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| Late Night Internet MillionaireTake a look around this website; there are a few links to buy things -- am I rich yet?
This website I set up just to express a few thoughts. The sad reality is that, as of the time of writing, I've yet to draw a single commission from the sale of anything. Thank god I have a day job. But I can't pass up an opportunity to be rich. They flashed their 1-800 number, but (and this is strange for an internet business) no website. But they had a name: Internet Treasure Chest How sweet that name! A few seconds with Google, and I had their site: http://www.itcstore.com! I was a little puzzled that signing up was $59.95, but it was late, and maybe I was mistaken about that lowball price. Besides, it would be worth ten times as much -- just think, in a few months I could retire! It was the right place, however. The rags-to-riches folks from the TV show are right there on the testimonial pages. Adrian is doing well, with 1,500 to 1,600 dollars per month, and he's only doing it part-time. But my favorite is Gillian, not because of the $30,000 she is raking in, but because she is hot! She was on my mind when I went to sleep that night... I whipped out my credit card, all ready to change my life. I was so excited -- but wait, what would I sell? The So what would I sell? Fortunately they have some sample web sites I could use to get an idea. First there is "Bob's Camping World". I like the great outdoors. They have Featured items, cool! Wait, the link didn't seem to work, nothing was there. The URL address in my Internet Explorer address bar suggest that this is the catalog. Must be a mistake. What about camping, I love camping! Hmm, the 10x50 Mgnacrft Binoclr looks cool, even though it is horribly misspelled, a bargain at only $71.95. Of course I could find it new at Amazon for $41.99 (and $34.99 elsewhere). How about the Magnacraft Rifle Scope, it sounds like a deal at $73.95? Well, at Amazon it was only $36.15, but I'm sure Amazon would overcharge for shipping and Bob's Camping World wouldn't. All in all, Bob's camping world has a giant catalog of 70 products. Of the products I looked at, they were available elsewhere much cheaper. The only way Bob's Camping World can beat Amazon (or a hundred other well established retailers) is by better advertising. So how does Bob's do on that front? Well, a search for generic items like "binoculars" didn't turn up Bob's on the first several hundred "hits" I got on Google (I gave up after). In fact, a search for specific terms like "10x50 Magnacraft Binoculars" didn't turn up Bob's on any of the several hundred hits (I gave up after that). In every one of the hits I looked at had them cheaper than Bob's too. The same was true for a number of products I looked at. The spiffy "Our House to Yours" had a overwhelming catalog, one that would take days to browse through, of 10 items. The VCR that sells for $75 is a bargain compared to the Binoculars at Bob's -- the Amazon rate is $62, this closed the gap a little. Maybe I would buy it if a) I needed a mono VCR, and 2) clicking the link to buy actually worked.
ConclusionBy now it should be clear that the only treasure at the Internet Treasury Chest was the selling of false hopes to those gullible enough to spend $59.95 for the right to sell a small sub-catalog of a small catalog of goods. None of the featured stores showed up in any search for the products they were selling, and virtually every product sold could be found elsewhere a lot cheaper. Then again, if people can be convinced to spend $59.95 on this wretched marketing scheme, maybe Bob's Camping World has a chance to find a buyer for one of it's third rate products. Me, I guess I'll just continue on with infomyth.com. Ok, I'm not making any money (at all -- please buy something) from it, but my real purpose here is to speak my mind. I'll have to settle for that. | |||
Copyright 2006 InfomythTM |
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Surfing channels relaxes me more than surfing the web; and so last night I was clicking like a tired monkey and saw a glimmer of hope -- for only $49.95, I could set up my own website, advertised it on search engines, and within weeks I'd be raking in the big bucks. How could I pass up this opportunity? One guy was making $270,000 a year, and all for just one phone call and a few minutes of work!
Internet Treasure Chest promised thousands of high-demand items shipped straight from them to the buyer. The idea is fabulous: the cost of the item to me is say $10, but I sell it for $30, and I never get my hands dirty with actually shipping anything, or handling credit cards, and so on.
How about "