Millions of Americans were glued to their TVs like painted macaroni to a paper plate lat week. The harrowing (non-)journey of a six-year-old boy, and the reality show family that set him up, was probably the highest-rated program on television.  This is a great example of what passes these days for high drama in the US.

So what did we learn as Internet Marketers?

I’m not going to belabor the obvious point of NOT putting your children at risk or under stress to promote your product/site/show.

What I am going to belabor is the need to avoid hoaxes and hucksters…

There have been a lot of changes in the IM world in the past year. Criminal charges, corporate infighting, rumors of affiliates not getting paid for sales, and many other tales of caution have popped up.

You HAVE been paying attention haven’t you?

Especially important is knowing with whom you are partnering on a project. Keep in mind that success can sometimes be fatal. History is littered with those who have fallen prey to the greed of their most trusted companions.

As Ronald Reagan used to say… “Trust, but verify”

My business has been growing, but slowly…

This is partly by design. Would I take over-night success? Sure… I’d give it a shot.

But I am not, by nature, one who trusts easily. I’m that guy who, once he has decided to buy a big-ticket item, then waits for a few months before actually making the purchase… just in case he’s wrong about something.

I have used the same method when deciding what paths to take concerning promotion, and which marketers to work with.

I have only endorsed one product… and it was one that I had actually seen all the way through. Many marketers want affiliates to review and promote a product, but never give enough information to do so ethically.

I know, I know… I can always buy the product.

But money is still, unfortunately, an issue right now. Besides… what if I buy a $997 product that isn’t worth $97? I file for, and hopefully get, a refund. Then I try a $497 course… and once again… amateur nite at the Apollo. So I get another refund. And again, and again, until I find just the right product.

I develop a reputation for being a “serial refunder” and no one will want to work with me. Hardly an effective strategy for building a business.

What do I do instead?

I look for JV opportunities with:

1. Marketers who already have a good reputation
2. Marketers who are willing to show their product, at least in large part, before the pre-launch
3. Marketers who use accepted payment channels (Clickbank, Commission Junction)
4. Products that deliver what they promise

The first two are an either/or, but preferably both, proposition. If I know the track record of an established marketer, and it’s positive, I am more comfortable dealing with them. If I don’t really know their past history, I need to see the product before I know whether I’m willing to get involved.

The third one is NON-negotiable. I don’t care who you are, I want an impartial go-between. If I promote a Clickbank product, I know that after CB gets their cut, I’m getting mine. By doing so, I avoid the potential of a marketer who “screws the pooch” on his promotion and has no money left over to pay affiliates.

The fourth item, is also non-negotiable. If it seems to good to be true… well… you know the rest.

I once tested a product that promised to help me master affiliate marketing with CB. Three weeks into the program, all they had done was show the very basics of signing up for CB, and then promoted a product they wanted me to buy so they could make commissions. Needless to say… I got a refund on it!

So thank you Balloon Boy and the Heene family for reminding us that no one, no matter how compelling a story they tell, can be trusted for very long. I will sleep better tonight knowing that my vigilance will not go unrewarded, and that while growing slowly, at least my business is being built ethically.

Science of the Sale Update

The second video in my Science of the Sale series is finished. Clocking in at just under 25 minutes it is substantially shorter than the first video.

I have also decided to make it the first video to be submitted using Traffic Geyser, so I’ll let you know how that works out. If it goes well… THEN I’ll put up an affiliate link… but I can’t promote what I haven’t tested.

The video is being posted as “Pique Technique – Science of the Sale” or just “Pique Technique” in case you’d like to do Google searches to see my results.

Talk soon!

Peace,

Finally I have something up and available! It’s only the first video… and it’s quite raw… but it’s done and open to the public!

I have already started the second video… this time the video is about the pique technique since the new FTC regulations are having a huge impact on this persuasion method.

