My aim in this blog post is to try and show you the reality of why so many people fail, even though they’re busting their ass for hours on end, day after day.
This isn’t a preach-fest, nor is it some obscure new-age theory. Furthermore, it’s not exclusive to newbies. We ALL “suffer” from these symptoms from time to time, no matter how experienced.
But this is especially important for beginners, as well as anyone who’s never seen any kind of REAL results from this business.
If you read this and actually take it to heart (and take action) – I promise you this – 2010 will be drastically different for you…
It drives me NUTS when I get emails from people who I know are honestly giving this their best shot within the context of their abilities and situation – and I know instantly based on the types of questions they’re asking (or whatever) that they don’t have a chance in hell.
And of course – I try to set them straight, put them on the right path.
But their mindset and “what they’ve learned” blocks it out. The wheat gets lost among the chaff, and it all becomes a big, confusing (disappointing) mess.
Which is truly sad.
Because the real way to success in this industry is far, far easier and simpler than most think. And that “way” will become clear to you as I go through the following 3 “failure symptoms”…
3 Symptoms of a Marketer Who’s Destined for Failure:
Symptom #1: Perfectionism
This is a silent killer because being a “perfectionist” can in many ways be a good thing. (It’s better than being a slacker). But it becomes a problem when the constant improvements, “setbacks” and bar-raising is either a subliminal fear of action/failure/success – or perhaps indicative of a deeper issue, like a lack of confidence in one’s self; and therefore your product.
Even though in most cases the product, or the site – or whatever – is beyond finished. (Just promote the damn thing already!)
We all know someone who’s been “working on their site” or whatever for what seems like forever. Sure, they’ll tell you it’s almost done. Just a few days left. Etc.
Ask them in 3 months, and you’ll get the same old song. And they’re still broke.
And chances are, most of us have been guilty of it as well (I have in the past, for sure). It’s funny how it’s more comfortable to keep things in “idea” mode or the development stage because you still have an “out” – isn’t it?
That is the root of perfectionism, folks: FEAR.
When I look back at all the stuff I’ve done in the last few years – all the sites I’ve built, all the crap I’ve tried doing, etc – the bottom line is that I ONLY got results when I finished something and rolled it out. Period.
And what’s ironic is that some of my biggest performers were things that took a few DAYS to put together and promote. 5 page sites generating double-digit sales transactions daily. Info-products that were assembled and produced in less than a week. And so on.
And inversely, I’ve also had stuff that took me forever to roll out, and by the time it was all said and done, I’ve probably made more money from my “simple and fast” strategies in the meantime anyway.
That isn’t always the rule.
But the mindset always applies.
And on top of that, there is no substitute for experience. The more you actually finish, the more you truly learn. And it’s a lot easier to springboard from one experience into the next, learning from mistakes (and leveraging profitable discoveries) as you go.
So if you catch yourself continually adding to your tasklist… ask yourself why, and answer truthfully.
Getting big results doesn’t require perfection. It just requires ACTION.
Just like our Canadian hockey-legend (Wayne Gretzky) was quoted saying, “100% of the shots you don’t take won’t go in…”
Symptom #2: “Space Pen” Syndrome
Back when NASA was trying to figure out how to get a man on the moon, they were obviously presented with an endless series of insane technological challenges – and for obvious reasons, given that at the time the average calculator was about the size of my desk.
One of the issues they faced was something really simple. Astronauts couldn’t use a conventional pen in a zero-gravity environment because the ink would simply “float” in the pen.
So what they did was develop the most technologically advanced zero-gravity pen the world had ever seen. The damn thing could even write underwater, since the ink was pressurized.
It took years and God-knows how much (tax) money to develop these ridiculous space pens.
The end result?
Astronauts could now write stuff in space, doodle, etc.
And guess what the Russians did…
They used pencils.
The end result was the same. Cosmonauts could do all the same things as the American astronauts (with the exception of writing underwater), without the months or perhaps years of development, testing and expense.
And I see so many marketers doing the same thing – over-complicating every single task and going way beyond the realm of necessity when it comes to building and marketing their sites.
Everyone’s so caught up with all the latest social media crap, “linkwheels”, spinning their content (which takes forever and has little, if any, benefit), widgets, plugins, etc…
…that they’re missing the POINT.
Make offers. Create content. Promote it.
Not rocket science, folks. Not even space-pen science.
And pretty much everything, with very few exceptions, still works today just as well as it did 10+ years ago. If you think it doesn’t – try it. The fundamentals have NOT changed. And it’s the fundamentals (converting copy, building good content, targeted offers, list-building) that build wealth.
Not “tactics”. And definitely not space pens.
(Hint: All those people out there clogging up the marketing forums with their SEO tactics, “new” strategies, etc… guess what? Chances are they’re broke or making a mediocre living at best. The big dogs are doing what they’ve always done. And it’s not hard to see what that is.)
Symptom #3: Always Looking for Shortcuts
Wanna know what’s funny about most people who are always looking for that ultimate tactic or shortcut?
It takes them 3 times longer (and they put in way more effort) to get the same results as someone who simply does it the right way the first time.
(And there’s usually no long-term effect, either. The guy who’s out there blackhatting has to constantly work in order to “stay on top”. In contrast, the guy who’s produced genuinely good content and earned his traffic, reputation, etc. will see effortless traffic & revenue for years. Which one sounds better to you?)
I’ve seen this repeatedly over the years. Both with my own activities and others. In fact, these days I don’t even care about “tricks” or “new tactics” for driving traffic, etc. I just don’t care.
And I really don’t think I’m missing out, because I’ve gotten to the point where my time is simply better spent working on my core business model (and enjoying my life) than staying up into the wee hours testing out some freakish tactic.
Anyway, let me give you a real-life example of why “shortcuts” are anything but smart…
My partner on the Affiliate Genie project (Matt Chitty) comes from a sales background, and a few years ago he was actually one of the top sales managers on a nationwide scale for a very large Electronics retailer up here in Canada.
