Elite Marketing Pro: An Honest Review

My dad used to tell me (as I am certain most everyone else has/had a father figure who told them the same thing, or something similar), "Son, nothing good in this life is ever free." Who listens to their parents when they're adolescents though, right? I should have taken this one piece of advice to the bank and deposited it for safekeeping. Instead, it's like a bad song right before you get out of your car in the morning, and walk in to work singing that same stupid song all day. It seems as if every single time I am optimistic about a 'system' or 'product' that guarantees nothing short of financial freedom, my inner monologue will wait until the most inopportune moment - usually when it's already too late - to cue up my dad's voice as he spews forth his own regurgitated wisdom. But alas, this isn't a story about my father...

 

About two months ago, after not having traded time for money in quite some time already, I ran across a sponsored post on Facebook that claimed I could have my first $1,000 day within the next 90 days. However, I must say that it wasn't the claim that compelled me to watch the video, it was the face attached. A young man attacked my innermost need to better provide for my family, and I clicked the link within the video that sent me to a 'landing page' urging me to enter my email address if I truly wanted to have my first thousand dollar day...

 

One more click, and I was watching another (nearly hour long) video by CEO, Tim Erway. It was a Sunday night/Monday morning about 2:30 a.m., and I was truly inspired by what Tim was saying to me. EXCEPT... At the bottom of the video there was a blaring 'Add To Cart' button, so I knew the speaker was going to ask for something which I did not currently possess. Money.

 

The psychological component of this system is to (Duh!) get you to spend as much money as possible, but in order to do that, the speaker puts himself in the listener's shoes. His story is relatable to most anyone (I would presume) looking for a get-rich-quick program at 2:30 a.m. on a Monday. He had been through a foreclosure, and was facing eviction yet again whilst not having 'two nickels to rub together'. For clarity's sake, he did not mention one time during the hour long invitation what Elite Marketing Pro is or does, just that it is a system that he paid 'hundreds of thousands of dollars to develop'. Wait! I thought you didn't have two nickels to rub together, son!?

 

Initially, you only have three options to join, and one is a 10-day, $1 trial. As previously stated, however, I really didn't even have a dollar, so I asked my wife, and she obliged after about a million questions that I could not answer.

 

The trial is chock full of attempts to upsell the newbie via emails, subliminal messages throughout the Ignition! training, and two 'coaching' calls by an assigned coach. I didn't remember seeing an option for VIP Membership (and there isn't one) from the onset, but the further you get through the training, the more you hear about the VIP option. However, you don't get the price - whether you ask or not - until the last 'module' within the aforementioned Ignition! training.

 

  So, after traveling an enjoyable introspective journey throughout all eleven modules (yes, only eleven... The twelfth has since been removed due to some type of glitch, according to my personal coach, Rodolfo Rodriguez), I can give you all the skinny on Elite Marketing Pro's entire system.

In a nutshell, the deliverables one receives on the front-end are of far greater value than the cost, but throw in the support, follow-up, mentoring and mentorship opportunities, and a ridiculous amount more quantifies EMP - at the very least - as something from which a true optimist could absolutely benefit.

I mentioned the introspective journey, and it all began with the visualization of $10,000,000 in my bank account, followed by affirming what - exactly - that scenario looks and feels like.

Based on that, I was asked to list my top priorities in three categories: Have, Be, and Do. To clarify, what will I have, be, and do now that I am a multi-millionaire? I won't go into all of them, but I will tell you my number one priority listed, and shared with my coach, was to invest in a business model that would provide me with passive, leveraged income. I mean, that's the whole idea, right? Work smart, make more?

At any rate, I figured if they followed up with me like they did, and they have the same system in place to follow up with people I send them, I would try my best to send them more than they could ever handle!

EXCEPT...

You don't get full access to the entire suite of tools within Elite Marketing Pro, nor do you make anywhere near the commissions promised even if you pay for VIP Membership. Plus, the initial cost is just that. You must also possess funds to advertise ensuing said initial cost. Here are your options...

• Monthly - $47 (The affiliate makes a 40% commission on all final sales)
• Yearly - $297 (The affiliate makes a 60% commission on all final sales)
• VIP - $1,997 (The affiliate makes a 100% commission on all final sales)

As a monthly member, I have access to a magazine entitled, What's Working Now. The system boasts over two dozen products that I don't get with just a monthly membership. I only make $24 if someone purchases the yearly plan through my link, and only $47 if someone spends $2k for the VIP through my affiliate link. Right now, you're thinking, "How is that equal to 40%?" My answer to you would be that it is certainly not equal.

There is also a video deeply embedded within the website hosted by EMP's CMO, Ferny Ceballos whence he flat out discloses (verbatim), " If you aren't a VIP Member, forget it." My question to him is, "Why even offer the monthly or yearly option if those members should just 'forget it'?"

