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View Full Version : Home Website Builder Scam Or Legit



JustTooMuchTime
05-23-2013, 03:13 PM
The Home Website Builder folks want us to know that affiliate marketing is as easy as 1 2 3...collect cash...

http://i1242.photobucket.com/albums/gg536/Paul_Schlegel/ClickSure/Home%20Website%20Builder/HomeWebsiteBuilderAffiliateMarketingIsEasyAs1To3_z ps930470f2.png (http://s1242.photobucket.com/user/Paul_Schlegel/media/ClickSure/Home%20Website%20Builder/HomeWebsiteBuilderAffiliateMarketingIsEasyAs1To3_z ps930470f2.png.html)

They would also like us to know that affiliate marketing is hard...

http://i1242.photobucket.com/albums/gg536/Paul_Schlegel/ClickSure/Home%20Website%20Builder/HomeWebsiteBuilderAffiliateMarketingIsHard_zpsae79 f85f.png (http://s1242.photobucket.com/user/Paul_Schlegel/media/ClickSure/Home%20Website%20Builder/HomeWebsiteBuilderAffiliateMarketingIsHard_zpsae79 f85f.png.html)

I was hoping to find clarification from the fake testimonial givers at Home Website Builder...

http://i1242.photobucket.com/albums/gg536/Paul_Schlegel/ClickSure/Home%20Website%20Builder/HomeWebsiteBuilderTestimonials_zps6b05bb19.png (http://s1242.photobucket.com/user/Paul_Schlegel/media/ClickSure/Home%20Website%20Builder/HomeWebsiteBuilderTestimonials_zps6b05bb19.png.htm l)

But even the woman from iStockPhoto (http://www.istockphoto.com/stock-photo-6424160-smiling.php) won't tell me the truth.

And this guy keeps moving around so much it's really hard to track him down...

http://i1242.photobucket.com/albums/gg536/Paul_Schlegel/ClickSure/Home%20Website%20Builder/Testimonial3Debunked_zps49bff365.png (http://s1242.photobucket.com/user/Paul_Schlegel/media/ClickSure/Home%20Website%20Builder/Testimonial3Debunked_zps49bff365.png.html)

I was able to find out that Home Website Builder is the #1 website builder by Home Website Buider

http://i1242.photobucket.com/albums/gg536/Paul_Schlegel/ClickSure/Home%20Website%20Builder/Testimonial3Debunked_zps49bff365.png (http://s1242.photobucket.com/user/Paul_Schlegel/media/ClickSure/Home%20Website%20Builder/Testimonial3Debunked_zps49bff365.png.html)

And if you're a newbie (which is the audience Home Website Builder tends to target), you're in luck, because you can run 150 websites before you even can manage to master just running one of them!

http://i1242.photobucket.com/albums/gg536/Paul_Schlegel/ClickSure/Home%20Website%20Builder/HomeWebsiteBuilder147Upgrade_zpsbde957cf.png (http://s1242.photobucket.com/user/Paul_Schlegel/media/ClickSure/Home%20Website%20Builder/HomeWebsiteBuilder147Upgrade_zpsbde957cf.png.html)

Fantastic(al)!

fromthehood
05-23-2013, 04:55 PM
I think you know the answer. This is just a hook. After few days they will call you to offer "training package". Usually such "packages" start from $499 and go up to $10K. They will charge you as much as you willing to pay them after long pep talk. I would also recommend using prepaid credit card when you buy those websites. They can easily overcharge you.

JustTooMuchTime
05-23-2013, 05:01 PM
Got the image wrong. Here's where Home Website Builder tells us that Home Website Builder is the #1 website builder from Home Website Builder. So logical.

http://i1242.photobucket.com/albums/gg536/Paul_Schlegel/ClickSure/Home%20Website%20Builder/HomeWebsiteBuilderUsersNumber1_zpsd441c381.png (http://s1242.photobucket.com/user/Paul_Schlegel/media/ClickSure/Home%20Website%20Builder/HomeWebsiteBuilderUsersNumber1_zpsd441c381.png.htm l)

ribshaw
05-23-2013, 05:41 PM
I hope this doesn't mean the personal dating consulting I lobbed out $10,000 plus cologne of the month club is going to be a waste. I do find the last site header the most ironic.

