A $639 Check from Global Cash Flow Network!

I was stunned. Amazed! Overjoyed!!!

I just got a check in the mail today from the GCFN for $639!
Here's the photo!

This brings my total earnings so far to $849.

My main concern now isn't whether I can make money, it is how to track WHAT is making me money. Their system for telling me where the money is being earned (and which advertising is bringing in the buyers) is pretty poor.

I suspect it was the postcards and possibly some of the web advertising I've been doing - mostly free advertising on the web with Link exchanges (Topsurfer and TrafficSwarm mainly) - as well as free classified ads. Of course there is this blog, but until now I don't think this was doing ANY sort of good sales job! And only last week I submitted an article to ezinearticles. I plan on doing more of that soon, and possibly a press release and advertisement in a magazine soon.

But I may never know which advertising yielded this income. They really need to do something about that though! Not knowing where your good prospects are coming from is a crazy way to do business. How do I know where to continue focusing my efforts? As it is, I just have to keep doing everything, and try to make this happen more often.

Anyway, I just sent out 250 more postcards that Mary Gersten's CMPS program sent me a few weeks ago. So I am hopeful that more big checks will be coming my way in the weeks ahead!!

Only about $4151 more left to earn before I break even. :)

I am really getting enthusiastic about this program now!

Global Cash Flow Network: My Current Opinion

A gent named John recently wrote to me. He had just signed up for the GCFN and -like me - paid big bucks for the Guaranteed Traffic but turned down the Dan Kuschell mentoring.

He was having doubts.

Brother, I've been there!

I responded to him with my current opinion and some tips. Here's the content of what I told him:

My Updated Opinion
of the Certified Media Placement Specialist Program
and GCFN:
I do think the GCFN company is legitimate (and I keep hoping I'm right).

They may not be the most well-run company for customer service, but they do seem to be for real and not a scam operation.

About every couple weeks, they send me a new notice about another "bonus training" course that I can download and learn from, and so far, all the courses have been interesting, and several have been very useful (especially the Joel Christopher "Mr. List" audio course). This is where the real value seems to be...the training courses they send you over time.

Long Telephone Wait Times for Level II Coaches
If you can manage to get through to a Level II Media Coach (calling towards the end of the week seems to have shorter wait times), they can give you all the links and websites for downloading the different links.

Tip: Mondays are the worst day to call, their lines always seem jammed with callers on Monday.

"Guaranteed Traffic" - Too Expensive?
The "guaranteed traffic" stuff ticks me off. I doubt the $210 I've made so far came from their traffic, and I don't really know exactly how they are generating it. (Supposedly it is Pay Per Click like on Google, but the opt-in rate is terrible. I have about 10 opt-ins for 14,185 visitors so far.)

I paid for 20,000 visits, and so far (after about 2 months) am up to 14,185. But I've only made $210. So they are going to have to run it again for me once my first 3-month run is over even if they hit 20,000 visitors, as their guarantee states. But I'm not counting on their traffic to actually make me money at this point. (I hope it does, but doubt it!)

Shou'da Could'a Would'a Gotten the Mentoring Instead
From what little I've learned about Dan Kuschell and Joshua Shafran, they seem legitimate "gurus" and I think I would have been better off getting the Kuschell mentoring and NOT getting the guaranteed traffic…though frankly, I don't know what the mentoring really would deliver, so I'm guessing. (And they don't tell you about the mentoring until AFTER they offer you the guaranteed traffic program).

The Good News
If you start applying what they teach you in the binders and from all the online audio courses, you can begin to develop your own websites and build a list of your own ezine subscribers, and start making money as an affiliate marketer.

I'm not progressing as fast as I'd like in setting up my own site (hbibr.com - still under construction), as I am doing about 3 business projects at once and working a part-time job. But the audio courses they've sent me by Tellman Knudson and the Listbuilder dude have been really informative. If I had bought equivalent courses separately, I'm pretty sure it would have cost $1000+ so far (and the emails I keep getting have been promising more courses as time goes on, which keeps me thinking this program is legit and in the end will profit me via education).

