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Hey there,

as you may have guessed from your inbox, “Adsense is not dead … and with this new course it’s going to …” well, make Sean Donahoe a few fistful of dollars.

Nothing wrong with Sean, …

probably nothing wrong with Sean’s course …

EVERYTHING wrong with Adsense as used by most “passive income” oriented IMers.

Here’s the deal:

Google Adsense was designed to be an additional monetization method for sites that already

1. provide a good user experience (they are a high-quality ‘product’ in some sense), and
2. have ‘natural’ traffic (as a result of providing that good user-experience)

What you get taught in pretty much ANY Adsense ‘course’ is to build a site specifically for Adsense.

That’s MFA (“made for Adsense”) – and that’s something pretty much everybody hates … Google, the visitors to that site and your bank-account:

yes, this is yet another one of those methods that makes the course-creator good money, but is VERY UNLIKELY to make you any decent money.

Plus, if you’re not already suffering from ADD, it’s just another shiny magic bomb-shell that’s pulling your attention in yet another direction, …

… rather than you focusing on what matters:

creating a ‘product’ that truly WOWs visitors.

If you have a product, and I put it in quotes above, because it doesn’t have to be something you ship, or people download, a site that provides an overall great user-experience can be a product, THEN, by all means, add Adsense to make a little bit of extra money.

But, never ever make build something with the goal of monetizing it with Adsense.

In all likelihood you’ll end up with MFA, which is another way of saying SPAM.

And SPAM sucks – I hope you agree.

Just for kicks then …

what are products that truly WOW you?

I’ll start my list here:

1. Joy Michaud’s Peppersbypost.biz – awesome chillies, but more importantly: a terrific buying experience and customer service (that’s 3 products right there)
2. Alia K. – a secretary at Siemens in Oxford, she’s one of those rare people who makes you feel you’re the centre of the Universe
3. Jackie Wilson on the Jerry Lee Lewis show in 1971: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m58qltynH1g

ok, ok, the above 3 are just things that make me very, very happy, so here are 3 top ‘products’ in the traditional sense:

1. Jules Watkins’ iVideoHeros ivideoheros.com – it’s a classy product that is evergreen (well, as long as mobile phones with video functionality are around;-), done by someone who truly cares, and at the same time is a truly inspirational “Internet Marketing done right” story.
2. Glenn Livingston’s endlesstrafficmachine.com – a fantastic fundamental concept EVERYONE doing anything online MUST understand – delivered again by a guy who cares, and again with a story that shows you that anyone can make it happen. Plus, the basic ‘idea’ is free right there on that page. See also the interview on this site.
3. and guess what, then it’s starting to get really thin on the ground … whereas my list of products that anti-wow me for some reason or another is pretty much endless.

Hey there,

I was this (-> <-) (the ‘this’ points to the tiny space in between the arrows) close to getting a copy of WP-Twin for a cool $297, when a quick Google found this super-awesome free tool for cloning WP sites:

which you can find here:

http://lifeinthegrid.com/labs/duplicator/

or, in the WordPress “plugins” section simply search for “Duplicator”

if you can use cpanel to set up a new database, then this is AWESOME!

(that’s basically the only major advantage of WP-Twin: you don’t need to mess about with creating databases)

I’ve moved several sites from subdomains, onto different domains, into subdirectories, you name it, and it just works.

and it’s free

and with some hosting companies, you don’t even need to set up the database yourself.

it’s awesome

enjoy

Veit

PS: I’ve just uploaded the last parts of my new product called “Guru-Cloner”.

As I haven’t finished the sales-letter yet, let’s have a competition: the best guess as to what Guru-Cloner is, get’s, well, a free copy of Guru-Cloner;-) (hint: it has nothing to do with cloning WordPress sites;-)

Hey there,

as you may have heard, Starbucks aren’t doing so well these days, so they are going to hire Ronald McDonald clowns to entertain the crowds whilst waiting for their coffee in an attempt to get more customers into their stores. [source: itotallymadethatup.com]

ok, whilst that’s totally made up and you may be spared the sight of Ron in action for a wee while, the exact same thing is happening in a forum near you:

specifically the WSO section of the Warrior Forum. (which is representative of many other parallel Universes …)

If you look at the products being sold there, it’s gone from

“hey, here’s my stuff, if you want it, click here” (and I’ll pay my affiliates 50%) about 2 years ago

to

“hey, here’s my stuff, if you want it, click here” (and I’ll pay my affiliates 100%) about 1 year ago

 

to

“frig, I need to pull off a giant dog ‘n pony show and some serious Ronald McDonald clownery to even get someone to look at my offer and I have to give away 100% on the front-end, the back-end, and then pay 25% on top of that to even get someone to promote for me” round about now.

