First off I want to thank you for blogging…… ………I have never used it before but I was following my gut instinct about Brenda Keefer after they took me for $1000.00 bucks of very hard earned monies…………so after hunting the internet I found your pages……Though I am glad that I did it also pissed me off even more that I fell into her web of lies……..
I get this personal phone call from her and it was good…………and struggling to keep speaking and laughing I agreed to her services….but after month one my tummy said something was not right…….but then hey there are no guarantees in this business so I continue on the journey with her into month 2……. again my gut is aching so I call her to explain to her that I am not liking her way of communications and ask for changes……….. you know the answer…….. ”No problem” …. And of course still no communications during the month……
Now I get this phone call from another company called Innovators Group but strangely enough they are in the same small town that Brenda lives in… strange for a little country town I thought since I live in Tennessee...When I mentioned this on the phone to them they get nervous and cut the call short saying they will call me back to speak to me about writing a chapter in a book with others…and of course I have never heard from them again.…..now I really have a belly ache and then I find your blog………….. NOW I want my monies back and I want these people to join Bernie Maddoff ........
There has to be a way to shut them down…………… and I can tell you I am on a mission now…… And yes I am pissed off……….. but I’ll laugh my way through this one…………… Eileen
Zebras don't change their stripes. Brenda, a convicted felon and owner of Willow Mist Professional Services, cut her teeth for years at the International Speakers Network (Innovators Group). They taught her the ropes -- how to take YOUR money.
I hope this post convinces you to hang on to it.
15 comments:
I was approached by Brenda Keefer on LinkedIN this past week...I have to say she does talk a great talk (great enthusiasm et al).
Following our conversation, I chose to vet her a bit further, and found this blog as the FIRST item on Google Search.
All I have to say is thank you for taking the time to share your experience, however unfortunate it might have been. You saved us a lot more than money.
Thanks again, and the best of luck to you!
I met Brenda through Linked, and decided to go with her, paying for the DVD Marketing program. (I failed to do my research beforehand, as I had not yet found this website).
To this day, I have not really had any proof of services. I've contacted her multiple times and each time she responded (about three times total), she would indicate in her EMAIL that they are working for me. On one email when I questioned what I had now found, of course, she beat around the bush playing it off as just incomplete information that was twisted against her.
Either way, to this day I've seen no DVD, no copy of any of the supposed emails that were sent to the supposed 500 (or 5000, whichever it was supposed to be) contacts per month. All I have seen is someone without follow up, that received my money, and nothing to show. Hmmm.
Willow Mist Pro and Brenda Keefer are still soliciting business, this time for a speakers retreat. I am ANOTHER person who contracted for services in 2009 from Brenda Keefer and got nothing. Numerous attempts to get a refund were laughed off.
DO NOT be mislead by the friendly and sincere-sounding voice at the other end of the phone. I am pursuing legal recourse and filing complaints with BBB and Pay Pal.
DO NOT TRUST BRENDA KEEFER OF WILLOW MIST PROFESSIONAL SERVICES!
I am another victim of Brenda Keefer.
I was contacted by Brenda Keefer about a partnership for an e-book. I am out of several hundred dollars plus hours of hard work. The e-book was never published (launch date was 3/1/10) and phone calls, emails are never returned or if they are the messages are full of lies.
I will report her to the BBB and Paypal.
I will report Brenda after reading comments. An ebook that I contributed to seems not to be getting published either. I am out $110 and much work. Such a pity that she claims to be such a Christian woman too. A page out of Tammy Faye's book.
Be wary of Tracy Dalton at ISN Works as well.
She reps for International Speakers Network, and her e-mails come from ISNWorks.com. I've blocked her numerous times with my spam filter, and she still seems to find her way in!
The formula is much the same. You're asked to pay a "reasonable" fee for mailings, one-sheet, etc. without any guaranteed results, and then more fees are requested for "premium marketing packages", "quarterly meetings", etc. You can rack up quite a chunk of change in a short time without realizing it, and without seeing return on the investment.
