I have an confession to make. It's not the biggest confession you've ever heard I'm sure. It's certainly not the most exciting, but it's mine and I'm confessing it.
Not only did I surf the internet yesterday, Christmas Day, I also went over to the Warrior's Forum and bought something! Shocked and disgusted? No? Well I was a little because I'm usually very good at keeping Christmas Day special and usually do nothing on my business. But yesterday was different.
I've been asking myself why and I think I have the answer. I'm committed to nailing this whole internet business thing and so I'm more prepared than ever to do what I have to do to get it done.
What started out, in my eyes, as a negative has become a positive. I'm pleased I did it and I'm also pleased I bought the WSO (if you don't know what that is check out Warrior Forum).
If you come back later I promise to tell you whether it was any good :)
I have a confession to make...
The Latest Criminal Internet Marketer...What We Can Learn
Before I buy anything related to internet marketing I do my research. It saves me time and money.
Sometimes all my research throws up are ill-disguised affiliate sites telling me fantastic and life changing the videos or ebook are. But sometimes I find more. This morning I found more.
It all started with an email from Matt Bacak. I received it 2 days ago but only read it this morning. He’s promoting Perry Belcher’s Google Partnering System. I looked at the sales page and was quite tempted. It’s not expensive and looked interesting. I’ve only come across Perry Belcher on Twitter and in a video on social marketing.
So I did my research. And I found this:
There is more detail here
The story appears to be legitimate. If it is Belcher is a criminal. He’s admitted computer fraud. He’s admitted using bogus research and fake testimonials to sell health products.
Even though I know the field of internet marketing has more than its fair share of criminal behaviour this still surprised me. It surprised me that he admitted to these crimes. It surprised me just as much that his products are still being openly promoted to big lists so soon after his conviction.
If he had been convicted of a crime that was unrelated to the IM field it could have an impact on my view of his honesty but this is different. How can anyone buy an IM product from someone who has admitted to lying about his marketing?
There are some decent people in internet marketing and the criminal element is, I’m sure, small. What is worrying though is how some of the “big names” are prepared to ignore the criminals within the community and worst still continue to make money by promoting their products.
So what can we do?
Here’s what I’m going to do:
1) I will never buy anything from Mr Belcher nor will I buy anything from any of his affiliates. Trust is a big thing for me and I won’t compromise it no matter how apparently good the products are. If I lose money because of this approach I don’t care
2) I’m going to continue with my thorough research before I buy anything. This is critical and I know that so few people do it. You see an attractive sales page with some time-limited offer built in and you just lay down some cash. Don’t do it.
Right. Now I hope my next post is more positive!
The Secrets That Every Internet Marketer Needs To Know...Now
As my first two posts have been negative rants I've decided to tell you the secrets to internet marketing success. But before I begin let me add one critical caveat. I'm not yet a successful internet marketer. There. I've said it. I've had some success but not braggable success. Not yet.
So please bear that in mind. I'm not the expert BUT I have a sincere desire to learn and, using my lawyerly skills, can think critically and apply what I've learnt.
So why am I confident that I've discovered the secrets? I've spent the last 2 years reading everything I could about internet marketing from the good, the bad and the oily. And only now, in recent weeks, have I realised that the secrets have been there all along.
Ok, well here are a few of them. I don't think they are the only ones and I will be returning to this topic in later posts.
You need to be passionate about your market/niche/product
You will read that you can be an "expert" in just about any niche if you do your market research (or outsource it). Once you've understood the language of your audience and you've ploughed their forums for the questions you can easily create a product and dominate their niche.
You might be able to make some money this way. I don't doubt that. But if you want to be seriously successful you need to be passionate about your market and your product. Anyone who disagrees is ignoring business history. All massive success in business comes from a passion. Gates, Welch, Carnegie, Ford, Rockerfeller, Branson - all about passion and enthusiasm for their market. Don't tell me it's different online because it's not.
Always add massive value
What this does not mean is product a lame-ass ebook and then provide fake value by throwing in every PLR product on your hard drive. It's not big and it's not clever. Please don't do it.
Here's an alternative. When you write your ebook or shoot your video aim to provide really significant value to your customer. Ask yourself "What would I really want if I were in their shoes?" Then provide it. Then provide them with a lot more. Believe me it's worth it.
I have been buying some great products from a guy who used to provide incredible value with his products. His last few products are nowhere near as valuable. Guess what? The next product he produces I am unlikely to buy. That's a shame because he's really clever. But he needs to get back to adding massive value for me. I'm not naming him just yet because he might see the error of his ways.
Think big
Don't meddle with methods that promise you petty cash. Why waste your time when you could be making much bigger money by providing massive value to people?
Adsense is great but who wants to make cents when you can be making thousands of dollars with the same effort? Not me. I prefer to think big because, as Tim Ferriss says there is less competition with bigger goals.
