Smoking Cessation – Is It Time For You To Quit?
And I just thought gas prices were high?!?! I was reading some comments on a blog the other day where people were talking about $9.00 packs of cigarettes in New York??? Is that true or am I way off base?
Then another guy from Canada commented that they paid something like $11 a pack in Canada?!?!
If that is in fact true, I honestly don’t know how people could afford that? I can’t say I even know for sure what a pack of cigarettes in Arkansas cost, but I know it’s not anywhere near those prices!
I have to admit I’m fortunate enough to have quit smoking back in 2003. Matter of fact, I’m coming up on my 5yr, smoke free anniversary. How did I do it? My smoking cessation program was more “non-conventional” I suppose. I used hypnosis to quit smoking. Read more
MediHeaven; It’s Like Paradise In Your Mind
This may be a little off-topic from my normal writings…but something I thought you might enjoy. I’ve used self-hypnosis & meditation in the past to quit smoking, reduce stress and to help with various other issues that have arisen in my life…so it’s something that I believe in and promote.
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Fortune High Tech Marketing (FHTM) Secrets You Should Know
Filed under: Affiliate Marketing, General, Inspirational, Other Stuff
You know…I pondered the question of whether I would ever post about FHTM, (Fortune High Tech Marketing), again…but I get so many emails and so many people asking for my thoughts, that I just couldn’t help it. Sometimes I wonder if this site shouldn’t have been dedicated to FHTM? This post is pretty much the result of a recent comment (scroll down to comment from Mark on Jan 15th, 2008.
First of all…let me say that I agree with the commenter on some aspects. I believe that “some” people can work at a job, for a corporation or whatever, be happy and be successful and have a wonderful life. Most people though, dislike their jobs and would rather be working for themselves in some capacity. I’ll be the first to admit that working for a company or corporation is not the most desirable way to make a living in my opinion. Do I work for a corporation? Yes… Do I want to work for myself, doing something I really enjoy doing, making money and being successful? Yes…and I will! Could “I” do that with FHTM? No…. Can others be successful with FHTM? I’m sure there are those that can and do, but I think the number of those people are fairly small.
Here is one of my big problems with FHTM. I personally feel like this company preys on those people that are sick and tired of their current job, and dream of being their own boss and independently wealthy. Someone walks up to them and tells them that for $299, they can join in this amazing opportunity and have their own business, and goes on about how “so and so” “made more money last month than he made all year last year…and he’s only been in the business for 6 months!” For the guy that hates his current job and is ready to quit anyway, he’ll likely say, “hell yeah…I’ll give you $299 to be in business for myself!” That sounds great! Sign me UP!!! If you’re reading this and just joined FHTM or have been in it a month or so, I expect you will lash out and tell me how stupid I am…and how I have no clue what I’m talking about. I expect that…and you’re free to fire at will. You might want to read on though…
One of the common points I hear from those people that defend Fortune High Tech…is that they have these “contracts” with all these major companies to sell their services. When I go to the Fortune website now, I see a total of 17 “products and services” listed. Out of those, 6, directly reference Fortune…(I think it’s no secret that the “Essentials” products are developed and marketed by Fortune), so I count them as part of that six. As for the other products & services mentioned…I’ve heard of GE Security, Magazines.com & Dish Network. As for the rest?…(I might have seen reference to them before…but I would hardly think that I could walk up to anyone on the street and expect someone to know who these companies are?) But here is something I learned when I got into internet marketing and affiliate marketing. “Most”, (not all, but most), companies have affiliate programs. So what is an “affiliate program”? Lets take Magazines.com for instance…, visit their website, scroll to the bottom of the page and look for a little link that says, “Affiliates”. If you click on that link, it will tell you that you can join their program and start making 35% commissions on sales! That means you sign up, “advertise” all you want, sell a subscription and you get paid!!! Thats pretty good, right? You don’t even have to have a website! So really…just about anyone can join, right? Now you expect me to believe that FHTM has some big “contract” with this company??? I wouldn’t be surprised if they haven’t worked out a slightly better commission structure if the sale flows through them,…but there is nothing exclusive about selling magazines through Magazines.com, that you can only do through FHTM. So what happens if “you as an FHTM rep” sells a magazine subscription through FHTM? Well…I can’t say for sure…but I’d guess you probably get a “very small” commission, and the majority of that commission goes to feed the people above you and the “mothership”. And really, the same goes for the rest of the products and services, unless of course…they’re exclusive to Fortune. Pretty much any company selling a product or service, will let “you” sell that product or service for them, and earn a commission. And the last commenter said, “We are not allowed to advertise our services because it is a conflict with our partners like ATT or DISH”. What???? You can’t advertise? I can tell you one thing…if I sign up as an affiliate with one of these companies, they want me to advertise to my hearts content! Sell any way I can!!! Why…because the whole point is selling products for them!!! Here’s a secret…they don’t pay for advertising to make a sale…you’re doing all they advertising…they simply give you a commission when, (and only when) a sale is made! It’s a great deal for them…and you make money for your efforts. When you stick FHTM in-between you and the company with the product or service…guess who’s probably getting the lion’s share of the commission? My point…lets stop misleading people by telling them you can only sell these products and services if you’re affiliated with FHTM.
