  And many times, it will be hard to even turn a profit.

Secondly, the whole trust factor plays into this.  If you are new to selling on auction sites, you will have to scratch and claw your way up for years before you can even start to make some decent cash.  Very few people will take the risk of buying from anyone with no feedback.  So in order to get some feedback, you may have to end up BUYING some things yourself.  Low priced items yes, but you will have to invest some money.

That brings me to flaw number three – can you expect to WIN an auction?  Nine times out of ten, no.  Say for instance you’re willing to invest maybe, like, ten dollars on a CD somebody is selling just for one little piece of feedback.  You get all excited and everything, thinking that this will be the start of something huge.  However, when you go to the auction, someone outbids you during the last hour of the auction and goes $15.  You go in and place a bid of $20 for that CD, meaning you’re about to pay DOUBLE of what you were originally going to pay for it.  And during the final 30 minutes of the auction, two or three other guys raise the price to as high as $60, and you decide to take your name out of the hat because there is no way you will want to invest $60 on a CD.  One because that is ridiculously high, and two you’re only buying it for the sake of feedback.  Your only real hope is to find auctions that have a low “Buy It Now” option.

But let’s say that you got some decent feedback and you’re ready to sell.  Well, where do you begin?  Dropshipping?  Oh no.  For God’s sake, DON’T do dropshipping.  Don’t get me started on that.  You do have other options however, but of course that requires, guess what, MORE investment!  There’s thrift stores, Craigslist, Freecycle (which DOESN’T require an investment), and even some local yard sales.  But of course, research will come into play as well, which is an even bigger pain in the ass.  And to top it all off, you WILL have to watch out for those damn scammers, who will take your product AND your money AND run away.  I’ve been there, done that.  Not good.  Of course I’m not a scammer haha, just been on the receiving end of one.

Overall, unless you have a good paying job and want to take years to scratch and claw your way to the top of the eBay Powerseller list, STAY AWAY from selling on auction sites.  I don’t know about you, but I simply don’t have the time nor the money to attempt to make a living off auction sites.  It is way too big of a headache, and you’ll just get deeper and deeper in debt with virtually no way to recover from it.

So the next time you browse through eBay and you want to think about starting a business there, remember this: If it doesn’t work for me, it won’t work for you.  Chase the pipe dream.  Live the pipe nightmare.

Going once…..Going twice…..SOLD!

The average everyday shopper, online or offline, doesn’t know about dropshipping at all.  Believe it or not, these major stores like Wal-Mart, KMart, Best Buy, Target, among many others are something like dropshippers in a way.  Let me explain just what dropshipping is in a nutshell: Buy low, sell high.  As in buy a product for much less than its retail value then resell it for profit.  These major stores buy a huge bulk of certain products (like video games for example) for, say, $20 a pop.  This is called the wholesale price.  Then they resell these products (using the video games example) for, say, $50 a pop, giving them a $30 profit on each copy that flies off the shelf and into a consumer’s hands.

Well, okay, it isn’t dropshipping in the sense of the word, but this is basically how the retail business works.  But the model of dropshipping has been opened up online to the average everyday person.  The way the dropshipping online business model works is this way: A customer buys a product through you.  You collect the selling price and the shipping costs.  You send the dropship provider the wholesale price.  The dropship provider sends the product to the customer (with your company info on there).  You keep the profit.  And basically, you don’t even have to have the product in your hands to sell it.  Sound good?

Well, don’t get excited.  Let me tell you why – most of these dropship providers are basically something like middlemen.  Basically, they are the ones getting the products for you from REAL wholesalers.  And most of these dropship providers jack up the price on you, forcing you to sell the products at a higher price than others in order for you to even make any profit.  Bad, BAD stuff.  Examples of these dropship providers include Doba and Salehoo.  I have read too many horror stories to count from these clowns so don’t even waste your time with them.

But can you get the products directly from the wholesalers?  Yes you can – if you know where to find the reputable ones.  But to help you out a bit, I heard of this company called Worldwide Brands, which supposedly lists some reputable wholesalers.  It has got some good reviews.  But prepare to shell out $300 for that info.  Even if you do find a good one, you’re basically another store competing with some of the top names out there as well as the Powersellers on eBay, which is a no-win situation.  And here is the thing – you will have to stock the products yourself, so be prepared to make some room in your house.  And another BAD thing – remember that wholesale price?  Well, don’t expect to just buy one of the product at wholesale price then turn around and resell it for profit.  You have to buy a certain amount.  It depends on the product and the MSRP.  Going back to the video game example, say the MSRP is $50 and the wholesale price is $20.  The company will force you to buy, say, 50 copies of the video game at $20 a pop.  $1000.  OUCH.  That is too high of a startup cost for an online business.  You better hope you sell all 50 of those at $50 a pop and make a healthy $1500 profit.

