The Faces of StartupNation
What is StartupNation?
StartupNation is not a website, or a radio program, or a book.
StartupNation is not a resource, a newsletter, or an event series. (these support it, but do not define it)
StartupNation is not about us at all. StartupNation is each and every one of you that is reading this blog entry right now. It is everyone that sends us a comment, calls into our show and asks a question online. YOU are the ‘Nation’ and it is you who shapes the ‘Nation’.
On that note, we’d like to give a shout out to Tony, who recently emailed us. Thanks for "Starting it up"!
(Tony’s email to us below:)
Hey guys, I’m new to your site and I admit that it is the coolest site I’ve ever been to. Why? Because it has everything to do with what I’ve been trying to do and learn to do since I was a kid, I’m 21 now.
AMAZING SITE! I’ve read tons of books and I have not gathered even a tenth of the information in books as I have today (First time member and visitor). My question today comes from having heard the radio clip about the guy from New York that wanted to learn how to promote his website to restaurant owners so that he could then advertise to the online community. I’m sort of in the same boat as that guy.
I’m starting a book business by the name of Reading Worm books and I don’t have a plan to advertise. The only kind of exposure I’m getting is by selling my books on Half.com as they have thousands of hits a day. Please advice. I just recently hired a team of developers to develop the site that I want for my business and it should be up early August 2005. Not only will readingworm.com sell books but will also provide a nation wide text book swap/exchange for students like me and provide book reviews and local teacher/class reviews for major universities around the country.
Tony Tovar
Your questions, comments and interaction is the fuel that keeps us running. taking our online survey.
April 27th, 2005 at 12:39 pm
Sounds like a great idea with a large potential market.
When it comes to marketplaces, simplicity rules. Check out craigslist.com. so basic and so functional.
just my 2 cents.
April 27th, 2005 at 1:07 pm
[quote]Sounds like a great idea with a large potential market.
[/quote]
<b>
David, I have to agree with you. there is a market out there waiting to be untapped and that is the regenerating population of every university and college campus in the world. Now, granted I probably won’t see hits from across the nation within the first couple of phases but I plan to be the leading book re-selling company in the nation. I’ve wanted to do this for 4 years, and now im fully prepared with a sound, and "simple" plan. Many students have tried doing something of this sort in the past, and in watching some of them disappear after a year or two, I’ve learned a great deal about the market place and how to approach it, God Willing, I’ve come up with a fail-safe plan :).
Simplicity is the key! I think it is the key to making sure that your obligation to keep customer satisfaction a priority is met; keeping things simple for the customer.
Thank you for your great comment, and please feel free to email me about any suggestion you might have.
General Question: Does anyone have experience getting the word out about a site via cyberspace? I’ve been looking at ways to get traffic to the site without going through the dumb pop-up adware company software. Any suggestions? Any help is great appreciated.
Yours Truly,
Jose Antonio Tovar (Tony)
Reading Worm Books
April 27th, 2005 at 10:39 pm
Tony, Web browsers search in two ways that I know of. One is to check the meta tags in the head of the HTML, and the other is to make sure that you have a very descriptive sentence or two at the very top of the web page. Submit your URL to every search engine you can think of.
Since you’re not too far out of the college scene try sending your URL to some of your friends. Ask them to try your business and to pass the word/email on. Word of mouth/recommendations have always been the best, free way to go, especially with women.
April 28th, 2005 at 12:10 am
tony,
check out this article on [link=http://www.startupnation.com/pages/articles/AT_SearchEngineOptimization.asp' target='_blank']cranking up your website traffic[/link].
it will build on sara’s comments.
also, take a look at "[link=http://www.startupnation.com/pages/articles/AT_FertilizerGrassrootsMkt.asp' target='_blank']Fertilizer for Your Grassroots Marketing[/link]."
those should be primo reads for you.
-Sloan bros
April 28th, 2005 at 8:18 am
I dont know if this is an appropriate forum to ask. My employer is threatening serious layoffs, and I am researching starting my own business. My research has led me to an outfit called Internet Speedway. I don’t want to depend on their self promotional information. I was wondering if you folks could direct me to other places where I can ask questions and find information?
