GDI is almost a scam, and here’s the catch.
For all of you out there who are trying hard to promote GDI and develop your business, sorry, I don’t want to rain on your parade, but the simple fact is, GDI (Global Domains International) is a mediocre product at best.
First of all, what is it? It’s domain hosting for $10 a month with a multi-level marketing scheme that pays you back $1 for every person under you for 5 levels.
Okay, that in itself is legitimate, and although any network marketing scheme is an immediate turn-off to many, for others, it’s a reasonably attractive opportunity.
Much better hosting is easily available from many, many providers for less than $10 per month. I searched through many of them and finally decided that PowWeb and Bluehost are cream of the crop.
The one aspect that kept me looking deeper into GDI was the $100 bonus for signing up 5 new members in a week.
Now, with only a slight thought outside the box, you can see that you could pay for 5 new members, that way giving them a free month to test it out further, and then collect the $100 bonus. You paid $50 and got back $100.
Everyone I asked said that yes, the bonus is legitimate and they do pay it. And there are many individuals and groups paying the first month for people.
What nobody told me and what makes it a scam, or at least deceptive marketing, is that in order to get the $100 bonus, you first have to buy 10 DVDs for promoting GDI.
That’s $29.50, so you’re still in the plus, but then you have to add on the shipping and handling. Lots of people play the “shipping and handling game” to send you ‘free e-books’, etc. Come on, if it’s really free just give me the download link!
The killer for everyone living outside the U.S. is the fee charged to send you the DVDs. For anyone in Romania where my friend lives and is trying hard to develop his GDI business, the cost is $162!
As he says, “So, I would need 10 people in the same week only to pay off my investment. And then I will be in profit.”
He then replied to my email in which I fumed about GDI: “I knew about that from the beginning, but I couldn’t imagine that the delivery fees are so exaggerate. Lucky me that some days ago I tried to make a “sample order” to see how it goes. And then I was shocked when I saw those 162$!!! I mean it’s like you want to buy a bicycle with 200$ and it cost you 1300$. Prefer to walk in that case, don’t you?”
Definitely! I prefer to walk. That’s the problem with all these ‘special deals’. There’s ALWAYS a catch.
If you want to try GDI, go ahead, some people have had success with it, but many more haven’t. I just want you and everyone else to know as much of the truth as I’ve been able to find.
I double checked with my Romanian friend, and it’s a one-time-only purchase requirement, so to get future bonuses, there’s no need to buy more CDs. Hmmm…, so I offered him a solution. He could have the CDs delivered to my uncle who lives in Florida, thus saving the delivery cost since he doesn’t really need or want the CDs anyway.
Anyway, I won’t be doing anything with GDI, but I am thankful that I stumbled on them in the first place, because it gave inspiration to my idea of how to REALLY help people get started on the internet and do it honestly and fairly, with no catches.
As most of you have learned already, you only ever get a limited amount for free. That said, some places like WordPress give an amazing amount with fantastic quality all for free, and I’d like to know their secret.
The fact is however, that everyone needs money to live, and that includes WordPress and all the people who blog at WordPress and design templates and widgets and everything else. It’s a fantastic community.
Now what if you created a similar community but with the intention of helping “newbies” get started on the internet, totally for free, and helping each other (and the “newbies” as they move on to “toddlers”) to make some money doing whatever it is we love doing? Sound like a cool concept?
It’s a cooperative, or a kibbutz, or a team. It’s neighbours helping neighbours. It’s a community where we all go to work each day and if you need help or advice from an IT guy, a lawyer, a doctor, a dentist, a Mongolian spider expert, or whatever, you just ask! We’re all part of the same community or team.
Everyone in the community has earned the trust of several others, so that trust is easily passed on to the entire community. If anyone betrays that trust, they’re quickly told to shape up or ship out.
If nobody has the specific information you’re looking for, then you go to Google and wherever else to find what you’re looking for, and the next time anyone else is looking for similar information, you’re the one they’re going to contact, because they trust you.
Anyway, all that’s material for other blogs. This blog was simply to make people aware of the ‘scam’ in GDI.
Hope that was helpful,
Best regards,
Brian
PS. If you want to have a look at our new baby, 5plus5team.com, you’re most welcome to come visit us.
PSPS. The 5plus5 concept for helping people make money online is on the shelf waiting for someone to pick it up and run with it. I’m busy with my main interest: language learning. If you’re interested in learning a foreign language and you want to make some money online, you can visit us here: Learn a Language and Make Money Online (it opens in a new window so you can continue reading the comments below).
Thanks to everyone for making lots of comments and making this a lively blog, and best of luck to all of you in finding a way to earn money online. 
66 comments so far
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I did an extensive research on GDI and I found that the company is in fact legitimate. I also found it very impressive that they are a debt free company, and have been listed as one of the fastest growing companies in the US. Their product offering and services are equally as impressive. How you described their product and services as: “It’s domain hosting for $10 a month…” is very misleading and only have partial truth. What you have conveniently left out is their real product offering of acquiring “.WS” (for WebSite) domains. If you need more info regarding “.WS” domains, please go to http://www.freedom.ws/tonyanacan for the complete details.
Also, you claimed that: “What nobody told me and what makes it a scam, or at least deceptive marketing, is that in order to get the $100 bonus, you first have to buy 10 DVDs for promoting GDI.” It’s interesting how you passed this information off as a fact when I personally got on their website, chatted with a live rep, and did not find any type of rules and/or stipulations in regards to how an affiliate qualifies for a bonus. And just for argument’s sake, if they did require that a certain number of DVDs are purchased in order to qualify for a bonus, I find nothing wrong with that. After all, these DVDs are high quality sales and marketing tools that affiliates use to promote the product anyway, and they also cost money to produce.
I appreciate your efforts in researching GDI. But perhaps, you should be more responsible and practice to produce only factual, truthful, and unbiased reporting.
Hi Tony, thanks for your comment, and I welcome the discussion. Go ahead and try and convince me (and others) that what I’ve said is erroneous and GDI truly is a good investment.
First of all, they’re hardly one of the fastest growing companies in the US. They only have about 80,000 members and they started the business more than 8 years ago. That’s a tiny amount compared to the growth of many other internet businesses. It’s also not much revenue for a major business. $10 per month per member and paying out 50% in commissions leaves them with as little as $400,000 per month, perhaps over $600 since many members don’t have 5 levels under them.
Next, there’s nothing special about a .ws domain. It originally comes from Western Samoa, since all countries are given a unique domain extension. They did a deal with the Western Samoan government and now market it as WebSite. The most popular domain extensions are still .com, .net, .org and .(your home country extension).
The fact that GDI is now offering members the option to choose .com, .org, etc as an extension supports this fact. They really are only providing hosting and domain registration with a unique marketing/affiliate program. There’s nothing else there that I can see.
If they provided top quality hosting along with the 5 level marketing program, then I’d agree it’s a great deal, but their hosting is only average. Likewise, if they provided extensive support to help people build a website and an internet business, similar to Site Build It, then I’d also say they have a good program.
Please check to confirm the restriction on the $100 bonus. As far as I know, it’s a one time requirement, which makes it manageable if you intend to sign up many people directly under you.
Maybe they are great DVDs, the online video is indeed very good (thus I became interested in the opportunity), but I don’t want to be forced to purchase them. It should be my free choice to purchase them or not. And shipping and handling fees of $162 is totally ridiculous.
My reporting is completely unbiased. I was originally very interested in joining but the bonus restriction and difficulty in making payment without credit cards made my concept for Indonesia impossible. Everything I’ve said is also factual and truthful.
I have nothing to gain from promoting or denouncing GDI. You are a GDI member and obviously want to support them and promote them. Nothing wrong with that, but you can’t deny the facts, so you need to come up with other arguments to justify an investment in GDI.
The entire multi-level / network marketing industry has developed a bad reputation with people for the simple reason that they ‘never tell the whole story’. Thus most people believe and many have learned the hard way, that only a few people at the top are successful.
It’s a shame that this has happened since fundamentally it’s a great concept. Too bad the companies aren’t completely open and honest, they rarely have a top quality product at a very competitive price.
I look forward to your reply so we can answer the concerns of anyone currently deciding whether to join GDI or not.
My bank called me and alerted me that these crooks have tried MULTIPLE TIMES to take money out of my checking account.
Do not give these crooks your credit card #. They will steal your $ from you!
Hi Brian,
Thank you very much for the info, I only wish I had found it 30 mins earlier before I signed up with them through “Spider Web Marketing”.
Neither GDI nor SWM said anything about the dvds and it was a very unpleasant surprise to stumble across it after all the nonsense I had to endure to sign up. I thought I had managed to cover myself to some degree as I researched it a lot before joining and so far you are the only person warning people about this scam.
I live in Australia so I hate to think what the postage will be to here, maybe I will just have them sent to some poor person that I find in the phone book, lol. Either that or cancel my membership.
Thank you again mate and I hope more people read this before getting caught in the “spiders web” so to speak.
Just one other thing, have you or anyone else that you know of had the same problem as Ross has had? Its a very unnerving thought that they may try and take more of my hard earned cash.
Also I like your idea and if you ever do start up a community to help noobs, I will be one of your first members. How nice it would be if there was a community out there helping others instead of just giving others half the info and selling them something that they know is a scam just to make a few bucks.
Cheers again mate.
