TheCashSecrets.com: High-Priced, Questionable

A distributor for TheCashSecrets.com issued a press release today. I like to occasionally check out MLM and related companies I have not heard about, in case they should be listed on my Best-MLM-Opportunities web site.

Unfortunately, more often than not I find high-priced business opportunities selling products of questionable value. Such is the case for TheCashSecrets.com. Their product consists of dozens of ebooks and online audios covering topics from starting a business, marketing, self-improvement, parenting, etc. The cost? A mere $1295.

I try to keep an open mind about most things but I find it hard to believe that any collection of such material is worth one thousand two hundred and ninty five dollars. If you are a distributor for TheCashSecrets.com, please Comment below and prove me wrong, if you can.

The company also offers you your own web site. While most network marketing companies offer replicated web sites for free, you must pay $297 per year for the privilege of owning a replicated CashSecrets web site.

I reckon the CashSecrets folks would say, "Yes, but our distributors make $1,000 per sale, after the first two sales, which more than makes up for the cost of the web sites."

One thousand dollars per sale does sound tempting and I bet it does lure in a lot of distributors. But think about it. If the online education program costs the consumer $1295 and you receive $1000 as a distributor, how much is the online education program really worth? $295?

The company could market their educational package themselves for a lot less than $1000 per sale. Consequently, one must ask, "Why do they pay a 77% commission?"

Here's my guess: They make their money by selling the business opportunity (surprise!). You see, in order to qualify as a Director and earn the $1,000 per sale commission, you must first purchase the educational package yourself and sell two more packages. If you do not buy the package yourself, you must sell four packages to become a Director.

Since the average distributor in an MLM or related company does not make more than two sales, especially with a very high-priced, low-demand product such as this one, the company has it made! Most of their distributors probably make only one sale--to themselves. If they make one or two more sales, the company still pockets 100% of the money.

In addition, CashSecrets also charges new associates a $99 distributor fee, $297 for a replicated web site, and $19.95 per month for an online video presentation (+ $29.95 set-up fee for one version).

At least the company is honest when they say it costs about $2,000 to get started. But they are not so honest when they make claims like these:

"The Power Profit System eliminates the two biggest challenges that one has when faced with starting a home-based business. Number one, it does 90% of the selling for the user. It presents the product and opportunity to an interested prospect, so the distributor does not have to do it." [From the press release]

"Now you can discover the closely guarded secrets to Quickly and Easily Generate $3,000 to $7,000 every week -- Virtually Guaranteed!" [From the web site]

I did not see anything on the CashSecrets web site that spells out their "virtual guarantee." If you know a former CashSecrets distributor who has received a full refund or some other compensation because they did not make at least $3,000 per week, please tell me and I'll publish the information here. (I'm not holding my breath).

The claim that the distributor doesn't have to do 90% of the work is galling since they are taking advantage of the naive visitor's misunderstanding of the #1 Internet marketing reality: The most well-designed web site in the world is useless unless it attracts a lot of traffic.

At least once a visitor ventures inside the CashSecrets web site, CashSecrets tells the prospect the real deal: Plan on investing $100 to $500 per month on advertising.

Having fallen a "get rich quick" program myself, I know how tempting "make $1,000 per sale" can be. These days, I always ask myself, "Would I buy the product if it wasn't associated with a business opportunity?" and "How will I feel about other people purchasing the product and/or business opportunity through me? Will I feel I am genuinely helping them achieve success or simply making a buck off them?"

Plus, I don't purchase anything without thinking about it for at least 24 hours. Most sales copy contains psychological triggers designed to encourage impulse buying. One of the best ways to resist those techniques is to promise yourself to not buy until you have had time to reflect on the value of the purchase.

Mark Worthen
Integrity-To-Wealth.com