Some Tips for People in the CMPS Program

1. Set up a Blog of some sort, like I have, and start writing. You could write about something completely unrelated to the CMPS program if you aren't comfortable promoting it on your blog (or even do what I've done, telling your story of how it's going with the CMPS thing and stay neutral).
2. One of their leading affiliates is (apparently) http://www.dont-get-scammed-again.com/ who as far as I can tell is one of the GCFN's leading affiliate money-makers. (But what irks me is that we can't duplicate what he's done exactly, because as far as I have been able to determine, I have to drive traffic to my business webcash affiliate page, rather than making a direct link to a sales page)
3. Submit articles about home-business and media placement (full-on promotional babble) to article-submission sites (the media coaches can give you a list of sites to submit articles). This can help drive traffic to your 24hourwebcash page and also improve your pagerank, and in general is a good internet marketing trick.
4. Look at the CMPS program as a learning experience, rather than a fast money-making scheme. It's been pretty disappointing for me so far as a money-maker in the short term, but I really do think I'm picking up skills in the CMPS trainings that in a few months will make me good money independent of the 24hourwebcash website.

Bottom Line
I believe the CMPS program is legit in that it DOES offer good material to learn how to do advertising (aka media placement) for internet & affiliate marketing. You have to go thru & apply the courses they give you access to. That's how you're going to benefit from the program.

Go thru the courses one at a time (especially the Faster Webmaster and Mr. List courses first) and also make sure you do everything on your checklist in the white binder, to get your $300 back (which I still have to finish).

I keep reminding myself, this is a "certification program." So it is a lot of work (like going to school). I now believe it will pay off for me eventually (even if promoting the program as an affiliate in and of itself isn't generating much cash for me).

My Third Check from Global Cash Flow Network!

Amazing, but true - I received my third check ever from the Global Cash Flow Network today!

Once again, it was a check for $100.

I have to admit, I do like getting checks. Every $100 counts!

Several of you out there have written to me, mentioning your own experiences, either with the GCFN, or just in a search for a legitimate home business. (Thank you Erica for your thoughtful emails, and also Nancy, John, and Christopher for your comments!)

It is definitely a jungle out there in "home based business" land. I've been taking a "ready, fire, aim" path through this jungle of "opportunities" and paid a lot in the process. (As you probably know, I'm also involved in an MLM company - whose products I love, but which hasn't been producing much money for me yet.)

In addition, I have spent thousands now on numerous "internet marketing" courses over the past year (mostly from Yanik Silver, who I think is awesome...even if I haven't figured out how to turn what he's taught me into cash), looking for a way to make my home-based business dreams come true.

The GCFN and CMPS program are my most recent episode (and, thanks to the training I've been getting from the CMPS program, most well publicized...ironic in some ways, spreading less than stellar publicity about the company that's been teaching me how to spread publicity).

Anyway...

My Latest Thoughts on the "Legitimacy" of the Global Cash Flow Network

I hope this doesn't come across as too picky.
But it seems to me there is a difference between the question of whether GCFN is a "legitimate" business (vs. scam), and whether it is a "good business" that can make money (vs. a rip-off).

At this point, based on my interactions with the company, its "media coaches," and the fact that the 3 checks they've sent me have cleared the bank...I am tentatively willing to say the Global Cash Flow Network is a "legitimate business" and not actually a scam.

But I am NOT saying it isn't a rip-off. Based on the money I've made so far...I'm still in the hole for nearly $5000.

Why do I think Mary Gersten's GCFN is a "legitimate" company?
Well, I am pleased with the "Certified Media Placement Specialist" training I've received. The courses the program hooks me up with are quite informative. I'm learning a lot from the CMPS program, well worth the initial $300 investment (which, by the way, I am supposed to get back once I finish their checklist of activities.)

