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Crazy Like A Fox

You'd have to be Crazy to Set up Your Own Home Business on the Internet?!


You may have seen the TV commercials advertising an opportunity which is alleged to be able to make a lot of money for you. The ad features an animated fox telling you that you can "order your success kit", while folks give testimonials of how much money they are making by the cunning scheme, and then there's a link at the bottom of the screen with a web address which is www.[variable number]crazyfox.com . Well I'm not so sure about this, and it appears to be a Get Rich Quick scheme, but I am intrigued by the advertisement because I really do run my own business on the Internet, and I really have made the kinds of amounts of money those folks on the advertisement were boasting, though I hasten to add NOT BY CRAZY FOX! I had already made a lot of money years before seeing the ads, so I feel I have a moderately authoritative viewpoint on how to make money by setting up your own home business on the Internet, and how to avoid various scams which are about.

There are some curious myths about making money on the Internet:

1. Firstly, there's the primary myth, which is that anyone setting up any kind of Internet website will automatically make a vast amount of money. Clearly not true, and this went out of fashion at the time of the notorious DOT COM BUBBLE. As with any field of commerce, there are successes and there are failures.

2. Then there's the Secondary (or reactionary) myth, which is that any kind of Internet scheme is automatically a scam, fraud, sucker trick to make you lose money. This is also not true, and I know this because I have made money. However, it's a safer bet than the first assumption, as it errs on the side of caution, and can be considered alongside "Don't Talk to Strangers" as a general safeguard.

I think the advertisements for "Crazy Like a Fox" are especially cunning, not simply because they include a fox, a creature traditionally associated with being cunning, but because they emotionally hit upon both of the two myths previous mentioned. It's like this: You'd have to be CRAZY to look at the website, except, the Fox and those folks are talking about making a lot of money, so is that so crazy?!

Here's the truth as I see it: You wouldn't be crazy to look at some website or other, as it's best to be open minded and optimistic. However, the point where your sensibleness comes into question is where you put your personal details in to apply for your "success kit". Notice that you can't easily find out up front. Also, your personal details are worth money, as a "sales lead", especially as you are by that point in the category of people who are silly enough to put their details in to find out about a Get Rich Quick scheme. The second level, where your sense would be seriously questionable, is if you would be so daft as to pay good money to get an information pack. The problem there is that for all you know it could be a Pyramid Scheme! I'm not saying Crazy Fox IS a pyramid scheme, but I am saying that if you pay to join a scheme you are risking that it might be. Plus, if you pass the second test of suckability by paying the money, then your value as a "sales lead" becomes much bigger. How much would any fancy business pay to get a mailing list of known suckers? Remember: Companies can sell your contact info to anyone they want, and then these multiple companies can send you "targeted marketing". Beware! Also see telesales, spam, bank hoaxes, congratulations you've won the lottery, etc.

Incidentally, I have seen websites where people unfairly criticise "Crazy Like a Fox" for having an ever changing web address, which makes them feel suspicious about it. Let's be fair about this. The truth is that there are various legitimate reasons for having multiple domains, for example load balancing, as with some of the well known airlines. Also, there are matters of tracking, and there are various good reasons for having this, whether to track the times of day that work best for the commercials, or which affiliates are doing best, etc.

What's more concerning about the domains is something I noticed when doing a WHOIS lookup using 123 Reg Domains (who can be trusted), I found that the registrant company name is the same for various [number]crazyfox.com domains up to the first thousand, (although the dates differ), and upon putting the company name into a search, various WIPO cases and judgements were revealed. Note that this does not prove the company is into cybersquatting, (and obviously those [number] crazy fox domains are not cybersquatted), and you can't assume guilt by association. But I feel uneasy about it. I don't particularly like spam senders, but I actually hate cybersquatters

My advice about "Crazy like a Fox" is: Avoid. In my opinion, if it's a genuine opportunity then you shouldn't have to pay to join the scheme, for reasons I have already outlined in the preceding paragraphs. To find out more about my concerns, see what I have to say about Pyramid Schemes. Having said that, for all I know, "Crazy like a Fox" might be a perfectly honest and genuine method of setting up a home business, and those folks giving testimonials might not be actors hired by the company! Perhaps some people who have already got personal experience of the scheme themselves would care to write in and tell what's really going on. Is it genuine, or not? Are you making money?

Meanwhile, I can tell you about my own experiences of making money in business, and in particular on the Internet. There's no charge for this, and it's up to you whether you'd care to read what I have to say. Read my general advice on how to set up and run your own company if you have the patience. Careful thought and good planning are required. If you fancy setting up your own website, you should do so independently so you're in control, and then you call the shots rather than being part of another grand plan. It's also no secret that I have made quite a lot of money running my own website, but this has taken many years. If you'd like to find out about the line of business I am in, I'll tell you. I am in the affiliate business. To find out more about setting up your own website and giving this a try, read Guide to Affiliate Marketing. If you try this, it's likely to take a lot of time and patience, so don't give up if it doesn't make much money in the first year. It took me three or four years before I started making enough money to have to look seriously at tax havens

I made my money by running my own business, and it was one in a long sequence of businesses which I had run, some with more success than others. Anyway, I'm digressing from the subject of the Crazy Fox, which I'm writing this page to tell you about, while not being too sceptical. Without knowing the whole story and conclusion, it is easy to speculate. The fox is known for being the hunter but also the hunted. Foxes have a distinctive smell to them, and I think this smells a bit like Amway. I've heard the Amway sales talk, and I am sure SOME people make a lot of money by Amway. However, with Amway, a lot of people do not make much money and just end up buying a lot of soap. Good quality soap, admittedly, but soap they did not set out to buy in the first place.

There is also the suggestion at some sites that "Crazy Like a Fox" is Herbalife MLM, which has some form in these types of business.


This site is not affiliated with Crazy Like a Fox, and the opinions expressed on this page are those of the author.

Other crazy things: schizophrenics, march hares, mad hatters, some types of golf, and some types of paving (see garden supplies)

Other FOX references: 20th Century Fox / Fox TV Store (see movie companies), Basil Brush, Mozilla Firefox web browser, Asda Smartprice generic products, Furries, and an interesting perspective on fox hunting in Terry O'Halloran's book If only Politicians Had Brains


According to various sources, the expression "Crazy like a fox" is reputed to refer to the wild seemingly erratic behaviour of a fox actually being a manifestation of the sly or cunning way of thinking. In other terms, the behaviour seems crazy to other people but in fact is sensible. The fox being a cunning animal, and the idea is it's ironical the fox is "crazy". Small ... like an elephant.