Matt
P.S if anyone out there knows of any really good work at home opportunities that require a relatively low investment and pay out a reasonable amount then please let me know if you would be so kind.
My email is “nocti@inbox.com”
I dont mind a little hard work and really would like to be able to make a decent living from home.
Cheers
Hi Matt,
Sorry to hear you didn’t find me earlier, but glad that you did manage to find me. I also researched it a lot (both GDI and SWM and others) but I was lucky that the payment was never approved until I finally discovered that it really wasn’t what I was interested in.
I haven’t heard of anyone having troubles like Ross, and they eventually gave up trying to get payment from me. If you’re still within your 7 day trial you can cancel and there’s no need to phone them and cancel which they insist that you ‘must’ do. Simply change the credit card info to something that isn’t valid. They will try to clear payment about 8 times (every 4 days they try again) and then they’ll give up.
It is possible to make money with the program, but it’s not where I would recommend focusing your efforts. I would even suggest learning what you can from their system for the month you’ve paid for then cancel.
I have started the “community for noobs” but it’s still in it’s infancy. I’ll make that my next post and pass on what I’ve learned in the past few weeks.
I’m convinced that my concept can work and it will be a community of noobs and experts all together. It will be attractive to people who are more than happy to pay $5 a month to get lots of help and information, as well as others who can’t afford $5 and are keen to turn $5 a month into $50, $100 or more.
In answer to your PS, it’s absolutely possible to build a home business with the internet, but you’re much better off getting good lumber, nails, a hammer and saw and do it right. Hoping that some “out of the box, huge money with no effort” internet business is like hoping for a beautiful new house built from a fold out free gift in a cereal box.
Looking forward to having you as a member of our 5plu5team.
Cheers
Response to “brian99 on September 17, 2008.”
I’m aware that by writing and responding to
you once again that I will inadvertently
dignify your arguments. However, your gross
misrepresentation of the facts is what’s
compelling me to do so again, sadly against
my better judgment.
With that said, my responses starts in the order of your paragraphs. From first to last.
Responses:
P1 – I am not interested in convincing you or
anyone else for that matter, about the GDI opportunity. I know the enormous opportunity and value of this business. Some people can see an opportunity when they see one, and some don’t. And that’s ok. In this country, it’s ok to agree to disagree.
P2 – On October 17, 2002 Global Domains
International ranked #37 on Inc. 500 list of
fastest growing private companies. Also, you
are confusing GDI’s age as a company versus
when the Affiliate Marketing Opportunity was
launched. GDI in fact, only started to offer
the opportunity in 2004. And in a relative
short period of time GDI currently maintains
customers with annual renewals and web
services in more than 180 countries. As for
affiliate revenue or commissions, here’s an
example. You refer 5 people to the
product/program. That pays you $5 per month.
No big deal? Hang on, you’ll see the power of
this. Each of those 5 people then refer 5 of
their own, so you’re now getting paid an
additional $25 per month on your “second
level”. Each of those 25 can refer as many as
they want, but for consistency we’ll say that
they too refer 5 each. That’s $125 in monthly
commissions on your 3rd level. If the trend
continues, you’ll have $625 in monthly
commissions on your 4th level, and $3,125 in
monthly commissions on your 5th level.
That’s a total of over $3,900 in monthly
commissions for referring 5 people, and then
teaching those people how to do the same and
assisting them in growing their own
organizations. Keep in mind that nobody is
limited in how many people they can refer.
Some affiliates personally refer hundreds of
other affiliates. Just a couple of these “go-
getters” in your organization can really blow
your income off the charts.
P3 – Nothing special about the .ws domain? You
clearly have not done your due diligence with
your research. Allow me to enlighten you a
little. Industry experts forecast that more
than 500 million domains will be registered in
the next ten years. Currently, there are more
than 20 million dot com domains, and over 34
million total domains registered worldwide.
Top Level Domain (TLD) names for dot “com”
(commercial) domains are increasingly becoming
unavailable, and The universally accepted
alternative domain extension of dot “WS” (for
Web Site) has begun to experience unprecedented growth despite being in it’s infancy. Because of this, thousands of people around the world are realizing a unique opportunity to join at the ground level of a rapidly growing trend. Thousands of average people around the world are building their businesses; building real, sustainable wealth EVERYDAY.
P4 – GDI is a domain registrar as well. So
it’s only prudent and good business to cross
promote and offer other alternative domain
extensions. In fact, many “TLD” names are
increasingly becoming unavailable for dot com,
dot net, dot org, etc; and people are finding
them available in dot “WS.” Not a surprise
there. And indeed a very good way to show the value of the product. Here is a quick overview of GDI’s complete product overview:
1. Your own dot “WS” domain name. Enough said.
2. Professionally designed web templates:
The WebSiteBuilder! 2.0 is the framework for
your WebSite. Professionally designed by
graphic artists, these templates give you the
foundation for building your WebSite. There is
no programming or complicated coding, simply
follow the easy-to-use instructions to create
a dynamic and professional WebSite!
You can create your site quickly, then make
changes if you’d like, or you can spend
several hours creating the perfect site for
you. You can view your WebSite before you
publish it for the world to see. You also have
24/7 access to your WebSite’s control panel and can make changes at any time and as often as you like! You can also view the changes before you publish them to the world.
3. Custom email addresses – 10 (ten) included
per domain:
WebMail:
WebMail allows you to use your own domain name
as your email address and you can access your
email through your account from any Internet
connection in the world!
Instead of using a long and hard to remember
email address like mwalker554878@yahoo.com,
you can use Yourname@YourDomain.ws. For
example you could have Sally@Smith.ws and each
person in your family or business can use your
domain name as well such as Bill@Smith.ws etc., up to 10 email addresses!
Email Forwarding:
WebMail forwarding allows you to use your
domain name as your email address and forward
all of your emails to an existing account you
already have. This way you can use your easy-
to-remember .WS email account to publicize
your business or family site and still receive
all of your emails in your established email
account.
POP/IMAP Access:
Access your email for any domain using your POP or IMAP compatible email program.
4. URL forwarding:
URL forwarding option is perfect if you
already have a WebSite created elsewhere, but
are unable to move the existing content. Often
times, your current URL is hard to remember,
unprofessional, or just plain ugly. You can use URL forwarding to route your new .WS domain to your existing WebSite. When someone visits your .WS domain, they will be automatically transported to your existing WebSite instantly.
5. Web hosting:
For more advanced customers, you can take
advantage of the web hosting service. This allows you to build a site from scratch bypassing some of the user-friendly restrictions built into the previously mentioned SiteBuilder option. This allows you to build a custom WebSite just as you want it, then upload the files to their servers.
Hosting gives you the ultimate in flexibility.
6. “Income For Life” business opportunity.
P5 – See previous responses to P4.
P6 – For every 5 paid affiliates you refer in
a one week period, you earn a $100 cash bonus.
There is no limit. Refer 25 new paid affiliates in one week and you’ll earn $500. You must have purchased at least ten (10) DVDs through your GDI account and your account must be paid and in good standing. The reason for this requirement is that they are HIGHLY recommending the DVD promotional method for recruiting new affiliates.
P7 – No one is forcing you to buy the DVDs.
There is in fact, a free landing page (which
you’ve already seen) as an alternative to using the DVDs. However, it is a fact that the
promotional movie contained in the DVD is THE
recommended, and most efficient tool, and/or
method used by affiliates to build their
businesses because the DVD essentially does
all the selling for you.
P8 – Your reporting IS biased. You were
disgruntled by your failed attempt in joining
GDI. And when you couldn’t join the business,
you quickly made up erroneous information to
justify your failure. It’s not the company’s
fault that they only accept credit cards and
Paypal as a form of payment. Besides, last
time I checked, EFT methods of this type are
the “norm” in today’s business environment.
Did you want to send them a check in the mail,
or perhaps send a cash payment? (That was a lame attempt at a joke). And oh, it’s also very interesting that you “snuck-in” a promotion for your own business at the end of your blog.
P9 – It’s true that I am a proud, AND also
successful (I might add), Global Domains
International, Independent Global Affiliate.
In fact, I successfully became an affiliate
shortly after doing extensive research on the
company. It’s the simplest, easiest, and most
powerful home based business opportunity that
I’ve ever seen, bar none. It’s also not right to
ruin the experience for others and debase the
company, just because you couldn’t join the
business yourself. Shame on you.
P10 – Affiliate Network Marketing is a
powerful AND completely legitimate business
structure that continue to give people success, prosperity, and above all else – FREEDOM. However, just like any normal businesses, sometimes there are some “rotten apples.” And it is a tendency that the image of a company takes an unfavorable reputation as a result of that. You’ll be interested to know that more often than not, these bad apples are usually “disgruntled” ex-employees. Sound familiar? *Hint*
For a real report on GDI visit: http://homebasedbusinessincomeforlife.blogspot.com
I am an affiliate of GDI, and yes, to qualify for the $100 per 5 people referred bonus system you will be required to buy the 10 dvd’s and yes the shipping cost is a bit over the top, considering I live in Australia and the conversion rate is insane! But saying that, this is a one time cost and the rest is total profit! Global Domains is the only system I have come across in my 10 years of searching for a legit home business that has actually done the right thing and payed me top cash for my promotions. I am really earning a great income with them to the extreme that I wouldn’t even mention how much I get because I know that you would not believe me and think that it is a scam. LoL… By guys and good luck with everything.
