Never Ending Comments - Still Coming in for Both ISN and Willow Mist

Some new comments have come in over the past few weeks... Best just to link you to them:

I am sad to say I fell for the scam. Maybe is was hope. Maybe just thinking
she was a nice person. But, I fell for it. Out good money too. I guess my hope
is for others to NOT fall for the same scam. If I can save one person $, I will
at least know my loss had some reason. I finally stopped the payments a few
months ago, but wow, was I wrong. My gut said don't do it, but all I can say is
I fell for it - hook, line, and sinker. Thanks for the BLOG

- can be found in response to this post:
Brenda Keefer, Willow Mist, a former ISN employee -- Still Ripping People Off

..................................

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!

- in response to this post: This Time It's Brenda Keefer and Willow Mist

....................................

I did sign up as a member and have NEVER received any benefit. Thanks for the
warning although they have my inital membership money!

in response to: Getting Back at the International Speakers Network

Brenda Keefer, Willow Mist, a former ISN employee -- Still Ripping People Off

The International Speaker's Network hates that I'm still talking about Branda Keefer on this blog -- but she was such a player in my own rip-off story, and she worked for ISN for so long before she started Willow Mist, that I still see them as one in the same.

Two comments to share with you:

From someone who heard from a new ISN employee -- Tracy Dalton -- an email received in April as a "call for presentations" -- which is no doubt as bogus as any of their recruitment pieces.

Here's the sad part about that. Tracy Dalton is probably a young woman who is sincere and thinks her new job with BookaSpeaker.net or the International Speaker's Network is a good one. She doesn't yet understand that she's working for a company that takes other people's money and doesn't deliver on their promises.

A second comment regarding Brenda Keefer and Willow Mist:

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.

Still up to her shenanigans, I see!

Thanks to all of you who feed me information. Both ISN and Brenda make sure I never show up on any of their lists -- so all info comes from those of you who have found this blog.

As of today, almost 7500 people have found my BurnedbyISN blog. While I'm sure the great majority found it AFTER they lost money, I have no doubt we've saved many others the headache of dealing with ISN or Brenda Keefer.

A Typical ISN or Willowmist Email

Submitted by a blog reader who hopes it will help all of you realize why these folks aren't helpful.

If you have received this email, or one like it, you can see how to break it down from this earlier post on this blog.

Bottom line -- these conferences either don't exist, already took place, or ISN or Willowmist don't have any connections to them anyway. Yet they want you to pay upfront for marketing services that many people report they never receive -- including me. Great frustration. I would still love to have my money back.

Thanks to the person who shared! Here's that email.

We have a Property Management Group who is looking for 2 speakers for a Multi-housing Conference. Event will be June 9th & 10th, 2010. Need a keynote motivational speaker for each day. Attendees include apartment industry employees, managers, leasing, maintenance, regional directors, property management owners, executives. Looking for something motivational geared toward business. Wants someone fun and uplifting with info they can walk away with. BUDGET: $5000 plus travel expenses. DEADLINE TO APPLY: SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2010.

Girls Scouts need a speaker for their Volunteer Retreat. Audience consists of troop leaders, volunteers, and parents. Event is October 9, 2010. They need someone who can talk on communication, diversity, teambuilding, leadership, etc.; any topic that would be helpful to a group of leaders. BUDGET: Negotiable. DEADLINE TO APPLY: FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2010.

Organization for High School Technical students needs motivational speaker to speak to 1500 students regarding on a topic that can be customized to relate to going to college, the job market or leadership. Event will be April 14th, 2010 – April 16th, 2010. BUDGET: $2500.00. DEADLINE TO APPLY: FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2010.

Leadership Conference for Christian leaders needs 3 speakers who can talk on various topics to restore, equip and inspire Christian leaders with new tools they can implement to be better leaders. The budget is negotiable. Attendees will be pastors, Christian leaders in the workplace, ministers, and church staff. There will be a total of 250 attendees. BUDGET: Negotiable plus all travel, hotel and transportation fees paid. DEADLINE TO APPLY: MARCH 9, 2010.


Association of Student Nurses needs a speaker to talk to 800 student nurses at their annual convention. They need someone with great personality that has a background in the healthcare field. They are wanted topics related to careers. BUDGET: Negotiable based on level of expertise. DEADLINE TO APPLY: APRIL 6, 2010.

In order to be submitted for an event with our firm, we do require that you are a participant of one of our marketing programs. If you are not a participant and would like additional information to become available for submission on any of the above bookings, please contact us at 865.366.7155 or respond to this email with your questions. You can also visit our website, www.willowmistpro.com. If you are already a member, and wish additional information, just drop me an email and request the submission form. Thanks.

Sincerely,

Brenda Keefer
Willow Mist Professional Services
P.O. Box 1312
Kodak, TN 37764
(865) 366-7155
www.willowmistpro.com

ISN Responds!

Found in a comment to the last blog post about Brenda Keefer.... this one from ISN where Brenda learned how to run a speakers network:

I am compelled to comment as there are so many facts not being stated here and harming our reputation.

Fact 1: Brenda Keefer is not and employee of ISN and hasn't been since March 4, 2008. Nor does her business Willow Mist have any association with our company.

Fact 2: Start a blog titled Brenda Keefer and Willow Mist and stop placing false information on this blog. She cut her teeth by being a bad individual and apparently doesn't plan to change her spots. That said our company should not be targeted for another companies faults.

It is unfortunate that you feel burned but presenting false information is a crime and unfair to ISN.

And you know what? They are right. It's unfair to blame ISN for Brenda Keefer's current modus operendi. She's been on her own for almost two years.

However -- ISN -- how do you explain the lack of follow through while Brenda was still in your employ? Or the dozens of other comments made by dozens of other people YOU have taken money from without delivering since Brenda left?

You don't want to be painted with the Brenda brush, but how do you explain all these other people who have felt scammed in the two years since she left? And how do you explain the many filings with the Better Business Bureau?

Sorry -- but Brenda's departure doesn't explain any of those, does it?

Looks Like Brenda is On the Hunt

A comment today from a previous post about Willow Mist and ISN, International Speakers Network -- reprinted here:

Thank you all for your posts. I was just contacted by Brenda herself with a list of several venues that "could use my speaking expertise". I was asked only for a $95 upfront fee in exchange for 15% of the booking fee and 5000 emails sent out on my behalf. I had already filled out the paperwork and was about to push send, when I recognized the address was Tennessee. I remembered the scamming international Speaker's Network and decided to check for comments. THANK YOU ALL. We NEED to warn speakers and authors. People lost thousands with International, but no one wants to lose $95. How can we eradicate these predators of the fair and good?

You're welcome!

One more person saved from this grief!