My main problem has been taking the time to actually review all the courses and put them into practice. As with any business, I know a lot of "hard work" is required to make money with it! (This is why I am so slow to denounce this or any program - because the common factor in all my unprofitable business efforts is me...)

For example, the course by Joel Christopher (Mr. List) is amazing...but I still haven't finished its 12+ hours of audio, or put an eZine or lead-capture thing together for this blog yet based on what I have been taught.

Also, while my interactions with some of the "media coaches" have not always gotten the answers to my questions right away, they are helpful and friendly, and I've generally been getting responses/resolutions to my problems within a few days. (But I tell you, it is helpful if you keep calling them every couple days until it gets resolved!)

For example, I recently complained that my back office didn't have the information about my affiliate account links with eBay, Google, or Amazon - and called the Level II Coach number to get it fixed. The media coach couldn't fix it right then, but she did submit my request to tech support, and within a week, my affiliate info with instructions to access my accounts was posted in my back office.

Also, it seems like Mary Gersten, the Global Cash Flow Network, and the CMPS Program are all closely associated with well-known personalities Joshua Shafran and Dan Kuschell. While I don't know either of them, what little I have learned about them suggests Joshua and Dan are legitimate guys who make money on the internet and offline as well. So, if GCFN is a scam, these guys would have to be scammers too. But I don't see any widespread evidence of that.

(Though not being one of Dan Kuschell's students, I don't know if his "mentoring" program is a good deal or not...but with his apparent high-profile in some media (NBC radio) I haven't seen enough evidence to make me question his legitimacy)

That said, I really am not a fan of their sales tactics. Though from their point of view, the sales tactics did work on me...so I guess they're effective.

Why Am I Still Concerned about GCFN?
I still need to be convinced this think isn't a rip-off. It took nearly 2 months to get my affiliate links set up. Then, with the "guaranteed traffic" program I've paid for - with 4000 visitors so far on EACH of my webpages - I've had fewer than 10 people register on my 24hourwebcash site. That's a terrible response rate!

Also, it's not clear to me who (if anyone) has actually signed up in the program using my product ID or website. I've received $210 now, but the "back office" doesn't show any specific referrals being credited to me.

Now, I admit - I should be working harder to promote the program if I am going to make significant money with it. And I plan to do that (just not on this blog...) I've been mailing postcards, doing free online classified ads, using "guerrilla" techniques leaving little "sizzle" business cards around my town, and doing pay-per-click advertising.

But the CMPS program also recommends:

• Writing online articles
• Doing blogging (this being one such blog, though it's not really promotional in nature!),
• Using social networking sites (like MySpace and now also Squidoo.com), though Squidoo is a bit picky about blatant promotion unless you've got some content to go with it, like I tried to do with my Multichannel Marketing lens.
• And other "affiliate marketing" techniques (including a couple of audio courses by the famous (among internet marketing circles) Tellman Knudsen I just got from the CMPS program.)

Bottom line, I need to keep monitoring this program and my progress with it, before I will draw a final conclusion (and before I really start recommending it to anyone).

This goes back to my last post, where I suspect there's been a SNAFU (situation normal, all f**d up) with the way the system credits sales back to me from the website. In fact, the check I received today actually says "referral replacement check" which leads me to believe they've checked their books and realized I did get a sale from the site, but it never got properly credited to me! Hopefully they'll be fixing my "thank you" link soon so I'll get automatic credit for any more referrals/sales online.

And in all fairness, it is to Mary Gersten's credit that her organization is willing to correct any mistakes like this. That is what helps me believe the GCFN is a "legitimate" company and a "legitimate" business. They aren't blowing me off - they are responding to my calls.

My MLM company is a legitimate company too...and I haven't made much money with that yet either.
In fact, I think the $210 I've made from the GCFN is actually
more than I've made so far with my MLM business! Sad, but true.)

On my GCFN websites, the "thank you" page people see after entering their information on my 24hourwebcash page has a really good sales letter (the same one that brought me into the program via the Jackal's Work At Home Manifesto website). [You can see if you have one by entering a "test case" name and email into your page...or by just going to your GCFN back office and reviewing the Thank You page link...but you may need to bug your Level II Media Coach to get your login info for your back office...I had to call them, they didn't just send it to me.]