4028

fromthehood
05-23-2013, 07:51 PM
What are the chances they will require a credit card for "free" website? 100%
What are the chances they will charge you full "pro package" on said credit card almost immediately? 99.9999%
What are the chances they will try to sell you "training package" when you call trying to cancel "pro package"? 99.999%
What are the chances you will not make any money from free/pro/training packages if you were not experiences marketer? 100%

That concludes the review of this website and thousand of others that promise to get you in "affiliate marketing" just by placing ads. There is absolutely nothing else you need to know if you want to save your money.

ribshaw
05-23-2013, 08:01 PM
Don't you end up with the same products everyone else is selling in addition to the over priced website and "training? This is like Don Lapre or SMC for the 2000s. Not too long back I was looking a few liquidation sites after reading a book on Ebay selling. It seemed exciting at first as I looked at a few pallets of things for sale, then I clicked back to EBAY and saw similar items for sale at about %20 of the liquidation price. There went that easy money maker.

JustTooMuchTime
05-25-2013, 01:19 AM
Don't you end up with the same products everyone else is selling in addition to the over priced website and "training? This is like Don Lapre or SMC for the 2000s. Not too long back I was looking a few liquidation sites after reading a book on Ebay selling. It seemed exciting at first as I looked at a few pallets of things for sale, then I clicked back to EBAY and saw similar items for sale at about %20 of the liquidation price. There went that easy money maker.

Yep. Plus some of them are in really scam my "markets".

JustTooMuchTime
05-25-2013, 03:07 PM
Yep. Plus some of them are in really scam my "markets".

lol. "scammy". Autocorrect changed that.

JustTooMuchTime
05-25-2013, 08:41 PM
This is the main dashboard inside the free version of Home Website Builder...
http://i1242.photobucket.com/albums/gg536/Paul_Schlegel/ClickSure/Home%20Website%20Builder/HomeWebsiteBuilderDashboard_zps1e342893.png (http://s1242.photobucket.com/user/Paul_Schlegel/media/ClickSure/Home%20Website%20Builder/HomeWebsiteBuilderDashboard_zps1e342893.png.html)

Clicking on the "get customers" tab takes you to promotions for these additional programs:

WebFire
http://i1242.photobucket.com/albums/gg536/Paul_Schlegel/ClickSure/Home%20Website%20Builder/HWB-WebFire_zpse1093c22.png (http://s1242.photobucket.com/user/Paul_Schlegel/media/ClickSure/Home%20Website%20Builder/HWB-WebFire_zpse1093c22.png.html)

I don't know anything about WebFire other than it seems to be a set of marketing tools by Brian Koz and Shawn Casey. WebFire - Get Instant Free Exposure on Page 1 of Google (http://www.webfire.com/corp/) - to be polite, I'll just say I'm not a fan of Shawn Casey's. I don't know much about Brian.

This discussion has mixed reviews about the tools - some seem to love it (and don't seem to be shills) while others have some complaints:
WebFire internet marketing Tool (http://www.warriorforum.com/internet-marketing-product-reviews-ratings/548729-webfire-internet-marketing-tool.html)

This part of the discussion of WebFire from BlackHat world is a bit troubling for reasons we all know here:


"Then last night I got a call from some other nutcase telling me that I could get into his private tutoring class of some kind if I could qualify. So I went through the rigamarole of answering questions about how long I had been doing marketing and what I had marketed. Then he wants me to tell him all about how much money I have and how much I can devote to marketing Casey's grand scheme. I told him real quick that I wasn't about to give him any financial information at which point he said he was sorry but he didn't feel I would be a good fit for his new program. "