Current example: Brad Gosse & Anthony Aires’ traffic WSO:

100% off everything goes to affiliates, and they have to put on a giant show – in this case hours and hours of their time doing live webcasts in the WSO thread.

that’s hours and hours of their LIVES gone forever.

All in the name of doing a dog and pony show to get people to buy a $8.87 product of which Brad and Anthony will get NOTHING.

Yes, Brad and Anthony know what they’re doing, and they’ll make money on the back-back-end (the back-end itself is there to satisfy the affiliates)

Incidentally, I just want to make this 100% clear:

what I’m saying here relates to the *marketing* that’s required to shift low-ticket items on the WF, not the items themselves.

Meaning: I’m not saying anything about Brad’s and Anthony’s product, I’m just using their launch as a case-study (I could’ve equally well taken Enrique’s/Neil’s WPMobi launch, same principle, or any of the upcoming ‘big’ launches).

I guess what I’m trying to get across is this:

1. this particular market (the WSO section of the WF) has been conditioned to respond to sub $10 offers so much, that you now have
   1. a very hard time selling anything over $10 (ask Bill Guthrie about his recent launch where he ‘dared’ to ask for $17 for a nice, high quality product that should really sell for $197), and
   2. almost no chance of selling anything unless you have a major dog and pony show and/or clowns going on.
2. both buyers and sellers appear to overlook that it takes time (and hence money) to produce quality products:

All of this creates a big-time vicious circle:

buyers expect top quality products (which sellers cannot produce without charging for it appropriately), so sellers have to use dogs, ponys and  clowns to sell stuff they can cobble together quickly (Anthony and Brad on 2 six-hour live webcasts, that’s 12 man hours, plus they had someone in the background, that’s a LOT of time that could’ve been spent on creating a high-quality product! – however, chicken and egg, no point doing so because then you don’t have time for doggying, ponying and clowning around, so noone is going to buy your high quality product.

And of course, all the dog & pony circus acts attract clients who are, well, attracted by the dazzle, rather than real content that makes a real difference. Meaning: they’re even less likely to invest in higher quality content, and so the  cycle continues.

Let me wrap up with my take why I think this circus-train is heading for serious dead-end very fast:

in this particular market, the products that have to be produced on the cheap provide no real value beyond the ‘quick-fix’ buzz you get from the act of buying it … a bit like a nice cup of Starbucks coffee.

Wears off rather quickly, and off you go again to make another purchase.

Granted, there is value in that … in makes you feel good for a short period of time, but ultimately you don’t get the value you were seeking in the first place (like, oh, mhmm, grow your business, or get it started in the first place).

There’s a second factor at work here and that is this:

in the real world, traffic is always getting more expensive!

In the above example, 2 years ago you could make quite a few sales through the forum itself (you keep 100%), and ‘only’ give 50% to affiliates.

Then it got more expensive, you had to give away 100% on the front-end, then monetize it on the back-end.

Right now, we’re at the point where you monetize it on the back-back end, plus you have the ‘lost’ time (and hence income) due to having to put on the dog and pony show.

In other words: the real cost of traffic is ever increasing on the WF.

Meaning: in the long run, only those who can monetize the back-back end, will make money, everyone else will lose money (and often not even notice it because they put it down as “it’s part of lead-gen”) or simply leave the WF and look for a different traffic source.

Now, once again, this is not a ‘wagging finger raised in the air’ or pointing at anyone or any forum, it’s just an example of what’s going on in the real world:

if traffic is profitable, more and more people will jump on it, and the more people jump on it, the more expensive it will get.

Google Adwords used to be dirt cheap and you could make a campaign profitable in a few short days or weeks, now you’re more likely looking at months of optimization until you finally break even … that’s how expensive that traffic source has become.

Meaning: whichever traffic source you jump on, no matter how big the ‘loop-hole’, eventually that loop-hole will be discovered by enough people to drive most competitors out of that traffic source, simply because it’s no  longer profitable.

