Classic Hoard Working
Posted on July 31, 2007
Filed Under Internet Marketing: General
The stuff people fall for.
Rewind a few years and you’ll find a lot of info packed posts from me on the forums - in fact, about half of what I wrote about in the Adwords Black Book was stuff I shared freely on forums.
Why did I stop?
- One post I made became a full-blown info-product, swiped by some “guru” [who, BTW, has not been heard from since].
- Other posts - brilliant stuff - were ridiculed and chastised. Of course, I had the last laugh when these same people later paid me $197 for the stuff I’d given them for free, then they raved about it [ LESSON: People do NOT value anything you give them for free ]
- A big name marketer, who I really admired, ripped off another post and made it a part of his newsletter [ no - he didn’t give me credit ] - it’s pretty shocking to read your work, verbatim, and have someone like that taking credit for it.
These reasons and more are why I have to share this with you - it really plays on people’s egos. Because let’s face it - us Internet marketer’s are an unusual bunch, completely misunderstood by anyone who’s not doing what we are. So we CRAVE acknowledgment for the mad skills we have.
Never in the history of the planet has any group of professionals been more willing to spill their guts about what they’re doing to anyone who will listen.
And there are people ready and waiting to exploit that for their own benefit.
Now, I’m not saying that’s exactly what going on in this post by the poster himself - but you can bet the vultures are circling.
So here’s the play: hit people with an “us versus them” pre-sell. “They”, the poseur money-suckers versus “us”, the good and the innocent.
And “me”? I’m such a good guy, I will take a whole $50 - yes FIFTY DOLLARS - out of my pocket for the person who gives me the best tip.
Naturally, everybody wants acknowledgment for having “the best marketing tip” - the fifty dollars is a slight of hand trick - it’s not the money that’s the real motivator; it’s the desire for approval.
X
Hi Warriors,
It’s that time again. I wanna give someone $50.
Since one of the biggest problems people seem to have is filtering out the BS from the truth, and not knowing who to listen to - I’ll make it my normal “post your most useful tip for others to learn from” type deal.
I’ll leave the thread open until the weekend and then pick someone who’s posted in it to send $50 (via Paypal or beer button).
There are a lot of self-proclaimed gurus saying things which they’ve never done, and either pushing the ‘Death of X’ or ‘Secret Backdoor’ approaches to loosening your wallets, so if you want the $50, just post you most useful technique/tip/strategy that is no-cost and can generate either: signups, traffic, customers etc to a new online business.
If you’ve joined-in my threads before you’ll know I’m serious and I will pay up.
Regards,
A
Same o same o I am tired of the nonsense that is being sold for dummy prices. Who is kidding who. Money made is mostly comming from information ideas rehashed and secrets are kept to themselves. I have no money and can no longer participate. Put that in the pipeline. Or prove your good and take someone like myself that is broke, read all the hype and is still broke. See if your gang can take someone like me and make it work. Bet you can’t - no guts.
Charley
oh by the way, I have a killer idea and story but still don’t know how to market it. But when I do it will show I am really good.
Charley,
If you’ve read more than 3 products on internet marketing and you still don’t know how to market a product, I suspect the problem is you. Just reading them isn’t enough(if you even did that much). You have to actually do what they say.
The things people fall for… a whole MAJOR thread of ‘em, huh? What a well calculated “slight of hand”..very impressive. Funny that I seem to be the only one that even THOUGHT about following the bread trail.
So, Mr X, you think they value the recognition and approval more than the money? That thread is up a fairly healthy price tag now….and secrets are being dumped very quickly. I’ve been sitting back watching it all play out. How many of you are in on this play on “the good and the innocent”?
I have to hand it to ya, tho - you would think that somebody else would wonder what was up. However, I see this blog void of thread participants.
Odd, isn’t it?
Thanks for the entertainment.
Great point on the $50 marketing tip.
As far as the stuff people fall for…
it really does seem to be all about perceived value, I’ve taken a few ideas from certain marketers like John Reese that are worth 10 times more than products I’ve paid hundreds, sometimes thousands for.
I think that most of the so called “gurus” are pretty decent, but I also think there are a few who got in early and rose up simply because of timing and now have a run for their money with ultra competitive mavericks coming into the industry.