There is a fantastic thread on the Warrior Forum about this topic and it tells you more about it than I ever could. Read it here.
Your procrastination hurts your customers
If you are serious about getting a quality product to a market you're passionate about you will be tempted to hold off on producting anything until you think it's perfect. That's understandable but it's the worst thing you could do for your potential customers because they want what you have worked on and they want it NOW!
So once you have a product that's good, not perfect, but good get it out there in some way.
A good way to get testimonials is to send your product to a few select customers. Get their views and tweak the product to make it as good as you can. Then get it out to the market. NOW!
That's my first attempt at nailing down the secrets. Add any more you can think of below in the comments section. It's ok....no one will read them...
If it's working so well for you why are you selling it to me?
My inbox is full of talk of "The Arbitrage Conspiracy". This would appear to be a revolutionary way of making up to £100,000 per day (yes, per day) from CPA networks.
It's not been released yet and so we cannot be sure about the techniques it teaches but you can get a copy of a preview report to give you a taste.
Now it all looks very interesting and I dare say there is merit in it but....and this is quite a big but for me...why are they selling it at all?
Put yourself in their shoes (if you believe the hype). They are bringing in $50,000 - 100,000 per day. Per day. By anyone's standards that is a nice level of income. So. If you were earning this much using a little known series of techniques what would you do? Keep it to yourself or sell the secret? It would take me all of 2 seconds to answer that. There is NO way I would be selling this secret. No even for the huge sums these guys will be getting from all the marketing that's been going on.
Am I alone in this? Would you sell the golden goose?
If I'm not alone and most people would keep it to themselves just why are they selling the secrets? Is it because there is indeed an element of hype and the goose isn't quite as golden as it's painted?
This isn't unique to this particular program - I only refer to it as it's the latest of a long time of such secret methods being "exposed" for the first time.
If you are interested in this particular program you can see the details here (and no, it's not an affiliate link):
Discover why a successful lawyer bringing in almost $200,000 a year is spending his time writing blog posts few people will read…
I’ve spent more than a decade working as a lawyer and now enjoy a substantial income. But I want to give it all up. Why? Because I have very little time for my family, virtually no time for my hobbies and the stress of managing a team and bringing in new work all the time is killing me.
And the desire to give it all up led me to read Tim Ferriss’s “The Four Hour Work Week”. Ferriss has been criticized plenty. But his vision of an almost automatic income fuelling your dream life caught me. It caught me and wouldn’t let go. I’d never thought through why I worked as a lawyer. I’d never realised there were people who did virtually nothing yet had enough income to live their dream life wherever and however they wanted. Ferriss made me think big about what my life could be.
So I started looking for my “muse”. If you don’t know what I’m talking about read the book. Even if you do know what I’m talking about read the book. Even if you’ve read the book before READ THE BOOK…again! It’s that good.
Anyway muse creation started out well. I had lots of ideas. Some were fanciful, some were “doers”. I was going to act on some of them. Yes, I really was. But then something happened. I discovered a whole new world. It was the world of “internet marketing”. And it seemed to be an exciting world. You may have read the headlines I came across for the first time. “Make money on autopilot”, “Create your dream life in an hour a week”. “How I made millions without any real work selling other people’s products”.
Now I’m a very intelligent person and I’ve got the qualifications to show it! But…I’m stupid when it comes to copywriting. I DO believe the hype. I can smell the success that sits behind the headlines. The next product may well be THE ONE. The One that makes it all worthwhile. My rational mind knows that this is rubbish. Sometimes though my rational mind is on vacation and it won’t be back till morning.
So I’ve spent money. I don’t really know how much money I’ve spent on internet marketing products. If I did know I’d be full of regrets and if my wife knew I’d probably have to leave the house…
I’ve made buying decisions that I’d be sacked for if I made them in my proper working hours. I’m not proud.
But I am annoyed. Actually that’s a lie – I’m angry. I’m angry at all the hype and the cynical attempts to get my cash. I’m angry when I see another video telling me that the credit crunch will mean my family will starve if I don’t buy some new software or join a continuity program. I’m more angry when I think about the people who will buy it and who have virtually no money. I can afford to be an idiot but a lot of people can’t.
I’ve always believed that anger without direction is a waste and potentially very dangerous. So I’ve looked for that direction and I believe I’ve found it in this little blog.
Let me tell you what I’m going to do.
I’m going to tell the truth on here. I’m going to expose the shams I come across. I’m going to show you how mediocre lots of the big products are.
And, most importantly, I’m going to shout from the rooftops when I find something that works. But not just something that works. I’m sure you can find unethical methods of making quick cash. That’s not for me. I want to find a way I can live with. A way that doesn’t rip off other people or rely upon deceit.
So if anything I’ve said in this post resonates with you bookmark it and come back often to see what I’ve found.
Thank you for reading. Now go and do something nice for someone!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)