If you haven’t already signed up on my SOTS JV list, then jump over to http://www.ScienceOfTheSale.com and get on it. For a limited time, all signups through the website will get full access to the videos as they are done.

Once about half of the videos are complete, I will be changing the rules… since the closer I am to having a saleable product, the less I’m going to want to give away. Simple math!

So pop over to http://www.ScienceOfTheSale.com and check out the first video… it’s longer than the average video will be, but it covers 3 related propaganda techniques.

When you’ve watched it… come back here and let me know what you think!

Peace,

Bear with me… this will be a long one!

On Sunday I am watching football (of the American variety) and am scanning the program guide for all the channels that give me information and updates about games I can’t watch (like my beloved 49ers) and I notice that Sports Soup is on.

If you’re not familiar with Sports Soup, it’s part of a larger collection of “Soup” shows that take humorous clips and then make comments about them. The flagship show, The Soup (formerly Talk Soup), is usually very funny although I don’t watch any of the programs they make fun of.

Sports Soup then is based around sports clips. Unfortunately there usually aren’t that many humorous things that happen in sport on a weekly basis… plus the host, Matt Iseman, just isn’t that funny…

But what’s my point?

My point is… Who would watch a show loosely based on sports when there are actual sports being broadcast live?

In other words, why talk about something when you can actually be doing it?

And that brought me to what I’ve been learning from Alex Jeffreys and Rich Schefren, which is how to organize a successful business. I’ve been on calls with them, reading their reports, and thinking a lot about getting organized. But I wasn’t actually doing it.

So I’ve now spent the past few days really putting down on paper…

• my company’s mission statement (which still needs work)
• the breakdown of what needs to be done and what can be done by others
• what it is that I want to do each day
• where I want to go with my business, and
• how I plan to get there

Which brings me to the Game Reset:

I spent most of the month of September feeling quite ill. I had whatever virus was going around. It all started with chills, and was then followed by chest congestion which lasted weeks. During that time, I had little ability to control random fits of coughing. Needless to say, I couldn’t very well record videos or voiceovers with such fits. This has left me very far behind on my Science of the Sale video series.

Two months ago I declared that SOTS would go live on October 13th… RESET!

One of the things Alex Jeffreys keeps drilling into my head is the need to be public with your goals in order to keep yourself honest (which originally prompted the October 13th declaration). He even has his students posting our 90-Day Goals in the private forum.

So what does all of this mean to you?

It means that I am going to put myself on the line again, and give away the very product I planned to sell…

And here’s how…

If you are familiar with Russell Brunson and his “micro-continuity” concept then you know that in the Micro-C plan is to provide a product over time (12 weeks, 16 weeks, 12 months) while collecting a monthly subscription fee.

Well I’m going to do that one better…

Presenting… Science of the Sale Micro-C for Free!!

Yep! I need to get this product done and you are going to help me!

By signing up to receive my report Secret Selling: Psychology and the Art of the Sale I am going to enroll you in my free micro-continuity program.

The first video (though it may lack some polish) will be sent out to all subscribers on October 13th. Then every Tuesday I’ll send a video until the whole thing is done! (There will be 16-20 videos in all.)

Once the whole program is complete I’ll add some bells and whistles, get a professionally written sales page, hopefully get some testimonials from you guys, and sell that puppy! Of course, you then will know whether or not you wish to promote the product to your list, because you will have seen it ALL!

I know, I know… I’m probably crazy… but I already knew that!

OK… you know what? This post is long enough… I had more I wanted to share with you, but I’ll save that for another day.

I do want to mention one thing quickly that I’ll be delving into later in the week. The Federal Trade Commission just handed down a ruling this week that requires bloggers to disclose any payments or other remuneration they receive for reviewing a product or service.

In other words… review sites MUST have full disclosure… so if you have a review site set up to promote affiliate products either take it down or add the disclosures (which will no doubt limit the effectiveness of many reviews).

Talk to you VERY soon!

Peace,