I'm Selling the World's Oldest Steinway Piano

Instead of MLM, today I'm selling the world's oldest Steinway piano (yes it's certified by Steinway!).

Check it out here:

Buy the world's oldest Steinway piano

Another MLM Bites the Dust: XELR8 Terminates it's Distributors Via Email

I just learned that XELR8 is terminating all reps, via email notification.

This isn't that unusual. I don't know the history of the company but their notice includes info that they are announcing a new program in February. I imagine some of the current reps will stick with them....

There was a time when I thought that going with the newest MLM was a great idea. Oh, how naieve I was...I was actually thinking the other night that if I ever went back to mlm I'd probably join Melaleuca. They have enough years under their belt and I love tea tree oil!

But if your one of their reps, that's not an invitation to recruit me:-) I'm just not ready to go there again, yet.

Anyway, just wanted to let you know about XELR8. I'm also still accepting Beta Testers for my Web Traffic Infusion site. See this post for the details: Beta Testers Wanted.

Best,
Tracy

---
Automatic Backlinks

Beta Testers Wanted for Web Traffic Infusion - My New Traffic Generator Website

I'm thrilled that you are the first to know that I just established a new traffic generating website called Web Traffic Infusion! Before I officially launch it, I need some people to set-up accounts and let me know if anything isn't working or is confusing. Basically just to make sure it's working as it should and to give me an idea of what other info would be helpful to members.

This is a new type of traffic generator with a new technology that you (most likely) have never seen before. One outstanding benefit is that you are able to categorize your links and ads so they are targeted. Most traffic generator sites have no way for you to do that.

I have a video in the Members area called "Member Tutorial" that goes into detail on how the system works, and how you will benefit by using it so be sure to watch that right after you join so you can begin promoting your sites immediately.

It's free to sign-up, with a couple of paid options you will see when you join. If you come back here and post a comment that you are beta testing Web Traffic Infusion for me, I'll also add 10,000 free credits to your account (that's a $27 value/your ad viewed 1000 times) as a Thank You!

This offer is limited to the first 50 people who join through this link: Sorry, this offer is Closed.

Once I have 50Beta Testers the link will be disabled. So if you're trying it now and it's not working, that means this offer is closed. You can still join the site, of course. I will be running contests and unannounced bonuses so there will be many opportunities to get free credits and other goodies in the future:-)

My best,

Tracy Austin
Owner, Web Traffic Infusion

ThumbVu Traffic Exchange - Worth Your Time, MLMer!

OK, so I just joined this new-fangled traffic exchange called ThumbVu today. I wasn't expecting much, but it looked different on the surface so I chanced it and signed-up.

Well it IS different. You might even say it has that little something that I can't quite pinpoint that every other traffic exchange I've ever seen before in my lifetime, lacks.

It's actually enjoyable to surf through the sites. They have a new way of presenting them that's tres cool. Watch this quick video to get the gist then sign up for a free account. At the least, it's free traffic for whatever MLM or other opportunity you're promoting, so you can't beat that!

There is an upsell that, if you can swing it, is well worth it.

That's it. Short and sweet - just wanted to let you know about ThumbVu. Have a good one:-)

Tracy
P.S. I like it so much I even put up a little 125 by banner up there to the right.

My Harvest America - New MLM Start-Up

I'm still on the mailing list of two of the guys in ITV, the defunct MLM I was in a year or so back. According to them, the *next big thing* is groceries to your door for 50% off. My Harvest America it's called. This is brand new as in just launched, or maybe still in pre-launch? Post a comment if you know.

Why I'm Not Joining My Harvest America

Well, it's MLM first of all, lol!

I really shouldn't say that because I may possibly, some day join another mlm, if I can consider it without feeling nauseous. This one doesn't appeal because I feel it's more important now than ever before to support local agriculture. And to buy as many foods as possible from as close to home as possible.

Cheap Brand Name Food

I have not seen what they offer, but it would not be feasible for them to offer fresh produce, dairy products, eggs, flour and sugar (maybe but they're heavy...) meats and cheeses. I use a few things in boxes and cans like cereals, some beans, tuna and tomatoes, but for the most part cook from scratch.

Correct me if I'm wrong but these grocery things (the only other one I've seen is through Amway, er Quixtar...oh whatever) usually offer mainly processed, brand name foods. If that makes up most of the food you consume, maybe it would be a good fit for you. for my family, that would mean adding more foods that are less nutritious just to maybe make some money (Or earn free gas - they have some sort of gas reward card for referring others). Not worth it to me.