April 28th, 2005 at 8:29 pm
To all who read this topic.
Current Reading Worm Book updates:
1.I have, in the works, a contract with the Literacy Austin Organization to purchase or form a partnership to sell the books that they have stocked by the pallets in their warehouse. They are looking to downsize because they aren’t making enough money to support their current inventory and so they have to get rid of more books every time they get more books. That is where Reading Worm Books steps in. I’m looking at getting about 1/3 of the local Half Price Books inventory just through contracting with them. yay!
2. I have found ways to keep books circulating, not only locally, but internationally through the help of Goodwill Industries.
3. The numbers are looking, simply, more beautiful with each passing day. This truly is an untapped market.
And to answer Chucks question, I’m not exactly sure what "outfit called Internet Speedway" is exactly. Got a link? The best advice I have ever received was, "See a need, fill a need", business ideas could not have been more plentiful since then.
Respectfully,
Tony Tovar
August 31st, 2005 at 6:48 pm
Has anyone heard anything about "internet speedway" or ispeedway.com?
I heard a few radio commercials on a Chicago station and was wondering if it’s something I should look in to.
Let me Know.
Rich
September 5th, 2005 at 12:01 pm
Tony,
Congrats from one young entrepreneur to another for your drive to get things going. I’ve seen lots of college-oriented sites come and go, and it’s a great market if you can deal with some of its intricacies.
As for marketing, you really need to think about who your target customer is then go from there. If it is serious book collectors, you should find websites where they congregate and begin to advertise there. If it is college students, start a pilot on a big-ten or pac-ten campus then grow by word-of-mouth and keg sponsorship
More generally, I’ve had great success with Google adwords and Overture advertising - just try to have something on the front page of your site to hook incoming traffic (i.e. a newsletter, a podcast, or some other free content) so that your marketing dollars are being used to actually capture leads.
Best of luck to you,
Jonathan
September 6th, 2005 at 9:25 pm
Jonathan thanks for the post. I will take your words into strong consideration. I’ve done something different with the business now but Its still a growing process on getting it where I want. Its hard to manage with all this school in the way
Tony
September 22nd, 2005 at 11:41 am
Hey Rich,
Internet speedway is a "middle man" company. Be wary it would be tough to compete, using them. They basically have contracts through several dropshippers and mark up the items. Good luck to you
Jason
September 22nd, 2005 at 6:34 pm
Rich,
Internet Speedway is a software company provides a way to create a web site and sell your products online. If you have your own wholesaler relationships, you can sell your own products or you can also use some of the dropshipper products that are available through Internet Speedway. The software is good and easy to use.
Amber
October 7th, 2005 at 6:47 am
If you are referring to [link=http://www.ispeedway.com']Internet Speedway[/link], it is a web based software to setup an online business to sell products. Although you can do the same by hiring a designer and web developer to build a store and find your own products, but this would take several months or longer, and would cost a hundred times more. For that reason, the idea is good because it gives you a running start and can save a lot of time and money that is better spent on marketing a business. But setting up a online business is not enough, you should really first decide about what types of products you want to sell, who you want to sell to and a way to market it. But once you setup your business correctly, you can expect it to generate good results for you.
November 20th, 2005 at 5:19 pm
INTERNET SPEEDWAY: Sounds good, looks good, believe me its not that simple in the real world, so look out for what’s comming.
Paid the $19.95 plus shipping & Handling after hearing local radio advertisement. Package came with all they promised and in the time they said, about 10 biz days.
So far I have just reviewed the material they sent, checked out the web to see if I could locate and assess other users. The results brought concerns on a large scale. Their web sites are so basic they are not at all impressive, or even functional, as many of the pages inside many sites do not open. Furthermore the same items were being offered at practically every site I visited, same price, same same. All the original and somewhat unique sites, do not function properly. Most of the folks who responded to my enquiries advised that they had to wait 6 to 8 weeks before they saw their web site posted, none of which functioed as one would expect, and no one was making anything like the kind of money they had hooped for.
So your 30 day review period to assess this software and return within 30 days for a full refund misus ship cost is outwith the scope of reality. Even if you do not wait, they will make you wait for a RMA if you are lucky enough to connect with their customer service department.
