Are You Ready To Claim YOUR Share Of The Billions In Revenue On The Internet

Are you ready to claim YOUR share of the Billions in Revenue on the internet ?

Jul 30th 2007 7:42PM

That's what invitation from C. R. Sanderson said. Its also the invitation I had been waiting on for a long time.

Why ? Because it came from StoresOnline. StoresOnline is a public company that i have been short in the past, but currently don't have a position in. I was short the stock of this company because I always believed that it was a company that specialized in ripping off people who didn't know any better with claims of grabbing their "Share of the Billions in Revenue on the Internet"

I wasn't the only one to question their business model. There are a long list of people who are questioning Storesonline and how they treat consumers.

The biggest hurdle that StoresOnline faces, IMHO however, is the battle they have with the state of Utah over whether or not they are a "business opportunity".

Storesonline claims they only sell software. Now personally, i have never received an email from a legit ecommerce software company making the above claim. I haven't read anywhere else but in my StoresOnline invitation how I can " learn how half a million people generate income using the Internet !". Nowhere else do software vendors claim that "Your opportunities to make money are virtually limitless !"

Does that sound like a business opportunity pitch to you ?

Why is that a big deal ? Because from what I've been told, and I dint know all the details, so do your own homework, it looks like Business Opportunities have to register their success and turnover rates with the states. As I understand it, its something to the effect of "what percent of people at least made their money back"

If you have to publish how many customers actually "claimed their share of Internet Billions", that's tough on business if it doesn't work.

Now some may be saying that since I'm in Texas, that its a whole different ballgame. Except that StoresOnline already has had a run in with the State of Texas. They settled with the State, but maybe they couldn't help themselves and had to go after the consumers in this state again. I guess the best news is, if i call 1-800-373-3090 and give my Reservation ID of U8H-(X6-P, i can get a seat at this "fun, relaxed and informative 90 minute conference" and get a free Lunch or Dinner, a Free Business Organizer, Free Admission and MUCH MORE !"

What a great business opportunity for me, right ?

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1. Mark, here a couple of points about biz ops and franchises.

Generally, a biz op has to register their disclosure document with the appropriate state authorities, 26 states at last count regulated biz ops.

The disclosure agreement, if an earnings claim is made, generally has to disclose the empircal b basis for it. Many biz ops make earnings claims orally and then disclaim them in the contract.

A biz op may also be regulated by the FTC, if it fits the biz op definition of franchise. Generally, biz ops which don't have federal trademarks but provide either location assistance or a marketing plan, for goods to sell, will be an FTC Biz Op Franchise. The disclosure requirments are much greater in this case.

Again, no earnings claim need be made, but if there is one it must be backed up and reasonable.

The new FTC Business Opportunity Rule, which is not law yet, would require disclosure of how many people made their money back, because it has a very wide definition of a "earnings claim."

Hope that this a little bit more clear. Posted at 8:41PM on Jul 30th 2007 by michael webster

2. Well now you're just being glib ;)

Posted at 9:18PM on Jul 30th 2007 by Tim Elliott

3. I think the moreover aspect of this is, "...maybe they couldn't help themselves and had to go after the consumers..." As a member of the LDS Church, the Salt Lake Valley is known as "The Bubble". The safety of hiding from the big bad world has created a very intelligent community about community issues. "Opportunities" like this are shinny new toys because they there is a lack of understanding what running a business really involves.

I had a young friend when I was going to BYU a year ago tell me, "...Its only $500, they have been in business for 14 years and are a Fortune 500 company..." Don Luprie is a great example, however he actually had a genius concept that much of the internet uses today. His concept revolved around selling information, not a service. Bad business practice killed him because the reality is; companies like this are in business ONLY to sign people up. The feed off the impulse buy, I signed one time for pure curiosity and lost my $45. But the whole thinking is "Who is going to sue for $45?"

Utah provides the people of inexperience, Texas, Florida and Southern States where any "opportunity" to pray on the poor and Hispanic populations is easy money.

Bottom line, there are people like me who have original business started from scratch, amazing ideas, complete business plans and seek $25k start up money but cannot get it. These “opportunities” kill real Opportunities that I am looking for. So I watch my dreams fade away as I do everything in my power to stop it. Only time will tell when/if a real opportunity will come my way.

Jerry R. Reynolds Alimoe The General

Posted at 9:40PM on Jul 30th 2007 by Jerry R. Reynolds

4. Jerry: Spot on! Unfortuantely the only way to get these wankers is state by state regulators who as everyone knows are underfunded.

The net is out of control and the scams are run by sophisticated con artist. I have been seriously looking into the private social networks, by invitation only. Exclusivity sells. Needless to say, Jerry, finding qualified or interested vc does not come easy, because of these grifters! Ok, I had my say!

Posted at 10:47PM on Jul 30th 2007 by Mary Clemente

5. I've pretty much gotten to the point if it says 'make money online', I read it as 'scam'. Maybe I'm just being too cynical by seeing as a sort of Ponzi scheme for the 21st century... paying money for something you're never going to get.

Posted at 11:42PM on Jul 30th 2007 by Rebeccalee Coventry

6. You know it is funny but the fancy get-rich-quick emails I can mostly ignore; although they are getting better and better to becoming harder to spot!

