2. She mentioned that she and her partner had spent $3,000 for an online electronics store that stocked 125,000 items. She stated that soon the company was going to allow skins*, which tells me that it's one of those "canned" stores. Companies create these and sell them to anyone and everyone they can. The problem is that they're all just alike and can't be individualized in any way. Unless you're a SUPERB marketer, forget them! It's almost impossible to make money from these.

* Skins = themes. For instance, I use Firefox on my computer and there are hundreds of skins with different symbols, colors, etc. to choose from.

3. After telling me about her store, and how she hasn't made any money with it, she told me all about how broke she is and asked for my advice. I told her that free search engines are a longer term investment and rarely bring immediate profits. I further mentioned that eBay is the only way that I know to make quick money.

She informed me that "eBay doesn't work". I always smile when I hear that comment because I know I'm about to hear about an auction. Sure enough, she told me that she attempted to auction one of the digital cameras from her electronics store and didn't get any bids. This one auction was proof to her that eBay doesn't work.

I didn't even bother to explain her misconceptions. I am quite sure that she used the price of the digital camera from her store and it was no bargain at all. eBay is a 'good deal' site and offering a camera at retail - or even above - will never succeed. However, I knew that trying to convince her of her error was a mistake.

Over the weekend, I put up three 3-day auctions which closed last night. My buyers paid immediately and this morning in my PayPal account I found ...

$71 + $570 + $450 = Total: $1091

Yeah, eBay doesn't work.

4. I told her that I didn't see how I could help her and we finally got to the point of the phone call: she wanted me to simply give her Andy & Brad's information - and she would pay me later, after she had made some money.

First of all, it isn't "my" information. If anyone should profit from this, it's Andy & Brad, not me.

Secondly, Andy & Brad are friends of mine and have generously shared with me over the years. Why does she think I would betray them in this way?

In other words, her proposition is that I give away my friends products - to a total stranger (who lied before I even met her) - for no money.

5. Even if I were as treacherous as she thinks, the information wouldn't help her that much. She claims that she needs money immediately. Search engine optimization (SEO) is complex, demanding - and takes time.

I received an email earlier in the week from a guy who told me how brilliant he was at his business - but he didn't have any customers. He further said that if I didn't help him, he was going to have to get a job! How am I responsible for his business?

The fact that these two folks think I can help them in a phone call or an email shows how little they understand SEO. Yes, I'm sorry they're both in a bad spot but I am not the one to help them.