Today's Adventure in the Biz Opp Jungle:
'In which Charlie finds that Colombia's scamsters have a lot to teach biz opp seekers about making money... and tells a tale of
druggery and skulduggery... '
[By the way, what I'm about to reveal are strictly GUARDED secrets that copywriters and biz opp publishers don't want you to know
about - but I couldn't give two hoots....]
Hi,
If you want leafy plazas, narrow streets, colonial balconies, horse drawn carriages and a hot Caribbean wind, go to Cartagena.
The old town is like a living museum, walled by 17th Century fortifications. The restaurants are good. And you can drink cocktails on the ramparts, while gazing out at the sunset.
Nice.
Of course, it's in Colombia. Most non-Colombians are too scared to visit the country, so you get the run of the place, in tourist terms.
This meant that, on the honeymoon, the wife and I stuck out like vicars at a Hell's Angels gathering.
Very few hoteliers, waiters or locals speak English in Colombia. But.... and this was weird... as soon as we stepped out of the hotel on our first night in Cartagena, we faced a gantlet of tubby men in shades and white shirts who called out:
"Hey, my friend! Where you from?"
"You English? Football! Manchester United! David Beckham! Come here!"
"Where you going?"
So who were these fat men, and why were they the only ones who could speak such good English?
Well, it's one of 3 secrets you should know if you're going to make it through the biz opp jungle and come out richer. It will help you AVOID being conned. And it might be one of the best sales tips you'll learn.
Oh, and it's a story of how I ended up being hunted down by a pack of drug dealers.
Ahem. Here goes...
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Secret 1: The conversation trick
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Ever wondered why sales pitches for biz opps are written in such a chatty style? Why they go on for 12 pages, instead of getting right to the point?
Well, I don't know about you, but if somebody asks me a direct question in a friendly voice, I feel compelled to answer.
So when these guys called out, "Hey friend, where are you from, do you like my country?" I found myself stuck in conversation, wife tugging at my sleeve.
She knows what I'm like. A sucker for a good pitch.
As soon as I was talking, I found it difficult to get away. I knew they wanted to make money out of me but I couldn't work out how. They kept talking, talking, getting me to nod my head... nodding, nodding like the Churchill dog...
See, they didn't immediately say: "You want black market cigars? You want to buy emeralds cheap? You want to eat at my restaurant? You want drugs?"
Because I'd have strode away immediately. Anyone would... even if they WANTED those things. It's just the way we humans are.
Instead, this guy called 'Jonny' chatted about how he'd been to the UK: "Yes, I've been to Leeds, Manchester, Heathrow".
I knew he clearly hadn't been to these places, but I was compelled to keep talking because he kept asking friendly questions.
Soon I realised that he was trying to gauge what I was into and up for... clubs, tours, restaurants, cheap emerald jewellery, fine cigars, cocaine?
*****
Aha!
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It's a bit like when you read those sales pitches for biz opp products that go along the lines of:
"Hey friend, I know you're busy but I notice you're looking for a home business. I just wondered.... how much money would you like to make in your spare time this month?"
Automatically, you think "Hmmm, a couple of grand would be good."
"Well," says the sales pitch, "if you've got a few minutes, I'd like to show you a way to make money each month from home, easily, and without risk."
"Hmm," you think, "That may be worth a look..."
Suddenly, you're in 'conversation' with a person, even though it's just words on a page.
Fact is, you won't ever sell anything by kicking off with:
"Hey you want to buy my 265 page trading manual for £149?"
Nobody wants that.
But you'll get the same person's attention if you say:
"Imagine if you could make extra money every weekend, just with a few phone calls and ten minutes spare... how would you feel?"
Now people are interested, inspired, hungry...
And this is secret number 2...
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Secret 2 - ask 'open' questions
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This goes for ANY type of sale. Whether you're in front of the customer or not. Whether you're selling yourself, a car, a book, a service, a newsletter, an MLM downline, stuff in a garage sale... whatever...
1) Use everyday language to 'chat' to the person you want to attract. Don't speak in stiff business language.
2) Establish common ground and a personal relationship - talk one-to-one and use their name.
3) Get them to think about their desires BEFORE you introduce the product.
4) Ask them 'open' questions like "how much would you like to make?" instead of "do you want to make money?" Force them to create their own idea as a reply. Don't ask 'closed' questions that have a 'yes' or 'no' answer.
