Don Lapre
Infomercial King Exposed - Who Is Don Lapre
This article is now in two parts to accommodate both of Don Lapre's infomercials - The "Tiny One Bedroom Apartment" infomercial from a few years ago and the current "Greatest Vitamin in the World".
Have you been fooled by Don Lapre or any of those late night infomercial Internet millionaire gurus? Can you really make money using the method he sold for almost $40 (dropped from a price of $79.95)? Will you really benefit from overpriced vitamins that can also get you rich? Is there a Don Lapre scam? Is he a con artist?
Who Is Don Lapre?
Don Lapre was born May 19, 1964. He attended Sunny Slope High School and dropped out. Decided to become an entrepreneur. Launched a dating service the same year he got married in 1988. In 1990 was charged with consumer fraud in Arizona over his now defunct Unknown Concepts and ordered to pay civil penalties and more than $5,000 restitution. He did, in fact, make money from classified ads (selling a 36 page booklet about recovering a Federal Home Association insurance refund) and 900 numbers before selling the big program that brought him the fame as one of the well known late night infomercial personalities.
"The Making Money Show with Don Lapre," was on in 1992. It was a fluff package telling basic, common sense tips on how to make money. The basic package is not exactly what was promised in the infomercial. In order to make something like that work, more information was in order. It eventually became the company New Strategies.
In 1994 and 1995 he faced legal challenges in regards to not paying proper state taxes and properly registering his business. In 1997 he had trouble with the IRS. In 1999, he filed bankruptcy when his business interest was bought out by Universal Business Strategies which used unethical methods to promote the business model Mr. Lapre created. They continued to use the name and image of Mr. Lapre and they telemarketed the customers to pressure them into buying things in order to make the program work, and even their products they sold to make it work were questionable at best.
In 1997, he approached Doug Grant to develop the idea to market what would become The World's Greatest Vitamin. Originally touted to cure all kinds of disease, they were ordered by the FDA by Certified Letter and in 2005 to stop making such claims. Then they hyped the aspect of how to make their customers rich by offering to pay $1000 each time a distributor you sign up gets 20 or more people to try the vitamin.
I am not going to deride the man for dropping out of high school, which is not a good thing to do and I hope he does go back to further his education. I am not even going to taunt him for making very bad business decisions, all entrepreneurs are entitled to make mistakes. I will however say I do not condone the cheap tricks at the expense of others in order to make a fast buck. Most who pay attention to such commercials are in dire financial situations and some of them have emotional and/or physical issues to boot; these infomercials make over-the-top promises to the desperate looking for a way out - they cannot afford to be ripped off.
A personal note to Mr Lapre and other infomercial gurus; by trying to make money from the desperate it will ruin your reputation and credibility faster than anything. Find a really good product you believe in, one that benefits both ways - your business and the customer.
First Infomercial - Making Money From A Tiny One Bedroom Apartment
This is the commercial most people think about when the name Don Lapre is mentioned; the one where he made money from his "tiny one bedroom apartment" and made millions of dollars by "placing tiny classified ads."
This is not a new concept!! Fortunately, he no longer sells it. However, you can find these kits at garage sales around the country.
There are many other plans to make money using this concept. Mail order is a legitimate business and there are a handful of mail order millionaires out there who utilize classified ads as one of many concurrent methods to drive business to their products (IE - They use many methods to gain business, not just classified ads; if they only used newspaper ads, they would not be as rich).
His get rich quick plan like so many others involve sales. He is selling a product to you and you need to find a product to sell to others. It is the hype of programs like these which make over-the-top promises on the speed, ease and amount of wealth one can obtain by following their version of directions. All of these types of products should come with the disclaimer:
"Some people will make money in a similar business to this plan, but very few (if any) will make money from this plan; and we will upsell you at every chance we get to convince you all you need is more product to make the useless plan work."
He basically states in his commercial (as do many others selling get rich plans) that you can make money by placing tiny classified ads, or through a 900 number that will pay you huge checks each week, or through buying and selling. And to make money online you don't even need a computer.
What you will get for your $40 is a bunch of impressive looking manuals which contain very little information on how to actually work a plan and most of that information can be found free anywhere. The bulk of what you are buying is sales material for YOU to buy more from him. Not that there is anything wrong with that, this is a common practice in sales to get a foot in the door for future sales, the problem is spending that kind of money on information that is not worth the paper it is printed on.