From the discussion: Stay away from Shawn Casey (http://www.blackhatworld.com/blackhat-seo/****-list/128346-stay-away-shawn-casey.html)

Another program Home Website Builder pomotes as a way to get traffic is Search Engine Submitter at searchenginesubmitter.com

http://i1242.photobucket.com/albums/gg536/Paul_Schlegel/ClickSure/Home%20Website%20Builder/HWB-IncreaseTrafficAndProfits_zps49c6ec78.png (http://s1242.photobucket.com/user/Paul_Schlegel/media/ClickSure/Home%20Website%20Builder/HWB-IncreaseTrafficAndProfits_zps49c6ec78.png.html)

Search engine submitters have been a waste of time and money for a long time.

Home Website Builder also promotes Bidvertiser, which is a legitimate 2nd-tier PPC advertising network.
http://i1242.photobucket.com/albums/gg536/Paul_Schlegel/ClickSure/Home%20Website%20Builder/HWB-BidverTiser_zps595d3e39.png (http://s1242.photobucket.com/user/Paul_Schlegel/media/ClickSure/Home%20Website%20Builder/HWB-BidverTiser_zps595d3e39.png.html)

JustTooMuchTime
05-25-2013, 10:12 PM
Here's one of the dumbest reasons Home Website Builder gives to motivate people to upgrade:

http://i1242.photobucket.com/albums/gg536/Paul_Schlegel/ClickSure/Home%20Website%20Builder/HomeWebsiteBuilderAnalytics_zps8b13c1a1.png (http://s1242.photobucket.com/user/Paul_Schlegel/media/ClickSure/Home%20Website%20Builder/HomeWebsiteBuilderAnalytics_zps8b13c1a1.png.html)

Of course it makes perfect sense that the company behind Home Website Builder wouldn't want people to see how much (or I should say how little) traffic they're getting unless they first pay them money.

And it also shows that they are targeting newbies, because anybody else would know that you can get analytics programs for free from Google and many other 3rd party providers.

kschang
05-25-2013, 10:42 PM
From the discussion: Stay away from Shawn Casey (http://www.blackhatworld.com/blackhat-seo/****-list/128346-stay-away-shawn-casey.html)


Ah, the standard scamworld recruiting call. Foot in door (make you do a "survey", then try to hook you for money. The Verge's special article was very clear on that.

JustTooMuchTime
05-26-2013, 12:31 AM
Another fake testimonial inside the membership of Home Website Builder. "Shelly" sure gets around.

http://i1242.photobucket.com/albums/gg536/Paul_Schlegel/ClickSure/Home%20Website%20Builder/Testimonial-Inside-Shelly-Debunked_zpsf71c468f.png (http://s1242.photobucket.com/user/Paul_Schlegel/media/ClickSure/Home%20Website%20Builder/Testimonial-Inside-Shelly-Debunked_zpsf71c468f.png.html)

JustTooMuchTime
05-26-2013, 12:51 AM
I completely forgot to mention at the beginning that Home Website Builder is sold through ClickSure which is an automatic "do NOT buy" in my book. We have a discussion at RealScam about ClickSure here:

http://www.realscam.com/f8/clicksure-scam-legit-2220/

littleroundman
05-26-2013, 01:25 AM
And here is "Shelly" advertizing MyRealIncome online (http://myrealincomeonline.com/qualified/) and using the same "proof of income" only, this time she's supposedly in Albury, AU

4744

kschang
05-26-2013, 01:44 AM
One of those was using a stock photo of a couple

Portrait of a smiling romantic mature couple - Stock Photo - iStock (http://www.istockphoto.com/stock-photo-10781290-portrait-of-a-smiling-romantic-mature-couple.php)

The same photos was at several other websites, based on Google image search, like "homewealthpackage.com"