Yelp is a popular recommendation website. Where people can log in and give a comment bad, good or indifferent. But I for one have seen firsthand the facts that yelp is a scam.

I work for a Medical Spa in the Sacramento area and after a person working at a competitor Spa wrote a negative review we did some research and found many good reviews that where filtered out and the one negative one was highlighted. We did a search of the lady that posted the bad review and found she worked at a competitor’s spa. So we called Yelp to complain and they started on their high pressure sales pitches letting us know for a price we can have the negative review removed and the positives released. That’s when I realized Yelp is a Scam and even probably could be classified as the same as the old crime boss “pay us and we will protect you from us” Another word for it is extortion.

After doing a search looking for other business people that have had a problem with Yelp trying to strong arm them into paying Yelp to remove bad reviews or even to unfiltered good reviews. Businesses have complained for years that Yelp’s recommendation site pressures them into paying to remove negative reviews and highlight positive ones. The company has always denied that its allegedly aggressive sales force made a practice of strong-arming businesses into paying up.

The Yelp Scam goes to court

Yelp is being accused of extortion in a class-action lawsuit filed in Los Angeles week. The suit alleges that the site tried to get a Long Beach veterinary hospital named Cats and Dogs Animal Hospital to pay $300 a month — for a minimum 12-month commitment — to suppress or delete reviews that disparaged the hospital. This is the same conversation we had with the yelp staff.

According to the complaint filed in U.S. District Court of California, the site manipulates the reviews, through an extortion scheme that offers to remove a business’ negative reviews or relocate them to the bottom of a listing page if the business purchases a monthly advertising subscription.

Yelp extorts business owners to purchase advertising to better their ranking. A business listings on Yelp.com, are in fact biased in favor of businesses that buy Yelp advertising.

Buyer beware of the Yelp Scam.

The suit’s claims seemed to be backed up by an East Bay Express article published last year that also accused the site of running an extortion racket. In that piece, numerous business owners described similar scenarios to the one alleged by the plaintiff. The Oakland, California–based newspaper later reported that after its first story published, many more businesses from around the country contacted it to complain of similar experiences.

The internet is a powerful force to do well and to do bad. People like to complain. People that are satisfied usually don’t comment. But with that said when a company like Yelp feed of the power of the complainer to extort money from business owners. It’s a bad day.

So my warning to you as a business owner, watch out for the call from yelp because Yelp is a Scam.

If you’re looking to complain about service make sure you are not just complaining because you’re a jerk and that the business is really a bad business with bad service.

Chief Inspiration Officer

Vincent St.louis

Fighting the forces of mediocrity.

PS. Are you looking to grow your business online. Blogging is the best way to gain first page on the searches. Watch this video HERE

Craigslist is a great way to market your business or business opportunity. But many times craigslist will block or Flag your ad. They want you to post your ads in the paid job listings. Also I’m sure you have heard the saying “A picture’s worth a thousand words” So why not make a ad that’s a clickable picture. The benefit with a picture is craigslist searches do not see pictures therefore they cannot find them to flag them. This is a great way to get your ad seen by more people longer. In this video I show you how to make a craigslist ad that looks good and also sells.

How to make a Craigslist Ad

Learn How to make a craigslist ad that sells and also drives the traffic to your website or capture page. Marketing is not effective if no one clicks on the link or visits your website. Knowing how to make a craigslist ad that stays on craigslist is one thing but knowing how to make a craigslist ad that makes people click on it is the goal. If your ad stays on craigslist but no one clicks on it, what’s the point?

 How to make a Craigslist Ad like this

And

If you don’t have a website to build your ads. Check this website out for a turnkey website that will help you,

1) Have a place to promote your product or opportunity.

2) Give you a place to build your craigslist picture ads.

3) Give you a place to drive the traffic so you can close the deal.

4) Make extra money from your ads.

5) Learn more about Internet marketing

Learn more HERE

Learn How to make a Craigslist Ad that sells and watch your bank account GROW.

Chief Inspiration Officer

Vincent St.Louis

Fighting the forces of mediocrity.

PS. It’s time for you to start making the money you deserve. Learn how to make Beach Money Daily 

Writer’s block is a common ailment among blog writers, whether it is a news reporter under a deadline or a student trying to finish a report. If you are a blogger, you may find yourself suffering from “blogger’s block”, the condition of not knowing What to Say in Your Blog.

