Underground 4 is open for registration…
Yes, Yanik has done it again. He’s holding the 4th Undergound Online Seminar and I’m definitely going to what is my FAVORITE IM event. In fact many big-name successful Internet marketers will be there — but we WON’T be speaking.
What makes this seminar special is that Yanik gathers a completely new group of Internet “Players” who have their successful online money-making techniques a secret.
These “underground” successes then spill the beans about how they collectively earn millions of dollars every year online at the Underground Seminar being held from March 28 - 30th, 2008.
Rogue agents include…
- Agent ‘Get Smart’… ($20M virtual info empire)
- Agent ‘Doctor Zhiva-dough’…($15M health site)
- Agent ‘Bad Mama Jama CPA MoFo’…
- Agent ‘Fine Wine Millions’…
- Agent ‘Podcasting Princess’…
- Agent ‘Tycoon Tyke’…
- Agent ‘Mr. X #1 and Mr. X #2′…($4M with their simple membership site - techniques are so under-the-radar that this session will NOT be videotaped)
Plus, there are TWO featured keynote speakers including the CEO of Zappos.com, an $800 Million business!
The Underground typically sells out early (last year it sold out 6 weeks early) and as it gets ever more popular, it will likely sell out even more quickly this time.
There are discounts and special bonuses for Early Birds not available to others
(including a private VIP networking dinner with the rogue Underground agents and an *actualSPY mission.)
Hope to see you at the 4th Undergound Online Seminar!
Popularity: 19% [?]
Conference Pictures Uploaded
I’m just back from PPC Classroom LIVE seminar held in Las Vegas this past weekend and have uploaded pictures from the event to my Flickr account.
Shown on the upper-left is a picture of Brad Haslam (our Chief NPT Moderator extraordinaire) and myself.
BTW, that wasn’t me dancing at the Voodoo Lounge! REALLY it wasn’t.
If you find those pics on someone else’s blog, please let me know ASAP. 
Actually, there are pictures from a variety of conferences there, including:
- Double Birthday Bash 2005
- Underground Seminar 2005
- Performics Client Summit 2005
- Ungerground Seminar 2006
- Affiliate Summit West 2007
- Affiliate Summit East 2007
- AdTech New York 2007
- PPC Classroom Live 2007
- Other Conference Pics
BTW, if you have photos from this weekend’s conference that you’d like to share, or of any other conference listed on my Flickr account, and would like to add them to my Flickr collection, please drop me a line through the Support Desk and I’ll give you an email addy to which you can send them.
Thanks in advance!
Ros
Popularity: 8% [?]
Lessons in Marketing at AdTech New York
We’ve only just returned home from Adtech New York followed by a quick weekend in Toronto to visit family.
Adtech was huge, and I found it fascinating to observe many of the different marketing tactics used to grab the attention of almost 11,000 attendees.
The first thing I heard after the elevator door closed for the first time was a loud and serious voice wanting to know whether I was concerned about click fraud. Well heck ya, so I turned my attention to watch ABCSearch’s elevator ad for the first time of many over the course of the next 3 days.
Five minutes after getting to the room Targusinfo slid a nice gold and black ‘ticket-like’ note under the door inviting me to booth #708 for a sweet treat. I thought that was a particularly slick tactic for getting attendees to take note of their booth number, considering there were more than 250 booths scattered across separate areas and several floors… although not sure how they got #708 in that case.
Once in the exhibit hall, I had to wonder how the staffers at all those booths were going to hand out all those trinkets (about 50 million pens and spongy balls) to all 11,000 attendees before the end of the convention.
I did my part and lightened their overall load when I stopped by to say hi to Evan Lovett of eAdvertising. A few folks such as Jay Berkowitz of Ten Golden Rules dropped off goodies for me and then lightened my load of books during my book signing on Wednesday afternoon.
Ed noted that he hadn’t seen ‘booth babes’ (young ladies dressed in extremely skimpy outfits) for many, many years at the technical trade shows he used to attend — and then suggested that this industry probably wasn’t quite as mature as was implied during our ‘Evolution of Affiliate Marketing‘ panel. Having tried unsuccessfully to source information from booth babes at other shows, I had to agree. But I suppose they manage to give a lot of pens to ecommerce industry pros, most of whom (like me) can no longer use a pen… not legibly anyway.
