Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Rosalind Gardner Says

I was a little surprised that
Rosalind Gardner gave play to
my Affiliate Marketing Sham
report - I like Rosalind, but
my style is a little 'rough'
for her.

She blasted me in her blog
today and we shall see if she
approves my response.

If she doesn't, here it is:

Hi Rosalind,

I appreciate your review of my tactics. I’m always open to learning and as I told you in a personal email, your handbook was the first ebook I ever purchased; I highly respect your work and skill as a writer – you’re good.

Rosalind: Using the word ‘Sham’ is an effective ATTENTION-GRABBER. The ‘Death of Adsense’ report and the Rick Jerk used similar attention-grabbing techniques. Yet, X may alienate some internet marketing students who are unimpressed that he hitches a ride on that bandwagon.

.X.: The use of reports has proven to be a highly effective list builder. I understand you’re taking a pro/con approach here and it’s probably true that many are burned out on the great amount of content to decipher. It didn’t play out as well as expected with certain audiences, but answering “Thank you for opening my eyes” emails has been gratifying and kept me busy.

Rosalind: The mysterious ‘X’ persona enhances DESIRE to know more about the author and what he knows. However, X loses CREDIBILTY and fails to build TRUST with this technique.

.X.: Fair enough; it sure didn’t hurt me on the Adwords Black Book and there’s nobody on the Internet marketing scene who gets more talk than the Rich Jerk. My credibility and trust isn’t fluffed up by what I claim to have done – and frankly who’d know my name anyway? My credibility is built on the testimonials I have from actual people making real money for themselves (as well as people like Allen Says, Willie Crawford, Dr. Mike Woo-Ming and others who’ve experienced my work).

Although all of my customers know me by name, most prefer to call me “X” – and I appreciate you haven’t called me “Mister”.


Rosalind: X uses strong, offensive language and name-calling in the report. Althugh this may appeal to a younger demographic, it’s a huge turn-off to a more mature crowd that generally views swearing as a lack of skill, knowledge and/or intelligence.

.X.: Positioning is a critical element of marketing. If I attempted to reach the same audience as Perry Marshall – or you – clearly I’d be missing the target with the aggressive, guerilla tactics approach I teach. I won’t insult the “mature” crowd with a label because some of my very best customers are “mature”; my crowd is not the “conservative crowd” intimidated by risk and I prefer to turn THEM off sooner than later.

Regarding the perception I might “lack skill, knowledge and/or intelligence” - I’ve worked for two US Presidents and graduated Magna Cum Laude from a top 25 university. My approach is calculated: I think people are sick of the same formulaic blah-blah and my willingness to tell it like it is appeals to the RIGHT customer for me.

Rosalind: X’s assertion that 25% or more of all affiliate sales are not properly credited instills FEAR. Fear creates DESIRE for the upcoming product which teaches how to overcome ‘the peril’. Really makes you wonder how despite all the commission theft and lousy tracking so many Super Affiliates are making more than a million bucks a year. Yup, we’re ‘Big-Time Losers’ alright. LOL. Note: What I found particularly interesting is that unlike most merchants in the IM category, X set up his affiliate program so that those who recommended the report, would not benefit from subsequent sales of the product. That requires a different affiliate link.

.X.: First, it’s a provable assertion so fear or not, it’s a reality.

There’s POTENTIALLY great money as an affiliate, yes. But there’s far better money having an army of affiliates working for you. Being an affiliate –ONLY - should be seen as nothing more than a stepping stone and if people – you included – are only using affiliate marketing as a money maker, then you ARE leaving money on the table. Of course, you have your own product and pressed to give an answer I know you’d admit it has certain high leverage benefits that selling OPP doesn’t give you.

Regarding my commission strategy, that was a chance taken after talking with several other marketer’s about their own launch strategies. Yes, I take a lot of risks and they don’t all fly – but it’s that out-of-the-box thinking that puts me on the map.

Rich Schefren, for instance, made it mandatory that his partners promote his Manifestos if they wanted to be a part of his product launch (and no, he didn’t pay for those subscribers that I’m aware of).

I didn’t want to force my affiliate’s in that way, so I decided to offer you a commission per subscriber – then also offer a commission if you actually promote the product itself. If you promote the freebie you get a commission and if you promote the product you get an additional commission. If you don’t promote one or the other, you don’t. Seems fair enough to me. Not a single affiliate, until this moment, has had any issue with that approach and I think you’ll agree that from this perspective it’s quite fair.

I hope you enjoy your DVDs when they arrive Rosalind.