I’ll be interested in hearing more from you and maybe getting in on your covert ops.
Charley it’s your kind of stupidity and woe-is-me’ing that has kept you from making money and will always keep you from it. Wake up and realise this world ain’t a bed o’ roses.
You get me going with your suspense. I will go through the first 10 pages and post my feedback later.
Regards,
Edmund Ng
charley:
if you think .X. is nonsense, you have no idea what you are missing.
good for the rest of us - less competition
.X.
First, if you have written all of your own copy - you is one pimp-daddy-master smack layer.
We’re unworthy.
You know your audience. You’ve refined your character. And you don’t just speak to our deepest fears, frustrations and desires… you F’n rip out our hearts and our greed glands. Then you tickle them, tweak them, play with them, and then put them back where you found them.
A regular Dr. Frankenstein.
A month or so ago, I stopped by a friends house and he said: “you gotta watch these #%@&’n DVD’s.”
So I did.
It was the adwords blackbook dvd’s.
It was a religious experience.
I wet myself.
The hair was standing up on my neck and my arms.
I was like - YES ! Stop the freeking dvd! Let me write that down. Rewind! Rewind the freeking dvd…. oh, there - STOP! More notes. More wet. More religion.
Damn.
Better than most sex.
Well, almost.
Perhaps the best damn inet marketing seminar I’ve ever seen.
Like I said…
“We’re unworthy”
So, you might say my expectations were high when I say your IMX files newsletter in the offing.
But, now I must be honest.
I actually expected a bit more.
A lot more.
Now I am not one to usually bitch, moan, whine, or complain. But, I’ve already seen Money Map X.
And I’ve been through 14 freekin corporate time management programs, along with everything from Mind Maps to Tony Robbins RPM system. So, the “A” activity - “B” activity thing…left me as limp and lifeless as Bob Dole’s pole.
But, the flames of desire were still alive - so I continued to read on…
Got to the webinar/teleconference JV product idea and have to say…the wood turned to silly putty.
Man, if I heard that play once, I’ve heard it 27 times - including on every single free teleseminar pitchfest over the last couple of years.
To be honest. If I wanted to be calling up guru’s and recording interviews over the telephone - I’d already be doing it.
Man, I’m an anti-social, old-school, lone-wolf, one man band show.
I want some more adwords/adsense tactics and strategies.
I want more information on the software systems you touched on in the blackbook dvd’s.
I want more info on how to make money from clickbank. From PPC. From Adsense.
Don’t be turning into no damn Tony Robbins telling me what’s urgent, but not important; or important, but not urgent.
I know that shit.
I want to sit in my tidy whities and pimp-slap my PPC competition. I want to know how to build a money-making adsense site and not have to spend 6 months in google’s sandbox before it gets monetized.
Man. I had hoped like hell you were going to lead with your best shit. Because I think that’s what you got to do when you round up the herd and say - “come hither - follow me… we got a new path, a new thing, a new direction… with “.X.” leading the way.”
Damn man.
No new path.
The same old path.
No bitch slappin’
No nukin’
No stealth tactics
And you certainly didn’t lead with your best card man.
I think you made a mistake.
You need to lay down the best… I mean the very best 10 pages of shit you got in your bag-o-tricks and hold nothing back.
The smokingest, white-hot MF’g shit anyone’s seen.
If you’d done that… I’d be a subscriber.
But, you led with the Money Map, A/B activities, and the teleseminar product schlep.
I was disappointed man.
Let down.
But, I know you got it in you.
At least I think you do.
Tell me…. No…..show me.
SHOW ME you got more.
Show me…and prove to me…that you didn’t leave it all on the table with the blackbook dvd’s.
C’mon “.X.
There has to be more than this.
I want there to be.
“R”
Damn Ron - that hurts.
I appreciate all feedback - good, bad, ugly, whatever.
Let me see if I can kick it up a notch.
X
I have to agree with Ron. I was VERY dissapointed with the rehashed stuff I’ve heard before X. That’s just real.
You said you were gonna bring it and you basically copied some old stuff you’ve written before.
