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No. These things have become the bane f the internet. I regularly have to remove these links from my website. This tactic works; it is cheap and easy to execute on a large scale so finding victims is easy. Plus there is no penalty for getting caught, so the practice will continue. I believe this type of thing will increase as these hustlers get even better and we will become easier marks. So keep spreading your message, maybe you will help someone. It is much better to say something than nothing at all.

Am I the only one who gets frustrated at the hype modern day hustlers are selling. The infamous link that goes nowhere, but to a coaching website or video infomercial where they allure unexpecting consumers into buying a product that will not solve their problems. As a society, are we so desperate for, and obsessed with perfection that we think it is attainable? The beauty of life is its imperfections, it ups and downs. The adage that implies that the best things in life are free - is correct. Money cannot buy love, peace, happiness, contentment, health, and well-being. Money can buy stuff, but material gain can be fleeting. Weight loss gimmicks are another one of the biggest rip-offs of this decade. If we want to help ourselves, to obtain more positive results, we must take ownership of our behaviors, lifestyles, and decisions. Be a creator, not an imitator.

I first met Dante, the author of the book below, over a decade ago at the time he was a wonder kid, a young entrepreneur who'd carved out several successful niches on the Black World Wide Web. He was in Black Enterprise, often quoted, the whole nine. He would later publish a book through Hay House's Smileybooks called Black Business Secrets. Black Author Secrets. Get your copy today before the price goes back up to $4.95! He Dante references AALBC.com as a source. He also practices what he preaches by promoting his book on our site.

I purchased the book too, in fact I purchased two copies because I lost the first .pdf file (due to a bad hard drive). I actually read the book last night. in about an hour or so. I too was curious to learn which tools he used to sell in the pdf version. I had to print the ebook out though, I still prefer paper. Given the large font, broad margins, and liberal use of full page images the page count was well over 100 pages when it could have easily been half the number of pages. Then again I could have printed the document two pages to a side and that probably would have been a better use of paper. The pdf was definitely optimized for reading on a handheld or inflate page count he was also a recommendation made in his book. If you read the book, Dante describes you how he setup his site to sell the pdf. He used shopify which also watermarks the pdf file for you. I was also interested in his recommendations for book cover designers, he points out several recommendation available through Fiverr. On the 2nd purchase I too tried to save to dropbox too, but was unable to do it. I assumed I did not have the space or that I was some other problem that was on my end, but since we both had problems I could have been on the Shopify side. I definitely like Dante's recommendation of selling directly. You can price the product for less and increase your profit margins over selling through Amazon. But as you suggest you are faced with the challenge of getting people to buy directly from you (or an independent affiliate selling on your behalf), when folks are so wedded to Amazon. Dante seems to have addressed this problem by dramatically reducing the price of the ebook. I'll be looking into the Shopify software it will be cool if they also have an affiliate program that would allow authors to give others the opportunity to sell their ebooks and make some money.

I've played around with Shopify and I really enjoyed how easy it was to set up a storefront. The trial period was 30 days back then I see they've made it 14 days. EXCEPT they didn't have book store templates when I first tried it in 2012 or 2013!!! There were a lot of templates to choose from or if you are good at coding you could do it yourself CSS - but now - wow! It is best to prepare all your sales copy before so you can set up the shopify site in one day. This way you can really test out the sales features. You can either use your own domain name or one with the shopify extension. When I tested it out initially it was $29 plus the percentage of sales. I signed up with fetchapp to download ebooks after purchase. Since I was only selling one e-book it was free. fetchapp doesn't offer the watermark though... This book was worth the 2.99 just because it informed me of shopify's growth! I agree the book is easily 30 pages max but I feel that it has more than paid for itself already. Thanks for the heads up!

CD Burns, You are absolutely correct. The voices of those who would leave a positive imprint are muffled out by the rhetoric of the wolves who could care less about your physical, mental, or social well-being. Those of us who do care, and want to effect a change in the lives of people have to speak louder and longer. As a poet and author, my Purple Promise to my audience is: Purpose Unleashed Renews Promises' Lasting Effects. Meaning: Determination and tenacity, when given a free rein, reintroduces possibilities and potential with lifelong results. Our leaders are too busy trying to build a following versus trying to build people's lives.