The media is a great place to find things to blog about. Watch the local news, read the paper, or check media websites. Take a look at what is going on in the world and spin the stories into a tale for your readers. If you have a website about weight loss and come across a news clip that features something they would find interesting, by all means, blog about it. After you give your opinion on the story, link to the original news source as a convenience for your readers. They may find your post so interesting; they’ll want to read the original story, too.

You can blog about your affiliate programs and make money at the same time. If you are an affiliate for some program, find a way to create a blog post about it. You can review the item, give tips on how to use the item and so forth. You will have something to write about, and if your reader clicks on your link and purchases the item, you’ll make money at the same time.

What to Say in Your Blog can be simply looking around at what’s happening.

Blogs are also a great way to promote your website. Let your readers know when you have made a change to your site, such as publishing a new article. Create a blog post that contains the first few lines of the article to tease your readers, as well as a link to the page that features the full text.

Keep your posts timely and helpful. If it is almost Mothers Day, adding a post with tips on Mothers Day gifts is timely and helpful. A how-to post that explains a quick and easy craft for mom would be both timely and helpful.

To help your readers stay up to date with the new posts that you add, you can install a feed burner. There are different feed services to choose from, including free ones. Once you register, you will be given a small amount of HTML to add to your blog. Your readers can choose to subscribe and have your new posts delivered to their email or computer’s home page.

If you have hobbies or topics that you love to read about then share them with the world and start blogging. You can use the same platform I’m using. Just enter your email here for more information on how to get started.

Happy Blogging!

Kari St.Louis

If your looking for a simple turn key but very powerful blogging system that also pays you to us it. Check this out Then click on any of the images at the top, side or bottom.

The one that shows the most wins.

You get paid to market and sell that’s it. There are many activities that must be done and many that people do only to avoid what needs to be done. Many times they don’t do marketing because they are scared or don’t know how.

The learning is in the doing.

You just got to jump.

If you are not marketing, that means sharing your product or opportunity with someone new on a regular basses you will not win.

Yesterday, I was sitting at a Starbucks watching a young kid about 21 or so doing a sign-up for his network marketing business. The guy he was signing up was also young and had his hat on sideways and just not someone I would pin as a marketer. But the guy signed up. The younger kid was doing Marketing. At the same Starbucks I watched as a young 17 year old was fixing Iphones. When he was done he walked through the Starbuck dropping his business cards on every empty table. WOW I thought this kid is a true entrepreneur. So I followed him out talked to him and now we are doing internet marketing business together.

Marketers are always marketing. You can’t wait for the food to come to you. In the bible it says God will take care of your needs that even the sparrows in the field have all their needs. But remember that even the sparrows needed to go out and get the food.

If you are in any marketing, make sure you are majoring in the majors and not the miners.

Chief Inspiration Officer

Vincent St.Louis

Fighting the forces of mediocrity.

Your mind is the same way. We must keep up with the attendance of our mind and our attitude. One way to do this is to read good books and attend good events. I have a goal to read two positive self improvement or business books a month and attend at least one event ever 3 months. This is a great way to keep the weeds out of your mind and keep you going in the right direction.

I have read many self help and business book.

Right now I’m reading the book “Why We Want You To Be Rich by Trump and Kiyosaki Great book

A few great events to attend would be Anthony Robbins “Unleash the Power Within and T. Harv Eker’s Millionaire Mind Intensive.

Don’t let the weeds of self-doubt and disbelief take over your garden of dreams. Keep the weeds out and watch your garden grow.

Chief Inspiration Officer

Vincent St.louis 

Fighting the forces of mediocrity

Spring is in the air for business as well as gardening.

Remember it’s you job in business and gardening to plant the seeds, give them good a good environment to grow nurture them and the rest is up to nature.

Here is what Jim Rohn has to say about sowing and reaping

The Law of Sowing and Reaping by Jim Rohn

 The story of the sower. It comes from the Bible.

The sower was ambitious. Evidently, he was ambitious. When you read the whole story you’ll conclude yes, this was an ambitious sower.

Here was number two. He had excellent seed. The sower who sowed the seed had excellent seed.

So we’ve got an ambitious sower with excellent seed. But now here are the rest of the details of the story.

