Lemons or Apples? There is an adage that says “if life gives you lemons make lemonade”. I don’t know about you, but I get tired of lemonade. And I’d dig up that lemon tree in my yard and plant a nice apple tree instead.
With apples, there are so many more possibilities – Apple pie, Apple Strudel, Apple Crisp, Apple Dumplings, Apple Brown Betty, or even Apple Cider. And with the cider, you can even go for the hard stuff. What I’m alluding to here is that with a small change, there might be many more options. Never give up!!
Then there is another one that says something about repeating the same mistake over and over and expecting different results. This one is harder because, after all, we are creatures of habit. We set certain patterns in our lives and habits are hard to break. We might not even recognize them as habits or patterns.
And our own Andy Perryman reminded us last Saturday “if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all”. With that final one, maybe I should stop writing this right now because I’m sure some may take this as “not nice”. I will endeavor to make it as positive as I can.
My Perspective on Lemons or Apples
I am 80+ years old. It is inevitable that in those eighty-some years, I ran into some lemons and I know I have repeated some mistakes. But one thing is for sure. I never gave up!! I turned a corner, picked up the pieces, and started again. And, in retrospect, it has been a very positive, fruitful, interesting, and good life.
One of my earliest mistakes was to give up on my education and get married at a much too young an age. It wasn’t a bad marriage, it was just way before I was ready to settle down into a lifetime pattern. And at that time, I didn’t even know who I was. I’m not even sure now at 80+ I know who I am. And for sure though, I never envisioned living 80+ years when I was 20 years old.
And maybe one of my latest mistakes was at age 83 starting a new online business. But boredom in retirement can make us forget our age. It is only now after so many months of very exciting new learning experiences, that I begin to question the wisdom of it.
The IBO Program
PBS is a very exciting and positive online system, well-planned, well-designed, and well-taught. The only problem with it is that it is long-term. It is not designed for old folks. That became apparent to me when I first learned about the IBO program. This program is only available to people under the age of 70. The IBO program gives new students financial assistance for the first few months while learning this system of online marketing. It allows these students to join the anchor programs and get income flowing. For us old folks, that funding had to come from our retirement accounts.
A new version of IBO is now available to people over 70, but, although I qualified for it, I am still waiting to be accepted by an advertiser and receiving payment.
However, I still think it is possible for us old folks to succeed at this. I am determined to make it work for me. But I’ve run into a few lemons. The biggest one is my hearing loss and difficulty with phone calls. I’ve invested in a headphone for my cell phone. Sometimes it works great, but if people do not speak clearly or directly into their phone, I can hear the sound of their words although I cannot discern them. And some voice tones are just out of my ability to decipher.
I know personal contact with people is always best. We have come to accept telephone calls as personal contact. Many folks my age don’t have or want cell phones or computers. This makes communication with some of them very difficult. And many of them are leery of online purchases even if they do have computers or tablets. With the closing of so many “cement” department stores, Amazon has won over some older people. But to buy from someone like me from an online blog is still scary and worries them. That narrows my selling market.
Never Give Up on Lemons or Apples
Still, I’m not ready to give up. I am looking at the overall system to determine what avenues are still open. I’m also examining mistakes I’ve made in following the crowd here. I know that wine sales are the most lucrative for us, but it seems I am not able to sell wine. I am also not able to drink it due to medications. And to continue to buy it seems like part of the adage of making the same mistake and expecting a different result.
Maybe I should stop buying it and put my money elsewhere. This is a difficult decision because I’m sure our wine is superior to the wine so many of my friends in California are drinking, but I can’t afford to send them a whole monthly shipment to convince them. I do wish there was an option to order just one specific bottle to send as a gift. Maybe someday.
Velovita
The same goes for the Velovita products. Being over-weight is a major problem in America today. Hundreds of dollars are spent on quick-loss products. My son bought one of brand-X products recently, but he won’t try my Velovita product. He did not have good luck with his product.
I send hundreds of text messages for the wine and Velovita products and programs. And yet, I have been unable to get even one person to try any of these products. I give out samples, but people shy away from the monthly Loyalty purchase. The students here at PBS rave about the products, and I’ve tried some myself. But again I have to be careful because of my medications. I am now taking uuth and seeing amazing results. If there was a way for people to just buy the product and not have to “join”, it might be an easier sale. For me to continue my monthly Loyalty purchase is another thing to review.
Velovita products are very unique. They all seem wonderful and again I have tried some of them but only for a short period of time because of the price/cost. I cannot maintain a $100+/month outlay for this kind of product, nor can many people.
Newer Products
Cash Network Direct
We now have a series of items on what is called Cash Network Direct. I have purchased some of them and also given some as gifts, but have yet to get any interest from hundreds of ads I’ve placed for them. These deals are Awesome but I have not gotten any interest in them. Why?
Savings Highway Global
This site offers discounts and more discounts based on a monthly subscription. Savings on meals and theater tickets to bigger savings on things like car and prescription insurance. There is something here for everyone and at a minimum of $20/month for the basic Gold subscription.
Finding them is the problem because there is so much there the site is not especially user friendly. I learned today that if you join as Gold and click on the Gold banner under Membership Benefits. Scroll Down to the Dining and Entertainment option and click. A banner comes up that says An Easy Way to Save Every Day and under it is a search box. Type in Hot Deals. Click on the store and get discount coupons.
CrytoMining Watch
This is a unique health watch. It monitors all your vital signs, the same as many of the other health watches available. However, this one, first of all, protects your data, and secondly pays you for it. The payment is in the form of a unique cryptocurrency which is in its infancy but should flourish and increase in value over time. The short side of this is that the initial investment for the watch is quite costly.
Alternatives to Lemons and Apples
All this leads me back to these initial main streams of income. Most of them require a monthly expense, with the exception of ND. Creating ads and more ads is the number one key to success with this. Second, recruiting new students. . I will put more time into this area of the system.