I was disappointed to see Zango’s booth in the far corner of the registration hall… or anywhere in the conference for that matter. I mean… isn’t it bizarre that a company whose model is based on stealing traffic, sales and commissions is allowed to exhibit at a reputable event? Hmmm.
The subject and Zango’s name came up again during the QnA portion of our panel and most participants found it reassuring to hear affiliate network executives such as Michael Hines (Zanox), Jivan Minhas (Advaliant) and Chris Henger (Double Click Performics) reiterate that advertisers with any such involvement are sumarily removed from their networks. I directed folks to my article in Revenue and reminded them that a good lawyer is the best weapon in the war against such bad actors.
Here’s a note I received from a subscriber who read that article…
I read your article about Zango, downloaded their software and found out one of my names was being targetted heavily by competitors. I wrote the BBB, FTC, and Zango lawyer directly and within 7 days, to my surprise and delight, they removed my url from their system. They sent an official legal note as well. Thank you for the informative article.
To sum up, it was great to finally attend an adTech and pick up some new lessons in marketing. Now I’m looking forward to meeting up and talking with many NPT readers at the smaller, more intimate PPC Classroom seminar at which I’ll be speaking next month in Vegas.
(In the picture above from left to right - Rosalind Gardner, Michael Hines, Chris Henger, Jivan Minhas and Josh Greene.)
Popularity: 6% [?]
Countdown to AdTech New York
Less than a week now before I head off to my first adTech where I’ll be moderating the “The Evolution of Affiliate Marketing” panel on Thursday, november 8th, from 4:15pm - 5:15pm.
The panel description from the adTech site is “Last year, MarketingSherpa estimated that affiliates worldwide earned $6.5 billion in bounty and commissions in the areas of retail, personal finance, gaming and gambling, travel, telecom, education, publishing and forms of lead generation other than contextual ad networks. Far beyond revenue sharing, today’s affiliate marketing channel is evolving more and more into performance marketing and playing a larger role in online marketing strategies. Discover which industry sectors are the most active for affiliate marketers and those that are poised for the greatest growth. Learn the pros and cons of running affiliate programs in house versus using third-party services to track referral traffic or sales. And understand how advertisers are connecting with publishers through affiliate networks and how to extend, and protect, your brand through affiliate marketing.”
Our panelists include:
- Michael Hines, President, North America, Zanox
- Josh Greene, Director, Online Marketing and Business Development, DiscoveryStore.com
- Chris Henger, VP of Affiliate Marketing, DoubleClick Performics
- Jivan Manhas, President, Advaliant, Inc.
I am also scheduled to do a book signing on Wednesday November 7th between 2 and 3PM… so bring your book or buy a book there! Tell me you’re an NPT’er and I’ll do my best to make my signature legible. (Who knew that I’d lose the ability to write after 10 years in a computer / Internet business?)
Too, if you are in New York, the Expo takes place from Monday, November 5th until Tuesday, November 6th and a Exhibit Hall is free when you register before November 4th!
Popularity: 7% [?]
The #1 Fatal Internet Marketing Mistake
What’s the WORST (and typically first) mistake made by people who are trying to start an online business? Any guesses?
Here’s a 6 minute 22 second video (free to watch) in which Derek Gehl, CEO of the Internet Marketing Center, not only details the mistake but discusses the correct course of action in nice, easy-to-understand concise terms. He’s 100% right on the money with his explanation.
In the video, you’ll also see 2 web sites that are earning extraordinary income and probably be blown away by their simplicity. Watch it and learn.
Popularity: 8% [?]
First Casino Affiliate Convention in Asia
With gaming predicted to one of the largest growth markets in Asia during the next decade, Ticonderoga Ventures, Inc. is holding its 1st annual Asian gaming conference for affiliates in Macau, China on November 28-29, 2007.