In closing, I will leave the verdict up to you, my faithful reader. What do you think? I would love to hear from you. Just so you know, though, ensuing my first month's membership, I will be taking Ferny's eloquent advice... Forget about it!

May our healing continue The Spiffy Way!

Why We Should Be Good

We should all care about the subject I am covering today because it is a societal plague, and a fundamentally unscrupulous multi-billion dollar industry in our country. What's more is, unless you're a billionaire, there's no way to fight this system other than plain ol' being good.

The Justice Policy Institute (JPI) released a report in 2011 chronicling the political strategies of private prison companies “working to make money through harsh policies and longer sentences.” The report’s authors note while the total number of people in prison increased by less than 16 percent, the number of people held in private federal and state facilities increased by 120 and 33 percent, respectively.

Government spending on corrections has soared since 1997 by 72 percent, up to $74 billion in 2014. As a direct result, the private prison industry has raked in tremendous profits. In 2010 just two of the largest private prison companies — Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) and GEO Group — made over $2.9 billion in revenue.

JPI claims the private industry hasn’t merely responded to the nation’s incarceration woes, it has actively sought to create the market conditions (ie. more prisoners) necessary to expand its business.

According to JPI, the private prison industry uses three strategies to influence public policy: lobbying, direct campaign contributions, and networking. The three main companies have contributed well over a quarter million dollars to federal candidates and over $6 million to state politicians. They have also spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on direct lobbying efforts. CCA has spent over $900,000 on federal lobbying and GEO spent anywhere from $120,000 to $199,992 in Florida alone during a short three-month span in 2011.

Meanwhile, “the relationship between government officials and private prison companies has been part of the fabric of the industry from the start,” notes the report. The cofounder of CCA himself once served as chairman of the Tennessee Republican Party. I guess he found a more spiffy way to make a little dough.

The impact that the private prison industry has had is hard to deny. In Arizona, 30 of the 36 legislators who co-sponsored the state’s controversial immigration law that would undoubtedly put more immigrants behind bars received campaign contributions from private prison lobbyists or companies.

These private prison corporations have also been involved in lobbying efforts related to a bill in Florida that would've required privatizing all of the prisons in South Florida, and have been more involved than a little bit in appropriations bills of this sort on the federal level.

Tracy Velázquez, executive director of JPI recommends that we “take a hard look at what the cost of this influence is, both to taxpayers and to the community as a whole, in terms of the policies being lobbied for, and the outcomes for people put in private prisons.”

So, why should you care?

For one, if you haven't been directly affected by the preceding, I'd be willing to bet you won't have to peruse too far down the ol' 'Friends List' to find someone you know who has. In addition, the system just keeps getting smarter, wealthier, and more powerful. When money talks, the powerful listen.

I will always try to stay on a positive note within my blog, and this one is no different. What we need to understand about this information is the simple fact that no matter what side of the fence you're on (pun intended), you are going to pay. So, I say this is plenty of reason to be good. Otherwise, you may end up having paid for your own incarceration by the time they welcome you at those razor wire-wrapped gates...

May the healing continue!

The Belief of Power

J. Scott Hales
July 21, 2015

It's all about people - not papers, pitches, or even a smashing presentation - whether you are an investor, entrepreneur, or job seeker. No matter where you've been or where you are headed, it will ultimately be the people to whom you attribute any and all success. I'm sure you remember every life altering experience you've ever had (they were, after all, life altering), but more so the people who were beside you during those times; the ones who left when the chips were down as much as the ones who were right beside you - every step - that will account for your personal success story.

I picked up a book online a few years ago entitled, Office Superman. What I thought was a comic book in book form about Superman certainly was not. Author, Alan Axelrod scripts the comic book hero in order to motivate real people to improve themselves in the marketplace. Good show!

Office Superman begins by explaining what - exactly - makes him so super. The answer was not what I expected, which was to tell me the reasons Superman was super was because he could fly, bend steal with his bare hands, and blah, blah, blah...  Not even close. Superman is super because he has people who believe in his abilities.  After all, though, Superman is not the only super person in the comic book world with amazing abilities.

Out here in the real world, however, guess what?  Everybody who wants to move forward iboth n their business and personal life needs believers.  In fact, if you do not have any believers, you cannot even do that which you know best.

The big lesson here for everyone is to become proficient in building a TRIBE of BELIEVERS which equivocates your true value to not just the marketplace.  To live a life without people who truly share and believe in your purpose is nothing short of blatantly cheating the process of building a life or business, and forfeiting an honest future. You have been building your tribe your whole life. I'd say thinking about the people to whom you owe your success is a great mindset, and a Spiffy Way to start another week.

May the healing continue!

