Re: Emerald Passport

> I feel it is time for me to speak up, and state some facts about this
> program. I have a friend who has fallen into the Emerald Passport pit. He
> continues to invest money, but does not have the initiative or salesman
> skills to sell this. I have done a lot of research, and here are some
> events you should know about before investing in this.

Rich responds: I know that many of you will not believe me, but I am actually having success with Emerald Passport. Yes, there is so much hype in their movie, but the Q & A calls are more truthful, and the EPI sites are completely factual. Here are some surprises for you.

The Emerald Passport To Prosperity Wealth & Self Webucation Series has been available on a strictly retail basis at $1,295 for almost a decade. It really is a good value, but you would have to see it to know that. Most ethical EPI directors give prospects access to the series before they invest in it via temporary passwords, so nobody has to take "my word" on it. Just 3 years ago, EPI started the business model that uses independent distributors who pay a $99 annual fee to have the right to buy the product at wholesale and sell it at retail, at the same price that it sold for before this business model.

The Profit Masters Team, a third party marketing arm for EPI, does no training on email blasting. They strongly oppose spamming. In fact, any emails sent through their system may only be sent to people from a recent double opt-in list, and the required opt-out language is all over the place. If you don't do it right, your privledges are terminated immediately.

> 1) My friend received an email, stating that he could make 1 million
> dollars in 6 months.

Rich responds: Really - anyone who would believe that should also be in the market for a bridge. That verbage is not in any EPI approved email message.

> 2) He investigated and found out it was Emerald Passport.

> 3) He contacted me, and asked me to look at it, and after I researched, I
> told him it appeared to be a pyramid to which he took the defensive, and
> said their product was webucation.

> 4) He showed me the slide show, and showed me how they had been featured
> in Forbes magazine.

Rich responds: Nowhere, I repeat, nowhere, does EPI claim to be featured in Forbes. We refer people to Forbes to read an article about webucation, the industry in which our products are positioned. here is the exact text from an EPI website. "...I represent Emerald Passport, an emerging giant in the "Webucation" industry.

Timing is critical for business success. As we speak, the two most powerful industries - the Internet and Education - are converging. Forbes magazine calls it "the biggest emerging trend of this decade". For the complete article go to www.epibiz.com/forbes..."

> 5) He invested $1395 to become a distrubtor.

Rich responds: No he did not. He invested $99 to become a distributor. He also invested $1295 for his webucation product, which is not mandatory but highly logical. How can you sell something that you know nothing about from personal experience.

> 6) He paid for bulk email, and when I asked him how that went, he told me
> that they had given him old emails, and he had to re-invest in new ones.

Rich responds: That was a company not endorsed by EPI, and EPI has since obtained a "Cease & Desist" Order from that company for that fiasco.

> 7) He got leads, and spent hours on the phone, but to this date has no
> sales.

Rich responds: He got bad leads. My team has 3 co-op sources for leads that range in price from low to medium to high. The lower the cost, the more calling you have to do. However, we also provide a guaranteed sales fullfillment center. For 25% of the commission, we will get your sale for you - guaranteed.

> 8) His bulk email said the same thing that he received, that you can make
> $1,000,00 in 6 months. To this date, he has made nothing.

Rich responds: I guess liars teach liars to lie. We tell our people that there are no guarantees, and that most of the prospects they call will say no, hang up, or be unreachable. But we have tried and true conservative statistics. 100 low cost leads will run from $250 to $300, and will generate 1 sale for $1,000 commissions. As you get alot of these, and people start passing 2 sales to you, you marketing expense goes down.

> 9) I asked my friend to find out why they don't post phone numbers, and
> his distributor (after research) came back and said it was because they
> would receive too many calls, because it is such a good product! (Makes
> you wonder!!)

Rich responds: Our team has our numbers on every follow up email and every website.

> Now here is some discussion.

> Firstly, Forbes magazine does NOT say anything about Emerald Passport, it
> simply talks about webucation.

Rich responds: I already responded to this.

> Emerald Passport does NOT offer webucation to the public, it wants to sell
> distributorships to feed the pyramid.

Rich responds: I already responded to this.

> Checks to distributors are sent via third party couriers instead of by
> U.S. Mail. Why? Because if this is ever determined to be a pyramid, then
> it is illegal, and all those compensated would be guilty of MailFraud.

Rich responds: This is just crap. Most payments are made via PayPal or a true Merchant Account. It's best for the new person, because they can get a refund up to 6 months later. And many people in EPI use the USPS. Also, alot of us take checks by fax.

> The company is incorpated out of Panama, thus sheltering itself form
> United States Regulations. (at least they think).

Rich responds: The company was in Panama years before it began its independent distributor market. They did not set up shop there to avoid U.S. regs - they were already there. As you said, they are still under our country's scrutiny anyway.

> Each person that sends emails, lies about how much they are making, as he
> did, and these emails are unsolicited emails, which are spam, which are
> illegal.

Rich responds: Wow - you've seen every email from every person, and you know this to be a fact?

> This company preys off of innocent people.

> My friend is to embarressed to admit to a failure.

> I know people are making money, because you can sell anything over the
> net, even illegal scams.

> Now I am curious what response we will receive from this.

> You know the truth is that all pyramids eventually break down. Those
> people that are telling you they are making millions are telling LIES to
> keep the pyramid going.

> End of Discussion.

Rich responds: It's not the end of the discussion. EPI is not a pyramid. The product is legitimate and is fairly priced. By the way, new modules are added on a regular basis with no increase in price. There are good and bad doctors, good and bad lawyers, and good and bad business people. I'm sure that every reputable HBB company has some " stink to high heaven" bad apples, just like the ones that recruited your friend.