5) Work out what your target wants and needs and then fulfil it.
Bear these in mind, and you'll go far in any home business enterprise.
And if you feel yourself being lured in by someone ELSE's sale pitch, now you know what's going on.
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What happened next...?
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Okay, so I quickly realised that the fat guy who I was talking to about cock fighting (I mean chickens, before you think it was getting REALLY weird) was:
a) A drug dealer
b) An emerald jewellery salesman
c) A scout for a restaurant
d) A tour guide
and
e) Probably a scamster
He worked for an emerald shop but wanted us to go to his restaurant for a drink where we could discuss this amazing drinking tour bus extravaganza he had lined up.
Jonny even got out a bunch of testimonials written in hand on cards. They said stuff like: "Trust Jonny, he's the man - Gunter, from Germany!"
I was impressed. This guy could be an Internet marketer!
But I struggled away, taking his business card to shut him up... only to hear "Hey, I've got a question for you!" and end up in conversation with another guy who did his own version of the spiel... but offered the same stuff.
By the time we escaped to the bar at the top of the street I had 5 business cards for restaurants, emerald stores and tour operators, all scrawled with coke dealers' names.
It was a strain being 'sold' to. Sweat poured from me. My hair looked like a wet hedge. It was like being hassled at a strange ideal home exhibition.
So why were these dodgy, maverick dealers out on the streets, touting all these mainstream shops and restaurants?
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Secret 3 - watch the criminals and learn
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Here's what I think is happening....
The restaurants are fighting for custom. The emerald stores (these stones are BIG business ion Colombia) are fighting for custom. The tour operators are fighting for custom.
But there are only a few tourists. Namely, me and my wife.
Worse, they haven't developed the English language skills, the advertising techniques or the infrastructure to get enough new customers.
Big problem. So who you gonna call?
The drug dealers and street operators!
They're the first to learn English in any up and coming economy. They're the ones who make a living finding tried and tested ways to capture attention and gain trust from strangers. They're the ones at street level who know what humans are like and how they respond.
Think about it, when you have to make a sale to eat, you learn fast. Your bread and butter is being able to operate the black market like a Tonka toy.
Imagine... with these quick-witted guys affiliated to your restaurant, tour office, or emerald store, you could capture loads new customers, paying them a bit of commission in return.
You can get someone's attention with the promise of emeralds, for example... then sell them tours and coke... or get them in on the promise of coke... then sell them emeralds and tours. It works in any combo!
This is controversial, I know....
But look at the pioneers any medium - phone, video, Internet. The people who are first to make money, test the boundaries and push the envelope are always the pornographers, scamsters and fraudsters.
Mainstream business pretends it's OUTRAGED. But quietly it watches and learns. Then follows.
Most of the technology and techniques used today in the mainstream were being used by pornographers and scammers years ago!
Pop ups... video streaming... file sharing... it was pushed forward by those who made money fulfilling the most base human urges.
(I'm going to get a heap of angry letters about my views here, I can tell!)
I'm not saying that this is a good or moral thing. But it's a thing, nonetheless. A thing you can observe as true.
If you can take the illegal-but-clever techniques of the schemers and scammers... adapt them to be legal, honest and palatable... then you could make serious dosh.
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Epilogue - how I folded
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Of course, we screwed up the business cards and ran to the safety of the bar on that first night. Guzzled some rum. Thought that was the end of it.
The next day, we sat in a plaza eating breakfast. And - hey presto - there they were, littered around the place, as if they could smell us.
All five of the guys I'd spoken to the night before.
We were trapped.
Each came up to us, chatted like we were old friends, hovered around, offering us ANYTHING you can think of, and generally ruining our peace.
In the end, I realised I had to do something with at least one of them, or they'd never leave us alone.
I nodded at Jonny, who came striding over.
"Alright then," I sighed, "Let us come and visit your bloody jewellery store."
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I'm still buzzing from my holiday, which is why I told you all that. But watch out for some brand new biz opp reviews in the next email!
Oh, and don't forget to check out the latest bits and pieces on http://www.bizoppjungle.com
Later alligator
Charlie Wright
The Biz Opp Jungle
P.S. Don't forget that Don't Tell the Professionals closes midnight tonight! Don't miss you place - click here.