Photo Credit: Office Superman, Running Press, 2004

It's All Relative

J. Scott Hales
Dothan, AL

I have a purpose, and an agenda, as do ALL writers no matter how much they try to convince us that objective journalism is alive and well. I am a freelance writer who cares about the human condition, and I want my work to continually reinforce that statement, so I just might be remembered for having helped you or someone you love through my ability to communicate.

In the end, however, I know whatever good is in me is due to the love and compassion of my grandmother. It wasn't just me she loved. It was everyone she ever met, and you truly felt loved when she was anywhere near you. She had the uncanny ability to calm you with a word, or more so the tone with which she spoke those words, but one phrase in particular, "Kind words, and cool water."

It is apparent to me - and the reason, once again, why I am sitting here writing - that no one even cares, and/or will even try to disprove the fact that scientific carbon-dating and genetic testing supports that all of the human species can be traced back via mitochondrial DNA to a single skull found during the 1930's in Africa.  The skull was found to be over 120,000 years old, and again, the specific gene passed through all our mothers was also found in it.*  Now, just let that sink in for a moment...

I am not here for a science lesson, however, nor am I even attempting to attest that one theory is any more accurate than another. I see things every day that make me wonder how we arrived at a point where we feel obligated to establish dominance over people who look, speak, believe, or act differently than we do. Spiffy-tific theory states that we are merely hard-wired to believe we are, by virtue, better than the next person, and our ability - or inability - to express that belief is the real problem.

I posted a photo-quote/meme earlier today that states, "The world is full of good people. If you can't find one, be one." Can you imagine what the world would look like if we all tried to live by this philosophy? The quote is an optimistic call-to-action, and I truly believe if we make an effort to try to do something nice for someone today that we may not necessarily have done yesterday, we could - one day - ultimately be responsible for changing our world for the better. Sure, we can find ten million things wrong with what everyone else is doing, but why not find one thing that YOU can do right, and - like Nike ordered - just do it? We are, after all, our own best and worst critics, so the easiest place to start looking is definitely within. If you adopt this simple philosophy, I promise before you know it, you will begin to see others trying to catch the Helper's Fever too.

Yes, we are all different, and have something unique to offer. Contrary to popular belief, though, your gift is not yours, and the key to that ever-elusive happiness is giving your gift away. Even though a lot of people absolutely despise cooking, my grandmother loved it. Southern culinary fare was her gift, and she took advantage of giving it away as often as she could. Trust me when I say that her - and I quote for pronunciation's sake - 'Nanner Puddin' was just one thing that everyone appreciated and enjoyed immensely. Hearing about how much her friends and family enjoyed the gift she so selflessly gave overflowed her own cup of joy time and again. Hence the name, 'gift' because it is meant to be shared with as many people as you can find that will appreciate it.

We may not be able to change the way others think, but that's not the deal I'm proposing here at all, because no matter what you believe, you have to feel - at least within your innermost self - that if we... just us who read this blog post... do better today than we did yesterday, the world will be at least two people better tomorrow. Can we agree on the fact that none of us is a perfect human, and that all of us could use a daily dose of growth? I sure hope so.

I think that's a good starting point, and that is your mission for this weekend if you so choose to accept it. Be nice to someone. Heck, try being nice to everyone. It is, after all, quite a Spiffy Way to live, and would make your grandmother proud! You have my guarantee on that!

Until next time, I pray the healing continues for us all.

*Informational and photo credit: Stephen Oppenheimer The Real Eve, 2002, Basic
Or watch the Discovery Channel documentary at this link: https://youtu.be/2Ca1AC5hVtE

Paul Anderson Youth Home: A Helping Legacy

J. Scott Hales
Vidalia, GA

Every once in awhile, we discover a diamond in the rough, and in those moments we may also experience an epiphany as a result. Last  night I realized every second of my life has led me here, right now to tell you about what has recently inspired me.

In a nutshell, it's a small world. I'll justify that statement in a few minutes by tying yesterday's and today's blogs together in a nice, pretty, little bow. I know we could all tell a story about this one, but just humor me...

To refresh, my previous article was about a man who has built a Dothan, Alabama restaurant into a business model poised to spread nationally. Today, I am mainly covering the Paul Anderson Youth Home, and what inspired the founder to do what he did... which, by the way was nothing short of national news a few years back, and is still quite spiffy today.

Paul's journey of intrigue and success began not very promising at all when he nearly died of Bright's disease as a toddler. Anderson, no doubt, inherited his mother's helping spirit, and her faith in something greater than self  that would ultimately enable him to fulfill an unending legacy. He crafted an alternative program-type facility for problematic 16-20 year old males in 1961 on the heels of a weightlifting career with a still unbroken world record clean and jerk to his credit. Although Paul Anderson died in 1994, the PAYH has never veered away from its' founder's core values, and what's more, boasts a near-90% success rate.