As Matt puts it, there are two types of producing salespeople on the floor.
Type 1: “Mr. Tactic”
This is the guy who hard-sells, uses all the “sales tricks” and will basically tell the customer whatever they want to hear just to make that sale.
He typically does the most volume at first, but he also loses a lot of commissions due to returns, etc. Moreover, because he only cares about the sale, the customers can easily sense this and they’ll avoid him next time. He always has to find new customers.
This means that Mr. Tactic has to work long hours and hard-sell all day long to keep up his numbers.
And nobody likes him. All he gets out of it is the cash. (I’m sure about a bazillion people come to mind who fit this description…)
And, then - there’s the other guy.
The anomaly that Mr. Tactic can’t stand…
Type 2: “Mr. Truthful“
This is the guy who’s your typical down-to-earth dude who seems to have more of an interest in the products he sells than he does about actually selling them.
He doesn’t try and “close” every customer he meets. Nor does he exaggerate or talk out of his ass when customers ask questions about what a product does. He simply shares what he does know, and he helps the customer find exactly what they actually need. Regardless of his commissions.
He’s not as “high energy” as Mr. Tactic. And maybe he’s a little bit plain on the exterior. But over time, people come to know him as being someone you can trust.
Mr. Truthful will have regular sales levels for the first little while. His results at first won’t be anything too shocking, maybe a bit above average. But there will be next to no returns on his commissionable sales, since he’s upfront with the customer.
However…
As the weeks and months go by, something strange starts happening.
Happy customers come back, as do their friends, who specifically seek out Mr. Truthful. This slowly becomes a sort of “chain reaction”, to the point where Mr. Truthful is actually doing the same volume of sales as Mr. Tactic – with the difference being that it’s effortless and painless.
He doesn’t have to “trick” people into buying, nor does he have to “work” a prospect. All he does is basically just help people who want to deal with him all day long. And since his sales generally don’t generate any returns, at the end of the day he’s actually making more money than Mr. Tactic.
Even though he’s working shorter hours and, plainly speaking, not even ”trying”. It just flows to him.
Over time, this sets up Mr. Truthful in a high-paying sales career that he can enjoy and prosper with as long as the company stays in business.
But for the other guy – over time, inevitably, Mr. Tactic will burn out and try and make it big somewhere else, only to meet the same results over and over again due to the core issue – he doesn’t care about the customer, he cares about his results. (Sound familiar?)
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This “Mr. Tactic” approach is what plagues internet marketing.
I understand that we’re all in this to make money. And that’s totally okay.
But you have to realize that if you treat your visitors with contempt and don’t care about the fact that they’re spending money based on your recommendations, then every sale you generate will be a fight.
And you’ll have a never-ending slew of nasty emails, complaints, refunds – or worse.
On the flipside, if you come across as genuine with your visitors and genuinely try to help them – they’ll buy from you in droves! And they’ll love you for it. Then they’ll buy from you again, and again… etc.
That is how you build true wealth online, folks.
It’s not about “tactics” or the latest technique. It’s about building trust and influence.
That’s something you can’t simulate. No sales tactic on earth is going to make somebody trust you. The only way to “get” trust is to earn it. And you do that by publishing good content and providing valuable, honest stuff to your people.
And guess what?
When you have good content and genuinely cool stuff to offer – everything literally falls into place for you. Getting backlinks is easy. It’ll happen naturally. Getting JV’s is brainless. People will want to work with you – you’ll be the one turning down offers that don’t match (not vice-versa).
And of course – making sales is a breeze. When people trust you, they’ll buy stuff just because you recommended it. Some people won’t even look at the offer (literally, this happens). They just buy because they trust your word.
You think you can do that with some weird-ass “hypnotic sales trick” or something?
Um… no. I don’t care what anyone claims – you can’t. You only get to that level by establishing trust.
But it all starts with the basics:
1. Create Genuinely Good Content
2. Make Relevant Offers Prominently on Your Site
3. Promote Your Site
That’s the “big secret” folks. The ultimate tactic – and it’s all you have to do if you really want to hit it on the web, long-term. All of the sites I’ve created where I’ve actually catered to the visitor as a paramount concern are still running strong as ever, and many are several years old.
And on top of that, getting backlinks and stuff was a breeze. All I’d do is simply email all the other sites, show them some cool function or helpful article on the site, and ask for a link or a “story” on it for their readers. For one of my sites in particular, out of about 200 emails like that – 40 of them willingly did so. And one was even a PR8 news site
In contrast, I’m lucky if my little “tester sites” and small conduit sites (which have a purpose of their own) see maybe 6 months of solid traffic before they fade down to a small trickle.
Value matters.
It’s been working since 1995 (or whenever the internet was “born”), and it works just as well today.
And it seems so straight-forward.
Just like using a pencil in space…
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Okay – now here’s how to take all that stuff I just said and make a crap-load of money with it this year…
First, you need to identify areas where these symptoms are showing up. Maybe you’re freezing up and endlessly delaying your sites because they aren’t “good enough”.
This needs to stop. Who cares if your sites aren’t perfect? Your visitors don’t. (And your bank account certainly doesn’t).
Just get them out there and marketed. Period.
You can make them better later.
Now I’m not saying that you take shortcuts or skimp out on value. But what I am saying is that you need to cut out stuff that isn’t an absolute necessity and just FINISH your sites so you can start building links, getting traffic, buying ads – whatever.
Or maybe you’re over-complicating everything.
You think that you need to “leverage” every available trick in the book to maximize your traffic. So you insist on setting up all the latest SEO plugins, developing a 300-message autoresponder series, having your site “drip” content automatically, you spin all your articles and submit them various ways, you set up peel-away ads and exit scripts, etc.
None of that stuff is necessarily bad (in fact lots of it is very profitable) – but if it’s causing you to be overwhelmed… or if you think that it’s all required – stop it.
Just start with the basics, and as your traffic increases, you can add stuff as you need to.
