What I learned from the relationship industry: just about every “pickup guru”‘s method works just fine… if you work it. Most men won’t work it. The difference I saw was mostly in the type of women that were attracted. Again, most men won’t work it.

My take on all this internet marketing stuff is pretty much the same, and it explains why it all either works (you work it), or sucks (you don’t work it). That is, even some random “foobar ultra ninja marketing system” will probably sell pretty good, given that the person implementing the system implements it with intelligence and dedication. Lots of dedication.

FWIW, Frank Kern saved me a lot of money explaining that a lot people buy stuff because they get bored. Guilty! Implementing all this stuff is hard work… now that I recognize when I’m simply bored, I go other stuff instead of buying the Next Big Thing. Thanks Frank! MCP looks pretty cool, when I get the time (maybe late 2009), I’ll consider picking up a copy if her ever opens it back up. (Which he will, because he’s addicted this stuff just like the rest of us.)

About the gadflies and harsher critics: they aren’t your customers. This “internet” isn’t the only possible internet, and they’re free to point at a different set of name servers and leave all this commercial “claptrap” behind.

Video is the answer I reckon.

I stil use long sales letters and it stll packs a great big punch…BUT it’s a one two knock out combination when accompanied by a series of videos giving great value via an autoresponder series before sending people to the long sales page.

(PLF – or Mass Control Style – two awesome courses)

And it’s proven now that you can have a shorter sales letter if you have people in a buying frenzy from a launch formula full of videos etc before hand.

I think people are crazy to be cynical of the sort of marketing courses that Yaro mentioned. There is *usually* great value in them. I used a PLF/Mass Control style lauch to make a 100 K revenue for a client on a list of just 3500 people in just over a week.

Results are truth!

John

I’ve not had much success with Mike Filsaime’s products or ideas but he certainly implements them very effectively as I get attracted into trying all kinds of things.

Rich Schefren’s business growth system is excellent if you are looking for a strategic business training program for Internet businesses but don’t buy it if you want to operate at the tactical level of how to gain traffic.

Jeff Walker is the master of the product launch and everything I see from Jeff just makes me think that he is a really nice chap who is committed to meeting promises and then over-delivering on them.

I can’t emphasise Yaro’s comments about action is the key enough. If you just use these types of resources as intellectual entertainment then don’t be surprised when nothing happens. It all has to be turned into purposeful action designed to deliver the end result you want.

If people don’t like negative comments about long sales letters, the answer is pretty simple I think.

If all programs presented the kind of value you got from these programs Yaro I don’t think internet marketing would be regarded as negatively as it currently is. People feel negative about being ripped off. I think this is a good thing. Don’t you? Blaming the customer isn’t terribly useful.

I really like the comment by Joe: at what cost. I think this repays much thought. I’m just beginning to think about it and would very much like to hear what others think.

I know that even 1% conversion is considered acceptable. It’s the idea of settling for 1% that rankles me. Just because those percentages are accepted as the best that you can do, does not mean that they really ARE the best that you can do. I think our whole mindset and approach has to change. All we have done is made incremental changes in our approach and applied offline marketing methods to our online presentation. There is a lot of talk about the new Web 2.0, but I never see it used to maximum effectiveness. And what about what comes next?

I know, I know, if I’m so smart, where is my great program for accomplishing this. I’m working on it. I will say this, part of the answer lies in who we address. If I was that car mechanic, I would talk directly to those people that needed my services the most. I would not talk to car owners in general, I would find a way to talk to that person whose car is broken down on the side of the road and needs me NOW. Think of what my conversion rate would be with THAT audience!

As for me, my business really started to change after Eben Pagan’s get altitude.

I stick with Eben now. I know that Rich’s material rocks (I still need to take the time to read his “maven” ebook).

And for those people who do not yet have a response list or blog to help them find quality people to outsource to, use the old-fashion, non-technical method of asking your friends and colleagues. That’s how I found my first programmer and designer.

In terms of buying informational products – I remember when my brother recommended to me a few years back that I purchase a subscription to Search Engine News. The sales page put me off and I didn’t do it for a long time. But he kept insisting that it was worth it and eventually I bit the bullet and bought a subscription.

That was the best purchase I’ve ever made online – and not just because it’s a top quality product, but because it helped me realize that behind many of these hype-filled sales pages are valuable products, programs and services that can actually help me and my business grow online.

I provide powerful and information packed products and workshops for business owners and find that so many of them want everything for little or no cost. Perhaps that’s what the less scrupulous internet marketers are playing on? The old saying ‘you get what you pay for’ comes to mind…

The second point was on the PLF – that graph you mention – does Jeff have some kind of automated script that produces it for him from his results or does he do it manually? If not, I bet that would be a great software product My developer head is turning cogs now…