|
I wasn’t going to write this review, but there are some outright unethical people out there trying to scam people out of their hard-earned money during this foreclosure crisis. So, following is a review of two ebooks on how to start a foreclosure cleanup company. The information here will give you everything you need to make an informed purchase. EBOOK #1 ON FORECLOSURE CLEANUPS SOLD ON START-A-FORECLOSURE-CLEANUP-BUSINESS.COM (authorized affiliate site) As stated on the website, the ebook is over 200 pages long. It took the author over six months to write it. And, this was done only after she received hundreds (literally) of requests from prospective business owners across the country asking such questions as: How do I start? Who do I pitch my services to? How do I price my services? What insurance do I need? How do I subcontract jobs? How do I find workers? Do you have a franchise? The receptionist for the company was literally overwhelmed with calls and her sister (me, Yuwanda Black, a writer and e-book publisher in my own right) said, “Why don’t you just write an ebook. That way, you can get people the info they need and your poor receptionist can get back to doing what she was hired to do – answering the calls that have to do with the day-to-day operations of Foreclosure Cleanup.” Still, she hesitated. Not because she didn’t want to, but because she was literally so busy that she didn’t have time to write. But, the calls from prospects kept on coming and I kept saying, “You should write an ebook.” Finally, she started to set aside time to write. And, that’s why it took a full six months. I’ve published 13 ebooks and reports and told her she could easily sell the package for a few hundred dollars based on what she included (eg, sample estimates the company submitted, caller log and intake forms, a sample business license application, etc.). This is in addition to marketing information, advice on how to handle problems you will encounter with clients, what you should and should not do when it comes to pricing – and so much more. In spite of all of this, she said, “I want to make it affordable so everyone who’s really serious about getting into this business can purchase it and get started.” Hence the price -- $49.99. Foreclosure Cleanup, LLC Media Coverage Foreclosure Cleanup, LLC has been featured in local and national media. You can view the news footage featuring the company owner on Start-a-Foreclosure-Cleanup-Business.com, and see the quote from the company owner in the USA Today article, 'Trash-out' firms clean up in foreclosure biz. In short, the information is in-depth, useful, truthful and written from first-hand experience. And, this is why it practically sells itself. Now, to the “competition.” And, competition is in quotation marks because there really isn’t any when it comes to the two ebooks. EBOOK #2 ON FORECLOSURE CLEANUPS SOLD ON CLEANFORECLOSURES.COM One of the main reasons I decided to write this review is that, in my opinion, it’s products like this that give ebooks a bad name. So think of this as a public service announcement, in addition to a detailed ebook review. As previously mentioned, I’ve written 13 ebooks to date. Purchasers are usually genuinely surprised when they receive a professional, detailed, in-depth product chock full of useful information. And, this is as it should be with any e-product. Foreclosure Cleanup, LLC purchased the e-book by this seller only after sending him a “cease and desist notice” to stop stealing information from our meta tags and cyberstalking our marketing efforts. The part that outraged us was that this seller even went so far as to use the company owner’s name in the meta tags on his site. Initially, CleanForeclosures.com only offered their book via mail. You had to order then wait to receive the pages via snail mail. Suspecting that he was xeroxing and selling information from the official Foreclosure Cleanup, LLC ebook, a company rep ordered it and sent a note advising him to send the package to our legal department. He refused to send the package and promptly refunded the purchase price! So that’s why when he offered an e-version of his info a few weeks later, we purchased it. And, boy were we shocked. Following is the rundown on the CleanForeclosures.com ebook. Too Short to Be Useful: First, it’s only 15 pages and one of them is a duplicate page. FYI, this total page count includes the title page. So really, that’s 13 pages. Cumbersome to Open: Each page is a .pdf file which has to be opened separately. Pages Can’t Be Printed: If you want to print and read this ebook on paper at your leisure, you can’t. The pages can’t be printed. The pdf permissions are set to disallow this. And, this is why we suspected he was selling our info initially. In our opinion, he knew the pages could be downloaded and copied and he didn’t want anyone doing that with his info (not that they’d want to). Riddled with Grammar Errors: Each page is riddled with grammar and spelling mistakes, making it difficult to comprehend in certain spots. There is even unprofessional language in some places (eg, profanity). Info Too General to Be Useful: The info within is so general that if you’ve done any research on starting a foreclosure cleanup business at all, you probably already know what you’ll read here. Buyer Beware One of the reasons I added a “buyer beware” notice to my Start-a-Foreclosure-Cleanup-Business.com site is that -- in my opinion -- this seller was obviously trying to scam buyers. But, I didn’t want to outright call him out on it because I thought, “Readers can clearly see the difference for themselves if they visit both sites.” Then, he went too far. He actually misleads potential buyers by stating the following on his site: “It only took them 20 minutes on 1/3/09 to work off of my package to post an add [sic] on craigslist about foreclosure work pricing.” FYI, I wrote an article on pricing before I ever read his info. In truth, my article on how to price your foreclosure cleanup services in no way mirrors the tiny bit of info on pricing offered in this seller’s ebook. And even if it did, I’ve been a professional freelance writer since 1993. It goes against everything I stand for to even think about plagiarizing someone else’s work. FURTHERMORE, he has been plagiarizing my content and marketing tactics, eg: (i) Using the tag line, “never have to work for someone else again” in his articles (after they started to appear in articles I was distributing); (ii) Putting a Copyscape notice on his website: After we sent him a cease and desist notice about pilfering our meta tags, we put this notice on all Foreclosure Cleanup, LLC sites; (iii) Using the phrase, “May be reprinted with the following, in full” in his ads. I don’t think this seller knows what this means, as it doesn’t make any sense the way he uses it. FYI, this is a disclaimer writers use to make sure that if their content (eg, informative free articles) is used, that the tag line containing the author info (eg, website, name, affiliate link, etc.) is distributed along with it. Otherwise, the user can be sued for copyright infringement. I could go on and on. But, one more thing about this site . . . Who’s Behind CleanForeclosures.com? We don’t know. There’s only an email address. He brags about the money he makes and how easy it is to start this business, but where’s a phone number, a photo, an address, some media coverage. Who are you mister? Competition is a Good Thing Competition is a good thing; no idea under the sun is original. And, to be honest, this site never would have come to my attention had this seller not shown up everywhere Foreclosure Cleanup, LLC did online and blatantly violated Foreclosure Cleanup, LLCs copyright on two occasions. Then, when he refused to send the paper package we initially ordered, we suspected something was amiss. How to Spot Reputable Ebook Sellers When you purchase ebooks online – or any other e-product/service -- be sure to purchase from a reputable seller. This is pretty easy to deciper, eg, if there’s major news coverage – the company is probably legit. Alternatively, if the site is riddled with grammar mistakes and is just all-around unprofessional, beware. You may never get what you ordered – and it can be a real pain to recoup money (if ever). You Can Own a Foreclosure Cleanup Business Starting a foreclosure cleanup business is an excellent road to entrepreneurship. But, it is fraught with a lot of pitfalls if you don't know what you're doing. May be reprinted with the following, in full: The How to Start a Foreclosure Cleanup Business ebook on Start-a-Foreclosure-Cleanup-Business.com tells you everything you need to know to start this biz. It was written by the owner of a leading foreclosure company in Atlanta, GA and contains 200 pages of first-hand info you won’t find any place else.
Related Articles -
foreclosure cleanup ebook review, foreclosure cleanup ebooks, clean foreclosed properties, clean foreclosures, foreclosure cleanup, foreclosure clean out,
| 