Remember that two complete sites with NO gimmicks will almost always out-earn a single site with EVERY gimmick. (And I’m talking about affiliate sites here, not authority sites or products which are a different animal and not something you dive into before you test the waters).
So if you feel like you have to build a “space pen”, just remember that a pencil will do the same damn thing, and you can always improve stuff LATER.
And finally – maybe the issue is that none of your sites are converting well (even if they get tons of traffic and you’re promoting proven, hot offers) because your content isn’t genuine.
You need to realize, then, that your product reviews, your articles, your presells – everything – needs to not only be truthful, but it has to be published with the intention of actually helping your visitors get the best solution for their needs.
If you’re honestly trying to help your people – it shows. Your visitors can sense that, and that’s how you become trusted.
You’ll sell more, you’ll get more links more easily, you’ll be able to do deals in the market easily – everything works better for you. And on top of that, it’s actually easier to do this since you don’t have to use “hype”. Just talk straight. And wherever possible, allow your visitors to lend their voice as well.
So if 2009 was a rough year, I can guarantee you that 2010 will be drastically different for you by doing the following:
1. Just Finish/Market Your Sites FAST & Improve Them LATER.
2. Keep it Simple & Stop Wasting Time Building “Space-Pen” Sites.
3. Be Genuine & Actually Give a Damn
A lot of people who read this won’t “get it”. They’ll be reading in between the lines looking for tricks, for things they can swipe for a quick buck, and so on. Those are the washouts, folks. Even if they do make a bit of money, it’s always short-lived.
Anyone who’s actually made real money as an affiliate (or any kind of marketer), and I mean well into the 6-figs, realizes that everything I’ve said here is literal. There is no hidden tactic or “trick” to making a pile of money in any viable market. It just comes down to getting sites up, creating helpful content and getting traffic (building links, ads & doing deals).
It’s that simple.
And it’s time to finally embrace that simplicity, rather than rationalize otherwise or believe the “hype”, which is being propogated by people with nothing better to do than rotting away on forums all day.
This is one of the main reasons I decided to package Affiliate Genie as a public offering.
Not only is it brain-dead simple for in terms of creating clean, effective affiliate sites - but it’s got interaction built right in. This allows you to be transparent with your visitors, and your conversions will soar if people sense that your content – and other’s comments – are the real deal.
And yes, it does support basically all the bells/whistles of any other WYSIWYG editor, scripts, etc – but that isn’t the focus.
The focus is on just getting your sites up, running and marketed as fast as possible with good, genuine content.
And that, my friends, is what “works” in 2009/2010.
Whether you choose to believe that is up to you.
All I’m saying is that it wasn’t “tactics” that has provided myself and my wife an amazing lifestyle (we’ve been to every continent), multiple revenue properties, a nice spacious 6-bedroom house for ourselves and a newly-acquired 2002 Porsche 911 Turbo (which I bought in cash – and yes it’s as fast as hell).
No, that’s the result of doing the FUNDAMENTALS. Building sites, building traffic and genuinely helping my visitors.
Just something to consider…
-Chris
P.S. We are days away now from releasing Affiliate Genie. Right now I’m just finishing the salesletter and completing the accompanying training materials. (Interested in promoting it? Email me at chris@chrisrempel.com)
P.P.S. Here’s a pic of my new (ridiculous) porsche:
The previous owner spent a small fortune upgrading it professionally through GMG Racing, and now it produces about 610 horsepower. When the turbos spool up (usually they really hit anywhere after 3500 RPM), it feels like you’re getting shot out of a big cannon or something… it’s insane.
Scary, actually. I’ve driven Ferraris, Maseratis, a Porsche C4S and my previous car was a BMW M3 (which was a very fast car as well)… but none of them come close to this car. It’s a monster.
The racing suspension package makes it pretty low, though I’ve already scraped the front end a bit coming out of a parking lot exit ramp (doh!).
There was a lot of feedback posted there, and I took it seriously. And accordingly, we’ve spent almost an entire month doing nothing else other than taking an already powerful, focused script and turning it into a full scale “what you see is what you get” affiliate CMS (content management system).
Particularly, a lot of people wanted to have the ability to enable/disable the ”product review mode” so they could have a more open-ended, multi-purpose site. So that’s a large part of the changes we’ve made.
And before I showcase some demo sites and list the current features of AffGenie…
…here’s the reader’s digest version of what it is:
Affiliate Genie is by far the easiest, fastest way to build interactive affiliate sites that actually sell. And by that I mean, these sites are streamlined with one sole purpose in mind – getting and converting traffic. Everything from their layout, to file structure to promotional functions.
These aren’t “blogs” and this isn’t some wordpress theme. This was built from the ground up by my team so I could simplify and expedite my own organic affiliate campaigns on a larger scale. In the process, it’s become something that could also be distributable.
Here’s a brief rundown of everything this does – and it’s pretty damn cool if I do say so myself…
• Build unlimited pages, categories, articles and product reviews
• Easily insert YouTube videos, opt-in forms, AdSense®, etc.
• Advanced users can easily insert almost any HTML code, script, tables, and so on directly into any page or article using the built-in code editor
• Engineered for maximum SEO visibility
• All layouts & features are specifically optimized for sales
• Moderated commenting system with anti-spam (better than captcha, non-defeatable human tests)
• Completely web-based
• Interactive review/rating system - perfect for organically optimized product reviews, and your visitors can add their own input, interaction, etc.
• Supports Google® Analytics
• Requires NO database! Just upload and start adding content! (This is huge, and levels the playing field for a lot of beginners – not to mention, it makes mass scaling for the intermediates and advanced affiliates a lot easier and simpler.)
• Automatically generates its own RSS feed & sitemap
• Creates short, SEO-friendly URL’s on any server that supports mod-rewrite
• Easier & simpler to use than WordPress®
And, of course…
• It’s created by experienced marketers, for marketers
So how about seeing it in action?
Sure thing…
Check out the following demo sites:
The first site I’ll take you through is your standard mix of articles and product reviews. This will actually be one of my own affiliate sites, and it’s in the “learn guitar” niche.
