Am I Outraged!!!? …

Posted on May 8, 2008
Filed Under Internet Marketing, Affiliate Marketing | 8 Comments

Here’s an excerpt from an email I just received
from Allan Gardyne.

> =============================================
> 1. Beware of this sneaky new affiliate tactic
> =============================================
>
> Occasionally we receive some nasty smelling submissions to our
> affiliate directory.
>
> Here’s one I want to warn you about…
>
> It’s called Affiliate List Controller.
>
> The salesletter recommends a deliberately deceptive tactic.
>
> Affiliate List Controller is software that creates a pop-up which
> appears on top of ANY website you care to choose.
>
> Here’s how it works…
>
> Let’s say you’re an affiliate vendor and I’m an affiliate
> directing potential customers to YourSite.com. I can now make a
> pop-up appear on top of YourSite.com asking people to sign up to
> MY newsletter.
>
> Some affiliates place a squeeze page between their links and a
> vendor’s site. That’s OK. It’s a legitimate way of building a
> targeted list. There’s normally nothing deceptive about it.
>
> This is quite different. Sneaky.
>
> Here’s the salesletter…
>
> http://imxfiles.com/alb
>
> (That’s an affiliate link for X - not Allan)
>
> I hope you’re as outraged as I am.
My reply to Allan . . .

========

Allan -

re: Sneaky affiliate tactic.

Yes, but isn’t that site STILL GETTING FREE
TRAFFIC? Would you:

A. Prefer that I send traffic to your site
but build a list in the process of doing it.

B. Prefer I not send traffic to your site
at all.

I think we both know the affiliate marketing
game well enough to know that in most cases
the merchant is the real winner - especially
if they have any kind of a back end. And I
should build THEIR list too? Shame on us
affiliates for getting smarter.

This sounds like you’ve been spending too
much time with Rosalind Gardner, who’s pious
on the surface but I’ve caught her pulling
some of the sneakiest shit I’ve ever seen.

All the best to you - X

PS - Always enjoy your information - thanks for
a great newsletter.

================================================
Tell me what you think about this - I want to hear your comments.
================================================

The Affiliate Black Book

Posted on April 27, 2008
Filed Under Marketing Strategy, Adwords, Internet Marketing, Affiliate Marketing | Leave a Comment

I’ve written a ton of material that could end up in the Affiliate Black Book - now the challenge is to whittle it down.

Tentatively here’s a peek inside:

1. Dirty Little Secrets for Using OPP as Your Front End
2. The Unappointed Affiliate Manager
3. The Appointed Affiliate Manager
4. How to Have Affiliates Send You Traffic Even When You Have No Product
5. The Sneaky Ad***** Trick
6. Top-Secret Tricks and Little-Known Tools

Basically, the point of this book is how to take advantage of affiliate marketing beyond just making a few bucks here and there on commissions.

If that’s the only thing you’re using affiliate marketing for then you’re really missing the big picture (at least that I see).

I’m also working on a membership site project with a mega-geek programmer from Microsoft. I mean “mega-geek” in the nicest way.

I’m motivated to get both of these projects out by June 1 . . .

It’s Not What You Sell . . .

Posted on April 16, 2008
Filed Under Marketing Strategy, Internet Marketing | Leave a Comment

It’s not what you’re selling - it’s how you make people feel.

You’re not selling ebooks, audios, videos, or gadgets.

You’re selling feelings.

Ain’t That America

Posted on April 15, 2008
Filed Under Internet Marketing | Leave a Comment

A highly successful Internet marketer I know - and you
may too - has recently been hung out to dry by a government
authority.

They’ve taken everything from him, then put him in
jail on $500,000 bail. Essentially, he has no way
of defending himself with all assets frozen.

Ain’t that America. Gee - I wonder if the government will be
refunding taxes paid on that money.

If this doesn’t scare the hell out you, it should.

I don’t know the minute details, but here are some
things I’ve gleaned and you may want to keep them in
mind.

1. He was selling products of the “natural cures”
nature. His appearance was very “medical” from the
names of his products, the images used on his site,
references to “medical researcher” and more.

First off, any time you’re “taking business” from the
multi-BILLION dollar health-care industry (talk about
a SHAM) you’re asking for trouble.

