So…What Did You Think?
You can learn a lot about marketing from other marketers’ messages and their delivery.
In that vein, I’d like to know what you thought of the Affiliate Marketing Sham report [find out why this link was removed].
Did you find it interesting and informative or piled high with hype? Did the report leave you concerned about the future of affiliate marketing and affiliate[link removed] marketers? Or, did you think ‘X’ was too dramatic in his assessment?
What tactics does X use to build desire for his product? Does ‘X’s’ approach build trust and make you ‘hungry’ to learn more? Why or why not? What do you think of this marketing approach? Would you use it to promote your own or other people’s products?
If you haven’t already done so, take a critical look at the Affiliate Marketing Sham [link removed], then post a Comment with your answers to the above questions.
When enough comments have been posted, I’ll post a follow-up with my own thoughts on the subject.
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Comments
52 Responses to “So…What Did You Think?”
Keith on January 6th, 2007 10:06 am
I think we all know there is and always will be hype and dishonesty on the net.You really should research before you take the plunge.Lets face it curiousity is a powerful thing with us humans,nothing wrong with exploration….you can learn from it.What works for some does not always work for others…..eg…Rich Jerk.Like him or not,he creates controversy which works well for him.
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Tracey Fieber on January 6th, 2007 10:10 am
I disagree that affiliate marketing is a SHAM,however I also applaude Mr. X’s use of marketing… he’s taken an opposing point of view, which attracts attention; he’s using colored language, which invokes a response — the amount of people it turns off just nichifies his market. He’s a very creative marketer!
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Stephen Carter on January 6th, 2007 10:11 am
my feeling is that X is probably correct that 25% of affiliate commissions never get to the affiliate. in large part i believe that this is due to sloppiness on the part of those who run affiliate programs. i have worked as a developer for a company that ran PPC arbitrage for owners of huge numbers of domains and i can tell you that building the backend systems for this kind of stuff doesn’t get the attention it should. it’s often keystone cops code that keeps track of referrals and it often doesn’t work. that said, i’m not overly concerned about the future of affiliate marketing. sooner or later some really smart guys in a garage will figure out they can build a better affiliate program model and there will be sweeping change in the industry. as for X’s approach to preselling, i do wish guys like him would actually say what kind of model they have come up with instead of hiding it in their report. i read these preselling reports, but never go any further because i have no clue as to what X is actually talking about. Blackbook DVD’s? after reading his report i have no clue as to whether i could prosper from the content of these DVDs. so i won’t bother pursing it.
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Yuriy Dyskyy on January 6th, 2007 10:16 am
HiRosalina!
I can see that people.which are occupied by the internet marketing too a lot,but I only to one. If I shall be become .so to say, will be not sending an exclusive of information as :articles,prospects,stories on searh systems as:google,searh enginers,eBay;then your are marketers will be without jobs.
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Christine on January 6th, 2007 10:25 am
I read it thinking it would be full of info, and it was full of attitude and nothing. I thought it was a waste of time to read it.
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Empress on January 6th, 2007 10:33 am
I would have to say that I don’t normally read these ebooks. Now I know why I don’t read them
I thought the way the person wrote the ebook was easy to read - but not really worth reading. I didn’t think that any great mysteries would be shared (since it’s a free book) - and it was to promote the DVDs. Some might want in on it. I get the whole “rich get richer” due to limited supplies and those who can actually afford those bigger pricetags for information (if it would be worth buying? … I couldn’t tell you).
This is just my opinion, I’m sure others will think those were valid rants and thoughts - and buy in. Me, not so much. I’d probably pass on this offer.
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Rick on January 6th, 2007 10:36 am
Borrowing a line from granny in The Outlaw Josey Wales, “That report’s worth doodly squat.” Very transparent and self-serving. Just another in an already too long line of pre-launch ‘Special Reports’ designed to hook readers on the ‘adcopy heroin’ and create a dependency on the author’s soon-to-be-released miracle cure. It’s no wonder ‘X’ chooses to remain anonymous. Pathetic.
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ali on January 6th, 2007 11:04 am
He lost me with the swearing. I know you warned us about it, but I was prepared for a candid report. Not necessarily all the swearing. I just don’t think it helps - we are supposed to be professionals. It just didn’t work for me.