Hi Tony, nice to hear from you, really. This is exactly what’s needed: an honest open debate and people can decide for themselves.
So first, I’d like to emphasize that I have not made any “gross misrepresentation of the facts”. I simply said that GDI doesn’t tell you about the DVD purchase requirement and that the shipping and delivery fee is way over the top.
P1 – Great! I wish everyone luck with GDI and any other business they decide to join. I totally agree with you.
P2 – I totally agree with you again. It’s a great concept and the potential is definitely there. That’s why I was interested in the first place. Interesting to now know when they started the marketing program. Would be interesting to know the number of members before and after. I’m sure the program has greatly increased their number of sign ups.
P3 – Disagree. Dot-com is a runaway leader and in almost every other country in the world, the runaway leader is their country extension. (.ca Canada, .nl netherlands, etc). Just do a search for anything in Google and see how many .ws websites you find. Very, very few. Really it’s a small issue, there’s no shortage of names or dot extensions.
P4&5 – Offering what all hosting companies offer (templates, email, etc) but less (SQL database, unlimited email accounts, etc). Look at hosting companies like PowWeb and BlueHost, compare them side by side with any hosting company including GDI and make your own call.
P6 – True, no argument, there is no limit on the number of bonuses, and it is a one time purchase minimum of 10 DVDs. I’ve said, GDI is not a bad deal and has a lot of potential, but…. It’s not the best option for everyone, and the DVD and credit card payment issue was a deal breaker for our concept of marketing. Hey, I wish they’d solve those 2 problems and then I would join! But not for any of the reasons listed by Tony.
P7 – Incorrect. You are obligated (forced) to buy 10 DVDs in order to get any bonuses.
P8 – Totally incorrect. As I said in P6, I’d still join if they solved the 2 problems of the ‘forced’ DVD purchase with inflated delivery cost, and the payment difficulties for people living in Indonesia. My credit card works fine and I could have joined easily, but my targeted downline were Indonesians and the majority of them don’t have credit cards. Payment problems in Indonesia are not exclusive to GDI. It’s also difficult for PayPal, Clickbank is not yet accepted, etc. They all need to resolve the problems. Finally, I didn’t “sneak in” a promotion for my own business. My new business 5plus5team was only started because of these problems with GDI. Just as Google came in to the market to re-do search in a better way, we’re trying to do things in a better way. And there’s no reason you couldn’t promote our new product as well as GDI if you wanted to. One of our objectives is to provide a “GDI type opportunity” to people in countries like Indonesia that really are not able to join GDI from their current economic position. It’s a HUGE market and I’d rather go after that, then join 80,000 others trying to promote GDI. “Blue Ocean marketing strategy”, right?
P9 – Totally agree except for your last sentence. You should be proud, and it’s great that you’re successful. I also agree that it’s perhaps “the simplest, easiest, and most powerful home based business opportunity”. So why do they ‘rip you off’ with the shipping fee? I don’t want to ruin it for anyone. I just everyone to make their decision to join or not with their eyes wide open, knowing as much as possible in advance. As I mentioned earlier, I have a credit card and could easily join if I wanted to.
P10 – True, network marketing (a.k.a. multi-level marketing) and new affiliate concepts are powerful and legitimate, and provide a fantastic opportunity for individuals to gain financial freedom. True also that “rotten apples” and “disgruntled” ex-members/employees can spread some bad press. Or they may have a point and what they say may be true. That’s the difficult part for everyone looking from the ‘outside’ to decide. I would add however, that there are statistics that up to 95% of all people are not successful with networking marketing (online and offline), and that’s why the majority of people everywhere in the world generally believe that it is only the few people at the top that make all the money. I suspect the 95% figure is reasonably accurate but I would suggest that the 5% (or whatever number it is) who do succeed have totally earned it based on their individual efforts.
It’s really the same for any business. Up to 95% of all small businesses fail, and in all of those businesses, including network marketing businesses, the ‘failures’ are generally not from lack of effort. Most people really do give it their best, so why are so many unsuccessful, and what do they need to do in order to be successful next time?
I’d also like to ask, why is it that companies with a fundamentally good concept do little things like apply ridiculous exchange rates (Western Union for example) or other fees and conditions which turn people off from an otherwise excellent business, product or service.
I absolutely agree that you can earn thousands of dollars of steady monthly income with GDI, but it can be a ‘tough sell’ because a lot of people will think it’s a scam. It’s not. It’s a legitimate business and yes there are many people who are successful with it.
There are a ton of opportunities on the internet and GDI is just one of them. If you’ve got an extra $10 a month that you can afford to invest, I’d say go for it. You’ll make a lot of contacts, learn a lot of other things related to making money on the internet, and you can continue to grow your overall business.
It is absolutely possible to make money on the internet, earn your financial freedom, and do what you love to do. GDI and many others can help you achieve it, just make sure you go into all of them with your eyes open.
Good luck to everyone, and sharing information is the best way to help others avoid pitfalls and rip-offs, AND capitalize on good opportunities.
Sir,
I’ve gone through your mail to Tony (P-8)regarding GDI payments. It’s Absolutely true.
I am living in India right now, and it is difficult for me to join join GDI because of payment method (accept only credit card) i can’t join GDI till today with some of my friends.
If you are trying do internet business in a better and easy way please let me know throught my email given below and then i will join you along with my friends.
Regards
A.Zotinkhuma
Mizoram, India.
email:zotin@rediffmail.com
Hi Joel,
Thanks for your comment and your straight forward information. I hope it’s clear by now. GDI is not a scam (and the title of this blog is that it’s “almost” a scam).
I chose the title simply to draw traffic and interest. The ’surprise’ requirement for the one time purchase of 10 DVDs, the inflated shipping cost, and insane conversion rates are simply ‘hidden extras’ that take away a lot of trust for many people. And it’s unfortunate because it’s totally unnecessary and is ultimately hurting GDI as a company.
I can totally appreciate the difficulty in finding a legitimate home business opportunity. It’s a shame that GDI ‘dropped the ball’ on those few small issues.
They also don’t understand the potential market in developing countries like Indonesia.
Glad to hear that you’ve got it working for you and wish you all the best. I’m curious as to whether you’ve expanded to other internet businesses as well. I presume you have and it might be interesting for readers of this blog to hear about them. All the best.
Hi everyone, I’m glad to have found this blog, and I am very intrigued by your discussions regarding GDI. I started looking into this company because of the buzz its generating and I have also read quite a few good reviews about them. So far, most of the materials that I’ve found about the company are pretty compelling. Then I stumbled on this blog. Here are my thoughts:
First, isn’t the company’ called Global Domains International and not “Indonesian Domains International? Then why in the heck join for the purpose of targeting a specific market audience and demographic? I see Tony’s point clearly and your retort was not very convincing. But, it was very entertaining I admit.
Second, Tony clearly stated that the company in fact has a “landing page” which contains the same promotional movie In lieu of purchasing the DVDs. So in other words, you clearly have a choice. And that’s hardly considered being forced to do anything. As far as the “bonus” goes, it implies just that. It’s a bonus. A “benefit” if you will. Benefits are “extras” (that’s a good thing) and are “privileges.” Not “entitlements.” And I also see no fault in the company imposing their own “rules” in order to qualify for bonuses.
Third, the company is hardly to blame for higher costs of shipping due to varying conversion rates around the world. Different countries simply have different rates of exchange for the US dollar. Some countries enjoy lower costs due to having a higher currency value versus the US dollar, and some have higher costs due to lower currency value versus the US$.
Cheers!
Hi Rob, thanks for the comment and glad you found us. Honestly, I agree with you and most reviews are good and the company is fundamentally good.
Yes, GDI is Global Domains International not Indonesian… There is nothing specific with Indonesia or anywhere else. The Indonesian aspect was specifically related to my situation and concept for marketing the business.
In order to be successful with GDI you have to be able to market it. There are many possibilities and strategies for that. One, family, friends and current contacts. That was a no-go for me (and would be for many). They immediately think ’scam’ and warn me to be careful. I can be bothered trying to knock down that brick.
Secondly, which most are doing, is marketing via the web with promotions, ads, autoresponders, etc. It’s an interesting option, and I’m curious to learn about it, but I just don’t have time to jump in and start “competing” against 80,000+ others trying to attract interest and get people to join under them.
Thus, I had my own strategy which I still believe would work very well in countries like Indonesia. The problem however is that most Indonesians don’t have credit cards so it suddenly took away 90% of my intended market.
Of course, the entire world is your market but that took me back to option 2 essentially and I just have too many other focuses at the moment.
Your second point, yes, you get a landing page and don’t need to ever buy the DVDs which is great. It makes it an optional purchase.
To catch a fish, you generally need some bait, and my marketing strategy revolved around the “bait” of the bonus and was actually a foundational “need” because I was looking at a market who don’t have an extra $10 but who are willing to work to get it.
So yes, it is a bonus, but it was a key to my particular strategy. And yes, it’s the company’s right to set their own rules. I’m simply saying don’t keep any hidden so that people get surprises. The network marketing industry is famous (infamous) for this strategy!
I really don’t think it’s necessary to follow such a strategy and it has hurt the industry overall.
