Article by Charlie Wright
You may think that when I’m not writing to you, I’m loafing about the house… watching ‘Deal or No Deal’… cackling insanely… and shooting at passers- by from my window.
Not true at all.
This only happens on Thursdays.
But I must say, I am partial to a bit of television. The rubbish kind that people don’t like to admit. And while a lot of people I meet SAY they only watch “news and nature programmes”, I know it’s not true.
For instance, I am pretty sure that most of my readers will be glued to Dragon’s Den tonight.
If you haven’t seen it, you’ll love it. It’s the closest thing to a biz opp reality show right now.
Brain-rotting stuff with a message
In each episode, a bunch of entrepreneurs and inventors go before a panel of self-made millionaires (the Dragons) and pitch for cash.
A lot of it is mindless entertainment. The ‘dragons’ are often needlessly cruel, or spend lots of time attacking what is a blatantly bad idea. All for fun and ratings.
…Cardboard beach chairs, anyone?
…Rollerskates for your knees?
…Star Trek uniforms for adults?
So yes, the show is a bit of a Pop Idol type thing really. And most of it is down to clever editing.
I know this because I personally know someone who went on Dragon’s Den in the second series. She was pitching for an online business that sells paintings by art college students.
The final edit showed her being laughed at and sent away because she said she “needed the money to give up her job”.
In fact, that response was edited from another segment, and she actually GOT some money from the Dragons.
But all the cruelty, hype and lies aside… there are two good lessons that Dragon’s Den teaches us.
1. Follow your dreams. Anything can happen if you put your mind to it.
OK, this is an obvious lesson from an entrepreneurial talent show. But ordinary people do go on with an idea – like something that boils an egg perfectly, or a new website concept – and walk away with as much as £150,000 investment.
Not once in the show have I seen looks, sex, age education, or past experience, EVER be a barrier.
A good idea is a good idea.
The only thing I’ve noticed is that the person who gets the money HAS to have an original idea. Something they’ve developed from scratch. Something THEY have ownership of.
People with resale rights for foreign ideas get knocked down. Because if it DOES works, everyone and his monkey can buy rights and start competing instantly.
There’s another lesson… one your average biz opp guru might not teach you…
2. Don’t flog a dead horse
You’ll see entrepreneurs come on the show with ideas that simply haven’t worked.
They’ve spent years pinning their hopes one gadget or idea. They’ve given up jobs, wasted weekends, and gone into the red… based on just ONE hope.
And when they’re told by experts exactly why and how their business idea won’t work, they don’t listen. They come away from the show even more determined to spend another year losing money.
Big mistake. It takes many attempts to start a business. You have to be prepared to abandon ideas, combine ideas, look for fresh inspiration, and LISTEN to experts.
Very few people hit the nail on the head first time. And unless you do something big, like invent “the widget”, you are not going to be instantly rich.
Instead, the key is to create as many income streams as possible. That’s the way for the ordinary guy to get rich.
(Something I’m working on myself!)
I’m a classic example of why you shouldn’t flog a dead horse. If you remember, I first tried being a home writer back in the late ’90s, selling radio ads.
The problem was, I didn’t think of it as a ‘biz opp’
At the time, I didn’t think of it as a business that I could develop, more a way of me earning money without going to work.
See, this was BEFORE I got involved with The Guild of Wealth (remember that, ye Biz Opp Veterans of Olde?) and discovered the weird world of mail order newsletters.
It was before electronic newsletters like the one I am writing ever existed.
Long before The Daily Reckoning, What Really Makes Money, Profit Watch, The Rich Jerk… and all those successful email services you get today.
I watched technology develop and tried many things before realised the potential of email publishing, internet marketing and e-books.
If I’d spent the last decade trying to establish a radio ad sales business, who knows? Maybe I’d be a dragon in the den.
I doubt it.
Okay, enough about television…
Let’s deal with Skollar and Waterhouse
I’ve had a few queries about two new internet marketing gurus Greg Skollar and Neil Waterhouse.
Tricky one to follow up this. But having scouted around online I see that Greg Skollar is recently involved with The Prosperity Automated System (PAS).
If that’s the kind of pyramid MLM stuff he’s into, I’d avoid him. (Check my review section on the website here)
Neil Waterhouse is the guy behind the Waterhouse Report, a programme which is supposed to help you to start up a business with no money.
He promises an income stream of over $5000 per month, with less than 1 hour of work per day.
How can he promise this?
Well, Waterhouse claims he has spent 5 years interviewing successful home-business types. He says he’s tried and tested the best ideas, then put them in a report.
Hmm… forgive me if I am a little biased, but I am yet to find a product that does this better than Nick Laight’s ‘What Really Makes Money’.
I say this because Nick offers you 9 instant blueprints of the best start-ups he’s found over many years.
And that’s just the free gift.
For less than £40, you also get a year’s worth of review-packed newsletters, news of the latest biz opp trends, brand new blueprints, email support and special website access.
If you don’t make money in the first 12 months he will give you the entire subscription fee back in full.
So, yes, I know Nick personally, but if you want instant blueprints and the services of a genuine guru, he’s the man.
That’s it for me. I’ll see you in the Dragon’s Den later tonight.
…I’ll be the invisible one with no invention.