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Marc on January 6th, 2007 11:24 am
This sort of marketing plays on fear and ignorance. It is all hype, and tells you nothing. The writer tries to come across as the “common man” with the rough language. He (or she) wants you to feel that only he is on your side, and is the only one giving you the truth.
Personally, I think it’s crass and undignified, though it will probably make a lot of money, as it will appeal to a certain segment of the population. It’s sad, but people are people.
I can’t imagine that I would ever use this type of marketing tactic.
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Jon on January 6th, 2007 11:25 am
Ros
4wiw, my view is that he’s jumping on a bandwagon. It follows “The Death of Adsense”, “Death of Interet Marketing” and is presented in a style reminiscent of the rich jerk.
The report is perhaps summed with the words at the top of page 12: STUPID. IDIOTIC. MORONIC. ASININE. Not words I’d choose but X will no doubt understand.
Perhaps it was the mid pubescent testosterone overload style that put me off. Perhaps there was a whole stash of valuable advice hidden in the drivel and profanity (X - this means I didn’t think the swear words enhanced your work). Perhaps I should have read past page 20…..
Must say Ros, I was surprised you sent this to your list. I’d much prefer to “learn” from materials written in the style of the SAH which is low on hype, high on professionalism.
50+ pages! of which at least 20 are drivel.
Rant over.
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Stephen Voight on January 6th, 2007 11:29 am
Ros,
I think the person who wrote the report is angry,to say the least. But, he/she has some valid points. Most of it seems to be a pitch for the magic covert dvds. My guess is that by owning the information he is talking about, one would have an edge in our marketing but I tend to believe it is all about taking action no matter what information you possess. The report gives us a highly profitable nugget in that it says the only way to make a solid living as a long term affiliate is by developing a system that keeps you in control of the list and traffic. That has been taught in a number of different ways by a lot of others in our industry, They are not bitter and don’t seem to have to use so many “soldier words” in their copy.
I would not be a buyer of these dvds.
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Richard on January 6th, 2007 11:30 am
The affiliate marketing scam report left me feeling unsettled for the simple fact that “gutter” level language was freely used.
Sadly, when such language is employed, it takes away from the value of the message.
In addition, there were one or two claims within the fabric of the letter which raised some questions and doubts for the reader.
If the approach employed more professionalism it probably would have peeked my interest.
Respectfully,
Richard
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Rusty Moore on January 6th, 2007 11:33 am
I liked his comment about AdSense income Vs. Affiliate Income. I have always believed that people could make more from Affiliate Comissions than AdSense, if the page was laid out well. I’m curious about his product, but my guess is that he will simply tell people to capture names and e-mail addresses with a squeeze page while promoting Affiliate Programs. I might be wrong…
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Joseph on January 6th, 2007 11:46 am
I don’t buy many (if any) Web marketing schemes, and I wait a few weeks, maybe a month, and purchase the items on eBay(TM) for less than $1 USD.
When I see some “report” or ebook that seems interesting, I search eBay(TM), and more often than not, that ebook is there…and cheap.
I am a licensed professional counselor, and my long relationship with a code of ethics seems to prevent me from using tactics like the ones I see Internet marketers using. I am still looking for an honest way to make money online.
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Leonard Mullen on January 6th, 2007 11:47 am
I was caught up in the idea that others were stealing my commission, but according to Mr.X, a much greater percentage is just not recorded for whatever reason.
Also, it seems that he has the experience and has walked the talk. He is quite persuasive in his line of reasoning and I am highly tempted to pursue his information further.
Please let us know what you think, because you do speak from experience and I do need to hear your perspective on it.