Right now it’s just got a basic content load, but will later have about 10-15 product reviews and 20 articles/tutorials.
One thing I need to make very clear is that the top-featured ”promo” (above article pages and product reviews) is what will drive, in my experience, basically about 90% of the sales. You’ll see some referred sales for the other products, but your “top-pick” will always seem the majority of CTR and conversions.
This is why it’s so paramount to use. I know it may look “weird” to have something like that above a product review, but remember that your most targeted, responsive traffic will be coming to your site on account of those reviews. (People in pre-purchase mode).
That’s the whole point…
Check out a sample product review on GuitarBeagle here
And check out an article page (with AdSense at the bottom, for the sake of example) here.
Alright, let’s check out another style of affiliate site that AffGenie can whip up…
This one’s promoting a single CPA offer, and sites like these can be very effective in terms of conversion and revenue – even from smaller amounts of traffic.
Again, like the guitar site, this is actually one of my future affiliate sites that will eventually be sporting about 30-40 pages of content.
I wanted to demo this site because it’s on another server of mine, where the shortURL’s are supported. It’s also an affiliate site without a single product review, which I thought was an important note to get across:
Affiliate Genie isn’t just a “conduit site builder”. It can produce massive content sites, all super-easy to customize and instantly switch up your offers, etc.
All from a web-based environment with NO database hassles.
Also on the life insurance site are some embedded YouTube videos here, and a sample of a high-impact offer location on one of the article pages.
Folks, this is literally all I do for my affiliate “tester” sites - a few of which earn full-time incomes single handedly from organic traffic alone, and many of which see daily sales or CPA conversions.
It all adds up… and it basically just comes down to actually doing it. Building and promoting sites.
Yes, some will flop – but many will get a nice flow of steady traffic and weekly sales. And a handful will really nail it. But it’s the cumulative effect that really starts adding up…
I hope it’s clear that this is a very powerful tool for doing this very easily and with NO technical skill required.
Just upload, add content, and promote.
Magical
And it’s coming soon.
We’ve been working on this fevorishly for months, now, and we’re basically getting to the pre launch phase.
-Chris
P.S. Same goes for the Aff Intel databases.
My data processing team is nearly completed inserting the estimated traffic volumes for all 2+ million keywords, and we are simply ironing out the web-based environment with refreshable values (which is really, really challenging, by the way… but we’re making progress)
Note: I’m not a lawyer, I don’t play one on TV, and this ain’t legal advice. But every jackass out there has an unsubstantiated opinion based on anything but expertise or qualification, and this happens to mine…
As many of you have probably heard, the FTC recently enacted some new advertising standards that directly affect internet marketing in general – across the whole board…
And this will impact basically every offer, presell and affiliate “review” you create from this point forward.
Namely, it deals with:
* Compensation Disclosure, and
* Honesty about Average Results
In summary, the new guidelines state that 1) you have to clearly disclose that you are either being compensated or have a vested interest (commissions) in the products, services or otherwise “stuff” you feature in ANY of your content, and 2) whenever you make claims about an offer – or publish testimonials – you have to either clarify or verify what the actual, average results are for an average user of the product.
This means that if you’re promoting, say, some sort of Forex trading offer or whatever and you’re telling your visitors that they can make “$10,000 a week!” or whatever the case may be – you actually have to back that up with verifiable proof that making 10 G’s a week is what the AVERAGE USER can expect.
And the same goes for using testimonials. You can no longer “hide behind” a blanket disclaimer at the bottom of the page that effectively sweeps responsibility under the rug.
From what I can interpret from the FTC guidelines (and it’s pretty vague), you can still use your showpiece testimonials that are NOT average, but instead of just saying “results not typical” or “results may vary” – you have to outright provide the *actual* average results in very close proximity to the testimonial.
Something like: “This user experienced substantially above-average results with this product. The average user can expect ___________”
(You can read a more in-depth take on the testimonial issue on Frank Kern’s blog, by the way…)
To be safe, I would honestly avoid using “crazy” testimonials that make huge claims – or list specific figures. I’ve never really used testimonials that much anyway, and sales have certainly been okay without them. Maybe there’d be a slight increase if I did include them, but not if I’m at risk of dealing with the Feds.
What it boils down to is that you’ve got to be authentic and realistic with your marketing. Even if your “average result” is far less than what’s possible if people actually TRY or WORK, you need to convey that clearly. What I would be inclined to do as a vendor is to survey the different “levels” of my customers and showcase those as well.
So it would be something like:
* Average Result of Using Widget Overall = 2
* Average Results of People Who Buy This and Do Nothing = 0, Which Comprises 70% of All Customers (or whatever)
* Average Results of People Who Exerted a Medium Effort With Widget For Less Than 2 Weeks = 5, 20% of Customers
* Average Results of People Who Properly Applied Widget & Persevered Long Enough to See its Effects = 50, 10% of Customers
Now, I don’t know if that’s legal or not, or if you can only show overall average results – but in the interest of total transparency, I don’t see how “laying it out” like that would really hurt your sales that much. It may detract some of the dreamers, but those usually turn into sob-stories or refunders anyway.
The customers you really want to work with and sell to are motivated, serious, honest and discerning – and they are drawn to sales copy that is conveyed as such (honest, discerning, straight-up).
So in some ways, I see this as a *potentially* positive change, although any time the Government interferes with the free market, it’s usually the equivalent of asking a retarded Gorrilla to fix a swiss watch (as in, I’m sure the impending “federal carpet bombing” that’s about to take place will do exponentially more harm than good).
For example, when it comes to marketing information products – there truly is NO “average” result, since the results are entirely dependent on the individual, their own capabilities and confidence-levels, and their situation. This presents what some are calling a catastrophe in the making. (See Michel Fortin’s recent post for details).
The FTC says that it’s all going to be evaluated on a “case by case” basis… but all I can think about is a retarded Gorilla smashing a Rolex into the ground. Case by case or not, I’d hardly rely on the objectivity and logic of FTC employees (or crooked politicians looking for a public flogging to help their latest “campaign”).