Any time you promise to “treat, diagnose or cure” any
medical ailment you’re stepping on the toes of the
special interest groups representing doctors, insurance,
companies and the drug companies.

In New Jersey, they call organizations like this the
mafia.

Be very careful when dancing on this turf.

2. Internet marketers have this “wild west” mentality
that we don’t really live by the same rules everyone
else does.

Well, we do.

You can’t make up testimonials. You can’t make
inaccurate claims. You can’t avoid covering your ass
legally. If there isn’t enough money in it to do
things right, look for something where the money is
there to do things right.

3. Here’s what concerns me most - and again, I only
have partial facts but here’s what I see.

This marketer was running ads - paying for ads - through
Google that were running on About.com. You know that
About.com was making a huge income from people clicking
these ads on their site.

Yet some heinous know-it-all About.com guide named Mary
Shomon took it upon hereself to declare this marketer a
fraud (who qualified her to call anyone a fraud, that’s
unclear).

It’s my guess, this is where the problems started.

So he’s paying for ads that produce income for About.com,
and I believe About.com pays Mary Shomon a percentage
of that revenue - and I’m wondering if anyone on that
end of the deal is returning that money?

You can probably bet the answer is NO.

I suggest boycotting About.com.

Or, if you want to play their game then it’s pretty
smart to identify a high-traffic area of About.com and
big traffic sites like it and run ads Adwords 180
style.

But be careful.

Internet Marketing Wealth Alliances

Posted on March 26, 2008
Filed Under Marketing Strategy, Internet Marketing | Leave a Comment

I need a break from dealing with “the assholes of the world” to talk about something new.

It’s easy to get caught in the latest hyped up methods of the moment and lose site of the big picture. X is no exception to this.

While meeting with a partner of mine who has tons of direct marketing experience but little online, he asked me a question you and I should be asking ourselves everyday:

“How do we get traffic that’s going to add the most to our bottom-line fastest?”

Let me shock you with the answer - it’s not pay per click. Pay per click is great for a constant stream of traffic and if you get in front of the right landslide you CAN get a lot of traffic fast.

You can also lose your ass.

No the best answer to that question is simple: joint ventures and affiliates.

The concept of “wealth alliances” takes this an additional step. The way I see most people operate is a “one and done” with JV partners. And if someone actually reciprocates a favor, that’s remarkably unique. I learned a long time ago there are VERY few people in the IM niche who’s word means ANYTHING.

And, maybe I’ve just stayed in the IM niche too long.

What I’m talking about with “wealth alliances” is simple. You get six complementary businesses - with complementary offers together - and you take turns promoting each other. Each business is promoted by every other twice per year.

Like I said, the idea is simple . . . and it’s more than an idea.

I’ve had the unique opportunity to work with 2 businesses selling essentially the same product.

Business one embraced the idea of “wealth alliances” and enjoyed explosive growth. In a couple short years, with this strategy accounting for about HALF of all income, this business built a multi-million dollar income and a list of approximately 150,000 subscribers. All of the businesses involved benefited similarly.

Business two’s owner took the attitude of “my product is the only solution anyone needs” and refused to do JVs of any sort. While I respect his integrity, it came at the expense of his business. Today, his business continues to struggle online and he has an accumulated list of about 20,000 (NOTE: the 150,000 subscriber count of business one was while I worked with them five years ago - that list is probably much larger now - the latter list of 20,000 is a current count).

Most businesses have this primary concern: “If I promote other people, then I’m going to lose my customers to them”.

No, not so fast. This is why you have two lists - one of prospects and one of buyers.

Prospects are people who are on your list but they haven’t bought; this are like dates that have no future. They’re an asset you’ve paid to acquire and while the two of you may not be a “love match”, there might be a “love match” with one of your JV partners (this concept could never get through the head of business owner two).

By the way, I detail this whole approach in Money Map X - it costs eight bucks.

What’s involved with forming a wealth alliance?