Thanks,
Leonard
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denny frey on January 6th, 2007 12:21 pm
hi Rosalind. just a quick note on the Sham thing. I haven’t had any experience on affiliate marketing because I haven’t been able to manufacture enough money to get into it. I haven’t been able to free up enough cash to get started. However, that doesn’t keep me from commenting. I believe as I stated in my book about Ebay selling, that one can not maker a living doing ebay as per say so and that one would need some working capital to do what I think is poosible in the world of the internet. I believe that the way to make am income on the internet is to get other companies invovled with your own website and to use ebay as a means to do just that through the about me page. I don’;t believe that you can manufacture a profitable website by strictly one or the other. We tried a website some time ago, like four years back and getting traffic to that site was like pulling teeth. using Corey Rudl’s Insider secrets version 3-0 as our guidelines, it was still tough. I think a lot of website activity and running a profitable business has a lot to do with the product you’re offering and also what kind of luck you have. As far as the scam thing, if all the companies had scam and were offering affiliates to make money for themselves I don;t think they’d be in business that long. Of coruse, let’s all remember the famous expression there a sucker born every minute, and the added phrase, and two to take him. I don’t believe that they are all scams, although there might be some however I believe that this person that wrote this report is probably peeved in that he didn’t make any real money on the internet simply because like my self, he doesn’t know how. Denny Frey
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Marcy Smith on January 6th, 2007 12:50 pm
Although I found the article a bit heavy-handed, there are some areas that, if true, that we do need to be concerned about. If it is true that we, as affiliates, are not getting 100% of the sales due us, then there is something to stand up and shout about. More power to X if his brand of shouting works. It’s not personally by style, but if it works, that’s great.
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Martin Edic on January 6th, 2007 12:57 pm
The entire useful message could have been distilled down to one page. Does this kind of thing have the potential to hurt affiliates? Your endless sales letter technique, which his diatribe is just another version of, is a very old school approach to sales copy. It works (I bought your book) but its a limiting approach that I personally would like to have the option of skipping- just give me a concise pitch with real value instead of endless repetition and I’ll buy. The pitch I want to hear is ‘how I’ll make more than this book cost me inturns of money and time to digest and use its ideas’.
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Pat on January 6th, 2007 12:57 pm
What can I say Ros. I am hardly in the position to have an opinion. However the nature of the Net and how it is practically faceless and unaccountable of course it is open to all kinds of abuse and people with only $ signs in their eyes will take advantage of anyone
Merchants possibly most of all….if they can get away with it. This is a fact of human nature . But you can’t fool all of the people all of the time and eventually they lose out.
The positive optimisitic honest approach works best Is my gut feeling and so I think his report is distasteful and I would rather not follow in his footsteps but try to learn the correct approach to protecting myself and my efforts on the net.I have already been burned by several Internet marketers …mostly through my own inexperience lack of Internet savvy.I know once they axe one there is no redress they just don’t have the time to waste on an individual who doesn’t know the ropes.They have their eye on the big WWW.there are plenty more where I came from and I am dispensible.That is their mind set.
The Internet I think is still in it’s infancy it hasn’t even reached adolescence yet. By the time it reaches adulthood it will be the same as in the real world ( which incidently it is still a part of) When it reaches it’s full potential then it will be the big boys as usual in charge they will have the game sewn up.The brains and the know how will beat the competition hands down.they will call the shots and we will be working for them again.
Until that happens here’s hoping .From one who gets traffic mainly from go no where blogs, who buy absolutely nothing.
Have a Happy New Year Ros you are O.K.
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Nancy on January 6th, 2007 13:43 pm
I liked the report, it’s upfront in your face and enlightening. A breath of fresh air, because there really is a lot of crap out there, and way too many crap information marketers, adding to information overload. If I had a dollar for every spelling and gramatical error I’ve read in so many (so called Guru)sales letters and ebooks I would be rich by now. Can’t these so called people in the know, even use spell check in their computer? That goes to show you what kind of crap is out there.
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Colin Thomson on January 6th, 2007 13:47 pm
Hi Rosalind
I am one of the newbies online in earnings as I don’t make much at all. I have been trying for years to succeed online and found ”X’’s article great but just the same as all the big guys and gals!!
I have come to expect all the successful people to really hype their great discovery up and simply sell a whole lot of stuff for over inflated prices, giving you thousands of dollars worth of freebies that you can actually get from other sources anyway.
They all claim to have found something fantastic and tell their lists that we must get this really because it will change our lives.
I don’t know who to trust, yourself excepted, and really couldn’t be bothered reading all the crap anymore.
With the ”X” article I nearly signed his/her form simply because yeah I have been stung by Google and stung by paying out hundreds of dollars for information that is useful but it doesn’t actually tell me how to Make Money!!
So did ”X” article gain my trust?
Nearly but not enough, so I decided to make a comment on your site and hopefully get a great reply from your good self Rosalind. I have been getting your newsletter for a couple of months now and actively promote your Super Affiliate EBook on my site.
I do look forward to further comments from your readers and from yourself.