Shipping costs are often used as a way of getting extra profit and often it’s terribly excessive. Charge a fair market price. Sending DVDs by registered mail costs less than $10. Charging $162 is excessive and uncalled for.
Hope others following this blog are getting lots of benefit. And good luck to you all!
Brian…you remind me of a used car salesman. You’re a slick talker, but so full of sh**.
Andrew.. how can I be like a used car salesman? I’m not trying to sell anything. I’m just suggesting to anyone looking to buy a “used car” from the “GDI Car Dealership”, that there are a few ‘hidden’ costs to buying from them. I tried to buy a “car” from them, but they weren’t able to process my Indonesian credit card and they were going to charge “$200″ to deliver my “car” complete with 5 “CDs” for my stereo, instead of simply letting me drive it home and play my own music.
And try to keep your comments useful to others. Tks
This is a great system which incorporates GDI web hosting.
It is the most POWERFUL system I have ever seen, this almost forces users to sign up.
Have a look I promise you won’t be disappointed.
http://www.genji.ws/
Enjoy!
(…for everyone’s info, the above link goes to the spiderweb marketing video. Brian)
Check out this new business with 202up. It’s a low cost direct sale business with a 2 up comp plan that builds residual income and teaches online marketing with how to videos.
http://www.20DollarCash.com
Thanks
Guys guys guys. Relax a little bit.
I see both sides of the story. I used to be on one side of the fence regarding affiliate and MLM marketing. I used to think it was a scam and no one actually made any money at all.
After joining GDI I’ve found that this is not the case. They have a good program going on with an excellent compensation plan.
You would be hard pressed to find ANY business model out there that can be run for only $10 USD a month. With a free 7 day trial, how could you possibly go wrong?
If you’ve got friends and family members you can help out. Then by all means, why not do it? I personally would like to take care of my family and all my friends. I’m 24 years old and I now have the financial freedom to retire if I choose to!
Get that. You could work hard for the rest of your life making someone else rich… or you could just join GDI, put a little effort in, and retire not before long
It works. It’s proven. GDI is not a scam.
Thanks Michael (and everyone),
I hope we all agree by now that GDI is not a scam, and you can make money at it, but it’s not an easy sell for everyone.
I know that none of my family or friends are interested so for me to sell it I’d have to look elsewhere. There are lots of opportunities out there so just look around for what suits you best.
I’ll add as a comment a very helpful email I received when I was first looking into GDI.
Good luck to everyone regardless of what business you choose to pursue.
Hi Brian,
Nice to hear from you!
GDI is a great program for people new to this type of business concept, as well as those with limited start up capital. I wouldn’t have it in my portfolio as a primary, but it’s good if you utilize it the right way. (By the way, I’m not a GDI rep.)
GDI gives them the opportunity to get involved, learn the ropes, make some money, all without risking much to get started.
The downside of GDI is that most will not make a significant amount of money. When you are talking about $1/mo. per person, well…. you do the math!
Think of GDI as a great lead generation tool. For a low monthly cost (which is not inflated much – unlike many companies) they can quickly cover their costs, learn about marketing, and
participate/observe GDI’s techniques. The last I looked, GDI has some very good marketing in place, including their win-back tactics.
For those that like and are successful with this model, there will come a time when they’ll come to you and say, “I like this but want to make m0re m0ney.” Simply add them to a primary company. By that time, they’ll understand the concepts and can repeat them with a higher ticket company.
Hi Brian,
I find it interesting that so many responded to your article to support GDI. I guess that says that GDI, like most MLMs, has a lot of folks really brainwashed. Their supporters seem to believe GDI’s inferior web services are the best when in fact they are at the very bottom of the list. The simple truth is that you can get far superior, cheaper and better supported domain/hosting services from just about any other company out there!
I agree totally with your comment that GDI is a scam without being overtly so. I have friends who tried to get me in. I tried to talk to GDI’s ‘live’ responder. It wasn’t live. It was an autobot. I asked some pointed questions via their support email. I received nothing but canned answers that again said absolutely nothing. At that point I starting doing some research.
So what if this is an income opportunity? Guys, you’re promoting, using and making money off a clearly substandard product! How can you sleep at night knowing products exist that would service your friends better and at far less cost? By the way, the fact that GDI requires CD purchases for bonuses or promotes using ws or any other domain extension has nothing whatever to do with the fact their product is clearly not worth its asking price!
Yes, I can almost see a web product with ’slightly’ higher costs to allow for an MLM except the value here to customers for $10 monthly is little more than what’s being offered on totally free sites or email services. The value just isn’t there.
This is an inferior product and that’s the real bottomline of what needs to be exposed here.
Thank you Brian for helping that happen!
A very interesting discussion on GDI and a must read for anyone who likes to join GDI in particular or any MLM scheme in General.
GDI is a business working on the principles of MLM – everybody agrees it. And any MLM is a scam by its very nature. So GDI is a scam and there is no doubt about it.
However GDI seems to operate on good trust and business model and rewards its members liberally and honestly for their sales. In MLM point of view GDI is better than most of the other MLM schemes.
What is the actual product in GDI? A domain + web hosting. And it costs $120 per year for a person to get this product a domain+webhosting from GDI against its actual cost of $60 even on high estimate.
So, it’s members are paying roughly $60 a year more than the actual price of the product/service from GDI.
So, GDI as a business makes normal profits like any other web registrar do with in this $60 (say) selling price. As their cost price would be anywhere between $40 to $30 they make a profit of $10 to $20 on each domain.
And they share the excess $60 on each domain with their refers of 5 levels deep. So who is loosing in this? Every one who can not promote GDI to others after the purchase is loosing to an extent of $60 a year and their loss is their refers’ profit – the basic principle of MLM.
An ideal MLM is something that distributes its saving on advertising costs resulted by virtue of its MLM to all its members on a scientific formula like commission on sales and an yearly distribution of surplus to all members in the form of bonus. Well some one may quip then its called a co-operative association not MLM. Yes it is. An IDEAL MLM is a co-operative association in its basic form and GDI is not an ideal MLM.
GDI is an MLM working on scam principles like any other MLM online and all these MLMs just designed for and cater efficient sales professional and skilled marketers to make them rich in less possible time at the expense of their victims money. If you do not have good skills of marketing or if you can not hide bitter facts from your prospects or if you do not have the means of reaching a wide range of people or if you do not like to cheat the people, DO NOT GO for MLM.
Finally, if you are a person that like to play lottery or gamble you can go for MLM as MLM is better than a lottery and gambling. As Brian pointed out that an extra $10 a month of a person’s income could be a wise investment in GDI provided he has marketing skills.
Hi Steve and Shirl (and everyone),
Thanks for your comments. It’s good information for everyone. Here’s a tip for anyone looking for website hosting. Lots of the hosting companies have affiliate programs, so sign up with a few that you think are best, then if anyone you know wants some hosting, have them access through your link. For example, I use PowWeb and they’ve been really good. They pay affiliates $77 for every sign up. At the moment, they have a sale, 6 months free, so one year hosting is only $3.88 x 12. So, you can even give them free hosting for a year and pocket about $30.
Now if we could cut through the massive volume of “make easy money online” promises and get to the heart of basic, honest methods to starting an online business, then we’d really be getting somewhere.
It claims there’s no product to sell, but the site itself is the product. The site is a subscription – you have to pay to potentially ‘earn’. So you’re selling the website to others in the hopes that they will pay the subscription fee and you get a commission. Here’s how it really works:
Everyone starts at the bottom, you have to pay them $10 dollars. Then you’re told that to make money you have to refer people to sign up for their scam service.
So you refer one person – who ends up paying them $10.
That person refers another person – who ends up paying them $10
The owner is making $30 a month so far. Now it’s the end of the month, so he has to start paying – so you get paid $1 because you referred one person, the person you referred also referred someone – so he gets paid $1. But the last guy didn’t refer anyone, so he gets nothing.
Owner makes $30 – $2 (that he pays out) = $28 net profit for him. But as more and more people sign up and refer, this guy gets a larger and larger share, and unless you’re near the top – it’s a SCAM. You would need to sign up 10 people who stay with the program in order to maintain this system – and break even. People at the bottom aren’t going to start since they’re paying $10 and getting nothing back. So they’re the worst off in this scam. The people who have more than 10 steady referrals will make money – but again what they’re doing is diputs since you’re only keeping 10% of the profits for all the work you do and you end up giving 90% to the owner of the scam site – who does nothing, but gets you to do all the referrals and then pay him to do it.
You could just copy his site and start the scam yourself – and then you’ll be at the top of the pyramid and be collecting 100% of the money, and then you just payout that measly $1.00 to the referrers. People get desperate after paying for these things and they give out false testimonials about the product in hopes of breaking even and getting out of the scam, or just to continue making money – if they are successful at it – which again is diputs, because this entire process revolves around making the initial guy money – and you can make more if you take the reigns and start this scam on your own.
Hi everyone,
Nice to see that people are getting some good information in this post. Thanks for all your comments. I’d like to add one point to the above comment and then put out a general thought for consideration.
At the very top, where people connect directly to the owner of the site, yes, he only pays out $1 of the $10 paid to him from new members that they sign up. At the next level, he pays out $2 for new members. Once you get to five levels removed from the owner, then he is paying out $5 for all new members. Not quite so bad as keeping 90% of the money for himself.
