If you're Marketing non-prescription "supplements"... Stay away 25 Years in Prison...
 

If you happen to be interested...

Especially from the manufacturing side of things...

I know there's a few SowPubbers into non-prescription "supplements"...

Thought I'd try and keep a few of you out of the slammer... ;)

There are Tons of better ways to make Money and keep your freedom...

Definitely some important business lessons on a variety of issues...

Can you believe what customers had to do to get a refund...

Oh My - Guy thrown in jail for 25 years for doing this...
http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...ars-doing.html

Phil

Re: If you're Marketing non-prescription "supplements"... Stay away 25 Years in Prison...
 

Thanks Phil,

I plan to market non-prescription supplements sometime in the near future. (One of the blogs I run is about anti aging.) So your link was quite helpful to me.

But the guy was thrown into prison because:
1. He sold a product that didn't work
2. He made people jump through hoops when they asked for refunds

I plan to make neither of those 2 mistakes. So I hope I'll be fine.

Re: If you're Marketing non-prescription "supplements"... Stay away 25 Years in Prison...
 

Ankesh,

I'm sure you'll do extremely well with marketing non-prescription supplements...

As with many other industries, some people are just Great at developing poor customer service along with terrible product selection that are sometimes on the level of border line scams...

But then, you have people like...

You probably know about Mike Adams....
http://www.healthranger.org/bio.html

Mike has developed some Excellent money making business models and resources...

Surprisingly, no blogs yet... :)

With a little Creative Thinking...

There are all kinds of business ideas and Unlimited money making possibilities throughout Mike's resources...

With a little reading the works almost done for you...

Including a Ton of keyword ideas to Help anyone that may be the least bit interested... ;)

http://www.supplementreference.com/
http://www.healingfoodreference.com/
http://www.herbreference.com/
http://www.nutrientreference.com/

Phil

Re: If you're Marketing non-prescription "supplements"... Stay away 25 Years in Priso
 

Hey guys!

I was wondering if anyone can tell me where to go for information about how to get into the supplement business? This is something that I have been interested in for some time now.

Before injuries, I worked out with weights on a weekly basis and was into the supplements for quite awhile. Always reading and experimenting to find what worked and what didn't. the same went for diets as well.

Anyway, I figured you guys could lead me to some "legitimate" information on the subject. Thanks.

Re: If you're Marketing non-prescription "supplements"... Stay away 25 Years in Priso
 

Hi Gary,

Here's some good Free info, about 12 videos/audio podcasts or so...

I don't think the full course or seminar is available any longer...

You could try contacting them...

Or try Googling for unused copies which might be out there somewhere...

When it was being promoted, it came highly recommended by some reputable people...

Maybe Ankesh, Gordon and a few others will share a few of their...

How to get into the supplement business Secrets... ;)

Brock Felt & Buck Rizvi...
http://www.supplementmillions.com/blog/?p=15

Phil

Re: If you're Marketing non-prescription "supplements"... Stay away 25 Years in Priso
 

Dug a little deeper into their blog...

Almost uptodate...

A little more info on things...

http://www.supplementmillions.com/
http://www.supplementmillions.com/blog/

Phil

Re: If you're Marketing non-prescription "supplements"... Stay away 25 Years in Priso
 

Hi,
Can anyone tell me that is there any side affects of taking supplements?

Re: If you're Marketing non-prescription "supplements"... Stay away 25 Years in Priso
 

Phil,

Thanks for the info. I'll dig through it later on to see what I can come up with.

Jolie,

After taking quite a few supplements through the years myself, the only ones that I had a problem with were the ones with some sort of stimulant in them. And that was only because I was experimenting with the dosage. Other than that, I always had a positive result. That of course always depends upon your diet, workouts and buying a quality product.

Re: If you're Marketing non-prescription "supplements"... Stay away 25 Years in Prison...
 

Ankesh,

I'm sure you'll be more than prudent with your new venture (& successful!)

The only thing for a legitimate supplement company to worry about is not making extremely strong direct claims (cures cancer vs. full of antioxidants). Being in the functional beverage space myself, a good number of the considerations for supplement companies are the same for us.

The FDA has hinted that they may reexamine all functional claims for nutritional supplements, foods & beverages in the future but there are so many large companies with $ at stake if that happens, you'll be sure to hear about it.