Yours Sincerely
Colin Thomson
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Candy Steele on January 6th, 2007 15:37 pm
I read affiliate marketing sham. I agree with some of what he says, everything seems to be a ploy for backend sales daily in my email box. You are an exception and I know Holly Mann and she is not that way. You just have to learn how to weed through all the crap. He is trying to lure you into buying his product too, probably overpriced. Your ebook and Hollys are affordable and have more helpful information than most. I market both at superaffiliateshandbooks.com I try to be honest in what I do and it is not easy getting started and making money. I am still working on that but am on my way.
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Jane Snowberger on January 6th, 2007 15:43 pm
I have never been able to start any type of internet business or affiliate program due to the fact I have never been given the complete help and instructions to approach it with any success. Also, I do not have the money it takes to do all the marketing and stay alive long enough to get any where at all. I think it is all a bunch of crap and sick of being scammed out of every cent I have with zero return.
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Brad on January 6th, 2007 16:31 pm
I think the sham report has two-thirds really good information; there could be a lot there. However, the extremely competitive and angry tone leaves me cold - if I have to be like this guy to achieve success, what’s the point? Furthermore, I’ve already achieved a great deal of success doing work I love without resorting to such a cutthroat attitude.
There is a better way.
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Max Percy on January 6th, 2007 16:46 pm
Some of what he said made real sense.With so much comment on afilliate marketing much of it conflicting, for a new entrant into this marketing it becomes very confusing in what to believe. I prefer to listen to yourself whom I trust and has proved yourself and take my lead from your comments.
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Jordan M on January 6th, 2007 17:29 pm
Dear Rosalind:
I enjoyed Affiliate Marketing Sham very much (it confirmed a lot of what I already know - and a lot I didn’t know - about Internet affiliate marketing.) But I have 3 questions:
1.) Even though it wasn’t a ‘hard sell’, I am trying to figure out what the author is selling (if anything) because ‘line me up, I’m probably a buyer’; 2.) What is the author’s ‘true’ motivation in providing the .pdf (an audience? a ‘pre-sell’ for his upcoming DVDs? and 3. The author has what seems like a legitimate beef with someone else in his industry - but why is that beef so important to be included in his .pdf? Are we to learn a lesson from it (because if there is a lesson, yes I’d like to know)
That’s all. Thank you, Rosalind!
-Jordan M.
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Renee on January 6th, 2007 17:40 pm
Yes, Mr. “X” makes sense…the rule-makers change the game so fast it’s hard to keep up (and make the same $$)…keeping control makes every bit of sense. I’m just tired of the “attack” mode (is EVERYBODY really this angry). And then again, I guess you have to write for your audience–and what an audience it is: filled with rich jerks (no pun intended) laughing all the way to the bank.
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Steven on January 6th, 2007 18:01 pm
I think what he has to say is very valuable and very interesting. Somewhat hyped but has valid points. His rant with Lozer was a little much and though it was used figuratively(be careful what you wish for)someone might take him up on his offer. It was a very good read and my interest is peaked.I would not use his exact tactics but keep it close to the letter.
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Dewey Clark on January 6th, 2007 18:37 pm
Hi Ros, I really have a hard time seeing the difference from one to the other program, if one looks back over a few years, they all say the same thing with rearainged word, just mr opinion.
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Lloyd Adams on January 6th, 2007 20:32 pm
Re: Aff.Mktg.Sham: Too much hype for me. X came on like ‘GangBusters.’ Hope it isn’t true that Internet Marketers ‘use and dump neophytes.’ As a Super Affiliate, Rosalind, do you see yourself ‘being used - or a Big-Time Loser?’
Framkly,that Circus Barker approach to promoting a product (report in this instance) really turns me off.
I usually do not follow the link - ‘read on.’
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Mark on January 6th, 2007 21:13 pm
Actually I found it gruff and unexpected and was suprised that it was coming from your recommendations. The content may be accurate, but if I wanted that level of venomous spew or prolonged rant I’d sign up for the help desk at a methodone clinic on a day they ran out. I want facts, concise and simple. Not a Tom Clancy/Blink 182 meets Miss Manners firefight.
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Steve Knorr on January 6th, 2007 21:47 pm
This guy is a litle over the top and seems to have a grudge with a fellow Internet marketer.
However I think he may have some valid points.