This is the worst part about the self help thing, if you ask them what they have really accomplished they can't tell you. If they have accomplished something, it was because they aligned themselves with people you and I will almost never get a chance to meet. It's a false sense of hope that sells the product and the product is the same repetition of the same tired motivational speeches. It's frustrating when you can really help people, and answer questions and give valuable advice, but you can hardly be heard over all of the bluster and noise.

The Affordable Care Act A.K.A. "Obama Care" is a CRUEL JOKE. It's actually the flip side or opposite of Universal Healthcare. When it was first introduced there was a PUBLIC OPTION and NO MANDATE forcing you to sign up. By the time they finished it and sent it through there was a MANDATE but no PUBLIC OPTION. Universal Healthcare would have allowed people the option to choose a government sponsored free healthcare system with less amenities but alteast gives them basic health coverage. Obama Care FORCES people to BUY insurance at a price or face a penalty, involves a ton of paperwork asking about your financial status and often pushes reponsibility off to the state medicaid programs where they are less funded and usually doesn't cover dental or vision! I actually feel a little funny about bashing so many Republicans who were criticizing it because many of them were actually right about it being a bureaucratic mess. Republicans were even right about it being disasterous to the economy because by forcing so many businesses to insure their fulltime employees......he gave them the greenlight to lay off a lot of people bust a lot more others down to part-time. ((shakes head)) You brought up another great point that should be included in any Black agenda. Not only do I support more financial aid for qualified Black students. I actually support FREE COLLEGE EDUCATION FOR ALL QUALIFIED STUDENTS. Now I believe THIS is something that can actually be done at the state level. I've heard from so many people that many of the state universities in California offered extremely low tuition back in the 60s and 70s and a lot of people today are stil benefiting off the good but low cost education they got from the U.C.'s and Cal States. Certainly my view on healthcare and education reform are broadbased and sweeping but it's actually quite fair because when EVERYONE is granted the same access to certain institutions like health and education then you eliminate the problem that millions of working class people are going through right now where they're too poor to pay for things out of their own pockets but because they aren't dirt poor they can't take advantage of most of the government programs out there.

Do you see the Genius oF Cinco de Mayo, he has insulted Mexicans in what almost appears to be a compliment. Trump is a Marketing Genius. Don't forget he is really good at Promotion. Think about it can you tell me what business he owns, maybe, maybe not but you know the Apprentice and You're fired even if you never saw the show. He is a combination of George Bush Ronald Reagan and Ross Perot. He will win because people will vote for him because he is at their level. Clinton is too intelligent too savvy and seems like a power hungry guy, that has a string of dead bodies behind her. Bernie sounds like a dope smoking socialist, which sounds too much like a communist. Sorry about that Troy

