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Here is the perfect example of Hope-Mongers and I’m going to call it “10 Websites and a Pair of Boobs”. The term “Pair of Boobs” could refer both to the young ladies who were in this infomercial or to their anatomy.

You see, I was channel surfing one weekend and I saw on the menu a show about websites and the Internet, so I checked it out. There were these two attractive ladies, very enthusiastic, very pretty and very well endowed with VERY tight low-cut tops on. I’m embarrassed to say that it took me a few minutes to realize they were talking about the
Internet.

Once I stopped focusing on their “attributes”, which was rather difficult to do, and started listening to the infomercial, I called my wife in to look at it with me because I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. We both sat there in amazement that anyone with half a brain would be buying into this nonsense, but there it was. I’ve read reports on the Internet about this infomercial and the man doing it—let’s call him John-boy. He is making a lot of money on his “How to make Millions on the Internet” course. So, why is it making
so much if this is such a scam?

The reason he is raking in the money is because he is saying exactly what Hope-Seekers want to hear. He offers 10 Websites that he says will make you money instantly and you don’t have to know a thing. That’s the dream of a lot of Hope-Seekers—instant wealth and they don’t have to do a thing, it’s all done for you. When are we going to WAKE UP!!!

If people would stop reaching for instant riches and just take time to think, a lot of this would clean itself up. But who can resist an attractive brunette who says that she knows nothing about computers or websites and she made $1800 last week. Note that as she says she made $1800 she leans forward and fills the camera with cleavage, so she could have said $18 or $18,000 and I probably wouldn’t have remembered. But that being said, why would women who aren’t attracted to the cleavage buy this product? Subconsciously it goes back to the mindset, “If this bimbo can make $1800 in a week, surely I can”—but that’s assuming the models are even telling the truth.

Now, let’s stop and think. I know people don’t like to do this but here we go. Here in this infomercial we are offered 10 websites already pre-done for us which are going to make money instantly. Sounds perfect—right?

Did anybody think to ask what kind of websites these 10 might be? European Eastern Block porn sites make millions, but is that the business YOU want to be in? Gambling websites make lots of money, but is that what you want to do? Or maybe you’ll find yourself in the pharmaceutical business, hounding people to buy prescription drugs from Mexico—you don’t know because you never stopped to ask.

But thousands of Hope-Seekers never once stopped to ask WHAT kind of websites they were getting, all they were concerned about was making the $1800 a month bimbo #1 was allegedly making.Okay, let’s assume that his package of 10 websites is selling honest products like figurines your Grandmother would buy. So you buy 10 pre-made websites for $39.95 plus a lot of shipping and handling, but are you in business?

Did anyone stop to think for a minute and ask if just having 10 websites was all that it took to make money? Did you know that in February 2007, the Netcraft Web Server Survey found 108,810,358 distinct websites on the Internet and 29.7 billion webpages? So now let me ask, will adding your 10 websites to what is now over 30 billion webpages bring you the riches you so desire? But, never mind, that’s okay, because now you’re on your way—right?

Wrong!

What Hope-Seekers should have asked is does that $39.95 include web hosting, a shopping cart, a merchant account to process the purchases, directions to connect the merchant account to my bank account, directions for a paypal connection, a delivery system for the products, auto-responders, opt-in boxes, email accounts and any number of other parts and pieces needed in order for me to be an e-commerce business?

But did they ask? Probably not until they got the product and realized that the $39.95 the Hope-Monger was offering probably just gave them the privilege to buy more of his stuff.

I googled the 10 websites offer and found several sites that immediately called it a scam, so “in the spirit of helping the abused” they offered options that were supposed to be better. When I checked those links, they were just more of the same scam affiliate links. I even tried to get to the recommended site directly rather than through the affiliate link offered and couldn’t find the websites—that’s how I knew it was a Hope-Monger in sheep’s clothing.

Now here is an even sadder note. Some marketers think this is brilliant marketing. They slam one scam to make you feel like they are on your side only to offer their own scam and if you buy, they feel like they have done a good job in marketing. I even read one forum comment that said, “Yes, I know John-boy’s 10 websites and a pair of boobs’ is a rip off, but he is a copywriter and that’s his job. He writes copy to suck you in and he did, so how can you blame him.”

Have we really become that jaded? Is it really just about who is “the best scammer” and who can suck the most money out of people’s pockets before they move on to the next project? Sadly, yes, that’s where it is UNTIL we as Hope-Seekers say NO.