And let's be honest. Do we in America need more cheap calorie and chemical-laden foods in our diets? Have you looked around lately? We're a nation of fatties and now you can get your excess calories delivered right to your door! No need to even leave the house! Oh happy day! (I think I probably just sold a few on joining with that one...I don't mean you, of course!)

OK, I did a little surfing and found this at their main site. A listing of the stuff available:

Here is just a sampling of the My Harvest America grocery store aisles

• Baby - everything from diapers to baby food
• Baking – Breadcrumbs to cake decorating
• Cereal – Huge selection of Cold and Hot cereals
• Canned Goods – from soups to nuts
• Deserts – All the mixes you will ever need
• Pasta – Wide variety of every style
• Household – everything you need to keep your household clean
• Pet Products – Supplies for your bird, cat or dog
• Snack Central – You love them, we’ve got them
• Spreads – from Peanut butter to marmalades

That seals it for me - no hamster supplies?!?

I imagine I would end up spending a lot more on food in Harvest America because I would still need to go to the grocery store for staples, veggies, fruits and of course, hamster supplies. And when you're there with a short list, it's easy to think "Oh, I'll just grab this extra item, and this looks good, and look! This is on sale!"

But you know me, I can't in good conscience recommend MLM in general any more so remember how biased I am, lol! Who knows, Harvest America may survive their first few years and become the next big thing. I am just not willing to put any of my money on it.

If you're looking for ways to make money that don't require you to sell your soul as network marketing does, check out the links section over to the right - no mlm.

And before I go, I have a rant. I say "sell your soul" because I GAG every time I get an email from a "professional" MLMer! They are so over the top sure that whatever company they are pushing this week is the hottest thing going and you are an idiot if you don't join NOW! And they'll build your group FOR you, and you just have to have enough FAITH to get started and the money will start to flow from the MASSIVE growth and SPILLOVER that will happen because we are the FASTEST growing TEAM and you made a SMART decision to join this company early, blah, blah, blah, excuse me while a WRETCH!

Now I've really lost my appetite.

Anyway, I'm sure that the founders of My Harvest America, one of the newest MLM start-ups, have the very best of intentions. Still most start-ups fail in their first 5 years whether MLM or not, so...go there if you dare.