I think it’s obvious that the effort made by the members to acquire other members is easily worth $1 a month, and for first level references a 10% commission is a fair price to pay a ’salesman’. Paying 10% on every sale to a manager, and paying 10% per sale to the sales staff is probably not very fair to the staff. Paying 10% to each ‘manager’ 5 levels up in the hierarchy is definitely not fair. That’s the same as these massive bonuses to CEOs while they lay off workers to up the stock price.
I say paying 2-5% to a first level manager would be fair, since it’s his expertise which is helping his team be successful. Similarly a ‘regional manager’ would be ‘worth’ say 1%, remembering that he’s getting 1% of a much bigger total so it is in fact a much higher dollar value.
Many companies have some type of compensation system for their employees that has a proportional reward scheme. My question is how can an internet based business and perhaps an MLM / Network Marketing business set a fair and effective compensation program?
Here are my thoughts. First, you have to have a good product at a good price. Sadly, GDI and many other MLM type companies, to my mind, do not have good products at a good price. Secondly, what you’re trying to achieve is to set up members as your marketing/sales team. Thus, money that you would normally spend on marketing, advertising, salaries, etc. is allocated to an affiliate program or a multi-level payment program.
I think 20% is a reasonable amount to pay for marketing and advertising. Of course it varies with the business and the industry, but I think that’s a reasonable number to consider. So, if I had a 5 level reward program, I could pay 10%, 5%, 2.5%, 1% and 0.5% giving a total payout of 19%. Sounds fair, and, as you can see, the ‘big money’ comes further down the line with the small percentages, but it’s still ‘fair’ since they’re not having to put much effort into finding and supporting new members at this level.
If each person signs up 5 people:
$10 x 5 x 10% = $5.00
$10 x 25 x 5% = $12.50
$10 x 125 x 2.5% = $31.25
$10 x 625 x 1.0% = $62.50
$10 x 3125 x 0.5% = $156.25
I think such a reward structure could work for any industry, and if sales are thousands of dollars, it can still work.
Now, I want to set up a website for learning languages. Other sites charge around $10 per month, but I could still make a profit at $5 per month and pay 20% for marketing/sales using a commission structure similar to the one above. We definitely have the best product and at $5 a month we’d likely be the lowest priced. Therefore, sales shouldn’t be a problem and members/customers would be more than satisfied, even if they didn’t participate as ’sales staff’ and earn money in the affiliate program.
So, to learn a language online you could pay $5 per month, get everything you need, enjoy learning, then go on vacation and use your new language skills. It’s a pretty easy product to sell and a very fair price, so you could easily pass on the word to others and get a ‘thank you’ commission. It wouldn’t be a lot of money, but it would very quickly mean that you learned your language for free and even earned some holiday money.
Following the same example where each person told 5 other people:
$5 x 5 x 10% = $2.50
$5 x 25 x 5% = $6.25
$5 x 125 x 2.5% = $15.63
$5 x 625 x 1.0% = $31.25
$5 x 3125 x 0.5% = $78.13
It looks okay, but nobody is really going to bust their butts telling people about your program for such a small payback. They’re happy with the program, they’re happy to pay $5 a month for a great language program and it’s nice to get money back, but that’s about the end of it.
So…. I figure, why not price it at the same value as everyone else, $10 per month, and put all the extra money into the marketing/sales program. Go ahead and pay 1% at each level, which doesn’t philosophically sound fair to me, but it’s a hell of a motivator to anyone who wants to do the marketing. And $10 is still a fair price for a great language program, so everyone who’s not interested in promoting the product is also still satisfied.
Here’s how the numbers look then:
$10 x 5 x 10% = $5.00
$10 x 25 x 10% = $25.00
$10 x 125 x 10% = $125.00
$10 x 625 x 10% = $625.00
$10 x 3125 x 10% = $3,125.00
Now you’re talking some serious coin for the people promoting your product but you’ve still managed to provide the best product possible at a competitive price. Not the cheapest price, but a competitive price, and honestly, if it really is a great product, chances are you’re going to tell someone about it, so even if you are absolutely not interested in sales, you will likely be getting your course for free and earning a bit, simply because you told one person who joined. …and they told someone, and so on…
For the company, or me at the top of the chart, it really makes very little difference but the second scenario is probably better since it will likely grow much faster. Charging $5 and paying out 19% nets the business $4.05 per customer. Charging $10 and paying out 50% nets the business $5 per customer.
Anyway, hope this little example sheds the light on some general ideas and helps each of you make some progress on whatever business you happen to be involved in. If any of you whose native language is not English are interested in joining me at the top of my ‘little’ language project drop me an email and I’m sure we can find a spot for you in our team.
Another Pyramid doomed to fail, stop this rubbish
hello,
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I agree while GDI looks good as with other opportunities, the fact of what will happen is that the newbie trying GDI as his first money maker will think “Gee I can make $3000″, but no one has told him he needs to recruit 3000 people to get it, and most guru marketers will tell you the average newbie can only recruit 2 people, not 3000.
If GDI was a forced matrix the little guy would fair a lot better.
But this is what will happen, after 3 months when a person has no recruits and not earning $3,000 they will drop out as there is a limit to the number of people out there, willing to sign up, next comes attrition and the bottom dwellers drop away, then the next line and so on.
It happens all the time.
Another problem where do you advertise, people cant afford paid advertising they join GDI because of its low cost.
Use free advertising? These sites are filled with people trying to recruit people to some opportunity.
I was in GDI for 6 months and just quit?
Why? I dont have a mailing listof thousands. Disabled pensioner who can’t afford paid advertising. Joined about 6 programs that help you to build your downline no luck, advertised on dozens of other free to advertise sites got swamped with junk emails asking me to join this or buy that.
I asked a couple of friends no go, one said why would you pay $520 a year for a domain name and webhosting when you can get far more for less, one hosting company pays you $100 for every referral and it’s free to be an affiliate.
I believe GDI is in danger of severe attrition unless they can offer a lot more, and make easier for the average Johnny Sixpack to make money.
Unless you come up with your own system like Tissa (people search engines) or the GDI GoldRush Team, it will be hard to promote through free advertising, as GDI has 80,000+ members of which at least 60 – 80% are probally advertising for free there is a limit to free advertising sites.
GDI is a very well set up opportunity no doubting that, but there is a limit to every thing and once reached attrition sets in and like rust will eat away at it making it weaker and weaker.
Just my 2 cents worth, it’s up to the you if you join GDI that is your choice, and I hope you succeed with what ever opportunity you go with, my choice was to quit GDI.
I don’t want to upset anyone this is just my point of view and I wanted to express it, so please respect it.
Agreed. But I’m impressed. This debate has gone on for over 6 months already..
these people are NOT brainwashed, they just want to maintain the LIE! they want to recruit others in their little covenant! they want to brainwash others, how else are they gonna survive?!
Hi all,
I read through every exchange of words from everybody. I have been with GDI for 4 months now. Not one signup. i did what my upline told me, but I am not going to try to get my family and friends to sign up. I would go that route if
I were making money already. I know some people stoop to low levels to make a sale. Sorry about their luck. I am not going to spend thousands of dollars advertising, and am pretty busy most of the time. You do need to spend alot of time and effort to promote any business.
As for the GDI reps that posted here you guys have helped me make my decision and that is to cancel. Not saying this program does not work for some people, but for you to not understand marketing any better that you do and try to force feed your ideas to others to make them change their minds is very unprofessional.
The good thing that came out of this venture for me is that I learned alot of information as to exactly what it takes to run your own business on line. I mean alot of info. From building a wesite using html, to getting free webhosting, to advertising, blogging, and social networking. I expended my time and not any money. Another thing that was a plus is that in doing a research paper for my college marketing class I was able to do actual SWOT analyis on internet companies.My findings believe it or is that GDI does a piss poor job of thouroughly explaining what you need to do to be an online marketer. I was told by my upline that it would be easy, that should have been a warning sign to me, but I was taken in by the interest and desire created by the ads that GDI uses in its promotions.
To all good luck in what ever venture you choose and GOD BLESS
Hi again
It is a done deal. I have cancelled with GDI. When they asked why I told them about the postings here by the GDI reps and they told me they did not blame me. That alone should send a flag up. Not just to the reps, but to all who want to get involved with marketing, especially when in the end there is no real product to sell. I have plenty of blue sky for sale.
Just one more note for you GDI reps. If you post or advertise that you GUARANTEE SUCCESS you are the one that is liable if anyone decides to take action and sue. GDI will not back you on this so be careful. This does not just go for GDI reps, but all involved with marketing of any type. Find out the real rules of the game by contacting the online BBB. They should clear up all of the murky water and give you valuable tools for properly promoting your business.
Good luck in all of your ventures and GOD BLESS
Global Domains International (GDI) is a terrible deal – average hosting and very overpriced domain names. Why would you want a .ws domain name anyway. .com is more recognised, more trusted, will rank better in the search engines and is MUCH cheaper ($7.95 at hostway.com or $6.95 at godaddy or namecheap with coupons + often free with webhosting at good webhosts)
Can you just get 5 people to sign up for GDI. Buy the DVD’s & Pay the shipping costs & get the $100 bonus. Of course you will lose…but on the subsequent months you won’t pay for the DVD anymore so you can recruit more than 5 people and EARN. Bonus caps at $5000 btw but still a profit. You can make those members quit anyway so they only pay $10 once.