The one thing I would like is to have a system to see if referrals that I have made are getting credited to me. I have often wondered if I was getting credited with my referrals.
He is a bit vulger but I hope that is just a marketing ploy.
Steve Knorr
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Paul on January 6th, 2007 22:38 pm
While I initially found his approach to be on the strong side, I have to give it to ‘X’…he raised some interesting points. I’ve recently started making the move towards building a list, which I’ve been hearing as good advice from many marketers, including you, Ros
I appreciate the move to separate oneself from the rest of the pack, so I’d probably try to use that approach in my marketing efforts.
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its_me_shaners on January 7th, 2007 7:42 am
Wow thats one peeved off rant/sales page. But it was good that he layed out what a lot of us newer to the game might have been suspecting. I personally found it entertaining.I do think that tracking in tis industry SUCKS HUGE. And I also suspect it is designed that way. Greed and lazyness on the part of merchants of course. Customer support is also lousy, for the above listed reasons I suspect as well. Nothing worse than emailing off a question about what ever product and getting some Virtual asst reply with a generic non-specific answer. The other point I have noticed that he makes very apparent is the deluge of “get rich quick crap products being flogged by every other IM “guru. Joel comm is particularly bad for this, he mentions cody moya but based on the number of emails I get Joel comm is by far worse than cody. While its good to monetize a “list”, I hate being referred to as an income point. Anik Singal is getting bad for this too. If you have to be on these lists be on them to learn how to write emails, and Nothing else. Unfortunately there are a lot IM junkies out there, who’ll buy everything. Like MLM junkies of which I personally know a few. On his point of list building for others I do feel I should be compensated for sending people to opt ins. Based on my exit link tracking and by the number of people I send to various places. I know I am not being compensated for building someon elses business. My personal opinion on all of this is that the business model on the net doesn’t mirror the real world in any way shape or form. I am in the custom home building niche in the real world. I have to cultivate relationships by giving discounts, customer service and a number of other things in order to get contracts and keep my pjt managers happy. This doesnt appear to be the case on the net. In my business I have suppliers that I buy from then resell their product. I get 80% off some products. Basically I am buying using my aff link and then reselling much higher to maintain costs and make a profit. In IM land merchants cry that people buy using their own aff link. If you want me to promote your product you better give me a discount, Know what I mean. Any hoo thanks for the ebook ros and thanks for letting me have my say. Hope all is well with you.
Cheers and beers from Canada
Shane
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Dave on January 7th, 2007 8:23 am
Read the antagonistic sales letter, blah, blah,blah. Filled in the obligatory pop up for further info. Read that this ‘Mr X’ is “not interested in dealing with Newbies or Know it Alls” Being a newbie I wish you’d mentioned that and I’d have not wasted my time reading through it all.
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Sandra on January 7th, 2007 10:57 am
Hi Ros,
the report was a pure waste of time. Mainly self-promotional and guiding you to buy his soon-to-be product.
Would you have recommended it to your readers, if it wasn’t for the 35 cents you get per download?
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John A Ciampa on January 7th, 2007 11:01 am
My Name is John And I Have been at this for a year I love It. there is no doubt the system has problems This means you do more. Because of Rosalind Gardner I kept my eyes open blogs,podcast,youtube,revver,lists,newsletters.
The good thing for me is I was broke when I started and could not dump money into ppc so I had to look for away and I did Blogs Are powerful. just look at all of us good job rosalind Thanks for your book. Newsletters are great source of info that is right on the trend.
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John on January 7th, 2007 14:31 pm
Ros,
I manage Affiliate sales for what we hope is a respected and trusted publisher with a handful of products and well over $1 million sales each of the past couple of years.
We sell through ClickBank (though aren’t 100% happy with them), commission our Affiliates 75% and work with them as closely as we can despite C/B’s efforts to keep us away from them….
I read X’s comments and I think there were some valid points. We do EVERYTHING we can to make sure our Affiliates get paid what they unquestionably deserve. What other do is out of my control.
Quite apart from slim profit margins I think there is a larger picture, and that I think X’s blast is a PEFECT example of what’s going on in this “industry” now. There haven’t been major advances in the way we do business fundamentally for two years, however, the purveyors of information have gotten MUCH BETTER at promoting. That is, even minute “developments” are now getting hype and attention FAR in excess of what they merit or deserve.