If you DO have the money to invest and you HAVE found a reputable wholesaler, you’re still not out of the woods.  You now have to do your research and find out just what is selling right now.  And let me tell you – that research is a royal pain in the ass.  You have to find the niche, go around on various websites and pinpoint what is really hot at the moment.  Waste of time.  Waste of money if you haven’t done your research.

Overall, I recommend that you stay away from dropshipping.  It is just too much bullshit that goes into it and you’ll be set up with way too many damn roadblocks.  Don’t try and compete with Wal-Mart.  You will NEVER win that battle.  You’ll just get your ass handed to you.

If you do decide to dropship, however, don’t forget to put this on the box: If it doesn’t work for me, it won’t work for you.  Chase the pipe dream.  Live the pipe nightmare.

Let’s begin with Read.  I stumbled onto a site called Money List Profits, which was some overseas guy (I think Indian) named Tushar Sheth.  After being patient enough to read through the very dizzying sales page filled with shitloads of testimonials, I had to look deeper into this.  After being assured that it wasn’t a scam, I plunked down the $80 to check it out.  The premise of this was to sign up to several PTR (Paid To Read) sites and use throwaway e-mails to read the e-mails that the PTR sites will send you.  But what they DON’T tell you is that in order for this method to work, you will need to get people to sign up under you at MLP, meaning they will have to plunk down $80 as well.  Do you smell MLM?  I sure did when I read through the course.  But the thing is this: If you’re an expert internet marketer, this can work for you someway.  And let me tell you this – don’t sign up for any of that crap that promises you MLM leads.  They suck.  So I got my refund from this program (since it was Clickbank) and moved on.

Now on to Click.  Now ironically, a certain PTC (Paid To Click) is how I discovered MLP.  And it is one of the most known PTCs out there: Bux.to.  The same premise is there as PTR – you click on ads, wait 30 seconds, then get paid pennies.  But the real meat is when you actually invest into Bux.to.  They have this little thing where you can buy a certain amount of referrals that signed up without anyone referring them with you reaping all the rewards.  The cash sounded promising, and after talking it over with friends and God I plunked down $339 to invest in a premium membership and 300 referrals.  I eventually cashed out $355.25 in hopes that I’d get it in the 30 days they promised.  I had a plan but they ruined it all.  But thankfully, they DID eventually pay me, though it took 89 days instead of 30.  This was because of a whole lot of bullshit that would take me ages to explain.  At the moment, I have another pending cashout, this time of a much larger amount: $1100.28.  It has been pending since July 20, 2008.  That is not a typo – 2008, NOT 2009.  As in well over a year ago.  However, I still visit the site today but I am nowhere near as active as I was during the times when I was really into it.  Bux.to isn’t a scam, but in the condition they’re in now, it’s just a waste of time.  Bux.to DOES have competition, in NeoBux.  I have been flirting with signing up with them (instant payments and better autoclicker protection), but right now I’m just doing something else.

And finally, Paid Surveys.  I know during your time online you have heard of taking Paid Surveys for cash.  Basically, you take a survey, let them know of your opinion, and get paid a few dollars to several dollars.  But here is the thing: Most paid survey sites require you to be qualified to take a survey.  And it is a huge headache because even when you know you’re qualified to take a survey, you get told off after answering a few questions with “Thanks For Your Time” or other crap.  No explanation why, just said that you’re not qualified.  Like if you want to take a survey about Wal-Mart (which is a household name) they just tell you off for no reason.  So don’t waste your time with this crap.

All in all, the GPT methods aren’t ways you can make a reliable and stable source of income.  There is always some crap that comes up with them, i.e. bux.to.  After my experience with those, I went elsewhere.  Into a world that changed the way I talked forever….

And keep this in mind: If it doesn’t work for me, it won’t work for you.  Chase the pipe dream.  Live the pipe nightmare.

If you have been surfing the net for quite a while, you’ve seen all that crap on getting a free iPod, X-Box 360, PS3, Wii, Plasma TV, Computer, etc.  When you saw that, your inital thought was “It’s a scam” or “There’s a catch”.  Well, let me tell you this: You’re wrong on the first count but right on the second count.  It is NOT a scam, but 100% legit.  But there IS a catch though.  Of course no one is going to say “Here is your free iPod, just input your address and we’ll send it to you within 3 to 5 business days”.  There are indeed hundreds of these legit companies out there that want to send you free toys (they will even pay the shipping).