Nowadays, Paul's wife, Glenda serves as program director for the PAYH. The Christian organization implements a welcoming, non-judgmental yet enriching environment, and many proven strategies that will benefit troubled male youths from all over the world for the rest of their lives. The residents are accomplishing great things as a result of having been a part of this useful program, considering the alternatives. Family counseling services, a spiritual guidance component, intensive, strategic classes on exactly how to set goals, and implementing a plan to follow through are only a small part of  PAYH's well-rounded, structured curriculum.

One of Anderson's first missions was - and still is - a bike ride through Florida that included several stops along the way. He spoke to high school students and teachers, and several church communities about what he was accomplishing only by the grace of God and a burning desire to help people.

As this is being written, some of the residents of PAYH are preparing to trek via bikes from Key West, Florida back to the youth home in Vidalia, Georgia. They too, will be making some scheduled, fund- and awareness-raising stops. I urge you to check out their website at: PAYH.org as soon as possible, or those interested in an investment in future generations may donate at the following secure link: https://secure2.convio.net/payh/site/Donation2;jsessionid=00000000.app202a?df_id=2196&2196.donation=form1&NONCE_TOKEN=965078C3744CC968463FC42F6D4DFAFB.

One alumni of this ingenious program now owns and operates a Chic-Fil-A restaurant in Georgia, which is by the way, what leads perfectly into why I say it's a small world spiffily after all (and spiffily is an actual word, so don't even...). The first donation Paul Anderson ever received was rumored to be twenty dollars from none other than founder, and Chairman of Chic-Fil-A Systems, Mr. Truett Cathy!

Back to yesterday's blog for a second in order to wrap the bow...

For those of you who know about the Dorminy family from Dothan, Alabama, and the beautiful Goldfingers restaurants Bill and Lyne founded there... well, you know where I'm going with this, I would hope.

Some-quarter century ago or better, Bill Dorminy began with Chic-Fil-A Systems, and years later received a genuine atta-boy from Truett Cathy when the two conversed about the possibility of Bill's pet project, Goldfingers.

Here's a bonus point or three for free. My youngest sister, Leigh-Anne, is a licensed counselor with the PAYH, and I blog for Goldfingers, and that's today's small world tidbit.

Hopefully, we are all helping other people become better, and thus becoming better ourselves within that process... Truett Cathy, Paul Anderson, and Bill Dorminy... all inter-connected by and through creating new ways to help others, and our perception of what family should be... It is truly my belief that we are all connected on some level, and I appreciate you for helping me get to right here, right now. With your help, we can all do something truly Spiffy! In the meantime, let the healing process begin with you!

Photo and Informational Credit: PAYH.org
Paul Anderson, pictured below, with his Olympic Gold Medal.

Alabama Restauranteur Looking to Franchise Nationwide

 

J. Scott Hales

Dothan, AL

 

How many times have you seen a business close because the owner has more money than sense, and - simply put - tries to put the proverbial cart ahead of the horse? While you think about that, I would like to give an honest review of a small town chicken restauranteur who has experienced the utmost success by doing everything right.

 

A Dothan, Alabama man and his family opened Goldfingers in 2009 at the urging of their own core values and vision for not only what local flavor should be, but more so what it could  be if they stayed true to what matters most to them.

 

Bill, Lyne, Will, and Michael Dorminy saw an opportunity to further position themselves as an integral part of the Wiregrass area by emphasizing the 'GF Model', and that is: Good Friends, Great Food, and God's Favor. With three Dothan units operating at a high rate of success - and continuously growing, mind you - the Dorminy clan finds they are at the helm, and on the verge of regional and national success.

 

Plans are underway - as this blog is being written - for a new, local Goldfingers prototype after which the initial wave of franchises will be modeled. Meanwhile in Mobile and Montgomery, Alabama, site selection processes have begun for stores being awarded to local investors in those areas respectively as well.

 

If you ask Chief Executive Officer, Bill Dorminy what he's up to these days, you can expect a huge smile, and only one answer (at least the only response I've ever received), "Livin' the dream!"

 

Want to live the dream too? The screening process takes about four-to-six months, and the rights to franchise Goldfingers restaurants within zip codes in the southeast are currently up for grabs. As an added bonus, and esoterically speaking, I have heard that the first five selected franchisees will become the benefactors of a 4% lifetime royalty. These future owner/operators will play an instrumental part of building the corporate structure within Goldfingers Franchise Group, LLC. For more information, please submit your contact information and desired location(s) via email to: billdorminy@gmail.com.

 

Good luck to you all in taking the first steps toward a brighter future! If you know anyone that this post applies to, please feel free to share.

 

 

Would you like for me to review a product or service on my blog? I will gladly do it for you. Either respond in the comments section of this post, or shoot me an email. Let the healing begin The Spiffy Way!