I subscribe to a number of what I believe are key newsletters as a way to keep up with developments in internet marketing and am getting really tired of the waves of blasts that come with product launches. The cross-promotion and mutual stroking that is going on is WAY out of hand. I shudder to think of what it must be like for a new marketer to try to sift through all the sh*t that’s out there to get a handle on what the important points are to internet marketing and how they should get started.
Each day I spend several hours working with new and seasoned Affiliates to help them get the best possible results for their efforts. To be honest I see the old 80/20 rule play out day after day, but I also understand that the 20% that produce well will need to grow if we are to grow, and adding even one good Affiliate to this group each month is well worth the time and effort.
So what do I think of X’s “report”. That there’s probably a seed of truth in it but reading through the angst, anger and hype isn’t worth it, and I guess we’ll go on making money in partnership with our Affiliates the “old fashioned” way – one relationship at a time.
I can’t speak for others, but we are well aware of where our income comes from and who generates it, and we do everything we can to make life easy for our Affiliates including rewarding them handsomely for the work they do.
Please note that I did not include a URL with this message, and I would ask that you not print my e-mail address as I don’t want to be accused of tooting my own horn on your blog and profiting from it. We already have enough of that going around.
Thanks and best regards,
John
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Ken on January 7th, 2007 22:54 pm
Hi Ros,
Very interesting, and useful. I didn’t read his whole report for a couple of reasons. First of all, it became clear that his marketing approach is to plug into the programming we have received through the TV, Radio, Magazine and news media, that of gaining attention with controversy, conflict, rage, and violence. Even though I am aware that more and more marketers are turning to this to gain attention, I was still caught up in it for a short time.
The second reason I didn’t finish the report is that I feel using gutter language is unprofessional and totally unnecessary. The more that professionals condone the use of such language by ignoring it and getting into his program, the greater popularity it will gain. I refuse to be a part of it.
The third reason was what I take to be inherent lack of honesty. He is hammering affiliate programs and yet all he is doing is promoting (pre-selling) his own. In addition, he is trying to play off John Reese’s station by attacking him. To me he shows very little ethics in this approach. Also, until I read the first part of Mr. X’s report, I had never heard of the “Black Book” or what ever. I think it is safe to say that at the very least he promoted to his own list (which he denies) to sell out so quickly, if indeed he did. Let’s just say that I think that Mr. X falls in the catagory of marketers that I try very carefully to avoid. I have deleted and unsubscribed to everything associated with him.
I want to thank you Ros for puting this up. I am now forewarned about him and his tactics and I can now block his address.
Thanks again.
Ken
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lynda on January 8th, 2007 0:45 am
I had found this report previously and for the second time did not receive the link in my inbox. I can only assume that my ISP has branded it as spam. Sounds like I’m not missing much though!
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lynda on January 8th, 2007 1:31 am
Sorry, I replied too soon, I did receive it, it was a little slow in coming. I thought the guy made some sense and didn’t find it too offensive, with the exception of his nihilistic tendencies! He crystallised some of the nagging thoughts I had in my mind, a quite convincing sales letter I thought, notwithstanding the comments of the ethical fellow above, there does seem some obvious loopholes in the way affiliate marketing is currently run. Although I am a newbie and taking things slowly as I learn, the sums I have done on various PPC strategies make an income seemingly quite hard to come by as competition and costs increase. I sense there is a sea change coming and maybe what this guy has to say points to what the change will be?
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David Todd on January 8th, 2007 7:47 am
Hi Roz,
Blog classroom newby here.
I don’t like LOUD RAP, or people yelling at me or mysterious( “X” ) unidentified sales professionals touting their products which are also mysterious.
Who is this person yelling and selling me a tool or product -a product that he/she never specifically identifies? I tend to think it’s a young man due to the tone and language and excess testosterone.
I do not like the ad.
David
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FREE Life Saving Tips on January 8th, 2007 8:05 am
I wish more online marketers were honest like Rosi. Most of them sell crappy ebooks with no value. God Bless Rosalind for her Super Affiliate Handbook!
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Lara Fabans on January 8th, 2007 10:14 am
My first impression was “Well, in grammar school, when you wanted to make a report seem more then what it was, you wrote larger.”