Don't waste your money on this plan. The little, and I mean little, information in the kit can be found free in any library or on the Internet. Yes, you can make money placing classified ads, with a 900 number or buying and selling merchandise - BUT - with such little information given in the package you will have to either start completely from scratch and seek out information on your own to start a business OR buy the extra kits and services which is the majority of the package. In other words, for $40 you are buying 95% ads asking you to buy more stuff with 5% actual information which can be had free anywhere.
If you want to make money placing classified ads, through a 900 number or buying and selling, you don't need this system. Get the real story here FREE.
- Make Money On The Internet
- Step One: Get A Computer And Internet Access
- Step Two: Get A Domain Name
- Step Three: Getting A Web Hosting Company
- Step Four: Create Your Site
- Step Five: Finding Products To Sell
- Step Six: Promoting Your Site
- Placing Tiny Classified Ads/Buying And Selling Products
- How To Make Money With A 900 Number
Note: The links above are to FREE articles related to the topic at hand. Products mentioned are for a point of reference, not necessarily an endorsement. If this is your business you want to do, do your homework and research your options before spending out more money than you have to work with.
The Greatest Vitamin In The World (Now The Nutraforia Program)
What exactly is one's need for vitamin supplements? That all depends on you. If you eat a well balanced diet and exercise on a regular basis, you really do not need a supplement, but it couldn't hurt. If you skip meals or have poor eating habits, a vitamin supplement is very useful. If you have medical conditions or are undergoing treatment, your needs should be discussed ONLY with your doctor because your particular circumstances should be monitored.
For the most part, a simple bottle of basic One-A-Day™ type of vitamins is all anyone needs to supplement their diet. Yup, a bottle of vitamins which cost under $12 a month is all you really need.
Your body can only take in so much of a vitamin or a mineral before it becomes either toxic or is disposed of by your body in waste. There is no point in trying to take more than you need. After a certain point, more is not a better thing.
It sells for $39.95 plus $8.65 for a 30-day supply. Nothing really bad about that, just overpriced for what it is. However, if you are buying it because you want to stake your riches on it, think about how competitive the health market can be, especially in selling vitamins. You have a product that is really not that much better than any other on the market and cost more than what you will get over the counter or even from health food stores which sell versions without the fillers to which some may object.
The Greatest Vitamin in the World has been derided as a cheap ploy to pay excessive amounts of money for a vitamin that is really no better or worse than any other on the market with a chance for you to sell your family and friends on the idea of buying it from you so you can eventually get a bonus of $1000 by getting only 20 of your friends to try it. However, they will try and upsell you to help you sell the product. You can literally spend hundreds on a web site and sales aids. If you are not good at sales and have no clue on how to promote your business, no amount of money you throw at your business will help you make money.
You may even notice some blogs that are way too obvious a marketing ploy by the company to try and deflect the real critics to the program. A tell-tale sign that there is fear behind what the critics are saying about it might actually be true. Just do a search and you will find sites with consumers who complain about their experience with it. Rip Off Report, a CBS News story, Associated Content Quack Watch is another. When you read those glowing praise blogs that seem more infomercial than reality, keep these critic sites in mind.
World Venture Travels
This is an MLM plan where you invest $250 for your initial package that gives you a web site to help you sell vacations and monthly fees to remain in the program which supposedly float to your upline; not to mention fees associated with actually selling or going on trips. The emphasis in where you make the money is by recruiting others to do the same.
If you want to make money selling vacations online, sign up with LinkShare or Commission Junction. They both have multiple airlines, vacation deals, travel agencies, etc you can sell on your own web site or refer others directly to the link AND it won't cost you money to join.
Getting Your Feet Wet With Minimal Risks
When you are thinking of doing an online business, but have no experience, you are always afraid of taking a risk for what could end up in a financial disaster for you.
It's not that all the programs out there are lying to you, just a lot of hype and unrealistic expectations. As long as you keep it real and work at it, you could make money in these methods.
Just keep in mind if it sounds too good to be true in the offer, think carefully before you buy into it because it is more than likely hype. Any good business venture will take hard work, education of some sort (even self-education counts), money and time before success is an option.
Find It Now