I will keep you updated on what I learn.

But the good news is, I've made back $210 so far. Just $4790 left to go to break even. :)

CMPS Postcard Marketing

If you have read my Squidoo Lens about the GCFN, you know that I received 500 postcards and mailing labels from the GCFN office in August. These postcards were to be used to drive prospects (highly targeted leads, supposedly, with the mailing labels) to your website.

Well, I have heard that summer-time is the slowest time of year for people who are looking for a home business. Basically, people are more concerned with vacation than they are with making money. (Obviously that didn't apply to me, since I went on my home-business buying spree in July!)

So let's say I am trying to stay positive about this whole postcard thing.

Based on the GCFN Back Office system, which tracks who has entered their name in my autoresponder, it appears about 8 people (out of 500 postcards) responded to my mailing.

And none of them signed up.

An 8/500 response rate is a 1.6% response rate. I know from other research I've done in the past on direct mail marketing, this isn't that unusual a response rate. If you get 1-2%, that's pretty typical.

But the fact that I didn't make any money from it, after spending $130 on postage is a bit disappointing.

And I just got another bundle of postcards and labels today, delivered by FedEx. You get at least 250 postcards to send per month included free as part of the program.

Will I send them out? Probably yes (it did generate some traffic, and some of the traffic did put their info into my lead-capture form). But I'm doing a lot of this just because I'm stubborn, not necessarily because I think it's going to generate more income for me at this point.

Did I mention I'm starting a part-time job next week?

Anyway, if the prospects who responded to my postcards read this blog - it may explain why they haven't signed up. Sad to say, I have not been exactly doing the best job here of selling the Global Cash Flow Network as a great way to make money.

But that's only because I don't know yet if it IS a good way to make money.

I certainly haven't made much money from it yet. Just $110. No more checks received so far.

On the bright side, I am learning gobs of stuff about internet marketing and media placement techniques. From that perspective, the CMPS program really has delivered as promised. For a sampling of what I've been able to learn so far (admittedly, not just what I got from the CMPS program, but mostly from the CMPS program), you can see my other Squidoo Lens on media placement in multiple channels. I actually wrote that lens a month ago, so I should probably update it a bit.

But the GCFN as a great home business? Not so far. Of course, my whining about it here isn't helping me make any money with the program. But at least I have a clean conscience about it.

You know, if I hadn't spent that $4400+ on the "guaranteed traffic program" I think I would be a raving, highly satisfied customer. I really have been learning a lot of great stuff about marketing and using the internet to market information and sell product. The $4400+ I spent on "guaranteed traffic" is supposed to deliver 10,000 highly qualified visitors to each of my 2 GCFN webpages over a 3 month period. They have been providing the traffic (it's up to about 4400 now per site, with about 1 month to go), but none of that traffic has turned into a sale.

So, like I was saying, I have a rapidly dwindling bank account as I manage my credit card balances...but a clean conscience.

Anyway, I am growing suspicious that the way the system works may not be properly crediting me with referral bonuses from applications to the Certified Media Placement Specialist program through my "24hourwebcash" web page. I plan to call customer support tomorrow and make sure my links are all working correctly and crediting me properly with any signups. Though I'm not sure I'll ever know until I confirm someone has actually signed up for it (and if I get a check from it or not).

Maybe I'm just paranoid. That tends to happen when you spend, er..., invest $5000 and aren't sure if you'll ever get it back.

I did notice that the eBay, Amazon, and Google Adsense links on mywebcashstore are all working properly. So that's good.

But I'm not sure I'll really be making any money from the affiliate links on mywebcashstore based on the way it's been set up.

I'll probably have to establish another website or blog somewhere else to try and cash in on affiliate profits separately using the techniques the CMPS program is teaching me.

Wish me luck. And stay tuned.