Content-wise, I found it to be pretty thin of useful information. It’s obviously a sales pitch to purchase something down the road, and .X. is building his/her list. Well, good for .X. However, .X. violated one of the big rules of copywriting…..X. did not build up my trust in them. They could be making it up. I have no way of knowing how true the information is or even really how knowledgeable .X. is. Lesson to be learned? Write good copy and put your best face forward.
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Hayan on January 8th, 2007 10:50 am
The issues raised in this report are interesting, particularly about the loss of commissions.
However, what was said about PPC advertising and list building is certainly nothing new. Its already known that it has become increasingly more difficult over the years to use PPC as a form of advertising, forcing people to change tactics.
There’s already very useful resources out there from trustworthy marketers that I have bought that have been incredibly useful to me.
Everyone should know how important it is to build lists and I, as an affiliate, have not had any problems in doing so.
Its quite evident to see this guy is using the very powerful tool of paranoia to pursue interest.
Does he have anything new up his sleeve?
I’m intrigued, but I’m not going to find out first hand, since this ‘X’ person has failed to build any trust.
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andrew wee on January 9th, 2007 1:10 am
After you read the report, you might also like to check out X’s other site DeathOfCrap.com.
If you’re going to do copywriting, you can either:
1) do what everyone else does, and get what everyone else gets.
2) do the opposite of what everyone else is doing, and get very interesting results (instant fans OR a cult of people waiting to bring you down. Or likely a combination of both).
There’s an adage that there’s no new knowledge, just old knowledge being presented in a new way.
Affiliate Marketing once you think of it, has it’s roots in direct marketing, door-to-door sales (even if you’re ‘knocking’ on the email doorstep of someone halfway around the world).
If you can figure out what’s happening in the marketplace now, and step it up/reposition/reframe it a different way, you’d have the beginnings of a ‘revolution’. (though it might merely be old wine in a new bottle).
[Reply]
nelly on January 9th, 2007 7:40 am
Hi Ros, Hi everyone,
Most his (or her’s?) comments are eyes opening for me since I don’t even have a website yet, just educating myself.
I do think it’s deliberately high with hype. It looks like a way of doing a big income sale with just one product. On the other hand,if everything he mentions is true, why hide and not reveal who he is. Well known respectable marketer or new coming guru?
Internet Marketing Secrets revealed by Secret Internet Marketer. Umm!
In any case, good because I learned quite a few things from it. Too bad the anger is so obvious.
[Reply]
Dee on January 9th, 2007 10:03 am
I think it was a lot of talking and not concrete solutions. He did raise some interesting points and it is good to get a cynic’s view so you don’t get snowed under by affilaite programs that mismanage or don’t pay out.
However, I kept scrolling down and down the page waiting for the “big secret” and there was nothing that really knocked my socks off.
Definitely could have been better.
[Reply]
Jennifer on January 9th, 2007 15:25 pm
Hi Rosalind,
Based on what I read, my guess the Sham will tell you how to build your own business/list instead of building someone elses list… and that is not new.
Best read SAH, and don’t waste your money on something else.
[Reply]
Rod Suiter on January 10th, 2007 9:48 am
Read the introduction and wasn’t compelled go go any further. He obviously is planning to sell great volumes of something to get start up capital for whatever. His presentation was okay but I smelled a rat ahead, but Im sure he got some bites there’s a sucker born every second as W.C. Fields once said. Im not that sucker.
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Alec on January 11th, 2007 19:05 pm
I think that this person may have suffered a lot of the same trashy E-Books and information that is foisted upon the unsuspecting newbie like myself.
With very few exceptions, these E-Books offer to show one ‘How To’ and never follow through with anything substantive. If this is the way to market, they’ll have a short internet life.
I enjoyed your book and have benefitted from it.However, you seem to be one of the few.
I think it may pay these folk to build a genuine business if they wish to stick around. This person may have been rough with his accusations and wording, but out in the real world when I had my business, one only succeeded when the purchaser received a benefit for their investment.NOT the case for most E-Books — just a bunch of regurgitated trash.
It seems this person is angry, also maybe an axe to grind. Wonder what type of affiliate program he wants us to join - it appears that he is creating one.
[Reply]
Jim on January 17th, 2007 19:41 pm
Hi Rosalind,
Could write a lot of negative things about X but I’ll keep it simple and just say it SUX.
Jim
[Reply]
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