You know I sold real estate for a while…and I’d swear that real estate companies bring in new recruits/salespeople, with the thought that these folks will bring them a little business, (cause everyone knows someone thats buying or selling a home or land). I wasn’t on the payroll of the real estate company…so if I brought them a home or two or ten, then faded away…who cares? I did my part for them and they could care less if I moved on to something else. Sound familiar?
You want to join FHTM? Ok…heres what I see. You can make money by signing up other people, or “selling” these products or services. Ok…you go to a meeting, you’re told how great this company is, how if you work hard, you can be free to live the good life. If you do well, you can get a “free car”…(check exactly what “free” means?) You’ll probably see pictures of mansions with Ferraris sitting in front. People sitting on the beach, drinking fruity drinks with little umbrellas in them. My guess is you’ll hear a story or two about someone in a nearby town, who recently quit their job to go with FHTM full time and making a “ton” of money doing it. If you’re even remotely considering quitting your job, chances are you’ll get caught up in what you’re being told.
Lets say it sounds too good and you sign up and fork over your $299…(or whatever the fee is now?) It’s all good for the first few weeks while you start calling friends, family, co-workers, people at the gym or golf club, people at Church, the person checking your groceries at the grocery store, the mailman and the garbage man…. At some point, you start running out of people to call. You might sign up one or two folks who are as enthused as you, but you hit a wall. “Who do I call now?”. So you’ll look for other ways to “network”, and you notice that as you begin your speech about this “amazing opportunity”, people cut you off or walk away from you or just flat out tell you that they’re not interested! People stop returning your calls. You begin to find that the majority of the people you talk to, are not interested or have been given the speech before. What now? How are you supposed to live the “easy life” like this? Maybe you’re instructed to branch out into a neighboring town…or even a town in another part of the region…maybe you’ll find some new recruits there? Am I being overly negative here? I apologize if you think so, but I’m simply trying to paint a realistic picture of what you’re getting into! The only way you could ever make this work is to branch out and recruit via the internet where there is unlimited potential.
Can you see whats happening? To live that “easy life”, theres a good chance you’ll be working harder than ever, chasing that elusive recruit! Do you ever think you will sign up enough people to live off that “residual income” that I’m sure you’ll hear all about? And if those people down-line from you drop out, or if the customers quit using the service they were sold…what are you going to do? What if one of these companies that FHTM supposedly has a “contract” with, pulls out for some reason? What happens to that residual income? You’ve got to keep acquiring new customers somehow? And now…a commenter tells me that I can’t advertise? I don’t know…what do you think? If I’m selling something…I want to advertise! My idea of “networking” is listening to a good joke with friends while having a cold beer at the bar! I sure don’t want to be trying to sell them something?
Hey…don’t get me wrong. Living the dream of owning/operating your own business, is something that I would encourage anyone to do if you’re cut out for that. If you read this post and feel like you want to give FHTM a try, then I commend your efforts and wish you the best. My advice…”if you don’t enjoy the way in which you’re being asked to make money, then chances are it’s not going to work out”. If you don’t enjoy calling people, confronting & trying to sell people at social gatherings, then why would you want to pay someone $299 to have the opportunity to do that? I would absolutely LOVE to see “actual” numbers of members/reps that drop out of FHTM in the first 6 months or a year. If I could post that number, you would probably be amazed. For “network marketing” in general, I’ve read that dropout numbers in the 95% to 97% range are realistic.
Do your homework. Ask questions. If you go to a meeting, bring up some of the things you read here and on other websites and ask the recruiters point blank, for an answer? If they can’t respond or if you don’t feel comfortable with what you’re being told, follow your heart. Again…the bottom line is…do you think this is something you would enjoy doing? If not…you aren’t going to like it…period…end of story! If you say…”well…I’ll try it and see…what’s $299?”…then fine! Give it a shot and I hope you do well! There are going to be a “few” people that will excel. Some are cut out for it, but most aren’t. Think about that as you’re looking at the glossy brochure or poster, covered with happy, smiling people, sitting in front of big homes and fast cars. Make sure it’s for you before you throw $299 down the toilet.
Miley Cyrus; Please Read In Regards To Your Arkansas Show!
Dear Miley & Billy Ray Cyrus,
I realize the chances of you ever seeing or reading this blog post are slim to none…but in the event you do, you’ll notice by reading the comments, that I’m not the only one frustrated by the scalpers that snatched up all the tickets for your December 1st show at Alltel Arena in North Little Rock. It’s very frustrating to those of use that cannot afford to pay the exorbitant prices that scalpers are charging! Read more
Black Widow Spiders
I’m not sure if it has something to do with the wet weather we had in the early part of summer or what, but we have seen a very large number of black widow spiders this year! And I really am not too fond of the little creatures! Read more
Fuel Made Of 50% Water?
For quite some time, I’ve had an interest in renewable energy & alternative fuels. With gas prices now approaching $3.00 where I live and every indication they will go much higher, I become “very” interested when I hear of something that may help us reduce our dependence on foreign oil. If this is a concern for you as well, you’ll want to watch this video as you may be hearing a lot more about it in the future. Read more
Turtle Porn
I’m sorry….I just couldn’t help myself. How often in life do you get to see a couple of box turtles having a good time? Yes…unfortunately….if you would like to see additional photos, I have some….. Read more
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