Cagey Consumer

Useful Products

This chain letter was submitted to the Cagey Consumer, and is published here for educational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to participate in the chain letter. Participants in chain letters may be subject to prosecution. 
From: "Clements, Debby" <Debby.Clements@delta-air.com>
To: "'mantel@hotmail.com'" <mantel@hotmail.com>
Subject: FW: re: your web page
Date: Wed, 14 Oct 1998 15:58:49 -0400
[This letter is intended to be sent in response to a chain letter]
Hi,

I received your email about the marketing reports. Let me caution you about a few things.

First, this is a copy of the Edward Greene Marketing Letter that I first saw (and participated in) back in 1989. It was done through US mail back then. There were four reports, and each was one or two pages of pure "fluff". I still have this letter and those reports.

These were just an attempt to "legalize" a chain letter. I made about $700 on this before I got some nasty letters from the Post Master General (PMG) threatening legal action if I continued, so I quit the program. I continued to fill existing orders, but, I enclosed a copy of the last PMG letter I received and I quit advertising and mailing the chain.

Now, according to the PMG, these are some of the problems with this letter:

  1. The letter had a formal guarantee of wealth/profit, which was impossible to guarantee. You have no way of guaranteeing their success and you actually open yourself up to a $50,000 (or whatever amount you are claiming people can make) breach of contract lawsuit by making promises you can't ensure. (The letter had no disclaimer that the profits guaranteed were only possible if the matrix shown was filled and that the sender could not be held responsible for any failed attempts. )

  2. The product you are offering must be worth what you are asking for it. Since these were useless reports that really didn't say anything but double talk, they were considered worthless. This constitutes mail fraud ( a federal offense).

  3. Also, If you are providing a service (like, here's $1, put me on your mailing list) - you must be able to PROVE that you have indeed fulfilled that service.

  4. And, to send only cash in a pyramid format is considered illegal in most states in this country. (Personally, I don't know why. I think it's up to an individual about whether he wants to gamble or not. Gambling IS legal in some states. )

    5. So- I started thinking. What if I redid that letter? Took the "promises and guarantees" out. Added real honest to goodness products instead of meaningless reports. Gave a real money back guarantee on the products. ? Keep the letter short so people won't get bored and lose interest in reading it. The format is a good one and can reach alot of people in a short amount of time.

    And, this is what I came up with. I welcome any comments you have. (you can send an email to shareit@myreply.com to get an electronic copy of this letter.

    Hello, Fellow Internet Marketer,

    I am looking for a minimum of 30 people who get all excited and who can't sit still when they receive an offer that is so outstanding that almost everyone who hears about it will want a piece of it.

    Let me tell you, in the past I have received all sorts of offers and opportunities to receive reports and other miscellaneous items, and with all I was extremely disappointed. Any grade school kid could have written those reports with just a little time spent gathering information from any trade magazine. The only reason for offering any kind of a report at all was to create a semblance of staying legal in the eyes of the law. Anyone that was able to glean any usable information that they could put into practice already knew a lot about the industry of MLM.

    The SHAREWARE BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY that I am presenting to you is, to put it mildly, FANTASTIC! No other offer that you have ever received, or likely to receive again for a long time, gives you such detailed, ready-to-use information and code to run any Internet business that you want.

    I am so sure that you will be completely delighted with the total package of four plus products, that I will return the $5 you send to me if you for any reason feel that you have been mislead and Product #1 does not live up to your expectations.

    We are SHAREWARING products and services which can be purchased on the Internet. But, we are sharewaring them at a vastly reduced cost (only $5.00 each) and Everybody loves a bargain! At first glance this may look like a chain letter. Relax, it's not. We are marketing valid products and services worth far more than the $5.00 we are asking for them. The Web book alone retails for $97.00 - you get it for $5.00!

    There is a great 144 page book on the Secrets of the Search Engines, over 125 great Web Page Animations, Access to 16 great Web Power tools and a 40 page report on using Banners, Netcontact Email Address Extractor Program , and many great How to books and reports , and access to some great Web scripts. And, you get Adobe Acrobat Reader for free. (A more detailed description of the products follows.)

    OKAY - HERE'S YOUR INSTRUCTIONS:

    1. Order all 4 products shown on the list below ( you can't resell them if you don't order them). Each one costs $5.00. You will receive each product via email and also the re-sell rights to each of them.
      • For each product , send $5.00 CASH, the NAME & NUMBER OF PRODUCT YOU ARE ORDERING, YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS, and YOUR NAME or company name & RETURN ADDRESS (in case of a problem) to the person whose name appears on the list next to the product. Make sure your return address is on your envelope in case of any mail problems.