Until we stop chasing instant cash dreams and say “Give me real information at an honest price”, the Hope-Mongers will keep selling empty Hope. I knew within the first two minutes that “10 Websites and a Pair of Boobs” was a joke, but then the video testimonials started to roll. People in their golf carts talking about the money they made. Housewives talking about the “freedom” they now had, all of this feeding the mentality of “if this idiot can do it so can I”. But that’s once again assuming those “testimonials” were telling the truth. Well, then it happened. A cowboy showed up giving his testimonial, standing in front of his horses talking about the few thousand he made using John-boy’s system.

And I said to my wife, “I know that guy! He has been on the Internet for years, he just spoke at a conference I attended and he is already making over a million a year in his own business!!!”

But here he was, an “Aw shucks cowboy, just a regular guy” allegedly using John-boy’s system and “starting to make money”. Maybe he did, but I seriously doubt he needed John-boy, since he has been online with his own system for years. So there you have it, probably a hired testimonial to suck in the Hope-Seekers. It may even be that the “social proof testimonial” has gone the way of the 8-track and vinyl records, especially when you see the same old cast of characters giving testimonies for each others products.

I will still use testimonials for my products because people want to see them, even though I believe they are under this cloud of suspicion. I’ll put them there, but before you get anything from me, don’t just look at the testimonials and take the word of another, come read my information for yourself and then you decide.

Hope-Givers should be building relationships with good free, helpful information, so that the Hope-Seekers don’t need someone’s else word for it, they have their own experience to go on.

Sadly most Hope-Seekers have a herd mentality and don’t want to think, they just want to follow what the money-makers are doing. That works great for the marketers because all they have to do is say what you want to hear and lead you down the rosy path to the slaughterhouse with the rest of the herd.

It’s that herd mentality that can make or break the stock market for absolutely no valid reason—a few over-react and everyone follows. There are a few individuals that I go to in this Internet world for information. And these few are Hope-Givers in my eyes, but most out there are Hope-Mongers and yet, by necessity I still have to seek the Hope-Monger’s information at times because they are the only ones presently with it.

Like magicians, they don’t like their illusions being revealed. But I’m sick of the abuse and if it doesn’t stop it’s going to hurt all of us, so I’m going to talk about it anyway.

A lot of marketers use this concept of “the herd” which I first heard about from a man considered to be one of the top marketers and copywriters anywhere. The concept itself is understandable, the herd is a group of people who have elected to follow you and your information and that’s all well and good. But HOW you treat them and WHERE you take it from there is what bothers me. I have been in meetings where the discussion about marketing to the “herd” was something that was laughed about. Examples were given
based on how gullible and mindless the “herd” was and because of this the marketer sold the same thing 3 different times to the herd and the herd never realized it—brilliant marketing or abuse, you be the judge.

It is a two-edged sword. If I am so stupid I can’t recognize the same thing being sold to me because it has a new bow on the box, then that’s on me. But once I realize that I’m being treated like a mindless idiot who will do whatever the marketer tells me—it’s time to WAKE UP.

I may be a member of someone’s herd, but I still have to take responsibility for my own life and make decisions that are best for me in light of what will be best for me and my business. I need to evaluate the offer and make sure it has what I need and not just buy because I belong to the herd.

One of the most offensive statements I hear from marketers is “send the bill to the herd”. What this means is that the Hope-Monger wants a new BMW or his kid needs braces or his wife wants a trip to Fiji, so rather than pay for it out of his pocket, he is going to send the bill to the herd. This translates into a special sale or a 10% off promo or a slappedtogether “new and improved” product that’s pumped out the door so the marketer doesn’t have to take money out of his own pocket for his new car or trip.

In reality, the consumer (the Hope-Seeker/herd) does benefit from the sell as long as the information or product has real value. But my worry with the “send the bill to the herd” mentality is, how long does it take before the Hope-Monger doesn’t care if the information or product has any real value as long as their bill gets paid by the herd?

I hate thinking of my customers as a herd. I don’t want to do business with mindless people, because they end up looking to me to solve all their problems. First of all, I’m not God, I can’t solve your problems—you have to do that, but I can give you the information to solve the problem. I can point you in the right direction, but YOU have to solve your own problems.