Perhaps what you say is possible, but it sounds like you’re clearly trying to “milk the system” and not genuinely work with the program and try and build a legitimate business. Trying to “get something for nothing” is never a good long term plan.
I have read all the comments here on this site. They are confusing me more than before. I had joined GDI last year and canceled my account after 3 months because of this credit card problem. Most Indians (I live in India) still do not have a credit card of their own. I joined again this year hoping that I will get some signups from foreign countries. Two months later, I am still in the same place, still no signups. May be I should quit again.
I wonder if there is an opportunity like GDI but better…..and does not charge automatically from my credit card like GDI does.
My suggestion: quit again, it’s obviously not working for you. The guy from Romania who I was originally going to sign up under is actually doing okay now with his GDI business and has about 20 people under him. Nothing great, but not bad for him living in Romania. As for something better than GDI… I haven’t seen it, but I’ve done better just putting people onto PowWeb as a good hosting company. They pay $77 to you as an affiliate and the cost for the first year is currently on sale for $47 (50% discount). So, you can help someone get setup with a free website for one year and pocket $30. It’s really very good hosting; way, way better than GDI and as good as any I’ve seen. That’s a lot better than trying to get someone to pay $10 per month for very poor website hosting with GDI and you only pocket $1 per month.
Interesting how any commentary whatsoever on GDI turns up thousands of cut-and-paste “testimonials” hosted and registered by–yep–GDI and “affiliates.” Even more interesting how the “rebuttals” are cut-and-pasted off GDI’s homepage.
GDI is most CERTAINLY a scam. It’s a classic pyramid.
The legions of followers don’t change this fact. Nobody cares if you bought yourself a champagne-glass hottub with your GDI earnings. That GDI paid YOU doesn’t make it any less of a pyramid–or any less of a scam. Calling it a “Multi-Level Marketting” system deludes only yourselves AND your victims.
Yeah, sure, that’s my opinion etc… But the math doesn’t lie. The user base is a completely unsustainable geometric progression–i.e., why pyramid schemes are scams
For example, to be break even on GDI, each and EVERY participant has to enlist a minimum of 10 zombies. In turn, each zombie needs to recruit 10. Even if it’s a “one time thing,” it’s a mathematical impossibility from the get-go.
At present, there are about 1.5 billion internet USERS, the vast majority of whom don’t want, won’t want, and won’t ever need their own domain–much less a “ws” domain. But that’s neither here nor there. Let’s assume for sake of argument that EVERYONE wants a WS domain!
The ENTIRE population of the internet would account for 8 “levels.” The entire population of the WORLD wouldn’t even breach 9 levels. The entire population of the planet–living and dead–over the past 10,000 years would just brush 10 levels. Factorials are FUN!
The hard, harsh reality is that there is no such thing as a free lunch. Anyone who thinks otherwise is an idiot, and anyone who profits off of it is a crook. Me, I prefer to WORK for a living. And I do just fine by it, thanks!
Cue the links to the “spider marketting video” or whatever the bollocks they call it in 3… 2… 1…
Sean
Love the math! Thanks Sean.
Hello, I have been reading all these posts and I just had to put my opinion in here also.. I have been a part of GDI for like 2 weeks now. I have no sign ups and the people in my upline do not help what so ever. You can write them emails all day long and they will not reply to you. They are only there to make money. I will throw out the main person that got me to join cause he was convencing with his proof videos. So anyone that reads this next will know exactly who im talking about.. His name is Brian Bear he has done created sites and links and convencing marketing to get you to join.. He even said in one of his videos that everyone that joins under him will get 5 people in their downline supplied by HIM! I am here to tell you that is a LIE! He will not do it and when you ask him about it during his webinars he avoids the question. Also when you write him an email asking he doesn’t write you back. He claims he has all these emails and he cant answer all of them. But when you have new people hurting for the info that you promised you would provide for them and you dont give it, it will make some people pissed off.. ME!. I hope Brian finds this blog and reads it and I hope that he realizes that he is being put out because he is a lying snake. I havn’t yet canceled my account but trust me im going to.. And as for the people in here that are writing taking up for this bull shit ass company are ridiculous! You actually come to a forum that is trying to determine if gdi is a scam or not so therefor you searched “is GDI a scam” or something close to it. And then you have the nerve to try and promote your site on here. All that does it prove that GDI is a bunch of bull and mostly the only way you are going to get people to join is if you convence your family or you pay for people to join just so you can make proof videos. I have no doubt in my mind that people dont make money off of it but you have to be a real ass to do it. They say there is no selling. Well, In order to get people to join using blogs and such is selling. Using proof videos is selling. You are selling yourself and you are selling GDI. Ive even had blogs deleted from ezine and ehow for trying to promote it. and hubpages wont even let you post on there about gdi unless you select the high level of ads for your blog. Im sorry but making it where you have to use ads on your blog because your trying to convence people that gdi is not a scam says that its a scam.Duh!. Granted you are going to have some people that are going to fall victim to it because so many people want to work from home. But all in all you have to be a liar to get people to join and im just not like that. I would like people to be able to make money online from home and not have to worry about reporting to dingbats. It sounds great but there is no easy way to do it. People should look into free advertising if thats what they want to do. they can make commissions and all that good stuff but there is still the selling aspect of it. I feel for anyone and everyone that will go through this and I hope they find this blog before its to late for them.. Hence their 7 day trial period.. Oh, and one other thing. I didnt even know that you have to get the dvd’s to even qualify for the 100 dollars for 5 people. I just found that out here. And during my seach for if gdi is a scam even came across people using scam websites to promote gdi.. That is crazy and funny all at the same time.. I looked at the top people on gdi and the people that are actually paying for a .com are not even on it.. so they created a scam site to promote gdi for nothing. Way to go people. HA HA. Anyways.that is basically my 2 cents. I hope that everyone learns from this and they come across this blog. Im glad I did and thank you brian for creating this also.. You will probably help alot of people with this including myself. So once again thank you. Take care everyone. And the people trying to promote GDI on here you should really stop.. THis is not the place to do that. Have a good one. Brandon.
That was more like 25 cents, not 2 cents, but definitely helpful for people. Thanks, Brandon. My question still remains: is there a multi-level marketing system that really is good? Does one exist that has a good product at a good price which really does help people, and people can make good money from it if they want? It’s a shame that so many people “want to believe” and do take the chance because it’s so compelling, only to end up with a bitter experience.
So now when those who are still interested to join GDI, are welcome to join this fantastic home based income opportunity, click to my website at idarbs.ws
Friends, I’ve read almost all of the previous comments, including its author Brian’s. Actually what’s the fact behind this?
He is trying to promote his proweb hosting service and also his Carboncopy pro service by underestimating another web domain service provider. Nothing at all!! What a business strategy??!! It is so digusting.. Certainly, he is so afraid by the worldwide spreading of GDI business. Nothing else.
When I go through the comments of different people, I could understand one thing that most of the people have no idea about GDI’s prospectus and also they have no idea how to market it. Friends, I kindly request to you that before you join with any program you should have an idea about how to market this. You’ll not get any followers or leads just by joining with GDI or any other online programs. So before you join with that program you must study that how to market it. If not all your effort will be utter futile.
Just imagine, that you want to start a mobile shop in your city. You do not expect that all people who want to purchase a mobile phone definitely will directly come to your shop. They can find out a lot of other shops in your city also. Then what you’ll do? Here is the importance of marketing, or when you consider online business you should consider traffic to your site. You should try to apply different marketing techniques and tips to attract customers to your shop. I hope you can understand the importance of marketing. You’ll not get any customer just starting a shop and sitting idly. It’s a competitive world. Then you should understand how to compete with others. Then only you can achieve success. If you want to achieve success, definitely you should try to study the successful ideas of success people. And also we should add a good effort from our side.
Ok , I agree with some previous comments that GDI’s hosting service cost is little bit higher than other domain providers. But I want to ask them only one thing, Do you get any online job opportunity from other so-called providers? GDI is not only a domain provider, but also it provides it’s online business opportunity to the public. Ok, if you only want to take a web domain hosting for your website, there is no need to join with GDI.You can approach any other hosting providers. But here, when you join with GDI, you’ll get double bonus, first one is just any other normal case, you’ll get a good web hosting service for your website. The second one is you’ll get an opportunity to do a great web domain online business with an Internationally well-acclaimed DSA approved business Concern.
And I’d like to ask them one more important thing. Why should you waste your time by thinking about the 100$ bonus offer. Firstly, try to put your first step properly. Don’t expect you’d be rich with in a week or month. You should be patience and also you should have a hardworking mentality.
One more thing, I found one person’s(Daulat Singh) comment previously. I agree with his point partially that “most Indians still do not have a credit card of their own”. I suggest him just check each week’s ‘Leader Board’ status from GDI’s site. You can find out a lot of people especially from India achieved their goals. How they could achieve that? Why can’t you achieve? That is why I already mentioned about the importance of marketing. Don’t try to stick on only one marketing strategy. May be they would be outdated. Try to find out and apply different marketing strategies. Because if you want to achieve success, you should come out from the nutshell. Friend, I’m also from India. Initially just like you I didn’t get that much of leads what I expected. But at the same time I tried to spend my time to find out and study different marketing techniques to promote my GDI site. Now I earn a satisfactory income through their business. Here is my site http://www.incomews.ws/ . I provide my full support to my downline members. But don’t expect that I can give 5 leads to my downline members freely(One person made such a statement like this. May be his upline member tried to fool him). So don’t believe this kind of exaggerated offers. But at the same time if the upline member is an efficient one, he can point out his downline members about different marketing technics and tips. They can only point out the proper way to you, but the effort should be from your side.