    2. IMPORTANT-- DO NOT alter the names of the people who are listed next to each report, or their sequence on the list, in any way other than is instructed below in steps "a" through "f" below or you will lose out on the majority of your profits.
      1. Look below for the listing of reports.

      2. After you've ordered the reports, take this advertisement and remove the name and address under PRODUCT #4. This person has made it through the cycle and is no doubt counting their money!

      3. Move the name and address under PRODUCT #3 down to PRODUCT #4.

      4. Move the name and address under PRODUCT #2 down to PRODUCT #3.

      5. Move the name and address under PRODUCT #1 down to PRODUCT #2.

      6. Insert your name/address in the PRODUCT #1 position.

    3. Take this entire letter, including the modified list of names, and save it to your computer. Make NO changes to the instruction portion of this letter. For every $5.00 you receive, all you must do is e-mail them the product they ordered. THAT'S IT!

    4. ALWAYS PROVIDE SAME-DAY SERVICE ON ALL ORDERS! This will guarantee that the e-mail THEY send out, with YOUR name and address on it, will be prompt because they can't advertise until they receive the product !
      *** Order Each PRODUCT by NUMBER and NAME ***

      Notes:

      • ALWAYS SEND $5 CASH (U.S. CURRENCY) FOR EACH PRODUCT CHECKS ARE NOT ACCEPTED

      • Always send your order via first class mail

      • Make sure the cash is concealed by wrapping it in at least two sheets of paper

      • On one of those sheets of paper, include: (a) the number & name of the PRODUCT you are ordering, (b) your e-mail address, and (c) your name & postal address.

      PRODUCT #1 "Secrets"

      1. A 144 Page Book: New Search Engine Secrets Manual Reveals Search Engine Secrets For Top Positioning, including: "How To Really Use Internet Search Engines And Directories To 'Sky Rocket' Your Web Site Traffic... Absolutely Free"
      2. PLUS - Adobe Acrobat Reader 3.1

      ORDER PRODUCT #1 FROM:

      Internet Secrets
      101 Parsons Place
      Peachtree City, Ga. 30269
      PRODUCT #2 "Animations"

      1. 128 Great Web page Animations . 128 Cool and royalty free animations customized for use on personal and commercial Web pages.
      2. Free Animated Greeting and Note Cards you can personalize and send to your friends.

      ORDER PRODUCT #2 FROM:

      Animations
      6740 Waterbury Way
      Cumming, Ga. 30040
      PRODUCT #3 "Banner Report and Tools:

      1. A 40 page report on using Free Banner Advertising to Boost Web Site Traffic and Sales.
      2. 16 Great Web Tools - 16 free web based power tools you can use to pump-up your web site traffic. These power tools allow even the most inexperienced person to use these strategies... all you have to do is fill in a few online forms and you will be sent position optimized plug-in HTML code customized for your pages in only a few minutes.
      3. NetContact Email Address Extractor.

      ORDER PRODUCT #3 FROM:

      Jenine Eason
      4905 Cinnabar Dr.
      Alpharetta, Ga. 30022
      PRODUCT #4 "More Great Reports, Books and Scripts "

      1. Download The Addresses Of Thousands Of Weekly Newspapers From Every State In America! (file)
      2. 4 Steps to get 300+ Quality Prospects to Email you weekly (report)
      3. THE WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY presents... Thousand of Dollars Worth of Advertising FOR FREE! (report and file )
      4. HOW TO GET FREE SUBSCRIPTIONS TO OVER 60 MAGAZINES (report and file)
      5. Perl CGI Scripts , C++ Scripts and Programs , Sniplets, Guestbooks , Free for all links, WWW boards, Text Counters, Graphic Counters, Form Mail, Random Image Displayers, Text Clock, Count Down, Credit Card Verifier - plus, over 1,000 examples of scripts .

      ORDER PRODUCT #4 FROM:

      Web Marketing Tools
      103 Lake Forest Drive
      Peachtree City, Ga. 30269
      • Send for the four products IMMEDIATELY so you will have them when the orders start coming in because: When you receive a $5 order, you MUST email back the requested product.

      • ALWAYS PROVIDE SAME-DAY SERVICE ON THE ORDERS YOU RECEIVE.

      If you don't receive 20 orders for PRODUCT #1 within two weeks, continue advertising or sending e-mails until you do. Then, a couple of weeks later you should receive at least 100 orders for PRODUCT #2. If you don't, continue advertising or sending e-mails until you do.

      Every time your name is moved down on the list, you are placed in front of a DIFFERENT PRODUCT. You can KEEP TRACK of your PROGRESS by watching which product people are ordering from you. If you want to generate more income, send another batch of e-mails or continue placing ads and start the whole process again!

      The information you receive in all four products is worth much more than the $20 you initially invested. Just using a fraction of this information will enhance any other business you may also be operating.

      Good Luck and May God Bless!

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