A few weeks ago I mentioned amateur videography in my article about Street Advertisements and Graffiti. It is definitely something that I think has been propagated by the popularity of YouTube and other video sites.

I was googling some random stuff for article ideas the other day and I ran across a website that  mentioned how easy it is to get rich. I love claims like those. I clicked the link to see what they were trying to sell and found that they also had a YouTube video to explain their product.

And guess what? This  video was shot EXACTLY how I mentioned before.

Does Amateur Videography Sell Products Better?

Well, why don’t you be the boss of that and simply watch this video? Do you think the fact that it looks less professional appeals to people and makes them trust the information more? For me, I feel pretty sea sick after the video is complete.  It seems like someone is purposefully shaking the camera vigorously. Maybe I am just sensitive to this kind of stuff, though.

“”College Students” make [Cash to Riches] for $40″

What is this video selling?

Apparently it is a work-at-home internet business called the “Lazy Wealth System.” Clever name… especially when you are purposefully targeting college students. I mean the video even goes as far as to say

You might be a student or a college student just graduated and now you’re looking for a summer job.. gotta make some money, pay some bills…

But anyone with sense knows that reward is usually related to risk and/or effort.

I went on to watch it and thought… who is still naive enough to sign up for things like this? If you go to the website the guy mentions they do not even mask the fact that it’s a tiered program where you make money by getting people to sign up. Furthermore, there is NO (obvious, at least) product or service in which you are selling. Do people not understand that if there is no product or service that has some sort of value added for other people then the purchase is worthless?

Successes do happen…

How much do you think the founder of this scheme makes? I wonder how many other people have made good money by adopting early. Unfortunately success stories do happen in schemes like this due to the nature of the scheme, which drives more people to trust them, but it is simple logic people…! The only winners are those at the top! At some point the pool of people willing to sign up will dry up and those who last signed up will be left with nothing.

Anyways…

As I arleady noted, this MLM/ponzi scheme seems particularly despicable since it is marketed towards college students who just graduated and have bills to pay. I pray for my fellow college graduates and hope they do not fall for things like this.

Since you all are reading personal-betterment and personal finance blogs, though, I doubt I have anything to worry about.

Does anyone have a good story about a MLM or a ponzi scheme? Did you participate in one? Did you make money? Did you lose money? If you made money, was it hard? Just give some info!