All the more reason to stay conservative – and stay on top of the FTC’s inevitable clarifications to their emphatically vague guidelines.
So what does this all mean for US?
And what about strategies like “The Conduit Method”?
This is my take on it – and you can ask your lawyer to clarify/correct this for you, because this sure as hell is NOT legal advice or anything near it…
Basically, as an affiliate who is simply promoting a product, you need to do two things:
1. Clearly disclose your relationship with the merchant(s). Let your visitors know that you stand to profit if they buy through your site. You should have a message stating this on every page of your site, and I’d suggest placing it by the offer links as well. Don’t just “tuck it away” in your TOS.
This includes your blog posts, your “tweets”, your forum signatures, your review sites – everything. Call a spade a spade. Like I mentioned above, the only people this should detract are customers that you – or your vendors – probably wouldn’t wanna touch with a ten-foot caddle prod anyway. (There’s a good article on TechCrunch that explains more about the specifics of what is required for social media in particular…)
2. Be Factual, Honest & Conservative. Especially when it comes to using “snippets” from other reviewers, forum posts, and otherwise user comments. Clearly specify that the user comments cited or compiled are in no way indicative of any kind of verifiable results – and that all visitors are strongly cautioned to conduct their own due-diligence prior to making a purchase of any product you profile on your sites.
Also make it clear that you are simply a product researcher who is simply going off of what other users have posted around the web – which may well be completely inaccurate.
State this clearly. Again, it shouldn’t do anything except add credibility to your sites, anyway.
When it comes to making recommendations or using “strong” marketing verbage, I would be very careful about that unless you can back stuff up from your own experience with the product (and have verifiable proof to do so). Even so, you’ll need to make it clear that average user results are more than likely much less than what you experienced.
Beyond that, I really don’t know what to tell you.
I think this will weed out a LOT of marketers who’ve been using “fake comments”, false testimonials and stuff like that to create artificial social proof.
I also think that, in the long run, this is GOOD for people who offer value (ie. affiliates with authentic content), and BAD for people who look for shortcuts and easy money.
It may also be cause to seriously look at the offers you’re promoting and ask yourself… does it really work as stated?
So maybe this is a shake-up that’s long overdue.
No, the sky is not falling and this is far from being the end of affiliate marketing – but play it safe.
You really don’t want a big, retarded, over-eager Gorrilla kicking down your door.
Here’s a video that walks through just 3 reverse-engineered spreadsheets from each “phase” of the Affiliate Intelligence package…
(Keep in mind that there are over 1 million keywords reverse-engineered in the actual package, and to put that in perspective that is over 1,700 CSV spreadsheets, where each spreadsheet has an average of 1000 rows of keyword data.)
Click the “play” link below to watch the short preview video.
This entire package will be available as a Beta launch very shortly.
Just a few days away now…
Cheers
-Chris
P.S. The video might load a little slow at first due to the volume of folks watching. If that’s the case, in a few hours time it will likely run more smoothly.
(Normally I upload them to YouTube for this purpose, but this one is 12 minutes in length, which exceeds the YouTube size restrictions…)
What’s sadly ironic is that I (or any other experienced affiliate) could build and promote a site in 3 stinkin’ days that will earn more in affiliate commissions this year than most starry-eyed newbies would make even if they went ”full time” online – putting in 40 hours a week building sites, building links, etc.
Why?
Because I know what actually sells, and what kind of traffic to drive.
Because I’ve paid the price. I’ve gone through the ignorant years, working many late nights hoping, praying and crossing fingers for that mystical “windfall” from my unique ideas, my over-perfected implementations, my projects with “great potential” or “an untapped market”.
And even though I saw some results from my hard work (and I was working hard), it was just slightly eye-opening when, later on, I saw some of my most basic market tests in established, competitive markets make more money IN A SINGLE DAY than I’d previously be lucky to see all month.
It’s WHAT you sell, folks. Not how “hard” you try…
I realize that for the intermediates and advanced affiliates reading this, it’s like getting a lecture on the importance of eating and breathing. I know, I know. But what follows below applies to beginners and super-affiliates alike, and once you finish this blog post…
…I can guarantee that you’ll be losing sleep tonight
Alright, so with that said – and now that we’ve established the important connection between knowing what to sell (and how) and your RESULTS – let me ask you a question:
What If You Knew What The Top 584 Super-Affiliates Across EVERY Major Network Were Specifically Selling, Exactly How They Were Driving Traffic, The Sites They’re Promoting - And Exactly How YOU Could Easily Copy Them?
Do you think that would be a “game-changer” for you?
Or as an intermediate or advanced affiliate – would that be valuable to you?
Unless you have a twisted pleasure for doing things the hard way and spending months in front of the computer, I’m guessing that you’re probably leaning towards saying “Yes”.
Let’s take a closer look at what this is…
This is going to officially “kick off” AffiliateArmory.com, and it’s a hell of a kickoff. I’ll explain it as simply as possible…
With the help of numerous expensive research tools and over 500 working hours (I hired an entire team of people to help compile and create this data), I have totally reverse-engineered the following, and optimized each data set particularly for affiliates using PPC and organic search marketing…
* The Top 95 Super-Affiliates from CJ: Every product they promote, every keyword they spend money on, what their PPC ads say, how much they spend, every URL they advertise – as well as the organic competition level for each keyword.
* The Top 97 Super-Affiliates from ClickBank: (Same data as CJ…)
* The Top 98 Super-Affiliates from LinkShare: Ditto above
* The Top 37 Super-Affiliates from PayDotCom: Ditto
* The Top 101 Super-Affiliates from ShareASale: Ditto
* The Top 98 Super-Affiliates from LinkShare: Ditto
* The Top 102 Super-Affiliates from MaxBounty: Ditto
* The Top 54 Super-Affiliates from ClixGalore: Ditto
In total, we’re talking about hundreds of thousands of keywords – and thousands of different products – that the TOP GUNS on every major network are actively promoting.
