Ask Gina Gaudio-Graves’ … About Internet Marketing & Strategic Alliances

Have you seen the stir this week in the internet
marketing world over PayPal shutting down Jonathan
Legere’s $7 Secrets site and several other $7 sites as
well?

It’s all over the forums!

One of my interns IMed me about it a few days ago,
concerned because she knows that I promote many of
these sales.

So I set out to investigate the issue for myself …

Since I know that many of you are either promoting them
as well or are running your own $7 promotions and sites,
I wanted to make sure that you were at least aware of the
issues.

So, if you have a $7 site, or if you are promoting them, what
can you do to prevent your PayPal account from getting
shut down?

You’ll find a thread about this exact issue in the $7 secrets
forum at:

http://7dollarforum.com//YaBB.pl?num=1180640219/15

But I wanted to give you my take on this as well …

Do you know why PayPal has been shutting down these
accounts?

It’s not what you would think!

Before I get to that, though, do you know what I mean
when I say “$7 site”?

I’m talking about those sites that start out at a low
price and then have the price increase periodically until
it reaches a specified price. You’ll find one example at:

http://www.askggg.com/blogging

But, I also mean those sites that have a low price (say
under $10) that pay 100% commissions as well. An
example of this is at:

http://www.abundancegroup.com/traffic/social-media.htm

The reason that PayPal has been shutting these accounts
down has nothing to do with the 100% instant
commissions being paid to affiliates immediately. (At
least so far, PayPal is not even suggesting that as a
violation of their Acceptable Use Policy (AUP).)

(Although, it IS a violation of their AUP to pay split
commissions instantly to different affiliates or to
split a payment between you and an affiliate.)

The complaint that PayPal has is a little odd …

Basically, they are saying that when you advertise the
fact that you will pay 100% instant commissions within
the sales letter, or as a bonus, that this is the
equivalent of selling a business opportunity that is
not tied to the sale of a product.

According to PayPal, that violates their AUP.. They
have therefore shut down these various accounts and,
despite protests, are not willing to reopen them.

In one forum, some have suggested that the reason
for PayPal’s decision was tied to sites that were
requiring customers to opt in to a list after their
purchase transaction.

Although that does violate PayPal’s AUP as well, that
was not the case with the sites that have been
affected.

(You can have an opt in after a sale if it is
optional, but you cannot require someone to opt in
after a sale in order to claim their purchase. That is
simply not allowed per PayPal’s AUP.)

The issue at hand is the same reason that many MLM
programs are not allowed here in the US.

When you are making a sale, that sale must be tied to
some product … whether physical or digital … or it
is often prohibited by law (here in the US at least and
in many other countries as well).

I’ll bet that you didn’t even realize that you can’t
charge someone a fee to get the right to sell your
products and earn a commission, did you?

The reason is that it is not allowed under US law and
under the law of most Euopean countries as well. It’s
for that reason that PayPal prohibits it as well.

Here’s what PayPal is saying when it comes to the $7
sites …

PayPal is suggesting that when the price of a product
is so nominal, that listing the 100% instant
commissions as a bonus is essentially amounting to
selling the business opportunity itself.

I’m sure that many gurus with $1,000 products would
disagree with me on this one, but honestly, I believe
that these $7 sales are actually a fantastic marketing
technique.

Here’s why …

* They help you to build a list of buyers.

* If used properly, it makes for a fantastic low end
product in your sales funnel because of the built in
urgency element caused by the price increasing.

* This will build a strong list of buyers for you, who
will then be interested in purchasing additional
products as well.

In fact, in most niches, these types of sales will not
even benefit from advertising the 100% commission at
all. That’s only effective in a make money market like
internet marketing in the first place.

BUT — the thing is that most marketers are just plain
stupid and they don’t use these sales properly in the
first place.

They look at them as a way to make a quick buck and
nothing more. Then when PayPal goes and does things
like this, they get pissed off at PayPal.

Well, it’s not PayPal’s fault that the laws are what
they are. If you want to be pissed, then get pissed
at your legislators, not at PayPal.

Does PayPal have problems? Absolutely!

But this time, they are right on the money!

Why not grab the $7 script, find a great PLR product in
a niche that you are passionate about, and set up a
promotion that uses the PLR product on the front end
with one of your other products (or even an affiliate
product) on the back end.

Then set up a joint venture for yourself, and invite
others who are already in that niche to promote it for
you?

When you do this, you can set up a separate JV Partner
page that advertises the 100% commissions. There would
be no need to put it on the sales page itself at all.

In the member’s area, AFTER they have purchased, you
can also mention it to the purchasers as well.

It’s ok to do so at that point, because then it’s not
an enticement to purchase. It simply becomes an
unadvertised bonus instead.

This would be an extremely effective way to bring in
both JV Partners as well as a new list of buyers in
your niche.

The thing that most often holds marketers back from
trying this technique, though, is the technical side
of it …

How do you get the script set up?

If you don’t know php, you are barely comfortable with
html, and have no resources to hire someone with, what
do you do to run this type of a sale?

Well, luckily, there’s a fantastic solution for
marketers like us! (Yep, I count myself in the
techncially challenged group as well!)

There’s a brand new product out from one of my friends,
Jahn A., that will allow even techie-phobes like me to
set up the $7 script anytime we want.

It’s a little tool that resides on your desktop and,
like any other software, you just run it and it makes
the install totally automated.

You’ve gotta try this thing for yourself:

===> http://askggg.com/7dollarinabox

Heck, even if you’re a techie pro, this tool will save
you a TON of time getting your $7 sites set up.

REMEMBER … don’t put that 100% commission ad up on
the sales page!

Another quick tip where PayPal is concerned … if you
are using PayPal to process your orders, then you
should treat them like the merchant provider that they
are.

Call them any time that you are starting a new
promotion and have them annotate your account.

Truly build a relationship with them.

When you do follow smart business practices, you’ll
have fewer problems in the long run and will be less
likely to get your account shut down.

Now I should also tell you … although I am an
attorney by trade, this message is not meant to be
legal advice, nor am I telling you things as an
attorney.

Rather, these are simply words of wisdom from a fellow
smart marketer who has your best interests at heart!

By the way … I am always looking for 100% commission
offers for users of the JV Suite Toolbar. We have
thousands of affiliates looking for JV’s to promote
through our new toolbar.

If you drop me a line letting me know about your
promotion, I’ll happily look into promoting it myself
if it is in an appropriate niche, or putting it up for
my Toolbar members.

Good luck with your $7 niche sales!

To Your Abundant $7 Niche Success!

Gina Gaudio-Graves
Founder, JVSuite.com
Founder, elliances.org

P.S. You can get this great software to set up your $7
secrets sites for you at:

http://askggg.com/7dollarinabox

Affiliate Marketing, internet marketing, Joint Ventures