Then after 19 days after receiving the software starter pack from Internet Speedway, charges starting appearing on my credit card used to pay the $19.95. + S&H, additional charges; not one 2, then another 2 at 69.95 a shot, even though I did not activate the account or create my web store.
Customer service is inundated and be prepared for a 30 minute wait, before your call is automatically terminated and cut off. You never get to talk to anyone and email messages sent to them are ignored, my first message to them is over 3 weeks old and still awaiting a response. Now I am reliant upon my credit card company amex to sort this out.
All I will say to conclude this warning is: BUYER BEWARE. All is not what it seems.
January 29th, 2006 at 4:56 am
I purchased my site in November from iSpeedway. Customer service, developers, sales… No one returns calls or emails once they have your money. Everything Dave said above is correct.
February 7th, 2006 at 12:24 pm
Thanks guys! I won”t even waste my time calling the number for internet speedway’’s free CD. It’’s free, but you have to pay $19.95 to ship it to you?!?! It costs 39 cents to send a CD via the USPS, and it will get to your house in a couple days. What a bunch of crooks. I am tired of all these work from home scams. I just want to make some money and it shouldn”t be that hard. Thanks again guys!
February 17th, 2006 at 7:11 am
Hello folks;
Searching for "Internet Speedway" led me to you forum. Thanks for the advice about buyers beware. Almost got taken for the "ride” by a similar operation.
Hope everybody will be very cautious in dealing with these types of claims for home businesses.
Don
March 5th, 2006 at 1:50 am
Hi,
I’m in the same boat as Matthew, saw a TV add saying get your free info etc etc, thought i’d check the web for info and ended up here aswell luckily!!! Won’t waste my time on that crap either, though has anyone found anything thats actually worthwhile and possible to make some reasonable money for your efforts? If anybody has had any positive advice i’m all ears! Many Thanks Gaz
March 5th, 2006 at 10:57 am
If you want to sell product online with a high traffic site and a system guaranteed to work why not go with eBay? I’m equipping my soon to startup business entirely on eBay.
My impression of Internet Speedway is that they’re standing outside the tourist information center selling maps you could get inside for free.
March 5th, 2006 at 4:30 pm
Hi Tony,
Congratulations, I am always inspired when a young entrepreneur comes up with a great idea. I think Jonathan’s advice:
[i]As for marketing, you really need to think about who your target customer is then go from there. If it is serious book collectors, you should find websites where they congregate and begin to advertise there. If it is college students, start a pilot on a big-ten or pac-ten campus then grow by word-of-mouth and keg sponsorship ;)[/i]
Understanding the target audience by hanging out with them has been invaluable for me.
Since the-petset.com has much to do with dogs I have found myself blog-opining on many dog-related blogs, this kind of activity has lead to my site being linked to other reputable sites, to product reviews on a few influencial site, and above all it has lead to increased traffic and sales.
It’s time consuming and you have to be a sensitive blogger but there are rewards.
Good luck with everything.
March 9th, 2006 at 3:05 pm
Wow, I fell for it and what a waste. The material is just fluff. I the "test drive" starts when THEY ship it and then they charge your account!!!! They say I’m stuck and NO refund and NO cancellation. All the material says "activate now" but regardless if you activate or not, they charge you. The advertizing says "Free Information" but they take $9.95"shipping" to send that to you and then jam you for the rest. Stinks!
Still Looking for something good!
-g
March 13th, 2006 at 11:29 am
All I can say is remember the age old saying "if its to good to be true, it probably is". If you want to make money working for your self you have to be willing to take on all the risk yourself. I like the post about using ebay, Any add you hear over the radio or tv claiming they will help you start a business are full of crap and just looking to steal from you. I started my own on site computer repair business and began with just a local newspaper add and am now doing pretty well, it just takes time and patience. All of you seem pretty motivated and that’s all it takes-motivation and persistence. Good luck!
Best,
Russ
March 13th, 2006 at 12:48 pm
[b]The StartUp Nation Mystique[/b]…I don’t know what this is about, but it must be some kind of entrepreneurial karma.