People with the herd mentality have stopped taking responsibility for their own thinking and thus for solving their own problems. They want instant results AND they want someone else to do the work for them. There are certain things you can hire people to do for you, but just make sure you understand everything they offer and realize there is no such thing as cheap instant success.

Thinking about this the other day, I remember my Grandparents on both sides of the family. They were born in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s and both were closely tied to farming and the agrarian mindset. Maybe because people are so far removed from that way of thinking, they have forgotten the rules of life. A farmer doesn’t plant corn in the morning and expect to eat it that night. A good farmer doesn’t abuse the soil, the land and the resources that provide his bounty. If a good farmer has a herd, he takes time with it, nurtures it and cares for it if he ever expects his herd to produce. Even from that stand point, I still don’t think of the people as a herd.

I know Hope-Mongers will never get this nor do they care. There will always be more Hope-Seekers looking for “saviors” and instant success, but we can WAKE UP and not be among them. There is plenty of success available to all without having to rely on Hope-Mongers. We can still be a Hope-Giver and each can prosper in his or her own niche.

Hope-Mongers prey on the ignorance of the Hope-Seekers, so you have to educate yourself. There are SOME Hope-Givers that do offer help but let them prove themselves first with good information. Please open your eyes and realize that the Internet is not just an ATM machine where you can put in a pin # and money pours out. You can’t just wake up one morning and say, “I’d like to start an Internet Business, got any suggestions?” Don’t think people are just going to hand you the keys to the kingdom or that all you have to do is buy one ebook and you have all you need. That would be like saying, “I think I want a job so I can have lots of money, got any suggestions?” You are a sitting duck waiting to get popped.

Here is a hypothetical example. You say you want an Internet business, so you google “Internet businesses” and almost before you can hit enter, a Hope-Monger shows up. First they tell you how smart you are to start your own Internet business and then show you all the new homes, boats and vacations you can have by starting your own Internet business. Then they tell you how much your family is going to love you for starting your own Internet business.

Now, for a simple fee, they will have you set up by the end of the day and since you don’t have a clue as to how to do it you say, “yes”. First they might tell you how many people there are in your city and then they might say that all of them need to drink water and that “statistics show” that people love it when the water is turned into Lemonade. Then they might show you how cheap it is to make Lemonade. Then they “crunch the numbers” and show you how much you can charge compared to how little it costs you.

Now they tell you to take that figure times the number of people in your city and your heart starts pounding. You see the money flying in and you are so excited. Then they tell you the “insider secrets” that if you add more sugar it will make your customer thirstier so they will buy more and if you water it down some you will have more lemonade to sell and it costs you less so you will make more—and that’s why you are in business, right?.

Now they have you all pumped and ready to go. So they register your domain name “LemonadeDummy.com” for $4.95 and only charge you $25, then they graciously set up hosting for you which costs them $9.95 a month and kindly charge you $19.95. Then they “hook you up” to PayPal and remind you that they are doing this at no charge just as a favor to you (of course you don’t know that it’s free anyway).

Now like magic they post your webpage, oops I mean, Website with the title, “Who Else Wants Great Lemonade? Only 50 Cents a Cup!” Then they grab a free clip art of a glass of lemonade and stick it under that “killer title” and slap a google map on the page of your home and don’t forget the Paypal link. Of course you don’t bother to ask how someone is going to get their lemonade if they order through Paypal because, hey, you’re in business now and you can feel the money flowing.

Then they really go the extra mile. They make you a sign on a piece of paper that reads, “Great Lemonade 50 Cents”. They tape it to the front of a card table; put it out in front of your house and say, “You’d better get busy making some Lemonade.”

Then they slap you on the back and wish you luck and drive off with your “What a deal!” credit card charge of $4995 and you sit in front of your house waiting for the customers to jam your driveway begging for Lemonade.

Most middle-school kids know this is a bogus scheme and wouldn’t have anything to do with it, but it takes a full grown Hope-Seeker to buy into this “Killer Ecommerce Money Making Machine” program. Think I’m exaggerating? Most websites have about as much traffic as this lemonade stand, stuck back on a cul-de-sac 50 miles outside of the nearest town. But the Hope-Monger did what he said he would do; you are on the web with a real business and a real product.

Think of your Internet business with the same set of rules needed to run a brick and mortar business and maybe you will not be so taken in by the Hope-Mongers. Yes, the Internet can be done faster, cheaper and more efficiently than a brick and mortar but a lot of the same rules of business still apply.