Beware The "Prelaunch" Specials: The Newest Scams

I've been reflecting on my online progress over the past few years, and naturally some patterns have stood out. There is one in particular that I fell for twice, and lately I've been seeing ads for several similar types of programs. What eye-catcher is this? The all-new, completely revolutionary earning system... _________ now in prelaunch! Join now and be on top of everyone else when it starts!

Yeah, it's tempting. That's why I fell for it twice. You see a short video or read some info on this brand new program, and it looks remarkable. On top of that, you can have the "privilege" of being one of the original members, practically one of the founders.... It's too good to be true. And yeah, it is.

So what's wrong with joining a pre-launch? Isn't everything brand new at some point or another? Every trend has to start somewhere. Well, yes. But unless you were seriously a founding member of Google or Amazon, you've probably noticed that you've really never been involved with the beginning of a trend. Trends start with a very small group of people, often only one person, who has a great idea and who gets it starting, eventually making it public. There is no in-between. Either it's in development or it's already out, and if it's something you can already join... it's out. You're not one of the first; you're one of the many.

Rippln was my biggest mistake in this area. I joined Rippln just over a year ago and was, as I remember, very excited about this new social network. I sent Facebook messages to people telling them about it (sorry to any of you who are reading this!) and chatted with the other members about how great this was going to be. Apparently, people were signing up on the pre-launch left and right, and it was no wonder: this was going to be a social network that pays you! But, as the days to the official "launch" drew nearer, Rippln started to change. It wasn't a friendly new social networking site... it was an expensive pyramid scheme. They began to email me, asking for hundreds of dollars so that I would attend special "training" webinars, and the fun games that they promised were just gimmicks in the end. There wasn't even a decent product with Rippln, just a promise and a feeling of being a part of the beginning of something big. No one joined under me, but as I saw the true nature of the scam, I was relieved and decided to quit before they took any of my money away. My question was, "Since when have social network media required hundreds of dollars just for basic training?" Yeah, I failed big.

My Perfect Inter.net was another pre-launch that I joined. It was not an all-out scam like Rippln, but the quality fell very far from the ideals that it projected beforehand. It was supposed to be the perfect "Internet," with everything you wanted all on one page--emails, games, sales from your favorite stores, latest messages and updates from friends, and news. Oh, and it also pays you to refer people. I joined and made an account when it was still "WazzUb" and didn't think much about it. After it officially launched I visited my page, looked around and played a game of solitaire, and then left. I've only returned two or three times since then. Yeah, it has what it was promising... but the layout is awful! Brightly flashing colors, more ads than features, and an overall headache of an experience was what I found.

Moral of the story? Don't fall for the pre-launch. It's an illusion, a way for people to profit off of you without having to give you anything at all right away. If you're seeing ads for it, it's too late to be one of the first members anyway. Look for something established and proven, something that has both positive reviews and positive results. Clixsense, Amazon Turk and SFI may not be fast earning opportunities and they may not look exciting compared to others, but they have a track record.

Day 18.1: Marketing 101

I'm afraid I've been out with my family for most of today, so I have very little new to write. However, I've recently been talking with some pros at marketing about how they do it. As I've said before, I'm not a salesman. As a matter of fact, I'm very shy and socially awkward by nature. I need pointers on how to get others excited about things and motivated, even for times when I'm not trying to sell anything at all. So what did the experts have to say?

• Downplay the actual selling. I've made huge mistakes in this asking people to please join this or subscribe to that. However, there are tools designed that do a much better job at selling than I ever could. All I need to do is get them in contact with that tool, and I'm all set. Leave buying and selling out of it, and you'll be much ore successful.
• Be enthusiastic. Duh! Obviously you need to be enthusiastic! But you also need to be genuine in your enthusiasm. Why do you use a product yourself? Play out how well it's worked for you and how much you're loving it, and others will become curious.
• Be yourself. Your friends and family will know if you're copying and pasting from a pre-made script of any sort, and they're much more likely to take an interest in something if they know you're genuine.
• Sell to potential buyers. Don't waste your time selling something digital to your aunt who doesn't even have Facebook. Look for people who already have a history for that kind of thing and who would likely be interested.

Well, those are my starter points. In upcoming days I'll try to put those words into action myself, and then I'll give a report on how well those tips work. But they're words from the experts, and they make a lot of sense.

To get more tips and updates, please follow my Twitter feed. To make your own online income, check out Clixsense, and to join me on the best new up-and-coming social network, please e-mail me about Rippln and I'll send you an invite! Watch the video below for details.

Day 17.2: The Rippln Idea

It's so late that I could have almost put this as "Day 18.1," but I remembered that I hadn't yet written my second post of the day, and I do have something to write about!

A couple days ago I came across a new social site called Rippln. It's still in an invitation-only Beta, but I was curious and looked into it further, and before long I got my own invitation, an account, and was an active member on their Facebook page.

What is Rippln? As I said before, it's a social site, roughly along the lines of Facebook, Twitter, and Google +. But it has some interesting ideas about it, too. For one thing, it has a mobile base. It's especially designed to be an app on a smart phone and to fit in with modern mobile technology. It also has a fascinating geographical feature about it called "ripples" that can be particularly addicting. You ripple out to your friends, who ripple out to their friends, who ripple out to their friends, etc. You can see just how far your social influence can spread, and believe me, it's surprising. And what's more? You get paid for effort. What other social app pays you for telling people about it?

So, does it work? In its first four weeks, Rippln already has over 500,000 registered users all over the world--very impressive for something that's springing up out of nowhere. The people I've met on their Facebook page are friendly and helpful and, well, I'm very impressed. Take a look for yourself.

I've joined, and it really is that good. And I really do want to let others know about it. If you want to check it out for yourself, I'll give you an invite free! Just send your first and last name, email, and phone number to my e-mail address, specterpoet@gmail.com. I'll sign you up, and you can be guaranteed that your info will be used ONLY for me to sign you up and send you your code. It's awesome, and if you're not already convinced that it works, try it out anyway and you'll be surprised.