The sower goes out to sow the seed, but the first part of the seed falls by the wayside and the birds get it.

 The birds are going to get some of the seed.

Now when the birds get some, you’ve got two options. Number one is to chase birds.

Here’s what happens if you go chasing birds. You leave the field. If you go chasing birds now, you leave the field. Which is going to distract from your future, not add? So you can’t chase birds and try to straighten this stuff out.

Now here’s the rest of the story.

The sower kept on sowing. See, that was the secret to his success. He kept on sowing. And if you keep sowing, you can sow more than the birds can get because there aren’t enough birds. If you keep sowing, there are some birds but there’s not enough, because the Law of Averages will work for you.

Now here’s what else it says. The sower now keeps sowing the seed. Now the seed falls, on rocky ground where the soil is shallow. And the rocky ground where the soil is shallow is not of your making, because you had excellent seed and you were an ambitious sower.

So the rocky ground where the soil is shallow is not of your making. But here what it says happened. This time, the little seed that falls in the ground starts to grow and the little plant starts to grow. But the first hot day, it withers and dies. Not an easy thing to watch. The hot weather is going to get some. And this is not of your making. Here’s what you must say when that happens. “Isn’t that interesting?”

What can you do? The answer is nothing.

 Now, here is the secret to the ambitious sower with good seed. It said he kept on sowing.

Now, here’s what he had to do to keep on sowing. He had to discipline his disappointment. This is a key phrase now to use for the rest of your life. You must learn to discipline your disappointment.

Now, here’s what the story says. The sower keeps on sowing. Now it says the seed falls on thorny ground. And somebody says, “Well, how much of this do you have to go through?”

Well, hang on. It’s not the end of the story now. Now the little seed falls on thorny ground and now the little plant starts to grow again but as the little plant starts to grow, the thorns choke it to death and it dies.

So jot this down. The thorns are going to get some. And that’s not of your making.

And what are these thorns? The story even called these little thorns little cares, little distractions, little something’s. Who knows what all they are.

I said, “John, we had a meeting last night. You weren’t here.” And John says, “Well, I can’t make every meeting.”

I say, “Why not? You’re part-time.”

He said, “Well, the screen door came off the hinges and you can’t just let your house fall apart. You’ve got to take some time and fix things up.”

And I can hear the thorns growing. He said, “Some extra trash had piled up in the garage. You can’t let mountains of trash take over. You’ve got to keep your trash hauled out.”

People who let little things cheat them out of big opportunities, and you feel almost helpless. What could I do about that? And that’s nothing.

So have you got that? The thorns are going to get some.

But now here’s the good news. Let’s read the rest of the story now quickly. The sower now keeps on sowing the seed. Keeps on sharing the story. Keeps on giving an invitation. Yes the invitation can be more powerful for me as it was one year later than it was the first month.

Yes, the story can be more powerful, but the Law of Averages is still going to work.

But now here’s what the story says. Finally the seed falls on good ground. Now put this in parentheses. It always will, if you keep sowing. If you share a good idea long enough, it will fall on good people.

But now here’s the rest of that story. Some of the good ground did 30%. And some of the good ground did 60%. And some of the good ground did 100%.

Now I tried to get the 30’s to do 60. Found out it was more than I could handle. I used to say, “I’ll make them successful if it kills me.” I almost died. No, you can’t do that.

Here’s what you do. Let the 30’s do 30 to the best of their ability and keep doing 30, because that’s how they build their lifestyle and get what they want out of life. And let the 60’s do 60. And let the 100’s do 100.

Now how can you get some to do 100%? You’ve got to go through all these experiences and you’ve got to talk to all these people.

 Jim Rohn

As like Jim Rohn says it with business so it is in farming.

Chief Inspiration Officer

Vincent St.Louis

Fighting the forces of mediocrity

Most people don’t even notice that middle class America is shrinking and has been for many years.

Where is the middle class America going?

The manufacturing of products in America has changed and it has caught up to us. Robots and computers are replacing people by making more and more of the products we make here in America. With the massive automation of factories and the outsourcing of jobs overseas the number of jobs is rapidly dwindling. In the past what took 10 or 30 people to make a product now it takes one or two. Just think how many people it took to make a car 30 years ago and how many it takes now. The transformation is staggering.

