Jim Straw is an old “mail order maverick.” I didn’t ask him how old he is but I’d guess he’s in his 70’s. He’s been around the block a bunch of times.

As a mail order marketer with over 700,000 customers, he has sold over $250,000,000 worth of products and services by mail. Everything from Beauty Supplies to Heavy Equipment … Burglar Alarms to Sleeping Bags … Fishing Lures to Women’s Wigs … Automobiles to Wheelchairs … Investment Opportunities to Seafood … Consulting Services to “How To” Courses … all by mail order.

Jim wrote a great article about how the merry-go-round spins and he gave me permission to publish it here:

Have you ever wondered why there is a proliferation of “get rich quick” crap on the Internet?

Well, it’s nothing new. I’ve watched the pendulum swing for 40 years.

Here’s how it happens …

Back in the mailorder days, there would be a number of articles about how much money could be made selling “how to make money” information products – and- how easy it was. Then, someone would write a book about “making money with how to make money reports.” — Then another, and another, and another. Then came the “plans & programs” that promised to make the money for you … all you had to do was pay them to do it for you.

In the beginning, the books were written by real people who were actually doing it and the books explained in great detail how to do it. — No hype. No B.S. — Then, the research writers wrote books. Then pure amateurs rehashed the same thing; again, and again … only repeating what they had read.

Then the readers of those books, of course, created a whole new generation of “how to make money” books, booklets and reports.

In a while, the “opportunity seeker” market was saturated. More and more “how to make money” reports … most of them crap … being sold to the same audience; cutting the market into smaller and smaller pieces. Fewer orders for each marketer.

When the “crap” purveyors saw fewer and fewer orders, they moved on to greener pastures – and – the unfortunate beginners never made enough sales to continue in their efforts.

Soon, the pendulum had taken a full swing and the only ones left were the “real” people with the experience to back the information in their books.

But, then again, there would be a spate of articles about how much money could be made selling “how to make money” information products and the whole cyle would start again.

I’ve seen it happen too many times in mailorder. Now, it is happening on the Internet.

Until the pendulum takes its full swing, expect more and more crappy “how to make money” information products, plans and programs on the Internet.

Jim Straw

About the Author

Perry Marshall has launched two revolutions in sales and marketing. In Pay-Per-Click advertising, he pioneered best practices and wrote the world's best selling book on Google advertising. And he's driven the 80/20 Principle deeper than any other author, creating a new movement in business.

He is referenced across the Internet and by Harvard Business Review, The New York Times, INC and Forbes Magazine.