Dear Raj,
First there’s no need for rude comments like “It’s so disgusting.” And learn to read. I’m not promoting anything. PowWeb is not mine, it’s just good hosting like BlueHost and others. Big names like GoDaddy aren’t as good and GDI is definitely not as good. That’s a simple fact. Do the comparison and evaluation yourself.
Second, of course I’m not “afraid by the worldwide spreading of GDI business”. Go ahead, knock yourselves out. I’ve simply said I don’t think it’s great and many people agree. Others like yourself don’t, that’s your prerogative and go ahead, spread it, this blog thread is simply a means for people to see both sides of the story before they make their own decision.
Third, I’m not carbon-copying anything. My 5plus5 site which is basically dormant at the moment was simply to help friends in Indonesia and elsewhere who could have benefited from GDI but can’t really; certainly not as easily as I had hoped. I have no desire to be a competitor with GDI.
Fourth, other hosting companies do not have GDI’s multi-level business concept but they provide very attractive affiliate programs which are arguably more profitable than GDI’s, but again, that’s for each individual to decide.
Fifth and finally, absolutely success with GDI as in any business comes through effort and good marketing. I, like many people, don’t like marketing, which presents a very big problem if you want to pursue a business like GDI.
So, best wishes to everyone in whatever online business they choose, but let’s keep the comments friendly and polite, and know what you’re talking about.
For all of you, like me, who aren’t keen on marketing and relying on others, either customers or downline members, I’d like to suggest an alternative online method of making money: trading.
My brother started last November and after seeing his success, I got started in February (2009). There are many, many options and styles to choose from (stocks, index minis, forex, etc) but I simply began trading the same stock my brother was: Suncor Inc (su.to), a Canadian oil and gas company.
I also simply used the same online trading service that he was using (Questrade). It’s Canadian based and reasonably good but I suggest you surf around and see what you can find.
The beauty of this business is that it’s simply you versus the market, and every day you either make money or lose money. It’s entirely in your control. No marketing, no waiting on others, no list building, no nothing. Just ‘place your bets’.
Many people say it’s gambling, but it’s not really. You learn the patterns and you make intelligent decisions. If you simply follow your strategy and don’t get emotional, it’s pretty hard not to make money.
In the 5 months since starting, with absolutely no experience (and making LOTS of mistakes), I’ve more than doubled my money ($20,000 original capital). My brother has more than tripled his and my mom’s investment.
I’m currently training my Indonesian staff to do the trading for me since I don’t want to put in the time on a daily basis. If you’re interested in learning and trying this online business also, have a look at this short video to help see why it’s a bloody crime so many people loss massive amounts of money as the stock prices tumbled in 2008. Don’t trust the experts. Take control of your own investments. It’s easy and profitable. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tWQ4QOsgMU&feature=channel
And here’s a link to a good free ebook to give you a lot of information on all aspects of online investing. http://www.rockwelltrading.com/free-ebook
Again, best of luck to all of you with whatever business you choose.
hey there brian99
thanks for taking the time and effort to create this blog AND your ongoing energy to reply to many of the posts
…and all word perfect!!!
BUT, i’d just like to point out that i’m currently in the market for an *additional* web host (been with dreamhost since 2005) and was pleased to see your bluehost and powweb recommendation UNTIL i checked them out with DNSreport.com
http://dnsstuff.com/dnslite/?r=toolspage&domain=powweb.com
- 5 WARNINGS
http://dnsstuff.com/dnslite/?r=toolspage&domain=bluehost.com
- 4 WARNINGS
for comparison try http://www.site5.com/
- RESULT: Congratulations, your test results are clean. Well done!
oh and please don’t try to tell me the errors ‘don’t really matter’!
- that’s what all the live chat support agents ALWAYS say :-/
peace
roberto
Thanks Roberto, for the information. I’ve never heard of DNSstuff and don’t know anything about DNS or protecting my site or anything else, like most people. Site5 definitely looks okay. I still imagine powweb and bluehost are okay also, but, hey, I don’t know any of the technical stuff. I haven’t had any problems yet with powweb, touch wood, but for all of you looking for new hosting: buyer beware. Gather all the info you can then make your call and hope it works out. Best of luck to all.
I couldn’t read through all the comments, they were depressing me..QUIT WHINING!!! GDI is a legit business, you can quit whenever you want, and they are not crooks! It is like ant other business you have to market and promote it, but they give you the complete package of product and tools. Now if your regretting the move to join GDI…Get out! simple as that…If your thinking about joining..Do it!!It is dirt cheap and you can cancel any time, If your scared to start a business for yourself with $10/month, then you shouldn’t even think about starting a business period!
ANY online business is hard unless you know about online marketing,It is true you dont have to sell to your friends, As a matter of fact I hate selling…But I still am developing a GDI downline business..Willing to take a tiny risk…Join me! and i’ll show you everything you need to know!
Sorry to disappoint someone but I did something 99% of people usually doesnt do: I red their policies!!! All!
I wasted my time to read GDI’s TOS, that should be for Terms Of Service but after I red the right meaning should be Terrifying Obstacles for Service I am not joking.
Everyone can do it at http://website.ws/glossary/mlm_agreement.html
Don’t you believe me?
Ok. I will proove it.
Title: TOS for Web Email and Web Templates
Article: 1. ACCEPTANCE OF TERMS
“(…) WebSite.ws provides its service to you, subject to the following Terms of Service (“TOS”), which may be updated by us from time to time without notice to you.”
This means GDI can change the deal when they want without saying anything to clients even if they change it for worst for them. And GDI can do it because so it’s written.
Article: 2. 2. DESCRIPTION OF SERVICE
“WebSite.ws currently provides users with access to free unlimited Web Based email”.
This is not true. I don’t know but at elementary school they tought me the difference between 10 and infinite (or unlimited). Was the same for GDI?
“WebSite.ws assumes no responsibility for the timeliness, deletion, miss-delivery or failure to store, any user communications or personalization settings”
This speaks by itself about the Great Service!
“In order to use the Service, you must register a .ws domain name for a minimum of 2 years.”
Why don’t they tell it clearly that everyone who registers in GDI has to pay for 2 YEARS????
No they prefer to hide it in the middle of thousands of bla bla they know none reads. That’s why they put it there.
But better to go on: the surprises aren’t finished yet!
Article: 4. MONITORING WEB E-MAIL AND REMOVAL OF CONTENT
“WebSite.ws does not pre-screen content, but WebSite.ws shall have the right (but not the obligation) to monitor any and all content posted on the free Web Templates and in their sole discretion lock, move or remove any content that is posted on the free Web Templates.”
That’s simply terrible.
But they weren’t satisfied still and you continue …
“Without limiting the foregoing, we shall have the right to remove any content that violates this Agreement or is otherwise objectionable.”
What? What is objectionable? Who is the judge? And the defense lawyer? Are they telling seriously?
This means that if one day one of GDI decide to delete the site of one customer (and why don’t do it to someone who has in his downline 10,000 people so they don’t have to pay him his commissions?) because you don’t like a picture or because their dog that morning didn’t poop well they can delete it without notice. And because the member violated the User Agreement or the TOS they are in the right to close also his account and delete in a second all his earnings.
WOW!
Not finished yet!
Article: 5. MEMBER CONDUCT
“The Service is provided to individuals only. Any unauthorized commercial use of the Service, or the resale of its services, is expressly prohibited.”
Now a question: what the hell do I have to spend 120$ yearly for a website if I cannot use it for exemple for my job?
To post my vacation’s pictures?
‘Cmon!
But the best of the beast is now
Article: 8. MODIFICATIONS TO SERVICE
“WebSite.ws reserves the right at any time and from time to time to modify or discontinue, temporarily or permanently, the Service (or any part thereof) with or without notice.”
As to say … when we want we can desappear with all your money!!!!
Article: 9. TERMINATION
“You agree that WebSite.ws, in its sole discretion, may terminate your password, account (or any part thereof) or use of the Service, and remove and discard any Content within the Service, for any reason, including, without limitation, for lack of use or if WebSite.ws believes that you have violated or acted inconsistently with the letter or spirit of the TOS.”
Spirit of TOS: AHAHAHAHAHAHHA
I want to suggest GDI something. So at least people can avoid to read tons of unuseful bla bla bla.
Their TOS can be shorted in one only phrase:
YOU ARE AGREE THAT website.ws can do what it wants and likes with your account and also can delete it for any reason without informing you and website.ws doesn’t care if you paid for it and you still have pending commissions. So eat the shit and shut up!
More clear no?
But there is another page to read!
https://www.website.ws/newdesign/documents/Independent%20Affiliate%20Agreement%20Terms%20and%20Conditions.pdf
Article: 5
“(…) I understand that these Terms and Conditions, the GDI Policies and Procedures, or the GDI
Compensation Plan may be amended at the sole discretion of GDI, and I agree that any such amendment
will apply to me. Notification of amendments shall be published in official GDI materials.