For middle class America Outsourcing is becoming a very big problem. The United States doesn’t even produce any television sets anymore, they all come from overseas. Computer manufacturing in the U.S. employs about 166,000 people; in 1975 it employed almost 300,000. Manufacturing of computers in Asia employs about 1.5 million people.

Middle class America where are you going?

The middle class America has been shrinking for many years and most will not notice it. After the BIG bust of the economy in the mid 2000’s, people are starting to realize that they must do something different. With the massive loss of jobs because of the economical crash, many people have to go back to school or they are looking to the homebased business industry. Now the new problem the older school goers are facing is, all the younger people applying for the same jobs. They are realizing that companies can pay the younger person less than the older more experienced to do the same job for less. There are fewer and fewer jobs out there and more and more people applying for the same job. The sheer number of applicants is driving down wages, but the cost of affordable health care and housing is still rising.

In the past people would work for a long time with one company or one job and received some kind of retirement. But now many companies are not offering pension funds and retirement plans. Now most people will not have any plan setup for retirement. Forcing middle class America to work longer and longer into the retirement years.

Where’s middle class America going to turn?

People are just now starting to except the facts and are starting to look at what they plan to do about it. For most people they will not notice the slow strangle of the situation and will not do anything about it until it’s too late. But for the people with their eyes open to the situation, many are looking at home based businesses. Many are realizing that these are the times for change. With the loss of the middle class America the separation of the upper and lower class is getting bigger and bigger. If you don’t noticing it you will wake up one day looking up saying “what happened”

The middle class America is moving into the Home Business industry.

Network Marketing otherwise known as MLM or direct sales is fast becoming the next wave or opportunity. More and more people are looking at joining a direct sales company than ever before. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to see, like all economic waves those in the in front of the wave are positioned to make the most.

With the right opportunity and the right company you can build a business that will pay more than most jobs and the income could last a life time. The baby boomer generation is looking to fill the gap in what they are making and what they need to survive. Middle class America is looking to the network marketing industry to fill the hole in their retirement plan. The younger generation is looking at what’s happening to their parents and are realizing where they are headed.

We remember in school learning about the Industrial Revelation, were people moved from the farms to the factories.

Now it’s the Entrepreneur revelation, were people are moving out of the factories, and corporate life to entrepreneurship.

Middle class America is creating the Entrepreneur revelation. And the direct sales industry is the largest growing segment in the entrepreneur revelation.

Chief Inspiration Officer

Vincent St.Louis

Fighting the forces of mediocrity!

P.S.

If you are looking for a online marketing opportunity take a look at this

http://blogforcommissions.com/

If you are looking for a Network Marketing opportunity then take a look at this opportunity

P.S.S.

The time is now. Middle Class America is shrinking you are either moving up or down. BUT you are moving one way or another. Don’t get stuck with your head in the sand.

 Are you in business for yourself? Do you work from home? Working for yourself and running your own business is a fantastic and challenging experience. You can wake up exhilarated to begin your day and go to bed feeling overwhelmed and mentally exhausted. The key to business success is to maintain a positive, yes you can do it, mindset.

I have worked from home for the last ten years. 2002 to be exact. It has it’s rewards and it’s challenges. Read my 5 powerful mind success business building strategies below to help create a positive mind set.

Easier said than done, right?

Here are 5 powerful mind success strategies to help you create and sustain a positive mindset so you attain the success you desire.

Business building strategies 1: Surround yourself with successful and positive people. The influence people have over our own personal energy is amazing. Moods and attitudes are so easily spread – think about how much of a difference a simple smile from a stranger can make for your day and then magnify it 1000 times. When you have people around you who inspire you, believe in you and want you to succeed, there’s no room for doubts and even when they creep up, they’re quickly swept away because of the powerful mind success strategies you are incorporating into your daily thinking process.

Business building strategies 2. Create a mantra or an affirmation. Repeating positive affirmations has been shown to get people through tough times and to actually help them truly believe what they’re saying.

 For example, “I am building a powerful and profitable business.” Many of the most esteemed business professionals have used the same affirmation strategy to attain their success. To find the right affirmations for you, consider writing a quick list of your doubts, insecurities and complaints. These can then be quickly turned into affirmations.

For example, if you write that you’re always feeling disorganized then your affirmation would be, “I am organized and in control.” Repeat your affirmations several times a day and feel the power of positive thinking.