But recently I got a few voice mails on my cell phone. A kind and trusting ladies voice told me that she was going to share this remarkable business oppurtunity with me. Yada Yada Yada. I took the toll free number and googled it. Yep a Utah number that was just another gimmick.

They are coming at us from all angles now. The problem is that there are those who believe every word. Something has to be done to regulate these predators. Maybe someday the state-by-state method will go national. Will that make it better or worse? hmmm...

Posted at 11:54PM on Jul 30th 2007 by Chris MacDougall

7. I've checked their share price and found out that back in 1999 and 2000 they were trading at one point over $100 a share, reaching a high of $117 a share on March 10th, 2000. Or at least that's what I thought from a superficial review of their share price on google finance.

Then I noticed that they did a reverse stock split of 10:1 on June 28th, 2002, meaning that they weren't trading at $117 but rather at $17.

Why would a company have a reverse 10-1 stock split? At the time they would have been trading at $0.15 and the split made them trade at $1.50, still a penny stock but more "respectable."

The only stocks that trade at $0.15 are scams to target the unsuspecting or bankrupt companies. The sort of thing that my dad gets in the mail every so often from junk "investment hot tips newsletters." That's all this company is and I hope somehow they are forced to close. Posted at 12:12AM on Jul 31st 2007 by Tom Sullivan

8. We've worked with a few biz opp clients, and all of them were based out of Utah like StoresOnline. When we understood, that most of them are selling a dream of working at home, and the products/services that the consumer is selling is a dud..we dropped them. We got paid almost all the time, until one company filed for banruptcy and I was out $20k.

Back in 2002 the sites we a little banged up, but now you can see they make it nice and attractive. Makes you feel like you are dealing with a legite company!

Posted at 12:25AM on Jul 31st 2007 by PPC Management

9. It's businesses like this that are the gravest threat to evolution. How in the gall-dang world can some one fall for this after all the years this crap has been around? The only answer that I can come up with is that we are not evolving...

As for NBA news...go head and trade KG to the Celtics. They too can win the east and get swept by the Spurs.

Peace...

Posted at 1:05AM on Jul 31st 2007 by Jon

10. @ Mary

I don't think that private social networks is a solution for everybody.

Posted at 7:17AM on Jul 31st 2007 by Joey

11. Who is ensuring that business opportunities register with anyone? It's not very effective, and I'm not sure how it can be. Perhaps if it's a high profile organization, then they'll need to follow the rules because they're in the spotlight. But I see ads for business opportunities all the time from small web sites, and they aren't registering with anyone or telling anyone how much money is coming and going. In fact, they won't tell you if you ask them. And there's no agency that's even aware of them.

It's probably a good idea to demand this kind of information, but it's not realistic to think that most of the business opportunity providers will comply. And unfortunately there's no end of people who want to get rich quick and will give money to anyone who makes an exciting offer. Posted at 9:34AM on Jul 31st 2007 by Dave

12. These are the types of companies that continually lure my friends in, who in turn, pitch all these "opportunities" to me. It really does get annoying. I wish they would just quit.

Its ok, I tell them. I'll let them make the millions selling Beef Jerky/Vacations/Software/Vitamins/Etc and I'll continue chugging.

Posted at 10:18AM on Jul 31st 2007 by Kip Nickell

13. If it's too good to be true, it probably is. For anyone who knows anything about business, get rich schemes just schemes for the person running the business to get rich off of hopeless people.

What a crock. Thanks for calling these jerks out.

Posted at 10:35AM on Jul 31st 2007 by Allan

14. Interesting peice of (promotion?). With the internet, it is now easier than ever to scam people.

Posted at 10:45AM on Jul 31st 2007 by Mitchell Blatt, Juiced Sports Blog.com

15. Affiliate marketers are really the lowest form of business people. Neither producing, nor fulfilling nor supporting. They're hybrid middlemen parasites.

Posted at 11:47AM on Jul 31st 2007 by Anand

16. My personal experience with these cybercrooks was based in Europe where its an abyss. I now only respond to people I know via email and strangers must have a referral from someone I know. I have report so many scams to US Attorney, FBI even the infamous NSA, No such agency. Many of these scams are greared towards young people and seniors. Who spend zone time on the internet. (zone time; lonly hours)....Mark, check your in-box.

A great example of something amazing gone totally wrong, is Facebook, yes, its very valuable for founders, but its out of control and filled with (Monday NYTimes)

Posted at 1:33PM on Jul 31st 2007 by Mary Clemente 17. Customers who want their money back may be able to do so, see http://www.StoresOnlineExposed.com to stay up to date with various lawsuits against iMergent/StoresOnline and procedures for getting refunds from them.

Posted at 1:33PM on Jul 31st 2007 by Michael / StoresOnlineExposed

18. I'd like to see the list of how many people made their money back. Anyone have a clue where it's at? That would be very interesting to look at.

Posted at 3:02PM on Jul 31st 2007 by hpv

19. Looks like B.S. to me too. It is amazing how much crap goes on online, even in the webmaster forums, the most successful members are just gouging the other members and rookies with some get rich quick method. Sometimes they will be selling a product guaranteed to make your site the most popular online, but their site doesn't even rank...hopefully this crap gets weeded out shortly...

Posted at 3:06PM on Jul 31st 2007 by Webmaster Resources

20. hey mark, there is a bridge here in Brooklyn, we can also sell it online and make a lot of money:) bobby