Now Ken - don't sit on the fence - give it to us straight...

I agree with you 100% - apart from an honest few - most of them on this board - the net is full of hustlers.

It's just good to be here - where the genuine people are.


Steve

Right. Now there's a handful of good people to learn from; and I don't want to be one of the 'guru basher/whiner' crowd.. but those that do so, have legitimate complaints, after they spend thousands of dollars on overpriced seminars or big products that don't live up to expectations.

My point is, whether as a copywriter or a marketer, or a customer of that niche, (or trading for that matter - same problem), do your due diligence and buy from people who are in the "short list" of credible, authentic resources.

The cost is chasing blind alleys, lost time trying to test out methods that don't work, or simply wasted time re-reading/watching rehashed materials or non-working materials. The primary thing to guard is your time, like a hawk. Which means, cut to the chase and only learn from the best. Much of the best lessons learned are Not from the materials the gurus pitch, but from their marketing processes. I'm a student of Process - the "how" things work, so I can replicate across other niches.

Working with credible people, you can usually tell/smell who they are, so to speak, is the key to success, and personally I've found that only working with the best of the best, as Gitomer would say, "The" world class expert in each topic, is the best way to go. When I think of, from all the IM gurus, who I would recommend to, for example, my wife to learn from, only a very few people's names come to mind, amidst all the market noise out there. Clever pitches are no substitute for genuine quality.

The reward is that doing it Right leads to market dominance, which I enjoy in my niche. And the pitchmen/con artists don't have longevity, as the fallacy of who they are comes to surface, so they make a quick buck, but have a hard time staying in business, because people don't become repeat customers. So they're the ones always working namesqueezes to harvest new leads/suckers, because they can't stand on their own merit.

Just as a successful consultant should have the majority of new business coming from client referrals, vs having to have a huge ad budget for lead acquisition, due to sour feelings from their prior clients. Same thing with marketers and any of us, in any business. A key success metric is "repeat business from satisfied customers" -- what's Your percentage in this key area? To me, that tells me how well I'm doing, it's a key customer satisfaction measure.

That's why I have almost zero ad budget, but a passionate group of (just) nearly 10k customers who buy everything I sell, over and over again, for years, and a less than .05% refund rate. I work really hard to earn the trust of my customers, and it pays in many ways. The most important one, is in ethics and knowing that, unlike my competitors, I am doing things in Service of others, and doing it right.

Those words probably are completely unrelatable-to, by all the IM hustlers, who, because of the stench of who they are, are more interested in talking about jvs and namesqueezes, because they don't earn nor can they survive, on their past customers, due to the bs they put out, which customers catch on to. It's a hugely important point, and this is the most important post I've made here to date.

My millions in sales are due to following the "earn the 2nd sale, 3rd sale, lifetime customer value", the spirit and letter of it, very intently. What I need to do next is create tiers of customers, and VIP/higher end services for the top ones, rewards programs and the rest of it. That's next year or beyond, though.

Tip: beware anyone whose business model looks to invest/spend more time on affiliates as major part of how they run their business, than they do on servicing current customers, and adding new features/services to their business -- because these are what I call "hit and run" marketers, who are constantly, like locusts, looking to harvest new names to sell to, vs working on repeat sales from satisfied customers. It's the business model of the people who take advantage of others, who are always looking mainly to "sell an expensive seminar or high end product, Once" wham-bam sales, and live with 5-10%+ refund rates, vs working a quality business. And yes this applies to 80%+ of all internet marketers and traders and others online. There is a key difference. Staying relevant counts.

-k

One of the key reasons I am not internet savvy is because I did try and learn how it all worked.

I stopped after reading way too much stuff by the charlatans on the web - "promising" to show how it was all done.

I didn't mind losing the money - it was the time I lost - trying to get out of all the "blind alleys" and realizing I was been told utter garbage.

Anyway... on a positive note thanks to the board I now know who the "real" experts are.

Steve

Sadly it is not just guru types trying to con you. I was conned on a $10 a month membership site recently..

To many people out for the quick buck, or not living up to their promises.