The caveat here is that bureaus asking for application/membership fees and/or different pricing tiers for marketing packages can be SCAMS. Be sure to investigate anyone who approaches you, and seek as many testimonials as you can.
Best thoughts to all!
I was approached in July of 2010 by Brenda Keifer of Willow Mist Pro, I paid $99 set up fee, and then was talked into $149 mailing, great talker, she scammed me. If she would have followed through on what she said she would have done, I would be a very happy camper. I also have seen no post cards, no emails, I didn't even get one of these supposed emails. The only emails I would receive from her would be soliciting for more great speaking engagements asking me to do the work she promised to do for me. And I have not received any communication from her after telling her my frustrations.
If any one is interested in what I do please visit www.successhappensnow.com
Thanks for reading, Jonathan
Similar to all of you, I was unfortunately charmed by Brenda Keefer - paying first a $99 (8/10) to her for her speaker bureau service. After her convincing story of excuses followed by her $187 (10/10) special offer to catch a print run for 1000 postcards, I bought a 2nd time. Shame on me. She has not delivered on any of the promised deliverables, and is not returning phone calls or e-mails. I have reported this to LinkedIn and PayPal, and will also do so with the BBB.
Posted this to my LinkedIn profile after falling for this scam targeting motivational speakers who are too trusting...
Warning - if you receive an email invitation "Call for Speakers" from Brenda Keefer, Willow Mist, ISN, BookaSpeaker, or Innovators Group-BUYER BEWARE!
They offer marketing of speakers services, printing & booking new business. But I forgot the rule- if it sounds too good to be true..it is.
Orvel Ray Wilson, Chuck Gallagher. Don Deems & others warned about their unethical reputation; I didn't check references & paid the piper to be reminded of the rule- "if you are smart you won't be scammed."
Hoping you will not be gullible in trusting smooth talking strangers from E. Tennessee
Visit: www.complaintsboard.com
or Google her name or the names of the companies she worked for with the same pattern.
International Speakers Network Complaints: did not provide services I paid for.
I've just discovered this site after a colleague in Seattle sent me a copy of an appeals court judge's decision from 1999. It seems Brenda thought a sentence of 10 years in prison was too long for the (in her view, apparently) minor crime of embezzling $248,000 from a former employer. It isn't clear whether she's yet served any of her sentence, but she clearly should be locked up for a long record of theft and embezzlement.
I first had contact with her when she was part of ISN, which printed the first run of my book. It was a horrific experience, primarily because the entire lot of people there, from the owner down, were clearly not bothered by the complete incompetence of the staff and the non-fulfillment of their contractual obligations.
Then Brenda left and opened her own business, continuing the tradition of promising a lot and delivering little or nothing. After requesting a number times that she remove me from her mailing list, I ordered her to remove my name and made it clearn I had no desire to ever hear from her again. And yet, I still occasionally get one of her e-mail blasts telling speakers of the great opportunities she has with organizations looking for speakers on specific topics. Stay away!
Brenda's totally bad news, as is ISN and all the other business names under their umbrella. ISN continually creates new business names, apparently to mask the entity you're really hearing from, all the easier to coax money from unaware victims who are new to the speaking business.
My co-author and I also got burned by Brenda. She did NOTHING she promised and so far has refused to return our money. I wish we'd seen your comments before we gave her any money.
For all who have been taken and feel nothing is being done, might I suggest you contact Don Dare's Six on your Side from WATE, a Knoxville TN news station. Don does a segment where he uncovers things like this and airs it for all to see. I am just finding out about this and this woman and she has sat right beside doing church functions. I think the community needs to know just what a fraud she is!!!
Here's a link to Don's email: http://wate.net/wate/anchors-reporters/don-dare
Just discovered that Brenda Keefer has a blog @ http://mamawsplace4.blogspot.com/. All of you who have been swindled by her should go and leave her a comment full of "love"!!! ;-)
She has ripped me off for $11,116.00 by charging my credit card without any authorization to do so. Stay away from this woman. Can someone please send her back to jail!!
How can you not take legal action against her since it's that amount of money she stole from you. She really does need to go back to jail. WOW!
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