All of my recent SUN activities seem to coincide with an increase in sales.
Thanks for the Karma guys!
March 13th, 2006 at 12:57 pm
This ain’t no puzzle Kim. You’re living & breathing entrepreneurship every day. It can’t help but make you & your business stronger.
March 13th, 2006 at 2:06 pm
Thanks Chief!
March 14th, 2006 at 6:17 pm
Joel, I swear it’s all of you guys…The Pet Set has already smashed March ‘05 sales figures.
Slainte! (cheers)
March 21st, 2006 at 10:18 am
Thank you all for your comments on Internet speedway. I had a weird feeling when I called and stopped before I gave email or card info. This site is now at the top of my favorites list as I ponder how to get an internet business up and running
March 21st, 2006 at 11:16 am
Welcome to the StartupNation community Laurie!
Happy pondering.
Joel
March 21st, 2006 at 11:38 am
Welcome Lauriel and much success.
March 21st, 2006 at 11:39 am
Laurie,
The best suggestion I could give is to listen repeatedly to all the archived StartupNation radio shows online. Each time I listen to them again I’m at a different place in my business development and learn something I missed before.
Good luck,
Steve
March 21st, 2006 at 12:03 pm
Welcome aboard, Laurie!
March 24th, 2006 at 2:44 pm
Hello all,
I found this blog originally searching for information on internet speedway, and I’m glad I did. I’m looking to start something either as a full time endeavor, or as a secondary source of income, but I don’t know where to start. Can anyone give me some pointers or direct me to somewhere that I can pull in some information on the subject?
Thanks,
Greg
April 1st, 2006 at 6:52 pm
Hi Everyone,
I have been looking for an oppurtunity to earn extra income for some time now with very limited success, either the things i found were too time consuming or not cost effective or also too risky to warrant the initial outlay!
Two weeks ago a guy I used to work with in the UK who I have always trusted ( Mainly due to the fact that he’d been extremely successful in everything i’d seen him do, contacted me.
He told me he’d just started an excitingnew business and would like me to come to a meeting in Orlando to see if I would like it! I just thought i may aswell as nothing much was happening that evening, by chance my Dad and brother were visiting aswell so they came with me aswell.
In the course of the next 2 hrs all 3 of us decided this business was for us with a very low start up fee, help and ongoing support from people already successful and regular weekly training meetings if we felt we required them, and more importantly residual income paid promptly.
That was 10 days ago my family have since departed back to the UK and I have just hit 2000 dollars with very little effort! I can’t wait for the next 12 months and it sounds like other people are excited about the oppurtunity too! No other than The Donald Trump has just endorsed this company, unbelievable, my dad just puts it don to being at the right place at the right time, that sounds good enough for me, if anyone would like anymore info about this unbelievable oppurtunity don’t hesitate to email me at gazmagill@yahoo.com
Take Care
Gaz Magill
April 4th, 2006 at 1:07 am
Thanks for the heads up about Internet Speedway. From their advertising it sounds great. They are alos spedning a lot of money to advertise. From the comments here it sounds like the money to advertise is supplied by people misfortunate enough to buy in.
April 7th, 2006 at 3:05 am
I also heard the Internet Speedway ad online so I gave them a call to check it out.
The salesman was very skillful and tried to steer me into a ongoing program by telling me that I sounded like I was skilled enough to succeed with little effort!
Anyhow I questioned him about the ‘bait and switch’ tactic. Offering a free CD with info and then trying to enroll me in their program without me having even seen their info.
I told him that we are "getting off on the wrong foot" because they are not keeping their agreement by charging me for their free info.
Basically the bottom line is that their program sounded like a high pressure scam. The sales man gave me his business web site URL and it turned out to be a bogus site and not what he claimed it was.
I am very happy now that I never gave him my cc# etc. I did give him my home phone number but I have caller ID and can screen my calls easilly.
Just based on what I’ve read, I’d say that if you are a complete novice then their program may help you get your feet wet but it’s unlikely you will do well in a highly competitive marketplace.
Of course, if you found a good market niche, you might actually make some good buz for awhile until the copycats duplicate your offerings.
Good luck!