Business building strategies  3. Capture negative thoughts. We all have negative thoughts from time to time, however, negative thoughts and emotions can derail us and prevent us from achieving all we desire. Of course catching those negative thoughts and realizing it’s a negative thought takes practice and persistence. When you find yourself thinking negative thoughts or having negative emotions, find a trigger to turn them around. As Dr. Phil says you can’t change something you don’t recognize.

The affirmations mentioned above are a great way to turn a negative thought into positive one. You can also find quick pick me ups like one of your favorite songs, a walk or jog outside, or some yoga and exercise to help improve your mood.

Business building strategies 4. Set goals/intentions and then be willing to let it go. The law of attraction says that we attract what we focus on the most. However, desperation, needing your business to be a success, can send mixed messages. Set your goals and intentions towards whats best for your business and be willing to let go of what doesn’t serve you anymore. Also, don’t forget faith and belief. You must also have faith and belief in yourself. If you don’t believe in yourself who else will? It’s up to you.

Business building strategies 5. Be grateful. Gratitude is perhaps the single most powerful and positive tool for success. When you’re grateful for all of the wonderful things and people in your life the challenges you face seem significantly less important and are more easily dealt with.

Consider keeping a gratitude journal and make a practice of entering into it daily. That way, when you’re facing challenges a quick peek at all the amazing things in your life will make you feel as if you can tackle anything. Additionally, an attitude of gratitude helps you maintain a positive perspective and to face challenges as opportunities rather than obstacles.

Success is within your reach and with the right attitude you can accomplish anything you set your sights on. Embrace these five powerful mind success strategies and you will build a better business and live a happier, more satisfying life.

Business building strategies to help you set your Powerful Mind Success for success.

I believe in you!

Kari St. Louis

Before I start I must say I am still in MonaVie and I have no intentions to change that. So why did I choose to expand and why choose Empower Network? I have been looking to became in some way apart of the internet for some time now. I have looked at many if not all the attraction marketing plans out there and for my reasons they did not appeal to me. I have bought hundreds of dollars of internet training and SEO training until I’m blue in the face. The internet is not going away and as a leader in the network marketing industry I needed to find a way to one; understand it and two; find a way to use it to help my team build their MonaVie business. To not do so is doing an injustice as a leader of so many.

I have always built my network marketing business using what is called the old school method of belly to belly and I still do and I still believe it’s the best way to build, but to say you cannot build on the internet just did not settle with me. There are people with very good internet skills that should use them It would be a shame and a misdirection on my part if I was to tell them not to use your skill to better yourself and your business. We all have skills that allow us to do one thing or another better than others or at least better because of our skills. I am great at cold calling; I have team members that would die on the vine if cold calling was the only way I teach to build. Also where eyes go is where the money flows; and the internet and social media is where the eyes are going. Just because I did not believe the internet was an opportunity does not mean it’s not. Just because you do not see the bus does not mean it won’t run you over. And the internet is a bus of opportunity that will run you over or you will get on it and ride to your successful destination.

So why Empower Network? I took 2.5 months to look the system over. I needed to know “if there was no money to be made with Empower Network would I buy the product” My business decisions cannot be only about making money I have to many people that look up to me as a friend and leader. I don’t take that for granted. I must be as sure about my choices as I can. Will I always make the right choose NO, not passable, nor do I want to. So I took the training that I bought from the empower products and used what I learned on my own website ( http://vincentstlouis.com ) that I have used for 5 years. When I started using the training on my website my Alexa rank was around 9 million, after putting the training I got from the Empower products I now rank around 500,000 and am ranking on first page of Google many times. So yes I would buy the products in Empower if there was no money to be made.

Then I needed to trust the ownership Dave Wood and Dave Sharp. Sometimes you just need to go with your gut and instinct. I feel I am teaming up with great people that are willing to make a mistake admit it and correct it without hiding it.