I was going to cancel because everything in the newsletter was for newbies. But c’mon man, you’ve got people making 50-100K per month online and are interested in fresh ideas and are willing to pay for them.
But you have to come more legit than that first issue. I’ll give it one more issue, if the 2nd one is no better than the 2nd, I’m going to bail on the IMX Files.
“Ricky” - if you can show me where I’ve written the info in my article “Fastest Ways to Make Money Online - Now” elsewhere - outside the IMXFiles, I’ll send you $500 via PayPal now.
Let’s get one thing clear - I post all comments that aren’t blatant spam. I have no problem with you having an opinion.
But if you start spewing out shit, I’m going to call you on it.
I’m clear what people want from X - and they’re not going to get it anywhere else.
If you want my honest opinion/advice on the fastest way to make money online now, then you got it - I’m not going to make shit up or slant it to make a couple people happy (and the overwhelming feedback has been ‘more than happy’).
If you want something specific, be specific. I have no issue delivering what people want.
That said, if my contribution to the next issue doesn’t blow your mind then please, unsubscribe and go write your own newsletter - I’d like to know what you know.
Now, are you going to tell me that the Reese Report is better?
Come on.
X
X, the Reese Report isn’t better, no.
When I talked about hearing what you wrote before, I swear you wrote already about the productivity issue but I could be wrong and I’m sorry if I’m mistaken.
I bought your Adwords Money Map and it was the first product I bought from you. I thought it was great for the price. You really delivered great content and that’s why I bought the IMX files.
I’ll tell you exactly what I want. And actually this is what I DO, not just teach to my clients. See, I’m like you, no BS! I KNOW for a fact these “gurus” don’t test, track, etc like they say.
1. I want to hear precise statistics on split tests your running.
2. People want to know EXACTLY what tools your using for your business. Without BS affiliate links.
3. You have 4-5 people writing for you. We want to know exact conversion rates for certain products with certain copy. (I can login to my Google Website Optimizer account right now and blow your mind with is actually converting better than other variables. This is stuff that is being preached AGAINST by the “gurus”.
4. Give us specific, UNIQUE, plug and play web copy ideas to test. I understand every business is unique. But for instance, you can say “We’ve tested a lead in paragraph that went like THIS”… or “We tested a video UNDER the headline and it pulled 67% better than the video OVER the headline, we can’t gaurantee the same for you, but test it”
5. Tell us the 10 best Google Adwords headlines you have. Not what you like, but what’s getting the best CTR’s. And then, go above and beyond that and explain WHY you believe that those headlines in your Adwords campaings are doing so well.
6. Explain your “code”
for a successful business. Share something you learned from you lawyer, accountant, friends, etc that will enhance or increase business.
7. Tell everyone who you pay attention to, read, etc and WHY.
8. Open up and let loose with us. Allow us to get in your mind and really feel your marketing processes for ourselves.
The above comment was not to be a bastard by any means. It was just an honest comment and I hope you see it just as that.
I know your a smart businessman and I’m excited to see the next issue.
Ricky Breslin
P.S. Hopefully I gave you a REAL account of what I would like and it helped somewhat. I could be wrong about the focus of the IMX files and if it’s for newbies I really do apologize. Maybe it’s not for more advanced marketers and if that’s the case, I was out of line with my earlier post.
Ricky -
I really appreciate your input - that goes a long way in telling me what will benefit you.
Here’s the trick with this project: 5 different people who do things differently - I think that’s good for varying perspective.
Plus, I do some things I think are routine and mundane (like a lot of what you’re talking about) - and sometimes I’m blown away when people say “That’s brilliant” - other times I write something I think is brilliant, and I get yawns.
Anyway - thanks again for the comments. I don’t mind being pushed and I ABSOLUTELY want to know what you want.
re: for newbies. I have a REAL tough time doing newbie content myself - I’d like to provide a comprehensive experience for everyone, but the target market is intermediate to advanced.
If I sound a little testy, it’s because I simply care about delivering a high quality product and if you guys aren’t happy, then I’m not either - half ass’d isn’t good enough and I don’t like being associated with half-ass’d.
All the best to you - X
I have to say, that I could not agree with you in 100% regarding ic Hoard Working : The IMXFiles, but it’s just my opinion, which could be wrong