Just a crazy thought then:

maybe the secret to making money online is NOT to find loopholes and super-cheap traffic sources, but maybe, just maybe it’s actually knowing how to build profitable sales-funnels that

• make a profit no matter how expensive the traffic is (read: it’s always a tiny bit better than the other guys in the market), and
• are designed in such a way that you can actually spend time on creating quality products, rather than doing the dog, pony, clown dance just to give people their next quick fix.

Then again, I might be wrong….

Veit

let’s cut to the chase:

the main reason why people get into Internet marketing is because they want to make money, ideally lots of it, and if at all possible, with the least amount of work required.

Of the many ways of making money online out there, the 2 most popular ways of achieving said dream are

1. affiliate marketing
2. creating your own product

Let’s assume for a moment that you buy into my regular rants that affiliate marketing really isn’t all that great and that creating your own product is the quickest way to Internet Marketing riches. (I can count those who make a great living with affiliate marketing on one hand, those who make a very decent living with their own products on the other hand requires a few more grubby paws to count)

So, the big question is: WHAT niche and WHAT product?

I’ll make it super-simple:

Enter the Best Internet Marketing Product Of All Time

The best internet marketing product for making tons of money right now is ….

…. drum roll ….

A course on SEO.

What?

Yes, that’s right. An SEO course. Any SEO course.

Let’s take a little detour here, have a look at this email Stephen sent me today:

Veit,

In case you haven’t gotten the same flood of emails I have gotten in the last 48 hrs, there is a miracle cure for all SEO woes….

drum roll please…

wait for it….

Press release…..

This brand new cutting edge strategy is 100% guaranteed to rank any keyword in serp #1 instantly…

BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH………………….

Are you as tired of this crapola as I am????

This is almost as bad as the magic wiki cure….

If there WERE a magic bullet, which there isnt, the spammers would kill it in a few weeks….just like every good edu blog or backlink source….

sorry, had to vent….figured you would understand….

as a bonus, exclusively to you my good friend, I will reveal the ultimate top secret fool proof traffic storm method…..

drum roll….

forum posting….

really?????????

SEO is getting to be like Hollywood….the only thing coming out is sequels and overdone crapola….

rocky 8000, die hard 87…..are there no creative thinkers or innovators left in the world???

Or maybe they are just keeping their ideas to themselves and missing out on selling them for a whopping $7 on WSO

Have a great weekend!!!

Stephen

 

To which my response was:

lol, I nearly fell of my chair.

although: I’m not really tired of it all, I look at it with great amusement.

Actually, there is one ‘serious’ aspect to it all, worth reminding myself of over and over again:

SEO is what people *want*.

That’s the only reason why there is this plethora of SEO courses.

SEO courses are in a way the ultimate ‘marketing’ product:

1) if it doesn’t work, it’s not the fault of the creator, but you can blame Google for updating their algorithm.
2) SEO takes time, so before you realize it’s rubbish, the refund period is over (but, of course, it’s not that it’s “rubbish”, but Google changed the algo. Back to the previous point.

Stephen, I think you’ve just inspired a new blog-post;-)

have a great weekend

There you go: the 3-step recipe for creating best-selling Internet Marketing products (actually, thinking about it: pretty much any product …. ooooh, just starting to see the parallels in the weight-loss niche …. WL, here I come….)

Veit

okidoki,

so, the other day I showed you one of my collosal Internet marketing mess-ups, so here is a  case-study of how to do it right:

Tom McLellan has put together a round-table of Internet marketing experts, where they cover all kinds of very cool topics that are of interest to the IM community.

And before you know it, you have the “Startup Marketing Summit”.

So far, just like I did with my collosal IM mess-up #1.

Here’s what Tom did far better than me:

The big difference is that he has speakers who actually have lists, and not only that, but also have a ‘good’ relationship with their list. I never checked if they had lists, I never signed up to my speakers’ lists to figure out if they had a good relationship with that list

Lesson learned.

I know that Tom ticks both of those boxes, because I found out about this event by an email in my inbox. In this case Glenn Livingston of www.endlesstrafficmachine.com fame. (with Glenn’s and Tom’s permission, I’m copying Glenn’s email in down below)

The next thing Tom did way better than I did was to have some sort of ‘celebrity’ on board, in this case the guy behind the insanely viral “United broke my guitar” Youtube video.

So, not only a celebrity, but also relatively recent. And of course connected to a current topic, namely things ‘viral marketing’

Lesson learned.