My mission with Empower is not to build a list of people to get them to join my MonaVie business. I realize that most people all ready have a business they are looking to build they are not interested in mine. Some will be and I will be there for them. I have a true passion to help everyone in the network marketing industry. I plan to build a safe community just like I did with TEAM 212. A place where people can come together without the fear of their team being recruited out from under them. A place people can come together and help one another to succeed no matter what business they are in, including Empower Network. A place where people can join Empower and not be sold the affiliate idea of the month, where you will not be pushed to buy then next product launch you and your team must have to succeed. I will build a team that we work with everyone no matter what package they buy. It seems so many leaders in Empower will not work with you unless you’re all in, (buy all the products) I don’t care what you buy, we will do our best to help you win. Should you buy all the products of course you should, but you don’t have to in order to be helped and treated with respect. We will help and support everyone.

Finally, I love my company MonaVie. I believe in it and the leadership. I pray MonaVie will be my last network marketing company. I believe Empower Network will add to my MonaVie business or I would never have joined. The internet is not for everyone just like cold calling. But maor and more people are looking to the internet as a way to brand themselves and to build an income.

As a business decision, it makes more sense to have two $20K and month incomes then One $40K a month income. And that is my plan.

For anyone that is looking for an online opportunity or maybe looking at Empower Network, but just not sure who to join. If you know me you will understand I will win at Empower just like I did with MonaVie. Also if you’re looking to join a team that will leave the people from your primary network marketing business alone and have NO desire to recruit them into our team, Then you need to join us. Remember many of the Empower Network leaders are affiliate marketers and may have a plan to building a larger list (your list) and have plans to create products to sell to you and your team milking you and your team of every penny they can. My passion is making money and helping others do the same. Http://98000HOURS.COM

http://blogforcommissions.com

our Empower blog is http://bit.ly/zNG06a

Vincent StLouis

Chief Inspiration Officer

Fighting the forces of mediocrity

More information can be found online at http://www.empowernetwork.com/kari/

What is the future social media marketing?

Social media marketing is so new that many people are asking

“What is the future social media marketing?”

Social media marketing is the process of getting attention through social media sites such as facebook, Twitter, youtube, etc. The ability to gain traffic to a website using social media marketing is becoming a new trend.

Doing business today is very different from the days of TV only. The challenges of marketing are different from days of old. What worked in the past doesn’t always ensure success today. You can’t get by with knowledge in any one particular marketing arena. Today is about bringing value to others in new ways. Keeping your eyes and ears open looking for what the needs are and filling that need.

Marketing today is about re-inventing and expanding your knowledge to build relationships with your customers across a sea of Social Media. It requires learning new technologies and a willingness to develop new marketing strategies.

People like to engaging in conversations. Chatting online is the new marketing of social media. Understanding and following these chatting conversations shows you where your potential prospects are spending time online, and what subjects and issues they are interested in. In today’s market to gain your consumers attention, you must change your thinking from the “push method”, of broadcasting your messages via the media, to a “pull strategy”, where you draw people to you by making it easy for people to find your information via social media, letting your potential prospects or clients find you whenever and wherever they go online 24-7.

“If searching for the news was the most important development of the last decade, sharing the news may be among the most important developments of the next decade.”

Social Media Marketing is the wave of the future.

It’s very important to have a presence on social networking sites. Social media is where the attention is.

“Money flows where the eyes goes”

Social media networks don’t just give the marketer a place to express themselves, it also provides the marketer with a platform to interact with their customers and it helps you to create a better relationship with them. Ultimately fulfilling the sole cause of the business i.e. Create more sells and better customer Satisfaction.

Social media marketing can also allow your marketing to go viral beyond your effort.

Future Social media marketing through various social media platform

Twitter

Twitter allows you the marketer to promote your products or service on a simple platform. You can explain the use of a product or service in short messages. Followers are more likely to read a short message then a long advertisement. The messages can link to the product’s website, Facebook profile, photos, videos, etc. These short messages can create a loyal connection between product and individual and can also lead to more marketing opportunities. A twitter message is in real-time and brings customers in.

Facebook

Facebook profiles are more detailed than Twitter. Facebook allows you to provide videos, photos, and longer descriptions to draw your customer closer to you to build the relationship. Videos can show more about a product even if YOU are the product and videos can include testimonials. Facebook is the place to be in social media. Facebook allows you to be a person not just a product. People like to do business with people they know, like and trust. Social media allows you and your prospects to connect on a personal and business level.

If you think Facebook and social media is a fad watch this video.

Take your business to the people, using social media marketing.

Chief Inspiration Officer

Vincent St.louis

Fighting the forces of mediocrity