Respected affiliate marketing industry leaders to speak at the inaugral Asian Casino Affiliate Convention event include:
- Mor Weizer, CEO of Playtech
- Jason Chan, President of Entertasia
- Monte Cahn, CEO of Moniker
- Chen Yu, Vice President at YeePay
- John Ryott, Affiliate Director at Gaming VC
- Graeme Eastman, CEO of AffiliateGuide
Attendance for the Macau event is limited with online registration ending on November 22nd, 2007.
Ticonderoga stated that it is also planning an event at the end of June in Moscow in support of Russian super-affiliates that have been unable to obtain visas to travel to past Casino Affiliate Conventions.
Popularity: 6% [?]
eComXpo: Day 2
OK, I admit that I forgot to post a Day One notice.
eComXpo, the first virtual online trade show and conference for eCommerce marketers, is back.
Hundreds of exhibitors, sponsors, and presenters have gathered and with over 8,000 attendees (making it the largest eCommerce tradeshow in the world), completely online and 100% free to attend. eComXpo provides all the benefits of a top tradeshow without the cost, travel or hassle normally associated with traditional events.
Sign up for Free registration and/or additional information.
Or… enroll in eComXpo University which gives you full access from October 9, 2007 to January 11, 2008 to over 175 on-demand presentations from industry experts. Tuition is $49.95.
Popularity: 4% [?]
PPC Classroom Servers Swamped
If you tried to buy PPC Classroom this morning and came across an error page, please relax…
Anik and Jeremy’s course just launched this morning and they’ve been hit by so much traffic that the servers are up and down. Some folks are hitting ‘refresh’ multiple times hoping to get in, which is making the problem worse.
There’s NO limit to the number of courses available - and I’m going to try and hit Anik up to extend his 1st-hour and 1st-day bonuses because of the server outages - just as soon as I get this message out.
So again - please relax. You WILL be able to get your copy of PPC Classroom, just give it a few hours until the server load lightens up.
Popularity: 6% [?]
The 20/20 Challenge
I groaned when Michael Green told me about his latest 20/20 Challenge project, in which he promises to teach you step-by-step how he made $20,000 in 20 days and how you can replicate his process.
As a rule, I HATE those ‘make x in x number of days’ promises, especially because most that I’ve seen to date are complete pipe dreams… or worse, schemes to try and sell you a bunch more products.
“Michael, I can’t possibly tell anyone about the 20/20 Challenge unless you SHOW me your EXACT plan AND I can verify that it’s realistic and feasible“, I told him.
“But of course” he responded.
I should have known that Michael would come through with the goods… he always does.
Based on the daily action plan that I saw, what Michael teaches is entirely workable and true to his promise, the only “extra’s” you’ll need are a domain name and hosting. That’s right - no other expenses.
Furthermore, Michael guarantees that if you fail to make $20,000 in 20 days after following his plan, he will refund the cost of the course completely. Moreover, Michael’s courses are always user-friendly - easy to understand and follow.
And for some of you (me included) having a daily action plan to give you something concrete to do each day is a huge motivator to turn off the TV or stop surfin’ and get to work!
As the course is currently in pre-launch, it is available for a huge discount. The price doubles on September 29th, (launch day) and only a limited quantity will be sold.
If you’ve been hoping that I’d talk about something other than PPC training this month, or if you’re ready to go beyond PPC and affiliate marketing to create your own product - the 20/20 Challenge is the perfect way to expand your Internet marketing horizons.
Popularity: 14% [?]
How They Saved 7K+…
Call me nuts.
I turned down a 7.5K consulting job the other day with 2 fellows who wanted me to help them get an affiliate site and PPC campaigns up and running to profitability. (Actually, they’d initially offered me 10K and I offered to do it for 7.5K.)
On the surface, the job would have been relatively simple.
One of them had read my book and already had a great understanding of the affiliate marketing process that I’ve used successfully since 1998.
Furthermore, the niche they picked was great - I could easily have helped them turn a profit in that sector.
Moreover, I LOVE working with clients who plan to do things right from the outset - and that’s incorporate PPC advertising into their affiliate marketing plan.
So, why did I turn them down? Read more
Popularity: 6% [?]