April 20th, 2006 at 12:16 pm
Allan,
I am a complete novice, but it seems like if I can learn something from the ispeedway service i just signed up for, it would be worth the $300-400 it will cost me for the program.
I have found a few ispeedway sites that are up and running that seem to have found a more focused niche.
Still there were many others that have already shut down.
Any thoughts on novice moving forward….
Thanks!
May 16th, 2006 at 8:46 pm
Internet Speedway….Be very careful…sorry…I got stuck too…Never got the package…mailed to PO Box and I still ended up paying.
May 25th, 2006 at 3:14 pm
Hey everyone, UPDATE ON READING WORM BOOKS. I’ve sold over 3 thousand books in 6months and have been doing soo much! I’ve decided to sell my business to a young man who wants his son to learn about running a business. I’m tired and ready for something new. I’m moving to Dallas soon and start working on restructuring my uncles Painting company. He has 7 billion dollar clients he works for and has a couple million dollar contracts that come out to the hundreds in profits and he wants to try to get rid of some holes where money seems to be swept away.
Anyways, Just wanted to post an update. Reading Worm Books is no longer the name of the company but the assest sold for a whopping 13650.00
Not bad for a first business. I sold the assests at depretiated value but the books are worth about 25,000 in market value. I just need to move on. I was in school and it took too much of my time. I’m transfering to UTexas Dallas and hopefully starting up with Tovar Painting.
Is there an article on structure or management? I’m wanted to learn a little about going INC as well.
Tony
June 16th, 2006 at 9:33 pm
I have the ispeedway program and it is not bogus. I use their products from the warehouse to sell on ebay and have found it to be very succesful. One sale covered the price of the program twice over. If this was such a crappy company then why would ebay allow them to carry the ebay logo on their packaging, and use their name in advertising? You people just aren’t creative enough to take a great system and make it work. Also, I have never had a problem getting ahold of customer service. Internet Speedway is not a scam, it is a proven system that works.
August 9th, 2006 at 7:28 pm
Tony is right. Everyone seems to be complaining about $9.95, what a scam, it’s bogus and on and on. I get the feeling most people are looking for that elusive get-rich-quick scheme, and when they don’t find it, even for a whopping ten dollar investment, they’re angry. Any business, online or in the physical world, takes commitment and an investment of time and money. Commitment is the biggest factor. Internet Speedway is a legitmate firm providing a way for "serious" people to start their own online business. The people who take it seriously seem to do well if one reads the posts on numerous sites like this. Those who don’t take it seriously seem mighty disappointed and point the finger of blame outward rather than inward. Tony is also right about eBay, at least from what I’ve learned. They don’t have much patience with scammers and one would think they were well investigated by eBay. My advice: those of you who want to make a fast buck with little or no effort and little or no investment, go back to your jobs. You’ll never be an entreprenuer… but America needs employees AND employers, so all is not lost.
August 9th, 2006 at 7:30 pm
Ooops. I meant Sahsa is right. Wow, is my face red. I looked at the name on top rather than on the bottom and confused Sasha with Tony… which is not very cool on my part. (blush)
September 23rd, 2006 at 11:28 am
I thank you guys for the comments on I speedway. I had a feeling I was about to be taken for a bad ride. I just found this site today and it is awesome.
Mark,
October 24th, 2006 at 12:32 am
I just bought the internet speed system, I am still working on the design of the page, I have done some research and for the most part they do have good products at a competitive price. I have never had a problem getting a hold of customer service, but then again, I just started, what I dont like is some of the sites that they have developed, some of them look like if my 8 year old built them and some look really professional. What I do wonder is if they are just a software company that provides the tools for their clients to do business or if they get a cut from the dropshipper, are we dealing with a true dropshipper or the middle guy? any comments on that?
Other than that my experience has been good. I hope to keep it that way. I will keep you guys posted as to what happend with my 5 grand that I gave them for the Platinum membership.
November 2nd, 2006 at 11:59 am
Looks like Internet Speedway sent a few of their flaks over to post glowing reports. BEWARE! You do NOT want to get hooked up with these people.
Here’s the secret to a successful on-line business. Ready? Find a product that people want, that you can buy at a price where it can be resold at a profit. That’s it!
