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Thinking of joining One Step? Think again
My name is Sue Huss and I live in Oregon, Ohio. Like many other people, I found myself looking for a way to make more money. I heard a lot about online marketing and I decided to see what it was all about.
I began searching online for a business opportunity when I came across this site advertising a company called Predator. For those of you who have never heard of Predator, it’s just a business opportunity much like hundreds of others. They all basically have the same central idea. The way they work is like this, you join by paying them money. Then you find suckers, I mean prospects, and when they join you make money. Most companies also have your first two sales go to your sponsor. The only difference that I now see is the amount it cost to join. If your asking yourself now, I thought this article was about One Step, be patient I'm getting to that.
So, Predator's deal was this, you invest ,500 or ,000 whichever amount you felt like flushing down your toilet. My words not their's, and when you happen to find someone who is sitting on their brains and also likes to flush, you make money. Although I was sitting at the time, I can't believe I was actually considering it. The sound of easy money was very alluring. Attempting to connect with my rational side, I decided I would at least do a little research online about this company.
So I typed Predator on Google and waited for the results. What was I thinking I found tons of websites telling me how great Predator was and why I should join them. Among all these ads that promised to make me rich, I came across an ad that said "Thinking of Predator get the facts first." I clicked on this website and it happened to be an ad for the One Step System. Here I only needed 7 to invest. I would then make 0 on every 7 sale that I made. Sounds great right? If you said yes to that, stop, do not read any more but go directly to my website to sign up. For the rest of you who are still functioning in reality please read on. The ad also said that I could be making 0 in as little time as 3 hours. Wow, I said, I think I have that much on a credit card what am I waiting for?
I found myself drifting, lost in my fantasy of expensive cars and homes. A place where I didn't have to go to work everyday and had money for every thing I desired. Lost deep in my trance, I barely noticed when I clicked on the pay button.
At that point much like a hypnotist snapping his fingers. I felt reality suddenly come back as a sick feeling in my stomach, like what have I done? What was wrong with me? 7 was so much money.
I could have paid my car payment and my gas bill with that money. After about 30 minutes of telling myself how stupid I was, I decided the only thing to do was going to be a lot like pulling a rabbit out of a hat. What I mean is, it will be a great trick. I will magically find a positive attitude to put on. Unfortunately it was a bad fit, it felt like putting on a pair of jeans that you have to lie down to zip up. That's a comparison that only women will understand. But just like magic the jeans fit.
Since this was my first online business venture, I found one lone thought echoing as if I were on a mountain top. Now what?....
.......Now what?....... Now what?....... I ask myself what do I do know? Support from anyone in the company is definitely not a word in their vocabulary. My sponsor was very nice and tried to help but you could tell he was new also. After wondering around the back office of One Step's web site. I discovered I had to pay another .99 so my website would be live. Not only that but I would be billed that much every month. Without this no one sees what a great opportunity they will be missing. Thinking I have no choice at this point, I pay my .99 only to find myself on that mountain top again, hearing that same question echoing in my brain. Now what?
Well, I’m told you really need to create a landing page. A landing page is like a enticing sales letter to grab their interest and a way to get their e-mail address if they decide to leave your website. You see its all a game of numbers they tell me, if you get their e-mails and they're not convinced about joining One Step, you will be able to e-mail them later and tell them how great One Step is and how much money your making etc. "Don't worry though," I’m told, "One Step provides you with all these great tools to help you create your landing page."
After some time of intensely studying these tools, I had only one response. “Huh?” Me create a web page? I'm no writer what would I say on this landing page? As these doubts raced through my mind I came to the only logical conclusion. I will just pay someone to create this landing page for me.
So I hired this company to create this great landing page and they would even host the page for me. It turned out really cool and it only cost me 9. Only one more little thing though, I needed a domain name. "Don’t worry" they say, "you can get one for as little as .00." Wow a name, that's an important thing, I'll have to think of a good one. If you've ever looked for a domain name for your potential business you already know that all the good names are taken. And if you do happen to come across a great name and its for sale the price they want will support a family of 4 for a year. After several days of brainstorming I did finally come up with a name I liked. Success4everyone.com.
Now all that was left to do was to get people to my site to see what a great opportunity it was. I have to tell you this process took much longer than 3 hours. If you remember the ad boldly said I could make 0 in the next 3 hours. Well it took a little longer than I anticipated but now I'm ready, nothing can stop me now.
I decided to take their advice and advertise in my local newspaper. Within no time I started to get traffic to my website but hardly anyone registered for the teleseminar . The teleseminar was what gave them all the information about the company and convinced them to part with their money. Without listening to that sales pitch you don’t have a prayer. Three weeks went by and I struggled not to get discouraged . My sponsor reminded me that it was all a game of numbers. I just never expected the numbers to be so high.
In my spare time I submitted to every free classified sites and placed adds on traffic exchanges. This did accomplish one thing I got tons of e-mails everyday from other people telling me about their great business opportunity. I never knew there were so many scams, I mean opportunities out there.