My best,

Tracy

~~~
My promotional secret?
Automatic Backlinks

MLM Traffic Formula 2.0 Will Re-Open On Thursday, August 20th

But only for 19 hours. If you missed the initial offering of this course, that took Mike Dillard from waiting tables to six-figures in 18 months, here's your chance to get it now. This is his complete blueprint to exactly duplicate what works to build a MLM organization today.

I highly recommend following Mike's lead if you are serious about making money with network marketing. It is not as easy as is implied when you are starting out and this really is must-know information that most MLM sponsors do not know how to teach.

Watch the video here for all of the details:

MLM Traffic Formula 2.0

So the window you're looking at here is 19 hours, from 7:00 AM to 2:00 AM Central.

My best,

Tracy

iJango Portal Video - New

I just finished watching this new iJango video:





It looks cool, and it is functional, but I don't get the excitement...AOL did this already (but they aren't paying out commissions). So the "new" factor isn't there.

Getting paid on everyone who uses your portal to buy something is nice. But remember, it's up to YOU to drive that traffic.

These days I get queasy when I watch the people at the end who are raving about how excited they are...I've been there, done that and have more T-shirts than I care to count:-) (I know, I know, that just makes me one of the "losers" who didn't try hard enough to succeed.)

Hey, maybe I'm clueless about iJango, it very well could make millionaires out of some people. I'll go out on a limb and predict those people will most likely be the founders and those who already have a big network or the $ and know-how to promote it off and online effectively.

Tracy

MLM and Article Marketing

Are you writing and submitting articles about your MLM product or service yet? Are you doing it by hand, one at a time? If so, you're going to love this new software. And if you're not doing article marketing because you hate writing then listen up:

You can have 100 unique articles ready to auto-post to the directories within seconds of writing just one (or re-working some plr, or outsourcing the writing to a freelancer for a few dollars).

You read that right. Write just one piece of say 300 to 500 words, and parlay that one-time effort into 100 (or often a lot more) unique pieces of content to post to article directories. And if you've shopped around for article spinners and realized they are all junk, you'll be please with this software. I can't explain the technology, but I have seen the output and the articles read well. You just need to make sure that what you start with is high quality (everyone's heard of GIGO by now, right? Garbage In, Garbage Out)

OK, so it'll write you a bunch of articles, but now you're telling me you don't want to sit for 12 hours to do the posting yourself? Then you really need to check this out, because not only does it re-work your writing, but it auto-posts to the directories for you. In a word: Sweet.

So if you're not yet using this powerful Internet marketing technique, for whatever reason, or if you're doing it the hard way, check out this system and you will probably change your mind today. It's that powerful and EASY.

Article marketing software

Oh and there's a special offer running right now. No not one of those bogus ones where they pretend the sale ends at midnight:-)

Tracy

iJango New on the MLM Scene - Tread Carefully

iJango is a new MLM network marketing company that I looked at over the weekend, on the recommendation of a friend who is involved. Just Google the name to find the site and watch the video I'm commenting about below.

When you hit their site, a video starts automatically (annoying) and it's the "genius" behind the idea, Cameron Barrett Sharp, (Barrett? Another Barrett?) who looks very sharp, by the way, telling you how he thought of the idea. He is fairly good looking and young, which never hurts in this manipulation, er, relationship business.

Knowing what I know from being with ITV Ventures, I was personally sickened by his presentation. Why? He has that practiced, perfectly timed stutter that makes him seems oh so genuine, a little awkward and easy to like and therefore believe, ala Donald Barrett. Ugh.

He based this company on what people would pay for, even if the economy is bad. So the idea is to "multi-level Google." Then he goes on to list lots of search engines and social sites (Internet top ten), and they all have one thing in common is that they are free. (though they aren't all search engines, obviously...)

So he has filed patents to protect his idea, and "for the 1st time in the history of MLM he is able to give something away and make a tremendous amount of money." Hmmm...right, see the prices to be a rep below.

He's offering free Internet services (not new...) but he says this is an opportunity to get paid from these activities. He quotes a bunch of statistics, and asks if you'd like to get paid whenever someone uses the Internet? Sure, yep that'd be fine with me.

He goes on to say, you need more than a great idea. So he partnered with Steve Smith from Excel who knows something about MLM;-) According to Mr. Sharp, Mr. Smith said "it's the biggest thing I've ever seen," and he dropped everything else he was doing and got involved.

Sharp goes on to say "You can create incredible wealth because you are in the right place, and the right time," blah, blah, blah. That they're "poised for explosive growth," aren't they all?
I dug a little deeper to see what it cost to join and found a $50 option and a $149 option. Not bad, but when I got to the sign-up form (just doing research, not really joining) the only option right now is the $149, plus I think it was a $20 fee for the privilege or something.

My understanding is that iJango reps get their own iJango portal page, and when they drive traffic to it, they earn commissions. Sharp was talking about how you can make money off of activities that people are already doing like texting, surfing, searching, ect. I have no idea how money is made, I just know that until something is sold, no one can make any money...so I can't easily see how I can make money off texting for instance, since people pay for that through their cell phone carrier...maybe they will be offering cell plans? Not very new, but I'm just guessing here.

The money probably comes from getting other reps to join as well, and frankly I don't care if I'm wrong, and I'm not going to spend any more time reviewing their compensation plan to get it right. If you know and want to, please leave a comment.

To sum this up, I couldn't get excited about iJango, though my friend is "sorry to see me miss out on this" so she clearly sees something I don't. A variable here is that she has a big list of MLMers and I don't, which might be what makes this and the many other mlm's she promotes appealing to her. I guess that could cloud one's judgment.

All I see here is an opportunity to have a cool feature-rich website that you can make money with, but that you still have to figure out a way to drive traffic to. That's not new.

I suggest learning how to drive traffic that doesn't cost you a fortune FIRST (hint: lack of traffic is what puts most Internet marketers of all ilks out of business), and then you might be able to make money with iJango, or most any Internet business or any MLM for that matter, if that's the business model that appeals to you.

Tracy
P.S. The Ripoff Report has been wrong before, but I just found this article about Cameron Barrett Sharp (lists his pseudonyms, too) at their site and think it's worth adding to this post. Might take a minute to load, did for me.

Fountain of Life New MLM Company

Who knows? Maybe Fountain of Life will be the next big thing? Here are the details to get more info. (I'm not a rep. If you want this link to connect with your website for a small monthly fee, use comments to contact me):

Fountain of Life is headquartered in Grapevine, Texas. Their cornerstone product is VaNu, a blend of Acai and other Superfoods sweetened with Agava.

www.fountainoflifeinc.com

Fountain of Life
1900 South Main Street
Suite 101, 3rd Floor
Grapevine Texas 76051
Phone: 817 310 0096
Fax: 817 310 1042

Owners and/or Executives and Executive Consultants
Mark MacCloskey, Founder and CEO
Steve Dong, COO
Michael MacCloskey, HR/Customer Relations

My Husband Went to a MLM Quixtar Meeting...

A friend mentioned yesterday that her husband had been to "one of those multi-level business MLM meetings." The company was Quixtar (which is Amway no matter how you slice it). She said "I told him no way! Those things are all scams."

So I piped up and gave her my opinion, which I had never actually spoken aloud to anyone until then. So I didn't really know just what I was about to say.

Based on my own personal experience, I told her how I really feel about network marketing these days. I told her that MLM isn't a scam, it's a legitimate business model, but it's not right for most people. Because most people burn through their warm market with the initial excitement, and then quit because most of their friends aren't interested in being entrepreneurs or sales people.

This means all the money spent up to that point is lost. Sure you get some good products, and might settle in as a customer (just what the company is hoping) but the income you were imagining never materializes. (I didn't bore her with the litany of companies I've been with, including Quixtar, and only spent money, never made much or nothing.)

I told her that though they make it sound easy at the meetings, it isn't easy in practice. I then told her that, based on his personality, her husband is probably among the small percentage of people who could do really well in MLM. Then I said that even so, I don't recommend it because to be one who is wildly successful, you often must bring in a lot of "sacrificial reps" along the way.

What do I mean by that? Well, I mean those charismatic, outgoing people who are able to persuade and charm people into joining, even though the likelihood of them succeeding too, is slim. And so you won't feel bad for them, you're taught by your upline that those who fail are just losers who won't "do what it takes" to make it and so deserve to fail.

I don't know if he will go ahead and take the plunge, either way is OK of course, but I felt compelled to tell my friend what I feel is the truth of MLM. Most people won't make the big money they entice you with at those meetings, and there's a lot more to it than meets the eye.

What do you think? I know there are some successful network marketers out there and maybe you're one of them. Or maybe you're new to all this. Either way, please leave a comment as this is an important topic. And keep it civil please.

Tracy