Amendments shall become effective upon notification. The continuation of my GDI business or my
acceptance of bonuses or commissions shall constitute my acceptance of any and all amendments”
What if will GDI modify the agreement telling that to be elegible to earn commissions a member has to pay for exemple 5,000 $?
That’s called BLACKMAIL!
Article: 6
“The term of this agreement is one month from the date hereof and shall automatically renew for
successive one-month terms unless cancelled as provided herein or in the Policies and Procedures. I
understand that either party may elect not to renew the Agreement by notifying the other party at
least five (5) days prior to any monthly renewal date. If GDI elects not to renew the Agreement,
such notice shall be emailed to Affiliate at the last email address provided by Affiliate to GDI. If
I elect to not renew the Agreement, I understand that I must call (1) 760-602-3000 M-F 8-5 Pacific
Time and go through the cancellation process at least five (5) days prior to the monthly renewal
date. If either I or GDI elects not to renew the Agreement, or if it is canceled or terminated for
any reason, I understand that I will permanently lose all rights as an Affiliate. I shall not be
eligible to sell GDI products and services nor shall I be eligible to receive commissions, bonuses,
or other income resulting from the activities of my former downline sales organization. In the event
of cancellation, termination or non-renewal, I waive all rights I have, including but not limited to
property rights, to my former downline organization and to any bonuses, commissions or other
remuneration derived through the sales and other activities of my former downline organization. GDI
reserves the right to terminate all Affiliate Agreements upon 30 days notice if the Company elects
to: (1) cease business operations; (2) dissolve as a business entity; or (3) terminate distribution
of its products and/or services via direct selling channels”
TRANSLATION: THE AGREEMENT IS RENEWED EACH MONTH. WE PAY THE COMMISSION EACH 15 OF THE NEXT MONTH. SO IF WE HAVE TO PAY YOU WE CAN DELETE 5 DAYS BEFORE THE RENEWAL THE AGREEMENT SO YOU WILL NOT RECIEVE FROM US NEITHER A CENT!
Are you all sure you will want to sign agreements like that?
I did it and after they understood what I was learning about them they terminated my account (thanks God!) and if I try to sign up they terminate my account immediately (I think to be in the black list lol).
I am using this webhosting called justhost. http://www.justhost.com
It is only $3.95 per month. It’s cheap and they have a lot of things for you! Design templates, banner rotator, scripts, forum, forms, SSL, security certificates, and even free credits to promote your site on Yahoo, Google, SEO, etc.. It’s a great website. Support is very good and fast! It’s a pity I can’t join their affiliate program which is limited to US, UK, Australia else I would be promoting this great website! One catch here is that in order for it to be $3.95 per month, you have to get it for 3 years. However, although they are based in UK, they actually charged in your own country currency, not pounds! Great site! Great work!
it’s been a week for me thinking if I would take my credit card from my bank and register to GDI. the promotion is very DAMN encouraging. first of all, i believe that storing your money in an operated electronic device will make you somehow lose that money without knowing it. I tried to google “GDI scam”, and I found this site. A BILLION THANKS TO ALL. I’ll just follow what the bible says, “from the sweat of your face, you’ll eat bread”
just watch video and try the free trial you will be impressed and go to mikecontreras.ws
I’ve read all of these comments and have been going back and forth deciding whether or not to finally decide to join.
I shan’t discuss my decision here on the board…however, you have helped me decide my course of action.
Thank you.
Robert
hi, brian99!
thanks for putting this blog up. really helpful in making an informed decision on whether or not to join GDI. not!
i have a question tho. and hope this merits a reply from you, which i would very much appreciate. what do you have to say about 202up.com, the ad of which was posted above.
thanks!
john
Hi John, I had a quick look at 202up.com and it doesn’t look very appealing to me. It seems like a lot of the same ol’ stuff, promising all the answers but still leaves you wondering how to actually make it work. It’s also a bit pricey.
hi, brian99!
thanks for the reply!
btw, i’d appreciate if you’d update me about your yet dormant online endeavor.
all the best!
Hi, Brian99!
What a coincidence! Two of the things that i am most interested in: learning languages and earning (not necessarily in that order).
Yeah, I would be most pleased if you could fill me in on your plans. I could probably even help you out. Just let me know if you need to assess my resume for anything that you think my skills can be used. Would be glad to be working with you, in case.
Hi John, nice coincidence. For sure I can fill you in on what we’re planning and it would be great if you can help out. Here’s a link to our new website for language learning in its temporary format. I created a new entry to introduce people like you to the project. Please leave a comment there and look forward to chatting with you some more.
http://languagelearningonline.org/2009/10/20/learn-a-language-and-make-money-online/
Brian;In reply to your comment: “Now what if you created a similar community but with the intention of helping “newbies” get started on the internet, totally for free, and helping each other (and the “newbies” as they move on to “toddlers”) to make some money doing whatever it is we love doing? Sound like a cool concept?
It’s a cooperative, or a kibbutz, or a team. It’s neighbours helping neighbours. It’s a community where we all go to work each day and if you need help or advice from an IT guy, a lawyer, a doctor, a dentist, a Mongolian spider expert, or whatever, you just ask! We’re all part of the same community or team.
Everyone in the community has earned the trust of several others, so that trust is easily passed on to the entire community. If anyone betrays that trust, they’re quickly told to shape up or ship out.
If nobody has the specific information you’re looking for, then you go to Google and wherever else to find what you’re looking for, and the next time anyone else is looking for similar information, you’re the one they’re going to contact, because they trust you.”
I have an ideas concerning this.Though I am not skilled in google requirements etc,makung pro websites etc.So I doubt it would get iff the ground.Any suggestions? email me:Hannam at hotmail.com
Thanks to you and everyone for your interest and comments. I will send you an email also. I’d still like to get such a concept off the ground because I think it’s really needed. Problem is, I’m tied up with a language learning website which will also allow people to make money by inviting others to join. I’m happy to help as much as I can though if someone else wants to take the lead with it.
was about to sign up & pay $10 per month for GDI as part of the New rich system plan.But found another that is FREE and is affiliate based.http://www.theaffiliatecode.com.All these business promise all rhe earths riches getting you to commit,then part with your cash then you get scammed.As a community nationally and internationally, bond anfd fight this kind of crap, by getting all the materials needed from them and use it to defeat them monetarily! What do you think? e-mail me.
why go through all the spiels desined to confuse you, when it’s best to pay 4 something that’s all done for you.All sites made,free hosting & dmain name or a 1 time only fee,secured,links and HML codes secured so you don’t get ripped off.I can’t join a business online paying me via Paypal as 1 company tried to access it and it was then limited for security purposes or I just didn’t use it and make money,put into it 4 1 year.
I have been with global domains international it is not techically a scam but it is more like a vitual cancer on the web. Businesses like this make there money by spamming people all over the world sucking them in with empty promises and making it near impossible to get out so they can keep riping you off for as long as they can.
Let me tell you my experiance with GDI.
Over the past 2.5 years I have converted about 100 people to GDI and I have yet to recieve a payment from them as I still havent earned the requiered minimum payout.
Most of these people cancel within the first few days (Shows its a good product hey)
I finally realised that this will never work after tons & tons of effort I have put in.
I cancelled my paypal subscription with them.
Then they started billing my credit card. My credit card expired and they managed to guess the new expiry date and kept billing my card (ilegal).
So I recently cancelled my credit card and now they have started billing my paypal account again even though my subscription has been cancelled (very dishonest business).
There is only one way to cancel your account and that is by phoning them.
I have been trying to ring the number they gave me at least 10 times it dosnt work here in Australia. I have sent a heap of emails and they reply with the same thing (cancel by phone no exceptions).
This company is so desperate to rip people off they are resorting to ilegal and dishonset practices.
Has anyone ever seen a decent .ws domain NO cause everyone is in it to make money which only .000001% is acually making a profit the rest a sheep handing over the hard earned every month.
You need to be in this company long term to make any money and they will not be around for that long. So if you want to join this company and there scamming tactics go ahead throw away 10 bucks a month and go through all the crap I have been through to get out.
That is why I think GDI is a virtual cancer and I feel sorry for its victims.
Anyone who is promoting GDI cannot tell me that they acually believe they are selling a good product because you not it isnt true you are trying to promote a lifestyle that will never ever ever eventuate. Get a ligit online business.
I am trying to stop GDI from taking anymore of my money, every month they perform an unauthorised transaction on my account I will be posting 100 posts similar to this one.
Hi Josh, great info!! Nice to get the full story from someone who’s been in the trenches! It’s still really disappointing to hear that so many companies are simply trying to grab money without providing a quality product. Buyer beware!! It really does motivate me even more to get something legitimate setup for helping others.
Hi John, unfortunately it’s still dormant. I’ve just been too busy with other things and nobody else picked up the ball and carried it forward with that idea. I may get a portion of it going soon. I’m doing some online stock trading where I’d like to have traders in Indonesia following the stocks and suggesting trades, so that I and others don’t have to spend our time watching them on a daily basis. I need to finish fine tuning the trading strategy then train a few people. My main interest however is language learning and I want to set up a site for learning languages and we would have a multi-level “Thank you” program to members who got others to sign up. I want it to be absolutely the best way to learn a language available anywhere, plus something where you can earn money if you want. It’s a big project but we’re making progress. Thanks for your interest and I’ll be sure to let you know when things get rolling.