Find, then contact five businesses that appear to be a match. You want to look for high quality partners (assuming you offer high quality goods yourself). Contact them and communicate the vision.
In niches outside IM, you’ll find list owners don’t care about commissions - they want a reciprocal mailing. Smart marketers recognize the value of new leads mean more than one-time commissions. Be prepared to negotiate. If your list is smaller, offer a higher-than-normal commission to get the ball rolling.On the topic of list size, don’t judge a list by it’s size. Judge it by how it’s been built, who’s on it and how it’s been managed. I’d rather have a partner with a high-quality list of 8000 than a partner who regularly beats the hell out of list of 500,000 freebie seekers.
Ask your new partner(s) if they can recommend another business or two to join you. Finding someone with an existing “in” makes the process easier.
Create a calendar where everyone is scheduled a full year out so you can track who’s mailing who and when. It’s vitally important that these commitments take precedence over anything else that comes along - failure to do so will cause issues FAST. Also, there are better times of the year for some types of businesses to promote - keep this in mind so the schedule comes out fair on the whole. Most people probably don’t want your “just before Thanksgiving and Christmas” slot, but with this setup someone is mailing for them every month and it all evens out.

Marketing is simple - if not always easy.

It breaks down to three things I know you’ve heard many times, but it’s easy to overlook -

I want to sell:

More stuff
To more people
More often

This takes care of the “to more people” part of the marketing success equation.

PS - I’m looking for some new JV partners in the niches of SLEEP, MEDITATION, STRESS RELIEF, AND PERSONAL EFFECTIVENESS (this is pretty wide open). If you’ve got a high quality product, a respectable list and the desire to get involved in one of my wealth alliances then leave me a comment (I won’t post it) or send an email to sales<at>adwordsblackbook<dot>com

PSS - If you haven’t checked out Jeff Walker’s Product Launch Formula Videos, I recommend you do - this all fits.

Godin Tells Google About Adwords

Posted on February 23, 2008
Filed Under Marketing Strategy, Adwords, Internet Marketing | Leave a Comment

Interesting presentation by Seth Godin to Google about why he thinks Adwords works.

Raw X Having Bitch Slappin’ Fun

Posted on February 8, 2008
Filed Under Adwords, Internet Marketing | 1 Comment

I have a bunch of video piling up from presentations I’ve done - lots of great unreleased material. I’m kicking around the idea of releasing a DVD mini-set - or putting the video up in a membership site.

This material isn’t as pretty and polished as the Black Book DVDs but it’s like getting some killer basement recordings from the Beattles that nobody’s ever heard. Some of the material is redundant, but every presentation I’ve ever done has been totally unique - no “Hey, this presentation raked in back of the room sales so I’m going to do it every time I get in front of a group” crap. That’s not why I do presentations - I actually want to give people material they can use.

One of these videos was recorded yesterday. It was meant to be an “Adwords Basics” for a local group of IMers and ended up going in all kinds of crazy directions.

I decided to do a “basics training” because even though there’s a glut of Adwords beginner info available - even Google’s own training - there’s “something” too many people aren’t getting. This is literally true to the point of me giving people keyword phrases, telling “go run this ad on these terms” and they’re not getting the results I get promoting on the EXACT same terms.

So that video is an introduction to Adwords from the perspective of an advanced Adwords guy. I mean really, you don’t show a guy a few basic moves and then throw him in with the wolves. You need to know what the wolves are thinking and how they approach the game or you’re going to get killed.

DON’T GET CUTE WITH X - I WILL DESTROY YOU

The best part of the whole presentation was discovering a competitor getting cute, running an ad on my turf. Real time, in front of this group, I bitch slapped this fool. I can’t wait until he sees how I’ve replaced his ad, using his URL and planted a major facial on him in the process.

Let’s be clear on one thing - X has been quiet on the teaching front for a while. We’ve seen a lot of Adwords “gurus” pop up since I came out with the Adwords Black Book and a lot of them have tried to emulate my style, stole my material and generally disrespected The Master.

Well, The Master has taken notes and I’m here to say - loudly and publicly - any mother fucker who wants to take me on in the Adwords game better come ready and fully loaded. I’ll take on anyone, anywhere, anytime - and I will destroy their ass.

Rant aside, brothers and sisters, break out your Adwords Black Book - break out your DVDs and go pick a fight.