All the best to you - .X.


Here's Rosalind's post in its
entirety - I've only included
my response to portions of it.

http://clicks.aweber.com/z/ct/?RCX6dQUclbhijheu3Xg0cg

6 Comments:

At 11:45 PM , Blogger Rosalind Gardner said...

Hello X,

First, if your blog readers choose to get the FULL story from "Affiliate Marketing Sham: A Lesson in Marketing" post, they'll see that I hardly "blasted" you.

I surveyed my readers for their impressions of the Affiliate Marketing Sham from a marketing standpoint and then wrote a digest of their comments balanced with both pro and con views.

Secondly, my blog is also moderated and only requires that commenters be registered. Any comment that isn't obviously spam or obscene is welcome. Had your comment shown up as presented here, it most certainly would have been approved.

I find it surprising (and sad) that someone who has supposedly worked in the public/political arena would interpret something so benign as my marketing lesson as a personal attack and an attempt to "subtly discredit" you.

That was not my intention and I was actually looking forward to reviewing the BlackBookDVD set for possible promotion.

The set arrived today, however, I am not inclined to give it much attention given comments in your recent newsletter.

However, you are more than welcome to repost your comment to my blog and it will be approved, provided you register first. :-)

Cheers,
Rosalind

 
At 8:56 AM , Blogger X said...

Dear Rosalind,

Sometimes a bad day or wrong mood colors how we read other people's words.

After reading your blog post again - and mine, I stand behind what I wrote; every word.

To profit from promoting the report, then turn around and write what you did does not fly with me.

When you write this:

"‘X’ will probably sell a good number of his new product to curious, fearful, younger and less critical consumers"

You have just insulted my customer's, many of whom - most of whom - don't fit that description at all.

Being intelligent and fair-minded as you are, I trust you see my point.

X

 
At 7:50 PM , Blogger Mary said...

You remind me of a guy I am currently training with - John M. La Tourrette, PhD, the Speedman. His methods are sometimes pretty strong and even unusual. He is also a master marketer. You would either love him or hate him. Probably the former.

Doc uses pretty strong language, too. My boundaries have stretched a lot in the past year I have been training with him.

What crossed my mind with the missing affiliate commissions is that some customers might intentionally mess with the links so there is no comission paid. I know I have done that a few times myself. It depends on what it is.

Take care.
Mary

 
At 9:39 PM , Blogger NavySeals91 said...

I added my $0.02 to her blog thinger. It seems like most were against you...I had to stick up for you, you're the underdog in her post.

 
At 10:35 AM , Blogger X said...

LOL.

Rosalind has responded in high class
manner (sarcasm intended) on her blog.

Of course, the discussion is no longer
open for discussion. She's closed
her blog post to comments - though,
that will probably change, as did her
posting policy when I called her on it.

I'm not going to call Rosalind a liar
(as she's called me) or insult her as
she has insulted you.

I'm simply going to point to this as
Exhibit 37 in how the "save face at
any cost" clique works.

The best I can say about the Ice Queen . . .

disappointing.

For the record, Rosalind is not on my
general list and there is no record she
ever was. I certainly didn't remove
her - I'm more than happy to tell her
what I think.

She's on my affiliate list only, always
has been.

 
At 11:27 AM , Blogger X said...

Man -

I just got out of the shower and my mind is exploding with devious ideas.

Congratulations Rosalind - you are my new muse! My customers will love you for it.

I'm leaving on vacation in a week - and when I get back, well . . . I'm not going to bitch slap you.

No - Rosalind, I can tell you like it rougher than that.

You don't have any idea who I am or what I capable of doing.

Eat a torpedo baby.

Now, one last laugh at Rosalind's two-faced BS.

This, I took from her home page:

"What you WON'T find here are 'black
hat' approaches that can (and WILL)
kill your business in the blink of an
eye.

UNLIKE many affiliates who tried
to 'fool Google' and watched their
income drop from 100K per month to so
little that they can't make the
mortgage payments on their million-
dollar homes - my affiliate business
has been profitable since 1998, my
sites have never been delisted by
Google, my income has GROWN month
after month since I started AND my
house is paid for, as is the Mercedes
500SL pictured here! ===> ).

That's because I use - and TEACH -
honest techniques to build sites for
visitors, NOT search engines... and
Google loves them! And I love the fact
that I can sleep at night without
worrying about whether I'll be in
business tomorrow."

Now, bat freaks . . . riddle me this:

On whose recommendation did .X. once
buy Traffic Equalizer? . . .

Yeah baby, you guessed it.

 

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