I decided to try something new and paid for 10,000 visitors to my site. Don't ask me how they do it, I guess your page just magically appears on someone's screen while your surfing the web. The results of this, more visitors no buyers.
I decided to buy some e-mail lists, I don't really remember what I paid for those leads. That’s when I came across 2 other people who were involved with One Step previously. Their stories were pretty similar but the one gentleman told me when he finally decided to call it quits he found it impossible to cancel his . monthly fee. The company had no valid phone number on his credit card statement. No phone number on the web site could be found either. He sent several support tickets to the company with no response. For those of you who don't know what a support ticket is, it's just like customer support without a phone number. You send them an e-mail and perhaps get a response when hell freezes over. I guess it wasn't cold enough to freeze because they continued to bill his credit card for his monthly fee of .99. After trying everything he could think of he ultimately came to the conclusion the only way to stop from being billed was to report his credit card stolen.
Wow, I thought is he talking about my company, the company I've invested so much in already? Even though this had created a unsettling feeling I continued my futile attempts to make it work. Another week went by and I remember the promise made by One Step for 0 worth of free advertising if I didn't make any sales in the first month. I comforted myself with the thought at least I had that.
The next day I sent them a support ticket in my attempt to claim that prize. Not receiving any answer after several days, I sent them another. I presumed they would e-mail me with their response and only by chance did I figure out that I had to log in to read their answer. They said my account was at the QA status of the offer. Whatever that meant, I'm not sure. I don't think communication is their specialty either. The answer to my 2nd support ticket asking why my 1st ticket was not answered was you have to log in to read the answer. If I wasn't smart enough to log in the first time why would they presume I would log in for the answer to the 2nd question. Is it just me or does that make any sense to anyone else. Several weeks have since passed and I haven’t seen any advertising yet, but I’m not holding my breath any longer.
In my recent searching on the web I wasn't even surprised when I seen one of the great recruiters of over 100 people in One Step with his new ad that said Better than Pas and One Step. He has gone of to recruit for other companies. His new ad claims to make 10,000 in days. Woah! Follow your mother's advise if it sounds to good to be true it usually is.
Sure there’s probably people out there that have made money with One Step, I’m not disputing that fact. I just feel all the facts were not given to me nor was the support there.
If you just happen to be a casualty of One Step or some similar opportunity please don't be too hard on yourself, I know nobody likes to admit failure but sometimes we just have to cut our loses. I sincerely hope that you do not give up on your dream to have your own business and be successful. Just tell yourself your now just one step closer to success, no pun intended there.
When pursuing any business venture, I’d like to share these 5 points that I have found very helpful to consider. Number one and most important on your list is the product. You see companies like One Step don't really have a product it's more like a plan. The plan is if you can get people to join you'll make money.
Sure they tell you they have a product, its all these audios and tools in their back office. Many of them as I said earlier were of no use to me, and I'm sure you could find better marketing information at the library. So ask yourself the following questions.
Product - Is the product in demand and is it something people will want even if there not interested in the opportunity?
Company - Is the company committed, funded, ran well, etc.? Is it truly committed to its distributors?
Compensation - Does it make sense or is it confusing? Is it something that anyone can do if they work at it?
Training/Support - Are you going to get training and support? This will be one of the biggest concerns for your prospects.
Timing - Is the timing right? Are you trying to market something there is a decreasing demand or are you in front of trends at the right time with the right thing?
If you take the time to consider these 5 steps your path to success will not be littered with companies like One Step. Hopefully you'll realize there are no shortcuts. It does require work and determination. But it can be done. Don't sell yourself short with these other systems. The reason they are so popular because they play on our insecurities that we don't have what it takes to have a successful business.
Consider the 5 points above and choose a company whom you can be proud of. One that with a little work and determination you will find the success you've been dreaming about. Don't every give up on your dreams for they are who we are.
After much searching I have been able to find a business that meets the criteria above and works for me. It’s in the travel biz . It's definitely not a business for everyone there is a lot to learn. But it is a business that's easy to promote and something you can really be proud of. But that’s information for my next article.
About the Author: After trying and failing at several different programs which included mlm, forced matrix plans, free store club, dollar randomizer and One Step, Sue has decided to stop chasing get rich quick schemes and found a business that has proven all five of the points above. The product is travel, everyone loves to do it. If people you meet aren't interested in the business side they always want to save money on travel. YTB has proven to be a great company and will be right up there with Travelocity and Orbitz in a few years. The support the company gives you can not be found anywhere else. There are conference calls 5 days a week to help you grow your business. Now as more people book travel everyday online the timing couldn't be better. For less than it cost to join One Step you too can have your own travel website and book travel. You'll also be eligible for great travel deals for you and your spouse. For more information you can e-mail her at info@harmonytravel.net or call 419-691-4676 To check out the business go to http://www.travelpropower.com/SueHuss
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