Cynique Will Hillary pass up a chance to create a great legacy or just go along with business as usual? When people allow candidates to symbolize their hopes and grievances, are they setting themselves up for disappointment in view of past history? If a Democrat like Obama couldn't keep his promises, what kind of results can a Progressive independent like Sanders have in initiating reform? Would a Trump presidency allow America to openly become the bigoted anti-thesis of democracy that it has always been? Great questions you raised. I actually was FOR Hillary over Obama during the '08 election. Not that she was a saint....as I knew she wasn't, but I figured that she'd be more of a fighter on certain issues dear to Black and poor people than Obama who just came across as too cereberal and professorial.....and now I'm CONVINCED that this is the case. I think that regardless as to whether Trump actually gets in office or not, the damage has been done. He has indeed did what he was promoted to do....which is make racism and facism more acceptable in public discourse. His entire presidential run was about dismantling the idea of political correctness. However I don't know if his backers and promoters anticipated the backlash among progressives and especially progressive youth who have been challenging him at every turn lately. Last week they hemmed him up so bad somewhere in Arizona they forced him to run out of his car for safety....lol. As someone who has been retired for 24 years during which time, whomever was president made little difference in my day-to-day life, how many others are there like me who have simply stayed under the radar? Why should I even bother to vote? Well, if the WRONG person gets in office and eliminates social security and pensions like they've been doing on a LOCAL level to many retirees....you may have to come OUT of retirement and find a job again just to eat! I'm sure you won't feel like posting much on AALBC after spending a day splashing around down at the carwash, lol. Troy Pioneer the board has life because of folks like you; it is simple as that. Ahhhh....lol....ever seen a Black man blush?? I didn't know Thom Hartmann was still on the radio. I used to listen to him all the time when I lived out West. Him and Mike Malloy. as Trump supporters seem more motivated... like Bernie supporters Trump motivates his supporters the same way Sarah Palin did, by talking in a highly charged by very simple way that appeals to the lowest intelligence of the demographic. As with Palin....many people who support Trump has no idea what he actualy stands for but he talks so base and low class that they can easily understand HIM and what he's saying in his speeches. I've read stories where people who've lost thier factory and lumber jobs in rural parts of the nation see Trump as a savior if elected. They really believe that he'll help them even though he doesn't even patronize them with a lie that he will. This man simply gets on stage and tells people that they are unemployed because their factor closed down....that's it. Or he'll tell a mother that she can't afford medicine for her children because the cost of medicine is rising....and leave it at that. He doesn't say who caused these problems NOR does he offer a solution to them....he basically tells people what they already know. But they see it as him speaking to their needs and that's enough to win their support. Who knows....with any luck Hillary will choose BERNIE as her running mate and that would almost certainly bury any chances Trump has of winning. Mel This has been my reason to vote since before I left Brooklyn in the 90s... EVERYTHING happens at the local level. Thanks to the Republican party in Illinois, I saw this from the field...They put me in the game. And that game is brutal and those dudes are gangsta. I mean, drive-by gangsta too. You brought up another good point I forgot to mention. Black people need to stop focusing on party affiliations and focus more on the actually ISSUES themselves. This calls for us to be more ANALYTICAL in our thinking. We have to be able to decide who has our best interest in mind at any given election and go with THAT candidate regardless of their party affiliation. Which means on a local level some times we go with the Democrat, other times we go with the Republican, and other times still we go with the Independant. But we go with whoever promises to and continue to carry out our agenda. I learned a lesson studying African immigrants around the United States. Many of the Nigerians down in Texas are actually Republican. When you ask them why it's not just because of family values and business, but also because Nigerians are extremely intelligent and business minded and heavily involved in LOCAL POLITICS as a way of fortifying their business success. They talk with their money and Republicans know it and cater to it.

I just added the photo to the newsletter, which I will email this afternoon. @Shirley Gale, there is one thing I did notice, that is worth mentioning not just for your consideration but for any other authors who read this conversation. When deciding which photo to use, I noticed you included the text "Available at Amazon.com." There was a time when that would be considered sponsorship and a company would have to pay for that kind of exposure--and that time was not very long ago. One of the things I observed in recent years as that everyone gives the largest corporations free promotion. I know part of the reason social media is so very popular is that we all aggressively promote those platforms. We plaster their logos on all of our promotional material and refer readers to these platforms often before our own websites. It is not just Black authors who do this it is most business, from individual enterprises to large corporations, (though I have to believe the larger corporation plugging social media are not doing it for free). A buddy of mine recently designed a graphic to promote our Annual Black Pack Party. He put the logos of three popular social media platforms on our flyer. I did not ask him to do that, he did it on his own; collectively we have been trained. Don't get me wrong people should use Amazon, and social media, but lets not let they them get more out of us than we get out of them. As Black folks I think the issue is even more important because this free promotion, based upon my observations, has come at the expressive of our businesses. I have always suggested that Black authors, if they are going to plug a bookseller for free, plug a Black-owned store too. In 2016, one can pretty much take it for granted a book will be available via Amazon, explicity saying it only reinforces Amazon.com brand--again at our expense. I also know authors feel there is still some level of credibility that goes along with saying that their book is available at Amazon, But today anyone can make their book available via Amazon, there is no longer any cache in saying this, at least not in the way there might be to saying your book is available in a Barnes & Noble brick and mortar bookstore, which despite their size carries relatively few books written by Black authors--especially independently published ones. I hope for a day when Black-owned businesses can benefit from free promotion too.