And in addition to this, EACH keyword in every affiliate’s marketing campaign displays its organic competition level (keyword or keyphrase searched in quotations) - which is a gold mine for article marketers, conduit affiliates, SEOers, etc.
You can see why I had to hire an entire team of freelancers for this…
Collectively speaking, we are talking about the complete, in-depth, ZERO MYSTERY reverse-engineering of marketing activity that generates millions upon millions of dollars in affiliate commissions each year.
Oh – and the reverse-engineering of the industry-at-large’s top affiliates is just the first module of the market intelligence database.
Here’s what else it includes…
The Complete Reverse-Engineering of ClickBank’s TOP 264 Products/Merchants: Every keyword they spend money on, what their PPC ads say, how much they spend, every URL they advertise – as well as the organic competition level for each keyword.
I know we all love CB – and since it’s a network that particularly lends itself to high conversions (since the products are all mostly impulse purchases), and since there’s no approval process for each vendor – I thought you might like knowing exactly how the “big dogs” get their traffic
And the third module of the market intelligence database is what I consider to be the ultimate brainstorming resource for ANY marketer…
In simple terms, it’s 500,000+ keywords spanning 800+ markets that Google directly recommends to its advertisers as additional keywords to try advertising with (based on their own internal data, so that tells ya something…), and I’ve taken this data and given it a very valuable twist:
In addition to Google’s data for each keyword (traffic volume, ppc cost, ad competition, etc.), I’ve added the organic competition value for EACH and EVERY keyword. Over 500,000 of them. And Good God - it was a long and tedious process even to hire a team to do this…
What this effectively does is it shows you ALL THE HOLES, the “easy pickings” in virtually every market.
Especially the ultra competitive ones.
For example – one of the markets covered was Life Insurance. Insanely competitive. Insanely high traffic value. These guys are spending $5+ a CLICK. Or more.
And with this single data set alone, there are over 20+ keywords that are highly targeted, getting apprx. 1000 searches a month – and have LESS than 5,000 organic competitors.
Considering just the AdSense revenue of a site using those 20 keyphrases as article topics ALONE, well – you can likely see the value here
Each of these three modules will likely be sold individually as Market Intel when AffiliateArmory.com is fully up and running.
But very shortly, I’ll be offering all three Modules…
1. Reverse-Engineered Marketing Intelligence on the Top 584 Affiliates From Each Major Network
2. Comprehensive, Behind-The-Scenes Intel on Clickbank’s Top 264 Merchants/Offers
Ever had one of those days where you so busy that you completely forgot about something ultra-important?
Like going to the airport in a rush – and forgetting your passport? Or maybe forgetting about an anniversary, etc?
I’m guessing you have…
Guess what?
I just had a big-time “Blonde Moment” (no offense, blondes…) this week. I completely forgot to make some CRUCIAL additions to the Authority Loophole user guide, simply because during a product launch, you’re simultaneously scrambling to do a thousand things at once…
…and sometimes seemingly “small” things get overlooked.
So it’s totally my fault – and I apologize for the confusion.
Here’s What Got Messed Up:
Authority Loophole actually operates in TWO MODES:
1) Completely White-Hat
2) Gray-Hat
It was Dave’s “job” (which he completed, and very well) to create the content for the gray hat usage of the software. And it was MY responsibility (which I FORGOT about entirely) to add in the sections about the White Hat mode.
So the user guide and training info you’ve received so far has only covered the gray-hat strategy.
Which – obviously – has caused a lot of confusion and even a bit of uproar.
Rightly so, since AL is marketed as being legit and ethical – which it is, along with a gray-hatoption for users who don’t mind pushing the envelope…
—————————————————–
Here’s the “REAL” User Guide – The Way It Should Have Been the First Time:
In addition, Dave has also just created a video that covers the white-hat strategy in more detail. He didn’t have to do this (it was also my responsibility), but did so in the interest of time, and to cover my butt, because I am an idiot: Authority Loophole Best Practices
Once again – this was totally my fault, and something “small” that I had totally forgotten amidst the craziness of the launch. I’m very sorry about the confusion…
-Chris
P.S. No, this isn’t some ass-covering attempt, or some kind of “controversy” tactic.
In fact, for those who may be a bit suspicious about the legimitacy of my bad memory – here is the pre-launch “JV page” I’d personally sent to over 200+ affiliates and partners well over a week ago, which clearly states the 2 modes of operation of Authority Loophole…
Well, obviously “a few days” have come and gone and Authority Loophole still hasn’t launched. As with most product launches, the culprit is a combination of technical stuff, unforeseen tasks, etc. As well as “real life” stuff that tends to take up a fair bit of time…
Anyway – that said, we are aiming to have this out before July 10th, with fingers crossed.
Alright, a bunch of people have been asking questions about the software, the link-building process and of course – the costs involved.
So here’s some answers to your questions…
Q:If The Links Are Being Placed With an Exploit on ONE Widget, Can’t They Just “Shut it Down”?
A: No, “they” can’t. That’s because the widget is simply a script that works with existing blog installations – and literally millions of wordpress blogs use it, several thousand of which are quite established.
Just like how wordpress can’t control its blogs “remotely” on other people’s servers, let alone fix an exploit across millions of sites.
Q: Won’t Google Somehow “Figure This Out” and Discount the Links?
A: Regardless if they “figure it out” or not, the nature of the “hack” is actually not harmful at all. Also, your links will only “stick” on the site if you use the tool properly – and done correctly, the sites you’re grabbing links from won’t be bothered since you’re actually adding value to their blog in the process.
So it wouldn’t concern Google regardless, since it doesn’t interfere with how the widget itself works. “Crap” links won’t stick anyway, which means that Google by default won’t be considering them.
Similar to link-building via dofollow blog comments, it only works if you’re adding value or legitimately RESPONDING to something the blogger has to say. If you do that, using this exploit, then your links will “stick”.