Cheers,
Erik

Re: If you're Marketing non-prescription "supplements"... Stay away 25 Years in Priso
 

Gary,

Tim Ferris's model for a 4 hour work week is built around the premise of a supplement business:

http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/
http://www.amazon.com/4-Hour-Workwee...94169&sr= 8-1

This is the best start I can point you towards! Well worth reading and having this business model bouncing around in your noggin whether you get into supplements or not.

-Erik

If you're Marketing non-prescription "supplements"... New Jail house member...
 

Thought I'd freshen up this thread with a New Jail house member... :rolleyes:

And a few more misc. uptodate Marketing lessons regarding your friends at the FTC...

Once again! ... Misleading claims ends in a prison sentence for this marketer...

Caution at all Times with your Marketing tactics, Especially in related niches...

Unless you want to get involved in some Serious Federal Trade Commission communications... ;)

Diet pill creator sentenced to 20 years for Lipoban’s fraudulent claims
Boca Raton man bilked more than 130,000 customers, feds say
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/z/fl-lip...,5495778.story
http://news.google.ca/news/more?um=1...58dBjDEcjToa7M
http://www.sowpub.com/forum/showthre...light=ftc+news

Phil

Best to stay out of the line of business...
 

Phil,

ZOMBIE THREAD...

I'll Protect Everyone


Interesting.... it's ALL about the CLAIMS. Not whether it works or not, but the CLAIMS which don't follow certain guidelines.

Years back I was working on a Natural Arthritis Ointment. One that would remove/reduce pain blah blah blah. And my test subjects all reported favorably.

During my research into the availability of this product to the Public, I discovered a Very Closed Shop run by Big Pharma. And it ALL stemmed on the Words Used in the marketing.

There are certain words which CanNOT be used unless you have Proof - proof As Designated By the Therapeutic Goods Administration (an arm of Big Pharma companies). By the TGA's guidelines noone but Big Pharma could provide such Proof and thus is able to make such Claims.

So, to get around it, you need to be Clever. And Imply without saying. And use words that don't actually mean anything.

Example: Words likes cure are just plain out. Relief is borderline. But you could say... formulated for arthritis sufferers; may be able to help; has helpful ingredients (though this is a claim so could be out unless you're big pharma), etc.

BUT. Even then you Need to Play Their Game. The product should be registered with them so they can add it to the List. Any slight change and it is deemed a new product and thus a new registration is needed.

Example: 500mg Vit C tables. 250 in a bottle. 100 in a Bottle. Deemed two different Therapeutic Goods even though both bottles have tablets of 500mg. Because the number of tabs changes... new product. Another rego fee. Ch ching.

If they don't Approve the good and you sell it to the public anyway... Look out, look out, theirs Big Pharma lawyers about. You'll be shut down, taken to court, yadda yadda.

The media talks about Conman Peter Foster who once sold Slimming Tea. He's a conman for selling people a Tea to help them Slim. Hmmm.... why aren't the makers of the slimming teas available in the supermarket getting shut down? Because they pay the bribe money to the TGA. And because it's on the supermarket shelf it means they are also paying the Supermarket Bribe $$$ to be stocked.

It's never about whether something actually works or not. It's IS about stepping on the $ toes of Big Pharma and whether you pay the appropriate bribe $ to the appropriate groups who grant such permissions - and - the tricky words you use.

Like the guy said.... if they had told him the words were wrong he could have done something. BUT, what he doesn't know is, doing that does not make them any $$$. It also allows him to keep trading. (Ben Suarez found this out with his bread)

Taking him to court makes the Courts $$$. It makes the prison co $$$ when they charge for housing him. And it removes a competitor for Big Pharma who runs the game.

I opted not to participate in their game.

Michael

Mark Joyners Ripwire Diet Pills and ConstructZero.org
 

I was surprised to learn that Mark Joyner is hawking diet pills but he seems to be doing it right. Don’t know about the pills at http://www.Simpleology.com/ripwire/ but I love the concepts he is promoting at http://www.constructzero.org My favourite charity is www.Kiva.org but Marks constructzero.org looks like it could fast become another worthwhile program to volunteer your time and / or donate resources to!

Cheers,
Steve Shulenski

Re: Best to stay out of the line of business...
 

Nice to know all the stuff.. and its been pretty good the strategies roaming around, these days..!! Thanks for sharing one of it..!!

Clarve..!!

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