Want to make wads of money while you sleep? Yes - don't just count sheep - count bucks -
Our writer attends an almost evangelistic like event that tells you how to make money on the Internet.
So, what are you all waiting for? For a while I thought I was at a WWF event – you know, one of those orchestrated pain matches where everyone in the audience goes wild even though they know the wrestling is all staged.
There were crowds outside the door, and they couldn't wait to get in. As soon as the doors swung open, they surged forward, scrambling for seats. "Quick, it's free seating," said my friend, as he dragged me by the hand to the centre aisle. "Let's grab the best seats."
Inside the hall, Jennifer Lopez was belting out "Let's Get Loud". Strobe lights danced up, down and around the hall. You could feel the adrenalin surge in the room – and I hadn't even had my coffee.
As JLo whipped up the audience into a frenzy through the incredibly loud sound system, a man bounded onto the stage. He asked everyone to stand up. "Let's sing a song," he yelled. "Look to the screen."
On screen, the lyrics of "We Are Family" came on. The whole room started rocking and singing. It was the biggest mass karaoke session I had ever been part of.
I felt so full of love and felt like I hug everyone in the room but refrained. There were, after all, nearly 1,000 people packed into the hall of Singapore Expo that morning.
I have attended many conferences in my time but I have never been to one as energy-charged and audience-enraptured as this. Guess what it was all about?
Making money. Not just any money but wads of money – while you sleep, snore and count the sheep. Real money made virtually. Money through the Internet.
It was the World Internet Mega Summit and, out of curiosity, I had got in on the last day. Most of the people, including my friend, had sat through the past three days of speakers teaching them how to make money online. How to write sales letters, how to be an author and publish e-books, how to be a speaker, how to make money through teleconference calls, how to be a trainer and coach, how to get others to make money for you while you sleep.
The speakers were all slick, sleek and smooth – all male, all either American or Australian (one was Australian-Chinese). Each had about two hours on stage and in between dishing out their words of money-making wisdom, they sold their courses, DVDs, CDs, personal coaching time and whatever they could throw into the package.
They were like salesmen on steroids. Their bios all said they had become gazillionaires through the Internet.
Mark Joyner, author of the ebook MindControlMarketing.com, a cold war veteran of military intelligence, a former US Army Officer and a high school drop out, shared "The rules for defeat on the new digital business battlefield".
He was like a rock star, as he toggled between speech and slides. Everyone slavishly took notes. He said one way to measure the advancement of society was the amount of free time we had. "The more advanced the society, the more free time we have."
Yet, today, despite the advancement of new technology, people have less time. "Isn't that ironic?" he said.
Imagine a world with 100% free time, he challenged. "Imagine all the brainpower that is being wasted? Would Einstein have come up with his formula if he had had no time to think?"
He said mankind was trapped in a new cycle of slavery – we wake up, go to work, come home and watch TV which tells us to buy things we don't need, sleep and wake up …
And he said, "The freedom cycle starts with you. Pull yourself out of the slavery culture. Gain control over your time, energy and money."
As he looked the audience straight in the eye, he asked, "Do you want to?" The room erupted. "YES!"
As he wound up his speech, everyone was handed a leaflet. It read, 100% risk-free trial certificate. "136 days from sloth to super-human coaching club".
The package was worth US$20,522. Apparently his time is worth US$3,000 an hour so that was a real bargain. If you signed up instantly, you would get 50% off, plus you get to join a private VIP lunch with him.
He then ended his talk with the Beatles song, "Hey Jude". Everyone sang their hearts out.
Later, I looked at the tables set up to sell the packages of the different speakers – there were always queues.
I sat through two more sessions – the second speaker, Mike Filsaime, had some good stuff to share and got me thinking about a few things. The third, John Childers, reminded me of a Southern minister trying to sell the promised land of how to become an instant speaker and make millions from teleconference calls.
There was nothing subtle about him. "In 1982, I was making $400,000 a day. I've been doing this for 25 years and my income keeps going up. Would you like to make $300 a minute?"
All weaved their sales pitches through their presentations. But you know what, the crowd lapped it up. It was part of the game. The speakers were there to sell and the audience was there to learn, and buy.
To prove their point – that the Internet was a powerful tool to make money – organizers, with the help of Stephen Pierce (a former street gang member who showed off the bullet wound in his knee and now Internet millionaire), launched an Internet challenge to raise money for Feed The Children.
Their goal – to raise US$100,000 in 72 hours. They achieved US$100,330 in 64 hours.
When Pierce came on to say, "This isn't about me, it's about all of you, all of us working together, all of us rallying around an idea bigger than any of us", the room exploded. The woman standing next to me was clapping and crying.
I realized then why events like these are so successful – they play to two most basic human desires. Greed and hope. Like casinos, really.
Yeoh Siew Hoon, one of Asia's most respected travel editors and commentators, writes a regular column on news, trends and issues in the hospitality industry for 4Hoteliers.com.
Siew Hoon, who has covered the tourism industry in Asia/Pacific for the past 20 years, runs SHY Ventures Pte Ltd. Her other writings can be found at www.thetransitcafe.com . Get your weekly cuppa of news, gossip, humour and opinion at the cafe for travel insiders.