But, you say, that’s difficult. YES, that’s true. That’s why not just anyone can become an Internet entrepreneur! You have to have (or find) connections to a supply of "in demand" products that you can acquire and sell. eBay is fantastic and lots of people DO make good money. But they all have a source of goods to sell. Hell I’d love to quit my job and run an eBay store full time. However, I have nothing to sell so I cannot do that.
Work on WHAT you will sell first and THEN follow the great advice on this site to put it out there for sale.
Good luck!
November 10th, 2006 at 12:51 am
Need to get out of this Internet Speedway but only have 7 days left before they bill me the $300 anyone had any success with them, everything I read seems to be a negative to returning the item and stopping the billing
March 16th, 2007 at 2:22 am
I also heard the advertisement for Internet Speedway on the radio. I called the number out of curiosity. Right off the bat I was turned off. Their radio commercial said "free". If they charge even one dime, then they are being deceptive. If you charge a S&H fee, then they should say that in the commercial. It’s not about the money, it’s about honesty and integrity. The second problem I had was that I refused to give them my cc number or bank number. In this day and time, I thought it was very presumptuous of them to assume that folks will jump to give out personal or financial information over the phone to a total stranger.
They deciding factor was when I told them that I would be willing to consider paying the S&H, if they would accept PayPal, or a certified check from my bank or bill pay from my bank. They were not set up to take PayPal. And the other options were not acceptable either. Nothing would do except my account information.
I told the interviewer that I had a gold watch belonging to my grandfather that is valued at about $10,000 but I’d be willing to part with it for $50.00 All he had to do was provide me with his cc information for the instant payment and then I’d "promise" to ship it and guarantee that the watch worked or his money back. The phone went silent. I honestly don’t think he knew what to say.
In any case, he got the point!!
Internet Speedway may very well be a good tool for a novice to start their own business, but I am a skeptic by nature and they misleading S&H charge was enough for me. If a company "honestly" believes in their product or services then they don’t have a need to mislead anyone.
The other thing that I thought was interesting was that they are selling a internet based business with your own web site that accepts PayPal. If they thinks that’s worth offering on your selling web site, why would they offer it as a form of payment for their product.
I’ve been selling on EBay for a while now and it’s not rocket science. The trick is quite simply finding a product that fills a need at a price that will generate a reasonable profit. The rest of "how to’s" is on the web, if you willing to do a little research,learn the system and have "reasonable" expectations, then anyone can earn a living or extra income on the net.
BTW….if anyone is willing to share information regarding drop shippers that are "legit" I’d appreciate the info.
Thanks,
Lillian
March 29th, 2007 at 9:02 pm
A few weeks ago call ISpeedway after seeing someones site + hearing a radio commercial. I talked for about 45 minutes to an agent. He convinced me to get the turbo package and imall for $29.95 each. If I purchased them now I could benefit from then during my trial period(according to the salesman) He let me know that that the initial 9.99 for ispeedway was non-refundable BUT everything else would be fully refunded if I cancel within 30 days.
I tried it out. I came to the conclusion that I can get a better site going myself. Besides the product sample that i looked was more expensive to buy from "ispeedway" than ebay or overstock.com. I mean my wholesale price was more expensive than the same item on ebay or overstock( + some items included free shipping)
Today,well within my 30 days, I called to cancel.
They offered to upgrade my store + free web design. I didn’t but. Then everything changed, they told me my account was canceled that NOTHING was refundable. I asked specifically about the refund. I was told explicitly that the two $29.95 charges were refundable. I was suckered….lied to.
Nothing is FREE. Especially ISpeedway.
April 10th, 2007 at 5:44 pm
Internet Speedway is one of the biggest scam out. Simply put If you are looking at starting a internet business with their program…Keeplooking. Don’t Bother. They are good at bait and switch tactics.
You will be dissappointed!
Joie
May 7th, 2007 at 9:55 am
I heard a radio ad about Internet Speedway and called them. Thinking I could hear the cd, learn a little about them, and make my decisions. I didn’t buy into the project automaticly and I haven’t heard from them since, and that includes recieving the cd.