~~~
Digital Pens and Tablets

what I'm up to these days...

Fortunately for me, MLM isn't the only way to work at home.

I've started developing web properties, providing valuable information for hot niches. Here are a few links to my newer sites:

Home Real Estate Appraisals
Portable Home Generators
Tupperware for Food Storage and Preparation

As for MLM, I'm still with Amazon Herb Co, and highly recommend their new herb drink called Zamu.

What are you doing? I'd love to hear so comment soon!

Tracy

Viral List Building Software. This is why my list is bigger than yours...

I'm evaluating a viral listbuilding software tool from the folks at ListHero.com. It's
the fastest, simplest and easiest way to build your list that I've seen in a long while.

Here's all you
do...

• Create a short ad that promotes
  your newsletter or ezine
• Add some
  code to the pages of your website
  
• ... sit back and watch your list
  grow.

ListHero helps you generate 1,000's of highly targeted subscribers for free and pays you generous affiliate commissions as your list grows.

I'll let you know what I think of it once I've had a chance to check it out. Meanwhile go grab access to this free viral listbuilding software while it's still free. And watch the video to see how it works.

ListHero Is The Fastest, Easiest, Simplest Way To Build Your List For Free...

Dedicated to your success,

Tracy Austin
www.Attraction-Marketing-Solutions.com

MLM Budgeting Made Super Simple - Watch Video

You can go broke building your MLM home business, if you don't determine your budget and stick to it!

I know after 14 years of pursuing the MLM dream:-)

Here is the best course on budgeting that I know, that can turn your networking hopes into success in 2009. Please watch the video and post your comments. This is info that can truly change your life, if you take action.

I'm ready for success in MLM!

To your success,
Tracy

www.Attraction-Marketing-Solutions.com