“How much can you know about yourself if you’ve never been in a fight?” - Tyler Durden

The way you get REAL good at anything is to call out the best of the best and to see what you’ve got. If you win - then you know what you’ve got. And if you lose, you learn something and you don’t make the same mistakes again.

These Guys are the Future of Internet Marketing

Posted on February 7, 2008
Filed Under Internet Marketing | 1 Comment

SHOCKING Frank Kern Video

Posted on February 4, 2008
Filed Under Internet Marketing | 2 Comments

Reese, Kern and Selling With Video

Posted on January 29, 2008
Filed Under Internet Marketing | 3 Comments

This is what I love about Reese. He comes out and publicly declares “I will not promote anyone’s product as an affiliate anymore.” He soaks up the forum adulation . . . and now he’s promoting things as an affiliate again. But you’ll never hear him say “Hey guys, I changed my mind”.

One more Reesee . . . (and I admit I’m just catering to the desire of my readers here because I always get a ton of personal notes when I say it like it is with this puck) . . . I wonder if he’s now on board with digital products since Frank Kern (hands down the better marketer of the two) is releasing his next product in online format.

Yes, I sell physical product - and I hate it. It’s not the future. It’s a pain in the ass. And I don’t think MOST people buy the whole “thud factor” thing anymore. It’s now a matter of neophyte market or not. That’s the determining factor - if in doubt, don’t waste your time and effort on producing physical product.

Why? I’ve shared this before. I’ve sold an ebook for $197. It worked because the content was GREAT. I’ve been a part of businesses selling a physical book on Amazon for $12 and people go FROM Amazon to the author’s site to buy the ebook version for $27 - that’s more than twice as much.

A freak occurrence? Hell no - it happened daily. People want their information NOW.

Before I get to Frank Kern, I have a bonus Reesee for you. One of my best buddies (and new business partner) writes copy for 10 of Dan Kennedy’s 18 Platinum Club members (you must earn over 1-mil per year to get into that club).

He watched Reese’s latest 37 minutes video and couldn’t stop laughing. He said he kept watching and waiting for the point - apparently, there was none. It was just a waste of 37 minutes.

If there was a point, beyond “You should sell to Internet marketers and I want you to pay me a lot of money to become an affiliate to sell to them for me”, then please post a comment.

Which is the STUPID use of video. Strip the name “John Reese” and the years-old mystique of ‘one day’ and who’d watch that? Only the seriously bored and with NOTHING else to do.

True, people like to be entertained - but video is no guarantee of that. And putting the rant aside, here’s why written copy will ALWAYS be king - because copy writers know that most people scan copy. That’s why headlines, sub-headlines and bullet points are critical.

Note: An entertaining TV commercial isn’t a good commercial. Entertainment can get attention and interest, but creative’s usually miss the point that the purpose of an ad is to sell something - a product, a brand, an idea.

To be clear, I’m not saying DO NOT USE VIDEO but video should enhance a sales letter, not replace it. TV didn’t replace the sales letter, or the newspaper, or the magazine, etc.

Just because you have a video camera, it doesn’t mean you should sit in front of it. (I’m not and you should thank me for that. )

Can you scan a video? Can you? Do I really have to sit through your 37-minute video to see if you have a point? To get to your offer?

Is this REALLY what we call genius?

OK . . .

I’ve been evaluating Frank Kern’s Mass Control product he’ll be launching in February and . . . I like it.

Basically, he’s dissected WHY people follow some of the clowns they do and how you can generate a following just like them (and make a lot of money for yourself in the process).

I hit many of these elements with the successful promotion of Adwords Black Book - and when you understand what Frank is sharing, and the power of it, then you’ll have the tools to morph yourself into a “cult of personality” figure too.

Sure, there will be a lot of hype around this product but it’s the first package I’ve seen in a while that has the potential to live up to that hype.

That’s all for now amigos y amigas.

Am I Outraged!!!? …

The Affiliate Black Book

It’s Not What You Sell . . .

Ain’t That America

Internet Marketing Wealth Alliances

Godin Tells Google About Adwords

Raw X Having Bitch Slappin’ Fun

These Guys are the Future of Internet Marketing

SHOCKING Frank Kern Video

Reese, Kern and Selling With Video

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