@Sheamus

Between 1992-2006, I worked in the bond markets, five of those years as a trader.

When you’re a part of the financial cog, people are always trying to sell you systems. Systems that promise to make you money.

“This system made me a ton of cash. Buy my system, and you can make money, too.”

None of these systems work. Not one. Here’s the scoop: nobody would sell a system that actually makes money. Nobody. Except a moron. No, the only reason they’re selling these ‘systems’ is because they don’t work or have stopped working.

Of course, it’s not really a lie. The system does make money: for the seller. Everybody else tries it for a bit, realises that it isn’t working, and then writes it off as a lesson learned. Only to do it all again a few months later.

And let’s not forget, if one of these systems actually did work, word would get around. Established, respectable publications would begin to sing its praises. Everybody would start using it. And then it would stop working, because everybody was using it.

Of course, you see these systems in the gambling business, too. One system will predict the lottery numbers. Another promises to help you figure out which horse to bet on. And don’t forget that guaranteed way to beat the roulette table!

Social media is littered with these systems, too. (And littered is the perfect word, as they’re all crap.) I expect scammers and con artists selling ‘twitter train’ follower systems, but it saddens me when you see otherwise-respectable bloggers and social media authorities lending their name to affiliate-marketing snares and dodgy pyramid schemes.

What’s en vogue right now are these systems that promise to show you how you can set up successful and lucrative membership site in five minutes for free.

Here’s one example. Here’s their ‘proof’, which actually made me laugh out loud.

Clearly, lots of people fall for this stuff, as there are lots of these systems around. They generally follow a similar pattern. 

1. You can learn how to make a ton of money by handing over a small sum of money.
2. You better hurry, though, as this offer is for the first X customers only.
3. After this, it’ll be twice the price, but still really cheap!
4. After that, we’re not going to sell it anymore.
5. Hey, we lied – you can still buy it, at ten times the original price! Guess what – it’s still a great deal!

Get a few big-name bloggers in your niche to sing your praises and you’re basically sitting on a goldmine. Everybody makes money. Well, everybody at the very top of the ladder, as they’re sharing out the spoils from all the people who signed up for the system. Because they trusted the bloggers.

Nobody else makes squat.

The guy who came up with the idea probably makes a small fortune.

The guy who gets there late sees everybody else doing it and promptly hands over his $500.

...

You know what?

I gotta get me a piece of the action.