If you simply go out and spam, then you’re wasting your time and burdening the webmasters who will, guaranteed, delete your link anyway.
That’s all I can really say about it without giving away the process, which our software largely automates.
Q: What’s The Price – And What are the Additional Costs to Do This?
A: I can’t reveal the price until it goes live. Sorry – but I will say that it is not high ticket, nor is it recurring.
As for the additional usage costs…
NOTHING. Nada. Zilch.
No extra hosting, tools, resources or anything else required. Use software, build links. That simple – no surprises.
Also, this link building tactic will benefit any type of site. It’s not better-suited at all to any particular search engine or site structure. You can use this to drastically boost the authority of your conduit sites, content sites, MSN Loophole feeder sites (and your blog network, if you’re doing that), your “real business” site, ecommerce sites, authority sites – anything.
The closest I can get to revealing the price right now is to say that it will be accessible to newbies as well.
Q: What If Hundreds or Perhaps Thousands of People Do this….
A: Think of the hundreds of thousands of people out there writing articles for traffic and links. Guess what? That’s still very effective for getting indexed and ranked. Probably always will be.
More than that – think of the millions upon millions of blogs out there that automatically “ping” their RSS feeds into the ping services to get spidered, indexed and ranked.
All that stuff still works folks. And it has worked for years.
Since this strategy – though “clever” and very effective – still depends on value. The people who use this properly will get some of the easiest links in their life.
Those who abuse it – like anything – will be fighting and uphill battle. And even if there are widespread voluntary updates (such as the “nofollow” settings to combat comment spam) at some point in the distant future, only some sites will employ them, and certainly the people who just use this properly won’t have to worry about it anyway.
But as it stands right now, the “link fields” are ripe for harvest, and anyone who actually builds links by using this is in for some seriously easy authority links.
You can speculate, wonder and deliberate – or you can get linked and get ranked. Your call.
Always remember that the BASICS of effective SEO haven’t changed since the search industry took over the “web directories” back in the late 90′s…
Reality Check:Should You Be “Investing In Your Business” If You’re On the Verge of Bankruptcy?
Before I get into this, let me just state up front that it’s a loaded question.
The answer depends on a lot of things, most of which only you can answer (if this in fact applies to you)…
Yes – a lot of people in this industry (myself included) have “success stories” that involve years of struggle, poverty, and so on suddenly being obliterated with an alleged ”tsunami” of traffic of sales, and then building further and further on top of the initial momentum.
John Reese somehow got himself out of $100K worth of bad debt that was spent on “opportunities”, marketing courses and other related stuff – and of course now he’s known as the “Million-Dollar-Day Guy” and likely uses $100 bills for toilet paper.
Armand Morin started out with next to nothing in some crappy little apartment, and now runs a phenomenally succesful internet business that makes mine look like a lemonaid stand.
And apparently Jeff Walker (the product launch guy) also had his “back against the wall” before his first big breakthrough. And on and on it goes.
As for me, well, basically I just ran out of money and had to figure out a way to bring in more if my wife and I wanted to have more freedom, purchase real estate, etc. There was some pressure, for sure, but it wasn’t like I was going bankrupt or anything. I was just sick of not having options.
So what does this mean, then?
Well, I don’t think it means anything.
I don’t think that being “under pressure” is a requirement, or a prerequisite, to success at all. In fact, from what I’ve seen at this point from interacting with literally thousands of customers from this business (“TheLazyMarketer.com & Friends”) , it’s become very clear to me that situation really has nothing to do with it.
What matters is attitude and perseverance. And if you ask me, both the latter and the former are a lot easier come by when you’re not in “panic mode”, with your back up against the wall.
This isn’t a hard business.
Build a site that sells shit. Preferably the kind that people like buying. Get traffic. Make money, and then do it again. And again, and again – etc.
Yes, I’m simplifying it a bit for the sake of effect – but it’s definitely not rocket science.
What it takes is focused effort and logic.
And what’s obvious to me is that people who have previous business experience are – not surprisingly – the most likely to succeed. Becuase they treat this like a task, and they get the job done – or have someone else fill in the blanks on things that they themselves can’t do (like technical stuff).
I think that a lot of the marketers who’ve made it to celebrity status in our little “IM” world have done so as a result of the passion that comes with starting out with nothing, and making it big. They’ve likely all been a part of “IM” since their humble beginnings, and so it makes sense that they are vocal within it when business starts doing well.
So you can rest assured that for every one ”rags to riches” story out there, there’s probably TEN instances where someone with resources, business acumen and drive got online with a project and made it crank out some serious numbers.
But to put things in perspective, no matter what, the money goes to the entrepreneurs. Those who dream AND do.
Not the “opportunity seeker” crowd. (Those who dream, buy stuff, skim, complain, “almost give up”, dream again, buy again… etc.)
Therefore, to answer the initial question, this is what it comes down to…
If you’re in a hard spot right now – and if your NUMBER ONE goal is to generate cash however you can, this is what you need to consider (carefully) before buying, or “investing” anything right now into your internet marketing education:
1. You Need the TIME to Make This Work
I do pretty well at this stage folks, but to be honest – I’m still at the office every day, with hours that are not unlike a regular JOB. (Yes, we travel lots, and yes, we have much more freedom, but it still takes work to keep things growing, to make progress, etc).
So if you’re on the verge of bankruptcy… and you’ve got a fulltime job that at least keeps food on the table… and you’ve got kids and/or a spouse that require a lot of your time…
…then it’s time to get real.
Don’t buy stuff that you know you don’t have time to implement.
I know it’s a lot more exciting to dwell on things related to HOPE – but honestly speaking, the smarter thing is likely to focus on your current financial state – DEAL WITH IT HEAD ON – and then, once you’ve enacted a sensible and logical plan with the help of someone who knows what they’re doing, then you can move forward, taking steps to make time to learn the ropes of this business, and most importantly, work at it.
Okay, on to the next point…
2. To Build a Business in Addition to Working a Job, You’ll Need to Sacrifice Something
You know that little saying “do today what others won’t so tomorrow you can do what other’s can’t”. That’s completely true.