Here’s the thing – there has to be something in for them as well.  There are some of these well known companies out there such as Blockbuster, Gamefly, Netflix, Stamps.com, among others that pay these guys to place them on their sites in hopes of getting more customers.  And in order to receive your free gift, you have to whip out a credit card (OUCH) and sign up for these offers (some companies require you to sign up with one offer, some several) and stay with them for a set amount of time.  A vast majority of these companies require you to refer a set number of people to your site using your referral link, and get them to whip out THEIR credit cards, sign up for these offers, and stay with them for a set amount of time.  Then once they approve all that, you get your gift.  And there’s the catch.

This is where Project Payday comes in.  Project Payday takes advantage of all of this and gives you a way to make some fast cash.  As their site says, you can indeed make money the first day of trying this.  You see, there are thousands of people wanting these free gifts, even going as far as PAYING YOU to be their referral.  There are hundreds of forums out there dedicated to this freebie stuff, but two well known ones are The Free Lunch Room and Anything4Free.  The latter I frequented the most during my days in this stuff (I still stop by today just to reminisce).  People out there want you to sign up under them and be their referral so they can be one step closer to getting that freebie they’ve been looking for.  You can either get paid to be a referral or they can sign up under you at one of your sites and be your referral.  That way, you both win.  Everyone pays a different amount, anywhere from $20 to $100 a referral (or more), depending on the site.

Then there is the other side of the fence, where YOU are the one paying for referrals to YOUR freebie sites.  And now you have to compete with these other people looking for freebies by matching or beating the money they’re offering others to get some referrals to get your freebie.  Like I said before, freebies range from iPods to X-Box 360s to PS3s to Wiis to digital cameras to even cold hard cash via PayPal.  Yeah, good stuff there.

Alright, so you’ve heard what this is all about.  Now let me tell you about my experience with this.  I do indeed have a credit card (well, a debit card anyway, which is like a credit card).  I have done five of these trades (their terminology on the forums).  I invested a total of $55 in this to go green for people (aka be their referral, more terminology).  I came out with $145 that they paid me to be their ref.  Hey, a $90 profit there.  I haven’t gone to the other side of the fence.

Now that you have heard all the great stuff about this, it is time for me to loosen your hopes and spirits on this.  There are loads of cons on this that ultimately prevent you from making this a legit business model.  The first con is that it only works for people living in the United States or Canada (the U.S. being the most preferred).  While there are companies out there that reside in other countries, they are rare and hard to find.  Secondly, not everyone has a credit or debit card.  And these freebie companies DO NOT allow you to use a Visa/Mastercard/AMEX gift card that you can get at Wal-Mart, Advance America, etc.  No idea why, but it’s the rule.  However, there ARE some sites that don’t require a credit card, but their point system sucks compared to the ones that do require a credit card.  Third, once you sign up with one offer and done it, you can’t do it again.  I.E., if you signed up for Blockbuster at someone’s site, you can’t sign up for Blockbuster at someone else’s site.  This eventually will prevent you to get paid for being someone’s referral because you’ve already done the offers and the other offers you aren’t even qualified for or they cost too much (the dreaded Offers Of Doom, or OOD as they call it).  Then you’ll have to go on the other side of the fence, which brings me to my fourth con.  Getting referrals is INSANELY HARD.  If you browse around on the forums and look at your competition, you will find threads that have pages upon pages with posts that have nothing but “Bump” or something similiar.  That is just to bump their topic back to the top.  This is because they want to be seen and hope they get some refs.  And if you’re paying for refs to get your gift, you can only bump your thread once every six hours, and believe me, in MINUTES your thread will be on the third page or worse.  But luckily, there are people browsing the forums 24/7, so in the few minutes your thread is exposed you can hopefully get someone who’s interested.  Of course there ARE other ways to get referrals, such as conga lines (hard to explain), referral trains (i.e., someone who has a site that gets a load of traffic and they’re offering to put your referral link on it in hopes of you getting some referrals), among others.  But the most well known way is a site called GetRef.com, but there are shitloads of horror stories about that, so I’m not going there.  Whole different ballgame.

So overall, this is NOT something you can make thousands of dollars a month with consistently, as Project Payday claims.  Even these so called “PPD Mentors” tell you not to use this as your primary source of income, but rather a profitable hobby.  I even asked this question on the forums, and they told me NOT to even try to make a living with this.  From that point forward I looked elsewhere to make money online.  So my recommendation – go for it if you live in the United States (most preferred) or Canada, have a credit or debit card, and need just a bit of emergency cash (small cash, like $50 or so).  And if you do need a hobby and make a bit of money on the side with, this is it.  But to make money you can rely on?  Nope.

And always remember – If it doesn’t work for me, it won’t work for you.  Chase the pipe dream.  Live the pipe nightmare.

P.S.: If you even remotely interested, you can sign up and complete one offer at one of my freebie sites under me.  This is to get a Wii for free (or $250 cash).  Link: http://www.YourNintendoWii4Free.com/index.php?ref=4405927