Next, monetization

as you’ll notice in Glenn’s email, attendance is free (if you use the coupon code)

Now, putting on my marketing hat, here’s how/why that works

the normal price without the coupon establishes the ‘value’ of this marketing summit

With the coupon, you get a terrific bargain (my approach was just “hey, it’s free, take it or leave it”).

Now, as you’ll notice, these are live sessions. If you want the recordings, you can purchase them separately. And that’s how they monetize this model

Very nicely done, if you really want the information, it’s there for you for free, and if you want to go back to it again, well, you have the option of investing in the recordings

Lesson learned.

Now, here’s the thing: the overall model is very simple, relatively straightforward to set up and arrange, helps you build great relationships in your market, and – if and when done right (not snafu style) – can also make you a little money in the process. And of course build you a nice list of buyers.

Alrighty, I’m copying in Glenn’s email as it arrived in my inbox, meaning it’s Glenn’s link in there, not mine (actually, by clicking on it, you’re messing up his aweber statistics, so he’ll get more opens than he’s got people on his list, hehe;-)

Which brings me to another big issue or question I’m getting over and over again:

“but how do I get started in a new niche? I don’t know anyone in that niche…

well, in this case I’m putting Glenn’s email/link simply because he’s a cool guy, but think about: purely in Cialdini’s terms, what am I doing here?

enjoy

Veit

Here’s Glenn’s email:

I just wanted to be sure you got this Veit…
because it’s FREE, useful, and fun 🙂

Free Pass to the Startup Marketing Summit (Online):
(Promo Code: 500SPECIAL) 
http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=ETN3g&m=IgVsVjVD.GJ_Sv&b=yVMRmLCrA_Z.ADiiq9HF.w

If you could choose a marketing super power…what 
would it be?  Would you be an expert in conversion?  
Or a master storyteller who has prospects hanging on 
every word?  Or would you create winning offers with 
x-ray market vision?   

But there’s a dark side to such expertise.  Becoming 
strong in a single area is an easy way to let other 
marketing muscles go sideways.  Which tends to show up 
in the sales funnel.  

The solution?  Tapping into outside expertise and 
trying to see your sales funnel through multiple 
perspectives.  

What if – over the course of 2 days – you could see 
your sales funnel from these perspectives? 

– The Conversion Master, rapidly improving conversion 
rates in a single bound…

– The Master Storyteller, able to entertain and 
educate while selling effectively…

– The Go-To-Market Strategist, defining and 
leading new product launches…

– The Market Intelligence Expert, seeing 
opportunities that are usually invisible…

– The Funnel Blender, ready to combine online 
and personal selling techniques…

– The Rapid Tester, leveraging PPC to rapidly test 
and refine new ventures…

All great perspectives, but the real question 
is which one would be most valuable to you right now? 

Whatever your answer, you can tap into that perspective 
by attending the Startup Marketing Summit online this 
Tuesday and Wednesday.  And while the regular pricing 
is $95, as a speaker I’m pleased to offer you a special 
Promo Code 500SPECIAL so you can get in for free: 

http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=ETN3g&m=IgVsVjVD.GJ_Sv&b=yVMRmLCrA_Z.ADiiq9HF.w

But you’ll want to move quickly on this one as there 
are only so many free passes to go around.  

The format includes live, broadcast, and on-demand 
talks.  Watch for my presentation “Customer Insights & 
Compelling Offers: Top Techniques To Improve 
Product-Market Fit” on Wednesday at 1 pm eastern.  
And if you can’t make it, then you can get access 
to a replay.  

Just remember to enter the Promo Code 500SPECIAL 
so you get Full Access: 

http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=ETN3g&m=IgVsVjVD.GJ_Sv&b=yVMRmLCrA_Z.ADiiq9HF.w

Enjoy, 

Dr. G 🙂

alrighty, lots of lovely take-aways for anyone who is struggling to establish a ‘real’ presence on the Internet.

In today’s interview I’m speaking with Ben Hunt of www.webdesignfromscratch.com about how he got started (and how he managed to get his site to 5000 daily visitors, all from free traffic).

You’ll particularly like his insights as to why SEO is like making love, and how building a business is pretty much like building a fire.

(you can download the audio by right-clicking here)

Enjoy

Veit

PS: what are YOUR main takeaways? Leave a comment below!