It can be hard at first, but there WILL be sacrifice on your part.
And in addition to making time, you also need to carefully monitor your capital when you start out. It’s much easier to get things going if you’re not “house poor”, proverbially or literally.
Get rid of stuff in your life that racks up pointless expenses, or needlessly occupies your time.
Forget about “ego” and what your peers think if you have to temporarily “lower” your standards of living. (Nobody really cares what you do anyway – as humans we’re all so damn preoccupied with what others think about us that it doesn’t really matter).
And furthermore - don’t be deceived – most people who live a so-called “lavish lifestyle” are in so much consumer debt it would make your head spin if you saw their real financial picture. So don’t fall for the trap. It’s all smoke and mirrors, and most of them cry themselves to sleep at night (or get divorced over the stress of it all).
If you can, try to live under your means while you’re building things up. If you stick with it, and if you play it smart, eventually you’ll be able to live like a rock star and still be way under your means.
Sarah and I travel lots, and I have a nice little 2002 BMW M3 (bought used, in cash for a great price), I have a fairly nice office to work out of, and we have relative freedom to do whatever throughout the day. But the vast majority of our after-tax take goes into investment properties (real estate).
Yes, we could blow everything. I could lease a Lamborghini. We could live in a $1M home. We could buy tons of pointless “show off” crap for the sole purpose of making a statement (to people who really don’t care).
But soon enough you reach a point where your expenses match your income – and then you’re back on the treadmill again.
And for what?
I don’t know about you, but I’d far rather live under the radar for a while, avoid bad debt and liabilities like the plague, play it smart and end up with a business (and assets) that would allow for a lot of options over the long-term.
It doesn’t matter how much money you have, or how much you currently make – what matters is your mindset.
If you’re blowing your whole paycheck on a $40,000 annual salary – trust me – you’ll blow it just as easily if your business starts churning out $40K a month.
So take a close look at your track record, and ask yourself – “am I really cut out for running a business?”
If you’re only in this for the cash, or the “image” that you can pseudo-create with that cash – then I would say that you probably don’t have the right disposition to hunker down, treat this like a business and build long-term success. That’s because your business is going to need a lot of the cash that it generates at first.
Which is why if you’re “desperate for money” or intent on spending everything you make on yourself, then you’ll just end up starving your business to death, ending up right back where you started.
The people that succeed with IM are fascinated by the business model itself. As much as they love the lifestyle and rewards of a successful online portfolio – they’re equally in love with the process. Like I said, it’s the entrepreneurs who will make it big online.
That’s because sacrifice for “the cause” comes naturally to entrepreneurs. It’s not a constant struggle; it’s a default setting.
And finally…
3. Do You Finish What You Start?
When I first got into this business, I would deliberate and “plan” stuff endlessly. Everything had to be perfect, and leveraged for maximum results. In reality, all of this back-and-forth doddling was exactly the reason why I wasn’t seeing much in the way of results.
Because focused action = results. That formula will always work for you. Even if the “action” isn’t perfect, or taking advantage of every possible form of leverage, etc.
Everything that detracts from you taking action (such as endlessly “learning”, planning too much, researching too much, etc.) directly competes with your available time to do what is actually profitable.
So if you find that you constantly deliberate, over-think stuff, take a long time to make decisions, and in general have difficulty getting stuff done and completed – then you WILL struggle with this business.
But if you treat this like building a deck in your backyard, where you do the necessary research, obtain a deck building plan, get the supplies you need and then just get out there and DO it – you’ll see results.
Most people’s proverbial “deck projects” go something like this:
- See their neighbor’s deck, get really excited about it
- Go online and read up on deck building – even more excited now
- Get wrapped up in the whole world of “deck building”, buying lots of How-To guides, blueprints, etc.
- Eventually buy high-end deck building tools
- Become unsure about the deck, start to question themselves and start to deliberate
- Buy even more how-to guides and tools, to “reassure” themselves that the deck was a good idea
- Finally they start building the deck, but it’s hard work, so they give up after an hour
- Complain about decks, deck-building “gurus”, etc. to make themselves feel better
- See their neighbor’s porch swing, get really excited about it….
What’s the problem with this picture?
It’s insanity!
Just build the damn deck already! Struggle through it and get it done! Quit stalling, “learning”, deliberating, perfecting… and get out there and pound some nails.
But as ridiculous as this seems, it is a rampant pattern in the business world – particulary with newbies who are attempting their first self-employment project.
So if this is a pattern that seems consistent with your own track record, then you either need to make some serious mindset adjustments and dedicate yourself to action…
…or you need to realize that maybe your personality type is simply not cut out for this.
Especially if you’re doing it out of desperation.
Conclusion:
Should you be buying stuff if your “back is up against the wall” and it’s a last ditch effort prior to bankruptcy?
All I can say is that if you don’t have:
1. Time
2. The Ability to Sacrifice Activities/Expenses, and
3. An Action-Oriented Personality
Then you probably shouldn’t be spending any money right now on anything – since it’s just going to go to waste anyway. At least until you’re in a better position.
Now, please don’t take this article as being a “doomsday” prophecy if you happen to relate to one of the negative attributes I’d listed above.
The fact is, I think everyone deals with procrastination, image-dwelling, the desire to “dream” rather than act, etc.
I know I do – and I used to overthink things to death (I called it “planning”). Over time, things changed (and I changed my mindset, attitude, etc.) because it’s undeniable that action breeds results. And when you see results first hand, it becomes addictive. You get your research and “info” for a project as fast as possible and then focus on actually DOING it.
So wherever you’re at, you definitely can change your mindset, your attitude and so on so that you can be action-oriented.
But if you KNOW, deep-down, that right now you’re simply buying stuff in this industry on “hope”, or because it’s entertaining – then don’t waste your time, or your money.
If your TRUE intention isn’t to ACT, then don’t invest in yourself.
You’ll only end up disappointed, and in worse financial shape than you were previously.
